Social Policy in Africa Conference

Development, Democracy and Social Policy: Remembering Thandika Mkandawire

22 - 24 November 2021
A Virtual Event Hosted at the University of South Africa,

City of Tshwane, South Africa



Welcome Address

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 01

Sanibonani, Karibu.

On behalf of the Organising Committee and He noted that if he were to do the Social Policy programme
the partners, I welcome you to the 2021 again, he would do it differently. Some of the conceptual
Social Policy in Africa Conference, the third clarity, he noted, came much later in the research. “One
edition of the biennial conference series. We aspect of what we have done that might last much longer
held the first edition in November 2017 and is that we initiated a process of thinking about social policy
the second one in November 2019, focusing that relates social policy to issues of development, directly,
on issues relating to social policy in the and to issues of democracy. We tried to link the debate
African context. The conference is a flagship on democratisation and the debates on development
project of the South African Research and welfare policies, which normally occur in different
(SARChI) Chair in Social Policy, based in the literatures. We tried to indicate that there ought to be
College of Graduate Studies, University of some close relationship between these three literatures.”
South Africa. The SARChI Chair is funded He noted how much he was struck that “people who
by the national Department of Science and write on developmental state, don’t often write on welfare
Innovation in South Africa and the National policy, and the ones who write on welfare policies rarely
Research Foundation. talk about developmental state, and those who write
about developmental state rarely talk about democracy.”
I would like to thank colleagues at the Council for the Rethinking the research programme would involve making
Development of Social Science Research in Africa the links between Development, Democracy, and Social
(CODESRIA), based in Dakar, Senegal, and the UN Research Policy more explicit and getting the literatures to speak
Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), based in to one another. This would be the central message of the
Geneva, Switzerland, for co-hosting the conference. As I research.
explained in previous welcome notes to earlier editions
of the conference, the partnership between the Chair, The research programme initiated the idea of
CODESRIA, and UNRISD is not fortuitous; it is grounded in a Transformative Social Policy as the basis for thinking through
shared vision of social policy anchored in a transformative the linkages between development and social policy,
approach to human wellbeing. This broader vision of social explicitly, instead of what he referred to as “welfarist social
policy is anchored on the research projects that Thandika policy.”
Mkandawire initiated in the mid-1990s at CODESRIA, as its
Executive Secretary, and later expanded at UNRISD, as its In many ways, the strands of literature that Mkandawire
Director, under the theme of Social Policy in a Development noted are summative of his oeuvre in the pursuit of a
Context in the early 2000s. Intellectually and institutionally, developmental project that is democratic, inclusive, and
the partners co-organising the conference have been equitable. In fundamental ways, Mkandawire’s ideas of
inspired by Thandika’s works and capacity for innovative ‘development’, ‘democracy’, and ‘social policy’ differ from
thinking. the conventional wisdom in the contemporary approaches
to these concerns. In each area, he provided seminal
Thandika Mkandawire passed away on 27 March 2020, contributions.
several months before his 80th birthday. This edition of the
Social Policy in Africa Conference is organised in honour In contrast to the denuding of development in the wake
of Thandika’s memory and a celebration of his works of the neoliberal counter-revolution in Development
and vision. Hence, the theme of the 2021 conference is Economics/Studies and the repurposing of the idea of
Development, Democracy and Social Policy: Remembering development as the relief of poverty, Mkandawire offered
Thandika Mkandawire. a vision of development grounded in the Bandung
Spirit. Development involves growth with structural
Theme of the 2021 Conference transformation of economy and society, the mastery of
technology, and strong manufacturing capacity. ‘Catching
In 2009, during a UN television interview that marked up’, a phrase Thandika had no problem using, “requires that
the end of his tenure as the Director of the UN Research countries know themselves and their history that has set
Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Thandika the ‘initial conditions’ for any future progress.” Development
Mkandawire reflected on the research project, Social Policy requires learning from the pioneers, but it is not mimicry.
in a Development Context.
The knowledge imperative requires considerable
investment in institutions of knowledge production and
state capacity—the capacity to coordinate and steer the
development process. This involves a sustained eco-system
of innovation and the capacity to respond to a broad range
of challenges.

02 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Structural transformation and mastery of technology go Social Policy instruments are vital to redressing “trickle-
with innovative and robust manufacturing capacity within up” and ensuring equitable and inclusive allocation of
Ocampo’s broader idea of “active production policies”. The the proceeds of development. Its redistributive roles
focus of such strategy, as Ocampo further noted, should are equally important for ensuring the social compact
“be on the dynamic efficiency of economic structures, necessary for development. In this context, social policy
defined as their capacity to generate new waves of involves the deliberative effort at enhancing the nation-
structural change.” In the Bandung Spirit, development is, building project.
in the words of Samir Amin, also grounded in a national
sovereign project. It is a quest for averting the extraversion Similarly, social policy is about the social investment
of economy, culture, and knowledge systems inherent in necessary for inclusivity, enhancing the productive
the nature of imperialism. basis of society. Progressive social policy is concerned
with redressing the gender inequity left on its own the
In a context in which democracy is hollowed out and development process does not. As feminist economists
reduced to the performative process of periodic elections, remind us, labour-power is a produced commodity; it is
for Mkandawire, the idea of guaranteed individual produced within the abode of the unpaid care economy.
and collective rights is firmly linked with deliberative In reconciling the burden of social reproduction with
governance and accountability. Fundamental to this is other social tasks, social policy involves deliberate
the policymaking process based on popular interest and efforts to redress gender inequities and transform social
policy autonomy. Development becomes a debilitating relations and social institutions. In contrast with the New
process when grounded in an autocratic system of Poverty Agenda, Mkandawire reminds us that societies
governance; it is undermined in the context of externally that successfully reduced poverty and enhanced human
imposed policy diktat and the placing of unaccountable, wellbeing were often concerned with broader social and
‘technocratic’ institutions at the core of economic and social economic issues rather than the narrow relief of poverty. In
policymaking. The ideas of Disempowered Democracy or its transformative role and the pursuit of human wellbeing
Choiceless Democracies inform Mkandawire’s gaze on the and often the outcome of popular struggles for equity and
political landscape, especially of “governance reform” in the voice in society, social policy provides the underpinnings
context of the neoliberal counter-revolution. In this sense, of inclusivity and deliberative governance in the context
development is a constitutive component of the national of development. Rather than simply about the relief of
sovereign project, framed by endogenously grounded poverty, social policy offers a broad range of instruments
policymaking. Democracy, in this sense, is a constitutive for driving inclusive development process, security
pillar of development. Mkandawire rejects the idea of throughout the life cycle, and the transformation of social
development as a process of blood, sweat, and tears. relations and institutions.
Finally, in the context of the idea of social policy as the
relief of (extreme) poverty while market-based social In seeking to get the different literatures of Development,
provisioning caters for those not considered destitute—a Democracy and Social Policy, to speak to one another,
social policy architecture that is stratified, segmented, and Mkandawire sought to give a coherent conceptual
segregated—Mkandawire reminds us of the importance underpinning to the idea of an Inclusive Democratic
of a coherent, normative, and holistic approach to social Development Project. Mkandawire, who passed away on 27
policy. Mkandawire offers insights into the connectedness March 2020, has contributed immensely to an intellectual
of social policy to development (as outlined above) in project vital for rejuvenating the developmental process.
the transformative role that social policy plays in the We invite, for this conference, contributions and papers
context of development. This takes us beyond a social that critically reflect on not simply Mkandawire’s oeuvre but
protection-centric reading of social policy or social policy the project of exchange between the different literatures
as the mechanism for addressing the diswelfares of and imaginations on development, democracy and social
industrialisation. Social policy’s multiple tasks offer diverse policy.
ways of ensuring inclusive development and playing a
transformative role in the development process. Let to its Keynote Speakers
own devices, the development process, as Irma Adelman
and Cynthia Morris reminded us decades ago, “the primary For this conference, we are honoured to have as our
impact of economic development on income distribution keynote speakers Professor Jayati Ghosh and Professor
is, on the average, to decrease both the absolute and Adebayo Olukoshi. Professor Ghosh is a renowned
the relative incomes of the poor. Not only is there no Development Economist. Until, she was Professor of
automatic trickle-down of the benefits of development; on Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi,
the contrary, the development process leads typically to a India. She is a Professor of Economics at the University of
trickle-up in favour of the middle classes and the rich.” Massachusetts, Amherst in the US.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 03

We are honoured to have her deliver the opening keynote For the inaugural edition of the memorial lecture, we could
at this conference. Our Closing Keynote Address will be not ask for a better candidate to deliver the lecture than
delivered by Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, a Distinguished Professor Fantu Cheru, a close associate of Thandika.
Professor at the Wits School of Governance, University Professor Cheru is Emeritus Professor of International
of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Professor Olukoshi Political Economy at the American University, Washington
has previously served as Research Professor at the DC and Senior Researcher at the African Studies
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Senior Research Centre, Leiden University in The Netherlands. Among
Coordinator at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, a distinguished record of service, Professor Cheru has
Sweden, the South Centre in Geneva. Most would previously served as the Research Director at the Nordic
remember Prof Olukoshi for his distinguished tenure Africa Institute, and the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Foreign
as Executive Secretary of CODESRIA in the 2000s. He Debt and Structural Adjustment for the UN Commission
recently served as the Regional Director for Africa and for Human Rights in Geneva from 1998 to 2001. Again, I
West Asia at the International Institute for Democracy and would like to express our deep appreciation to Professor
Electoral Assistance. I would like to thank Professors Ghosh Cheru for accepting our invitation to deliver the inaugural
and Olukoshi for accepting our invitation to deliver the Thandika Mkandawire Memorial Lecture.
conference’s keynote addresses. We are deeply honoured
to have you with us. Collaboration

Thandika Mkandawire Memorial Lecture Among other initiatives, this conference showcases the
Gender Equitable and Transformative Social Policy for Post-
We are honoured as well to inaugurate at this conference Covid-19 Africa. GETSPA is a new research initiative at the
the annual Thandika Mkandawire Memorial Lecture. The University of Ghana, Legon. The programme is under the
memorial lecture series is a joint initiative of the SARChI direction of Professor Dzodzi Tsikata at the Institute of
Chair in Social Policy, CODESRIA and UNRISD to honour African Studies, University of Ghana. We have devoted two
the memory and propagate the works of Thandika. We special plenary sessions to research and reflections on
are grateful to Kaarina Klint, the widow of Thandika, and to social policy under the GETSPA programme.
André and Joshua, his sons, for granting their consent for
the annual memorial lecture series.

04 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Appreciation As a virtual event, there are many aspects of a conventional
conference activity that will be missing. A conference is
This conference has been made possible because of the as much a space for exchanging ideas as it is a ‘watering
continuing generous support of the Department of Science hole’—a place to relax, recharge one’s batteries, and
and Innovation, the National Research Foundation, and the network. Much of that may be missing from a virtual
leadership of the University of South Africa and the College conference, but I hope it will still be a fertile space to
of Graduate Studies. For their support, I thank, in particular, exchange ideas and network.
Professor Puleng LenkaBula, the Vice-Chancellor of the
University of South, Professor Thenjiwe Meyiwa, the Vice Please note that the time stated on our conference
Principal, Research, Postgraduate Studies, Innovation and programme is the South African Standard Time or UTC
Commercialisation at the University of South Africa, and +2hrs. We have included in the conference booklet the
Professor Patrick Ngulube, the Acting Executive Director of corresponding times in different time zones.
the College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa.
Although a virtual event, we trust that you will find your
We acknowledge the intellectual and material support time at the conference a very rewarding one.
of CODESRIA and UNRISD. The lingering impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic has meant that the 2021 edition of Asante sana. Ngibona kakhulu. Ke leboha haholo.
the conference is taking place as a virtual event on the
CODESRIA Zoom platform. The platform has allowed us, for Jimi O. Adesina
the first time, to run the conference as a bilingual event. We Chair, Conference Planning Committee.
express our immense appreciation to the DSI, NRF, UNISA,
and CODESRIA for their support.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Bassirou Wagne
at CODESRIA, Simangele Sithole, Hanli Wolhuter, and
Doctor Mlambo at the College of Graduate Studies in
organising the conference.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 05

06 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Conference Schedules
and Time Zones

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 07

The conference schedule is in the South African time zone (UTC +2hrs). We
provide below an illustrative guide to different time zones relative to the
South African Standard Time.

08 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

USA (EST) Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa East Africa Mauritius India
(UTC -5hrs) Morocco, Algeria (UTC +2hrs) (UTC +3hr UTC +4hr (UTC +5hrs)
Senegal, UK Europe
22 - 24 02.00 (UTC) (UTC +1hr) 09.00 10.00 11.00 12.00
November 05.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00
07.00 07.00 08.00 14.00 15.00 16.00 17.00
10.00 17.00 18.00 19.00 20.00
10.00 11.00

12.00 13.00

15.00 16.00

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 09

10 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Programme

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 11

DAY 1: Monday, 22 November 2021

09h00 - 11h00 OPENING CEREMONY

Chair: Dr Selloane Selematsela (Executive Director: Library Services, University of South Africa)

Welcome Addresses:
• Prof Jimi Adesina: SARChI Chair in Social Policy, University of South Africa.
• Dr Godwin Murunga: Executive Secretary, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in

Africa (CODESRIA).
• Dr Katja Hujo: UNRISD Director (Rep)
• Prof Puleng LenkaBula: Vice Chancellor, University of South Africa

Keynote Address: Prof Jayati Ghosh (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A.): Making Social Policy
Effective in an Ever More Unequal World.

11h00 - 11h15 Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09
11h15 - 13h00 COFFEE BREAK
1ST PLENARY SESSION: Rethinking the Developmental State with Thandika Mkandawire

Chair: Dzodzi Tsikata (University of Ghana, Legon)

Speakers:
• Fiona Tregenna (University of Johannesburg, South Africa). Transformative Industrialisation, Social Policy

and Development in Africa.
• Vusi Gumede (University of Mpumalanga, South Africa). Thandika Mkandawire and the South African

Developmental State.
• Andrew Fischer (International Institute of Social Studies—Erasmus University Rotterdam, The

Netherlands). Turning Points versus Bifurcations in the Inequality Dynamics of Peripheral Development:
Reflections on Universalising Social Policy via Lewis and Furtado.

