This paper estimates the magnitude of capital flight and analyzes its impact on economic growth in the West African Economic and Monetary Union countries. Over the period from 1970 to 2019, total real capital flight from these countries is positive and significant with a magnitude that amounts to $31,075.26 million in constant dollars, or 17.40 percent of investment. Six countries have experienced significant real capital flight over the past four decades: Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. Using dynamic fixed-effects estimation, the paper finds that, in the long run, capital flight significantly reduces economic growth in countries where capital flight is positive and that the negative effect does not appear to be cumulative with investment in the case of these groups of countries. In addition, the paper recommends that the authorities commit to reducing capital flight by improving governance and strengthening the quality of institutions.

Globally, the outbreak of COVID-19 and the associated containment measures adopted by governments are causing disruptions that sow uncertainty in several sectors of the economy. In this study, we explore the asymmetric impact of pandemic uncertainty and global trade policy on food prices in Togo. The study uses a nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (NARDL) framework and causality tests for the period 2000 M1-2021 M5. The results show that the different types of uncertainty affect food price stability in the short and long run, but the shock is more pronounced in the case of pandemic uncertainty, as they are sudden and disrupt food price stability. The main findings remain significant when we use various alternative methods and estimation techniques. However, our results suggest that the Togolese food market is facing pandemic uncertainty and trade policy, which should lead policymakers and stakeholders to take corrective measures to control losses.

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