In the 1980s, most developing countries faced macroeconomic structural problems such as high inflation and increase in foreign debt. Most of the developing countries had to engage in Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment Policies (ERSAP) to meet the IMF and World Bank conditionality criteria for their assistance to overcome their economic problems. Privatisation was a major policy of the World Bank's ERSAP. Developing governments started to privatise their state-owned enterprises (SOEs). However, domestic investment in these countries was not enough to carry out the whole privatisation programme. Therefore, the need for FDI to participate in privatisation and close the gap between domestic saving and domestic investment became imperative. The approach to the application of privatisation and attracting FDI differed among developing countries. While some countries applied speedy privatisation and welcomed unlimited participation of FDI in the programme, others were more conservative in the speed of application and the acceptance of FDI participation. One of the factors that affected the speed of application and the participation of FDI is the institutional and regulatory frameworks applied in each country. This research explores the effects of privatisation and FDI on long-run economic growth during the era of intensive privatisation of the 1990s. Hence, the time period covered for this research is from 1971 to 2000. Case studies on the frameworks of privatisation and FDI in Egypt and Argentina are used to show how different institutional and regulatory frameworks affected the application of privatisation and participation of FDI and hence yielded different privatisation proceeds and FDI inflows. Egypt followed a slow and cautious approach to privatisation, and partial liberalisation of FDI regulations, while Argentina followed a speedy and aggressive approach to privatisation and fully liberalised their FDI regulations. As a result, Argentina had already completed 2/3 of its privatisation programme within the first 5 years of the programme, while Egypt took 10 years to privatise 2/3 of the SOEs participating in the programme. In addition, Argentina was more successful in attracting more FDI inflows to participate in the privatisation programme than Egypt. The effects on long-run economic growth are estimated using Error Correction Models for Egypt and Argentina over the period of 1971- 2000. Dynamic fixed effects models are also used for a sample of 47 developing countries over the period of 1988-2000 to obtain more generalised results for the developing countries. The results reveal that privatisation had positive effects on economic growth during the privatisation era. The effects of FDI on economic growth, however, depend on the sectoral distribution of these FDI inflows. It is found that FDI had negative effects on economic growth in Argentina during the privatisation era because the majority of the FDI inflows were participating in the privatisation of the primary sector; mainly the petroleum sector. In Egypt, on the other hand, FDI had positive, yet limited, effects on economic growth during the privatisation era as the majority of the FDI inflows were directed to the manufacturing sector. A paper entitled "The effects of privatisation and FDI on economic growth in Argentina", based on parts of this thesis, has been accepted for future publication in the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development. This thesis was submitted before hard copies were available.

Egypt during the period of 2000 until 2010 witnessed major activities of economic cycles, financial reform, bank reform, development and restructuring that changed the face, structure and size of banks and the banking industry. New regulations, new laws, and Nazif’s government that was appointed in 2003, fostered the change especially during worldwide recession, economic boom, tighter regulation on the financial sector and financial crises. This thesis assessed the changes that happened in the Egyptian-banking sector during the period of 2004 until 2010, in term of efficiency change and industry structure. The research investigated the hypotheses that the lower the number of banks and the larger capital available for them, the higher the efficiency. The research used Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) methodologies to test the hypotheses on 27 banks out of 39 banks in Egypt that account for 90% of banking activities in Egypt. The input variables were the available funds and the owners’ equity. While the output variables were net loans, securities, operating profits and net profit. Output oriented tests were conducted using the BCC (Banker – Charnes – Cooper), CCR (Charnes – Cooper – Rhodes) and Window analysis. In addition to the full sample, segmentation between private vs. public and international vs. local & regional were conducted. Moreover, the research also includes a descriptive analysis of the banking activities and changes that occurred during the period of study, and conducted a concentration index for the banking sector. The research indicates that there was slight improvement in efficiency during the period of study, and that having more funds, resources may lead to improvements in efficiency. Although the banking industry increased in size (deposits, loans, profits and branches), the concentration ratio increased slightly, which indicates the dominance of few banks on the sector. The thesis recommends that banks and the central bank could work on different dimensions to improve efficiency by having better reach, products and better assets utilization, and continue in the reform to reduce the concentration ratio, especially that the public sector still has ownership in 17 banks out of the sample of the 27 banks.

