Assessing the Life Insurance Industry in Ghana

Insurance has a crucial role to play in every economy. In Ghana, there have been a number of disasters resulting in loss of life and property. This paper attempts to assess the life insurance industry in Ghana through a sample of 330 customers of life insurance companies operating in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study revealed that life insurance companies find it difficult to settle claim payment and subject customers to long processing period while some settlement end up in court. 70% of the customers do not received feedback after lodging complains. These insurance companies however collect their premium promptly. Keywords: insurance, effectiveness, satisfaction, claim, premiu

An Ad-Hoc Crime Reporting Information Management System

Criminals often escape punishment due to delayed sharing of information with law enforcement agencies. The traditional method of reporting crimes is slow, thus, the need for a faster and modern approach, one that uses modern technology to apprehend perpetrators. It is therefore important to have a well-organized system for reporting criminal activities. This system should be free and easily accessible to the public. With information being delivered promptly and remotely, there is no need for visits to police stations, which can be time-consuming and tedious. This project aims to curb criminal activities by developing a smartphone application that enables victims or witnesses to report real-time information to security agencies, including GPS coordinates. The use of real-time data would prompt quick responses in emergency situations and make reactions proactive rather than reactive. The proposed methodology for the project involves designing and developing a user-friendly mobile app as well as a professional web application for security agencies. The creation of an integration platform allows for the registration of police stations and staff members. Feedback from users would help maintain and improve upon the app. Ultimately, this project aims at increasing public safety and improving crime reporting and management in Ghana by using modern technologies. By enabling citizens to report crimes in real-time, the mobile application has the potential to revolutionize crime reporting and foster a safer and secure environment. By collaborating with law enforcement agencies, the proposed solution can help provide a more efficient and proactive crime reporting system in Ghana.     &nbsp

The Essential Oil of Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden Inhibits Microbial Growth by Inducing Membrane Damage

Eucalyptus grandis is a medicinal plant which has been indicated by Zulu traditional healer in the treatment of respira- tory tract infections, bronchial infections, asthma and cough. The investigation of the essential oil of this plant could help to verify the rationale behind the use of the plant as a cure for these illnesses. Essential oil was hydro-distilled from the fresh leaves and characterised for the chemical constituents and bioactivity. The main constituents of the oil of the E. grandis are α-Pinene (29.69%), p-Cymene (19.89%), 1,8-cineole (12.80%), α-Terpineol (6.48%), Borneol (3.48%) and D-Limonene (3.14%). The essential oil of E. grandis showed high scavenging of DPPH and ABTS radicals, and was active against 13 of the 16 organisms tested with the MIC ranging from 0.625 mg - 5.0 mg/ml; the MBC value ranged from 2.5 mg - 10 mg/ml. The essential oil also inhibited the growth of 7 of the 8 antibiotic resistant bacteria tested, with MIC ranging from 5 mg/ml - 10 mg/ml. The DNA extracted from the affected microorganisms did not show any dam- age however, there was an increase of released cytosolic LDH activity. We conclude that the antibacterial activity of the essential oil was exhibited through cell membrane damage rather than the damage of the DNA. It is apparent that the bioactivity of the essential oil of E. grandis plays an important role in the plants’ use in folk medicine for the treatment of respiratory tract illnesses

Developing a multidimensional performance measurement framework for international construction joint ventures (ICJVs): the perspective of Ghana-hosted ICJVs' practitioners

Purpose: International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) will fully realize their potential for success and effectively monitor performance when an adequate and suitable performance benchmark is established. However, existing studies fall short of adequately providing a mutually acceptable benchmark for assessing the performance of ICJVs. This study aims to develop an adequate and suitable performance measurement framework for ICJVs. Design/methodology/approach: A twofold structured questionnaire survey, supplemented by semi-structured interviews, was used to collect data from the practitioners of ICJVs hosted in the developing country of Ghana. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a hybrid-fuzzy logic approach. Findings: A list of 30 performance indicators (PIs), defined by project performance, perceived satisfaction, company/partner performance, socio-environmental performance and performance of ICJV management, was validated and proved to be significant. Only 22 out of the 30 PIs, focusing on project efficiency, societal improvement and organizational goals are realized by the ICJV practitioners. Further, suitable determinants and viable quantitative ranges for measuring each PI are established to prevent different interpretations of the meanings of PIs and objectively express the level of success in quantitative terms. The results call for further investigation of the convergence between the practice of and research into some PIs (e.g. socio-environmental performance) and a range of different performance levels (PLs) in a more scientific manner. Practical implications: This study not only advances the knowledge base and practice of performance measurement in ICJVs but could also assist stakeholders and decision-makers to assess, compare and monitor the performance of different ICJV projects on common grounds objectively. Originality/value: This study not only comprehensively assessed PIs – what to measure – but also systematically determined suitable determinants – how to measure – for each PI

COVID-19 in Ghana: Knowledge, perception and practice among health trainees

Objective: This study assessed the knowledge, perceptions and practices among health trainees in Ghana regarding COVID-19. Understanding the knowledge, perception and practices among health trainees can provide important information for policy formulations and proper planning.Method: The survey was conducted through a Google form link shared on students’ social media networks mainly through Facebook, and WhatsApp platforms. Responses received were imported to SPSS version 24 for cleaning and analysis. Output measures were demonstrated in simple frequency and percentages, using tables and charts. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess the effect of potential covariate on practice of preventive measures with their corresponding p-values.  Results: Twenty-five percent (25%) of respondents had good knowledge, 69% had moderate knowledge and 6% had poor knowledge on COVID-19. Regarding perception of health students on COVID-19, 8.47% indicated that drinking alcohol could protect them from the virus. More than 90% of participants’ practice the general preventive measures. Gender and level of program of study was found to be significantly associated with practice of preventive measure. Male students (54.64%) were engaged in good preventive practices compared to female students (43.75%).Conclusion: Majority of the health trainees had basic information and proactive practice towards COVID-19. Most trainees had good perception on the disease, however, a few still believe that drinking alcohol will prevent them from being infected with the disease. Gender and level of trainees are significant predictors of proactive practices towards COVID-19

Driving factors for the adoption of green finance in green building for sustainable development in developing countries: The case of Ghana

While there are many motivating factors for green finance (GF) implementation, a comprehensive taxonomy of these variables is lacking in the literature, especially for green buildings (GBs). This study aims to analyze the criticality and interdependence of GF‐in‐GB's driving factors. This study develops a valid set of factors to justify the interrelationships among the drivers. The drivers of GF‐in‐GB are qualitative in nature, and uncertainties exist among them due to linguistic preferences. This study applies the fuzzy Delphi method to validate eight drivers under uncertainties. Fuzzy Decision‐Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (FDEMATEL) with qualitative information is used to determine the interrelationships among the drivers. The drivers were grouped under two categories: prominent drivers and cause‐effect drivers. The findings revealed that “increased awareness of GF models in GB” and “preferential capital requirements for low‐carbon assets” are the top two most prominent/important drivers of GF‐in‐GB. In Ghana, the top three cause group drivers are “climate commitment,” “improved access to and lower cost of capital,” and “favorable macroeconomic conditions and investment returns.” Drivers with the highest prominence values have the potential to affect and/or be affected by other drivers; therefore, managers and policymakers should prioritize promoting or pursuing these drivers in the short term. On the other hand, it is important to pay more than equal attention to the drivers with the highest net cause values because they have the largest long‐term impact on the entire system. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed, enhancing understanding and decision‐making in GF‐in‐GB

Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients admitted at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

Design: Study design was a retrospective single-center review of hospital data.Setting: The study was conducted at the COVID-19 Treatment Center of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics of the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital in Accra, Ghana.Participants and study tools: A total of fifty patients with laboratory (rRT-PCR) confirmed COVID-19 infection were involved in the study. A chart review of the medical records of the patients was conducted and the data obtained was documented using a data extraction form.Results: The median age was 53 years and most (36% (18/50)) of the patients were at least 60 years of age. Eighty percent (40/50) of the patients were symptomatic, with cough and difficulty in breathing being the commonest presenting symptoms. The mean duration of hospitalization was 12.3 ± 7.3 days. Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus were the commonest co-morbidities occurring in 52% (26/50) and 42% (21/50) of patients respectively. Fifty percent of patients developed COVID-19 pneumonia as a complication. The mortality rate was 12% (6/50).Conclusion: In this study, SARS-CoV2 infection affected older adults with hypertension and diabetes mellitus being the common comorbidities. Patients with these comorbid conditions should be counselled by their clinicians to strictly observe the COVID-19 prevention protocols to reduce their risk of acquiring the infection. There is a need to pay critical and prompt attention to the management of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia particularly among people with diabetes to improve outcomes

AfriQA:Cross-lingual Open-Retrieval Question Answering for African Languages

African languages have far less in-language content available digitally, making it challenging for question answering systems to satisfy the information needs of users. Cross-lingual open-retrieval question answering (XOR QA) systems -- those that retrieve answer content from other languages while serving people in their native language -- offer a means of filling this gap. To this end, we create AfriQA, the first cross-lingual QA dataset with a focus on African languages. AfriQA includes 12,000+ XOR QA examples across 10 African languages. While previous datasets have focused primarily on languages where cross-lingual QA augments coverage from the target language, AfriQA focuses on languages where cross-lingual answer content is the only high-coverage source of answer content. Because of this, we argue that African languages are one of the most important and realistic use cases for XOR QA. Our experiments demonstrate the poor performance of automatic translation and multilingual retrieval methods. Overall, AfriQA proves challenging for state-of-the-art QA models. We hope that the dataset enables the development of more equitable QA technology

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

A Sustainable Facility Management Outsourcing Relationships System: Artificial Neural Networks

The Contingency Outsourcing Relationship (CORE) model originated from the Four Outsourcing Relationship Types (FORT) model; the CORE model is used in the globalized Facility Management (FM) industry, while the FORT model is originally used in the global information technology industry. The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly analyse the simulated case studies of the four different categories (i.e., in-house, technical expertise, commitment and common goals) of the CORE model from the perspective of the various clients. This study builds on the previous work on the outsourcing relationships between a client and a globalized FM service provider. It further explores the application of this model with the aid of artificial neural networks (ANNs) towards a sustainable future. A quantitative methodology through a survey is used to analyse eight outsourcing strategies for the four outsourcing relationships. A set of revised rules of the CORE is introduced and discussed regarding the approaches to investigate the four simulated outsourcing relationship systems. The study further reveals that an interesting understanding of the four outsourcing categories can be systematically and efficiently implemented into the FM outsourcing relationships through the methodology of scientific Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is concluded that FM outsourcing categorization may help to define the appropriate relationships. This further detailed outcome generated from the ANN can be clearly considered a strong and solid reference to define and explain the existing outsourcing relationships between the stakeholders and the service providers with the aim to assign an outsourcing category to the FM relationship between the client and service provider based on the learnt rules