IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2019-57.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Unofficial sovereign wealth funds and duration in power in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Larissa Nawo
  • Désiré Avom
  • Kyle McNabb
  • Luc Nembot

Abstract

This paper argues that in weak states, leaders whose hold on power is secured by the public fortune have turned to the use of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), especially unofficial SWFs, to cement their hold on power. Unofficial SWFs are private funds created from resource rents with the appearance of public investment-holding firms that use governmental legitimacy to invest at home and abroad, managed indirectly by political leaders or their families in order to advance a political agenda, wealth accumulation, patronage, repression, and loyalty.

Suggested Citation

  • Larissa Nawo & Désiré Avom & Kyle McNabb & Luc Nembot, 2019. "Unofficial sovereign wealth funds and duration in power in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-57, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2019-57
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp-2019-57.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wright, Joseph & Frantz, Erica & Geddes, Barbara, 2015. "Oil and Autocratic Regime Survival," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(2), pages 287-306, April.
    2. Paul Collier & Dominic Rohner, 2008. "Democracy, Development, and Conflict," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(2-3), pages 531-540, 04-05.
    3. Edwin M. Truman, 2009. "A Blueprint for Sovereign Wealth Fund Best Practices," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 429-451.
    4. Raymond, Hélène & Coulibaly, Dramane & Omgba, Luc Désiré, 2017. "Exchange rate misalignments in energy-exporting countries: Do sovereign wealth funds matter?," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 124-144.
    5. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith & Randolph M. Siverson & James D. Morrow, 2005. "The Logic of Political Survival," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262524406, December.
    6. Anthony J. Venables & Samuel E. Wills, 2016. "Resource Funds: Stabilising, Parking, and Inter-generational Transfer," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 25(suppl_2), pages 20-40.
    7. Ndikumana, Leonce & Boyce, James K., 2003. "Public Debts and Private Assets: Explaining Capital Flight from Sub-Saharan African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 107-130, January.
    8. Jean-Paul Azam, 2006. "The Paradox of Power Reconsidered: A Theory of Political Regimes in Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(1), pages 26-58, March.
    9. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson & Thierry Verdier, 2004. "Alfred Marshall Lecture: Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 162-192, 04/05.
    10. Joshua Aizenman & Reuven Glick, 2009. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Stylized Facts about their Determinants and Governance," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 351-386, December.
    11. Scott Gates & Håvard Hegre & Mark P. Jones & Håvard Strand, 2006. "Institutional Inconsistency and Political Instability: Polity Duration, 1800–2000," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(4), pages 893-908, October.
    12. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Enhanced routines for instrumental variables/generalized method of moments estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(4), pages 465-506, December.
    13. Bruce Bueno De Mesquita & Alastair Smith, 2010. "Leader Survival, Revolutions, and the Nature of Government Finance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(4), pages 936-950, October.
    14. Giacomo Chiozza & H. E. Goemans, 2004. "International Conflict and the Tenure of Leaders: Is War Still Ex Post Inefficient?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(3), pages 604-619, July.
    15. Andersen, Jørgen Juel & Aslaksen, Silje, 2013. "Oil and political survival," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 89-106.
    16. Gordon L. Clark & Adam D. Dixon & Ashby H. B. Monk, 2013. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Legitimacy, Governance, and Global Power," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 10003.
    17. Leonard Wantchekon, 2002. "Why do Resource Abundant Countries Have Authoritarian Governments?," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 5(2), pages 145-176.
    18. James Boyce & Léonce Ndikumana, 2008. "New Estimates of Capital Flight from Sub-Saharan African Countries: Linkages with External Borrowing and Policy Options," Working Papers wp166, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    19. Bank, André & Richter, Thomas & Sunik, Anna, 2013. "Long-Term Monarchical Survival in the Middle East: A Configurational Comparison, 1945-2012," GIGA Working Papers 215, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    20. Abdullah Al-Hassan & Mr. Michael G. Papaioannou & Martin Skancke & Cheng Chih Sung, 2013. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Aspects of Governance Structures and Investment Management," IMF Working Papers 2013/231, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Leonce Ndikumana & James Boyce, 2011. "Capital flight from sub-Saharan Africa: linkages with external borrowing and policy options," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 149-170.
    22. Jesus Crespo Cuaresma & Harald Oberhofer & Paul Raschky, 2011. "Oil and the duration of dictatorships," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 505-530, September.
    23. Benjamin Smith, 2004. "Oil Wealth and Regime Survival in the Developing World, 1960–1999," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 232-246, April.
    24. Jeffrey Pickering & Emizet F. Kisangani, 2010. "Diversionary Despots? Comparing Autocracies' Propensities to Use and to Benefit from Military Force," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 477-493, April.
    25. Reisen, Helmut, 2008. "How to spend it: Commodity and non-commodity sovereign wealth funds," Research Notes 28, Deutsche Bank Research.
    26. Daniel N. Posner, 2004. "Measuring Ethnic Fractionalization in Africa," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(4), pages 849-863, October.
