Volume 20, Number 1, 2017

EN:

This paper analyzes capacity building in transportation, logistics, and security in Africa. It is one of the first few research studies that reflects the reality of the development of Africa’s infrastructural capacity for transport, based on the notion of the Physical Internet. Grounded on the analysis of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of transport logistics on the continent, the research sheds light on the deficit in infrastructure capacity of African countries. To this end, the study provides a set of recommendations for capacity building across African transport sectors.

EN:

This paper introduces a remittance-induced credit expansion in a static Keynesian macroeconomic model. A credit expansion in the monetary sector results in lowering the equilibrium level of interest rates, which in turn stimulates interest-sensitive consumption and investment. Secondly, the paper introduces a direct effect of remittances on investment. With the two extensions in a static Keynesian model of remittances, the paper derives the equilibrium level of national income and shows the effects of interactions of remittances with the monetary sector on national income. The results of the paper are illustrated numerically.

EN:

Between sporadic remittances and training of a qualified manpower mastering new technologies, what does Africa expect from its diaspora to fill its development gap in the current context of globalization? When it comes to capital building, defined as the process or strategy to endow or increase the technical, managerial, or intellectual skills of an individual or a group, its know-how or knowledge, and financial capital or purchasing power, the World Bank and other development partners seem to grant priority to remittances. This paper strongly suggests that attention may be granted to the transfer of scientific knowledge between Africa and its diaspora, as many believe that progressing knowledge would help bring out a neglected source of wealth to fight the scourges responsible for political and economic backwardness in industrial countries. The development models based on the diaspora’s contribution in several countries and regions of the world, particularly in Asia, show the importance of knowledge transfer in capacity building. Similarly, Silicon Valley in California demonstrates the role of emigrants in the knowledge industry. As the brain drain is a normal phenomenon of globalization, emigration of African professionals is no more an obstacle to Africa’s development. Rather, the African diaspora constitutes a pool of human and investment capital that can strongly contribute to the continent’s development. From our point of view, the diaspora has an important role to play in capacity building, provided respective governments come up with sound policies to promote its participation. The diaspora’s participation in nation-building without physical relocation on the one hand, and the existence of the first generation of retired researchers and academics organized into civil society associations such as AED (Association for Education and Development) in Cameroon, on the other hand, constitute the pipeline of knowledge transmission. African partners and its diaspora can build a genuine partnership to create sustainable and competitive scientific institutions in Africa on this foundation. Improved governance, leadership, regulations, and immigration policy of sending and receiving countries are necessary for transnational scholarly/economic engagement.

EN:

This paper examines the impact of setting up new audit committees in Tunisian banks on their corporate governance. Specifically studied were the effects of the establishment of audit committees on boards of directors’ effectiveness, internal auditor independence, external auditor effort, and internal control and financial reporting quality. The interview and survey methods were used to collect data from board members and the internal and external auditors of eight Tunisian banks shortly after they introduced audit committees on their boards. The main findings show that the establishment of new audit committees influences the breadth of the directors’ discussions during board meetings. In some of the banks studied, the new audit committees improve the internal auditors’ independence from top management, internal controls and financial reporting quality, and/or result in less effort by external auditors. Some of the interviewed external auditors view the new audit committees as a valuable governance mechanism, especially in cases of disagreement with management.