13h00 - 13h45 Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09
13h45 - 15h15 LUNCH
1ST BREAK-AWAY SESSIONS

BAS-1A: Fintech and Cash Transfers

Chair: Wanga Zembe (Medical Research Council, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Helen W. Mukiri-Smith (Tilburg University, The Netherlands): Exploring the role of fintech: The solution to

poverty and inequality or instruments of exploitation?
• Ali Muez & Laura Mann (London School of Economics, UK): The curious appeal of cash transfers across

three diverging political contexts in Sudan.
• Bernard Dubbeld (Stellenbosch University, South Africa): Granting the Future: The temporality of cash

transfers in the countryside.
• Gbenga Shadare (Centre for Social Protection and Policy Studies, Nigeria): The governance of Nigeria’s

social protection: The burdens of developmental welfarism.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97163101360?pwd=MW1ONXlXbTdSQTVnWkdYZEwxT2NWdz09

12 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

BAS-1B: Education Policy

Chair: Nimi Hoffmann (University of Sussex, UK)

Speakers:
• Gabriel Asante (Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary): Configuration of Fee-free Policies at the

Higher School Level: A cross-national qualitative comparative analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Sophie Ekume Etomes et al. (University of Buea, Cameroon): Social Policy and Provision of Education:

Implications for Quality of Higher Education in Cameroon.
• Lynsey Robinson (Institute of Education, University College London): Education Policy in Nigeria:

Exploring education inequalities and the role of the private sector.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/92345596480?pwd=S1RGMzN2bXUzSG4zRU5XdzhWSGsxdz09
BAS-1C: Poverty, Inequality, and Social Justice

Chair: Ndangwa Noyoo (University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Marianne Ulriksen (University of Southern Denmark) & Sophie Plagerson (University of Johannesburg,

South Africa): Bringing Theory to Life in Social Justice Research.
• Daud Black (University of Malawi, Malawi): Poverty and Inequality.
• Erick Patrick Feubi Pamen & Mathias Kuepie (University of Douala, Cameroon): An Application of

the Alkire-Foster’s Multidimensional Poverty Index to Data from Madagascar: Taking Into Account the
Dimensions of Employment and Gender Inequality.
• Tapiwanashe Hadzizi (University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe): Housing inequalities and the struggle to
become house owners in urban set ups: Can housing co-operatives makes the dream come true? A case of
Harare, Zimbabwe.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91544100173?pwd=MnBQRGUxbU5jcUU2aUNhUERTK1o4Zz09
BAS-1D: The Precarious Non-Poor in Africa (1)

Chair: Jimi Adesina (University of South Africa, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Sara Zouiri (Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco): Morocco Country Report.
• Abebe Ejigu Alemu (Mekelle University, Ethiopia): Ethiopia Country Report.
• Madina Guloba (Economic Policy Research Centre, Uganda): Uganda Country Report.
• Kehinde Omotoso (University of South Africa, South Africa): South Africa Country Report.

15h10 - 15h30 Link: https://zoom.us/j/97112905203?pwd=YnpFZXNMZGEzdFM2Yi9YSXNGUXpvQT09
15h30 - 17h00 COFFEE BREAK
2ND BREAK-AWAY SESSIONS

BAS-2A: Social Policy Responses to Covid-19

Chair: Gabriel Tati (University of the Western Cape, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Olayinka Akanle et al. (University of Ibadan, Nigeria): The Coronavirus Pandemic in Ibadan, Nigeria:

Democratic State Responses and Glocal Existentialities.
• Isaac Kabelenga (University of Zambia, Zambia): Emergency Social Protection interventions actioned by

the Government of Zambia (GRZ) in response to Covid-19 pandemic.
• Samar Khamlichi (Mohamed V University, Morocco): The Moroccan model of social policy responses to

the Covid-19 Pandemic.
• Kambo M. Atse et al. (Felix Houphouet-Boigny University, Côte d’Ivoire): “Gendered and Transformative

Social Policy in in post-COVID-19 Africa” Multi-country research proposal in selected countries in West Africa:
Benin, Burkina-Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97163101360?pwd=MW1ONXlXbTdSQTVnWkdYZEwxT2NWdz09

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 13

BAS-2B: Gender and Social Policy

Chair: Marianne Ulriksen (University of Southern Denmark)

Speakers:
• Rejoice Chipuriro (University of Johannesburg, South Africa): Aging and Women Empowerment Agenda:

Perspectives from Zimbabwe.
• Peter Gutwa Oino & George Aberi (Kisii University, Kenya): Opportunities and Challenges in Promoting

Gendered Policies and Practices on Child Protection in East Africa.
• Roosa Lambin & Milla Nyysölä (UNU-Wider, UK): Exploring two decades of social policy trajectories in

mainland Tanzania from the perspective of working-age women – driving for inclusive development?
• Rasel Madaha (Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania): Coping Strategies of Feminine Peasant

Networks and social protection in Tanzania: The case of Village Community Networks (VCONEs) in
Tanzania.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/92345596480?pwd=S1RGMzN2bXUzSG4zRU5XdzhWSGsxdz09

BAS-2C: Social Policy and Development

Chair: Anna Wolkenhauer (University of Bremen, Germany)

Speakers:
• Mohammed Ali (Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia): Curbing the Collective Voices of Workers in Ethiopia’s

State-led Industrialization.
• Shepherd Gudyani (Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe): Co-creating Social Policy for

Inclusive and Democratic Development through investing in self-determined and sustained rural
communities in Africa, the case of Zimbabwe.
• Bongekile Mthembu (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa): Social Policy for Integrated African
Development.
• Carol Chi Ngang et al. (National University of Lesotho, Lesotho): Right to Development Governance:
A Policy Proposition for the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91544100173?pwd=MnBQRGUxbU5jcUU2aUNhUERTK1o4Zz09

BAS-2D: Social Protection, Food Security and Non-Fossil Future

Chair: Julia Ngozi Chukuma (SOAS, London)

Speakers:
• Marzena Breza (SOCIEUX+, Belgium): Challenges for social protection policy developments and reforms

– experience of EU technical cooperation in African countries.
• Sara McHattie & Michael Samson (UNWFP, South Africa): The Role of Food Security & Nutrition-Sensitive

Social Protection in Bridging the Humanitarian-Development Divide in the Southern African Region.
• James Mawanda (Development Intelligence Consultancy Ltd, Uganda): ‘No investment in new fossil fuel

supply projects’: (Re) imagining Africa’s Poverty struggles amidst new Global Energy Policies.
• Venosa Mushi (Mzumbe University, Tanzania): Social Protection Systems and Poverty Reduction in

Tanzania.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97112905203?pwd=YnpFZXNMZGEzdFM2Yi9YSXNGUXpvQT09

14 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

DAY 2: Tuesday, 23 November 2021

09h00 - 10h30 THANDIKA MKANDAWIRE MEMORIAL LECTURE

Chair: Katja Hujo (UNRISD, Geneva)

Speakers:
• Jimi Adesina (University of South Africa, South Africa): Statement about the Memorial Lecture.
• Kaarina Klint / André Mkandawire: Statement from the Family.
• The Inaugural Thandika Mkandawire Memorial Lecture

Professor Fantu Cheru (Emeritus Professor of International Political Economy, American University,
Washington DC): “On resuscitating the aborted national project: A retrospective and prospective view”
(Notes from my last conversation with Thandika Mkandawire).

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09

10h30 - 10h45 COFFEE BREAK

10h45 - 12h15 3RD BREAK-AWAY SESSIONS

BAS-3A: Social Policy and the Developmental Context

Chair: Ilcheong Yi (UNRISD, Geneva)

Speakers:
• Manchuna Shanmuganathan (The University of Dundee, Scotland, UK): Social Policy for Inclusive and

Democratic Development in Africa.
• Biruk Shewadeg (Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Ethiopia): Rethinking Democratic

Developmental State in Ethiopia.
• Madalitso Phiri (University of Johannesburg, South Africa): The Contested Idea of Social Policy in Africa:

Recasting the Pan-African Nationalist Vision.
• Kenneth Simala (Masinde Muiro University of Science and Technology, Kenya): Language, Social Policy

and Sustainable Development Discourse: Looking Back to the Future of Africa.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97163101360?pwd=MW1ONXlXbTdSQTVnWkdYZEwxT2NWdz09

BAS-3B: Social Policy in Francophone Africa

Chair:
Ramola Ramtohul (University of Mauritius, Mauritius)

Speakers:
• Marie Fall et al. (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada): Analyse critique des idéologies au cœur

des politiques sociales liées à l’éducation et à l’emploi au Mali, en Mauritanie et au Sénégal.
• Adama Sadio, et al. (Gorée Institut, Sénégal): Réflexion sur les politiques sociales du Sénégal au prisme de

la démocratie et du développement.
• Ndeye Faty Sarr et al. (Universitè de Chicoutimi, France): Lecture critique des politiques sociales en

Mauritanie, au Mali et au Sénégal.
• Almamy Sylla & Adama Sadio (Université des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako, Mali):

Examen des politiques sociales éducatives et de l’emploi au Mali.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/92345596480?pwd=S1RGMzN2bXUzSG4zRU5XdzhWSGsxdz09

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 15

10h45 - 12h15 BAS-3C: Health, Water and Care Economy

Chair:
Nana Akua Anyidoho (University of Ghana, Legon)

Speakers:
• Julia Ngozi Chukwuma (SOAS, UK): Implementing health policy in Nigeria: The Basic Health Care Provision

Fund as a catalyst for attaining Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria?
• Newman Tekwa & B Dube (University of South Africa, South Africa): ‘Global Policies versus ‘Local

Realities.’ Water Policy Reforms in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
• Salimah Valiani (Independent Researcher, South Africa): The Africa Care Economy Index.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91544100173?pwd=MnBQRGUxbU5jcUU2aUNhUERTK1o4Zz09

BAS-3D: Social Policy Responses to Covid-19 (2)

Chair:
Clement Chipenda (University of South Africa, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Marion Mugisha et al. (Kyambogo University, Uganda): Agency and Compliance with Anti-Covid-19 Public

Health Policies in Slums of the Global South.
• Marion Ouma (University of South Africa, South Africa): Kenya’s Social Policy response to Covid-19:

Continuity in times of crisis.
• Malalaniaina Miora Rakotoarivelo & James Ravalison (University of Antananarivo, Madagascar):

Managing the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in a context of underdevelopment, a study case from
Madagascar.
• Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur (University of Mauritius, Mauritius): Vulnerability, Resilience and Social
Policy Responses of African Economies in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97112905203?pwd=YnpFZXNMZGEzdFM2Yi9YSXNGUXpvQT09

12h15 - 13h00 LUNCH

13h30 - 15h00 4TH BREAK-AWAY SESSIONS

BAS-4A: Migration, Covid-19 and Welfare

Chair:
Madalitso Phiri (University of Johannesburg, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Olayinka Akanle (University of Ibadan, Nigeria): Migration for Poverty and Inequality Reduction in Sub-

Saharan Africa: Migration Partnerships as Antithesis.
• Belmondo Tanankem Voufo (Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development of Cameroon):

Linking Migration and Household Welfare in Cameroon: Zooming into the Effect of Return Migration on
Self-employment.
• Gabriel Tati (University of the Western Cape, South Africa): Living on the fringes of public assistance
in time of Covid-19 pandemic crisis: The plight of African forced migrants in the city of Cape Town (South
Africa).
• Kennedy Alatinga (SD Dombo University, Ghana): Migrant female head porters’ experiences and national
social policy response in times of Covid-19: policy implications for universal social protection in Ghana.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97163101360?pwd=MW1ONXlXbTdSQTVnWkdYZEwxT2NWdz09

16 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

BAS-4B: Land, Agriculture and Social Policy

Chair:
Newman Tekwa (University of South Africa, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Natalia Abril Bonilla (Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands): Enduring CSR: Social policies of

banana companies in rural Colombia.
• Patience Chadambuka et al. (Midlands State University, Zimbabwe): Zimbabwe’s ex-farm labourers of

foreign origin and perpetual marginalization: A need for a land policy shift.
• Clement Chipenda (University of South Africa, South Africa): ‘Social Policy by Other Means’: Critical

insights on land reform as an alternative social policy instrument during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Trevor Ngwane (University of Johannesburg, South Africa): ‘The Land Was Stolen’: Labour Tenants and

the Agrarian Question in Africa Today.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/92345596480?pwd=S1RGMzN2bXUzSG4zRU5XdzhWSGsxdz09

BAS-4C: Social Policy Responses to Covid-19 (3)

Chair:
Kate Meagher (London School of Economics, UK)

Speakers:
• Bassey Ayek (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria): Critical Reflections on social policy responses to the

Covid-19 pandemic in Eastern Nigeria.
• Temi Esteri Fet’era (United Nations Office, Nigeria): Covid-19 and the Exposure of Gaps in Social

Protection Coverage of the Informal Economy: A Case of Cultural and Creative Sector Workers in Nigeria.
• Lindi-K Khumalo & Nqobile Zulu (Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute, South Africa): Critical

Reflections on South Africa’s Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SDR): A case for the development of a
cost of living index.
• Eyene Okpanachi (University of South Wales, UK) & Emmanuel Aiyede (University of Ibadan, Nigeria):
The Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Social Protection and Vulnerability in the context of Covid-19 in
Nigeria.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91544100173?pwd=MnBQRGUxbU5jcUU2aUNhUERTK1o4Zz09

BAS-4D: The Precarious Non-Poor in Africa (2)

Chair:
Kehinde Omotoso (University of South Africa, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Nancy Nafula Mwenge (Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis, Nairobi, Kenya): Kenya

Country Report.
• Walid Merouani (CREAD, Algiers, Algeria): Algeria Country Report.
• Emmanuel Codjoe (University of Ghana, Legon): Ghana Country Report.
• Abiodun Adegboye (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria): Nigeria Country Report.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97112905203?pwd=YnpFZXNMZGEzdFM2Yi9YSXNGUXpvQT09

14h30 - 14h45 COFFEE BREAK

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 17

14h45 - 16h15 3RD PLENARY SESSION: Democracy, State-Building and Social Policy
Chair:
Jimi Adesina (University of South Africa, South Africa)
Speakers:
• Anna Wolkenhauer (University of Bremen, Germany): Social Policy and State Formation: Comparative
insights from the Social Cash Transfer and FISP in Zambia.
• Michael Kpessa-Whyte (University of Ghana, Legon): Democracy and Social Policy in Ghana: An Analysis
of Reforms in Health, Pension and Education Policies.
• Dennis Canterbury (Eastern Connecticut State University, USA): Fresh Vistas for African Development in
a New Multipolar World Order.
Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09

16h15 - 16h30 COFFEE BREAK
16h30 - 18h00 SPECIAL GETSPA PLENARY SESSION 1

Gender Equitable and Transformative Social Policy for Post-Covid-19 Africa: An Introduction.
Chair:
Dzodzi Tsikata (University of Ghana, Legon)
Speakers:
• Charles Abugre: Economic and Social Policy Interactions.
• Newman Tekwa (University of South Africa): Gender and Social Policy.
• Nana Akua Anyidoho (University of Ghana, Legon): Social Policy of Military Regimes: Some

considerations.
Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09

18 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

DAY 3: Wednesday, 24 November 2021

09h00 - 11h00 3RD PLENARY SESSION: Rethinking Social Policy

Chair:
Ilcheong Yi (UNRISD, Geneva, Switzerland)

Speakers:
• Dzodzi Tsikata (University of Ghana, Legon): Gender, Social Reproduction and Social Policy.
• Jimi Adesina (University of South Africa, South Africa): Rethinking Social Policy with Thandika

Mkandawire.
• Maureen Mackintosh (The Open University, UK): Commercialisation, Gender, and Ethics in Tanzanian

Health Care: Honouring the work of Paula Tibandebage.
• Kate Meagher (London School of Economics, UK): Transforming African Informal Economies: Looking

Back to Move Forward in the Wake of Covid-19.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09

11h00 - 11h15 COFFEE BREAK

11h15 - 12h45 5TH BREAK-AWAY SESSION

BAS-5A: Social Policy Responses to Covid-19 (4)

Chair:
Bernard Dubbeld (Stellenbosch University, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Cecy Balogun (Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Nigeria): Social Policy Responses to

Covid-19 In Nigeria: Gaps and Expectations.
• Miracle-Eunice Bolorunduro (Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria): An Appraisal of the Covid-19 Rapid

Response Registration Cash Transfer Policy in Nigeria.
• Lilan Olivia Orero (ALP Advocates East Africa, Kenya): Critical Reflections on Social Policy Responses to the

Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya.
• Olusegun Oladeinde (Bells University of Technology, Nigeria): Violence, Conflicts and Covid-19

Pandemic in Nigeria - a Double-Crisis Challenge: re-thinking the Humanitarian Architecture for Sustainable
Development.
• Nqobile Zulu, et al. (Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute, South Africa): Critical Reflections on
Social Policy Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Namibia.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/97163101360?pwd=MW1ONXlXbTdSQTVnWkdYZEwxT2NWdz09

BAS-5B: Teaching and Thinking about Social Policy

Chair:
Marion Ouma (University of South Africa, South Africa)

Speakers:
• Ndangwa Noyoo (University of Cape Town, South Africa): Teaching Social Policy for Africa’s Development:

A Case Study of the Department of Social Development at the University Cape Town.
• Dominic Brown (AIDC, South Africa) & Nimi Hoffmann (University of Sussex, UK): Towards a people’s

budget for South Africa: remarks from a transformative social policy perspective.
• Oko Enworo (University of Pretoria, South Africa): The Role of Indigenous Social Protection Systems in the

Management of Covariate Shocks: Insights from Southeast Nigeria.
• Nkululeko Majozi (Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute, South Africa): The Universal Basic Income

Grant (BIG) in South Africa as an Instrument for Transformative Social Policy: Lessons from Global BIG Pilot
Experiments.

