Sustainable Social Innovation in Nigeria

Purpose: Innovation is a constant state of affairs, in order for development to continue. However, there is also a need to ensure that innovations are sustainable. To this end, the paper examines the challenges that may hinder the achievement of sustainable social innovation in Nigeria and explores possible solutions and opportunities for development.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The author conducted normative research that examined existing research with the aim of providing solutions to a research area that is fraught with challenges and also currently under researched. Research was also conducted for documents and research from previous studies which were subsequently analysed to provide suggested solutions.   Findings: At over 200 million inhabitants, Nigeria is beset with many challenges such as insurgency, deforestation, poverty, food-shortages, limited access to healthcare and so on. Fittingly, there have been some social innovations that have tried to address some of the aforementioned issues with varying levels of success. However, so far, such initiatives have not delivered change on a large scale.  Although there is evidence that there are SI activities in Nigeria, a recurring theme through the literature is the fact that it is difficult to measure the impact of social innovations and there are very limited attempts at documenting and monitoring the outcomes.   Research, practical & social implications: This research indicates the need for collaboration, knowledge sharing, in order to contribute effectively to the development and deployment of Social Innovations in Nigeria. Awareness is also a challenge that was raised and is an opportunity for further development.   Originality/Value: It is imperative to ensure that social innovations are sustainable particularly where they are direly needed. The sustainability of such innovations is doubtlessly important to ensure that the aim of establishing such initiatives is not thwarted. There is limited academic coverage of social innovations and their impact in developing countries and it is hoped that the various bodies involved in social innovations in such areas will recognise the need for collaboration, knowledge sharing and development of expertise for sustainable social innovation

Broadband adoption by SMES

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Because the benefits of broadband for businesses have been widely publicized, the UK government has tried to ensure that there is a wide and fast take-up of the technology. Initial figures showed that broadband adoption by SMEs was particularly slow and there has been little research on the use of broadband by businesses, particularly SMEs. An in-depth study into the roles and activities of the groups involved in broadband diffusion to SMEs was conducted. The innovation diffusion and social construction of technology theory were applied to develop a framework that addresses some of the issues not covered in previous literature. The research was carried out in two phases and the empirical data from these was obtained and analysed using a qualitative and interpretive approach. Whilst broadband adoption figures have picked up more recently the research results show that SMEs have not adopted broadband in its full capacity. The results show that factors including cost, quality of service, and lack of awareness might be a reason for this. Implications for policy makers and groups involved in broadband diffusion to SMEs have therefore been provided. The first phase of the research provides results that indicated that broadband has not necessarily changed the way the Internet is used by the SMEs. In the second phase, the results showed a wide if not incompatible difference among groups involved in the issues surrounding broadband diffusion to SMEs. Although the governi-nenht as provided funds for SMEs' adoption of information technology, the level of awareness displayed by SMEs is persistently low. A case is put that this may be because SMEs are unique as are their needs and so need to be targeted as individual businesses with individual needs as opposed to a 'one size fits all' solution

Long-run Inter-sectoral Dynamics and Economic Growth in Nigeria

This paper examines the long-run intersectoral dynamics and effect of externalities from sectoral expansion on growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1981 to 2014. The real value added of the agriculture, manufacturing, minerals and services sectors was regressed against the real gross domestic product (GDP). We use the bounds testing approach to check the long-run interdependence of sectors while impulse response functions and variance decompositions test the direction and strength of linkages among the sectors. Our tests confirm the sectors evolve interdependently over the study period. The minerals sector is the most linked sector with two-way linkages to other sectors. The services sector shows the strongest backward linkage. However, both the minerals and services sectors are not significant in explaining variations in the GDP. The strength and extent of agriculture and manufacturing linkages are much less compare to minerals. Nevertheless, they are positive and significant in explaining long-run growth. Keyword: Dynamics; economic growth; intersectoral; linkages; long-run; Nigeri

Manufacturing and Economic Growth in Africa: A Panel Test of Kaldor’s First Growth Law

