African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development最新文献

{"title":"District analysis of poverty dynamics in rural South Africa","authors":"M. Mamabolo, P. Chaminuka, C. Machethe","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2178773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2178773","url":null,"abstract":"Persistent poverty is a major developmental challenge for South Africa and has multifaceted dimensions. This paper profiled and investigated poverty transitions among rural households in 22 district municipalities in South Africa. Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indices were applied to panel data from the National Income Dynamics Study from 2008 to 2017. Findings indicate that poverty levels varied across districts and poverty was most prevalent in Zululand, OR Tambo and Sisonke districts. Furthermore, districts with high poverty rates also had high poverty gap ratios. Poverty transition analyses revealed that in 82% of the districts, poverty declined between 2008 and 2017, while it increased in 13% of the districts. This transition was not mirrored between waves, with the majority of households remaining in the same poverty status between waves. The study recommends that these traditional rural districts be a major focus of poverty alleviation efforts. The role of the state in providing stability to combat poverty is encouraged through promotion of higher education. Additionally, support for agriculture as a business is also recommended. Collaborations between district municipalities and provincial departments of agriculture could facilitate this. The study adds to existing literature by providing insights from disaggregated profile and analysis of rural poverty in district municipalities.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"11 1","pages":"690 - 704"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90968863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frugal innovations of South African female social entrepreneurs","authors":"T. Tselepis, C. Nieuwenhuizen","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2177016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2177016","url":null,"abstract":"The good practices of female social entrepreneurs in developing contexts who are able to grow their social entrepreneurial endeavours through innovative problem-solving processes should be understood in order to inform policymakers and models that enhance social value add and innovation for social good. This study explores and describes the Frugal Innovation of female social entrepreneurs who are able to grow their endeavours. Problems that the women deal with are linked to the dimensions of Frugal Innovation from a Design Thinking perspective to illustrate the complexity of the issues that these women encounter. A qualitative approach is applied to the study. A purposive sample of 11 cases of a South African sample frame of 45 was selected as these women displayed growth and innovation in their endeavours whilst engaging in solving complex problems. In a content analysis of their innovative problem-solving, findings indicate that the enablers of Frugal Innovation in the social entrepreneurial context are leveraged by the women in the study to grow their endeavours towards systemic integration. This way, they are creating more sustainable solutions that can be viewed as good practice which may inform policymakers and other social entrepreneurial models. The original contribution of this study lies in the application of the theoretical framework in an interdisciplinary way, to provide insight on Frugal Innovation in a social entrepreneurial context that might become increasingly relevant in a post-pandemic world.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"4 1","pages":"678 - 689"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85104233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The determinants of the intention to use autonomous vehicles","authors":"Paul Orsot-Dessi, A. Ashta, Surender Mor","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2174754","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2174754","url":null,"abstract":"This study measures the relative importance of the determinants of the intentions to use autonomous vehicles. We hypothesize that the intention to use is influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease and that the perceived usefulness will be determined by driving pleasure and psychological ownership. The perceived risk may also negatively affect the intention to use autonomous vehicles. We also hypothesize that an external variable, public transportation, will too influence psychological ownership and the intention to use. We integrate this in a modified Technological Acceptance model. We use an online questionnaire to collect data. Based on our sample, we find that public transportation availability is not related to the intention to use and that psychological ownership is not associated with perceived ease of use. The significant direct relationships are that intention to use autonomous vehicles is influenced positively by psychological ownership, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use, and negatively by psychological driving pleasure and perceived risk. The primary recommendations for manufacturers of vehicles would be to indicate that the autonomous vehicle is not risky or that its risk is considerably less than that of a human-driven vehicle.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"25 1","pages":"650 - 660"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90470726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chinese foreign direct investment and business start-ups in Africa","authors":"P. A. Atitianti, S. K. Asiamah","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2176612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2176612","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, Chinese FDI has become an integral investment source for African countries and has, therefore, engendered studies seeking to understand the determinants of these flows. In a quest to identify the factors that stimulate these flows, this paper assesses whether the ease of starting a business induces Chinese FDI flow to Africa. The analysis is based on panel data for 46 African countries between 2004 and 2018. The results from fixed-effects estimations suggest that Chinese FDI is attracted by the ease of starting a business in African economies. This finding also holds for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and is robust across all estimations. The results also provide corroborating evidence that identifies Chinese FDI as market and resource-seeking, attracted to large markets and economies with abundant natural resources. The findings suggest that improving business regulations could be a stimulant for Chinese FDI flow to Africa. In evaluating the nexus between Chinese FDI and business start-ups, this paper provides new evidence to complement the dated studies on this theme.