Link: https://zoom.us/j/92345596480?pwd=S1RGMzN2bXUzSG4zRU5XdzhWSGsxdz09

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 19

BAS-5C: Child Welfare, Human Security, Poverty, and Inequality
Chair:
Salimah Valiani (Independent Researcher, South Africa)
Speakers:
• Musavengana Chibwana (University of Free State, South Africa): Social Protection for Children in Africa:

the case of South Africa and Mauritius.
• Tawanda Masuka (Bindura University of Science Education, Zimbabwe): Developmental Social Policy

and Urban Child Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Bindura Town, Zimbabwe.
• Abdoul Karim Diamoutene (University of Social Science and Management, Mali): Agriculture, Inequality

and Poverty in Mali.
• Kwashirai Zvokuomba & Freedom Mazwi (Ezekiel Guti University, Zimbabwe): Human Security and the

State as a Security Provider in the Post Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Human Factor Approach
Review.
Link: https://zoom.us/j/91544100173?pwd=MnBQRGUxbU5jcUU2aUNhUERTK1o4Zz09
12h45 - 13h30 LUNCH

20 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

13h30 - 15h00 GETSPA ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: The Trajectories of Social Policy in Africa
Chair:
Michael Kpessa-Whyte (University of Ghana, Legon)
Speakers:
• Ramola Ramtohul (University of Mauritius, Mauritius)
• Clementina Furtado (Universidade de Cabo Verde, Cabo Verde)
• Adama Sadio (Gorée Institut, Senegal)
• Julius Omona (Makerere University, Uganda)
Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09

15h00 - 16h30 ENDNOTE ADDRESS & CLOSING CEREMONY
Chair:
Dr Godwin Murunga (Executive Secretary, CODESRIA)
Closing Keynote Address: Social Policy for Sustained Democratic Governance
Prof Adebayo Olukoshi
Farewell Addresses:
• Prof Jimi Adesina: SARChI Chair in Social Policy, University of South Africa.
• Dr Katja Hujo: UNRISD, Geneva.
• Prof Thenjiwe Meyiwa (Vice Principal - RPSIC, University of South Africa).
Link: https://zoom.us/j/91390491896?pwd=RjF3MnpyR1pENUJQKzVxQ1hpOU5oQT09

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 21

22 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Keynote Speakers

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 23

Professor Jayati Ghosh Professor Adebayo Olukoshi

Professor of Economics at the University of Distinguished Professor at the Wits School of
Massachusetts, Amherst (USA) Governance, University of the Witwatersrand
in South Africa

Professor Jayati Ghosh is Professor Professor Adebayo Olukoshi is a
of Economics at the University of Distinguished Professor at the Wits
Massachusetts, Amherst (USA). A School of Governance, University of the
Development Economist, Professor Ghosh Witwatersrand in South Africa. He received
was until December 2020 the Chair of the his undergraduate education at the Ahmadu
Centre for Economic Studies and Planning Bello University (Nigeria), and his doctoral
at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), education at Leeds University (United
in India. Professor Ghosh received her Kingdom).
undergraduate education at Delhi University
and her master’s education at JNU and Prof Olukoshi has served as Research Professor and
her doctoral education at the University of Director of Research and Studies at the Nigerian Institute of
Cambridge, United Kingdom. International Affairs, Senior Research Fellow at the Nordic
Africa Institute (Uppsala, Sweden), Senior Professional
Prof Ghosh is a founder of the Economic Research Staff at The South Centre (Geneva), Executive Secretary of
Foundation, New Delhi, and the Executive Secretary of the the CODESRIA (the Council for the Development of Social
International Development Economics Associates (IDEAS), a Science Research in Africa) in Dakar, Senegal; Director
network of economists critical of the mainstream economic of the United Nations African Institute for Economic
paradigm of neoliberalism. A multiple award winner, Development and Planning (Dakar, Senegal); and until
Prof Ghosh received the United Nations Development recently, as the Director, Regional Office for Africa and
Programme Prize for excellence in analysis for the West West Asia of the International Institute for Democracy and
Bengal Human Development Report, for which she was the Electoral Assistance (Sweden).
principal author.
Prof Olukoshi is a multi-award-winning scholar and
Prof Ghosh has served as visiting professor at several recipients of several fellowships, including the Distinguished
universities around the world, including being the Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg (South
first Ragnar Nurkse Visiting Professor in Development Africa), and Rhodes African Research Fellowship at Oxford
Economics at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia. University.
She has also served on the World Health Organization’s
Council on the Economics of Health for All.

24 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Thandika Mkandawire Memorial Lecture

Professor Fantu Cheru

Emeritus Professor of International Political Economy at American University (Washington, DC)
and Senior Researcher at the African Studies Centre, Leiden University (The Netherlands).

Fantu Cheru is Emeritus Professor of International Political Economy at American University
(Washington, DC) and Senior Researcher at the African Studies Centre, Leiden University (The
Netherlands).

He served as Associate Senior Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the North-South
Institute in Ottawa, Canada. From 2007-12, he was the Research Director at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden.
Previously, Dr. Cheru served as a member of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Panel on Mobilizing International Support for the
New Partnership for African Development (2005-2007) as well as Convener of the Global Economic Agenda Track of the Helsinki
Process on Globalization and Democracy, (Helsinki, Finland). Dr. Cheru also served as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Foreign
Debt and Structural Adjustment for the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva from 1998-2001. In addition, Dr. Cheru
has served both as an advisor and consultant to several governments and donor institutions including the UN Economic
Commission for Africa, UNDP, UN-Habitat, SIDA, DANIDA, NORAD, among others.
Among Professor Cheru’s publications include: Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy (with Chris Cramer and Arkebe
Oqubay, 2018); Agricultural Development and Food Security in Africa: The Impact of Chinese, Indian and Brazilian Investments (with
Renu Modi, 2013); Africa and International Relations in the 21st Century, co-edited with Scarlett Cornelissen and Timothy M. Shaw
(Palgrave, 2011); The Rise of China and India in Africa (with Cyril Obi, 2010); African Renaissance: Roadmaps to the Challenge of
Globalization (2002), and The Silent Revolution in Africa: Debt, Development and Democracy (ZED, 1989). His articles have appeared
in numerous international journals: World Development; Review of African Political Economy; International Affairs; Third World
Quarterly: Global Political Economy, among others. He currently serves on the editorial board of several academic journals.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 25

26 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Abstracts

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 27

Natalia Abril Bonilla The configuration and norms underpinning the pursuit
of well-being reflect the balance of contending social
International Institute of Social Studies, The forces and ideational commitments in different context.
Netherlands The paradox of Social Policy as a field of study is that
at its height and as the construction of welfare regime
Email: [email protected] types came to dominate the field, especially within the
dominant OECD context, the focus of the field shrunk
Title of Paper: Enduring CSR: the social policies of banana to a set of policy instruments designed to protection
companies in rural Colombia against the vagaries of the life cycle. This is against a more
expansive take on Social Policy among its leading policy
Abstract pioneers and scholars. The neoliberal turn brought with
it a severe retrenchment in imagination of the aspirations
In the banana producing regions of Colombia, rural for the acceptable floor of human well-being. With its
communities receive most of their health care, education aversion to collective provisioning, a commitment to
and housing infrastructure from the CSR programs of market transactional logic, and residual take on social
the banana trading companies. In this paper, I analyse policy, neoliberalism generated a diminution of social
the persistence of CSR and its social policies to address policy imagination Against, this background the idea of
the needs of the rural communities where the trading development underwent a retraction—from the structural
companies operate, despite its shortcomings. CSR transformation of economy and society to the alleviation of
initiatives aim to respond to the pressing social and poverty. In this paper, we critically explore the contributions
environmental demands of global development. In Latin of Thandika Mkandawire to the rethinking Social Policy in
America in general and in Colombia in particular, banana late 20th century and enunciate the idea of Transformative
agribusinesses have implemented social policies (on Social Policy that he advance.
education, nutrition, sexual and reproductive rights, and
housing loans, etc.) through their CSR schemes as a way to Dr Olayinka Akanle
gain local trust and consolidate stable labour conditions.
However, the same banana companies have been involved University of Ibadan, Nigeria/University of
in water grabbing and land dispossession of the rural Johannesburg, South Africa, Nigeria
communities to whom the CSR programs are directed
to. Moreover, they have been involved with the armed E-mail: [email protected]
groups who have displaced the communities where they
aim to gain local trust. Through an archival review and a Title of Paper: The Coronavirus Pandemic in Ibadan, Nigeria:
network analysis, I show the way in which the pre-existing Democratic State Responses and Glocal Existentialities
set of ideas and practices of CSR as an institutional field
interact with the decision-making process of key actors Abstract
in the banana industry in Colombia. The paper intends to
contribute to the knowledge of social protection and social Ibadan is an indigenous but aggressively modernizing
policies in rural contexts, by analysing the political economy social and cultural setting in Oyo state Nigeria. Even
of CSR and shedding light to the number of institutions though the city has been modernizing, the modernization
that provide social policies in the global south, such as processes have been very stable and gradual. Oyo state
agribusinesses and their CSR’s. has unique experiences in the contagion, state responses
and outcomes/consequences relative to the Coronavirus
Professor Jimi Adesina pandemic. Ibadan as the capital of Oyo state is at the
center of the unique experiences of Coronavirus Pandemic.
University of South Africa, South Africa The intersectionalities of experiences in Ibadan in the
pandemic offer very important perspectives that the world
E-mail: [email protected] can learn from relative to democratic state governance,
development, transformative and systemic social policy.
Title of Paper: Rethinking Social Policy with Thandika This paper therefore examines Ibadan as a context of the
Mkandawire Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria from a glocal Perspective.
The remits of the paper relative to the pandemic in
Abstract Ibadan are people’s experiences, democratic government
responses and the people’s responses to the coronavirus
The emergence of Social Policy as a formal field of the pandemic within micro-macros worldviews. This paper
study of the norm, institutions, and mechanisms for offers original insights into the Coronavirus pandemic in
delivering on human well-being is largely a post-World manners that are useful for scholarship, social policy and
War II phenomenon, which draws on disciplines such as practice secondary and original primary data gathered
Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Politics, and Law. through in-depth interviews (IDIs).

28 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference Co-Author(s): EwaJesu Opeyemi Okewumi, Demilade
Kayode, Irenitemi Abolade, Olayinka Ola-Lawson

Dr Olayinka Akanle The fees for their services are neither determined by
the distance traveled, weight of goods transported nor
University of Ibadan, Nigeria/University of market forces of demand and supply. The head porters
Johannesburg, South Africa, Nigeria are usually unskilled. Their unskilled nature makes them
less competitive and have limited bargaining power as far
E-mail: [email protected] as the wages for their labour are concerned. This paper
explored migrant female head porters’ experiences and
Title of Paper: Migration for Poverty and Inequality Reduction national social policy responses in times of Covid-19,
in Sub-Saharan Africa: Migration Partnerships as Antithesis particularly during the period of the lockdown and the
policy implications thereof for universal social protection
Abstract in Ghana. Using an explorative qualitative study design, 24
migrant female head porters were purposively sampled
International Migration is one of the most vexed for the study, in Ghana’s capital city, Accra. The study
issues across the world. This is largely because of the revealed weaknesses in the social protection system.
differential outcomes of migration across contexts. While The established that there is no specific social protection
migrants-receiving countries face complicated migration scheme for the vulnerable such as female head porters
consequences, migrants-sending nations, particularly in Ghana. The paper also revealed that the locked down
in Sub-Saharan Africa, receive remittances that are led to food insecurity, reduced incomes and remittances,
crucially needed for poverty/inequality reduction but not increased levels of poverty, poor health among the female
without suffering diplomatic backlashes. It is against this head porters. It is recommended that government, through
background that countries, regions and governments put the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection,
in place policies and strategies to manage migrations as expedites action to introduce social protection schemes
social realities. These policies and strategies are however, for the vulnerable such female head porters to mitigate
not without issues especially relative to effectiveness their vulnerabilities in times of shocks such as the Covid-19
and sustainability. Major innovative policies and experience.
strategies targeted at migration management, especially
from the North, are migration partnerships. Migration Dr Mohammed Ali
partnerships, even though increasingly popular, are
however not without issues and this paper argues that Bahir Dar Universty, Ethiopia
for migration partnerships to be objective, livelihood
issues of partnering people/states/regions must be well E-mail: [email protected]
accounted for especially relative to remittances, poverty/
inequality, underdevelopment and social inclusion in Sub- Title of Paper: Curbing the Collective Voices of Workers in
Saharan Africa. Power distance/power asymmetries and Ethiopia’s State-led Industrialization
existentialities among partnering nations/people must
be well understood and addressed. This paper therefore Abstract
examines the European Union (EU) migration partnerships
in West Africa with particular Nigeria’s scenario as case This article aims to examine the labour control practices
study to contribute importantly to knowledge on poverty in Ethiopia’s State-led industrialization by taking the actual
and inequality reduction through migration not only in track records of selected apparel sourcing firms at three
Europe but beyond. selected industrial parks of the country. The ideological and
actual industrial policy externality of Ethiopia’s state-led
Dr Kennedy A. Alatinga industrialization on the collective voices of local industrial
workers has been analyzed. Since 2005, Ethiopia has
SD Dombo University of Business and experimented with the East Asian development model
Integrated Development Studies, Wa, Ghana of state-led industrial development. As such, facilitating
industrial catch-up has been the country’s underlying
E-mail: [email protected] ideological and industrial policy imperative. In other words,
ensuring the voices of industrial workers has not been the
Title of Paper: Migrant female head porters’ experiences and country’s industrial policy priority and it has been assumed
national social policy response in times of Covid-19: policy as a threat to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Hence, the
implications for universal social protection in Ghana ideology has firmly stood for the strong business-state
alliance which ultimately has curbed the collective voices
Abstract of the country’s industrial workers. As a result, Ethiopia’s
active industrial policy has employed various mechanisms
Female head porters are migrants from the poorer to debilitate representative labour institutions such as
northern parts of Ghana to wealthier southern Ghana— the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) and
where they work by carrying loads of goods on their heads Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA).
for shoppers and shop keepers for undetermined fees in
the urban markets.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 29

