The Research Group on African Development Perspectives has opened the International Call for Papers for Volume 20 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook. Major theme for Volume 20 is “Science, Technology and Innovation Policies for Inclusive Growth in Africa”. Guest Editors and Contributors are invited to cooperate with the Research Group on this volume (see the International Call for Papers). Main issues proposed for the volume are outlined in detail in the International Call for Papers. Beside of analytical studies and empirical assessments of African National Innovation systems and reports on the working of STI Policies in African countries, a deep country focus is planned for Tunisia, Sudan, South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, and Nigeria. Important is also the policy focus of the contributions to Volume 20. Please send your Abstract as soon as possible!

Volume 18 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook for 2015 has the title: “Africa’s Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration – Towards Transformative Regional Integration”. The main issue is how regional integration in Africa can become more transformative.

Volume 18 will be published in early 2016. The three Units (Parts) of Volume 18 are:
Unit 1: Towards Transformative Regional Integration in Africa
Unit 2: Specific Policy Issues of Regional Integration in Africa
Unit 3: Global Value Chains and Regional Impacts in Africa

Patrick N. Osakwe, Head, Trade and Poverty Branch, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva, Switzerland, and
Isabelle Ramdoo, Deputy Head of the Economic Transformation and Trade Programme at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in Maastricht, The Netherlands, have joined for Volume 18 the Editorial Committee of the Professors Tobias Knedlik (Managing Editor), Achim Gutowski (Book Review Editor) and Karl Wohlmuth (Volume Editor).

Volume 19 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook for 2016/17 has the title “Africa’s Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration – Towards New Trade and Investment Policies”. The main issue is how trade and foreign investment can support structural transformation in Africa.

Volume 19 will also be published in 2016. The three Units (Parts) of Volume 19 are:
Unit 1: New Trade Policies in Africa for Structural Change
Unit 2: New Investment Policies in Africa for Structural Change
Unit 3: Book Reviews and Book Notes

Oyebanke Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, New York, U.S.A, and with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, and
Reuben A. Alabi, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Department of Agricultural Economics, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria, and Guest Professor and Project Director at IWIM for the period 2015-2017, have joined for Volume 19 the Editorial Committee of the Professors Tobias Knedlik (Managing Editor), Achim Gutowski (Book Review Editor) and Karl Wohlmuth (Volume Editor).

See on the African Development Perspectives Yearbook Project: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm , and http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/forschung/forsch-adpy.htm , and https://www.karl-wohlmuth.de/african_development_perspectives_yearbook/ , and https://www.karl-wohlmuth.de/afrikanische_entwicklungsperspektiven/ .

According to continent-wide analyses and country-specific information Africa’s Middle Class has grown rapidly in the past two decades, and a further growth is anticipated. Although there are great differences in measurement, based on income, consumption and wealth indicators, the respective ranges for defining the middle class differ widely and matter when separating the middle class from the poor and the rich in Africa. The empirical evidence points to a further growth of Africa’s middle class, but the views on the development impacts of this growth differ. In the discussion among the Africanists quite often a link is made between the growth of the African Middle Class and the economic growth in Africa. The “Africa Rising” story is based on the expectation that there will be high economic growth rates in Africa also in the future and that Africa’s Middle Class will fuel it. Because of the importance of this link it is necessary to assess critically these growth perspectives. This is done in a new book “The Rise of Africa’s Middle Class”, to be published in 2016 by Zed Books. It is edited by Professor Henning Melber, Senior Advisor/Director Emeritus, The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala/Sweden and Guest Professor at various universities in Africa and Europe.

The Rise of Africa's Middle Class

ISBN: 9781783607143 (Cloth)

