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Africa has rich energy resources but continues to remain an energy poor continent. The industrialization potential of the continent and its rapidly growing population have caused a sharp increase in demand for electricity. South Africa and Nigeria are the biggest economies in Africa with large appetites for energy. South Africa, using its vastly developed and industrial economy, produces about 50 GWe of electricity, the highest of any African country. In contrast, Nigeria produces far less for a population four times the size of its African economic rival, South Africa. Without solving the energy deficit, neither economic growth nor sustainable development and improvement of citizens' welfare will be possible. An effective way to solve the energy shortage may be the introduction of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is not only able to overcome the electricity deficit in African countries, but can also contribute to a soft transition from environmentally polluting fossil-fuelled power plants to carbon-free technologies. However, for various reasons, there is strong opposition to nuclear energy development in these countries. This paper seeks to answer the question of whether the construction of nuclear power plants in Africa is the optimal solution to the continent's acute energy deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is provided in which the author discusses articles in the issue on topics including counseling in Africa, prediction of academic success in southwestern Nigeria, and the experiences of college students from Ghana who are studying in Great Britain.

Introduction: The potentials of Africa for growth and economic transformation through science remains challenging because of existing gaps in knowledge and infrastructure. The Africa Pharmacological Science Gateway project and the Medicines Utilization Research in Africa Group seek to meet the research needs of African pharmacologists. This study aimed at identifying priority needs that might be met by access to information and tools through e-infrastructure. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study among 472 members of pharmacological societies in Africa to obtain information on their research interests and skills, available resources, needs, and knowledge gaps. Descriptive analyses were done. Results: A total of 118 responses from 13 countries were received, mostly from Nigeria (48.3%) and South Africa (21.3%). Respondents had wide ranges of research interests predominantly in drug utilization research. The desired resources included drug utilization research training and tools, pharmacokinetics and pharmacometrics modeling training and tools, drug–drug interaction and medicine prices resources, statistical analysis resources, access to journals, training in specific laboratory techniques, equipment and funding for research-related activities. Conclusions: Key areas of needs not currently provided by the African Pharmacological Science Gateway e-infrastructure were identified to guide the further provision of resources on the e-infrastructure and potentially enhance research capacity within the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global focus on promoting Universal Health Coverage has drawn attention to the need to increase public domestic funding for health care in low- and middle-income countries. Objectives: This article examines whether increased tax revenue in the three territories of Kenya, Lagos State (Nigeria) and South Africa was accompanied by improved resource allocation to their public health sectors, and explores the reasons underlying the observed trends. Methods: Three case studies were conducted by different research teams using a common mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were extracted from official government financial reports and used to describe trends in general tax revenue, total government expenditure and government spending on the health sector and other sectors in the first decade of this century. Twenty-seven key informant interviews with officials in Ministries of Health and Finance were used to explore the contextual factors, actors and processes accounting for the observed trends. A thematic content analysis allowed this qualitative information to be compared and contrasted between territories. Findings: Increased tax revenue led to absolute increases in public health spending in all three territories, but not necessarily in real per capita terms. However, in each of the territories, the percentage of the government budget allocated to health declined for much of the period under review. Factors contributing to this trend include: inter-sectoral competition in priority setting; the extent of fiscal federalism; the Ministry of Finance's perception of the health sector's absorptive capacity; weak investment cases made by the Ministry of Health; and weak parliamentary and civil society involvement. Conclusion: Despite dramatic improvements in tax revenue collection, fiscal space for health in the three territories did not improve. Ministries of Health must strengthen their ability to motivate for larger allocations from government revenue through demonstrating improved performance and the relative benefits of health investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between stock prices and exchange rates has continued to generate interest from both the academia and financial industry players for many years. This study conducts an empirical investigation into the relationship between stock prices and exchange rates for the two largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa – South Africa and Nigeria. Our methodology accounts for structural breaks in the data and the long-run relationship between stock and foreign exchange markets. The results of multivariate causality tests with structural breaks showed that causality runs from exchange rates to domestic stock prices in Nigeria (flow channel) while in South Africa, no causality exists between domestic stock prices and exchange rates. The results also reveal that there is causality from the London stock market to both countries’ stock markets, thus showing that international stock markets are driving both the Nigerian and South African stock markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the complex relationship between capitalism and democracy in contemporary democratic regimes in Africa from the perspective of current trends in economic globalisation. It does so by underscoring the complexity of the prospects for democracy as is illustrated by some controversial trends in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. These trends include the 'fractured' executives, as well as the dominant incumbent parties the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria, and the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) in Kenya, that have all been embroiled in scandals recently. Using political economy theoretical themes and frameworks to illustrate the contentious effects that global regimes of capital are having on contemporary national democratic politics, the article shows how a democratic crisis in each country is associated with an economic crisis. It presents South Africa's French Connection Scandal, Nigeria's Globacom Affair, and Kenya's Anglo-Leasing Finance Scandal as iconic archetypes illustrating the thorny relationship between development and democracy in contemporary Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]