Moreover, the government has employed diverse de facto Dr Gabriel Asante
or de jure labour control mechanisms, particularly across
the country’s Industrial Parks (IPs) to silence workers’ quests Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary,
for associational rights. Additionally, employing industries Hungary
have enforced various forms of administrative and punitive
measures to subdue the collective voices of their workers. E-mail: [email protected]
Unless the government navigates towards industrialization
with a human face, the voices of local industrial workers will Title of Paper: Configuration of Fee-free policies at the High
remain marginal. School level: A cross-national qualitative comparative analysis
of Sub-Saharan Africa
Muez Ali
Abstract
LSE, UCL and Sudan’s Ministry of Finance,
Sudan/UK Following the widespread adoption and implementation
of Education for All and the World Education Forum at
E-mail: [email protected] Dakar under Millennium Development Goals in 2000,
school enrolment at the basic level of education increased
Title of Paper: The curious appeal of cash transfers across in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Governments are shifting
three diverging political contexts in Sudan attention to upper secondary education using fee-free
policies as social interventions. High school education is
Abstract argued to be an important component of human capital
formation and improve democratic processes. However,
Cash transfers first emerged in Sudan through the little is known about the sufficient condition(s) to cause
attempts by the World Food Program (WFP) to make fee-free policy or the absence of it at the high school level
food aid more market driven. These programs led to the in SSA. This study applies set-theoretic method through
build-up of expertise among Sudanese professionals fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis with data from 7
within international institutions and also created datasets countries. Five potential causal conditions argued from the
on populations in conflict areas. To a certain extent, the social policy literature are analysed. They include regime
former regime was able to influence eligibility to its political type, electoral competition, ideological lineage, social
advantage. After the secession of South Sudan in 2011, and context, and economic conditions. The data collected from
the corresponding loss of oil, Sudan introduced strategic different international data sources were recorded during
subsidies, which placed increasing pressure on the budget. 2010-2020. The findings provide significant influence of
At this point, cash transfers were re-imagined as a useful electoral competition and high level of lower secondary
tool to cushion against the political costs of subsidy reform. school enrolment on the adoption of fee-free policies at the
The World Bank and the donor community supported high school level. Notwithstanding, the absence of electoral
these efforts although implementation took place within competition is sufficient for the absence of fee-free policy.
the politically affiliated Ministry of Welfare and Social The coverage explains how elections as one component
Security and the Zakat Chamber. Following the revolution, of democracy compel political leaders to initiate social
international actors made it clear that subsidy reform was policies. This also means that continuous investment to
a condition for debt relief. Regime personnel were replaced improve the overall level of democracy is necessary for the
with Sudanese experts seconded from international development of SSA. Additionally, the study challenges the
institutions and administrative control shifted towards the relevance of two important explanations of the literature on
Ministry of Finance. Implementation would now involve expansionary social policy – the traditional partisan theory
telecommunication companies and the WFP. Some of our of policy outcomes and the economy.
interviewees saw the program simply as a ‘World Bank idea’
but it was largely driven by Sudanese domestic actors, who Kambo Martial Atse
sought to use it to drive a broader digital transformation
of the economy and to integrate marginal areas within Felix Houphouet-Boigny University of Abidjan-
national social protection databases. The Sudanese case Cocody/ PanAfrican University Cameroon, Côte
demonstrates the importance of international institutions d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
in shaping domestic expertise within authoritarian contexts.
Sudanese experts have domesticated international ideas E-mail: [email protected]
to suit their own political visions within Sudan’s shifting
political context. Title of Paper: “Gendered and Transformative Social Policy
in in post-Covid-19 Africa” Multi-country research proposal in
Co-Author(s): Dr. Laura Mann selected countries in West Africa: Benin, Burkina-Faso and Côte
d’Ivoire

30 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Abstract These steps are the social policy responses to help citizens
cushion the effects of Covid-19 pandemic. Leveraging on
The improvement of social conditions in Africa, as the Nigerian government social response policies, the
elsewhere, calls for development actions. development. states adopted emergency response plans to improve on
However, the fragmentation of social actions in the search the income of the most affected and vulnerable citizens.
for the well-being of populations of Benin, Burkina Faso There are however, lamentations on the distribution of
and Côte d’Ivoire is obvious and poses real problems of government palliatives by the masses. Citizens allege
coherence in terms of goals, sustainability and construction that the processes of distribution of palliatives have been
of meaning. Faced with the multiform needs that expose politicized. Issues bordering on insincere distribution,
social actors to precariousness and vulnerability, as well as politicization of the processes of distribution of the
the risks that emerge with the that emerge with the rise of palliatives, lack of laid down parameters for determining the
inequalities, it is almost impossible to ignore the path of most vulnerable people were the common complains. The
research on the research on the essential changes to be question of vulnerability as concerns the recipients of the
made. Thus, the objective of this project is to research not palliatives for the Covid-19 pandemic must be succinctly
only the effects of Covid-19 on the state of social policy, addressed.
but more importantly, to start from the historical and
the historical and contemporary trajectory of disparate, Dr Cecy Balogun
heterogeneous and sometimes contradictory social action
and sometimes contradictory in Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic
Côte d’Ivoire and more broadly in the countries of West Research (NISER), Nigeria
West African countries, to rethink the construction of
social policy. The investigation involves a methodological E-mail: [email protected]
approach that revolves around an in-depth study of
available available documents, interviews with social Title of Paper: Social Policy Responses to Covid-19 In Nigeria:
actors, key persons including political and administrative Gaps And Expectations
authorities administrative authorities, and the heads of
institutions involved in the elaboration of public public Abstract
policies. At the end of this process, an inventory of the
evolution of the social situation in of the countries in This paper examined the social policy responses of the
the field of the study, in correlation with the actions and government to the Covid-19 outbreak in Nigeria. Covid-19
policies with a social aim undertaken, will make it possible threatened the health, social, economic, and political
to envisage, within the framework of an active and stability of the global community, Nigeria, inclusive. Apart
committed research network, a change of course in terms from the health challenges associated with the disease
of social development in African countries. outbreak, the movement restrictions and lockdown
measures that were imposed at the national, and state
Co-Author(s): TEKOU Vidaley Fabrice levels affected the job security and livelihood of millions
of families in Nigeria. The unemployment rate in Nigeria
Dr Bassey Ayek increased from 23% in 2018 to over 27% in 2020, and an
estimated 10.9 million people are projected to be pushed
University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria into poverty as a result of Covid-19 and the containment
measures in Nigeria. Hence, the study aims to analyze the
E-mail: [email protected] effect of Covid-19 on job security and livelihoods, the policy
responses of the government, gaps in such measures, and
Title of Paper: Critical Reflections on social policy responses grey areas that the government should focus on to forestall
to the Covid-19 pandemic in Eastern Nigeria the negative impacts of pandemics of the magnitude
of Covid-19, suing secondary data sources. The study
Abstract concluded that the social policy measures adopted to
mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the Nigerian populace
The devastating effect of Covid-19 has brought untold were grossly ineffective, due to the large number of people
afflictions, unparalleled economic and personal tragedies needing social security in Nigeria and the inadequacy of the
on families. Although the level of infections in Africa is measures adopted. The study recommended that social
low as compare to the other continents in the world, the benefits that are directed at the poor, who are the most
eastern states of Nigeria has had their share of the disaster. affected by the socio-economic impact of Covid-19, will
As a means to control the spread of coronavirus pandemic, require a comprehensive database of poor and vulnerable
Nigerian government adopted lockdown measures. These populations for adequate and effective targeting.
measures however brought dangerous aftermath effects
on the eastern states. It becomes inevitable for a well Keywords: Social policy responses, food aids, job security,
coordinated and strategic response by the authorities. cash transfer programmes, learn at home programme
These responses came in different dimensions such as;
release of public funds to address the capacity of health 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 31
systems, financial support to entrepreneurs to ameliorate
the devastating effect on the economy, grants and
incentives to employers.

Dr Daud Black Since its implementation, there has been public outcry on
the transparency and the accountability of the process
University Of Malawi, Malawi on the part of government officials, and skepticisms over
whether the cash transfer is actually been disbursed to the
E-mail: [email protected] right persons, in order to truly achieve what it was meant
to achieve amidst the pandemic. This paper therefore,
Title of Paper: Poverty and Inequality seeks to do an assessment of the policy. What were the
criteria for selecting the urban poor and vulnerable? Why
Abstract were rural settlers not covered by this policy? What are the
successes recorded so far? What have been the challenges
Africa’s poverty challenge is well-known and widely of this initiative? These are the questions the paper intends
researched. Approximately one in three Africans – 422 to answer. It relies on secondary method, using document
million people live below the global poverty line. They analysis. Data will be sourced from Newspaper reports,
represent more than 70% of the world’s poorest people. journals, government’s official statements and documents,
More recently, evidence shows that inequality may indeed and stakeholder interviews. Findings will help inform policy
be a more significant challenge in Africa than in other makers on better ways to enhance such social policies, and
regions of the developing world. High levels of poverty and provide cushion to citizens amidst the pandemic.
inequality persist in Africa in spite of it being one of the
fastest growing regions in the last decade. In particular, Keywords: Appraisal, Covid-19, policy, conditional cash
six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies in the transfer, Nigeria
last decade were in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (IMF, 2021
projections). Specifically, the fastest growing economy in Co-Author(s): Single Author
the world in this decade was Angola, followed by Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique, Rwanda and Equatorial Marzena Breza
Guinea. This paper takes a deeper look at the levels
of poverty and inequality in Africa with a special case SOCIEUX+ EU Expertise on Social Protection,
of Malawi using data from the IHS2, IHS3, and ISH4 to Labour and Employment, Belgium
measure inequality. We use the Multidimensional Poverty
Index(MPI) which leverages a variety of dimensions and E-mail: [email protected]
applies it to the number of people and the overall intensity
across the poor to create a model that captures the extent Title of Paper: Challenges for social protection policy
of poverty in the region and the Gini Index, which uses a developments and reforms – experience of EU technical
straightforward 0-1 scale to illustrate deviance from perfect cooperation in African countries
equality of income.
Abstract
Key words: Poverty, Inequality, Malawi
Socio-economic situation in time of Covid-19 caused new
Co-Author(s): Single Author challenges for policy makers across the world. The social
protection systems require new developments in countries
Dr Miracle-Eunice Bolorunduro of different level of development status. Covid-19 as an
external factor is influencing differently countries partly due
Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko, to the existing social protection systems – its generosity,
Nigeria flexibility and adaptability. Social protection systems
based on extended experiences as well the immature
E-mail: [email protected] in developing countries are facing challenges of higher
unemployment, increase of informal work, rising demand of
Title of Paper: An Appraisal of the Covid-19 Rapid benefits for vulnerable groups, etc. Social challenges arise
Response Registration Cash Transfer Policy in Nigeria at national, regional and local levels of social protection
implementation. All actors involve in social protection
Abstract benefits and services delivery are confronted with new
demands and actions. As to ensure high quality and
The Covid-19 pandemic has had untold impacts on human access to social protection services accurate government
lives and has altered life as we knew it. In trying to mitigate interventions are key to reach the most vulnerable.
the attending challenges of the pandemic, various social Challenges of social protection system could be properly
policies were implemented in Nigeria as well as in other identified and provide to adequate government policy
parts of the world. This paper focuses on an assessment of actions based on the international experience sharing.
the Rapid Response Registration Cash Transfer Project in The EU countries with different level socio-economic
Nigeria. This policy legislated by the Federal Government development are regularly sharing their experience and
is aimed to lift the urban poor out of poverty, especially knowledge in practical terms via peer-to-peer technical
those whose livelihood was affected by the pandemic, and actions.
to ameliorate the harsh economic impacts of the pandemic.

32 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Gaining an international perspective for social policy Abstract
development is in high demand in African countries which
make mutual cooperation in social protection valuable for The transition from the failed US-led neoliberal global
all partners involved. order to an emerging new multipolar world order founded
on competition and cooperation between the US, the
Dominic Brown European Union, and the BRICS countries in particular
Russia and China has created fresh vistas for economic
Alternative Information & Development Centre, development and social protection policies in African
South Africa states. The African states no longer have to subject
themselves to the dictates of the IMF/World Bank Group
E-mail: [email protected] to build back better in the light of the destruction wrought
by structural adjustment. These states now have options
Title of Paper: Towards a people’s budget for South Africa: presented by the new multipolarity to build forward better
remarks from a transformative social policy perspective by shaping economic development and social protection
policies in their self-interest. The problem is whether the
Abstract African states have the wherewithal to discontinue their
IMF/World Bank policies and negotiate economic measures
In 2020, South Africa’ National Treasury began a three- to reflect the new multipolarity. Also, would multipolar
year programme to reduce government non-interest competition and rivalry thwart the African states’ pursuit of
spending. As Michael Sachs, the former head of National economic development.
Treasury’s budget office notes, “this would be the largest
contraction in government spending since the transition Dr Patience Chadambuka
to democracy ... and coming after a decade of ‘austerity
without consolidation’”. Faced with a self-imposed Midlands State University, Zimbabwe
structural adjustment programme (austerity), trade unions,
social movements and community-based organisations E-mail: [email protected]
have criticised budget cuts, the privatisation of essential
services and the prioritisation of big business and wealthy Title of Paper: Zimbabwe’s ex-farm labourers of foreign origin
individuals over the needs of the majority of the people and and perpetual marginalization. A need for a land policy shift
the planet. Implicit in this critique is a growing recognition
that the national budget is not only a question of public Abstract
finance, but is fundamentally a tool of transformative
social policy. Given this, we ask, what could a budget that Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP)
prioritises the needs of the majority of the people and continues to attract scholarship on land and agrarian
the planet, look like? To answer this question, we examine reform. The farm occupations by black Zimbabweans and
government’s programme for expenditure and revenue subsequent displacements of white farmers and their
collection. Adopting the perspective of transformative social labourers, which conditioned the emergence of fast track,
policy, we consider where it might come up short and how impacted significantly the former farm workers, as they
this might be addressed. A key element of our argument had to reinvent their lives thereafter. Historically, colonial
is that it is not only the content of the budget that is Zimbabwe drew upon labour mainly from neighbouring
important, but also the process by which it is developed. A Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.Issues focusing on
budget that is developed through mass public deliberation, livelihoods and belonging became pertinent to ex-farm
we contend, is not only more likely to reflect the values and workers, particularly those of foreign of foreign origin.
the needs of the impoverished black majority, but is also Zimbabwean-by-origin ex-farm workers could relocate
an important component of creating a social compact and to their (highly ethnicised) communal areas, but this was
protecting the increasingly fragile legitimacy of the state. not an easily-available option for those of foreign origin.
This article focuses on farm workers of foreign origin who
Co-Author(s): Dr, Nimi Hoffmann either remained on former white-owned commercial farms
or moved to communal areas after the FTLRP. It explores
Professor Dennis C. Canterbury processes and practices of contested belonging between
the ex-farm labourers and the autochthonous occupiers
Eastern Connecticut State University, United and, later, the new A1 fast track farmers. The article is
States of America based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between
September 2019 and March 2020 on an A1 farms and
E-mail: [email protected] communal areas in Shamva District, Mashonaland Central
Province. We focus on how autochthonous claims continue
Title of Paper: Fresh Vistas for African Development in a New to shape land and ethnic belonging in Zimbabwe with, in
Multipolar World Order. this study, those considering themselves as autochthones
(A1 farmers and communal residents) trying to impose
hegemonic control over the ex-farm workers (labelled as
outsiders or allochthones).

