Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: Land and housing policy

Through pre-emptive urban planning the government can signal public investment and encourage coordinated private investment in land. How can land and housing policy improve real-estate markets in African cities? Slums are characterised by both low public and private capital investment and are pervasive in urban Africa. Various policy responses are proposed to create urban neighbourhoods…

The need for and impact of high quality globally comparable reporting

As part of the Wheeler Institute Climate Initiative, Lucrezia Reichlin, London Business School Professor of Economics and trustee of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, recently hosted a webinar on “The need for and impact of high quality globally comparable reporting” on 10th March 2022. The guest speaker was Mr. Emmanuel Faber, Chair of…

Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: Challenges in real-estate markets

Customary land-tenure systems, which can work well in the rural hinterland, cannot accommodate the high prices and complex land markets of large, modern cities. There are at least two key institutional features that present challenges to the land markets of African cities: a lack of property rights and minimal urban planning. Property rights are fundamental…

Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: The role of housing and real estate in rapidly growing cities

Urbanisation in Africa represents a huge opportunity for the continent. The increased concentration of people in urban spaces is good for workers and businesses alike, since economic density will bring gains in productivity and quality of life. There are 500 million people living in African cities with another 700 million expected by 2050. This population…

COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in South Africa… how has the country performed in response to the crisis? How will it recover?

One year on, how has the South African Government performed during the COVID-19 crisis? The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development invited Professor Nick Binedell – Professor and Former Dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria – to share his views on the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and to…

Turkey’s economy… the last two decades

One year on, how has Turkey performed during the COVID-19 crisis? The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development invited Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan – Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics and Finance University of Maryland – back to share her views on the Turkish government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis over the past year, and her hopes for…

Russia: a brief history and the prolonged impact of COVID-19

One year on, how has the Russian Government performed during the COVID-19 crisis? The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development invited Sergei Guriev – Professor of Economics at Sciences Po – to share his views on the state of the economy, politics and business in Russia before discussing the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis…