Understanding the African Lions: Growth Traps and Opportunities in Six African Economies
The "African Lions" research project examined the economic growth and development experiences of six key fast-growing or economically dominant African countries, to better understand the relationship between economic growth and employment outcomes at the detailed country level.
Funder: The African Growth Initiative (AGI) at the Brookings Institution, and UNU-Wider
Full vidoe of the 2016 Book Launch event hosted by Brookings in Washington D.C.:
Project Outputs: Six country papers have been collated into a series of WIDER and Brookings working papers in 2015/6, and an edited book was published by Brookings Press in 2016.
1. Seid, Y., Taffesse, A.Seyoum & Ali, S.Nuru (2015) Ethiopia—an agrarian economy in transition. 2015/154. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. (Also an August 2016 Brookings Working Paper)
2. Bhorat, H., K. Naidoo, M. Oosthuizen and K. Pillay (2015). Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa"2015/141. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. (Also a June 2016 Brookings Working Paper)
3. Aryeetey, E. and W. Baah-Boateng (2015). ‘Understanding Ghana’s Growth Success Story And Job Creation Challenges’. 2015/140. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. (Also a June 2016 Brookings Working Paper)
4. Kimenyi, M.S., F.M. Mwega and N.S. Ndung'u (2015). ‘The African Lions: Kenya Country Case Study’. 2015/134. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. (Also a May 2016 Brookings Working Paper)
5. Ajakaiye, O., A.T. Jerome, D. Nabena and O.A. Alaba (2015). ‘Understanding The Relationship Between Growth And Employment In Nigeria’. 2015/124. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. (Also a May 2016 Brookings Working Paper)
6. Jones, S. and F. Tarp (2015). ‘Understanding Mozambique’S Growth Experience Through An Employment Lens’. WIDER Working Paper 2015/109. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. (Also an April 2016 Brookings Working Paper)
Additional:
UNU-WIDER Research Brief: Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa
Brookings Blogs: Trends in Ethiopia’s dynamic labor market - 17 August 2016; African Lions: A ‘new elite’ in the South African labor market? - 29 June 2016; African Lions: Ghana’s job creation successes and obstacles - 7 June 2016; African Lions: Tapping the potential of Kenya’s economic growth - 16 May 2016; Nigeria’s jobless growth - 5 May 2016; Unpacking labor trends and growth in Mozambique - 25 April 2016.
Interview with Haroon Bhorat: Growth and transformation in African economies
In the media: South Africa’s civil servants are the country’s new labour elite