Saturday, December 5, 2020

Africa Investment Climate

Africa Investment Climate


Index


1 Background documentation

2 Investment guides

3 Trade Africa-EU

4 Relevant Laws (Commerce, Trade, Business, Land,




1 Background documentation


World Bank


World Bank Annual Report "Doing Business" (the whole world)

https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/reports/global-reports/doing-business-2020



Specific info about Sub-Saharan Africa

https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/pdf/db2020/DB20-FS-SSA.pdf




United Nations Trade Stats


https://comtrade.un.org/




Official statistical bureaus


Panafrican


The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA): https://www.comesa.int/




By Country


Benin: https://insae.bj

Burkina Faso: www.douanes.bf/sydoniabf/index.jsf

Burundi: https://www.obr.bi/index.php/en/

Congo: www.cnsee.org

Djibouti: www.ins.ci/n/

Eswatini: www.sra.org.sz

The Gambia: www.motie.gov.gm

Ghana: https://statsghana.gov.gh

Guinea: dgd.gov.gn

Guinea Bissau: www.stat-guinebissau.com

Kenya: https://www.knbs.or.ke

Lesotho: http://www.bos.gov.ls/

Liberia: http://www.moci.gov.lr/

Madagascar: http://www.mefb.gov.mg/

Malawi: http://www.nsomalawi.mw/

Mauritania: http://www.ons.mr/

Morocco: https://www.oc.gov.ma/

Mozambique: http://www.ine.gov.mz/

Namibia: https://nsa.org.na/

Nigeria: https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/

Sierra Leone: https://www.statistics.sl/

South Africa: https://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/default.aspx

Tanzania: https://www.nbs.go.tz/index.php/en/

Uganda: https://www.ubos.org/

Zambia: https://www.zamstats.gov.zm/

Zimbabwe: http://www.zimstat.co.zw/











2 Investment guides


2.1 Angola


Investment Guide in Portuguese: https://www.missionangola.ch/telechargements/guia_investimento_angola_isnow.pdf



Information for Angola: Angola Mission in UN and EU

https://www.missionangola.ch



3 Trade Africa-EU


Most African trade is directed to European countries. Some charts, source is the European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/international-trade-in-goods/data/database



4 Relevant Laws (Commerce, Trade, Business, Land, Labor)


Source: The World Bank.


Information by country. It is only useful to know the climate in the country of interest, but the information is low-quality and incomplete.


In some places at war, like Libya, the former regime didn’t leave in place a legal corpus from which to build. Other places, like Ethiopia, are just now learning how to integrate in a rule-of-law paradigm (at least in form, we don’t know how this will play in the future).


Other places have no applicable laws even in areas in which the modern Eurocentric “colonialist” (so to speak) viewpoint focuses on. An example is a set of environmental laws and regulations, that are still lacking in lots of countries.


Purging, cleaning, filling gaps in these data is a task that will need a review with the embassies and Commerce/Trade Departments in the capital cities of these countries.



Algeria

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws


Angola


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

  • Presidential Decree 64/11, 18th of April

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Benin


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Botswana


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

  • Insolvency Act [CAP 42:02]

  • Companies Act [CAP 42:01]

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws


Burkina Faso


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws


Burundi


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Cabo Verde


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws

Insolvency Law


Cameroon


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Central African Republic


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

  • **Ordonnance 73/093 fixant les modalités de compression du personnel des services ou organismes publics et para-publics et les entreprises privées de la République Centrafricaine

  • **Ordonnance 73/095 réglementant le recrutement de la main-d'oeuvre en République Centrafricaine

  • **Convention collective nationale du commerce de la République Centrafricaine

  • Code du travail (extraits)

  • Code Du Travail (Extraits)

  • **Convention Collective Nationale Du Commerce De La République Centrafricaine

  • **Ordonnance 73/093 Fixant Les Modalités De Compression Du Personnel Des Services Ou Organismes Publics Et Para-Publics Et Les Entreprises Privées De La République Centrafricaine

  • **Ordonnance 73/095 Réglementant Le Recrutement De La Main-D'Oeuvre En République Centrafricaine

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Chad


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws



Comoros


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Congo, Dem. Rep.


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

  • **Ministerial Decree No. 013/CAB/MIN.URB-HAB/2005 of 6 May 2005 modifies Decree CAB/CE/URB/012/88 of 22 October 1988 that regulates the issuance of the building licence.

Securities Laws

Tax Laws




Congo, Rep.


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Côte d'Ivoire

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Djibouti

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws


Egypt, Arab Rep.


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Equatorial Guinea

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

  • **Ordenamiento General del Trabajo

  • **Ordenamiento General Del Trabajo

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Eritrea


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Eswatini


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws




Ethiopia


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

  • Ethiopian Commercial Code, 1960 amended by Proclamation No. 6/1991

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Gabon


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Acte Uniforme OHADA du 17 avril 1997 relatif au droit des sociétés commerciales et du groupement d'intérêt économique

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Gambia, The


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

  • Companies Bill, 2013 

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

  • **Injuries Compensation Act

  • **Labour Act

  • **Injuries Compensation Act

  • **Labour Act

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

  • The Security Interest in Movable Assets Act


Ghana

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Guinea


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws




Guinea-Bissau


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

  • **Lei Geral do Trabalho

  • **Lei Geral Do Trabalho

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Trade and Customs Laws

Insolvency Law

Administrative Laws

Alternative Dispute Resolution Laws

Environmental Laws



Kenya


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws



Lesotho


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Liberia


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws

Insolvency Law




Libya

There is a big hole here.


Commercial and Company Laws



Madagascar


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Malawi


Banking and Credit Laws

  • Credit Reference Bureau (Amendment) Act, 2015

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

  • Commercial Credits Act (Caps 48:06)

  • Hire Purchase Act

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws

Insolvency Law



Mali

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Mauritania


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Mauritius


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws



Morocco

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws




Mozambique

Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Namibia


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

  • Insolvency Act of 1936

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Niger


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Nigeria


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




Rwanda


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

maternity benefits

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

  • N° 11/2009 of 14/05/2009

  • Nº31/2013 of 24/05/2013




Senegal


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws



Sierra Leone


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




South Africa


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws




South Sudan


Banking and Credit Laws

  • Banking Act 2012

  • Consumer Finance Act 2009

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

  • Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

  • The Insolvency Act, 2011

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws



Sudan


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws




Tanzania


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws




Tunisia


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws




Uganda


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws

Tax Laws



Zambia


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

Securities Laws




Zimbabwe


Banking and Credit Laws

Bankruptcy and Collateral Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Labor Laws

Land and Building Laws

  • **Regional, Town and Country Planning Act

Securities Laws

Tax Laws

Trade and Customs Laws




COVID-19 & stay-at-home orders: Users residing in lockdown states create more content after the lockdown, but find a decrease in the novelty level and optimism of the content generated by the latter group

The Unintended Consequences of Stay-at-Home Policies on Work Outcomes: The Impacts of Lockdown Orders on Content Creation. Xunyi Wang, Reza Mousavi, Yili Hong. arXiv, Nov 30 2020. https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.15068

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to individuals around the globe. To mitigate the spread of the virus, many states in the U.S. issued lockdown orders to urge their residents to stay at their homes, avoid get-togethers, and minimize physical interactions. While many offline workers are experiencing significant challenges performing their duties, digital technologies have provided ample tools for individuals to continue working and to maintain their productivity. Although using digital platforms to build resilience in remote work is effective, other aspects of remote work (beyond the continuation of work) should also be considered in gauging true resilience. In this study, we focus on content creators, and investigate how restrictions in individual's physical environment impact their online content creation behavior. Exploiting a natural experimental setting wherein four states issued state-wide lockdown orders on the same day whereas five states never issued a lockdown order, and using a unique dataset collected from a short video-sharing social media platform, we study the impact of lockdown orders on content creators' behaviors in terms of content volume, content novelty, and content optimism. We combined econometric methods (difference-in-differences estimations of a matched sample) with machine learning-based natural language processing to show that on average, compared to the users residing in non-lockdown states, the users residing in lockdown states create more content after the lockdown order enforcement. However, we find a decrease in the novelty level and optimism of the content generated by the latter group. Our findings have important contributions to the digital resilience literature and shed light on managers' decision-making process related to the adjustment of employees' work mode in the long run.