Professor Oluyele Akinkugbe, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and Professor Karl Wohlmuth, University of Bremen have contributed to this book with a chapter on “Africa's Middle Class, Africa's Entrepreneurs and the Missing Middle”. This study is based on researches about the growth of Africa’s Middle Class and the impacts on the development of Africa’s Entrepreneurship. Specifically, the chapter investigates the role of Africa’s Middle Class for closing the “Missing Middle”, the gap between the few large and the many small and informal enterprises in Africa. The question is raised if the growth of Africa’s Middle Class will contribute to the growth of African enterprises so that the “Missing Middle” development trap can be overcome. An analysis of African enterprises and entrepreneurs is presented, by type of economic characteristics (survival versus growth-oriented enterprises) and by type of economic motivation (necessity-driven versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurs). The purpose of the analysis is to assess if the growth of Africa’s Middle Class will create a viable entrepreneurship sector and a dynamic class of entrepreneurs. Also the role of development policy is investigated in this context; it is asked if and how public development policies can support the growth of African enterprises and of a dynamic African entrepreneurial class and to what extent these are rooted in the growing African middle class (see the link to the new book on “The Rise of Africa’s Middle Class” at Zed Publishers: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/R/bo25073345.html ). Professor Karl Wohlmuth has presented in 2014 the study “African Lions, African Tigers, and Emerging African Middle Classes – A Very Skeptical Note Extended” (Link: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/files/dateien/1401_african_lions_sceptical.pdf ). In this study the “Africa Rising” story is critically examined and related to the growth of Africa’s Middle Class.

The cooperation of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives at IWIM with a group of professors from ENIT/El Manar University in Tunis has seen major events in the year 2015. The Research Group is supporting the "Engineering and Technology Policy/ETP" study programme at ENIT. Outstanding event was the Expert Seminar held in Bremen. Six professors from ENIT participated over a full week at the Expert Seminar in Bremen to be informed about "The Regional Innovation System (RIS) of the Country State of Bremen, Germany: Actors, Institutions, Policies, and Processes" (see the Programme of the Expert Seminar and the Introductory Presentation by Professor Karl Wohlmuth, the organizer of the Expert Seminar in Bremen).

The involved universities and research institutes in Bremen and the press reported intensively about the Seminar; see the reports by the University of Bremen (PDF May 2015 and PDF December 2014), and the Interview with Professor Karl Wohlmuth about the project in the Magazine of the University of Bremen from July 2015, BUS Number 139 (PDF BUS 139), the reports by the University of Applied Sciences Bremen with the links: http://www.hs-bremen.de/internet/de/einrichtungen/presse/mitteilungen/2015/detail/index_51758.html and http://www.hs-bremen.de/internet/de/einrichtungen/presse/mitteilungen/2015/detail/index_51417.html , the report by DAAD in their Press Service with the link: http://www.pressebox.com/pressrelease/hochschule-bremen/Anregungen-fuer-die-Modernisierung-von-Bildung-Forschung/boxid/739986 , the report in the local press (PDF 1 und PDF 2), and the report on the event titled "Wissenschaftsdelegation aus Tunesien zu Besuch am BIBA" by the BIBA LogDynamics Newsletter of June 2015 with the Link: http://www.logdynamics.de/newsletter.html . The Minutes of the Expert Seminar (Minutes) and the Photo Gallery (Access via Dropbox) about the event are also made available. The Dropbox is in the order of the days of the Expert Seminar (Programme). A short version of the Minutes of the Fact Finding Mission to ENIT by the German core group from November 2014 is also available (see the Minutes of the Fact Finding Mission).

Professor Karl Wohlmuth was interviewed by the BUS Magazine of the University of Bremen about the Cooperation Project Bremen-Tunis (see BUS July 2015, Number 139)

Another important activity was the participation of Professor Achim Gutowski, as a representative of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives, at the UNESCO International Workshop "Inter-university networking for capacity-building in STI policy: Towards a comprehensive African master programme at the ENIT" in Hammamet, Tunisia (see the reports by UNESCO on the meeting and on the ETP programme with the links: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_working_to_strengthen_capacities_in_sti_policy/#.ViSw2m73EdU and http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/all-events/?tx_browser_pi1[showUid]=31206&cHash=87c0b463af ; all the documents for the International Workshop and about the ETP programme at ENIT can be downloaded as well as the Photo Gallery). The project is part of UNESCO's Priority Africa Programme.