Free trade relations have become an important issue in both trade and development literature since the 1950s. From this period, 1950-1959, until the end of the 1960s, the economy of Egypt was protected as a result of the adoption of import substitution policies and excessive government intervention in economic activities. Since 1970, when an open-door policy was adopted, Egypt has striven to liberalise its markets with the aim of enhancing economic growth, with rewarding results. This study has quantified the effect of changes in economic policy, particularly trade liberalisation, on economic growth for Egypt during the period 1970-2006, by addressing some challenges remaining in theoretical and empirical literature on free trade and economic growth. This period witnessed a strong shift in economic policy towards a more export growth oriented stance. It covered the reforms of 1974 and 1991, as well as the establishment of the WTO in 1995 and Egypt's accession to it. Two models were constructed: the first one attempted to deal with the causality problem by re-examining the causality between exports and economic growth based on the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) in the context of the Egyptian economy. The second model, a Simultaneous Equation Model (SEM), was developed to deal with the endogeneity problem and investigate the impact of selected openness indicators on economic growth in Egypt. The most important finding is the strong positive and bi-directional relationship between Egyptian exports and its economic growth. This finding is in line with the theoretical argument of the ability of developing countries such as Egypt to benefit from the free trade movement, which not only helps them to benefit from knowledge spillover but also to raise their productivity. The role of human capital in growth and exports was also shown to be significant. Similar findings were obtained for countries at different stages of development (low- and middle-income). It is concluded that, like Egypt, all groups will benefit from trade openness, regardless of the degree of development, with respect to the positive role of human capital to enable them to absorb new technologies from the developed countries.

This thesis investigates, theoretically and empirically, the impact of FDA and privatization on economic growth in Egypt and identifies the channels through which FDI affects economic growth over the period 1970-2015. In addition, the thesis investigates the impact of corruption on FDI in Egypt over the period 1970-2015. The literature survey in chapter two argues that both FDI and privatization increase the rate of economic growth, while corruption has a negative impact on FDI. After reviewing institutional and regulatory frameworks of FDI and privatization in Egypt in chapter three, the econometric framework of cointegration and error correction mechanism are used in chapter four to capture the linkages between FDI, privatization and economic growth in Egypt. Our results reveal that privatization has a positive effect on the long run economic growth in Egypt. The effect of FDI on economic growth, however, depends on the sectoral distribution of these FDI inflows. FDI inflows have a positive impact on the short run economic growth in Egypt. However, in the long run, FDI inflows indicate a negative, yet limited, impact on the economic growth as FDI inflows are concentrated in the primary sector, mainly the petroleum sector. Thus, we conclude that the focus of FDI policies in Egypt is misspecified. The challenge should not only be to attract FDI, but also to derive macroeconomic benefits from FDI by focusing on the sectors that derive positive spillovers of FDI. Finally, the determinants of FDI in Egypt are identified in chapter five to explore how corruption affects FDI inflows. The time series framework of cointegration and error correction mechanism are applied. Our results indicate a positive yet insignificant relationship between FDI and corruption in Egypt. Since corruption is not found to hinder FDI inflows, treating corruption should be based on sound legal procedures that infringe neither the freedom of FDI nor on the degree of openness of the economy, which are the real stimulants of FDI in Egypt.

This dissertation is unique in looking at Sudanese NGOs and not at the INGOs in Sudan. Most of the literature concentrates on the role of INGOs in Sudan and neglect the contribution of Sudanese NGOs. The research offers a corrective to these stereotype created by the literature on Sudanese NGOs. This study focuses on important aspects of the voluntary sector in the Sudan. It describes informal traditional practices and indigenous associations, like communal labor, rotating savings and credit associations, and migrant associations. Although these social forms have been given some attention in the third world studies literature, the subject has never been dealt with systematically in the field of Sudanese studies. The study reveals the strengths and weaknesses of Sudanese NGOs. It doesn't, however exaggerate the role of Sudanese NGOs, given the local context. On the other hand we can not underestimate their contribution to poverty reduction efforts and peace process and in realization of rights in the last two decades. The study focuses on the present political situation in the Sudan, including the regime's institutions and its social organizations on the one hand and the position of social and political oppositions on the other. It shows how Islamic movement uses religion and power to sustain and protect a system which has lost its credibility and legitimacy among many Sudanese citizens. It focuses on the rise of the National Islamic Front (NIF), its growth and development from a small political party to the third political power, based on the election of 1986, and to a party of full ruling power as a result of the NIF military coup of 1989. It also discusses and analyzes the nature of the government organizations and the causes leading to the failure of the Islamic project in the country. The rise of Islamic movement in Sudan can be viewed as part of the decline of local initiatives as the center of the social capital. The rapid changing situation in Sudan since 1989 is gathering by new momentum with the government policies of control and restriction, on the one hand, and with the increasing numbers of civil society organizations seeking to legitimize their identity and recognition, on the other hand. The study discusses the NIF-NGO relations and concludes by raising issues of concern and discussing the way out as an alternative approach contributing to development process.