THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMPERIALISM AND FOOD INSECURITY IN AFRICA WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA

Many African states have recently, hurriedly put together a number of measures aimed at cushioning the effects of the global food crisis. Most of these programs have been implemented in different forms since the era of independence and have had no significant impact on food and agricultural development. In this paper we used the historical materialism approach to critically evaluate Africa’s food crisis genesis. Our thesis, using the Nigerian, experiences is that Africa’s contact with metropolitan capital set the continent on the path to dependent economic and political development. The state structures in Africa emphasize economic programs which respond to Europe’s economic needs to the detriment of internal agricultural capacity building. To redress the situation, we have recommended an end to imperialism and capacity building among African peasants.Capital, Development, Poverty and Political

Techno-globalisation and labour sustainability in an era of the 4th Industrial revolution

Capitalism, as it is known is based on the concepts of competition, profit motive, private enterprises (self-interest) and scientific management. These key catalysts set the motion for capitalist expansion, exploration and exploitation. One notable area where capitalism has naturally done exceptionally well based on its characteristics, is within the domain of scientific management, which has spurred technological innovations as well as triggered techno-globalisation. In spite of several warning signs of the impact of techno-globalisation on the sustainability of labour, the world advanced into the 4th Industrial Revolutions, which is also driven by highly sophisticated technological advancements. The 4th IR has unique features, namely, smartphone takeover almost every aspect of business activity; knowledge generation is made possible through big data; robotics may likely replace many human routine activities in the workplace. The new trend will certainly lead to massive job losses as well as create new ones within the industry, which could have detriment effects for labour sustainability. However, some mechanisms have been postulated in this treatise to improve the status quo

STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC-PROCESSES AT UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The use of electronic (E) processes in the workplace has become pervasive in many countries in recent years. In Nigeria the pervasive use of information technology is quite new. The adoption of this new technology is gaining momentum at Universities in Nigeria. Concepts as E-Senate, E-Campus, E-Examinations, among others depict the extent to which Universities are adopting E-processes. To drive the processes, investments in hard and soft wares are being executed with huge sums of money. This is done in the belief that the new ethos is cost effective, modern and competitive. But as an innovation, the e-processes are new and will be driven by stakeholders. These stakeholders include Management, Staff and Students; their views, reactions and actions are key determinants of its sustainability. This work is a study of stakeholders’ responses to the use of e-processes (using Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory) for service delivery by Universities in Nigeria. The outcomes of the research show that about 32 percent of staff members are fully compliant and another 55 percent are concerting efforts to achieve compliance. In all, 87 percent of those interviewed have keyed into the process. Only about 13 percent are yet to key in, these may be seen as Laggards using Rogers categorization. Since, the new process has taken off, there is need to perfect it by resolving the problems of power supply, internet access, accessories, among others that are limiting its success rate

Ameliorating the effects of global crisis on human resources

Capitalist globalisation has produced certain negative consequences for human resources, industrial democracy and humanity in general. Globalisation is a powerful force that cannot be denied, however, conversely, it has also threatened life, in a broader sense. Globalisation was perceived by globalisers as a worldwide remedy for worldwide problems, but is viewed with great pessimism amongst proletariat (workers). In fact, current globalisation has an enormous negative impact on human resources, industrial democracy and humanity, at large. Hence, the aim of this paper is to proffer mechanisms, which can ameliorate negative impacts of globalisation on human resources, industrial democracy and humanity. It is the author’s belief that if current postulates are considered, globalisation might present a different picture, which could have positive effects on human resources, industrial democracy and humanity, in general. 

Editorial

Editoria

Globalisation and the challenges of unemployment, income inequality and poverty in Africa

There is an urgent need to re-investigate the functional relationship between globalisation, unemployment, income inequality and poverty in Africa. Unemployment accelerates the level of income inequality and poverty within a given society. In spite of the beautiful slogans associated with it, the current globalisation seems to have aggravated the problem of unemployment, the corollary of which is endemic income inequality and mass poverty in Africa. In fact, the trickle down economy pattern has consistently failed Africa. What is good for Wall Street may not necessarily be good for Africa. Viewed from any angle, the African continent seems to have been marginalised and left behind by globalisation. Capitalist globalisation undeniably, created wealth but also intensified inequality and poverty, particularly in Africa. High growth rate of Gross domestic product (GDP) may be a good statistics to parade at international conferences and seminars. However, for the hungry jobless youths in the streets, these are meaningless numbers since they do not translate into job creation or cure their hunger. Therefore, it is high time that African nations look beyond the official statistics of the so called high GDP growth rate and get down to the hard business of creating real jobs that take out the hungry, angry and jobless youths from the streets into workplaces. African countries need to develop comprehensive strategies to create jobs locally. In this paper, the current author posits that there is a strong linkage between globalisation, unemployment, income inequality and poverty in Africa. Some mechanisms were proffered to overcome these bottlenecks