Source: UNESCO, UNESCO's Priority Africa Programme

The documents are also available in PDF format: the List of participants, the Concept note, the ETP programme, the Workshop Booklet, and the Official Photo of the International Delegates .The Photo Gallery of the Meeting in Hammamet is accessible at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127450990@N05/sets/72157654594903029/ . Professor Dr. Achim Gutowski was appointed as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of UNESCO for this project. The media coverage of the event in Hammamet and about the ETP programme was great (see the following entries: http://www.leconomistemaghrebin.com/tag/enit/ and https://www.facebook.com/etp.enit and http://www.taasti.org/etp/fr/documents.html and http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2015/06/15/universite-lenit-lance-le-1er-master-en-politiques-des-sti/ and http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/all-events/?tx_browser_pi1[showUid]=31206&cHash=87c0b463af ). A detailed plan for the workshop follow-up was agreed upon since, and an online platform for STI collaboration was installed, with IWIM being part of it. At the workshop, an agreement was reached to establish a "community of practice" (COP), an online collaborative space, named the "Inter-academic network for capacity-building in STI policy". This will be a platform to share resources and learning/teaching tools among the many partners to the project.

Source: TAASTI, Workshop on Inter Academic networking for STI Policy

Other activities ongoing are the works on the MOOC programme, an Online Course on the Innovation System of the Country State of Bremen; responsible experts for this task from the German side are Professor Dr. Hans-Heinrich Bass, University of Applied Sciences Bremen, and Dr. Yildiray Ogurol, Head of the Media Center of the University of Bremen; Professor M'Henni and Professor Thouraya Guizani are the responsible persons for the Tunisian side to do the work on the MOOC. An International Conference in Tunis is planned by Professor Jelel Ezzine, ENIT/TAASTI. The main theme will be: "STI Policies in Tunisia and Economic Changes in the Region".

Im Europäischen Parlament wird jetzt sowohl im Handelsausschuss als auch im Entwicklungsausschuss über die vereinbarten Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) diskutiert (vgl. die Passagen zu den Rechtsgrundlagen einer Befassung des Europäischen Parlaments in den Europaverträgen: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_6.2.3.html ). Diese Abkommen sollen das Verhältnis zwischen der EU und den AKP-Staaten neu bestimmen. Bereits seit dem Jahr 2000 (Cotonou-Abkommen) wird über diese neue Form der Wirtschaftsbeziehungen und der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit verhandelt. Aber auch im Jahr 2015 ist dieser Prozess noch nicht abgeschlossen. Einige Abkommen sind zwar seit dem Jahr 2014 ausverhandelt, aber noch nicht ratifiziert geschweige denn implementiert. Viele Fragen sind noch offen, sowohl auf afrikanischer Seite als auch auf europäischer Seite. Bis zuletzt versuchten die AKP-Länder, Alternativen zu den EPAs durchzusetzen, doch ohne Erfolg (vgl. dazu die Position der AKP-Länder vom April 2014: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2014/433843/EXPO-DEVE_ET%282014%29433843_EN.pdf ). Zu diesem Thema wird nach wie überaus kontrovers diskutiert, auch in Bremen.

Professor Karl Wohlmuth bei seinem Vortrag über die Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) mit Afrika

Am 11. Juni 2015 fand im EuropaPunktBremen eine interessante und kontroverse Diskussion über Chancen und Risiken der „Economic Partnership Agreements“ (EPA) statt. Der Entwicklungsökonom Prof. Dr. Karl Wohlmuth (IWIM, Universität Bremen) stellte den historischen Hintergrund und den aktuellen Stand der Verhandlungen zwischen der Europäischen Union und fünf regionalen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaften in Afrika dar (vgl. die PDF von Prof. Karl Wohlmuth). Es handelt sich um die westafrikanische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft ECOWAS, die Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft SADC im südlichen Afrika, die Ostafrikanische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft EAC, die zentralafrikanische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und den Gemeinsamen Markt für das östliche und südliche Afrika ESA. Aber nur in zwei Abkommen der EU mit regionalen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaften sind alle afrikanischen Mitgliedsländer vertreten (ECOWAS und EAC). Daher kann nur in diesen beiden regionalen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaften die regionale Integration durch die EPAs unterstützt werden. Es ist den beiden afrikanischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaften in den letzten Verhandlungsrunden aber gelungen, die vorgeschlagenen EPA-Vertragstexte deutlich zu verbessern (durch Ausnahmen von der geforderten Handelsliberalisierung, Schutzklauseln, Regionalfonds, Dialogforen, etc.). Professor Wohlmuth ging daher besonders auf die Beispiele des ECOWAS-EPA und des EAC-EPA ein, da diese Abkommen doch einige interessante innovative Elemente enthalten und wesentliche Kritikpunkte ausräumen, die zurecht moniert worden sind (vgl. als Beispiel den aktuellen Vertragstext des ECOWAS-EPA: http://twnafrica.org/ECOWAS%20WA%20&%20EU%20EPA%20draft%20text%20as%20at%20Feb%202014.pdf ). Aus einem reinen Freihandelsabkommen ist dadurch ein Handels- und Entwicklungsabkommen geworden.

