Development and Economic Growth

On February 26th, JMEPP Editor-in-Chief Nada Zohdy and Harvard Political Review staff writer Andrew O’Donohue interviewed Tunisia’s Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa, before he delivered a public address at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, hosted by the Institute of Politics. You can watch his full speech, “Tunisia: A Start-Up Democracy,” here.   Mehdi Jomaa served as Prime Minister […]

There is a general optimism that the American economy is on an upswing, slowly recovering as it emerges from one of the worst recessions since the 1930s. Yet, one of the fundamental factors that caused the recession—housing finance—continues to be a barrier rather than an opportunity for millions of Americans, especially Latinos.

Tony Elumelu, CON is a Nigerian Entrepreneur, with over twenty years experience in the Banking and Investment sector in Africa. In the course of his career, Elumelu says he has met hundreds of entrepreneurs who carry in them the hope of Africa’s future. “Many of them young people with incredible dreams and business ideas but […]

On December 9 2014, JMEPP Editor Zane Preston interviewed Dr. Abbas El-Mejren. Dr. Abbas El-Mejren is currently the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Middle East Initiative, within the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Watch the video interview below to hear Dr. El-Mejren discuss economic development challenges and prospects for Kuwait and the broader Gulf […]

Commentary Mexico’s future is full of potential. The past decade brought important changes. A fortified democracy saw the first peaceful rotation of government in generations. Today, freedoms of press, assembly, and speech are hardly an issue of debate; indeed, Mexico’s civil society is thriving as never before. Business reforms liberated the private sector from its […]

APJ caught up with President John D. Mahama on the occasion of his speech at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.  President Mahama discussed the leading causes behind Ghana’s economic challenges which, at their height early this year, saw inflation rates rise above 15 percent and a depreciation of nearly 40 percent […]

 Abstract Several endemic tropical diseases retard economic progress by devastating childhood development and also by reducing productivity in adults, especially among agricultural workers.  One of these diseases – malaria  – a major cause of death and disability – has been under attack on a large scale in Africa since 2005.  This attack has been accompanied […]

The following interview was conducted by APJ’s Elizabeth Bennett on the sidelines of the recently concluded African Development Conference (ADC) held at the Harvard Law School. Ms. Clare Akamanzi is Chief Operating Officer of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). The RDB is a government institution whose vision is to transform Rwanda into a dynamic global hub […]

Over the past decade, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has attracted increasing attention from policy makers, academics, international organizations, and the business community. At the same time that the region has come increasingly into focus, the statistical base behind several books and studies,[1] and ultimately policy making and business decisions, has continued to be very weak. As […]

In our first installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” Professor Mohamad Al-Ississ, Spring 2014 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Middle East Initiative, discusses his current research at Harvard Kennedy School, the constraints on economic development in the Middle East and attempts at education reform in the region. You can watch the interview, conducted […]

This is part one of a two-part series on Saudi Arabia’s fossil fuel subsidies. This post discusses existing problems with Saudi Arabia’s subsidies program. The governments of developing, oil-exporting countries tend to maintain domestic fossil fuel prices at levels significantly lower than the free-market prices. Selling fossil fuels at domestic prices below the market leads […]

Individuals readily queue at the door to the visa office at the arrival terminal in the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. One individual presses the Ethiopian border guard about the timeliness of the process and the absence of concern for travelers’ time. The guard simply responds: “How do we plan for this [inflow]?” The […]