German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Research Support to the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition“ (RéUsSITE)

With the African population expected to double by 2050, 20 million new jobs are needed annually. The increasing importance of employment creation led the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to establish the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition“. The GIGA offers research support and advice to this initiative.
BMZ, 2019-2023

Team

Dr. Jan Priebe

Associate

Tevin Tafese

Doctoral Researcher

Regina Schnars (née Dworschak)

Doctoral Researcher

Dr. Bernd Beber

Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

Sarah Frohnweiler

Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

Rigorous Impact Evaluation in the RéUsSITE Project

In cooperation with the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, our team is evaluating selected programs of the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition“ in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. The aim is to identify causal effects of an intervention on the beneficiaries. Learn more about the results of the rigorous impact evaluation here.

Foreign Direct Investment and Employment

In this work package, we explore the employment effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa and investment promotion measures. The identified knowledge gaps range from basic facts on FDI in Africa to robust evidence on its effects on local employment and the effects of investment promotion measures on investment decisions. Learn more about the results on this page.

Head

Prof. Dr. Jann Lay

Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Globalisation and Development"

Coordinator

Tabea Lakemann

Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

Research Questions

The Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition“ (short: SI Decent Work), led by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), contributes to the implementation of recent policy initiatives geared towards fostering private investment, such as the Marshall Plan with Africa and the G20 Compact with Africa. Activities are concentrated in eight African countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia), and the objective is to create up to 100,000 permanent jobs, train up to 30,000 persons, and to improve incomes and working conditions.
The research project supports the BMZ and the implementing institutions by investigating the effects of important representative approaches used in the SI Decent Work, and in providing research-backed recommendations geared towards optimising the various policy measures over the course of the project if necessary.

The project adresses the following research questions:
- How effective are the policy measures of the SI Decent Work in creating training opportunities and permanent jobs, and in improving incomes and working conditions?
- How exactly do these measures work, which (project- or context-specific) factors reduce or promote these effects? Could a better interaction between the various instruments of the SI Decent Work increase its impact?
- Which recommendations can be derived from the research results for the BMZ, the implementing institutions, other development cooperation organisations as well as national governments and other organisations on the ground?

Contribution to International Research

The RéUsSITE project advances international research in multiple ways. First, it contributes to a growing body of rigorous evidence on the employment effects of different types of labour market interventions, which is scarce especially in African contexts. Second, it aims to improve the data basis on foreign direct investment in selected African countries and associated investment promotion measures, thereby enabling research on the effectiveness of these measures. Third, it provides evidence on the effectiveness of policy approaches combining private investment with training and employment.

Research Design and Methods

Two work packages (WP) examine the impact of the SI Decent Work measures (1) on labour market outcomes of beneficiaries, and (2) on the level of investment projects.

Work Package 1: Rigorous measurement of the impact of SI Decent Work measures on labour market outcomes of beneficiaries
In this work package, the employment effects of multiple measures of the SI Decent Wok are analysed by means of rigorous impact evaluations (RIE). The first step was to identify measure suitable for impact evaluations, which was a collaborative process with BMZ and the Implementing Organisations.

Work Package 2: Assessment of the effects of SI Decent Work support measures at the level of investment projects
In the second work package, the effects of the SI Decent Work measures on the success of investment projects will be examined with regard to (1) their actual implementation, (2) the mobilisation of foreign and domestic capital, (3) the creation of employment and its quality, as well as (4) the links to the local economy, if applicable. The work package applies a mixed-methods approach: On the one hand, the connections between investment promotion measures and project success are to be quantitatively examined on the basis of a database on investment projects to be created. On the other hand, these quantitative studies are supplemented by qualitative case studies of individual funding measures or investment projects. Both approaches serve to compare the effectiveness of different investment promotion approaches in different contexts (countries, regions or even sectors). In this work package, particular importance is attached to the question of a counterfactual scenario, which cannot be so easily established by a randomized experiment: If an investment project had not existed, would it have been implemented just as quickly, to the same extent and in the same form? In other words: (How) did the measure contribute to the implementation of the investment project in this way? The planned analyses are also based on a written review of the available evidence.

Preliminary Findings

WP1: Projects for the evaluation of SI measures have been selected and the baseline survey of the first project in Ghana has been conducted. WP2: Identified knowledge gaps range from basic facts about FDI prevalence in Africa to the lack of information on the impact of FDI on employment outcomes and the effects of investment promotion measures on investment decisions. A newly assembled greenfield FDI projects data base provides the basis for further investigation. These data will allow us to analyze the direct employment effects of FDI as well as to examine the effectiveness of investment promotion measures.

Economist - Netherlands | 10/2024

Employment Effects of Skills Trainings in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of Recent Randomized Controlled Trials

How effective are skills training programs in sub-Saharan Africa at improving participants’ skills, employment perspectives and income? This systematic review analyses recent, randomized studies conducted between 2019 and 2024, painting a slightly more optimistic picture than earlier studies.

Dr. Bernd Beber

Tabea Lakemann

Regina Schnars (née Dworschak)

Prof. Dr. Jann Lay

GIGA Focus Africa | 4/2024

Good Jobs through Training: Refining Development Cooperation in Africa

Studies have shown that the effectiveness of training programmes in developing countries varies greatly and many have little impact. In view of possible budget cuts regarding German development cooperation, funds should be used where they will have the greatest impact.

Ruhr Economic Papers | 2024

Effects of Skills Training on Employment and Livelihood Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Young Women in Ghana

How does skills training impact the livelihood and employment situation of participants, and how accurate are implementers’ beliefs about program effectiveness? This study of a “best-case” training program in fashion for young women in Ghana finds gaps between realised and expected impacts.

Sarah Frohnweiler

Dr. Charles Atanga Adongo

GIGA Focus Africa | 6/2022

Digital Africa: How Big Tech and African Startups Are Reshaping the Continent

Digitalization is gaining momentum in Africa. Thanks to significant private investment in the continent’s digital infrastructure, more Africans have access to the internet and mobile phones. Building on this, a new wave of African startups is driving innovation and transforming African economies.

Tevin Tafese

Doctoral Researcher

GIGA Focus Africa | 4/2022

Happy Ever After? The Marriage Market as a Source of Societal Instability

There is a longstanding notion that young, unmarried men are a source of societal instability. The author of this GIGA Focus argues that the marriage market and gender imbalances in this market are important aspects to consider for understanding the reasons why young men gravitate towards violence.

Prof. Dr. Renate Hartwig

Research Fellow

GIGA Talk | 20/11/2019

Investment and Job Creation in Africa

Investment and Job Creation in Africa, GIGA Berlin, Berlin Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr. Gerhard Ressel (Panelist), Prof. Dr. Jochen Kluve (Panelist), Prof. Dr. Jann Lay (Panelist), Tabea Lakemann (Moderator)

Dr. Gerhard Ressel

Prof. Dr. Jochen Kluve

Prof. Dr. Jann Lay

Tabea Lakemann

Cooperation Event | 21/11/2019

Research Perspectives on Investment Promotion and Employment: Introducing the RéUsSITE Project

Research Perspectives on Investment Promotion and Employment: Introducing the RéUsSITE Project, GIGA Berlin, Berlin Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Tabea Lakemann (Panelist)

Tabea Lakemann

Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

Cooperation Event | 30/09/2020

COVID-19 in Africa: Taking Stock of the Impacts on the Informal Economy, Supply Chains, and Labour Markets

COVID-19 in Africa: Taking Stock of the Impacts on the Informal Economy, Supply Chains, and Labour Markets, Online workshop Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Kiel Institute for the World Economy Prof. Dr. Jann Lay (Organiser)

Prof. Dr. Jann Lay

Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Globalisation and Development"

Conference | 17/03/2024 - 19/03/2024

Impact Evaluations of Skills Trainings in Africa: Results Presented at Oxford’s CSAE Conference

CSAE Conference 2024: Economic Development in Africa, Oxford Organisers: Centre for the Study of African Economies, Social Science Division, University of Oxford Tabea Lakemann (Speaker), Dr. Bernd Beber (Speaker)

The RéUsSITE team presented the results of two impacts evaluations at the 2024 conference of the Centre for the Study of African Economies in Oxford.