Leadership: The Missing Variable in the Economic Development of Sub-Saharan Africa

Contemporary economic theories, modernization and dependency, have overlooked the fact that the development process depends on the interaction of social factors. Specifically, the theories have ignored the role of leadership in analyzing economic development. This dissertation seeks to incorporate the importance of leadership into the analysis of development. It argues that sub-Saharan African countries have not developed economically because leaders in the region have been less than successful in establishing a culture conducive to industrialization. African leaders have failed to establish the high moral and scientific cultures necessary to promote economic progress. In place of those cultural attributes, the leaders have fostered corrupt and authoritarian political cultures that undermine the general economic development of their societies. This dissertation offers a detailed paired comparison of the colonial and postcolonial experience of Ghana and Botswana. The two countries constitute an effective comparison because they were once colonies of Great Britain and have similar resource endowments. Since independence. Botswana has achieved greater social and economic progress because its leaders have established a high moral culture. Ghana, on the other hand, has experienced stagnation, and in some respects actual decline, in its standards of living due to its leaders\u27 inability to establish a high moral culture. Despite differences in standards of living, neither country has achieved diversified industrialization due to a lack of a scientific culture. The inability to establish high moral and scientific cultures is partially due to the colonial experience and the political philosophy of Senghorianism. Direct colonial rule in Ghana replaced the traditional leadership of the country that had shown a greater political commitment to the general public. In contrast, the colonial protectorate in Botswana recognized traditional leaders as autonomous authorities without undermining their legitimacy. Botswana\u27s leadership continuity preserved the government\u27s moral obligation to the general public. The lack of socio-scientific culture in both countries is due, to a considerable extent, to the influence of Senghorian philosophy on post-colonial leaders. Senghorianism argues that analytical scientific thinking reflects the dichotomous European culture and contrasts with the holistic African intuitive mode of knowing. The adherence to this philosophy by sub-Saharan African leaders has inhibited the emergence of a scientific culture that would promote industrialization and economic development

The germination of colanuts (Cola nitida Ventenant) Schott and Endlicher

Factors affecting colanut (Cola nitida Ventenant) Schott and Endlicher, germination have been investigated. The storage of colanuts enhances germination of the nuts. Within 8 weeks white colanuts germinated faster than red or pink nuts. Some varieties of C. nitida show superior germination characteristics than others. Although greening of stored colanuts stimulates early radicle emergence, subsequent plumule emergence was not affected by greening. Nut size did not affect gennination. Potassium nitrate, sodium nitrite, hydroxylamine, ammonium chloride and potassium cyanide did not show any consistent effect on the germination of colanuts stored for 4 weeks

Representing Africa in the ‘Coming to America’ Films

Through an interpretive analysis of the two Eddie Murphy films Coming to America (CTA) and Coming 2 America , spaced nearly 30 years apart, this review essay underscores the persistence of Orientalist Othering of Africa. The negative images of Africa that are so engrained in people have been facilitated in significant part by a strategic, but perhaps unconscious, effort to socialize audiences into an identity construction process that casts Africans as inferior. Despite attempts at favorable depictions of Africa, these processes continue to play out

Utilization of cullets for the production of glass tiles through likn casting

The study explored the technique of kiln casting of glass as a means of recycling glass for aesthetic and functional purposes. Some disposed glass bottles were collected and processed through crushing, milling and sieving to particle sizes of 60, 80 and 120 mesh size. These particle sizes were batched and fired in an electric kiln to temperatures of 1050oc and 1180oc. The study revealed that the 60 mesh and 80 mesh specimens fired at 1180oc gave very good translucent effect with rich clear colour. It was observed that the sample that had addition of colouring oxides gave the best result when it was double fired. The results of the study revealed that the two major parameters that were investigated in this research, (temperature and particle sizes), had an effect on each other and that they were very important for the study. The study concludes that glass recycling through kiln casting presents an avenue for producing glass tiles for functional and aesthetic applications.Keywords: Cullets; kiln casting; glass tiles; recycling; melting temperatur

Effect of time of harvesting on the storability of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seeds

No abstract

Appraisal of some methods of weed control during initial establishment of cocoa in a semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana

In appraising the effects of the quantum and quality of weed control required in establishment of young cocoa, six manual methods of controlling weeds were compared with chemical weed control at two stations of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. Growth of cocoa seedlings after 2 years in the field was superior (P < 0.05) in plots which were clean-weeded two or four times per year or treated with paraquat four times per year than when plots were slashed two or four times per year. There was strong evidence to suggest that treatments which ensured a weed-free environment to the cocoa over a long period were favourable to girth increments in the seedlings. Death of seedlings during establishment was generally lower in plots which were either clean-weeded or treated with paraquat. Labour requirement for controlling weeds with paraquat was considerably lower than that required for the other treatments. Considering the equipment and chemical input, paraquat application was expensive compared to high slashing with or without clean-line weeding two times a year, or clean weeding two times a year; but by virtue of its efficacy, it is recommended for cocoa establishment. En évaluant les effets du quatum et de la qualité de désherbage exigé dans la culture de jeune cacao, six méthodes de désherbage manuel étaient comparées avec le désherbage chimique à deux stations de l'Institut de Recherche en cacao du Ghana. La croissance de semis de cacao, après deux années, dans le champ était supérieure (P £ 0.05 ) dans les lots qui étaient complètement désherbés 2 ou 4 fois/an ou traités avec le paraquat 4 fois/an que dans les lots qui étaient entaillés 2 ou 4 fois/an. Il y avait de nombreuses preuves qui laissent penser que les traitements qui assuraient un environnement sans mauvaise herbe pour le cacao sur une longue période étaient favorables aux augmentations de circonférence des semis. La mort de semis pendant la culture était dans l'ensemble plus faible dans les lots, qui étaient soit complètement désherbés soit traités avec le paraquat. L'exigence de main-d'oeuvre pour maîtriser les mauvaises herbes avec le paraquat était considérablement plus faible que celle exigée pour les autres traitements. En ce qui concerne les matériels et les intrants chimiques, l'application de paraquat était chère que les entailles élevées avec ou sans le désherbage complet en ligne deux fois par an ou le désherbage complet deux fois par an mais en vertu de son efficacité il est recommandé pour la culture de cacao. Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science Vol. 40 (1) 2007: pp. 67-7

Corporate Aesthetics and Communication in the Urban Arts and Visual Culture of Kumasi

Kumasi is the capital city of the Asante Kingdom of Ghana. Being the seat of the throne of the Asantehene, the King of Asante’s, Kumasi is widely acknowledged as the major cultural city of Ghana. A study of the history of the people of Kumasi reveals that culture and art permeates their everyday life. Scholars have done some studies on the arts and economics of Asante and how it reflects their cultural life. However, a scholarly analysis of how corporate aesthetics is reflected in the urban art and visual culture of Kumasi has not been explored. In the bid to achieve this main objective, the paper discusses the corporate identities and cultural transformations in Kumasi, billboards, corporate commerce and savings, consuming visual culture and family finance and urban fantasies. The study is qualitative in nature and employs the descriptive method to provide an accurate description of specific urban arts in Kumasi

Analysis of Foodstuff Price Volatility in Ghana: Implications for Food Security

In recent years, price volatility is becoming increasingly relevant to producers and consumers in the saturated food markets amidst stiff completion and globalisation. The analysis of price volatility is necessary to develop bidding strategies or negotiation skills in order to maximize profit. The generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) regression model is used to forecast foodstuff prices in Ghana over the period 1970 to 2006. The data used are monthly wholesale prices for maize, millet, and rice obtained from the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The empirical results reveal that foodstuff prices exhibit high volatility with continual increasing prices over the study period. The results of the out-sample forecast reveal that maize, millet and rice prices would increase by 23%, 11% and 10% respectively in the next month. The study recommends the provision of adequate storage facilities, and farmers’ market centres in the districts to stabilize food prices. The increases in food prices have implications for food and nutrition situation of the poor in Ghana

Scaling the saturated hydraulic conductivity of an Alfisol

Alfisols exhibit a high degree of spatial variability in their physical properties. As a result, it is difficult to use information on physical parameters measured at one location to model larger-scale hydrologic processes. In this study, the saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, of an Alfisol was determined on 109 undisturbed monoliths using the falling-head permeameter method. The model developed by Arya & Paris (Soil Science Society of America Journal 45, 1023-1030, 1981) was used to calculate the pore volume from sand and clay fractions. Scaling factors were calculated from the measured Ks, sand pore-volume, clay pore-volume, clay content and effective porosity, using the similar media concept. Prediction of Ks of gravelly Alfisol using clay pore-volume is confounded by high gravel content which, when discounted, improves the prediction remarkably. The scaled mean saturated hydraulic conductivity K* for all horizons of the alfisol was approximately 1.0 × 10-5 m s-

Contribution of the Hospitality and Tourism Sector to the Development of Local Communities in the Hohoe Municipality, Ghana.

Tourism is now one of the world’s largest industries and one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Its high growth and development rates, considerable volumes of foreign currency inflows actively affect various sectors of economy, which positively contributes to the development of own tourist industry. Many researchers have asserted that, all tourism indicators show a consistent trend of growth in terms of contribution to GDP, foreign exchange earnings etc. In view of its potential, the government of Ghana over the years has instituted measures to salvage the industry from possible collapse. However, the performance of the sector is constrained by a number of factors in view of the fact harnessing potentials of the industry to become the leading foreign exchange earner in Ghana has not been fully realised.   The paper investigated the contributions of the tourism industry to the growth and development of the Hohoe Municipality which is a host to most of the vibrant tourist attractions in the Volta Region. To achieve the objectives of the study, primary data was collected from three communities with tourist attractions in the Municipality (i.e. Tafi Atome monkey sanctuary; Mt. Afadjato and Tagbo falls, Liati Wote; and Wli falls).   The study revealed that, the municipality received GH¢122,877.90 in 2008 as tourism revenue with an average annual growth rate of 162.2 % per annum. However, in 2011, the figure reduced to GH¢18,122.5 due to lack of marketing and promotion as well as institutional bottlenecks. The paper recommends capacity building for the local communities as well as including tourism marketing and promotion, private sector participation in building a vibrant and diverse tourism in the Municipality and Ghana in general. Key words: Development, growth, Tourism Marketing, Arrivals, MDG