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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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 Posts:March 10, 2010The UN Goes to Hollywood—But Is It Ready for a Close-Up?By Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint post with Lauren Young. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been getting negative press about the relief efforts after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. Perhaps worst is a scathing report from Refugees International accusing the UN of ineffectual leadership, missing coordination, and weak communication while an estimated 1.2 million Haitians remain displaced. Though much of the report consists of standard blandishments (the authors spent just 10 days in-country), there is indeed evidence of serious negligence. To give just one example: the organization initially planned on allowing itself two and a half months—well into the rainy season—to distribute plastic sheeting to protect the displaced. It took a personal intervention from a senior official to get this activity moved up. Read More… 2 Comments »March 3, 2010Blurring the Line between Defense and DevelopmentBy Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint post with Julia Barmeier.
Should we be worried? Read More… 8 Comments »February 22, 2010Dubai’s Labor Market – A Model for Other Countries?By Vijaya RamachandranDubai has many unique features—it is a city state arising improbably out of the desert, boasting some extraordinary buildings, including a hotel shaped like an Arabian dhow and a 12 million sq ft shopping mall, with a fountain four times the size of the one at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. But despite this uniqueness, its labor market policies may well serve as a model for other countries. Dubai has actively sought talent from all corners of the world—its population of 1.7 million has four times as many foreigners as locals. These guest workers staff hotels, drive cabs, build skyscrapers, and run hair salons, among other things. It is hard to find a country that is not represented in Dubai. Dubai’s government grants them temporary work permits—usually for three years—with the possibility of renewal. Read More… 3 Comments »February 16, 2010Postcard from Dubai—Infrastructure Investments May Eventually Prove Wise After AllBy Vijaya RamachandranDubai must be seen to be believed. Even its skyline is unreal–rising straight out of the desert and now dominated by the 2625 ft tall, 160-story, silver and glass structure, the Burj Khalifa, built by Samsung to be twice as tall as the Empire State Building in New York. But two months after its grand opening, the Burj remains mostly empty with its observation deck closed to visitors–perhaps symbolic of the fate of this Emirate, which has recently become dependent on huge amounts of short-term debt to keep its economy going. Read More… 1 Comment »January 20, 2010Can We Provide Better Financing for Food Aid in Emergencies?By Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint posting with Owen McCarthy and Julia Barmeier The events in Haiti have demonstrated the reactive nature of emergency response—specifically the myriad of appeals for funding for food, medicines and basic supplies. While these initiatives can produce positive results for the disaster victims, they are often encumbered by long delays, which mean that people stay hungry and sick for days, weeks or even months. The United Nations says that it is currently feeding 4,000 people, and hopes to feed 2 million people within a month. 1 Comment »January 15, 2010The Newest Security Contractors in Iraq: Ex-combatants from Sierra LeoneBy Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint posting with Julia Barmeier. A British private security firm, Sabre International, is sponsoring the employment of Sierra Leoneans for security jobs in Iraq. According to its own website, the company holds multiple aviation security contracts for three airports in Iraq (Baghdad International Airport, Mosul Airport, and Najaf International Airport). Having undergone two weeks of preparation training, 400 to 1,000 Sierra Leoneans have already been sent to Iraq (and possibly Afghanistan) with a waiting list of over 10,000 who are interested in participating in the program. According to reports, the West African workers will receive $250 a month, $200 of which will be directly deposited into a bank account in Freetown. Compare this to the per capita Gross National Income in Sierra Leone in 2008, which was $320 a year. (Meanwhile, Sierra Leone Members of Parliament are petitioning for monthly salaries of $4,000-$6,000!) It’s no wonder thousands of people have signed up for this program: they are receiving a little less than 10x the amount they would earn in their own country! (Sierra Leone currently ranks 201 out of 210 countries in terms of its GNI per capita). Their salaries will not be taxed and they will be given free accommodation, free medical facility, free transportation, and free insurance. While a fabulous salary in Sierra Leone, their U.S. citizen contractor counterparts are averaging $100,000 a year, possibly in similar roles. In this regard, Sabre might be saving a tidy sum. Post-conflict recovery researchers like Paul Collier and former CGD post-doc Chris Blattman emphasize the need to engage ex-combatants in productive activity, in other words, create