Despite its leading role in the urban transport system, paratransit is accused of being unsustainable and hostile to modernity. The reform of the sector is necessary in the context of the modernization of the transport system of African cities. It requires the formalization of actors through technical and financial support such as fleet renewal projects. This article attempts to analyze the financing process and the level of formalism of the operators constituted within the AFTU in the context of the financing operation of paratransit operators in Dakar, Senegal. The methodological approach adopted is based on the analysis of qualitative data from questionnaire surveys carried out in the AFTU network in Dakar; official documents¹ were also used. The results show that the Dakar financing model put in place has made it possible to make significant progress in the reorganization of paratransit professionals. In addition to the concessioned lines, a salaried system was introduced, pricing is now official and the standardized ticketing system has been put in place. Nevertheless, improvements are expected on the working conditions of employees, the capacity building of actors and the evolution of the legal status of companies.

This research article examines the relationship between the level of social welfare expenditure and economic growth rates, based on unbalanced panel data from 38 OECD countries covering the period from 1985 to 2022. Four hypotheses are formulated regarding the impact of social expenditure on economic growth rates. Through multiple iterations of regression model building, employing various combinations of dependent and independent variables, and conducting tests for stationarity and causality, compelling empirical evidence was obtained on the negative influence of social welfare spending on economic growth rates. The study takes into account both government and non-governmental expenditures on social welfare, a novelty in this field. This approach allows for a detailed examination of the effects of different components on economic growth and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships. The findings indicate that countries with high levels of social welfare spending experience a slowdown in economic growth rates. This is associated with increasing demands on social security systems, their growing inclusivity, and the escalating required levels of financing, which are increasingly covered by debt sources. The research highlights the need to strike a balance between social expenditures and economic growth rates and proposes a set of measures to ensure economic growth outpaces the indexing of social expenditures. The abstract underscores the relevance of the study in light of the widespread recognition of the necessity to combat inequality, poverty, and destitution, and calls on OECD countries’ governments to pay increased attention to social policy in order to achieve sustainable and balanced economic growth.

The implementation of government decentralization in Indonesia is facing regulatory problems for autonomous regions’ financing sources. Therefore, attention to regional finance is increasingly needed given that autonomous regions are required to carry out various central government interests in addition to their affairs. This leads to a split of power over financing development policy by the regional government. However, this does not mean that the local government’s financial needs must be free from the central government’s intervention. This study briefly compares financing regional autonomy in Indonesia, France, Germany and Thailand. The results show that the distribution of financial resources between the central government and regional governments is inconsistent with Article 18A section 2 of Law No.1/2022. The results also show that the provisions of various sources of taxation and levy have not met the financial needs of regions in Indonesia. Financial balance in the form of Natural Resources Production Sharing Fund from various natural resources owned by regions that only share unrenewable resources such as mining excavated materials remains unequally distributed between regions that have natural resources.

The study aimed to demonstrate that Palestinian banks have the potential to increase green financing by enhancing public sector understanding instead of focusing solely on the private sector, in addition to providing insights from employees of Palestinian banks listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange regarding the key challenges and opportunities related to green financing in Palestine specifically. It posed two central questions: What are the opportunities and challenges in implementing green finance in Palestine, and what level of government and private sector support exists? The study used the descriptive analytical approach, through interviews and surveys, the study targeted 10 heads of credit departments and a non-probability sample of 350 bank employees. The findings revealed a strong commitment from the government to promote green finance. At the same time, the private sector showed reluctance to engage in external investments. Key challenges included political instability and limited financial resources, though international aid was a significant opportunity to advance green finance. The study recommended increasing public awareness and fostering stronger coordination between the government and private sector, possibly incorporating competition from neighboring countries to further develop Palestine’s green finance strategy.

The article presents a study of the connectivity and integration of sovereign bond and stock markets in 10 BRICS+ countries in the context of crisis instabilities in 2019−2024. Financial markets are becoming more integrated, and an increasing share of public investments are carried out across borders, which increases not only the opportunities for participants, but also the risks of a new crisis. The work used data on central bank rates of the considered countries, yield indices of 10-year government bonds, gold and Brent oil prices. The methods include the analysis of exchange rate dynamics, connectivity estimates based on the multivariate concordance coefficient and two-factor Friedman rank variance analysis, VAR models, Granger predictability and cointegration. The objective of this study is to analyze the interrelationship and cointegration between the sovereign bond and equity markets of selected BRICS+ countries during crisis periods. Our findings indicate that market interrelationship intensifies during crises, which in turn amplifies volatility. Additionally, we observed that none of the economies within the BRICS+ group can be classified as fully integrated or entirely isolated markets. The disruption of the interrelationship in the sovereign bond markets of the group is primarily reflected in the inconsistency of dynamic changes between Russia, China, and India. During the global shock of 2019–2020, the crisis spread from China, followed by Indonesia, and later to the other countries of the group. The financial and debt markets of the sampled countries were able to quickly cope with the severe shocks of the COVID-2019 period. The 2022–2024 crisis, which lasted significantly longer, began in Russia before spreading to countries across Asia and Africa. By 2024, Russia’s sovereign bond yields showed a marked decline. The increased market volatility following 2022 disrupted the integration and interrelationship of the stock and debt markets within the BRICS+ countries.