Writing
Essays
Thinking in public about African markets, investment climate, and what actually moves reform from paper to practice.
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Trade & Markets
Right About the Wrong Sector
The standard account of why AGOA underdelivered says the preference was there and African firms could not reach it. Against the duty American customs actually collected, it holds for most of the schedule and fails for apparel, in the six economies of thirty-two that have an apparel industry. Those six carried about two thirds of the value, and the assistance was aimed at the lines where the value wasn't.
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Trade & Markets
What AGOA Is Actually Worth
The argument is all about how long AGOA lasts. I wanted to know what it is actually worth, so I worked it out line by line. The median margin comes to 4.4%, and on 37.3% of lines it is worth nothing at all.
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Trade & Markets
SADC at a Crossroads: What Seed Trade Harmonisation Teaches Us About Regional Integration
Getting a seed variety across a Southern African border still takes longer than it should. The reasons why are a quiet lesson in what regional integration actually requires.
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Agriculture & CSA
Zambia's Agricultural Paradox and the Case for Climate-Smart Agriculture
Agriculture employs more than half of Zambia's workforce but contributes about 4% of GDP. Why that gap matters, and why it makes the case for climate-smart agriculture a national economic one.
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Investment Climate
The Invisible Barriers: Why Investment Climate Reform Is Still the Hardest Work in Development
Why investment climate reform is still the hardest work in development. The visible barriers are easy to name; the invisible ones, the informal rules and institutional habits that persist after the law changes, are the real reason reform underdelivers.
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