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 33

We further argue for a need to revisit the land policy in a Abstract
manner that allows for the unconditional inclusion and
belonging of farm labourers, with a specific focus to those Since its emergence, Covid-19 has had unprecedented
of foreign origin. socio-economic implications. The structural flaws and
weaknesses of global capitalism have been exposed,
Co-Author(s): Mr Rodney Munemo, Professor Kirk Helliker while hitherto hidden inequalities in social relations of
production and reproduction have become visible. In a
Dr Musavengana Chibwana background where for the past decade, the social policy
discourse in African countries has come under criticism for
University of Free State, Centre for Gender and being ‘residual and reductionist’ and narrowing down the
Africa Studies, South Africa vision of social policy, the pandemic has reignited debate
on the efficacy of the current social policy paradigm in
E-mail: [email protected] a development context. This paper is premised on the
idea that in the global south, the pandemic has brought
Title of Paper: Social protection for children in Africa: the case to the fore the need to critically engage on the idea that
of South Africa and Mauritius land reform, an overlooked instrument of social policy has
the potential to provide for the welfare and wellbeing of
Abstract citizens. In emerging literature on Covid-19, blind spots
exist on the impact which the pandemic is having on rural
This article reflects on the conceptualization of social farming households and their responses to it. Using field
protection within the African Children’s Charter and the based empirical evidence from rural Zimbabwe, the paper
extent to which its normative guidance influenced Mauritius uses the transformative social policy theoretical framework
and South Africa’s framing of social protection. Mauritius as a conceptual and hereustic tool to interrogate the
and South Africa are two of the top three countries impact which the pandemic is having on production, social
identified by World Bank as the top spenders on social reproduction and accumulation by resettled households.
assistance after Chile. The article conceptualizes social It further engages on the extent to which households have
protection not as a palliative endeavour, but as a social managed to cope with risks, vulnerabilities and inequalities
justice issue which is supposed to be justiciable within a exacerbated by the pandemic. Insight from rural Zimbabwe
jurisdiction. The article gleans some lessons from these two is critical for the debate that land reform provides a
countries that are worth replicating. In the same breadth, ‘functional equivalent’ of social policy or ‘social policy by
since both countries use cash transfers as the backbone other means’ in a pandemic context.
of their social protection interventions, the article raises
a trepidation that cash transfers intervene at the level Dr Rejoice Chipuriro
of individuals and households, rather than addressing
the structural set up of society that make the children University of Johannesburg, South Africa
vulnerable in the first place. The article argues that the cash
transfer interventions in both countries provide for narrow E-mail: [email protected]
conceptualizations of poverty as income or food deficits
whilst paying a blind eye to the multidimensionality of Title of Paper: Aging and Women Empowerment Agenda:
poverty. Further, the conceptualisation is also problematic Perspectives from Zimbabwe
in that it brands the poor as a homogeneous group,
needing a one size fitting all intervention which in this Abstract
case is cash transfer. The article engages with some
transformative interventions in both countries, with the Women empowerment has become a buzzword
jurisprudence of the Grootboom case being instructive on fueled by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in
how social protection could be framed. their development projects. On the contrary feminist
organisations criticise such project goals for depoliticizing
Dr Clement Chipenda gender oppression through their project-oriented pacifist
approaches to development. This paper critiques the
SARChI Chair in Social Policy, University of empowerment discourse by asking pertinent questions on
South Africa, South Africa its relevance and applicability to an African development
agenda. It explores the challenges posed by prevailing
E-mail: [email protected] polarised approaches between the State, NGOs and
feminist organisations when it comes to gendered
Title of Paper: ‘Social Policy by Other Means’: Critical insights policy implementation and community development
on land reform as an alternative social policy instrument interventions. The paper is informed by a case study
during the Covid-19 pandemic on elderly women farmers livelihood experiences in
Zimbabwe’s Land Reform Program. In-depth interviews
34 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference were conducted, and data was drawn from 23 women
farmers aged above 55 years who participated in the
Land Reform Programs in Mashonaland Central Province,
Zimbabwe.

A feminist theoretical framework applied through an Dr Abdoul Karim Diamoutene
intersectional lens informed data analysis. The main
findings are that there is a wide gap between gender University of Social Science and Managment of
policies and implementation in development programs. Bamako, Mali
This is constituted by cultural biases permeating both
local communities and governance structures. Lack E-mail: [email protected]
of understanding on the gender and empowerment
agenda also limits scope of mobilisation, advocacy and Title of Paper: Agriculture, Inequality and Poverty in Mali
collaboration which perpetuates non-compliance to
gendered policies. An African feminist calls for harnessing Abstract
women farmers agency in articulating their needs to
policy makers and claiming their space as citizens to This study analyzed the impact of agriculture on poverty
ensure they reap the gains of progressive policies for real and inequality in Mali using data from the Integrated
transformation agenda. Agricultural Survey of 2014. It used the generalized entropy
and FGT indices to decompose inequality and poverty.
Dr Julia Ngozi Chukwuma In addition, she used the methodology developed by
Araar and Duclos (2010) for the analysis of the effects on
SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom inequality and poverty. The results reveal a significant effect
of individual inequalities between farmers on inequality and
E-mail: [email protected] poverty. They show greater poverty among farmers due
to the low average income in the agricultural sector. They
Title of Paper: Implementing health policy in Nigeria: The suggest the reduction of individual inequalities and the
Basic Health Care Provision Fund as a catalyst for attaining enhancement of agricultural production and income.
Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria?
Dr Bernard Dubbeld
Abstract
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
When the National Health Act (NHAct) was adopted in 2014
in Nigeria, its article 11 received wide-spread attention. E-mail: [email protected]
This was because it mandated the establishment of a
novel health financing mechanism: the Basic Health Title of Paper: Granting the Future: the temporality of cash
Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). The BHCPF was created to transfers in the countryside
provide sustainable resources to fund the provision of a
minimum package of healthcare services in view of fast- Abstract
tracking Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria. It is
supposed to be predominantly funded through an annual In the past five years, anthropologists focusing the
grant of the Federal Government. This paper focuses global South have come to consider public cash transfer
on how the BHCPF is expected to contribute to UHC in programs as an alternative to both work-centered policies
Nigeria. It sheds light on the controversies surrounding and national development projects. These studies suggest
the elaboration of the BHCPF’s operational guidelines that grants today go beyond the domain of traditional
and examines how these contestations affect its on-going social policies and government bureaucracy and point to a
operationalisation. Three major areas of contestation stand new future in view of the scarcity of work. This future has
out, with significant implications for Nigeria’s healthcare become even closer with the Covid-19 pandemic, and with
system. First, the viewpoints of the various agents operating governments, non-governmental entities and the political
within Nigeria’s healthcare system differ regarding how the left reaffirming the importance of a basic universal income.
BHCPF’s resources should be secured, used and disbursed. Considering these discussions, my article focuses on an
Second, the division of power and responsibility between income transfer program in South Africa after the Apartheid
Federal and State organs as well as between the Ministry period, placing an ethnographic account in relation to the
of Health and its agencies remains controversial. Third, design of a ‘progressive’ policy of social grants. I present a
there is contestation around how to enrol and target longer history of salaried work in relation to rural African
beneficiaries and what the service package should entail. households and show how the emancipatory promises of
The paper is based on the careful examination of three cash transfer projects were read as a risk to local traditions
different versions of the operational guidelines (2016, 2018, and morals. In addition to this reduction in political hopes
and 2020). This is combined with data collected during invested in transfers, I examine the temporal aspect of
fieldwork, which allows to investigate how the position cash transfers, as well as the possible futures they evoke.
of different agents affected modifications made to the By considering the futures that grants enable, I conclude
different iterations of the guidelines. by suggesting that it is premature to affirm that they have
overcome wage work and its attendant sociality.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 35

Oko Enworo Making higher education affordable to the least privileged
is commendable for economic growth and sustainable
Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria, development, but issues of quality should also be given a
South Africa, South Africa serious attention. It should be noted that expenditure on
higher education is an investment in human capital which is
E-mail: [email protected] expected to yield commensurate benefits to the individual
and to the society. While the price of education affects its
Title of Paper: The Role of Indigenous Social Protection demand, it also determines the quality of education good
Systems in the Management of Covariate Shocks: Insights from produced. It is in this context that this study examines how
Southeast Nigeria social policy adopted by the government of Cameroon in
providing higher education affects its quality. We argue
Abstract that the quality of education determines graduates’
employability which has positive spill overs to income
Despite strong economic growth and recent (2017) distribution, health, social status, economic stabilization
development of a National Social Protection Policy, Nigeria and growth. This is also in line with the 2063 Agenda of
continues to grapple with high rates of poverty, inequality the Africa We Want. The specific objectives examine how
and low social protection coverage. Current estimates are policies on financing higher education, staff recruitment,
that only 4.4 percent of the country’s population is covered programmes offered and admission policy affects the
by at least one social protection benefit. This is far less than quality of higher education. The study will use essentially
the African average of 17.8 percent. As a result, indigenous empirical works and other relevant secondary sources
social protection systems continue to be the main source based on the objectives under study.
of risk management and social security for many Nigerians,
as is the case for many Africans. Yet, these systems tend Co-Author(s): Professor Fonkeng Epah Goerge, Dr Roland
to be overlooked by the government, presumably on the Ndille
grounds often presented in the literature that they are,
among others, fragile, rapidly declining and only effective in Dr Marie Fall
managing idiosyncratic shocks. Using qualitative evidence
from a larger study aimed at exploring the dynamics of Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada
indigenous social protection systems in Southeast Nigeria,
and the theoretical lens of Social Risk Management E-mail: [email protected]
this paper will illustrate how these systems often help
communities to mitigate the effect of flooding, a covariate Title of Paper: Analyse critique des idéologies au cœur des
shock that frequently affects the region. In addition to politiques sociales liées à l’éducation et à l’emploi au Mali, en
illuminating the dynamic processes of these systems and Mauritanie et au Sénégal
their potential to address pressures from more virulent
covariate shocks, the paper will also highlight plausible Abstract
pathways for linking them with formal social protection
systems for the realization of broader social inclusion and Les premières politiques sociales institutionnalisées
human development. en Mauritanie, au Mali et au Sénégal ont été le fait des
gouvernements coloniaux sous la responsabilité de la
Dr Sophie Ekume Etomes France, puissance colonisatrice de l’Afrique-Occidentale
Française (AOF) entre 1895 et 1958. Durant cette période,
University of Buea, Cameroon les politiques sociales relatives à l’éducation et à l’emploi
se sont révélées embryonnaires, instrumentales et
E-mail: [email protected] exclusives. Les colonies françaises de l’Afrique de l’Ouest,
à l’instar du Soudan français (actuel Mali), de la Mauritanie
Title of Paper: Social Policy and Provision of Education: et du Sénégal ont accédé à l’indépendance entre 1958
Implication on Quality of Higher Education in Cameroon et 1960. Une nouvelle génération de politiques sociales
liées à l’éducation et à l’emploi apparaît au lendemain
Abstract des indépendances des trois pays qui tentent, tant bien
que mal, de les arrimer à des projets de développement
Education is the strength of the economy of every country; socioéconomique. Les générations de politiques sociales
but the quality of education is even more relevant to bridge appliquées dans les trois pays depuis leur indépendance
the inequality gap in the society and overall productivity of ont successivement reposé sur les idéologies du
the economy. Reason why most countries deploy a huge développement, du libéralisme et du néolibéralisme. Cette
amount of their national resources in the production of présente contribution propose une critique des idéologies
education good. However, some social policies focus more au cœur des politiques sociales liées à l’éducation et à
on the demand for education rather than the quality of l’emploi au Mali, en Mauritanie et au Sénégal.
education.

