Research Articles

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A research article reports the results of original research, assesses its contribution to the body of knowledge in a given area, and is published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. The faculty publications through published and on-going articles/researches are captured in this community

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 76
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    Preliminary Insights into the Nature of Graduate IS Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (Springer Nature, 2020-04) Boateng, R.; Kevor, M-O.; Kolog, E.A.; Owusu, A.; Afful-Dadzie, A.
    Extant Information Systems (IS) curriculum research has focused on the nature of undergraduate IS programmes, particularly in the US and UK, eliciting calls for studies on graduate IS programmes and in regions beyond the US and UK. This study, consequently, looks at the nature of graduate IS programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using a direct survey method, IS courses information were collected from the websites of top universities in SSA based on a 2019 webometric world ranking of universities. The course offerings from these universities are mapped to the competencies specified in the Global competency model for graduate IS programmes (MSIS 2016). The findings generally indicate, among others, non-adherence of graduate IS programmes in SSA to the MSIS 2016. The reasons for the non-adherence to the MSIS 2016 curriculum model is recommended for future research.
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    Food security impacts of industrial crop production in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the impact mechanisms
    (Food Security, 2020-02) Jarzebski, M.P.; Ahmed, A.; Balde, B.S.; Chinangwa, L.; Saito, O.; von Maltitz, G.; Gasparatos, A.
    A number of industrial crops have been promoted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to meet a range of policy objectives including economic growth, rural development, agricultural modernization and energy security. The food security impacts of industrial crop production have received extensive policyattention and have been widely discussed in the academic literature. There is, however, an overall lack of a clear understanding of these impacts due to thelarge diversity of industrial crops, and their varied modes of production, expansion areas, and impact mechanisms. This systematic review synthesizes theavailable knowledge on the interface of industrial crops and food security in SSA. In particular we identify key patterns with how different industrial cropsand impact mechanisms are represented and studied in the current literature, and how they intersect to affect food security. The current literature isfragmented, as most studies focus on single or small subsets of crops and impact mechanisms. Most studies capture mechanisms related to food access andavailability, rather than to food utilization and stability. A clustering analysis identified the main literature clusters that combine mechanisms related to foodavailability, access to food, and environmental impact. The overall analysis presented in this systematic review allowed us to identify priority policy andpractice domains that need to be targeted in order to improve the food security outcomes of industrial crop production in SSA
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    Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Business Regulations, Policies and Institutions
    (Social Indicators Research, 2020-01-19) Dwumfour, R.A.
    The study investigates the impact of business regulations, policies and institutions on welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa. The HDI and GDP per capita are used as measures of welfare or poverty. The World Bank doing business indicators are used as business regulatory measures and the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment are also used as policies and institutional quality measures. The study employs systems GMM estimation technique in examining these relationships. The results show improved welfare in SSA countries to be associated with less burdensome regulations on starting business. The results reveal that merely pursing regulations in respect of business operations and closure such as those related to getting electricity, protecting minority interest, paying taxes and resolving insolvency as a strategy to improve welfare directly does not work unless done within a milieu of sound policies and institutions. There are however threshold values at which policy and institutional quality indexes can complement regulations to improve welfare. Following a formal sample-splitting, the study finds some differences in these relationships explained by the income status as well as the legal origin of the countries. Policy implications are well discussed.
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    Annual transition probabilities of overweight and obesity in older adults: Evidence from World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health
    (Social Science & Medicine, 2020-01-28) Biritwum, R.B.; Lartey, S.T.; Si, L.; Otahal, P.; de Graaff, B.; Boateng, G.O.; Minicuci, N.; Kowal, P.; Magnussen, C.G.; Palmer, A.J.
    Overweight/obesity is becoming increasingly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. However, transition probabilities, an essential component to develop cost-effective measures for weight management is lacking in this population. We estimated annual transition probabilities between three body mass index (BMI) categories: normal weight (BMI ≥18.5 and <25.0 kg/m2), overweight (BMI ≥25.0 and <30.0 kg/m2), and obesity (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2), among older adults aged ≥50 years in Ghana. Data were used from a nationally representative, multistage sample of 1496 (44.3% females) older adults in both Waves 1 (2007/8) and 2 (2014/ 15) of the Ghana WHO SAGE. A multistage Markov model was used to estimate annual transition probabilities. We further examined the impact of specific socio-economic factors on the transition probabilities. At baseline, 22.8% were overweight and 11.1% were obese. The annual transition probability was 4.0% (95% CI: 3.4%, 4.8%) from normal weight to overweight, 11.1% (95% CI: 9.5%, 13.0%) from overweight to normal weight and 4.9% (95% CI: 3.8%, 6.2%) from overweight to obesity. For obese individuals, the probability of remaining obese, transitioning to overweight and completely reverting to normal weight was 90.2% (95% CI: 87.7%, 92.3%), 9.2% (95% CI: 7.2%, 11.6%) and 0.6% (95% CI: 0.4%, 0.8%) respectively. Being female, aged 50–65 years, urban residence, having high education and high wealth were associated with increased probability of transitioning into the overweight or obese categories. Our findings highlight the difficulty in transitioning away from obesity, especially among females. The estimated transition probabilities will be essential in health economic simulation models to determine sustainable weight management interventions
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    Effect of HIV/AIDS on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Evidence
    (International Advances in Economic Research, 2019-11-26) Nketiah-Amponsah, E.; Abubakari, M.; Baffour, P.T.
