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Paper short abstract

This paper aims to explain and clarify the academic debate on how to prioritize actions for long-term development, wheter good governance is more important than economic development or not, especially in relation to the implementation of the sustainable development goals in Sub-saharan Africa.

Paper long abstract

There has been a general global consensus on the importance of good governance (rule of law, reduced corruption) for economic development. This is a well-established position in the aid policy community and in the literature on the quality of government, the literature on institutions and state development etc. This consensus has been challenged by the alternative hypothesis that economic development is actually a driver for good governance and not the other way around. This emerging literature is based on empirical cases, mainly from Africa and Asia. The clash of perspectives has large implications for development strategies and foreign aid. My ambition is to begin a testing of these hypotheses by clarifying what they actually claim in terms of causal chains and to discuss elements of empirical testing. I will compare the theories to point out what is similar and where they differ. I will also compare them to more general types of social science explanations, exemplified by the so-called three institutionalist perspectives in comparative and international politics. This topic is of general interest, while my primary interest is to problematize the implementation of the sustainable development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The SDGs seem to underestimate fundamental problems of implementation.

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Paper short abstract

Remittance payers are under-utilized and supported by the UN and donor agencies. This paper examines the forces that constrain remittances and suggests how the role of these migrants can be reconceptualized to mobilize their active participation in sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Paper long abstract

Goal 10 of the SDGs seeks to reduce inequality by limiting the transaction costs of remittances to less than 3% and eliminating corridors, which cost more than 5% by 2030. Making remittance transactions affordable is timely given that they were three times higher than foreign aid budgets to the developing world in 2012. This comparison between remittances and foreign aid tacitly recognizes these migrants as important actors in international development. There are no other explicit references to remittances in the SDGs or in the preceding MDGs. This absence demands analysis of how this group is conceptualized in related development agendas by other 'development actors', including UN and donor agencies.

More recent figures indicate that remittance growth has slowed to low and middle incomes countries since 2015. Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa are constrained by high transaction fees, corruption, and limitations on out-migration. Furthermore, remittance payers are under-utilized and under-supported by actors and agreements in the development landscape. This problem stems from the challenges of conceptualizing the role of remittance payers in sustainable development. As such, this paper applies a predominantly sociological analysis to examine how inequality, identity, and political interference in 'private matters' impact the active participation of this group. This paper is informed by interviews with members of donor organizations, remittance payers and diaspora groups. The policy implications are significant as this study seeks to understand how the reconceptualization of remittance payers by other development actors can optimize their contributions to sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Paper short abstract

Can open data be part of the solution towards greater accountability in development activities?

Paper long abstract

There was little talk of open data or transparency when the MDGs were adopted in 2000. But since then, the agenda has moved forward. In 2013, the United Nations called for a data revolution in development. In 2015, access to information and data were enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals. In the past few years, such calls for more data and greater transparency on development activities have multiplied. More specifically, initiatives around open data (aid, contracting, government). It translated into new commitments made by a growing number of actors, from donors (like the UN, WB, US, UK or EU) to partner country governments (from Afghanistan to Uganda and Bangladesh). All have pledged to make be more open and transparent, to provide more and better data on development in an effort towards greater transparency on development. It is assumed that open data has enormous potential for social transformation, innovation and economic growth, however, there has been little empirical study and thus evidence of the impact of open data in its various forms (Young and Verhulst, 2016).

Question: What are the motivations for these actors to commit to greater transparency? What is the expected impact in terms of accountability and development effectiveness?

1. The state of aid transparency: shared ambitions and responsibilities

2. Turning data into information: progress, gaps and challenges

3. Implementation at the national level: preliminary insights from fieldwork conducted in Benin and Tanzania