The tourism sector, development policy and inequalities in the development of the Eastern Cape

This study on the relations between tourism policies and the tourism development conditions in the Eastern Cape of South Africa is a contribution to the on-going research projects on the transformation that has taken place in the post-1994 development process of South Africa. One theme associated with these studies relates to the important roles that have been played by public bodies in influencing the nature of the transformation in the development of South Africa. The study is based on the expectation that the current policies can open up more investments and other opportunities in the tourism sector to the benefit of the provincial economy. To find out the concrete nature of the changes associated with the current tourism development policies, data collection was organized from six groups of stakeholders in the tourism sector of the 39 local municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province. The use of factor analysis led to the identification of five hierarchies or clusters indicating the levels of inequalities in the tourism development of the province. To obtain an understanding of the processes behind the observed inequalities, the stakeholders were given the opportunity to disclose their concrete activities as they related to the policies. The findings indicate that generally, much has changed since 1994, as a result of the levelling of the playing field in the tourism sector for both the producers and consumers in the industry. It is recommended, however, that measured in terms of the maximum benefits that could be derived from the provincial tourism sector, the government officials associated with the tourism sector in particular need to provide more effective leadership in the implementation of the current tourism development policies. The thrust of the study is that the tourism policies in the Eastern vii Cape can only generate the maximum positive benefits if, inter alia, all the stakeholders in the tourism industry are empowered to produce at their maximum.GeographyD. Litt. et Phil. (Geography

Multivariate regionalization of economic development in Transkei.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1992.In recent years, increasing attention has been devoted to the inequalities in development of countries, especially the third world countries, in formulating national development plans. Geographers interested in the regional dimension of development, now take greater cognisance of issues related to inequalities in development. This thesis is a contribution to the growing area of regional development. It investigates the spatial dimension of development and its associated variations. Transkei has been selected for this study because of its historical past as a "child" of separate development policy of South Africa and as a third world country. The separate development policy and its dependence on its former colonial power, have contributed in evolving inequalities in the spatial pattern of development. Past development plans have failed to produce balanced development. There is, therefore, a need to evaluate the existing factors that have produced these inequalities to see if a different strategy can be adopted to correct the existing inequalities. Transkei's 28 districts were used in this study, based on 19 variables. Factor and Cluster Analyses were the analytical techniques used. The investigation's results are as follows: 1. The factors underlying the relationships between the 19 variables were found to reflect three broad factors: Agglomeration, Industrialization and Education factors, with contributions of 72.36%, 8.24% and 6.47% respectively, to the total variance. 2. These factors were observed to owe their existence to institutional and traditional factors with their particular spatial patterns. The districts associated with the agglomeration and industrialization factors were found to be relatively more developed, forming patterns similar to the letter Y. The districts associated strongly with the education factor, have little development potential and forms a continuous belt running from the north west through central to the eastern coast and a compact block to the south. 3. Five major development groups obtained from the application of cluster analysis, represent a broad framework within which the inequalities of development in Transkei could be discussed. From the findings, it has been proposed that the institutional and traditional factors would have to undergo major changes, if considerable balance in the spatial development of Transkei could be achieved

Tourism entrepreneurship: the contours of challenges faced by female-owned BnBs and Guesthouses in Mthatha, South Africa

