Determinants and convergence of income diversification in Ghanaian banks

The study explores the determinants of income diversification, as well as, test for the existence of beta-convergence and sigma-convergence among Ghanaian banks. The study utilizes a dataset of 32 banks covering the periods 2000 to 2017. The panel corrected standard error ordinary least squares, fixed effects and system generalized methods of moments have been used. Both beta-convergence and sigma-convergence exist among Ghanaian banks; suggesting the presence of the catch-up effect and similarity of strategy over time. The risk profile and risk portfolio of banks affect their diversification strategy. Banks that are faced with high insolvency risk and liquidity risk tend to diversify while banks that are faced with low credit risk tend to diversify. Stable banks tend to adopt a diversification strategy even when they are exposed to credit risk. Network embeddedness drives diversification strategy. The implications of the study for practice, policy, and future research have been discussed

Intangibles, Intellectual Capital, and the Performance of Listed Non-Financial Services Firms in West Africa: A Cross-Country Analysis

This study aims to examine the impact of intellectual capital and intangible value on the performance of listed non-financial firms in West Africa. The study used the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) to measure intellectual capital performance (with components as ICE—Intellectual Capital Efficiency an additive measure of the next two metrics, HCE—Human Capital Efficiency, SCE—Structural Capital Efficiency and CEE—Capital Employed Efficiency), financial ratios to measure intangible value and return on assets to measure performance while controlling for firm-level and macroeconomic variables. Using the panel-corrected standard error regression on 59 firms operating from 2007 to 2018, the study found that VAIC, ICE, HCE and SCE measures of intellectual capital are the pièce de résistance that drive the performance of firms. It is found that the relationship is curvilinear taking the shape of an inverted U. CEE does not drive the performance of firms, and asset tangibility inhibits performance but the investment in intangible fixed assets has a positive insignificant effect on performance. Firm size has a positive impact while financial leverage has a negative impact on performance. Human development does not drive performance but foreign direct investment and economic development do. There are country-specific insights where in Ghana intellectual capital and intangible value have a very strong positive effect on performance, followed by a relatively high impact in Cote D’Ivoire while there is a weak effect in the Nigerian context. The study also explores the effect of other variables such as firm size, financial leverage, human development, foreign direct investment and economic development. The findings are useful for policy, accounting, finance, economic and human resource practitioners as well as, for the academic community

The Determinants of Intellectual Capital Performance of Banks in Ghana: an Empirical Approach.

The objective of the study is to examine the variables that determine intellectual capital performance (ICP) of Ghanaian banks. The study applies the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) model to estimate the ICP of banks, the data envelopment analysis technique to compute the technical efficiency (TE), and cost efficiency (CE) scores while ratio analysis is used to proxy the other variables. The study used an unbalanced panel data of 29 banks over the period 2000-2014 and the panel corrected standard error (PCSE) regression model is used so as to account for heteroscedasticity. Generally, the significant determinants of ICP are research and development investment (R&D), the efficiency of investment in human capital (HCInv), leverage, operational risk, insolvency risk (IR), diversification and return on asset (ROA). R&D, IR and ROA have a significant positive impact on ICP. HCInv and leverage have a significant negative effect on ICP. Diversification significantly enhances ICP but barriers to entry lower ICP. Size and TE negatively affect ICP while CE weakly but positively determines ICP. Bank of Ghana's policy to increase the minimum capital requirement is a good one and will reap the benefit of having a stable, stronger and resilient banking industry which strive for value creation. Banks should consider diversifying their operations so as to increase value. This can easily be done well if R&D is at the core of their operations. Bank managers should factor pricing decisions (strategies) in their attempt to increase value added

Climate Finance and Carbon Pricing in the Context of Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area

Climate change continues to be a critical issue of concern across the globe. In Africa, the vulnerability and exposure to climate risk are very high although African countries do not contribute to emissions as compared with developing countries in other continents. We argued that to effectively achieve the low carbon and climate-resilient development, Africa must use appropriate diversified financial instruments, have a long-term plan, implement a systemic approach and provide support based on each country’s needs. We also explore some critical issues on climate finance, carbon pricing and other related issues within a lens of an Africa which is making strides towards a continent-wide free trade area