Prof. Aoife Hanley, Ph.D.

The research project studies the effects that China’s growing economic engagement has on African economies, and how China’s economic presence is perceived by African citizens. To this effect, the key dimensions of trade, investment, aid, debt, and migration flows from China to Africa (and vice versa) are analyzed.

The Cluster for Economic Research on Africa focuses on enterprises and entrepreneurial potential in African markets, trade and investment policy, and issues of macroeconomic development, stability, and public finance. This research will strengthen evidence-based policy advice for German and European Africa policy and also engage and address African partners.

Africa’s female entrepreneurs could outperform their male counterparts, with improved access to formal funding. They already benefit enormously from improved funding through supplier credits. While funding typically refers to formal financial sources, such as bank credit, researchers from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the University of Ghana have revealed how this alternative source of credit, directly provided by suppliers, is particularly useful in narrowing the productivity gap.

Due to the special structure of the global coffee trade, smallholders in coffee-growing countries have few opportunities to increase their value added and thus earn higher incomes. This is particularly true for growing Arabica coffee beans that are usually used for coffee roasting. The few large multinational coffee enterprises that dominate the market therefore have an immense social responsibility towards their suppliers.

For many, it is hard to imagine to start a day without coffee. But who and which countries actually have benefitted more from the global coffee production and consumption? How has global coffee trade developed over the past decades? Does global coffee trade contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals? How can coffee growing countries, of which many are developing or emerging countries, benefit more from being integrated into the global coffee value chain and from taking over more coffee processing work? What kind of support can be provided by multinational enterprises? How can policy and international cooperation help in this regard?