The purpose of the study was to investigate and discover the facts about the challenges of female entrepreneurs who are the owners of bed and breakfasts and guesthouses in Mthatha, and to find out whether these challenges have an impact in their business performance. By way of using a semi-structured survey, women who own guesthouses and bed and breakfast establishments were targeted by way of a purposive snowball sampling technique. The primary data collected indicated that female-entrepreneurs in Mthatha face a number of challenges including limited access to finance, seasonality, balancing work and family life, corruption/bribery, poor infrastructure, inability to attend seminars and workshops to network, poor customer service and lack of awareness to the required training/skills to function effectively. However, such women remain resilient to the aforementioned challenges, largely motivated by such factors linked to flexibility, the quest to remain independent and the belief in the opportunity and financial incentives that their operation represents. This study has implications for entrepreneurship and economic growth in South Africa and how vulnerable businesses including women’s require continuous support from government and private sector to remain competitive and economically sustainable.ackground:Context-specific factors influence adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among pregnant womenliving with HIV. Gaps exist in the understanding of the reasons for the variable outcomes of the prevention ofmother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme at the health facility level in South Africa. This study examinedadherence levels and reasons for non-adherence during pregnancy in a cohort of parturient women enrolled in thePMTCT programme in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.Methods:This was a mixed-methods study involving 1709 parturient women in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Weconducted a multi-centre retrospective analysis of the mother-infant pair in the PMTCT electronic database in 2016.Semi-structured interviews of purposively selected parturient women with self-reported poor adherence (n= 177)were conducted to gain understanding of the main barriers to adherence. Binary logistic regression was used todetermine the independent predictors of ART non-adherence.Results:A high proportion (69.0%) of women reported perfect adherence. In the logistic regression analysis, afteradjusting for confounding factors, marital status, cigarette smoking, alcohol use and non-disclosure to a family memberwere the independent predictors of non-adherence. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed that drug-related side-effects, being away from home, forgetfulness, non-disclosure, stigma and work-related demand were among the mainreasons for non-adherence to ART.Conclusions:Non-adherence to the antiretroviral therapy among pregnant women in this setting is associated withlifestyle behaviours, HIV-related stigma and ART side-effects. In order to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV,clinicians need to screen for these factors at every antenatal clinic visit.Keywords:Adherence, Non-adherence, HIV, Antiretroviral therapy, Elimination of mother-to-child transmission,Prevention of mother-to-child transmission, Stigma, South Afric

Tourism entrepreneurship: the contours of challenges faced by female-owned BnBs and Guesthouses in Mthatha, South Africa

The purpose of the study was to investigate and discover the facts about the challenges of female entrepreneurs who are the owners of bed and breakfasts and guesthouses in Mthatha, and to find out whether these challenges have an impact in their business performance. By way of using a semi-structured survey, women who own guesthouses and bed and breakfast establishments were targeted by way of a purposive snowball sampling technique. The primary data collected indicated that female-entrepreneurs in Mthatha face a number of challenges including limited access to finance, seasonality, balancing work and family life, corruption/bribery, poor infrastructure, inability to attend seminars and workshops to network, poor customer service and lack of awareness to the required training/skills to function effectively. However, such women remain resilient to the aforementioned challenges, largely motivated by such factors linked to flexibility, the quest to remain independent and the belief in the opportunity and financial incentives that their operation represents. This study has implications for entrepreneurship and economic growth in South Africa and how vulnerable businesses including women’s require continuous support from government and private sector to remain competitive and economically sustainable.ackground:Context-specific factors influence adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among pregnant womenliving with HIV. Gaps exist in the understanding of the reasons for the variable outcomes of the prevention ofmother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme at the health facility level in South Africa. This study examinedadherence levels and reasons for non-adherence during pregnancy in a cohort of parturient women enrolled in thePMTCT programme in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.Methods:This was a mixed-methods study involving 1709 parturient women in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Weconducted a multi-centre retrospective analysis of the mother-infant pair in the PMTCT electronic database in 2016.Semi-structured interviews of purposively selected parturient women with self-reported poor adherence (n= 177)were conducted to gain understanding of the main barriers to adherence. Binary logistic regression was used todetermine the independent predictors of ART non-adherence.Results:A high proportion (69.0%) of women reported perfect adherence. In the logistic regression analysis, afteradjusting for confounding factors, marital status, cigarette smoking, alcohol use and non-disclosure to a family memberwere the independent predictors of non-adherence. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed that drug-related side-effects, being away from home, forgetfulness, non-disclosure, stigma and work-related demand were among the mainreasons for non-adherence to ART.Conclusions:Non-adherence to the antiretroviral therapy among pregnant women in this setting is associated withlifestyle behaviours, HIV-related stigma and ART side-effects. In order to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV,clinicians need to screen for these factors at every antenatal clinic visit.Keywords:Adherence, Non-adherence, HIV, Antiretroviral therapy, Elimination of mother-to-child transmission,Prevention of mother-to-child transmission, Stigma, South Afric

ZRANB3 is an African-specific type 2 diabetes locus associated with beta-cell mass and insulin response.

Genome analysis of diverse human populations has contributed to the identification of novel genomic loci for diseases of major clinical and public health impact. Here, we report a genome-wide analysis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in sub-Saharan Africans, an understudied ancestral group. We analyze ~18 million autosomal SNPs in 5,231 individuals from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. We identify a previously-unreported genome-wide significant locus: ZRANB3 (Zinc Finger RANBP2-Type Containing 3, lead SNP p = 2.831 × 10-9). Knockdown or genomic knockout of the zebrafish ortholog results in reduction in pancreatic β-cell number which we demonstrate to be due to increased apoptosis in islets. siRNA transfection of murine Zranb3 in MIN6 β-cells results in impaired insulin secretion in response to high glucose, implicating Zranb3 in β-cell functional response to high glucose conditions. We also show transferability in our study of 32 established T2D loci. Our findings advance understanding of the genetics of T2D in non-European ancestry populations

ZRANB3 is an African-specific type 2 diabetes locus associated with beta-cell mass and insulin response

Abstract: Genome analysis of diverse human populations has contributed to the identification of novel genomic loci for diseases of major clinical and public health impact. Here, we report a genome-wide analysis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in sub-Saharan Africans, an understudied ancestral group. We analyze ~18 million autosomal SNPs in 5,231 individuals from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. We identify a previously-unreported genome-wide significant locus: ZRANB3 (Zinc Finger RANBP2-Type Containing 3, lead SNP p = 2.831 × 10−9). Knockdown or genomic knockout of the zebrafish ortholog results in reduction in pancreatic β-cell number which we demonstrate to be due to increased apoptosis in islets. siRNA transfection of murine Zranb3 in MIN6 β-cells results in impaired insulin secretion in response to high glucose, implicating Zranb3 in β-cell functional response to high glucose conditions. We also show transferability in our study of 32 established T2D loci. Our findings advance understanding of the genetics of T2D in non-European ancestry populations

The use of Traditional Medicine by Ghanaians in Canada

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Sustainability Reporting by Owner-Managers of SMEs: The Perspective of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Purpose: The study assessed how owner-managers’ psychological attributes (attitude towards behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control) influenced sustainability reporting among SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on cross-sectional data gathered using a structured questionnaire as the research instrument. The population of the study comprised SMEs in Kumasi metro of Ghana. The study focused on 213 SMEs, and respondents were owner-managers. The data analysis was based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) run in Amos (v.23). Findings: Owner-managers’ attitude towards behavior had a significant positive influence on sustainability reporting among SMEs. Similarly, SME owner-managers’ subjective norms positively influenced sustainability reporting. Also, SME owner-managers’ perceived behavior control positively influenced sustainability reporting. Among these variables, however, attitude towards behavior had the greatest impact. Research limitations/implications: The study used a closed-ended questionnaire to solicit responses from respondents. Such a questionnaire acknowledges the presence of inherent problems of not permitting respondents to explicitly express their own views as they may wish. Practical implications: The findings of the study have an important implication for considerations by the government in trying to encourage owner-managers to adopt or improve sustainability reporting behavior among SMEs in Ghana. Social implications: This study contributes to solving the societal need for sustainability by identifying how owner-managers’ psychological characteristics influence sustainability reporting. Originality/value: The theory of planned behavior has been used widely in a number of studies, but very little is known about how it could predict sustainability reporting among SMEs, especially in developing countries

Factors influencing community acceptability of mass drug administration for the elimination of onchocerciasis in the Asante Akim South Municipal, Ghana.

IntroductionOnchocerciasis is one of the eleven neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) recently targeted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for elimination. Mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin has become the main intervention for reducing the burden of onchocerciasis and controlling its transmission. However, despite the considerable gains in the fight against onchocerciasis in Ghana, the infection remains endemic in some communities. This study aimed to ascertain community members' acceptability levels and factors associated with ivermectin MDA for the elimination of onchocerciasis in the Asante Akim South Municipal in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted in six communities in the Asante Akim South Municipal from 7th May to 9th July, 2021. The study population comprised all persons aged 18 years and above who had lived in the study communities for more than three months prior to the study. The main outcome variable was the acceptability of ivermectin MDA by the community members. This was measured using a composite acceptability score adapted from the Intervention Rating Profile tool. The explanatory variables were the respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, self-rated knowledge of onchocerciasis, perceived side effects of ivermectin, and self-reported level of education received on MDA activities.ResultsOut of 450 community members included in the study, 50.4% were male while 49.6% were female. The respondents' mean age was 39.57±10.64 years. The mean acceptability score for ivermectin MDA was 20.52±2.91 (range, 9-36). Acceptability of ivermectin MDA was positively associated with gender, educational status, employment status, self-rated knowledge of onchocerciasis, and level of education received on MDA; and negatively associated with perceived side effect of ivermectin.ConclusionThis study provides valuable information to inform policy decisions on planning and implementing MDA programs for the elimination of onchocerciasis in the study area and the country as a whole