Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy
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Item Analyzing the African Continental Free Trade Area (the AfCFTA) from an Informality Perspective: A Beautiful House in the Wrong Neighborhood(Global Studies Quarterly, 2023) Tieku, T.K.; Yakohene, A.B.The article critically explores the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from an informality perspective. The infor mality perspective sees unofficial rules, norms, practices, processes, actors, and decision-making structures as driving forces of the social world. They are ontologically before and building blocks of their formal counterparts. From this viewpoint, the failure to design the AfCFTA from the informal economy baseline makes it an unfit trade agreement for the African continent. Those who drafted the agreement, its supplementary protocols and annexes, and the decision-makers who signed as well as ratified them neglected the informal trading actors and unregistered enterprises in Africa. Rather than building the agreement around unregistered small-to-medium-scale enterprises, operated mostly by women and the youth, the AfCFTA and its legal instruments envisioned a utopian African trade market without them. The drafters and decision-makers of the AfCFTA seem to operate on the basic principle of no formalization and no gain from the free trade agreement. The result is a serious mismatch. The formally oriented AfCFTA is supposed to govern the largely informal African trading ecosystems. The failure to mainstream the informal economy in the AfCFTA makes the African Free Trade Agreement look like, to use a house metaphor, a beautifully constructed house located in the wrong neighborhood. The article substantiates this claim and shows its implications for the Pan-African integration project and the study of international relations. L“article aborde de manière critique la zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAf) d”un point de vue informel. Ce point de vue considère les règles, les normes, les pratiques, les processus, les acteurs et les structures de prise de décision non officiels comme des forces motrices du monde social. Tous sont ontologiquement antérieurs à leurs homologues formels, et représentent leurs éléments constitutifs. Selon ce point de vue, l“incapacité à concevoir la ZLECAf en tenant compte de l”économie informelle en fait un accord commercial inadapté au continent africain. Les personnes ayant rédigé l“accord, ses protocoles additionnels, ses annexes, tout comme les décideurs qui les ont signés et ratifiés, ont négligé les acteurs du commerce informel et les entreprises non enregistrées du continent africain. Au lieu de créer cet accord en s”appuyant également sur les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) non enregistrées, dirigées principalement par des femmes et des jeunes, la ZLECAf et ses instruments juridiques ont imaginé un marché commercial africain utopique, sans prendre en compte ces PME. Les rédacteurs et les décideurs de la ZLECAf semblent suivre le principe directeur suivant: pas de formalisation, pas de bénéfice de l“accord de libre-échange. Il en résulte une grave inadéquation. L”accord de libre-échange africain, largement formel, est supposé régir des écosystèmes commerciaux qui sont largement informels en Afrique. L“échec de l”intégration de l“économie informelle dans la ZLECAf fait que cet accord de libre-échange africain ressemble, selon une métaphore locale, à une belle maison dans un mauvais quartier. L”article justifie cette affirmation et montre ses implications dans l“intégration panafricaine et l”étude des relations internationales. Este artículo estudia de forma crítica el Área Continental Africana de Libre Comercio (AfCFTA, por sus siglas en inglés) desde la perspectiva de la informalidad. Esta perspectiva de la informalidad ve las reglas, las normas, las prácticas, los procesos, los agentes y las estructuras de toma de decisiones no oficiales como fuerzas impulsoras del mundo social que son ontológica mente anteriores a sus contrapartes formales y que constituyen bloques de construcción de estas. Desde este punto de vista, podemos afirmar que el hecho de que el AfCFTA no tuviera en cuenta para su diseño las líneas de base de la economía infor mal lo convierte en un acuerdo comercial inadecuado para el continente africano. Las personas que redactaron el acuerdo, así como sus protocolos complementarios y los anexos, y los responsables de la toma de decisiones que los firmaron y ratifi caron no tuvieron en cuenta ni a los actores comerciales informales ni a las empresas no registradas en África. En lugar de construir este acuerdo en torno a pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES) no registradas, operadas principalmente por mu jeres y jóvenes, el AfCFTA y sus instrumentos legales imaginaron un mercado comercial a nivel africano utópico, sin estas. Los redactores del AfCFTA y los tomadores de decisiones en lo referido al AfCFTA parecen haber actuado bajo el principio básico de no formalización, es decir, que no se obtiene ganancia del acuerdo de libre comercio. El resultado de esto es un grave desajuste. Se supone, entonces, que el AfCFTA, de orientación formal, debería regir en los ecosistemas comerciales africanos, que son, en gran parte, informales. La falta de integración de la economía informal en el AfCFTA hace que el acuerdo de libre comercio africano parezca, comparándolo con una casa, una casa magníficamente construida pero ubicada en el vecindario equivocado. El artículo corrobora esta afirmación y muestra sus implicaciones para el proyecto de integración panafricana y para el estudio de las relaciones internacionales.Item Implementation Research in Developed and Developing Countries: an Analysis of the Trends and Directions(Public Organization Review, 2022) Kipo-Sunyehzi, D.D.The article examines implementation research across developed countries (North America, Europe), developing countries (Asia, Pacific) and Africa. It examines some key trends and directions of implementation research across regions. It revisits policy debate among scholars on approaches to implementation-top-down, bottom-up and mixed, which characterised the developed world. Also, it adds some perspectives on the developing world, including Africa. The paper has three contributions: it highlights trends in implementation research in developed and developing countries. It gives some directions on implementation research in Africa. It recommends that the policy design process should not be neglected. is inimical to implementation.Item Stock Returns and Long-range Dependence(Global Business Review, 2019) Odonkor, A.A.; Amoah-Darkwah, E.; Ababio, E.N.; Andoh, R.This article studies the long-term memory behaviour of stock returns on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The estimates employed are based on the daily closing prices of seven stocks on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The results of the autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average-fractionally integrated generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARFIMA-FIGARCH) model suggest that the stock returns are characterized by a predictable component; this demonstrates a complete departure from the efficient market hypothesis, suggesting that relevant market information was only partially reflected in the changes in stock prices. This pattern of time dependence in stock returns may allow for past information to be used to improve the predictability of future returns.Item Public procurement policies of Nigeria and Ghana: an analysis of the administrative challenges in achieving value for money(Journal of Public Procurement, 2024) Kipo-Sunyehzi, D.D.; Abubakari, A-F.; Banchani, J-P. S.Purpose – This study aims to focus on public policy concerning the implementation of public procurement policies in Nigeria and Ghana toward achieving value for money in the procurement of goods, services and works. It specifically analyzes some major administrative challenges Nigeria and Ghana are faced with in the administration/implementation of public procurement policies toward achieving value for money. It looks at the relationship between the state (regulatory authorities) and substate (procurement entities) in the public sectors of Nigeria and Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – A comparative case study approach is adopted, where the two countries are compared in terms of achieving value for money. Data was collected from multiple sources, including in-depth interviews. The use of official documents and direct observations at the procurement regulatory authorities and entities’ premises. Findings – This study found Nigeria often used the four Es – economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity while Ghana mainly used the traditional five rights (right quantity, right quality, right price, right place and right time) as their criteria for ensuring value for money. The major administrative challenges found include corruption, low capacity of procurement personnel and poor knowledge of the procurement laws. Social implications – It recommends effective collaboration between government and civil society groups in the fight against corruption in procurement-related activities, with the implication that there is a need for periodic training for public procurement officials. Originality/value – It adds to the field of public procurement in terms of value for money in the procurement of goods, services and works in developing countries context.Item The Role of the UN Security Council in the Fight Against Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea(Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, 2023) Boamah, F.The UN Security Council continues to play a critical role in ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security. Towards this end, the Council has over the years delineated maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as a threat to international peace and security. Through Resolutions 2018 and 2039, the Council has since 2011 adopted what is largely a militarised approach to dealing with the menace of piracy in the region, similar to its approach in the Gulf of Aden. Even though threat levels are beginning to decline, the Gulf of Guinea is still considered a maritime hotspot. It is within this context that the Council has been moved to reconsider its militarised approaches to include non-kinetic measures. Recognising the critical interface between militarised and non-kinetic measures, the Council has adopted Resolution 2634 in what is considered to be a significant departure from its previous approach. This paper interrogates the rationale for this departure and assesses the extent to which this new approach would support the fight against piracy in the region.Item Frontline Workers’ Use of Discretion in the Implementation of National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana(International Journal of Public Administration, 2023) Kipo-Sunyehzi, D.D.; Brenya, E.; Fusheini, A.The article examines frontline workers’ use of discretion in the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana. It answers two questions: 1) how does discretion affect service delivery? 2) Whose interest does discretion serve in service delivery? The article provides three contributions. First, it brings a new direction in the use of discretion in organisations in a developing world context. Second, it adds to ‘how’ and ‘why’ frontline workers use discretion. Finally, it reveals whose interest the use of discretion serves. It utilises qualitative methods to reveal both positively motivated and negatively motivated discretion relationships that exist between frontline workers and clients. Most of the negatively inclined discretion is exercised largely by frontline workers in public organisations. It concludes that most of the frontline workers’ discretion serves the interest of their clients rather than service providers’ self-interest or the interest of their organisations.Item Human resource mobilisation and management in health systems of Africa: a comparative study of health insurance scheme and health facilities in Ghana(Inderscience, 2022) Kipo-Sunyehzi, D.D.This paper analyses the human resource mobilisation and management in the health systems of Africa. It compares five health organisations from public-private sectors in terms of how they mobilise and manage human resources in the implementation of Ghana's health insurance scheme. It adds to comparative research on HRM practices and organisational culture in a developing world context. It makes two unique contributions: from public-private organisational perspectives and employees/workers and clients perspectives on HR practices to improve workers skills/knowledge and meet clients' health needs. A multi-actor research methodology was adopted with in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, on-site direct observations and documents with a sample size of 107. The results reveal some ironies in public-private organisational behaviour, faith-based, profit-client oriented styles of HRM practices and how such factors affect clients' access to services. It found organisations with more bureaucracies/red tape and professionalism were the least preferred as clients experienced more waiting times.Item Perspectives on Public Policy Implementation in Developing World Context: The Case of Ghana’s Health Insurance Scheme(Springer, 2021) Kipo‑Sunyehzi, D.D.This paper examines factors that affect public policy implementation in developing world context, with some evidence from Ghana. It looks at how public policy design; organisational and individual factors affect implementation. Public policy implementation debate is along with top-down, bottom-up or mixed approaches. The health insurance scheme in Ghana is a home-based initiative of a developing country to provide health insurance cover for all persons resident in Ghana including those who cannot afford to pay-the poor and vulnerable groups. It utilises more qualitative comparative research approach and used public and private health organisations (hospitals/clinics) in analysing policy implementation process. The results show pol icy design and individual factors have more explanatory power than organisational factors. Also, results show more private health organisations received accreditation than the public ones. The public-private collaboration helped to increase policy beneficiaries’ access to healthcare services. But, these implementation challenges exist over-billings, over prescriptions, disagreements over tariffs and no prompt payments for healthcare services. It concludes that the private organisations exhibited more of agency than stewardship in protecting their profit-oriented/external interests.Item Exploring Africa’s Agency in International Politics(Africa Spectrum, 2021) Coffie, A.; Tiky, L.A protracted conventional knowledge within mainstream International Relations (IR) has been that African agents (states, organizations, and diplomats) are consumers of international norms and practices designed in the affluent countries of the Global North. Papers in this special issue present a challenge to this view; they discuss the active role and the influence of African actors in international politics and renew a call for the development of IR theories, concepts, and methods that reflect Global Southern and African experiences, ideas, institutions, actors and processes.Item Women, Internal Displacement and the Boko Haram Conflict: Broadening the Debate(African Security, 2020-03-02) Ajayi, T.F.Women and children make up 79 per cent of the population displaced by the conflict between the Nigerian government and the armed movement informally known as Boko Haram. Their lived experiences expose the considerable protection and humanitarian risks of being female in violent contexts and the complexities of addressing them. In addition to open conflict and inconsistent policy and humanitarian responses, women’s displacement is being protracted by disjunctures between women’s roles and their construction as victims in policy and humanitarian frameworks. Construed as lacking agency, displaced women are resisting the hardship of displacement by returning to Boko Haram. This article argues for a rethinking of the importance of context, autonomy and agency as a prerequisite to reconciling false narratives about women’s experiences of conflict and displacement and their lived realities. It speaks to broader debates about women and conflict and the utility of current approaches and frameworks for addressing the roles and needs of women in these contexts.