    This paper examines the effect of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using data from 46 SSA countries spanning the period 2000–2015. Results based on the system-generalized method of moments estimation showed that a 1% increase in the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in SSA decreased the growth in per capita income by 0.47%. The impact of HIV/AIDS on economic growth was felt most in Eastern Africa followed by West Africa, although the prevalence rate was highest in Southern Africa. In particular, a 1% increase in the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa and West Africa retarded growth in per capita income by 0.64% and 0.47%, respectively, over the study period. The paper suggests that for SSA to minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS prevalence on growth, African governments should take a cue from the southern African countries by making anti-retroviral drugs more accessible and affordable to persons living with the disease.
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    MSIS 2016: What are we teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa?
    (Association for Information Systems, 2019-08-17) Kevor, M.O.; Boateng, R.; Awuni, E.K.
    Organisations tend to increasingly prefer graduates with substantial competencies to reduce the cost of on-the-job training and to ensure a seamless transition from the classroom to the workplace. It is imperative that universities meet these organisational demands by developing innovative curricula. The Joint Taskforce of the Association of Computing Machines and the Association for Information Systems developed an information systems (IS) curriculum model to guide institutions’ degree programmes. The extent to which this model is adopted has been studied largely in the context of undergraduate programmes in the UK and US, and little research has been done in other regions. Thus, this paper empirically provides evidence of the nature of graduate IS programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa and assesses their adherence to the broad categories of competencies proposed in the MSIS 2016 through a direct survey of top universities. We found among others that, non-adherence to the MSIS 2016 is common.
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    Service recovery satisfaction in offline and online experiences
    (Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 2019-11-19) Hinson, R.E.; Odoom, R.; Agbemabiese, G.C.
    Purpose – Given that the peculiar nature of the internet has introduced new dimensions of service delivery as well as new dimensions of service failures and recovery, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the relationships between recovery strategies and recovery satisfaction within offline and online settings. Design/methodology/approach – Data for the empirical tests of our hypotheses were collected via offline and online (specifically Facebook and Twitter) samples of customers who have experienced some form of service failure and recovery measures from service providers within the past year. Findings – The results indicate that recovery strategies largely influence recovery satisfaction among aggrieved customers. However, these are conditional and not invariant across the two settings. In the authors’ offline setting, in particular, apology did not show a statistically significant impact on recovery satisfaction, even though, along with compensation and explanation, this relationship was significant among the online sample. Originality/value – The study offers practical implications for service managers within emerging economies on the various conditions where they can maximise their service recovery efforts (both offline and online) to generate optimum recovery satisfaction.
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    Challenging formal accountability processes in community natural resource management in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (GeoJournal, 2019-06-28) Siakwah, P.; Musavengane, R.
    Africa is endowed with vast natural resources. It is equally labelled a cursed continent due to a plethora of conflicts emanating from the use and sharing of gains from these natural resources. For the past decades, accountability has been thought of as an anecdote to natural resources conflicts. However, these challenges have persisted across the Sub-Saharan African region. Using Ghana and South African communities, the study revisits the relationship between accountability of natural resources and community development with the aim to strengthen accountability processes in Africa. The paper revealed that accountability in natural resources management should extend beyond reports and opinions of the technocrats, bureaucrats, experts and political elites. We argue that accountability should be participatory, inclusive, and embody elements of trust and social justices. It therefore proposes the adoption of negotiated accountability, to strengthen the governance of natural resources in Africa. Negotiated accountability should holistically address four main accountability elements: the normative, relational, decisional and behavioural element.
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    A Literature Review of Mobile Payments in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (International Working Conference on Transfer and Diffusion of IT, 2019-05-19) Boateng, R.
    The influx of mobile technologies during 1990’s saw to the purchase of mobile phones and subsequently mobile terminals in the form of tablets, PDAs among others. The trend in adoption has seen increasing hikes and drastic impact on business transactions also recorded. Mobile payments have emerged as one of the electronic payment platforms that are creating convenience for many consumers. In order to strengthen the field and to examine the knowledge gap over a decade (2007–2017), a review of literature was opportune. Hence 37 studies conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa were retrieved, classified based on TOE framework and Porter’s five competitive forces. The thematic areas identified based on the framework were reviewed. In addition, geographical cover, methodological issues, conceptual frameworks and gaps identified for further studies were also studied. The analysis showed that, similar to earlier findings; Changes in technology, merchant adoption and consumer adoption have been well researched into with grey areas like traditional payment systems, socio-cultural factors that affect implementation of mobile payment system. The research gaps and direction of future research were discussed.
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    Major subpopulations of Plasmodium falciparum in sub-Saharan Africa
    (Science, 2019-08-23) Amenga-Etego, L.; Amambua-Ngwa, A.; Kamau, E.; Amato, R.; Ghansah, A.; Golassa, L.; Randrianarivelojosia, M.; Ishengoma, D.; Apinjoh, T.; Maïga-Ascofaré, O.; Andagalu, B.; Yavo, W.; Bouyou-Akotet, M.; Kolapo, O.; Mane, K.; Worwui, A.; Jeffries, D.; Simpson, V.; D’Alessandro, U.; Kwiatkowski, D.; Djimde, A.A.
    Understanding genomic variation and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum across Africa is necessary to sustain progress toward malaria elimination. Genome clustering of 2263 P. falciparum isolates from 24 malaria-endemic settings in 15 African countries identified major western, central, and eastern ancestries, plus a highly divergent Ethiopian population. Ancestry aligned to these regional blocs, overlapping with both the parasite’s origin and with historical human migration. The parasite populations are interbred and shared genomic haplotypes, especially across drug resistance loci, which showed the strongest recent identity-by-descent between populations. A recent signature of selection on chromosome 12 with candidate resistance loci against artemisinin derivatives was evident in Ghana and Malawi. Such selection and the emerging substructure may affect treatment-based intervention strategies against P. falciparum malaria.