an economic incentive to cease violence or prevent a relapse into conflict. This program is fulfilling this purpose. For example, news reports say the agreement welcomed by Youth for Middle East Overseas Group, which has apparently pressured the government of Sierra Leone to allow youths to seek work in Iraq. Said Secretary-General Akim Bangura, “Finally, we are breathing a sigh of relief over the positive outcome. We have fought a successful battle and I have been arrested a couple of times for leading campaigns for jobless youths to find jobs in Iraq. I am happy it all ended this way.” On the other hand, the program perpetuates the environment of violence that surrounded these youth in Sierra Leone. While the country officially ended its decade-long civil war in 2001, it is still ranked among the most fragile countries. Of blood diamond and child soldier fame, the conflict in Sierra Leone was severely brutal and bloody, where rebel activity was characterized by hacking off the hands and feet of victims. It is unclear what kind of effect employment in a similar-but-different conflict region will have on these program participants. Are agreements like these providing legitimate employment alternatives for ex-combatants? Or are they perpetuating reliance on conflict-related activity? Also, with unemployment rates at 18% to 30% in Iraq itself, why doesn’t Sabre seek local workers to fill these spots? 2 Comments »November 24, 2009The Hottest Guest List in Town: Dinner at the White House for Visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan SinghBy Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint post with Nandini Oomman. The White House State Dinner for visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight is perhaps the biggest social event of the year in the nation’s capital. The names of the 400 lucky people who have made it on to the guest list are yet to be released—the list has generated as much buzz as the event itself, both in Washington, DC and in India. 2 Comments »August 19, 2009On Current Path, IFC Is Set to Become Bigger than the World Bank in Five YearsBy Vijaya RamachandranThis blog entry also appeared on the Huffington Post. Private capital flows to emerging markets have been badly hit by the recession. But the International Finance Corporation — the private sector arm of the World Bank Group — has managed to provide financing for private sector projects in the amount of $14.5 billion, including $4.0 billion mobilized through syndications and other initiatives. According to its annual results released a couple of weeks ago, IFC invested in 447 projects, of which half were in IDA countries. IFC reported income of $299 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. This is less than the $16.2 billion of financing provided in FY08 but is still a very large amount. And despite the recession, IFC’s net income for the fourth quarter of FY09 was $384 million versus $271 million for the same period last year. Read More… Comment »August 7, 2009Zoellick Goes to AfricaBy Vijaya RamachandranThis blog entry was also published on the Huffington Post. The World Bank has announced that its president, Robert B. Zoellick, will travel to three African countries next week. President Zoellick is urging investors to take advantage of investment opportunities in the region with regard to energy and transport, among other things. His message cannot come at a better time. Across Africa, a majority of businesses surveyed cite inadequate power supply as a major or severe constraint. Outages are not just frequent but unpredictable and long, sometimes stretching through the entire work day. Businesses in many countries suffer outages on more than half the working days in the year. Comparable data for China show that the burden of power outages for businesses there is far smaller. Read More… Comment »May 22, 2009Is China Losing Interest in Africa?By Vijaya RamachandranLast week, the Aluminum Corp. of China, otherwise known as Chinalco, received regulatory approval to proceed with its investment of $19.5 billion in the Australian-based mining giant Rio Tinto, giving the Chinese access to a large and secure supply of iron ore, copper, aluminium and other resources in Australia and Latin America. Is this a signal that China is losing interest in Africa? Or that African governments are becoming disenchanted with their Chinese partners? If so, what are the policy implications, particularly with regard to investments in infrastructure? Read More… Comment »May 5, 2009IMF Gold Sales Should Fund Low-Interest Loans for Poor CountriesBy Vijaya RamachandranOn April 29, U.S. House of Representatives Democrat, Rep. Barney Frank, said that he supports authorization by the U.S. Congress of gold sales by the International Monetary Fund, on the condition that $4 billion of the proceeds go to poor countries. He also said that the U.S. Treasury backs his position. This is all good news regarding the IMF’s sale of 1/8th of its gold reserves, approximately 403 tons. But the terms of the transfer to poor countries via the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) are critical and remain as yet undetermined. If the money is offered as loans at market-adjusted interest rates, it could result in a significant future debt burden for poor countries, especially if these rates rise sharply over time—as they well might. Read More… Comment »March 31, 2009At The