Production of charcoal briquettes from cotton stalk in malawi: methodology for feasibility studies using experiences in Sudan

The feasibility of charcoal production from cotton stalks in Malawi was studied based on experience from Sudan. The country relies considerably on biomass fuels. Of the total energy consumption in Malawi of 2.376 MTOE in 1989, 92% was met by biomass (fuelwood: 83.6% and charcoal: 8.3% Petroleum fuels and ethanol contributed 5.4%; electricity, 1.6%; and coal, 1.0%. Most of the energy (84.8%) was consumed in the household sector. The “Malawi Charcoal Project”, which is the main charcoal project carried out in the country, attempted to produce alternative softwood charcoal from the large resource of pine plantations but was not successful because of unacceptability of the product for household use, long transport distances and costs, and the equipment required for industrial uses. Briquetting of uncarbonized sawdust was also carried out by the Wood Industries Corporation (WICO), but failed due to unacceptability of the products and technical problems. The estimated total national demand for cotton stalk charcoal (CSC) briquettes is 15,000 t yr−1 made up of 7000 and 8000 t yr−1 for household and industrial sectors, respectively. The household demand is most substantial in Blantyre (3500 t yr−1) and Lilongwe (2700). t yr−1 Ngabu town was found to be the most appropriate location for a plant to supply the Blantyre market. Of the many plant options that were found financially and economically viable, four, using drum kilns for carbonization, were the most attractive. These were the 800 t yr−1 agglomeration process with seasonal sun drying operation, 2- and 3-shifts, and the 3000 t yr−1 roll process, year round operation, 2- and 3-shifts with financial internal rates of return of 28.1%, 38.3%, 26.6% and 40.0% respectively and a pay-back period of three years. The agglomeration process was overall the most attractive, though not significantly so financially

Foreign Direct Investment: It’s Role in the Economic Growth of Transition Economies

The mechanism through which Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) affects growth and vice versa is an aspect of growth developed on in the endogenous growth model, taking into cognisance the impact of human capital and its spill over effects on transition economies .This paper, using panel data estimation methods seeks to understand the impact of FDI on economic growth in transition economies and how this FDI performs with the spill over effects from human capital in the economy. In addition, this paper also seeks to understand how the political discretion of the preferences of political actors in a nation affects the performance of FDI on growth, focussing on the economies in transition. Key Words: Foreign Direct Investment, Transition economies, Economic growt

To Choose Informational and Financial Political Access or Not? The Influence of Access Political Strategies on Subsidiary Performance of Emerging Market Multinationals

Doing business in sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by high levels of political uncertainty. More so for MNEs internationalizing across borders in the region, institutional environments are perceived as relatively different from developed economies and may be strongly argued as weak. However, research to interrogate corporate political activities within this politically uncertain context is limited. This paper uses the dynamic capability perspective to examine the role of access political activities on the subsidiary performance of South African MNEs in sub-Saharan Africa. The study argues that contrary to the literature on access political activities, within a context of weak formal institutions and high political risk, political capabilities like information and financial political strategies negatively influence the subsidiary performance of MNEs; and host-country political risk levels moderate the relationship. We find support from a survey of senior executives of South African MNEs in cross-border businesses across sub-Saharan Africa

Host-country risk, corporate political strategies and the subsidiary performance of South African multinationals in wider Africa

One critical aspect of a multinational's (MNE) non-market strategy is its political strategy the management of a firm's political capabilities and actors to influence public policy outcomes. Research on corporate political strategies has, over the years, focused on its local application in institutionally stable developed environments. Existing literature suggests that political strategies are essential for firm performance. However, there is a dearth of studies that empirically examine the mechanisms through which they affect performance within weak institutional environments. Coupled with the paucity of research in weak institutional environments, is an absence of literature exploring the influence of informational, financial and constituency building relational political strategies on performance across borders. The thesis employs a dynamic capability perspective and an institutional approach to examine the role of corporate political strategies of emerging economy MNEs performance in South-South foreign direct investment (FDI). I employ a concurrent mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to interrogate the phenomenon. The qualitative content analysis of annual reports uniquely maps out the political strategy landscape for South African MNEs in their home country and the primary data survey of subsidiary executives examines the relationship between access (informational and financial) and relational (constituency building) political strategies on their subsidiary performance in the politically risky host environments of sub-Saharan Africa. I find that increased use of access political strategies has a negative effect and increased use of relational political strategies a positive effect on subsidiary performance. When both are combined, increased use of access political strategies increases the positive effect of relational political strategies on subsidiary performance. The thesis also interrogates the moderating influence of host-country risk on the corporate political strategy- subsidiary performance nexus and find that the higher the political risk, the stronger is the positive influence of relational strategies. The research contributes to the corporate political strategy literature by interrogating the political strategies MNEs employ to influence their performance in risky host environments. It extends the scholarship on dynamic political capabilities by linking actionable proactive and defensive political strategies to subsidiary performance in weak institutional environments. It presents novel findings in mapping out the corporate political strategy landscape of an emerging economy's MNEs and interrogating the relationships discussed in uncertain and risky institutional environments. MNE practitioners can leverage the findings to operate more efficiently in risky political environments. The research thus assists in adapting extant corporate political strategy literature to a framework that can accommodate the weak institutions of environments such as sub-Saharan Africa.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)PhDUnrestricte

Moisture dependent physical properties of Detarium microcarpum seed

Physical properties of Detarium microcarpum seed were investigated as a function of moisture content with a view to exploring the possibility of developing its bulk handling and processing equipment. In the moisture range of 8.2%–28.5% (d.b.), the major, intermediate and the minor axes increased from 2.95–3.21 cm, 1.85–2.61 cm, and 0.40–1.21 cm respectively. The arithmetic mean, geometric mean and equivalent sphere effective diameters determined at the same moisture level were significantly different from each other with the arithmetic mean diameter being of the highest value. The seed can be described as an irregularly shaped spherical disc. In the above moisture range, the surface area, one thousand seed weight, particle density and porosity increased linearly with moisture content from 354.62-433.19 cm2, 3.184-3.737kg, 1060-1316 kg/m3 and 30% to 53.1% respectively, while bulk density decreased with increase in moisture content from 647.6-617.2 kg/m3. Angle of repose increased linearly with moisture content from 13.9o-28.4o. Static and kinetic coefficients of friction increased linearly with moisture content and varied with structural surface. Highest value of static coefficient of friction at each moisture level in the above range was on galvanized steel sheet, while the lowest value was on fiber glass. For the kinetic coefficient of friction, the highest values were on Hessian bag material, while the lowest values were on fiber glass

Digital twin in manufacturing : conceptual framework and case studies

The digital twin (DT) concept has a key role in the future of the smart manufacturing industry. This review paper aims to investigate the development of the digital twin concept, its maturity and its vital role in the fourth industrial revolution. Having identified its potential functionalities for the digitalisation of the manufacturing industry, the digital twin concept, its origin and perspectives from both the academic and industrial sectors are presented. The identified research gaps, trends and technical limitations hampering the implementation of digital twins are also discussed. In particular, this review attempts to address the research question on how the digital twin concept can support the realisation of an integrated, flexible and collaborative manufacturing environment which is one of the goals projected by the fourth industrial revolution. To address this, a conceptual framework supporting an integrated product-process digital twin for application in digitised manufacturing is proposed. The application and benefits of the proposed framework are presented in three case studies