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"30 1","pages":"661 - 670"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83320334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What is the motivation? The political economy of engineers regulation in Kenya","authors":"O. A. K’Akumu","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2173909","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2173909","url":null,"abstract":"Regulation is usually justified by the public interest in theory but in practice may end up serving special interests. This paper evaluates the regulatory frameworks for engineers and engineering technologists in Kenya with the view to establishing whether they take the public interest into consideration or only other special interests. Taking public interest into account is necessary to foster development and avoid regulatory conflicts. The study used qualitative document analysis (QDA) to collect and analyze the documentary data available in relevant statutes, namely the Engineers Registration Act (1969–2012), the Engineers Act (from 2012), and the Engineering Technology Act, as well as the Auditor-General’s annual reports. The main aim of the study is to establish whether the regulators are motivated by public interest or not. The findings are that public interest is not the main goal because regulators focus on non-regulatory activities such as business investments, there is capture of regulatory instruments by the regulator, there is limited inclusion of other actors in the regulatory operations, there is engagement in extraprofessional activities with the risk of distraction from the core mandate of professional regulation, there is budgeting for excess funds, a lack of clear definition of the public interest in the relevant sections of the statute. The findings confirm pursuit of special interests by the regulators, rather than the public interest. The main contribution of the study is that in developing and African countries, regulatory mechanism of professions can be captured by the regulators to further narrow or special interests, just as it happens with the regulation of businesses.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"70 1","pages":"637 - 649"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74947667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Managers’ perception of ethics in public entities and service delivery using the corporate virtue scale","authors":"P. Cheteni, E. Shindika","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2176622","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2176622","url":null,"abstract":"Ethical culture is the epitome of the success of various organizations and a prerequisite for progress. This study aimed to examine the construct validity of the Corporate Virtue Scale (CEV) and find if there is any association between ethical culture and its impact on employees’ wellbeing. The sample was composed of 277 managers from various government entities in the Buffalo Municipality in South Africa. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the eight-factor CEV scale. The employees’ perceptions of ethical culture in public entities were associated with their stress levels and emotional exhaustion. Thus, the findings of this study revealed that the ethical culture of organizations plays a huge role in the wellbeing of employees. The study concludes that the CEV scale is a proven instrument with construct validity. The recommendation is that the government should focus on simplifying rules and procedures that help to cultivate an ethical culture within public entities.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"1 1","pages":"671 - 677"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89192718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation innovation in Africa: Towards indigenously responsive evaluation (IRE) philosophies, methods and practices in Ghana","authors":"E. Boadu, I. Ile","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2173864","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2173864","url":null,"abstract":"Evaluation within an indigenous society is a social activity. Thus, it requires both tangible and intangible or hidden factors such as cultural values, norms, communal relational structures, power dynamics, attitudes, consensus-building, community aspirations, empowerment and other practical knowledge to develop an inclusive evaluation framework. Utilizing a culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) approach, this study examined evaluative instincts rooted in indigenous values, relational patterns, knowledge systems and other cultural realities. Indigenous evaluation impulse exists in native ideas, social structures and other cultural realities but could these indigenous evaluative impulses augment and shape contemporary evaluation philosophies, approaches and practices in Ghana? The study observed that there are several tangible and intangible evaluative dimensions that are deeply-rooted in cultural values, maxims, norms and other social patterns within the indigenous communities. Consequently, comparable dimensions could be advanced and established in the present evaluation research to add further depth and rigour to the study in this field.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"8 1","pages":"624 - 636"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89816588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Technology transfer as a catalyst for effective university-industry collaboration in Botswana","authors":"M. Mafu","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2023.2173403","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2023.2173403","url":null,"abstract":"The university-industry contractual research collaborations to solve complex problems jointly and create social and economic impact have long existed. Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) constitute formal technology intermediaries established to strengthen university-industry collaborations. However, the differences in needs and capabilities, individual and organizational backgrounds, and innovative learning modes inhibit effective partnerships. We develop a conceptual framework that explains how TTOs can catalyze these collaborations in Botswana. We use the grounded theory approach to examine the TTOs’ challenges and opportunities in strengthening university-industry linkages. Notably, we employ inductive analysis to synthesize interview data and analyze it using domain analysis and componential analysis. Data were extracted from the university and industry policies and documents and interviews with 102 participants from two universities (42.2%) and three industry firms (57.8%) involved in technology transfer. We found 71.6% had excellent knowledge and experience and 28.4% had varying degrees of experience. While individual or independent consultancies (44.1%) lead, TTOs facilitate collaboration through contractual research agreements (32.4%), technology licensing (22.5%), and joint ventures (10.8%). This demonstrates entities' significant access to each other's financial and technological resources. This allows entities to generate new knowledge, equip each other with tools and competencies required to produce commercial products and new revenue streams. Most significantly, while Botswana has displayed remarkable progress toward strengthening its institutional support systems for technology transfer and commercialization, there is a shortage of IP expertise at universities and industries, possibly leading to low levels of IP awareness. Also, most institutions have incomplete IP strategies, and there is inadequate administration and enforcement of intellectual property rights systems at the national level, possibly contributing to low national IP filings. Therefore, we recommend entities fully engage in vigorous IP activities, review and finalize their IP policies and make them flexible yet equitably based on the needs of the collaborating industry firms.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"178 1","pages":"606 - 623"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78010463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping the strength of sectoral innovation system in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry: Empirical evidence","authors":"R. A. Ayo-Lawal, C. Adelowo, A. A. Oyewale, E. Ejim-Eze, E. A. Omimakinde, W. Erhun, O. Ukwuoma","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2022.2061697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2022.2061697","url":null,"abstract":"It is well known that innovation in the modern economy is driven by interactions among the stakeholders that make up the innovation system. Effective interactions among key actors in an innovation system foster flow of knowledge and resources development and commercialization of new products. This study assesses the depth of research and development (R&D) and level of interaction existing among key elements in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry. Data were obtained from thirty-two manufacturing pharma firms, and sixty-nine researchers from faculties of pharmacy across Nigerian universities and three key research institutes with drug-related mandates. The results reveal poor synergy in research among the actors, and weak academia-industry interaction as only about one-third of industrial firms indicated active collaboration with knowledge institutions. More pertinently, over two-third of researchers in universities rated research-industry collaborations on most of the key aspects considered to be at least weak, Contract research and joint R&D activities were equally rated weak. The study concludes that the pharma innovation system in Nigeria requires serious government interventions by creating robust platform to promote productive interactions between these actors.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"99 1","pages":"198 - 210"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82355446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perception of government employees on the use of biometric technology in determining a person’s ethnic group in Nigeria","authors":"Martins E. Irhebhude, A. Kolawole, Agwi C. Uche, Adeleye V. Dupe","doi":"10.1080/20421338.2022.2072793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2022.2072793","url":null,"abstract":"Selected biometric technologies such as iris, face, gait, voice, etc. are widely used for the recognition of individuals. This paper presents a biometric technology perception by members of staff from government agencies in Nigeria, namely: the National Identity Management Commission and Joint Admission Matriculation Board, on the use of selected technology for ethnicity recognition. The study was conducted using the quantitative method. Data were collected from the staff of selected agencies. Fingerprint, facial, and iris biometrics were selected for this experiment. Using the modified Technology Acceptance Model framework, results from the experiment showed the perception of staff on selected technologies in ethnicity recognition. Results show that technology enhanced job effectiveness, the majority of respondents agreed that fingerprint and facial biometrics would improve ethnicity detection; hence they were a popular choice for ethnicity recognition. The study showed that determining ethnicity from iris biometric would be difficult as the majority do not see the iris as a means of identifying a particular ethnic group. Five different hypotheses were tested to determine compatibility, ease of use, and attitude towards use (ATU) of the selected technology. Results showed that selected biometrics can effectively determine an ethnic group with a significance value at 0.000.","PeriodicalId":7557,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development","volume":"1 1","pages":"260 - 271"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90539843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}