G-20 Summit, Nothing for AfricaBy Vijaya RamachandranFive years after Africa was centerstage at a meeting of the G7 heads of state in Gleneagles, it has all but vanished from the priorities of policymakers from the rich and emerging economies. At the G20 Summit in London this week, heads of state will debate new resources for the IMF, in the range of $250 billion. But these resources will likely be deposited in the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) facility, which will be far too expensive and out of reach of most African countries. Rather they will be used by Eastern European countries to bailout Western European banks—an arrangement that suits the large number of European countries participating in the Summit. Read More… Comment »February 23, 2009Spain, the G-20, and the Need for Reform of Global Governance SystemsBy Vijaya RamachandranThe Spanish press reports that Spain’s prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has been officially invited to the G-20 summit in London in April as well as the preparatory meeting in Berlin. Spain was invited by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (El Mundo (Spain)/Factiva). The Spanish government has campaigned vigorously to be included in the G-20, despite the fact the European Union is already represented. This past fall, cartoons in the Spanish newspapers and serious reports in Spain’s print and television media repeatedly argued that the country is a significant player in geopolitics and should be in the club. 1 Comment »February 13, 2009The World Bank’s Mess in AlbaniaBy Vijaya RamachandranThis is joint posting with Owen McCarthy 1 Comment »January 13, 2009Steven Chu’s Influence in China Is a Huge Opportunity for the United StatesBy Vijaya RamachandranSteven Chu, who faces confirmation hearings in the Senate today, is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on renewable energy. But less known is the fact that he presents the United States with a unique opportunity to make progress in its ongoing dialogue with China on climate change (see for example this commentary on UPI Asia). Comment »November 17, 2008Bail, Baby, Bail: What General Motors can Teach us about Policy DistortionsBy Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint posting with David Wheeler and Robin Kraft 4 Comments »October 9, 2008Hope for Africa’s Energy FutureBy Vijaya RamachandranYesterday, I spoke at the 2008 U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference, Connecting the Continent, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa. I spoke about the infrastructure constraints faced by the private sector in Africa, particuarly the lack of a reliable supply of electricity. I pointed to the scope for American businesses to solve these problems — the off-grid solar and other renewable energy technologies being developed in California, Nevada and elsewhere are IDEAL for the sparsely distributed populations of Africa, where access to energy from a public grid will likely never be achieved beyond the largest cities. But I was preaching to the choir. The level of enthusiasm for renewable energy to solve Africa’s power crisis was tremendous, as were the number of businesses at the conference marketing their products in this area. Among these was PureRay Corporation, whose mission is to replace unsafe kerosene lamps and candles with off-grid lighting — their high intensity LED light bulbs are re-charged by solar power and can be easily moved to where they are needed. Also present was SunEdison, the largest solar energy service provider in North America, looking to break into the African market. And countless others, specializing in wind, geothermal, and hydropower. There was considerable interest from government officials as well — the governor of Ogun State in Nigeria, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, outlined his state’s efforts to increase investments in solar and wind energy projects. While there is no doubt that American companies face many challenges in bringing their products to Africa, there is also room for optimism as evidenced by the wide array of renewable energy products and the high level of enthusiasm on display yesterday. Comment »September 22, 2008Crisis a Set Back for Accountability and Good Governance in Developing World (Development Impacts of Financial Crisis)By Vijaya Ramachandran
1 Comment »July 8, 2008Another Banner Year for IFC — NOW Is The Time for A Big Push into Renewable EnergyBy Vijaya RamachandranThis is a joint posting with David Wheeler Comment »June 18, 2008Kofi Annan’s Unusual Approach to the Crisis in ZimbabweBy Vijaya RamachandranIn today’s Financial Times, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan makes a strong case for collective action on the situation in Zimbabwe. Mr Annan argues that “if the government, which many claim to be the author of violence, cannot ensure a fair vote, Africa must hold it accountable. The victor of an unfair vote must be under no illusions: he will neither have the legitimacy to govern, nor receive the support of the international community.” 2 Comments » |
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In a little-noticed move in January, 
I think the behavior of both public officials and private sector managers over the past decade is at direct odds with our message to the developing world regarding transparency and accountability. For example, my research shows that 