Social Hedonic Editing: People Prefer to Experience Events at the Same Time as Others; excepton are very emotionally impactful events

Social Hedonic Editing: People Prefer to Experience Events at the Same Time as Others. Franklin Shaddy, Yanping Tu, Ayelet Fishbach. Social Psychological and Personality Science, December 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620976421

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1334851536409735169

Abstract: Previous research testing the hedonic editing hypothesis examined preferences for the timing of events that happen to the self—asking, for example, whether people prefer to experience two positive or two negative events on the same or different day(s). Here, we examine preferences for the timing of events that happen to the self and to others—social hedonic editing. Across five studies (N = 2,522), we find people prefer to experience a positive or negative event on the same day that (vs. a different day than) another person experiences a similar positive or negative event. Studies 1 and 2 document this “preference for integration” in interpersonal (i.e., for the self and others) but not intrapersonal (i.e., for the self) contexts, Studies 3 and 4 suggest people prefer integration because it increases interpersonal connection, and Study 5 highlights a boundary condition. People do not prefer integration for very emotionally impactful events.

Keywords: hedonic editing, social decision making, interpersonal connection, event timing


Rolf Degen summarizing... The more people liked something, the more patient they were and the more prepared to accept longer waiting times

Love is patient: People are more willing to wait for things they like. Annabelle Roberts, Franklin Shaddy, and Ayelet Fishbach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (in press), Dec 2020. https://franklinshaddy.com/assets/liking_patience.pdf

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1334848015807471618

Abstract: How does liking of a target affect patience? One possibility is that the more people like a target the less patient they are for it, because it is more difficult to resist the attractive smaller-sooner option in order to wait for the larger-later option. However, across six studies (N = 2,774), we found evidence for the opposite effect. Specifically, an increase in liking was correlated with an increase in patience (Study 1), and when people made decisions about a target they liked more, they were more willing to wait for a better quality version of it (Studies 2 and 3) and a larger amount of it (Study 4). This is because when people like a target more, they perceive a greater difference in subjective value between its smaller-sooner and larger-later versions. Thus, the perceived difference in subjective value mediated the effect of liking on patience (Study 5). Further, consistent with this proposed mechanism, we found that liking increased both willingness to wait for a better quality version of a target and willingness to pay to receive the target sooner (Study 6). These findings suggest that patience, in part, results from believing the larger-later reward is worth waiting for. They also offer practical recommendations for people struggling with impatience: Individuals may benefit from reminding themselves why it is they like what they are waiting for.

Keywords: patience, liking, intertemporal choice, subjective value, self-control


Same-sex sexual behaviour can be maintained by selection for indiscriminate sexual behaviour because indiscriminate mating is the optimal strategy under a wide range of conditions

Same-sex sexual behaviour and selection for indiscriminate mating. Brian A. Lerch & Maria R. Servedio. Nature Ecology & Evolution, Nov 9 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01331-w

Abstract: The widespread presence of same-sex sexual behaviour (SSB) has long been thought to pose an evolutionary conundrum, as participants in SSB suffer the cost of failing to reproduce after expending the time and energy to find a mate. The potential for SSB to occur as part of an optimal strategy has received less attention, although indiscriminate sexual behaviour may be the ancestral mode of sexual reproduction. Here, we build a simple model of sexual reproduction and create a theoretical framework for the evolution of indiscriminate sexual behaviour. We provide strong support for the hypothesis that SSB can be maintained by selection for indiscriminate sexual behaviour, by showing that indiscriminate mating is the optimal strategy under a wide range of conditions. Further, our model suggests that the conditions that most strongly favour indiscriminate mating were probably present at the origin of sexual behaviour. These findings have implications not only for the evolutionary origins of SSB, but also for the evolution of discriminate sexual behaviour across the animal kingdom.