Der Abgeordnete für Bremen im Europäischen Parlament, Dr. Joachim Schuster (SPD), ergänzte diese Darstellung um die Berichterstattung aus dem Handelsausschuss des Parlaments, dessen Mitglied er ist. Ein Schwerpunkt der Diskussion in Bremen war die Frage, wie es gelingen kann, die angestrebte Handelsliberalisierung (sofortige vollständige Liberalisierung auf Seiten der EU und mittel- bis langfristige Liberalisierung auf Seiten der afrikanischen Wirtschaftsregionen) an die Bedingungen der Einführung sozialer, humanitärer sowie demokratiestärkender Maßnahmen in den afrikanischen Ländern zu knüpfen. In der Diskussion verdeutlichte sich, dass schon diese Verhandlungsposition der EU bei der Ausgestaltung von Handels- und Entwicklungsabkommen mit Afrika alles andere als einfach ist. Hinzu kommt der globale Konkurrenzdruck von Ländern anderer Regionen, wie Indien oder China, die mitunter mit sehr attraktiven Angeboten anstreben, in den afrikanischen Markt zu drängen und die Länder in neue wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zu bringen. Auch die Rolle der USA in Afrika wird gerade neu bestimmt. Auch darauf muss die EU eine Antwort finden. Die EPAs bieten nach Ansicht von Prof. Wohlmuth daher eine Chance, die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen mit Afrika grundlegend neu - und zudem vertraglich mit Bindungswirkung für beide Seiten - zu bestimmen. Dr. Joachim Schuster betonte besonders den erwarteten Beitrag zur nachhaltigen, demokratischen, friedensstiftenden und sozialen Entwicklung in Afrika.

In der Beurteilung von Chancen und Risiken der Bestimmungen der WTO als Basis für solche Abkommen zeigte sich dennoch eine unterschiedliche Einschätzung zwischen den Diskutanten. Während Professor Wohlmuth den Aspekt des Schutzes von Mindestnormen durch WTO-Bedingungen betonte, zeigte sich Dr. Joachim Schuster hier skeptischer und fordert eindeutige soziale und demokratische Verpflichtungen aller Verhandlungspartner, beispielsweise durch Einbindung auch zivilgesellschaftlicher Gruppen aus den beteiligten Ländern in die Verhandlungen. Dies wird auch und insbesondere in der Phase der Implementierung der EPAs wichtig werden. Die Veranstaltung war gut besucht und zeichnete sich durch eine lebhafte Diskussion aus (vgl. zu den Berichten über Inhalte und Ablauf der Diskussion die folgenden Mitteilungen der veranstaltenden Institutionen: http://www.europa.bremen.de/detail.php?gsid=bremen97.c.12254.de&asl=bremen97.c.3173.de und http://aia-bremen.de/ und http://joachim-schuster.eu/veranstaltung-zu-freihandelsabkommen-der-eu-mit-den-afrikanischen-staaten/#more-1724 ).

Professor Karl Wohlmuth in der Diskussion mit dem Publikum über die Folgen der EPAs

Von der Forschungsgruppe Afrikanische Entwicklungsperspektiven, die Professor Karl Wohlmuth am IWIM leitet, wird zu dem Thema demnächst der Band 18 des African Development Perspectives Yearbook herausgegeben, in dem es um die EPAs und um neue transformative Strategien der regionalen Integration in Afrika geht. Die Mitherausgeberin des Bandes 18 des Jahrbuchs, Isabelle Ramdoo vom European Centre for Development Policy Management/ECDPM in Maastricht, Niederlande, und ihr Kollege Dr. San Bilal haben kürzlich zum Verhandlungsstand bei den EPAs und zu den Perspektiven der EU-AKP-Kooperation eine informative Studie herausgegeben (vgl. dazu:  http://ecdpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Great_Insights_Vol3_Issue9_Oct-Nov_2014.pdf ). Der Dialog über die EPAs soll in Bremen fortgesetzt werden.

