ABSTRACT This study examines the linear and the non‐linear effects of international trade taxes on access to clean cooking technologies in Sub‐Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2023. The study adopts several robust estimation strategies, including the Driscoll–Kraay cross‐sectional dependence estimation, the two‐step system GMM approach, and the Dynamic Panel Thresholds strategy. The findings reveal a dual effect: while international trade taxes exert a positive linear impact at moderate levels, they produce a negative non‐linear effect once the tax rate surpasses a dynamic threshold of 5.039. The estimated dynamic threshold of 5.039% marks the turning point beyond which trade taxes negatively affect clean cooking access. The results are consistent across rural and urban populations, low and middle‐income economies, as well as between countries with low versus high energy import dependence, with the non‐linear effect most severe among high importers. Complementary factors such as internet penetration, trade openness, governance quality, and domestic credit significantly enhance access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. These results underscore the need for “smart” taxation policies that balance fiscal space generation with household affordability. Policy recommendations emphasise differentiated tariff regimes, strengthened credit markets, improved governance, and regional trade cooperation to accelerate universal clean cooking access in SSA.

ABSTRACT The article assesses the effects of fiscal policy on banking profitability, looking separately the effects of government securities and tax pressure on ROE and ROA. Applying the Pooled Mean Group in the WAEMU‐panel countries from 1990 to 2021, this article provides two results: (i) government securities positively and significantly affect ROE/ROA up to a maximum threshold of 19.41% of GDP; and (ii) tax pressure negatively and significantly affects ROE/ROA up to a maximum threshold of 19.42%. Three implications emerge: (i) monetary authorities must prevent any contagion between public finances and banking crises by setting an indicative ceiling, adjusting the reserve requirement ratio upwards or resorting to restrictive open market operations; (ii) the cap reduces the crowding out of private credit through preferential refinancing lines for productive credit; (iii) government authorities must improve tax revenue mobilisation and adopt tax and regulatory incentives for private credit, such as targeted tax reductions or the creation of public guarantees.

ABSTRACT The rise of anti‐globalization forces and the escalating impacts of environmental degradation have emerged as two dominant global forces that increasingly disrupt economic prosperity. Despite growing scholarly interest in this subject, no empirical study has examined the joint implications of these two forces on productive capacity. To address this gap, this study employs the interactive generalized method of moments to investigate the interactive impact of anti‐globalization dynamics and environmental degradation on the productive capacity of 52 African countries between 2005 and 2022. Anti‐globalization is examined through the associated risks across the economic, political, social, and financial dimensions of globalization. These risks are quantified by estimating standard errors from first‐order autoregressive AR (1) processes for each globalization indicator. The study presents the following key findings: (i) an unconditional negative impact of environmental degradation on productive capacity, and (ii) a negative synergy between the interaction of anti‐globalization and environmental degradation, indicating that anti‐globalization amplifies the adverse effect of environmental degradation on productive capacity. In alignment with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the study recommends channeling investments toward productivity‐enhancing sectors with strong green potential and strengthening engagement with global climate finance mechanisms to mitigate environmental risks while protecting the region's productive base.

ABSTRACTYes, this paper, based on the optimal taxation approach, confirms the existence of unexploited fiscal space within WAEMU that member states could leverage to finance productive investments. Using the models of Scully (1996) and quadratic specifications within panel time‐series models with heterogeneous slopes, the results provide clear evidence of an inverse U‐shaped tax‐growth relationship. The findings show that since 1980, the fiscal performance of WAEMU countries has been suboptimal. The optimal level of taxation that maximizes growth over the period 1980–2017 is estimated at 20.6% of GDP. In comparison, the average tax rate was 12.6% of GDP over the same period, indicating an uncollected revenue potential of 8.0% of GDP. This confirms the existence of fiscal space that could be mobilized to finance productive public expenditures and stimulate economic activity while reducing reliance on debt. The results also indicate that optimal tax rates differ across countries in the zone, meaning that the available fiscal space varies from one country to another. The paper recommends measures focused on promoting fiscal citizenship, broadening the tax base, and strengthening tax and customs administration, particularly the systems for taxpayer reporting.

ABSTRACTThis article examines the relationship between innovation and export performance for African firms. We estimate a censored Tobit IV simultaneous model with selection, using a cross‐sectional data set from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys for 28 African economies. The results show a two‐way positive relationship between innovation and export performance in African firms: innovation is important for both the ability to export (export propensity) and for export intensity, while exporting also increases the likelihood of innovating. These effects are driven mainly by direct exports and apply to both product and process innovations. The positive two‐way relationship is strengthened through two key mechanisms: a higher share of foreign ownership in firms, and firms having an internationally recognised quality certification. We argue that these results point to a two‐way relationship in which innovation enables firms to ‘learn to export’, while firms also ‘learn by exporting’. We discuss the implications of these findings for African firms and policymakers.

ABSTRACTForeign financial inflows to Nigeria have risen in the last two decades. Currently, the country receives over one‐third of remittance flows to sub‐Saharan Africa and is one of Africa's top recipients of foreign aid with the health sector being a major target. Despite the substantial foreign inflows, health outcomes in Nigeria have not remarkably improved. This raises important questions about the effectiveness of foreign inflows in achieving better health outcomes in Nigeria. This article examines the effects of foreign inflows on health outcomes utilising different components of foreign inflows—aid and remittance. It also investigates the role of governance in the foreign inflows‐health outcomes nexus using time series data from Nigeria covering the period 1984–2021. Results from the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model suggest that health aid has a limited impact on health outcomes, while remittance has been ineffective in driving improvements in health outcomes. Other factors, such as growth in real income per person, reduction in the emission of pollutants, such as carbon dioxide and improvements in governance, appear to be critical for improving health outcomes in the country.