36 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Nous allons présenter dans une perspective comparative The cultural and creative sector is the second largest
et synthétique, les politiques sociales liées à l’éducation employer of labour in Nigeria after agriculture; employing
au Mali, en Mauritanie et au Sénégal dans quatre grandes ~4.2 million Nigerians (Balogun, 2021) and contributing
périodes : la période coloniale (1895 -1958), la période between 2.5 and three per cent to the nation’s GDP (ILO,
postindépendance (1958 -1970), la période des PAS 2016). As the pandemic brings to light gaps in social
(1980-1990), la période post-PAS (1990- 2018) et la période protection systems, this paper provides a case study of
de la Covid-19. Ensuite nous analyserons les impacts cultural and creative workers in Nigeria and stresses the
des idéologies à l’origine des politiques sociales dans challenges that hinder their inclusion in the national social
les domaines de l’emploi et de l’éducation. Enfin, nous protection framework and explores some possible policy
élaborerons des perspectives post Covid-19 pour des response strategies to address the extension of social
politiques sociales transformatives et genrée dans les trois protection to CCS workers.
pays.
Eric Patrick Feubi Pamen
Co-Author(s): Ndèye Faty Sarr, Ph.D
The University of Douala, Cameroon
Temi Esteri Fet’era
E-mail: [email protected]
United Nations, Nigeria
Title of Paper: An Application of the Alkire-Foster’s
E-mail: [email protected] Multidimensional Poverty Index to Data from Madagascar:
Taking Into Account the Dimensions of Employment and
Title of Paper: Covid-19 and the Exposure of Gaps in Social Gender Inequality
Protection Coverage of the Informal Economy: A Case of
Cultural and Creative Sector Workers in Nigeria Abstract

Abstract In this study, we build what we call the Malagasy
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MALAMPI), which is an
In Nigeria, the Covid-19 pandemic unveiled a “new poor” augmented-MPI. Here, in addition to the standard MPI
population identified as largely urban and dependent on dimensions (health, education and living standards),
service-sector, non-farm business income and expanded we add an additional and highly important dimension,
the country’s poverty profile beyond the typically rural namely employment, which is generally the sole means of
and agriculture dependent households. Nigeria runs a production owned by poor or deprived people. Another
flagship National Social Safety Nets Programme (NASSP) shortcoming of the MPI approach is that it does not
within its nascent social protection framework. The enable gender inequalities analysis. This is surprising since
NASSP’s two key components include the development two out of the three dimensions of the classical MPI are
of a National Social Register (NSR) for those identified individual attributes. In this study, we also provide a new
as poor, and the implementation of a conditional cash methodology aiming at computing gender sensitive MPI-
transfer programme to households mined from the type indicators. We use data from the 2012-2013 Malagasy
register. As an initial response to the Covid-19 crisis, MDGs national survey. Results show that adding the
beneficiary identification and registration for the NSR was employment dimension to the MPI framework consistently
accelerated. Consequently, between March and December increases Multidimensional poverty in Madagascar, the
2020, the National Social Register expanded from an poverty headcount moving from 56% to 72%. Using our
estimated 11 million to over 24 million (NASSCO, 2020) newly developed gender-sensitive method, we bring to
individuals registered. Implementation of the conditional light a significant gender gap (about 7% of increase at the
cash payments also continued, but at a pre-Covid-19 pace, expense of women), while the classical comparison of
without significant changes to the number of beneficiaries poverty level between female- headed households and
under NASSP. In months following, and towards a scale-up male-headed households would have led to the conclusion
of the NASSP programme, a parallel rapid response register that women are not disadvantaged. We also bring to
(RRR) was launched to effectively capture the changing light the fact that the gender gap does not necessary
profile of those experiencing loss of income and increased decrease when the household seems advantaged in
vulnerability to poverty, in the urban areas. Despite the terms of monetary living standards quintiles or in terms of
remarkable increase in the NSR and the pilot of the RRR, household professional status.
those in the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) in urban
areas – many and mostly informal workers – continued to Co-Author(s): Mathias Kuepie
be worse hit by the effects of the pandemic with loss of
income compounded by social distancing, ban on mass
gathering, and global travel restrictions, in an audience-
centered industry.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 37

Dr Shepherd Gudyani Mkandawire reflected over many decades on a possible
South African developmental state largely informed by his
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU), Zimbabwe earlier works on South Africa, including a seminal paper
he published on Southern African scenarios in 1977. He
E-mail: [email protected] continued until he passed on proving lessons for South
Africa. The paper revisits his many relevant works and
Title of Paper: Co-creating Social Policy for Inclusive and explains why South Africa has drifted away from becoming
Democratic Development through investing in self-determined a democratic developmental state. The paper is an attempt
and sustained rural communities in Africa, the case of to answer why the various processes and initiatives have
Zimbabwe not ensured that South Africa becomes a developmental
state that was aspired for since the 1990s. The coronavirus
Abstract (Covid-19) pandemic has worsened prospects of South
Africa ever becoming a developmental state although
Many rural communities in Africa continue to flaunt in state capacity has substantially improved since 1994. A
extreme poverty and inequality. In part, this stems from comprehensive social policy has been lacking. Economic
social policies which are detached from the developmental policy has not been clear. The National Development Plan
state and democracy. has not been accompanied by a much-needed socio-
Many African governments continue to apply neo-liberal economic development agenda for the country. The
relief mechanisms (in relieving communities from crisis) National Planning Commission has not made the expected
as the broader roadmap on social policy, and separately contribution in making South Africa a developmental
relegate democracy and development to rhetoric and state. The national question has not been addressed,
theory. Politically, realism has for decades extended the or is it the character of South African democracy that
idea of statism, but does little in creating inclusive and limits possibilities? Based on Mkandawire’s insights and
democratic development. Through the neo-liberal relief perspectives, the paper proposes what can be done
mechanisms, rural communities have remained engulfed differently to assist that South Africa becomes an effective
in extreme poverty, without voice, with their development developmental state including some views on what could
determined by external voices. This paper envisions have been a better response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
inclusive and democratic development from an empowered
rural community perspective, which is achieved through Peter Gutwa Oino
merging social policy and democracy. This subscribes to
Mkandawire’s vision of a coherent, normative, and holistic Kisii University, Kenya
approach to social policy, in which self-determination and
self-sustenance are key attributes of rural societies. This E-mail: [email protected]
paper argues that investing in self-determination and
sustenance leads to co-creation of an integrated social Title of Paper: Opportunities and Challenges in Promoting
policy for inclusive and democratic development. Using Gendered Policies and Practices on Child Protection in East
a case study of Zimbabwe, key informant interviews, Africa
focus group discussions and secondary data to collect
data, the researcher aims at drawing lessons from social Abstract
policies and democracy in the face of social insecurities
and other pandemics in Africa, to exhibit the efficacy of Socially, economically and politically, children are
self-determination and self-sustenance on vouching for constructed as a vulnerable group, not least because
inclusive social policy and democratic development. society is positioned as having to take care of them and
their interests, but also due to lack of voice in protection
Co-Author(s): Dr. L.T. Gwaka and Dr. T. Muzerengi interventions. Despite a shared normative child protection
framework across East African countries, interventions on
Professor Vusi Gumede child protection vary across different stakeholder groups.
Evidence on the impacts of child protection policies
University of Mpumalanga, South Africa on gender equity and wellbeing outcomes, especially
during and post-pandemic situations is limited and
E-mail: [email protected] skewed towards general studies of education enrolment,
attendance and dropout. The evidence on how gender
Title of Paper: Thandika Mkandawire and the South African equity is implemented within the designed child protection
developmental state frameworks is extremely limited, yet vulnerabilities
on children’s wellbeing are notable. Based on the
Abstract Thermodynamic Ecological Systems theory and drawing on
national and regional level reports of legal, organizational
In the mid-2000s it was decided that South Africa should be frameworks and socio-cultural backgrounds of East
a developmental state and various processes aimed at that African child protection systems, the paper maps out the
were set in motion. current child protection policy landscape and its elements,
opportunities and challenges, while identifying the existing
38 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference gender gaps.

Using a critical content design, we present a critical view Abstract
and perspective on the implicit and explicit gendered
discursive constructions and normative representations of Zambia is one of the countries in Southern Africa
child protection systems. The paper confirms that despite Development Community (SADC) which is hard hit by
the existence of various child protection frameworks across Covid-19 pandemic. Zambia recorded first confirmed
East Africa, designed child protection interventions are two cases of Covid-19 on 18th March 2020. At the time
not gender sensitive, thereby widening the vulnerability of writing this abstract on 23rd August 2021 there were
gap between boys and girls. The study concludes that over 204,651 cases, with 198,781 recoveries and 3,578
most interventions are gender blind, and recommends deaths. This means that cases of Covid-19 in Zambia were
that key child protection policies should aim at generating on the increase since March, 2020. The aim of this paper
interventions that are diverse and inclusive. was to explore the forms of emergency social protection
interventions actioned by the Government of Zambia (GRZ)
Co-Author(s): Dr. George Ezekiel Aberi in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This study involved
review of available literature and conducted four (4) on-line
Tapiwanashe Hadzizi qualitative interviews with Zambia’s Ministry of Community
Development and Social Services (MCDSS) about the forms
University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe of emergency social protection interventions actioned by
the GRZ in response to Covid-19 pandemic.
E-mail: [email protected] ]This study has established three broad forms of social
protection interventions namely: (1) vertical expansion,
Title of Paper: Housing inequalities and the struggle to (3) horizontal expansion, and (3) alignment. Based on
become house owners in urban set ups: Can housing co- the current study, it is concluded that the scope of
operatives makes the dream come true? A case of Harare, coverage of social protection interventions in Zambia has
Zimbabwe widened during Covid-19 era. This is because additional
categories of poor and vulnerable people were added to
Abstract social protection interventions. This means that Covid-19
pandemic has reviewed that it is possible for the GRZ to
Access to proper housing is one of the fundamental expand the fiscal space for social protection in Zambia. It is
human right for mankind, which is enshrined in the 1948 also evident that it is political will that matters in extension
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, in third of social protection to the needy people.
world countries where in recent times there have been
massive unplanned rural-urban migration, characterised Dr Samar Khamlichi
by putting pressure on urban services and infrastructure.
United Nations-Habitat noted that urban population in Institut des Etudes Africaines, Mohamed 5
Sub-Saharan Africa is increasing at unprecedented levels, University, Morocco
hence there’s an urgent need for housing for these people.
Town planners, local government officials and housing E-mail: [email protected]
cooperatives faces a huge task of providing housing to
an urban population grappling with decreasing incomes Title of Paper: The Moroccan model of social policy responses
and high cost of living in Africa since there’s urbanisation to the Covid-19 Pandemic
without economic growth. It is in this regard, that the paper
underscores the role played by housing co-operatives Abstract
in the provisions of housing in urban areas in Harare,
Zimbabwe. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) is the most severe pandemic
in the contemporary history of international life. This
Isaac Kabelenga pandemic caused the death of more than three million
people around the world until April 2021. The virus has
University of Zambia (UNZA) and Zambian spread quite rapidly leaving states facing new health
Center for Poverty Reduction and Research and socio-economic challenges. Even developed states
Limited (ZCPRR), Zambia have had difficulty keeping control of the situation. Since
the spread of the Coronavirus in the world, the affected
E-mail: [email protected] countries have demonstrated their institutional and
management fragility at the level of both rich and poor
Title of Paper: Emergency Social Protection interventions countries. Weak health care systems, insufficient health
actioned by the Government of Zambia (GRZ) in response to personnel and equipment, and difficulties in ensuring food
Covid-19 pandemic self-sufficiency in various countries. These are loopholes
that already exist in governance in many rich and poor
states. In Africa, some countries have been able to contain
the damage, while others have not; some have already
started vaccination campaigns and others have not.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 39

To deal with this pandemic, Morocco has adopted Abstract
measures aimed at limiting both the economic and social
impact of the health crisis. The actions undertaken by Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) spent a
Morocco have highlighted the main recommendations of little over a decade implementing structural economic
the agencies of the United Nations system to support an reforms inspired by neoliberal ideas prior to wave of
integrated and effective response to the economic and democratization that started in the 1990s. Neoliberalism
social repercussions of the crisis. Greater attention to is based on a strong believe in pursuit of socio-economic
monitoring multidimensional poverty, innovation in the wellbeing through economic freedoms and individual
collection and analysis of contextualized data, investment initiative in an environment that promotes property rights,
in the continuity of public education and health services limited governments, privatization, deregulation, individual
during and after the crisis, as well as ‘’ strengthening responsibility. The shift in public policy orientation in SSA
regionalization and enhancing the role of civil society. was puzzling because social policies were seen and used
in early postcolonial period deployed in the construction of
Dr Lindi-K Khumalo notions of citizenship and national identity in the attempts
to reconfigure the loyalties and identities of the population
Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute, in the wake of postcolonial realities. Even more surprising
South Africa was the fact that neoliberalism which was premised on
freedoms and liberties was implemented across SSA
E-mail: [email protected] mostly by military or authoritarian civilian regimes that
constrained democratic expressions in the form of
Title of Paper: Critical Reflections on South Africa’s Covid-19 resistance and opposition. Thus, societies in the sub-
Social Relief of Distress Grant (SDR): A case for the development region were effectively subordinated to market principles,
of a cost of living index and social policies were denigrated and consigned to
the margins of development discourses before the wave
Abstract of democratization. But two major developments—the
failure of neoliberal reforms to deliver on their promised
This paper adds to the growing body of research around human wellbeing, and the reestablishment of constitutional
social policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. The democracies— have returned social policy to the policy
paper aims to critically reflect on South Africa’s Social agenda albeit with a narrower vision. This notwithstanding,
Relief of Distress Grant (SDoR) as a social assistance the analysis of social policy in the context of democratic
measure which is being rolled out by government. The politics continues to receive little attention in the scholarly
analysis centres its arguments around making a case literature. Drawing on recent politics of social policy
for social policies such as the SDoR to be linked to an reforms in Ghana, this study is committed to analyzing
objective measure of need. The paper makes a case for the effects of democratic politics on social policy, focusing
social assistance such as SDoR to be measured against the particularly on healthcare, pensions, and education
Decent Standard of Living (DSL) with the lens of improving reforms. It argues that although democratic politics forced
the standard of living as opposed to a mere social policy social policies to the public policy agenda, the reforms
response. While, rollout of SDoR is appreciated, it is 40% adopted have largely been cosmetic and symbolic, lacking
below the poverty line. Therefore, it makes a tiny dent in the necessary structural changes to be truly transformative.
fighting inequality as many people are still experiencing
hunger and starvation. Yet if the value of the SDoR should Dr Roosa Lambin
be significantly higher and linked to the DSL, it might make
a huge difference in the quality of life. The paper is timely UNU-Wider, UK
because it allows for a critical reflection around why social
policy responses such as the SDoR have not been linked E-mail: [email protected]
to any measure of the cost of living which actually aims to
improve standard of living in South Africa. Title of Paper: Exploring two decades of social policy
Co-Author(s): Dr Nqobile Zulu trajectories in mainland Tanzania from the perspective of
working-age women – driving for inclusive development?
Dr Michael Kpessa-Whyte
Abstract
Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana,
Legon, Ghana In July 2020, the United Republic of Tanzania graduated
from low-income to lower middle-income status. This came
E-mail: [email protected] after two decades of significant social policy reforms and
transformations in the country’s economic structures.
Title of Paper: Democracy and Social Policy in Ghana: An As Tanzania enters a new decade with the new status, it
Analysis of Reforms in Health, Pension and Education Policies continues to grapple with challenges in ensuring that the
country’s gender-based inequalities and the economic
exclusion of women are accounted for and adequately
addressed.

