Regulatory Challenges Strategically Enhance Banking Efficiency and stability: The study of East African countries

The purpose of this paper is to assess and promote safe and sound banking systems, including the policy, legal and regulatory framework which affects developing countries’ banking systems, especially in terms of the range of institutions and products available, their financial performance and their outreach, particularly to the rural and lower- income population. This review of the experience is intended to help guide other countries that are in the process of adopting legislation and regulations. The study also examines how the operation of banking systems and their clients may be affected by the impact of business and commercial laws and institutions, such as the impact on contract enforcement and the operation of banking systems.Sub-Saharan Africa, Banking Reform, Market for Credit

Human Capital Investment Is a Continuous Proposition: A Study of North East African States.

Human development is the beginning of economic growth. The main purpose of wealth should be to enrich people’s lives, to broaden people’s choices and to enable every citizen, every child, every woman and every man to reach her or his full potential. Yet, as the experience of many countries has shown, economic growth does not automatically translate into human development. Human capital refers to the stock of productive skills and technical knowledge embodied in country’s population. A well-educated, innovative and skilled population is the foundation as well as the goal of development. It is also the surest way to eradicate poverty. The education and training systems of all the nations jeopardizes the future of millions of children and of the nation itself. This paper analyses the importance of human being resources in general and economic development in North East African States (NEAS) in particular. The study focuses that the Human capital as both the goal and the engine of economic growth, because 40 to 60 per cent of growth rates in per capita GDP can be attributed to investment in human capital and the increased productivity that results. Sustainable development cannot occur in the absence of human resource. It is also concluded that major portion of means goes for middle man and upper classed families.Education, Human Capital, Skilled Manpower, Economic Growth and Development, North East African States, Poverty, etc.

HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT IS A CONTINUOUS PROPOSITION: A STUDY OF NORTH EAST AFRICAN STATES

Human development is the beginning of economic growth. The main purpose of wealth should be to enrich people’s lives, to broaden people’s choices and to enable every citizen, every child, every woman and every man to reach her or his full potential. Yet, as the experience of many countries has shown, economic growth does not automatically translate into human development. Human capital refers to the stock of productive skills and technical knowledge embodied in country’s population. A well-educated, innovative and skilled population is the foundation as well as the goal of development. It is also the surest way to eradicate poverty. The education and training systems of all the nations jeopardizes the future of millions of children and of the nation itself. This paper focuses on human capital as both the goal and the engine of economic growth because 40 to 60 per cent of growth rates in per capita GDP can be attributed to investment in human capital and the increased productivity that results. Sustainable development cannot occur in the absence of human resource.Education, Human Capital, Skilled Manpower, Economic Growth and Development, North East African States, Poverty

POVERTY AND MICROFINANCE IN ERITREA – A DISCOURSE

The poverty levels in Eritrea are alarming. In the light of the escalating nature of poverty, there is an urgent need for a poverty alleviation initiative to reduce miseries of the majority of the poor. An attempt is made in this paper to analyse the incidence of poverty in the country with a particular focus on Agriculture. It also shed a light on the agriculture sector and its crucial role in providing 75 per cent jobs to its people. The paper also delves with the microfinance institutions particularly the Saving and Micro Credit Porgramme and its impact in reducing the poverty. It concludes that microfinance has strong capacity to drive economic growth and poverty reduction in Eritrea.Poverty, Eritrea, agriculture extension, agriculture technology, Microfinance

Determinants of Rural Households’ Participation in Income Generating Activities in Central Region, Eritrea

This study aims to identify and analyze the determinants of rural households’ participation in income generating activities in the Central region, Eritrea. Households’ level survey data was collected through a standardized, formal questionnaire from 202 randomly selected households in four villages. Five income generating activities and several independent variables are identified and  the probability that a given household participates in these income generating activities is estimated using probit technique. The result of the econometric analysis shows that the probability of participation in wage employment is related positively to age of head of household (HoH), risk, and average education of household (HH) members; while, rain-fed area owned, age of HoH squared have a negative effects. When we consider non-agricultural wage employment; sex of HOH, adult members in the HH and risk are related positively in contrast to the negative effects of distance to the nearest tarmac road and social capital index. Non-agricultural self-employment is another major source of income which is positively related to rain-fed area owned, age of HoH, dependency ratio, and distance to nearest tarmac road; and negatively to sex of HoH, possession of livestock, age of HoH squared and risk. Combining both non-agricultural wage and self-employments is categorized as off-farm and has a positive relationship with age of HoH, years of schooling of HoH, adult members in the HH, risk, average education of HH members and access to credit, while the effect of sex of HoH and age of HoH squared is negative. Finally, the probability of participation in agricultural self-employment (livestock production) has negative relationship with age of HoH squared, years of schooling of HOH and average education of HH members.  Based on the results of the econometric analysis, some policy recommendations are drawn with respect to activity diversification and rural development which can be helpful in rural poverty reduction. Keywords: activity diversification, rural households, non-farm, off-farm, central-zone, Eritre

Output based funding system viewed from practitioners' perspective : the case of University of Nordland

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi - Universitetet i Nordland, 2012Output based funding system is used by governments to channel research funding according to ex post assessment of institution’s research output and education results. This thesis attempts to assess output based funding system from practitioners’ perspectives at University of Nordland. It focuses upon ethical challenges and conflicts of interest associated with the output based funding system. Data collected based on 15 interviews and relevant documents issued by Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Accountability, principal-agent theory and new public management perspectives, are used as frame of references and qualitative research method is utilized. The main findings of the thesis identify the following ethical challenges and conflicts of interest associated to OBFS: People at the university are confronted with ethical challenges when making decisions whether or not to focus on areas that are measurable by the performance indicators in order to increase the financial returns to the institution and publication points to the researcher. Because some researchers would like to extend their focus to areas that they see fit to safeguard the fundamental values of the institution even if it is not measureable by the indicators to secure funding. Many researchers are concerned that free research could disappear slowly if the focus is only to the research areas where publication points are scored. The much higher financial reward attached to external funding poses an ethical challenge when decision makers have to consider to go after larger financial proceeds from EU projects by depriving free research or conduct pioneering, critical and creative research to enhance the research diversity as well as fostering national and cultural identities. In the sense that people at universities are facing difficult choices between their economic needs and weighting the string attached with external funding. e.g. matching targeted areas of research. Conflicts of interest emerge between the administration and researchers when they seek external funding because from the managerial accountability perspective the administration has to pressure researchers to earn publication points to augment their budget, which means to focus on areas that are measurable by the indicators. Whereas from the personal accountability perspective, the researchers would like to do research in areas they would like to study because they would like to choose where to spend their time as they are not directly responsible for the financial health of the institution. Conflicts of interest emerge between the Ministry of education and the researchers when it comes to publication points because from the political accountability perspective, the ministry would like to have stronger scrutiny of articles so that to avoid bias and criticisms when they evaluate the articles to decide on publication points. Whereas, researchers, once they deliver their articles would like to avoid the time spent in explaining details of their articles and lengthy consultations that follow including phone calls and e-mails. They would prefer to use their time to develop another research article or similar of their interest. Conflicts of interest also emerge between the Administration and the researchers when it comes to dissemination of research findings. From the managerial accountability perspective, administration would like to see researchers do more research on measurable projects to supplement its budget. Whereas, from personal accountability and in some cases from professional accountability perspective, researcher would like to deliver their findings to the end users to positively change way of life because they don’t believe findings are made to be shelved. Conflicts of interest emerge between the administration and the researcher from the principal-agent theory perspective when the goals of the administration differ from the goals of the researcher. For example, the administration (acting as principal) would like to see researchers conduct research that generate income to the institution. Whereas, the researchers (acting as an agent) could have different goals may be to conduct free research or carry out national and cultural identity to be relevant to the society without paying attention to the financial interest of the principal

Stabilization of herring (Clupea harengus) by-products against lipid oxidation by rinsing and incubation with antioxidant solutions

To allow value adding into foods, stabilizing strategies for fish by-products are needed based on their high susceptibility to hemoglobin (Hb)-mediated lipid oxidation. Here, three strategies for preventing lipid oxidation in herring (Clupea harengus) by-products during ice-storage were studied: (i) rinsing away Hb with water or 0.9% NaCl with/without antioxidants (Duralox-MANC, erythorbate and ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA)), (ii) incubation in water/0.9% NaCl with/without antioxidants, (iii) mincing with subsequent addition of the mentioned antioxidants. Only 10–18% Hb was rinsed away in (i), and the effect of this rinsing on peroxide value (PV) or TBA-reactive substances (TBARS) development was limited. Rinsing or incubating by-products in antioxidant solutions however significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased shelf life from <1 day to >12 days; Duralox-MANC was particularly efficient. The presented strategies could hereby facilitate more diversified end-use of herring by-products from being 100% feed, to include also high-quality minces, protein isolates or oils for the food industry

The incidence and impact of electronic billing machines for VAT in Rwanda

Donor aid represents roughly 40 percent of Rwanda’s national budget. Expanding the tax base has been a crucial strategy in curbing its dependence on foreign aid. Value-added tax (VAT) is the largest tax-based contribution to government revenues in Rwanda and has been identified as a key priority for raising overall revenue

Play-Based Learning: Benefits and Challenges of its Implementation

This study explores how Eritrean pre-school educators viewed and conceptualized play-based learning (PBL), the benefits, and challenges of its implementation. A semi-structured interview was conducted with nine teachers, six principals, and two pre-primary education curriculum developers. Interviews were thematically analyzed. The study found discrepancies between participants’ views and their implementation. Our findings indicate that most of the participants viewed PBL as incorporating both free-play and guided play. However, the result of this study revealed that free play cannot effectively be used as an instrument to teach lessons that have specific academic objectives such as numeracy and literacy skills. Besides, the researchers sought to investigate the actual practices of PBL and the study found that majority of educators were placed at the Child Adult Involvement Continuum extremes, free-play, and direct instruction. Furthermore, the result revealed that various challenges were teachers face as they try to implement PBL, but the most common barrier discussed by interviewees was the lack of awareness of parents and principals towards PBL. Finally, the study concluded that the reason teachers lie at the two extremes of the Child Adults Involvement Continuum could be due to their views towards PBL, and its benefits and the challenges they face in implementing it

The experience of Eritrean immigrants regarding utilisation of healthcare services in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

This study explored and described the experiences of Eritrean immigrants regarding utilisation of healthcare services in Indianapolis. Qualitative descriptive phenomenological design was utilised. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview format, on eight conveniently selected Eritrean immigrants, living in Indianapolis. Data were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Framework for data analysis. Three superordinate themes emerged from data analysis: Healthcare financing system, Positive side of healthcare services and Challenges related to utilisation of healthcare service. All these factors have an impact on the utilisation of the Healthcare services by Eritrean immigrants. Recommendations have been put forward to advocate for policy change regarding financing of healthcare services for immigrants and improved healthcare services to accommodate cultural diversity. Further research should be conducted on ways of improving utilisation of healthcare services by Eritrean immigrants in Indianapolis.Public HealthM.A. (Health Studies