Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A)
This project examined the successful implementation of reforms helping to develop the financial system in Africa. Though continuing to make progress, the continent has not fully reached its potential in this field. Therefore the research team was not only analysing factors for success but also for possible obstacles. The focus was on configurations of stakeholders, who push or block the reforms.
Project Team:
Florence Dafe
Financing:
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Time frame:
2009 - 2013
/
completed
Project description
In many cases the steps necessary for reform in the field of financial system development are recognised on both national and regional level in Africa. Moreover there exist numerous concepts with respect to the technical aspects of such reforms. Despite having made progress in financial system reform, African countries and regions appear to have not yet reached their full potential for reform in this field.
The research project thus examined success factors and key obstacles in designing and implementing financial system reform policies, taking primarily a political economy perspective. Which are the relevant configurations of stakeholders and of their interests in the field of financial system reforms? Under which conditions do particular configurations block reform and when do they facilitate or even drive them?
The Partnership for Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A), supported by AfDB, AFD, Germany, DFID, USAID, SIDA, CGAP, IMF, FIRST, UNCDF, MinBuZa and the World Bank Group, is an initiative to support the efforts of African countries to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty by promoting financial sector development. The Partnership is based on the recognition that the financial sector is a key driver of private investment, employment generation and economic growth in Africa.
Publications
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Hilfe jenseits von Almosen
Wolff, Peter (2009)
in: Financial Times Deutschland 7. Juli 2009, 24 -
Taking Africa beyond aid
Volz, Ulrich / Peter Wolff (2009)
in: Guardian, 23 August 2009 -
The potential of pro-market activism for finance in Africa: a political economy perspective
Dafe, Florence (2012)
in: Thorsten Beck / Samuel Munzele Maimbo (eds.), Financial sector development in Africa: opportunities and challenges, Washington, DC: World Bank, 177-231 -
The politics of central banking and implications for regulatory reform in sub-Saharan Africa: the cases of Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda
Dafe, Florence (2012)
Discussion Paper 2/2012 -
The potential of pro-market activism as a tool for making finance work for Africa: a political economy perspective
Dafe, Florence (2011)
Discussion Paper 2/2011 -
Regional financial integration in Sub-Saharan Africa: an empirical examination of its effects on financial market development
Frey, Leo / Ulrich Volz (2013)
in: South African Journal of Economics 81 (1), 79-117 -
Walking a tightrope progress in balancing multiple central bank objectives in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda
Dafe, Florence (2014)
Bonn: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)