    27. Frédéric Gaspart & Pierre Pecher, 2019. "Ethnic Inclusiveness of the Central State Government and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 28(2), pages 176-201.
    28. Maxim Pinkovskiy & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2014. "Africa is on time," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 311-338, September.
    29. Wintrobe, Ronald, 1990. "The Tinpot and the Totalitarian: An Economic Theory of Dictatorship," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(3), pages 849-872, September.
    30. Edwin M. Truman, 2010. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Threat or Salvation?," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4983, October.
    31. Joe Amoako-Tuffour, 2016. "Should Countries Invest Resource Revenues Abroad When Demands for Public Infrastructure Are Pressing at Home? The Dilemma of Sovereign Wealth Funds in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 25(suppl_2), pages 41-58.
    32. Mehmet Gurses, 2011. "Elites, Oil, and Democratization: A Survival Analysis," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 92(1), pages 164-184, March.
    33. Lansley, Stewart, 2016. "A Sharing Economy," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9781447331438, Febrero.
    34. Paul Collier & V. L. Elliott & Håvard Hegre & Anke Hoeffler & Marta Reynal-Querol & Nicholas Sambanis, 2003. "Breaking the Conflict Trap : Civil War and Development Policy," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13938, December.
    35. Ahmed, Faisal Z., 2012. "The Perils of Unearned Foreign Income: Aid, Remittances, and Government Survival," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(1), pages 146-165, February.
    36. Paul Collier & Rick Van Der Ploeg & Michael Spence & Anthony J Venables, 2010. "Managing Resource Revenues in Developing Economies," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 57(1), pages 84-118, April.
    37. Dimitar Radev & Richard I Allen, 2010. "Extrabudgetary Funds," IMF Technical Notes and Manuals 10/09, International Monetary Fund.
    38. Azam, Jean-Paul, 1995. "How to Pay for the Peace? A Theoretical Framework with References to African Countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 83(1-2), pages 173-184, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexandra Brausmann & Elise Grieg, 2020. "Resource Discoveries and the Political Survival of Dictators," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 20/345, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    2. Sambit Bhattacharyya & Michael Keller, 2021. "Resource Discovery and the Political Fortunes of National Leaders," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(349), pages 129-166, January.
    3. Murtinu, Samuele & Scalera, Vittoria G., 2016. "Sovereign Wealth Funds' Internationalization Strategies: The Use of Investment Vehicles," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 249-264.
    4. Frédéric Gaspart & Pierre Pecher, 2019. "Ethnic Inclusiveness of the Central State Government and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 28(2), pages 176-201.
    5. Richard Bluhm & Martin Gassebner & Sarah Langlotz & Paul Schaudt, 2021. "Fueling conflict? (De)escalation and bilateral aid," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 244-261, March.
    6. Raouf Boucekkine & Rodolphe Desbordes & Paolo Melindi-Ghidi, 2023. "Elite-led revolutions," AMSE Working Papers 2319, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    7. Letete Emmanuel & Sarr Mare, 2017. "Working Paper 275 - Illicit Financial Flows and Political Institutions in Kenya," Working Paper Series 2392, African Development Bank.
    8. Ishak Phoebe W., 2019. "Autocratic Survival Strategies: Does Oil Make a Difference?," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 25(2), pages 1-22, May.
    9. Bodea, Cristina & Higashijima, Masaaki & Singh, Raju Jan, 2016. "Oil and Civil Conflict: Can Public Spending Have a Mitigation Effect?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-12.
    10. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Rational Asymmetric Development, Piketty and Poverty in Africa," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 13(2), pages 221-246, December.
    11. Asongu, Simplice A & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2016. "Unjust Enrichment from Official Corruption in Africa: Theory and Model on how Lenders have benefited," MPRA Paper 75416, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Rational Asymmetric Development, Piketty and the Spirit of Poverty in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 15/006, African Governance and Development Institute..
    13. Richard Bluhm & Martin Gassebner & Sarah Langlotz & Paul Schaudt, 2021. "Fueling conflict? (De)escalation and bilateral aid," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 244-261, March.
    14. Amar, J. & Lecourt, C., 2023. "Sovereign wealth fund governance: A trade-off between internal and external legitimacy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6).
    15. Bahoo, Salman & Alon, Ilan & Paltrinieri, Andrea, 2020. "Sovereign wealth funds: Past, present and future," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Le Billon, Philippe & Pérez Niño, Helena, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and Angola," WIDER Working Paper Series 102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Mercy W. Mwangi & Amos G. Njuguna & George O. Achoki, 2019. "Relationship between corruption and capital flight in Kenya: 1998-2018," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 8(5), pages 237-250, September.
    18. Samuel Brazys & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2021. "Aid curse with Chinese characteristics? Chinese development flows and economic reforms," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 407-430, September.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Fighting African Capital Flight: Empirics on Benchmarking Policy Harmonization," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 11(1), pages 93-122, June.
    20. Wegenast, Tim, 2013. "The Impact of Fuel Ownership on Intrastate Violence," GIGA Working Papers 225, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2019-57. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.