This paper aims to analyze the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion on the shadow economic activities in Africa for the period from 2000 to 2015. To this end, we use a panel data model on a sample of 48 countries. The results obtained show that the diffusion of ICTs, especially mobile telephony and the Internet, negatively and significantly affect the size of the shadow economy in Africa. The level of education, capital stock, economic growth, and financial development also contribute to reducing the size of the informal economy in Africa. However, our results suggest that informal activities are motivated by the abundance of natural resources and migrant remittances. Robustness checks are done through the system generalized method of moments and a change in the measurement of the shadow economy confirms the validity of the results. We recommend to decision-makers to implement public policies facilitating the access and the use of new telecommunications tools and services and to improve the institutional framework to encourage private economic agents to invest in formal activities.

Aims: This paper aims to analyze the effect of public governance on the spread and mortality of the new corona virus. It focuses on the effects of differences observed in government’s responsiveness on the spread and mortality of this pandemic around the world. Sample: Our study is based on a sample of 129 countries from December, 8th 2019 to May 5th, 2020. Methods: The Ordinary Least Squares method is applied to cross-sectional data. We also proceed by descriptive statistics and scatter analyses to access the effect of public governance on the spread and the mortality of the Covid-19. Results: The results obtained show that government response time favors the speed of spread, level of infection, and mortality related to the Covid-19. The results indicate that countries in which governments have reacted early have lower levels of contamination and deaths than those that reacted late. Finally, our results suggest that the stringency of early government measures is a capital factor explaining the spread and mortality of this virus. Our results are robust to regional specificities, which distinguish relatively more resilient developing countries from developed countries with higher levels of contagion and mortality. Then, we recommend for all categories of countries a greater speed and rigour in government responsiveness in the management of pandemic diseases.

In a context marked by an increase in the adverse effects of climate change in Africa, this paper aims to analyze the effect of the size of the informal sector on vulnerability to climate change in 42 African countries from 1995 to 2017. The results obtained by the Random Effects (RE) method applied to panel data, show that the size of the informal sector increases the vulnerability to climate change (VCC) in African countries. Moreover, the effect of the informal sector on climate change vulnerability is weaker in English-speaking countries compared to French-, Portuguese- and Arabic-speaking countries. Robustness analyses using the Generalized System Moments (GSM) technique confirm the existence of a positive relationship between the size of the informal sector and the vulnerability of African countries to climate change. To this end, we recommend strengthening mechanisms to combat informal economic activities through the promotion of property rights, the fight against corruption and the implementation of climate change adaptation policies. JEL classification: O17; 013; Q53