Empirical observations of SSB (that is, any attempted sexual activity between two or more members of the same sex) in ani-mals are widespread1–4, with evidence of SSB in mammals5–9, birds10–14, arthropods15–19, molluscs20–22, echinoderms23–25 and other animals26–30. Since SSB is traditionally thought to be deleterious, as same-sex matings require energy expenditure but cannot produce offspring, there has been much interest in understanding its origin and maintenance1–5. Despite this, there exists no strong theoretical foundation for understanding SSB (but see refs. 31,32), resulting in a wide range of untested verbal arguments in the literature1–5.Recently, Monk et al.4 challenged the long-standing perspective of SSB as a derived trait, arguing that rather than trying to under-stand its presence, a more salient question would be to understand its absence. They hypothesize that indiscriminate sexual behav-iour (that is, mating without determining the sex of one’s part-ner) is the ancestral condition, realizing that discriminate sexual behaviour (that is, directing sexual behaviour at members of the opposite sex) must evolve through mechanisms controlling sexual signalling and mate choosiness. Of course, the existence of indis-criminate mating as the ancestral condition does not explain its current prevalence33. While in some cases (for example, broadcast spawning and wind pollination) indiscriminate mating predomi-nates as a result of little potential benefit to (or opportunity for) sexual discrimination, it is oftentimes unclear why indiscriminate mating persists.Building on the perspective of Monk et al.4, we argue that selec-tion may actually favour indiscriminate sexual behaviour (or pre-vent the evolution of sexual discrimination) under a wide range of conditions observed in nature. We create a theoretical framework for understanding the conditions that favour indiscriminate sexual behaviour and provide a test of whether SSB is likely to result from selection for indiscriminate sexual behaviour. We start with a sim-ple optimization model of sexual reproduction, and then support this approach with a population genetic model that explicitly tracks evolutionary dynamics. We find that indiscriminate mating is the optimal strategy for many parameter combinations and produce testable predictions about the conditions that favour SSB resulting from indiscriminate mating.

Friday, December 4, 2020

Patients with smell loss with subjective flavor perception might be experiencing unconscious memory recall from previously experienced cross‐modal sensory interactions

Retronasal olfactory function in patients with smell loss but subjectively normal flavor perception. David Tianxiang Liu et al. The Laryngoscope, 130:1629–1633, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.28258

Abstract

Objectives: The human sense of smell constitutes the main part of flavor perception. Typically, patients with loss of olfactory function complain of diminished perception during eating and drinking. However, some patients with smell loss still report normal enjoyment of foods. The aim of the present study was to compare orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function in patients with non‐sinonasal smell loss and subjectively normal flavor perception.

Methods: Nineteen patients (mean age [range] 52.0 [8–83 years]) with self‐reported olfactory impairment but subjective normal flavor perception were included. Olfactory performance was assessed using the Sniffin’ Sticks (TDI) for orthonasal and the Candy Smell Test (CST) for retronasal function. Visual analogue scales were used for self‐assessment of odor (SOP), taste (STP), and flavor perception (SFP), ranging from 0 (no perception) to 10 (excellent perception).

Results: Mean (SD) SFP was 8.0 (1.8). Mean (SD) orthonasal TDI‐score of all patients was 14.4 (5.3, range 6–25.3) with 11 patients classified as anosmic and eight as hyposmic. Mean/SD retronasal CST‐score was 8.8 (2.7, range 3–13) within the range of anosmia/hyposmia. No correlation was found between SFP and the CST (P = .62).

Conclusion: The present results showed that despite claiming normal flavor perception, our patients were ortho‐ and retronasally dysosmic using standard tests for olfactory function. Although other explanations could be possible, we suggest that this subjective flavor perception might be due to unconscious memory recall from previously experienced cross‐modal sensory interactions.


DISCUSSION

An estimated 25% of all people over 50 years of age experience olfactory impairment.562122 A survey from Vennemann et al. on the prevalence of olfactory dysfunctions in the general population showed impairments in almost 18% of the general population with 3.6% classified as functionally anosmic.6 The olfactory system plays the leading role in human multisensory flavor perception,2324 therefore it is expected that a loss of olfactory function leads to altered perception of flavors, which is also confirmed in larger series of patients.25 However, some patients report smell loss but simultaneously state normal to excellent flavor perception. Published26 and unpublished data of our group demonstrate a relatively low percentage of patients with severe olfactory dysfunction but normal subjective flavor perception at the same time (between 3.7% for VAS = 10 and 28% for VAS ≥4).