THE IMPACT of GLOBALISATION on EMPLOYMENT STATUTE RELATED to EMPLOYERS in ZIMBABWE

Globalisation led to the reduction of barriers between countries and intensified international interdependency such that developments unfolding in a faraway country now affect the rest of the world in economic, political and social aspects (Giddens, 1990). The Zimbabwean labour market and its national labour legislation have not been spared from the impact of globalisation. Zimbabwean labour legislation had had several amendments from its inception in 1985 to date. The amendments done at each epoch had caused a serious outcry from both labour and business with the main accusations arising from unions who claimed that the effects of globalisation and the government’s desire to lure foreign direct investment (FDI) led to a serious bias towards employers. It is against this background that this article’s objective is to interrogate the impact of globalisation on labour legislation for employers. The article adopted a qualitative paradigm and made use of interviews and participants' memoirs to understand this phenomenon. Results were analysed thematically by use of both Nvivo 10 and manual coding. Results showed that globalisation has an impact on labour legislation for employers. Foreign direct investment and special economic zones were identified as drivers of globalisation responsible for positive impact on labour legislation for employers by influencing deregulation of unfriendly employment laws, instituting flexible contract of employment, easy termination of contracts of employment, and giving immunity from dictates of the labour laws for employers operating in special economic zones. The positives of globalisation for employers resulted in direct negatives for employees. The article recommends that employers need to put into context both globalisation dynamics and dictates of the labour legislation to ensure employee dignity and fair globalisatio

Group rights and the right to protection against human immunodeficiency virus/acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection from an industrial relations and public policy perspective.

This paper reflects on the right of protection against HIV infection versus group rights. Various pieces of legislation that recognise group rights are discussed throughout the paper. In so doing the authors have attempted to illustrate that although South African legislation may not clearly demarcate group rights to specific groups, legislators have inadvertently made countless reference to specific groups or grouping of individuals, which suggest that group rights may exist. It is postulated that if individual rights exist, group rights may correspondently co-exist. The aim of this paper is to explore the feasibility of individuals relying on group rights as a means of seeking protection against HIV/AIDS infection

Indigenous female entrepreneurship : analytical study on access to finance for women entrepreneurs in South Africa

Research on female entrepreneurship is imperative to create a knowledge base of women’s experiences with regards to being financially excluded in South Africa. There is a realisation, however, that, while race has historically been the primary driver of economic disparities in South Africa, other forms of discrimination also prevent certain groups from accessing economic freedom and opportunities. Women, who represent 52% of the South African population, still suffer from historical and cultural prejudice in accessing opportunities, for a number of reasons that are outlined in this study. While access to financial services continues to be largely racially defined in South Africa, the gender gap between men and women does exist, and is likely to grow if special efforts are not undertaken to address the underlying issues now. Black women are the largest single self-employed segment of the population; a fact that is not reflected in the current industry targets for business activity. This paper examines the extent to which financial service providers in the country were sufficiently aware of the challenges facing women entrepreneurs in South Africa

The Effects of Transactional Barriers on the Effectiveness of a Firm’s Competitive Strategy

Extant literature has shown that firms’ decisions can exert a bearing on the effectiveness of their competitive strategy. This paper seeks to extend this body of literature by demonstrating how and under what circumstances a firm’s decision about transactional barriers, which it can impose on its customers, can impact the degree to which it can effectively deploy its competitive strategy in realizing its maximum possible profits. The study’s main findings demonstrate that at equilibrium, the size of the set transactional barrier is on average inversely related to the effectiveness of the firm’s competitive strategy, holding constant the consumers' income and other factors. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the firm’s competitive strategy in attaining the firm’s optimal profits is jointly and individually enervated by the price elasticity of the firm’s product demand and the size of the transactional barrier that it imposes on its customers. Additionally, the effectiveness of the firm’s competitive strategy tends to be maximized as the size of the transactional barrier tends to be zero. Therefore, the findings in this paper suggest that under the assumptions of the model in this paper, the optimal size of a transactional barrier to be imposed by a firm, in the service industry, should be zero. &nbsp