Again Professor Alabi, Guest professor at IWIM, was invited to an AERC conference in Addis Ababa to report on ongoing researches about “Pro-poorness of fertilizer and agrochemical use and its implications on food security in Nigeria”. He has developed at IWIM a methodology to analyze the pro-poorness of fertilizer subsidies from the side of state and federal governments in Nigeria. He will participate at the AERC Biannual Research Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November/December 2015 for a full week; he will give presentations and he will participate at discussions. AERC is a leading research foundation for the support of African scientists to become part of the international research community. The invitation was presented to him by the Executive Director of AERC in Nairobi, Kenya.

As an AGRODEP member, Professor Reuben A. Alabi was invited to attend a high level “Applied Panel Data Econometrics” training course. The AGRODEP/IFPRI Dakar Management Team has selected Professor Alabi from a long list of candidates. The training workshop took place in Dakar, Senegal, on September 7-11, 2015. AGRODEP (African Growth & Development Policy) Modelling Consortium, facilitated by IFPRI, is an institution to support African agricultural economists. The programme is supported by the prestigious IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) in Washington D.C. (see the Link to AGRODEP: http://www.agrodep.org/ ). The aims of AGRODEP are self-described as follows: “The African Growth and Development Policy Modelling Consortium is an initiative aimed at positioning African experts to take a leadership role in the study of strategic development questions and the broader agricultural growth and policy debate facing African countries.” and “AGRODEP maintains repositories of economic models and data sets, related documentation and research output available to all Network Members.”

Professor Reuben Adeolu Alabi, Department of Agricultural Economics, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma Edo State, Nigeria and IWIM, University of Bremen, and Adams Oshobugie Ojor Adams, Department of Agricultural Economics, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma Edo State, Nigeria, presented a research report on “The Pro-Poorness of Fertilizer Subsidy and its Implications on Food Security in Nigeria” (see the Research Report and the Agenda of the Conference in Arusha, Tanzania) at the Biannual AERC Research Workshop. An AERC Plenary Session on “Sovereign Wealth Funds and Natural Resource Management in Africa” and five Research Groups Meetings were held from May 31-June 4, 2015 in Arusha, Tanzania.

Professor Reuben A. Alabi, IWIM and Professor Karl Wohlmuth, IWIM, presented the paper “The Case of Sustainable Management of Solid Waste in Germany: Practical Lessons for Nigeria based on the Country State of Bremen” at the 2nd International Summit: Waste Summit 2015, Financing Management In Developing Economies, 22nd - 24th April 2015, Lagos, Nigeria (see the Extended Abstract). The Waste Summit was organized by the Waste Management Society Of Nigeria (WAMASON) and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). These are leading environmental organizations in Nigeria (see the two websites: http://www.environmental-expert.com/companies/waste-management-society-of-nigeria-wamason-24860 and http://www.iswa.org/ ). Professor Reuben A. Alabi is the Project Director of the Research Programme “Environment and Development Management Nigeria-Germany: Comparing Waste Management Value Chains” at IWIM, University of Bremen. At Lagos, the Paper and a Power Point Presentation were given. Professor Karl Wohlmuth is Consultant and Senior Advisor in the Project since January 2015. The duration of the Project is through end of 2017.

The Call for Papers for Volume 18 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook is still open (see PDF Call for Papers). The Editors welcome further proposals and suggestions.

Of great interest in the new volume are case studies on successful African exporters; case studies of successful partnerships between firms in Africa and in US, Europe and Asia; case studies of global value chains with increasing higher value added African participation in areas such as agro-industries, mining beneficiation and manufacturing; country reports on new trade and industry policies; and sector reports on value addition to exports of commodities. Also case studies on entrepreneurial networks of the African diaspora with a favourable impact on African exports are considered.

Also for the Book Review and Book Notes Section further contributions are welcomed: books, journals, documents, reports, working papers of relevance for the theme of volume 18.