40 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the social Much of the data used here are unpublished, and this
policy trajectories in mainland Tanzania over the past paper is written in honour and memory of Paula, our
two decades with a gender lens, to better understand friend, colleague and inspiration, whose life’s work centrally
the contributions of these developments to inclusive addressed, in the context of Tanzania, many of the
development. It takes a holistic approach and examines challenges Thandika Mkandawire’s research programme
policy developments and implications on the wellbeing and identified.
livelihoods of working-age women in the particular areas of
health policy, social protection and employment policy. Co-Author(s): Dr Tausi Kida, Professor Phares Mujinja
Up until today, very little of social policy scholarship
has focused on addressing the gendered effects of Rasel Madaha
social policy models on the African continent – with the
notable exception of some previous publications on the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
developmental welfare state and its implications on gender
inequality in South Africa (Hassim, 2006; Plagerson et al., E-mail: [email protected]
2019). This paper contributes towards filling this knowledge
gap, and engages with interdisciplinary debates related Title of Paper: Coping Strategies of Feminine Peasant
to social and development policies and their gendered Networks and social protection in Tanzania: The case of Village
implications. The paper draws on a comprehensive Community Networks (VCONEs) in Tanzania
desktop study of secondary materials, including academic
publications, government policy documents, relevant Abstract
statistics and other grey literature.
Developed communities are the ones which can attain and
Co-Author(s): Dr. Milla Nyyssölä sustain a better standard of living for every community
member. Although the thinking is advocated by the
Professor Maureen Mackintosh proponents of community development, some proponents
of the market economy advocate for a controversial view of
The Open University, United Kingdom community development. Overall, the market blocks those
without capital to participate in the market. Proponents
E-mail: [email protected] of community development call for a minimized role of
the market. Instead, they advocate for the development
Title of Paper: Commercialisation, gender and ethics of the capabilities of communities to take care of their
in Tanzanian health care: honouring the work of Paula development. Networking is one of the community-centred
Tibandebage strategies to deal with the shortfalls of the market. It also
provides social protection to vulnerable people. In this
Abstract regards, the study employed an exploratory research
design and, an embedded multiple-case study research
The commercialisation of health care – its reduction from method, to explore the coping strategies of Village
a public health commitment to a widely-inaccessible Community Networks (VCONEs), as self-created women’s
marketed commodity – has been a core element of the networks, in the provision of social protection and the
destructive attack on social solidarity in African contexts promotion of community development in Tanzania. The
from the 1990s onwards, denounced by Thandika findings indicate that VCONEs enable members to cope
Mkandawire. Dr Paula Tibandebage, a Tanzanian scholar with the contingencies of patriarchy and neoliberalism
and intellectual who has died too young, was one of the through blocking some patriarchal men from holding
early African researchers of international standing to leadership and decision making positions; supporting
pioneer fieldwork-based economic and social research politicians who share VCONE members’ visions; and
on health care commercialisation, its structure and diverging some funds provided by foreign donors and other
consequences. Her work inspired one major and investors to some other uses. Other coping strategies are
influential project within Thandika Mkandawire’s UNRISD presented in the article.
programme on Social Policy and Development: the project
on Commercialisation of Health Care, on which the Dr Nkululeko Majozi
authors of this paper were editor and contributor. Paula
Tibandebage’s central focus in her life’s research was Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute
on the search for more equitable health care and social (SPII), South Africa
policy, and she was deeply concerned in particular with
these challenges for women and within maternal care. Dr E-mail: [email protected]
Tibandebage led a Wellcome Trust-funded investigation
into the interweaving of payments and (un)ethical maternal Title of Paper: The Universal Basic Income Grant (BIG) in
care. This paper draws centrally on her work, and work we South Africa as an Instrument for Transformative Social Policy:
each undertook with her, to explore the interconnections Lessons from Global BIG Pilot Experiments
of charging, economic and social organisation and ethics
within Tanzanian health care. 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 41

Abstract James Mawanda

Although South Africa has one of the largest social security Development Intelligence Consultancy Limited,
systems in Africa, providing social assistance coverage to Uganda
more than 18 million citizens, the country’s social security
system remains fragmented both at policymaking and E-mail: [email protected]
implementation. South Africa’s social grant system only
covers children under the age of 18, adult pensioners over Title of Paper: ‘No investment in new fossil fuel supply
the age of 60, as well disabled individuals. projects’: (Re) imagining Africa’s Poverty struggles amidst new
This leaves out a majority of the country’s most vulnerable Global Energy Policies
and impoverished people located within the working age
group of 18 – 59 years old who are totally excluded from Abstract
receiving any form of social assistance. Means-testing
criteria that determine the eligibility of grant recipients Based in Paris, France, the International Energy Agency
also lead to high administrative costs and exclusion. announced recently that ‘no investment in new fossil
As a result, South Africa’s social security system lacks fuel supply projects.’ Whereas the announcement
coherence, efficiency and responsiveness as there is a appears timely due to the requirements of the Paris
misalignment between benefits and administrative systems climate agreement, on the other hand, such measures
thus denying the country’s social security policy the come with repercussions to the developing world. From
desired transformative impact it should have on society. the African perspective, the continent is endowed with
To remedy this state of affairs, this paper argues for the fossil energy sources such as petroleum and natural
implementation of a universal basic income grant (BIG) gas; the development puzzle becomes real. Evidence
in South Africa as the best gateway to and instrument for emerges that the Industrial Revolution that propelled the
transformative social policy. The paper draws on evidence developed countries to their current socio-economic and
from six BIG pilot studies conducted in the Global North political status was energized by fossil energy. Thus, the
and Global South since the year 2000 in order to showcase announcement interrupts the continent’s development
the potential transformational impact of a BIG for South prospects and puts Africa at a critical juncture of losing
African society. As a social security measure, the BIG is foreign exchange, stalling the industrial revolution,
a necessary means to enhancing income security for all and increasing socio-economic and political problems.
through the redistribution of wealth generated by all in Moreover, given the global climate change objectives, the
common. Agenda 2030, and now the EIA’s resolution to abandon
investment in fossil energy sources, Africa’s industrial
Dr Tawanda Masuka scalability is in a trilemma. Besides, alternative energy
sources such as solar wave energy, biofuels, geothermal
Bindura University of Science Education, power, and wind energy are expensive in infrastructural
Zimbabwe and economic terms. At this point, (re) imagining Africa’s
potential to fight poverty amidst new global energy
E-mail: [email protected] policies becomes critical. The article aims to navigate the
continent’s development opportunities and threats amidst
Abstract global climate change ambitions, Agenda 2030, and the
emergency of the coronavirus that has eroded resources
Urban child poverty is an emergent and rapidly rising and thrown the future of the global economy in jeopardy.
form of poverty in Zimbabwe. The conventional residual The writing will contribute to the ongoing debate in
social policy characterised by social safety nets is evidently Africa on adaptation and survival to build back better in a
inadequate to reduce the increasing urban child poverty. sustainable and resilient manner.
This mixed methods study in Bindura town revealed
that the social safety nets namely the cash transfers, Dr Sara McHattie
medical and educational assistance lack predictability,
consistency, transparency, sustainability and quality United Nations World Food Programme, South
thereby putting the care, protection and future of many Africa
children from extremely poor urban households at risk.
The extremely poor urban households have limited E-mail: [email protected]
assets, lack sustainable livelihoods and resort to negative
poverty coping strategies. Consequently, manifestations Title of Paper: The Role of Food Security & Nutrition-Sensitive
of child poverty include child labour, child sexual abuse, Social Protection in Bridging the Humanitarian-Development
poor housing, inadequate diet, low dietary diversity and Divide in the Southern African Region
limited access to education. The alternative developmental
social policy which focuses on sustainable livelihoods has
potential to address the challenges associated with residual
social policy and significantly reduce urban child poverty.

42 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Abstract The paper will also show how variations in the composition
and capacities of African informal economies have
This contribution from the global South responds to combined with ill-informed approaches to Covid-19
the thematic area “Critical Reflections on Social Policy relief measures to shape the uneven spread of the virus.
Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic”. Chronic food The paper will challenge the notion that narrow social
insecurity and malnutrition has been further exacerbated protection measures hold the key to the transformation of
by Covid-19 in Southern Africa. This study analyzes African informal economies, and will examine the need for a
the role that food security and nutrition play in social wider, more productivist approach to social policy if African
protection programming and in bridging the humanitarian- informal economies are to be transformed from part of the
development divide. The study builds on an extensive development problem into part of the solution.
literature review and in-depth key informant interviews
with government and development partner stakeholders Bongekile Mthembu
in the region. The comparative country case study
analysis of social protection responses to the pandemic University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
further informs the findings. Baseline levels of risk and
vulnerability in the region increase with each successive E-mail: [email protected]
shock, progressively stripping communities of their ability
to protect and provide for themselves. The Covid-19 Title of Paper: Social Policy for integrated African
pandemic demonstrates how global shocks build and development
compound the structural challenges resulting from
previous crises, interacting with climate risks, the legacy of Abstract
chronic malnutrition and complicated by co-infections and
co-morbidities; global, regional, and national inequalities Many African thinkers have suggested that African
are exacerbated. The role of social protection to bridge development is elusive. However, Ake defines development
the humanitarian-development nexus and meet long-term as ‘the process by which people create and recreate
needs by leveraging short-term humanitarian funding themselves and their life circumstances to realise higher
cannot be overstated. Covid-19 is neither the last nor the levels of civilisation in accordance with their own choices
worst crisis that social protection systems must address. and values – development is something that people must
This research identifies opportunities for addressing do for themselves’( Ake, 1996). Social policy focuses on how
the drivers of vulnerability by building resilience and societies around function to ensure human needs such as
linking humanitarian action to the development agenda. health, social wellbeing, and economic growth. It addresses
It demonstrates that food security and nutrition, the how societies respond to social, demographic, and
fundamental building blocks of a sustainable prosperous economic change and poverty, migration, and globalization
society, must be at the heart of social protection system challenges. Social policy advocates for good governance,
strengthening. which is a result of public participation of both women
and men in the process of decision-making with regards
Co-Author(s): Dr Michael Samson to matters that affect their livelihoods. Participation could
be either direct or through representation. It is essential
Dr Kate Meagher to point out that representative democracy does not
necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable
London School of Economics, United Kingdom in society would be considered in decision-making. Hence,
deliberative public participation is most effective and
E-mail: [email protected] efficient in developing societies as it promotes inclusivity of
citizens of the societies in decision-making processes. This
Title of Paper: Transforming African Informal Economies: paper aims to emphasise the need to integrate the social
Looking Back to Move Forward in the Wake of Covid-19 policies in African countries for development. The paper will
also explore different strategies that can be implemented
Abstract for development. Lastly, to promote public participation for
inclusivity and development.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has focused attention on African
informal economies -- both as a symbol of the continent’s Dr Marion Mugisha
intense vulnerability to the effects of the pandemic, and
as a puzzle in the face of the limited and uneven spread of Kyambogo University, Uganda
Coronavirus. Yet the prevailing social policy lessons drawn
from the effect of the pandemic have yet again informed E-mail: [email protected]
a one-size-fits-all policy solution of universal basic income
for informal workers. This paper draws on the work of Title of Paper: Agency and Compliance with Anti-Covid-19
Thandika Mkandawire to trace the history and variation Public Health Policies in Slums of the Global South
among informal economies in various parts of Africa, with a
view to examining their varied needs in terms of industrial
and social policy.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 43

Abstract Dr Venosa Mushi

This paper attempts to explicate why it is difficult to Mzumbe University, Tanzania
practice and enforce public health measures for containing
Covid-19 in slums of the Global South. We critique anti- E-mail: [email protected]
Covid-19 public health measures on grounds that they
are blind to the geographies and conditions of slums, and Title of Paper: Social Protection Systems and Poverty
totalizing. We also argue that prioritizing social problems- Reduction in Tanzania
based explanations of non-compliance by slum dwellers is
inadequate and static, hence, lacks explanatory power. We Abstract
locate the difficulties of compliance in agency and posit that
it is in attempting to overcome slum problems that non- This paper is an outcome of a review of various documents
compliance manifests. In making this argument, we build to examine the role of social protection (SP) in household
on conceptual explorations of the Southern City to propose poverty reduction in Tanzania. SP benefits people living in
the notion of “Living in Each Other” as a viable conceptual poverty and promote the well-being of societies at large.
prism. We conclude that urgings by governments for slum It has shielded individuals and families in times of crisis
dwellers to “stay home,” “self-isolate,” and “socially distance,” and has proven necessary to break the intergenerational
so as to “stay safe,” are ridiculous. Yet, we also caution cycle of poverty. SP can be achieved through three,
against overdramatizing the agency of slum residents, as closely interlinked means namely: social insurance, social
this might undermine the importance of crafting anti- assistance or social safety nets (SSNs) and social inclusion.
pandemic policies responsive to people’s living conditions SSNs particularly, which involves cash transfers (CTs),
and needs. We highlight the need for governments to pay among others, is considered a popular policy instrument to
attention to context and renewal of social contracts with address the widespread chronic poverty in Africa, Tanzania
slum residents by addressing questions of social justice and inclusive. In recognizing the vital role of SP systems, the
structural inequality in the post-Covid-19 “new normal.” government of Tanzania approved the implementation
of Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) programme in
Co-Author(s): Firminus Mugumya & Japheth Kwiringira 2013. Under the PSSN, the government established
a cash transfer programme with the aim of enabling
Dr Hellen Mukiri-Smith poor households to increase incomes and use available
opportunities, while improving access to education and
Tilburg University, Netherlands health services. The paper puts it clear that poverty is a
multidimensional phenomenon that has been defined and
E-mail: [email protected] measured differently by various scholars. It also describes
the main methods employed in measuring poverty and the
Title of Paper: Exploring the role of fintech: The solution to indicators used. The paper further shows poverty trends
poverty and inequality or instruments of exploitation? and the evolution of SP evolved. Elaborations on the role
of SP to poverty reduction are also given, with emphasis
Abstract on access to education and health services. It is concluded
that SP plays a vital role in improving access to education
Financial services are now more than ever data driven. and health services, thus contributing to poverty reduction.
States, development and international financial agencies
increasingly see technology and data as key to financial Dr Carol Chi Ngang
inclusion, inclusion heralded as the answer to economic
growth and poverty eradication, an enabler of the National University of Lesotho, Lesotho
Sustainable Development Goals. Drawing on extensive
interviews and focus group discussions on digital financial E-mail: [email protected]
services technologies (fintech) in Kenya, this article explores
whether digital loans offered by fintech companies have Title of Paper: Right to Development Governance: A Policy
a positive impact on addressing poverty and inequality. Proposition for the Kingdom of Lesotho
This paper makes three main arguments. First, that the
increased use of digital loans in Kenya highlights the lack Abstract
of adequate social policies. Second, that while digital
loans may help cushion borrowers against unexpected In this article, we advance a right to development
shocks, they have limited effect on reversing poverty and governance policy proposition for the Kingdom of Lesotho.
inequality. Third, some of the data practices used by fintech The proposition is formulated on the basis that contrary
companies, supported by existing polices and regulations, to the grim realities that portray the country as one of
national and international, in the name of financial the least developed in Africa and the world; we contend
inclusion, are amplifying and expanding old forms of that with the correct policy approach, Lesotho presents
exploitation and creating new ones with devastating social enormous unharnessed potential to radically transform its
consequences for people using digital loan platforms. development landscape.