As the major finding of our study, retronasal olfactory performance as measured by an established retronasal smell test did not confirm normal flavor perception in the investigated subjects. All patients yielded scores within the range of hyposmia/anosmia with ortho‐ and retronasal tests, demonstrating striking discrepancies between subjective and measured flavor identification abilities. In contrast, orthonasal smell test results correlated significantly with self‐assessed olfactory abilities. Our findings are in accordance with current scientific publications stating a moderate but significant correlation between self‐assessment of smell perception and measured olfactory acuity in patients with olfactory dysfunction and confirm a trend that self‐assessment of olfactory function becomes more accurate with decreasing performance.71427 However, it has to be kept in mind, that on an individual patient's level, olfactory performance can only be assessed by means of validated smell tests.28

Regarding gustatory function, the question could arise of whether gustatory function in patients with smell loss and subjectively normal flavor perception is increased, compared to patients with smell loss and concordant loss of flavor perception. This was not found to be the case in our patients, as the majority of achieved TST scores projected in the medium to lower percentile range of normogeusia compared with normative data,16 which is also in accordance with a previously published study showing no significant influence of smell loss on gustatory function.29 As previously described, normosmic patients tend to rely on their odor imagery abilities for self‐assessment of olfactory function7 although this ability seems to decrease with the duration of olfactory loss.3031 A tendency of these patients to rely more on gustatory, textural, auditory (during mastication), and visual information of foods could be a reason for the lack of correlation between self‐assessment and test results of retronasal olfactory function.32 Our findings show that relying exclusively on subjective reports on flavor perception in patients with olfactory dysfunction can be misleading and additional testing of retronasal olfactory function can provide more information for the management regarding hazardous events (eg, ingestion of spoiled food).33

Why does the loss of retronasal olfactory function go unnoticed in some patients? Although we cannot give answers to this question based on our results, some thoughts might be relevant for further research. In our patients subjectively normal flavor perception during food intake was not mediated by intact retronasal olfactory function. In another investigation retronasal olfactory event‐related potentials could be recorded from some patients with unimpaired flavor perception which were ortho‐ and retronasally tested to be dysosmic by means of psychophysical tests.14 However, this might not be clinically relevant, since olfactory event‐related potentials can also be present in patients with functional anosmia, for whom residual olfactory function is not useful in everyday life.171834

Part of the contribution of retronasal smell stimuli to overall flavor perception seems to be mediated by memory recall. Therefore unconscious memory recall of “flavor templates” from previously experienced cross‐modal sensory interactions (eg, somatosensory–olfactory interactions) may be an explanation for normal flavor perception in orthonasally anosmic patients with noncongenital causes.303536 All three patients in our study with congenital smell loss yielded scores within the range of anosmia in ortho‐ and retronasal tests presuming “flavor” is an individual concept, consisting of interaction of all other sensory modalities (for example vision, taste, sound, and somatosensory) independently from olfactory perception. Long‐term olfactory recognition memory, which plays a vital role in food preference and food habits, happens unconsciously and incidentally through repeated presentation of individual components together, as is the case with food and beverages.37-39 A further mentionable point is that the development of our multisensory flavor perception probably already starts in the mother's womb39 and continues into adulthood. The frequent presentation and co‐occurrence of olfactory stimuli with other sensory stimuli, eg, of gustatory and olfactory quality, consequently allow qualities of one sensory system to evoke qualities in another.40 Further studies using functional imaging methods, for example, are needed for more clarity regarding different brain activities with variability of self‐assessment of different sensory modalities.

Finally, as shown in a recent publication, olfactory changes are not as strongly perceived as visual changes. While olfactory changes were only detected with an accuracy of 61%, visual changes were detected with an accuracy of over 97%. Only 24% of the participants were able to detect olfactory changes reliably above chance. Notably, these subjects also rated their personal interest in olfaction and its use in daily life as most important.41 Regarding our subgroup of patients with smell loss and no subjective change in flavor perception, it might be speculated that these patients rely more on visual, gustatory, and trigeminal cues during eating and drinking leading to an unawareness of a decreased retronasal odor identification ability.