In Volume 17 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook with the title Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa – Country Cases the Editors took up the event of the Independence of the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011 to publish a special Unit on Sudan and South Sudan as part of the new Yearbook. This Unit 1 on New Economic Policies for Sudan and South Sudan - The Need for a Strategic Economic Cooperation highlights the need for new macroeconomic strategies and policies in Sudan and South Sudan. The Editors were supported by research groups from the two countries. The authors of this Unit 1 are convinced that new macroeconomic policies (supported by medium-term and long-term development strategies) and a strategic economic and political co-operation between the two countries (based on visions of sustainable growth in the border areas) are necessary for Sudan and South Sudan to reach peace and development.

Volume 17 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook contains as well a Unit 2 on Macroeconomic Policies in West Africa. Researchers from academic institutions in Nigeria and Senegal, and from WAMA (West African Monetary Agency) and WAMI (West African Monetary Institute) have contributed to this important Unit. The established CFA-based WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) integration process is contrasted with the newly established WAMZ (West African Monetary Zone) integration process. Senegal was included as a country case for the WAEMU, while Nigeria is a case for the WAMZ.

In Unit 3 of Volume 17 a great number of book reviews and book notes are presented and so this Unit 3 is a valuable source of information on new books, journal issues, documents and research papers with a focus on macroeconomic policy formation in Africa. The Unit 3 gives access to a great number of economic reports on Africa economies. Volume 17 is complementary to Volume 16 on Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa – General Issues which presents a new macroeconomic strategy for Africa (see the short description of the contents of volume 17 on the back cover of the book).

The New Volume 17: Order your copy at LIT (Link: http://www.lit-verlag.de/london/ )

The New Macroeconomic Strategy For Africa as developed in Volume 16 focusses on employment-targeting by considering the policy space for more facilitating fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies. The New Strategy emphasizes also the vulnerability to (external and internal) shocks and the resilience factors so as to cope successfully with these shocks. As well the New Strategy considers those elements of macroeconomic policies which support inclusive and sustainable growth. Also, the New Strategy requests the adaptation of macroeconomic policies to the specific levels of economic governance and economic globalization of the country in question. Last, but not least, in the New Strategy institutional factors, such as a better cooperation of the three poles of macroeconomic policy-making (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, Central Bank), are taken into account.

Volume 16 also presents an analysis of the economics of the Arab Spring countries. How the political situation in the Arab Spring countries will develop in the years to come is unclear, but the need for sustainable macroeconomic policies and for inclusive growth policies is evident. The economics of the Arab Spring countries reveals that - despite of considerable economic growth prior to the Arab Spring events – inadequate employment growth, slow human capital accumulation, and a highly restricted and unequal access to economic opportunities are among the major causes of the “Arab Spring” uprisings. There is more need for employment targeting in macroeconomic policies, for macroeconomic policies emphasizing inclusive growth policies, and for considering vulnerability and resilience factors, economic governance and economic globalization trends, and institutional reforms regarding the key macroeconomic policy-making institutions.

Because of the great number of high-quality submissions of papers for Volume 18 on Africa’s Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration the International Call for Papers for this volume was closed recently (but submissions of papers on successfully and competitively exporting African companies and on global and regional value chains led by African firms are still accepted).

The African Development Perspectives Yearbook is released since 1989 by the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen. The Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen celebrates in 2014 a quarter of a century of publication activity. Over the years the African Development Perspectives Yearbook became the major English-language Annual on African Development in Germany. Volumes 16 and 17 were supported with contributions and advice by staff from ILO/Geneva, UNESCWA/Beirut and UNDP/Cairo, by staff from research institutions in Egypt, Nigeria and Senegal, and by staff from ECOWAS/WAMZ/WAMI institutions in West Africa. The Managing Editor (Professor Dr. T. Knedlik, University of Fulda and IWH Halle), the Review Editor (Professor Dr. A. Gutowski, University Campus Hamburg) and the Volume Editor (Professor Dr. Karl Wohlmuth, University of Bremen) prepare now Volume 18 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook for the year 2015 with the title “Africa’s Progress towards Regional and Global Economic Integration”. See more about the Yearbook Project ( http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/about.htm ). See the complete list of Yearbook volumes since 1989 at http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm and the list of the Yearbook volumes being still available with the publisher at: http://www.lit-verlag.de/reihe/adpy.