44 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Lesotho’s National Strategic Development Plan II, outlines By way of consideration of the relevance today of the
key constraints to growth and development in the country, popular slogan from the 1980s, ‘The land was stolen, it
including among others, ‘inadequate and out-dated must be returned’, the paper revisits these debates in the
legal, regulatory and policy frameworks’ resulting from quest to take forward the struggle of the labour tenants
‘weaknesses in national governance’. National development for land restitution. It considers how the failures of the
planning falls within the ambit of futures analysis, which ANC government in this respect can be overcome and the
posits that development is characterised by multiple ones implications for policy in the broader African context.
that are shaped by complex, unpredictable interplays and
interactions of actors, institutions, processes and situational Professor Ndangwa Noyoo
dynamics. It implies that development cannot be achieved
by anchoring on a model that narrowly focuses on isolated Zola Skweyiya African Social Policy Innovation
aspects. However, in disregard of the multidimensional (ZSASPI), University of Cape Town, South Africa
nature of development; the framework instrument focuses
on an economistic market model, which has previously not E-mail: [email protected]
demonstrated much success in transforming livelihoods
and standards of living in the country. From a blend of Title of Paper: Teaching Social Policy for Africa’s
perspectives in law, economics and political science, we Development: A Case Study of the Department of Social
inquire whether an alternative model could produce more Development at the University Cape Town (UCT)
transformative development deliverables in Lesotho. Basing
on theories of futures analysis and the modelling of three Abstract
development scenarios, we argue in favour of the right
to development governance model for the reason of its This paper is based on a case study related to curriculum
pragmatic and transformative potential in responding to re-design and development at the University of Cape Town
Lesotho’s multidimensional development challenges. (UCT) in South Africa. It is related to the decolonisation of a
university curriculum, where the authors of this paper were
Co-Author(s): Dr S.I. ‘Mamokhali, Dr D.N. Yuni & Dr S. involved in incorporating Afrocentric theories and African
Tsoeu-Ntokoane content into a course titled: Comparative Social Policy in
Africa, offered by the Department of Social Development at
Dr Trevor Ngwane UCT. The authors were deliberate in their approach by first
including African theorists, especially Thandika Mkandawire
University of Johannesburg, South Africa and Jimi Adesina in the said Master’s course because they
wanted students to be exposed to transformative social
E-mail: [email protected] policy. Mkandawire and Adesina, are the torchbearers of
the aforementioned social policy slant. The first exercise we
Title of Paper: ‘The Land Was Stolen’: Labour Tenants and the undertook was to revisit the philosophical underpinnings
Agrarian Question in Africa Today of the course and link them to the rationale for social policy
in Africa. In the main, post-independence social policy in
Abstract Africa was portrayed as a vehicle used by governments to
engender inclusive and democratic development on the
The Constitutional Court of South Africa appointed a content. Then we introduced three cases studies, namely:
‘Special Master of Labour Tenants’ to supervise and ensure Malawi, South Africa and Zambia. We also incorporated
fast-tracking of land restitution for labour tenants in 2019. comparative social policy frameworks into the course. In
The court was scathing of the slowness and shoddiness presenting the course we segmented it into three historical
with which the ANC government has gone about this periods, namely: pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial.
important process of land reform and historical redress. The course elucidates how social policies find expression in
The policy framework exists but implementation was particular socio-political and economic contexts of Africa.
worse than tardy. This paper considers the implications of
this ground-breaking judgment for policy processes and Co-Author(s): Dr. Chance Chagunda
for labour tenants and their struggle for land and secure
livelihoods. It weighs the power of legal bodies, such as the Eyene Okpanachi
newly-appointed Special Master, to strengthen this struggle
vis-à-vis participatory processes involving grassroots University of South Wales, UK, United Kingdom
mobilisation and protest by labour tenants. It provides
context to this assessment by theoretically approaching E-mail: [email protected]
land restitution as an aspect of the agrarian question. Some
Marxist scholars have argued in their debates that the Title of Paper: The Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Social
latter is closely related to the national question especially in Protection and Vulnerability in the context of Covid-19 in
colonial and postcolonial societies. Nigeria

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 45

Abstract Currently in Nigeria, initiatives targeted at bringing hope
and dignified ways of life and lively-hood to the victims
In this paper, we examine Covid-19 social protection and vulnerable remain dim and unsatisfactory. The
responses in Nigeria. Our point of departure is the challenges of re-integrating and re-building social contract
exploration of the spatial and temporal politics of this with the survivors of violence, conflicts, and Covid-19
process. These dimensions have been largely neglected pandemic remain one of the most developmental crises
even though the emergence of Covid-19 has drawn in Nigeria. In “leaving no survivors behind”, and to cohere
increasing attention to the criticality of social protection. the citizens with the State, vulnerable and displaced
Accordingly, there has been little focus on sub-national individuals need to be comprehensively integrated into a
level responses and the relations between national and sustainable health, economic and means of lively-hood,
local policy interventions. This omission has obfuscated by the public authorities, in Nigeria. While this paper
our understanding considering that Nigeria is a federal seeks to interrogate the current local and international
system with 36 states and 774 local governments that humanitarian dynamics (as drivers of social contract), that
have primary responsibility for the delivery of social underpin the humanitarian assistance, and in combating
welfare programmes. Our paper therefore aims to fill an post violent and pandemics crises, it is argued that only a
important gap. Specifically, we explore Covid-19 social transformative socio-economic policy can rekindle the hope
protection responses in two states of the federation— for social cohesion, and ‘bring back’ a dignified ways of life
Lagos and Kano—and Abuja, the federal capital territory and well-being for the victims of violence and conflicts. The
(FCT). To account for pre-crisis and crisis vulnerabilities as paper re-conceptualizes, and contextually evaluates the
well as specific government’s social protection responses, ‘credentials’ of current humanitarian architecture in Nigeria,
we rely on official government data from the states/FCT, in re-building State-Citizens cohesion for sustainable lively-
various Covid-19 related household surveys produced hood and well-being.
by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, and secondary
data. Using these data sources, we analyse the different Lilian Olivia Orero
politico-institutional arrangements of social protection,
paying particular attention to state-federal relations and ALP Advocates East Africa, Kenya
their coordination, the interlinkages between government
policies and civil society engagement, and struggles by E-mail: [email protected]
ordinary citizens for ownership and accountability of
the social protection regimes. By focusing on the above Title of Paper: Critical Reflections on Social Policy Responses
issues, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of to the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya
institutional processes of social protection in Africa, as well
as the complex power relations involved in their design and Abstract
implementation at the subnational level.
This paper focusses on the social policies that the
Co-Author(s): Professor Emmanuel Remi Aiyede Government of Kenya has implemented during the
Covid-19 Pandemic. My findings outline that the
Dr Olusegun Oladeinde government of Kenya implemented extensive lockdowns,
curfews and suspended all international flights around
Bells University of Technology, Ota, Nigeria., March 2020 to slow transmission of the virus. When it
Nigeria comes to providing extensive protection for jobs and
enterprises, most vulnerable communities were affected
E-mail: [email protected] immensely. This paper finds that social policy responses
to the first wave of Covid-19 and the subsequent waves
Title of Paper: Violence, Conflicts and Covid-19 Pandemic have been dependent on precious social policy trajectories
in Nigeria - a Double-Crisis Challenge: re-thinking the as well as the political situation of the country during
Humanitarian Architecture for Sustainable Development the pandemic. The government adopted a number of
containment measures, including social distancing and
Abstract heightened restrictions in most non-essential social spaces
to gatherings; encouragement of teleworking where
The crisis inflicted by violence, conflicts and other possible; establishment of isolation facilities; declaration
insurgences, and currently the post Covid-19 pandemic of night curfew and limitations on public transportation
in Nigeria, remains one of the most disruptive, and passenger capacity. This paper analyses the fiscal,
destabilizing developmental challenges in the country., monetary and micro-financial policies that the Government
in particular, in the North East and North West parts of of Kenya also adopted during the pandemic.
the country; exacerbating forced displacement, social
division and dislocation, thereby threatening State-Citizens
cohesion. As a result, the displaced individuals and victims
fall into insidious cycle of poverty and indignity.

46 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference

Dr Marion Ouma Yet, 2020 also marked Mkandawire’s 80th birthday whose
life would have straddled two 40-year periods (1940-
University of South Africa, Kenya 1980 and 1980-2020) representing periods that either
enhance liberation (1940-1980) or continued oppression
E-mail: [email protected] (1981-2021). In the Hebrew Scriptures the number forty
symbolizes a period of testing, trial, probation, and renewal
Title of Paper: Kenya’s Social Policy response to Covid-19: as evidenced in the prophetic tradition to inaugurate a
Continuity in times of crisis new human community. Mkandawire’s scholarly corpus
transgressed traditional boundaries in the social sciences,
Abstract contributing to diverse fields amongst others such as
African political economy of development, economics,
Following the global outbreak of the pandemic, Kenya’s language and intellectual history. This paper, however,
parliament passed several economic and social laws. recasts his scholarly corpus as a prophetic theoretician
Amendments to tax laws aimed to cushion citizens and of social policy for Africa’s liberation, transformation, and
businesses from the negative effects of the disease development. I argue that Mkandawire’s conceptualization
by increasing household income for basic needs and of social policy as transformative provides an imagination
enabling businesses to remain in operation. Other of radical humanist values at the intersection of state,
significant measures instituted were social protection society and market relations which have global implications.
interventions in the form of cash transfers and public works This contrasts with the framing of social policy as social
programmes targeted to poor and vulnerable households. protection ubiquitous in Africa and the world; thereby
This paper examines the Government of Kenya’s social accentuating its commodification. Further, Mkandawire’s
policy interventions to the pandemic and suggests scholarly corpus provides a programmatic approach to
that the response was characterised by underreaction the unmaking of a hierarchical racialized neoliberal global
and unpreparedness. In addition, the policy choices order.
followed a continuity path of minimal state provisioning
and uncoordinated policymaking. The government’s Malalaniaina Miora Rakotoarivelo
overreliance on cash transfers as the major form of social
policy intervention resulted in an inadequate, exclusionary Social and Human Sciences Doctoral School,
and ill-suited response. University of Antananarivo, Madagascar,
Madagascar
Dr Madalitso Phiri
E-mail: [email protected]
University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa
Title of Paper: Managing the impacts of the Covid-19
E-mail: [email protected] pandemic in a context of underdevelopment: A study case from
Madagascar
Title of Paper: The Contested Idea of Social Policy in Africa:
Recasting the pan-African Nationalist Vision Abstract

Abstract The first measure adopted to slow down the dissemination
of Covid-19, in Madagascar, was to lockdown the whole
Its forty years since the implementation of the pernicious country, in March 2020. This included : the closure of
neoliberal structural reforms on the African continent national borders, curfews, a halt of people’s transportation,
in 1981. If 2021 marks the anniversary of a diabolical and restrictions on the opening of non essential activities.
neocolonial project as neoliberalism, then the year 2020 The management of the health emergency is led by an
signified another 40-year period of rebirth aborted, as the Operational Commandment Center (CCO), based in the
Lagos Plan of Action was undermined in favour of the Berg capital. The first consequences of this unprecedented
Report of 1981. These two dates constitute contesting situation had already been felt on April 2020. With the
ideas to social policy and development planning on the support of the World Bank, the Malagasy government had
African continent that coincide with Thandika Mkandawire’s set up a cash transfer mechanism to cushion the impact
life’s strivings. How do Mkandawire’s ideas on social of the health crisis on the most vulnerable households in
policy inspired by radical African Nationalists aid in the three clusters, such as: Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa and
dismantling of contemporary forms of racialized neoliberal Tamatave. The objectives of this study are to analyze, firstly,
social policy making? Neoliberalism precipitated the demise the issues of the decision-making process carried out at by
of pan-African Nationalist social policy imaginations and CCO; secondly, to determine the place of civil society in the
sovereign development projects in place after the rise of socio-economic management of the crisis in Madagascar.
Black Nationalists’. The year 2020 also marked his demise The city of Ambositra was chosen as study area. This locality
joining a pantheon of great African intellectuals who were is composed at the same time by a very urban and rural
his mentors, peers, and interlocutors. lives, which is typical of Malagasy cities.

2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference 47

The main methodology is based on an inductive Dr Adama Sadio
approach, which starts from the study of the particular
case of Ambositra, to have an overview of what could Gorée Institute, Sénégal
have happened, in other districts. The study will also
provide recommendations on how to better manage E-mail: [email protected]
kind of pandemic period, in a context of poverty such as
Madagascar. Title of Paper: Réflexion sur les politiques sociales du Sénégal
au prisme de la démocratie et du développement
Co-Author(s): Prof. James Ravalison
Abstract
Dr Lynsey Robinson
Les deux premières décennies de la période post
University College London, United Kingdom indépendance du Sénégal sont marquées par un contexte
socioéconomique difficile avec une croissance économique
E-mail: [email protected] instable, aggravée par des années de sécheresse. La
période 1980-2000 incluant la mise en œuvre des
Title of Paper: Education Policy in Nigeria: Exploring Programmes d’ajustement structurel (PAS) a été celle du
Education Inequalities and the Role of the Private Sector « mal vivre » des agents de l’Etat. A partir de 2000, il est
constaté un tournant décisif dans les politiques sociales
Abstract avec des investissements lourds, de multiples et différentes
initiatives. A l’analyse des faits, ces efforts semblent ne
This paper provides an historical analysis of changes to pas améliorer les conditions socio-économiques des
Nigerian education policy in relation to the role of the concernés notamment les femmes, jeunes et handicapés.
private sector, based on a review of key policy documents. Malgré sa trajectoire démocratique salutaire comparée à
This is supplemented by interview data from around 25 plusieurs pays africains, celle-ci n’est pas linéaire et connait
key stakeholders in the education system. It pays particular parfois des soubresauts majeurs. Ces manquements
attention to how different policies have addressed semblent avoir un impact sur son développement et sa
educational inequalities and focuses on examining the politique sociale. La démocratie libère les énergies et
structures and processes that have affected education permet la réalisation d’un vrai développement économique
outcomes at primary and secondary level between the et d’un vrai progrès social. L’exemple du Botswana en
1950s and today. It is argued that neoliberal approaches to est une illustration. Il est l’un des deux pays d’Afrique
social policy, apparent from the 1980s onwards, increased subsaharienne (avec le Sénégal) à n’avoir jamais connu de
the pace at which socially inclusive policies from the coup d’Etat. Il gère de manière rigoureuse et vertueuse la
1950s and in the post-independence period unraveled. rente diamantaire et assure une bonne distribution des
In particular, the failure to adequately finance public richesses. Un Etat démocratiquement solide garantit le
education and a shifting of responsibility for education développement et une meilleure politique sociale.
spending toward households, including by encouraging the Cette communication propose d’étudier l’interconnexion
establishment of private schools, has increased inequalities vraie ou fausse de la trilogie : politique sociale = démocratie
within and between Nigeria’s States. Emphasis is then = développement au Sénégal en comparaison avec d’autres
placed on the period between 2000 and the present. expériences africaines.
During this period, the significance of private finance in
Nigeria’s education system escalated and has further Co-Author(s): Dr Almamy Sylla
exacerbated levels of inequality. Today, the education
system is highly stratified especially in States with high Dr Ndeye Faty Sarr
rates of private sector involvement, with Nigerians of a
lower socio-economic background attending underfunded l’Université de Chicoutimi, France
public schools and the wealthy elite attending high-cost
private schools. As a result, education outcomes are E-mail: [email protected]
particularly low in States with higher rates of poverty and a
less developed private sector, where rates of out-of-school Title of Paper: Lecture critique des politiques sociales en
children and attrition rates are high. Mauritanie, au Mali et au Sénégal

Abstract

Les politiques sociales en Mauritanie, au Mali et au Sénégal
se caractérisent par une dominance des mesures de
protection sociale dans sa composante aide sociale. Les
autres composantes des protections sociales (la sécurité
sociale et la réglementation du marché) sont très peu ou
pas mises en œuvre.

48 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference