Why Africa’s strategy matters for dealing with China

As China has risen as a global power, its strategy has expanded for engaging Africa. But what has been the African response? Lloyd G. Adu Amoah writes that Africa needs to think and coordinate strategically to maximise its relationship with China, pursuing long-term, integrated goals through the African Union and at state levels

Effect of different income housing zones on effluent quality of Biofil toilet waste digesters in Accra, Ghana

This study was carried out to assess the effect of different income-housing zones on the quality of effluent from standard Biofil® toilet waste digesters in Accra, Ghana. Records of the digesters installed were obtained from BiofilCom and were sorted out into income-housing zones (low, middle and high income housing zones). In all, 36 toilet digesters were found accessible and sampled 3 times each for effluent. Samples were analyzed for E. coli, Total coliform, helminth eggs, BOD, TSS, NH3-N and PO4-P, using standard methods. Results show that effluent quality exceeded the requirements set by Ghana EPA for discharge into water bodies. However, high removal efficiencies were obtained for BOD (84%) and TSS (82%). In most cases, the pollutant concentrations were significantly higher in effluents from the high-income zones than in the middle and low income zones

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in a rural population in Ghana

Abstract Background The Metabolic syndrome (MS) which is a constellation of cardiometabolic risk factors including dyslipidaemia, hypertension, hyperglycaemia, central obesity, and endothelial dysfunction was hitherto relatively uncommon among Africans south of the Sahara. This study seeks to determine the prevalence of MS, its components and risk factors among a rural population in Ghana based on two popular international algorithms. Methods This was a cross-sectional survey of a rural population in Ghana conducted between November and December, 2007. Two hundred and twenty-eight (228) settler farmers, families and staff associated with the GOPDC Ltd, between the ages of 35 and 64 years, were randomly selected for the study; pregnant women were excluded. The prevalence of MS was estimated using the IDF and ATPIII criteria. Results The final subject pool included 102 males, and 104 females. The mean age of all subjects was 44.4 ± 6.9 years. The overall prevalence of MS by the IDF and ATPIII criteria were 35.9% and 15.0%, respectively, but there was an alarming female preponderance by both criteria {IDF: males = 15.7%, females =55.8%; ATPIII: males = 5.9%, females = 24.0%; sex differences p<0.001 for both criteria}. The most important determinants for IDF-defined MS were central obesity (55.3%), low High Density Lipoprotein (42.7%) and high Blood Pressure (39.5%). Conclusion The triad of central obesity, high blood pressure and low HDL were most responsible for the syndrome in this rural population.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112461/1/12902_2012_Article_148.pd

Connecting DNA Origami Structures Using the Biotin-Streptavidin Specific Binding

This work made use of the strong interaction between biotin and streptavidin to connect designed DNA origami structures. The caDNAno software was used to design a 6 layer 3D origami cross-like structure. Selected DNA strands at the engineered attachment sites on the DNA origami structure were biotinylated. After folding of the origami structures, the biotinylated strands stick out of the attachment sites. Purified samples of origami structures were then mixed with streptavidin and the mixture purified. After characterization, we see that attachment only occurs at the biotinylated sites. Agarose gel electrophoresis, UV-vis spectroscopy and TEM were used to characterize the structure.Key words: DNA Origami, Interaction, Biotin-Streptavidin, Nanomaterials, TEMAbbreviation: EDTA, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; TEM, Transmission electron microscop

Media freedom and political stability in Sub-Saharan Africa: a panel data study

Political stability is often cited as a key determinant of growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) although little research that identifies the factors that ensure political stability in SSA is available. A pertinent determinant of political stability in SSA may be press freedom since on one hand, the press can contribute to political stability by keeping the electorate informed thereby keeping a check on graft, fraud, embezzlement and other corrupt practices of government officials. On the other hand, however, the press can be manipulated to generate political instability by misinforming the public so the exact relationship between press freedom and political stability in SSA is ex ante unclear. By investigating the determinants of political stability and accounting for possible of endogeneity bias, this paper (i) isolates the most pertinent variables that affect political stability in Sub-Saharan Africa and (ii) investigates to what extent press freedom mitigates or worsens the incidence of political instability in the SSA region. A panel of 31 SSA countries from 1984–2007 is used in static and dynamic panel data frameworks to investigate the determinants of political stability and to verify the relationship between media freedom and political stability in SSA. Important determinants of political stability are found to be mainly related to economic performance, macroeconomic policies, unemployment the level of education and regime type. Preliminary results also suggest that media freedom may be a vital determinant of political stability in SSA although less so than economic, political and social factors. Ongoing estimations suggest elasticities of political stability with respect to media freedom calculated at different values of media freedom are nonzero. The research result should help guide policy makers in the different nation states of SSA in drafting pragmatic media and economic policies that will promote political stability in their respective countries.Ashesi University Colleg

Covid-19 and Digitalization: The Great Acceleration

Inspired by burgeoning scholarly interest in the role of digitalization in the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is driving or constraining the digitalization of businesses around the globe. We contend that COVID‐19 is “the great accelerator” in fast-tracking the existing global trend towards embracing modern emerging technologies ushering in transformations in lifestyle, work patterns, and business strategies. Thus, COVID-19 has evolved to be a kind of “catalyst” for the adoption and increasing use of digitalization in work organization and the office, alongside presenting foreseen and unforeseen opportunities, challenges, and costs—leading to negative and positive feedback loops. In this article, we develop and advance a conceptual model by linking the different forces for and against digitalization in response to the pandemic. Our analysis indicates that adoption of emerging technologies may be hindered by vested external interests, nostalgia, and employer opportunism, as well as negative effects on employee well-being that undermine productivity, work–life balance, and future of work. Whilst digitalization may bring new opportunities, the process imparts risks that may be hard to mitigate or prepare for. Finally, we draw out the wider theoretical and practical implications of our analysis

The Effects of Business Failure Experience on Successive Entrepreneurial Engagements: An Evolutionary Phase Model

This study draws insights from the literatures on entrepreneurial learning from failure and organizational imprinting to develop an evolutionary phase model to explain how prior business failure experience influences successive newly started businesses. Using multiple case studies of entrepreneurs located in an institutionally developing society in Sub-Sahara Africa, we uncover four distinctive phases of post-entrepreneurial business failure: grief and despair, transition, formation and legacy phases. We find that while the grieving and transition phases entailed processes of reflecting and learning lessons from the business failure experiences, the formation and legacy phases involve processes of imprinting entrepreneurs’ experiential knowledge on their successive new start-up firms. We conclude by outlining a number of fruitful avenues for future research

On The Current State of Scholarly Retrieval Systems

The enormous growth in the size of scholarly literature makes its retrieval challenging. To address this challenge, researchers and practitioners developed several solutions. These include indexing solutions e.g. ResearchGate, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Digital Bibliography & Library Project (DBLP) etc., research paper repositories e.g. arXiv.org, Zenodo, etc., digital libraries, scholarly retrieval systems, e.g., Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic Search, Semantic Scholar etc., digital libraries, and publisher websites. Among these, the scholarly retrieval systems, the main focus of this article, employ efficient information retrieval techniques and other search tactics. However, they are still limited in meeting the user information needs to the fullest. This brief review paper is an attempt to identify the main reasons behind this failure by reporting the current state of scholarly retrieval systems. The findings of this study suggest that the existing scholarly retrieval systems should differentiate scholarly users from ordinary users and identify their needs. Citation network analysis should be made an essential part of the retrieval system to improve the search precision and accuracy. The paper also identifies several research challenges and opportunities that may lead to better scholarly retrieval systems

Environmental consciousness and choice of bulb for lighting in a developing country

Background: Most countries in the world especially those in Asia and Africa have been undertaking policies meant to help promote science, technology and innovation towards meeting some provisions of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is still a sizable number of households who have not yet fully embraced energy-saving technologies. This study provides highlights on the economic and environmental benefits for investing in energy-saving light bulbs. Methods: Using a survey and a multistage random sampling approach, we administered questionnaires to 1650 households in Ghana. The relevant diagnostic tests associated with cross-sectional data were undertaken. We estimated a maximum-likelihood probit model with its associated marginal effects to find out how the choice of energy-saving light bulb (behaviour) is influenced by environmental consciousness (both local knowledge and global knowledge) and other demographic factors. Results: Our results are consistent with economic theory as well as what earlier empirical evidence found in literature. That is, environmental consciousness, education, income, etc. are very important in explaining the choice of buying energy-saving light bulbs in Ghana. Conclusions: Besides advocating for information that will make society more environmentally conscious, we further recommend the use of fiscal policies (i.e. subsidies) to support lower income brackets who are predominant in developing countries

Protein and energy requirements for indigenous guinea keets (Numida meleagris) in southern Ghana

One thousand two hundred healthy unsexed unsexed keets were used in an 8-week feeding trial that aimed at determining the protein and energy requirements during the starter phase of local guinea fowls reared in coastal savanna part of Ghana. The keets were randomly allocated in a 3 X 2 factorial design to six dietary treatments (three crude protein levels and two energy levels) in a deep litter system. Each treatment had 200 keets and was replicated four times with 50 keets per replicate. The six dietary treatments were designated as follows: T1 (23% CP and 11.5 MJ ME/kg), T2 (24% CP and 11.5 MJ ME/kg), T3 (25% CP and 11.5 MJ ME/kg), T4 (23% CP and 12.5 MJ ME/kg), T5 (24% CP and 12.5 MJ ME/kg), and T6 (25% CP and 12.5 MJ ME/kg). A known daily quantity of feed was given each replicate early in the morning while water was provided ad libitum. The same diets were fed for the entire duration of the study. Feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, economy of gain and mortality were determined and use as indices of evaluation. The feed intake per keet per day increased with the lower energy level diets (T1, T2 and T3) (P &lt; 0.05). Dietary treatments T5 and T6 had the highest (P &lt; 0.05) daily weight gains of 8.61 and 8.38 g/day respectively. The feed conversion ratios of the keets were 4.18, 4.20, 4.13, 4.32, 3.46 and 3.60 for T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6, respectively. T5 diet had the least (P &lt; 0.05) feed costs per kg gain ($/kg gain) value of 1.63. The study indicated that protein and energy required by guinea keets during the first 8 weeks of growth could be put at 24 percent CP and 12.5 MJ ME/kg, respectively