A New Macroeconomic Strategy For Africa is presented in Volume 16 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook. The New Macroeconomic Strategy For Africa focusses on employment-targeting by considering the policy space for more facilitating fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies. The New Strategy emphasizes also the vulnerability to (external and internal) shocks and the resilience factors so as to cope successfully with these shocks. As well the New Strategy considers those elements of macroeconomic policies which support inclusive and sustainable growth. Also, the New Strategy requests the adaptation of macroeconomic policies to the specific levels of economic governance and economic globalization of the country in question. Last, but not least, in the New Strategy institutional factors, such as the better cooperation of the three poles of macroeconomic policy-making (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, Central Bank), are taken into account. 

Volume 16 also presents an analysis of the economics of the Arab Spring countries. However the political developments in the Arab Spring countries will develop, the need for sustainable macroeconomic policies and for inclusive growth policies is evident. The economics of the Arab Spring countries reveals that - despite of considerable economic growth prior to the Arab Spring events – inadequate employment growth, slow human capital accumulation, and a highly restricted access to economic opportunities are among the major causes of the "Arab Spring" uprisings. There is more need for employment targeting in macroeconomic policies, for macroeconomic policies emphasizing inclusive growth policies, and for considering vulnerability and resilience factors, economic governance and economic globalization trends, and institutional reforms regarding the key macroeconomic policy-making institutions.

A Companion Volume 17 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook will report on country cases (Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, South Sudan) and on ECOWAS/WAMZ regional economic and monetary integration issues. Volume 17 is also expected in 2014.

The New Volume: Order your copy at LIT (Link: http://www.lit-verlag.de/london/ )

The African Development Perspectives Yearbook — The Flagship Publication of IWIM

The African Development Perspectives Yearbook is released since 1989 by the Research Group on African Development Perspectives. Over the years the Yearbook became the major English-language Annual on African Development in Germany. Volumes 16 and 17 were supported with contributions also by staff from ILO/Geneva, UNESCWA/Beirut and UNDP/Cairo, by research institutions in Egypt and by ECOWAS/WAMZ/WAMI/Freetown staff in West Africa. The Managing Editor (Dr. T. Knedlik, IWH Halle) and the Volume Editor (Professor Karl Wohlmuth, University of Bremen) prepare now Volume 18 of the Yearbook for the year 2015 with the title "Africa's Progress towards Regional and Global Economic Integration". The Call for Papers for Volume 18 is still open (Call for Papers Volume 18: PDF). See more about the Yearbook Project ( http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/about.htm ).

Volume 16 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook with the title "Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa" has been finalized and the manuscript is now with the publisher (see the Synopsis for Volume 16), and the work on Volume 17 with the title "Africa's Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration" is starting soon.

Contributors are invited to submit their proposals and abstracts (see the International Call for Papers for Volume 17) to the Editors. Also potential Guest Editors are invited to express their interest to edit one of the four Units of Volume 17 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook - from the conceptual start to the final editorial work. Guest Editors can see the details about the four Units in the Call for Papers for Volume 17. Please contact the Managing Editor and the Volume Editor of Volume 17 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook in case of interest. For Unit 5 (Unit with Book Reviews and Book Notes) publishers and institutes are invited to send their books, research papers, issues of journals and documents to the Book Reviews/Book Notes Editor (see also the respective details in the International Call for Papers for Volume 17).

The African Development Perspectives Yearbook is published by the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen which has established since 1989 (the year of the publication of Volume 1 on Human Dimensions of Adjustment) an international network of scientific supporters and contributors (see details on the Research Group on African Development Perspectives). The African Development Perspectives Yearbook selects for each volume a specific theme of utmost importance for the building of new policy and governance frameworks in Africa (see the details about the already Published Volumes of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook). The main purpose of the edited volumes is it to inform the public about recent developments in Africa - by academic articles, analytical reports, specific country information and project reports. The aim is also to influence about inclusive and sustainable development strategies in Africa policy makers in governments, in the UN and related organizations, in the global donor community and in international NGOs, but also development experts at universities and media people.