This study deals with the Assessment of Poverty and Inequality into Sector Components in Cameroon using the 1996 and 2001 household survey data. The research objectives to be address are: I) to examine the evolution of poverty and inequality between 1996 and 2001, 2) to assess the relative importance of the Within and Between sector effects to changes in aggregate poverty, 3) to evaluate the relative Contributions of the Within and Between sector effects to levels and changes in inequality and 4) to derive policy implications on the basis of the analysis. The empirical estimates were computed in the DAD 4.4 software using money-metric derived non-parametrically. The results of poverty show that the Within-zones effects account for much of monetary poverty changes than Between-zones effects. As for inequality, income highlights the dominant role of Within-group components in accounting for inequality trends. In terms of policy, we encourage growth-based labour intensive policies.
Agricultural Products export is seen as an engine that contributes to the growth of the overall economy of Rwanda, despite these efforts the sector is still characterized with low yields, low level of inputs and limited areas under cultivation due to government dependence on mono-cultural economy. This paper is an attempt to examine the contribution of the agricultural export to the growth of Rwandan economy. The panel of data used was sourced from the statistical bulletin of the Central Bank of Rwanda and National Agricultural Development Board (NAEB), multiple regression was used to analyze the data, the result indicated a positive relationship between agricultural export and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), (Domestic saving, government expenditure on agriculture and foreign direct investment) between the period ranging from 2013-2016. It was also revealed in the study that 81%, 62% and 41% of the Tea, coffee and flowers’ variation in GDP respectively could be explained by Domestic Savings, Government Expenditure and Foreign Direct Investment. In order to improve the agricultural sector it is recommended that government provides more funding for agricultural universities in Rwanda to carry out researches on all areas of agricultural production this will lead to more exports and improvement in the competitiveness of Rwandan agriculture production in international markets. The Central bank of Rwanda should also come up with a stable policy for loan disbursement to farmers at a reasonable interest payback.
This study analysed the impact of food trade dynamics on regional integration and food security among ECOWAS Member States. The study used secondary data covering a period of 43 years (1970 – 2012). Data used was sourced from FAOSTAT database. Analytical techniques employed include: Overall Openness Index (OPI); Intensity of Trade Index and Herfindahl index. The study revealed that smaller countries are more open to trade than the larger economies. The study concluded that regional intensity of trade (RIT) rose after the region became a free trade area (FTA), food trade diversification increased, while food insecurity significantly reduced in the region after the regional trade treaty. The study recommended that the region should speed up actions to implement all necessary measures needed to make the custom union fully operational as envisaged by the ECOWAS commission, to further boost trade and reduce food insecurity in the region.
Corporate governance is very crucial to all listed firms, as it has been argued that listed firms are likely to get external finance, not only because of the reputation of the capital market and excessive investor optimism, but also due to assurances provided by their corporate governance systems.
This study aims to use a Corporate Governance Index (CGI) and assess whether good corporate governance practices/structures in the Nigerian banking sector enhances the market value of deposit money banks or otherwise. Using Tobin’s Q ratio as proxy for Firm Value, the study employed panel data regression method on extracted data from annual reports of listed (DMBs) deposit money banks in Nigeria for a period of twelve years, from 2006 to 2017.
The study finds that Firm value is positively associated with corporate governance and market capitalization. Hence DMBs with good corporate governance mechanisms in place and high profitability are valued more by investors in the capital market while those that are growing in size and age are likely to be valued less by investors in the market.
It is therefore recommended that DMBs in Nigeria should pay more attention to corporate governance practices in order to enhance their firm value and attract more investors in the capital market. Regulatory authorities such as as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposits Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should develop and harmonize good corporate governance index for DMBs in Nigeria and ensure compliance by the DMBs so as to enhance the capital market and therefore assist in the growth and development of the economy in general.
While reviewing financial information in the annual reports of firms, each of the internal and external users of financial information has a different objective in mind for the firm. In effect, the same set of annual reports of the firm is being reviewed by different types of users with a different objective in mind. This paper aims to measure the extent of voluntary disclosure provided in the annual reports of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria over a period of twelve (12) years from 2006 to 2017. Using three panel data regression models (the pooled, the fixed effects and the random effects OLS) voluntary disclosure scores of the DMBs is estimated on selected DMBs’ corporate governance attributes (Board Composition, Audit Committee Composition, Board Size, frequency of audit committee meetings and presence of foreigner on board). The study finds that board composition, audit committee composition and frequency of audit committee meetings are positively correlated with voluntary information disclosure and that board size and presence of foreigner on board are negatively correlated with voluntary information disclosure. The study recommends that regulatory authorities in Nigeria should ensure standardization in reporting formats for DMBs to allow for comparability among different DMBs. It is also recommended that government should provide incentives for more voluntary disclosures to reduce information asymmetry in the Nigeria Stock Exchange market and attract more foreign investments into the market, and hence boost the economy. Based on the findings of this study, it is further recommended that board independence should be encouraged by the regulatory authorities as it fosters more voluntary disclosure. Moreover, based on the findings of this study, policies that restrict board size should be favoured as banks with a larger board size tend to disclose less voluntary information.