This paper examines the importance of the manufacturing sector for economic growth in African countries. Although many African countries have posted impressive growth performance in last one decade. A notable fact of this growth is the declining share of manufacturing in the gross domestic product (GDP). Will the contraction of the manufacturing sector hurt African economic growth in the long-run? We approach this question by testing Kaldor’s first law of economic growth using panel data for a sample of 28 African countries over the period 1981-2015. Results obtained from pooled Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects, and System Generalized Method of Moments provides current evidence to support manufacturing as the engine of growth in Africa. The Fagerberg-Verspagen (1999) criteria show that despite the falling share of manufacturing in the GDP, the difference between the coefficient of manufacturing output growth and share of manufacturing in GDP is positive and significant. We conclude that de-industrialisation will adversely affect both the growth rate of the non-manufacturing sectors and of the whole economy in African countries. Keywords: Economic growth, manufacturing, non-manufacturing, productivity, value adde

Manufacturing and Economic Growth in Africa: A Panel Test of Kaldor’s First Growth Law

This paper examines the importance of the manufacturing sector for economic growth in African countries. Although many African countries have posted impressive growth performance in last one decade. A notable fact of this growth is the declining share of manufacturing in the gross domestic product (GDP). Will the contraction of the manufacturing sector hurt African economic growth in the long-run? We approach this question by testing Kaldor’s first law of economic growth using panel data for a sample of 28 African countries over the period 1981-2015. Results obtained from pooled Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects, and System Generalized Method of Moments provides current evidence to support manufacturing as the engine of growth in Africa. The Fagerberg-Verspagen (1999) criteria show that despite the falling share of manufacturing in the GDP, the difference between the coefficient of manufacturing output growth and share of manufacturing in GDP is positive and significant. We conclude that de-industrialisation will adversely affect both the growth rate of the non-manufacturing sectors and of the whole economy in African countries. Keywords: Economic growth, manufacturing, non-manufacturing, productivity, value adde

Climate Change and Architectural Practice in Nigeria

This paper deals with Climate change and how it has impacted on the Nigerian Architectural practice. It discusses the effect of climate change on architectural design as well as how Architects design buildings that meet the social, economic, and environmental needs of the people it serves over time and changing needs. Since climate is changing and the effect on the built environment can only be reduced and not totally eliminated, there is need for Architects and other professionals in the building industry to produce buildings that are sustainable. While this situation poses a major challenge to the practice of architecture, there arises the need for designers to combat it through improved building design. The paper concludes by suggesting ways to combat the effect of climate change through design solutions. Keywords: climate change, Architectural practice, design solution, sustainable

Multi-Stage Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Siting Electric Vehicle Charging Stations within and across Border Regions

Electric Vehicles (EVs) replace fossil fuel vehicles in effort towards having more sustainable transport systems. The battery of an EV is recharged at a charging point using electricity. While some recharging will be required at locations where vehicles are normally parked, other recharging could be necessary at strategic locations of vehicular travel. Certain locations are suitable for EV charging station deployment, others are not. A multi-stage decision analysis methodology for selecting suitable locations for installing EV charging station is presented. The multi-stage approach makes it possible to select critical criteria with respect to any defined objectives of the EV charging station and techno-physio-socio-economic factors without which the EV charging station could not be deployed or would not serve its designated purpose. In a case, the type of charging station is specified, and a purpose is defined: rapid EV charging stations intended for public use within and across border regions. Applied in siting real EV charging stations at optimal locations, stages in the methodology present additional techno-physio-socio-economic factors in deploying the type of EV charging stations at optimal locations and keep the EV charging stations operating within acceptable standards. Some locations were dropped at the critical analysis stage; others were dropped at the site-specific analysis stage and replacement sites were required in certain instances. Final locations included most optimal, less optimal, least optimal, and strategic or special need locations. The average distances between contiguous recharging locations were less than 60 miles. Using any specified separation standard, the number of additional EV charging stations required between EV charging stations were determinable with the Pool Box. The Overall Charging Station Availability quadrants suggest that the overall user experience could get worse as less-standardized additional EV charging stations are deployed

EFFECT OF SCAFFOLDED CONCEPT MAP FORMAT ON CHEMISTRY LEARNING OUTCOMES

While concept maps are a useful instructional tool for learning, the use of concept maps for scaffolding instruction has been less investigated in the literature. This study investigated the effects of scaffolded concept map format compared with non-scaffolded concept map on learning outcomes. Six hundred and fifteen undergraduate students in an introductory chemistry course were randomly assigned to one of the two concept map groups. This classroom-based experimental study used one-way MANCOVA to examine the effect of scaffolded concept maps in promoting learning outcomes. The result showed that the scaffolded concept map group significantly outperformed the non-scaffolded concept map group on multiple-choice knowledge transfer while controlling for the pretest. However, for the free recall response questions, there was no significant difference between the two groups. The implications and future directions are discussed