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The Okavango Delta in southern Africa has been the subject of geomorphological and hydrological investigations since the 1970s. In the early 1990s, McCarthy and co‐workers developed a geomorphological and hydrological model which describes the processes that give rise to the gently undulating topography and the lack of saline surface water in this semi‐arid environment. This model is based on extensive investigations of soil and water chemistry conducted across the Okavango Delta, and has been subject to rigorous testing by a number of independent researchers. In their recent paper, Jolivet et al. (2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC010978) proposed an alternative hydrological model based on chemical and mineralogical analyses of samples from six auger holes drilled at a site on the lower fringe of the permanent swamp. We provide a critique of their model and explain how this model cannot describe the geohydrological functioning of the Okavango Delta. Jolivet et al. suggest there are two shallow aquifers, one hosted in sand and the other in clay‐rich material. Previous studies of subsurface soils on 18 islands have failed to reveal a deeper clay‐rich layer. Rather, the shallow groundwater is laterally fully connected and salinity varies in response to evapotranspiration. We attribute REE fractionation in subsurface soils observed by Jolivet et al. to be caused by the precipitation of calcite from groundwater which strongly accumulates REE. We are of the opinion that Jolivet et al. have insufficient data to suggest revisions to the current understanding of the functioning of the Okavango hydrological and sedimentological system. Key Points: The model proposed by Jolivet et al. cannot describe the geohydrological functioning of the Okavango DeltaPrevious studies of subsurface soils on 18 islands have failed to reveal the presumed deeper clay‐rich layerWe attribute REE fractionation in subsurface soils observed by Jolivet et al. to be caused by the precipitation of calcite from groundwater [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of population growth, scramble for employment, congestion in cities coupled with underdevelopment has been a cause for concern over the years. Many solutions, such as aid and conclusion of international investment agreements with a view to attract foreign direct investment, have been explored and tried with no real changes. In recent years, there is a strong movement on charter cities, championed by the former World Bank Chief Economist, Paul Romer. Romer's grand charter city would be developed on a vacant land, offered by the host State, for free, to the developer of the city. The city adopts a constitutive act, spelling out basic rights of the residents and the responsibilities of the city government but then imports functional rules from a developed country/countries being guarantor(s), and the latter ensure(s) enforcement of these rules. This paper explores charter cities as a panacea to poverty and underdevelopment in Africa and it lays bare the problematic conceptual issues on charter cities. Thus, it finds that charter cities could be another vehicle facilitating scramble for land in Africa as seen in Madagascar where the idea was explored. In addition, a need for uninhabited land threatens relocations and removals, which have often been forceful and impacts on the socio-economic conditions of communities as witnessed in Lesotho when the highlands water project, serving South Africa with water, began construction. Relocations are not only economically debilitating; they are highly emotive to many Africans based on the past experiences. Further, substituting the host state's control with that of developed nation/s (sponsor/guarantor) can only be regarded as neo-liberal colonialism. Another problem is in relation to freedom to reside in the city, thereby extending free residency to everyone from anywhere in world, compromising sovereignty for the host and not solving employment crisis. While charter cities can solve poverty and underdevelopment in Africa, these conceptual problems need to be addressed; otherwise, we are facing neoliberal land dispossessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically shows that the imbalance between an ethnic group's political and military power is crucial to understanding the likelihood that such a group engages in a conflict. We develop a novel measure of a group's military power by combining machine-learning techniques with rich data on ethnic group characteristics and outcomes of civil conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. We couple this measure with available indicators of an ethnic group's political power as well as with a novel proxy based on information about the ethnicity of cabinet members. We find that groups characterized by a higher mismatch between military and political power are between 30% and 50% more likely to engage in a conflict against their government depending on the specification used. We also find that the effects of power mismatch are non-linear, which is in agreement with the predictions of a simple model that accounts for the cost of conflict. Moreover, our results suggest that high-mismatched groups are typically involved in larger and centrist conflicts. The policy implication is that power-sharing recommendations and institutional design policies for peace should consider primarily the reduction of power mismatches between relevant groups, rather than focusing exclusively on equalizing political power in isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the legislation put in place by the United Nations, Africa continues to grapple with issues of monosexism and heterosexism. In fact, of the 54 African countries, 33 have criminalised queer relationships, a legacy primarily attributed to colonial rule. However, social work literature has recently introduced a culturally sensitive model for working with the LGBTQIA+ community, known as Queer affirmative action. By utilising available literature and adopting an intersectional approach, which was collected and analysed through PRISMA, this paper aims to discuss the Africanising of sexuality in Africa. It argues that it is crucial to undertake a critical analysis of the colonial legacy and its impact on queer identities. Furthermore, the article posits that social work education must incorporate knowledge of the intersection of gender, sexuality, and other identity markers to form an inclusive and comprehensive approach towards practice. An affirmative philosophy to social work practice can serve as a counterweight to all punitive and discriminatory practices. Thus, in Africa, the most effective way to improve the well-being of queer individuals is to eradicate structural forms of inequality and decriminalise same-sex consensual relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the institutional determinants of insurance demand in Africa. We used a panel of 42 countries over the period 1996–2017. A system GMM approach was used for the estimations. Consistent with previous results, we find that institutional quality has positive and significant effects on insurance penetration in Africa. Specifically, regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption, political stability and absence of violence, and government effectiveness are the five institutional quality indicators that have positive and significant effects on the demand for total insurance and life insurance. However, only regulatory quality, control of corruption and government effectiveness are positively associated with non-life insurance demand. This indicates that governments should improve the business environment and strengthen the political environment to boost insurance development in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a call for papers on the topic about training and development in Africa.

The article lists forthcoming papers and reviews that will appear in future issues of the journal, including "The progressive aspect in English in the Netherlands" by Alison Edwards, "Varieties of English in Namibia" by Gerald Stell, "and "World Englishes in international proficiency tests" by Hamid M. Obaidul.

A call for papers or a special issue of the journal on research into training and development in Africa is presented.

Background: Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an invasive pest that can cause serious crop loss to various important food crops and risk to global food security. FAW can cause damage to over 350 plant species by feeding on vegetative and reproductive stages of crops. Currently, chemical pesticides and transgenic maize are widely used to safeguard crops from this serious pest. However, biological control is a safer and more sustainable alternative in the long term for FAW management. Of the various natural enemies of FAW, egg parasitoids of genus Trichogramma have been used in augmentative biological control of FAW in the Americas and invaded regions such as Africa and Asia. Main body: Several species of Trichogramma have been reported naturally parasitizing FAW eggs and emerged as important biocontrol agents. This paper presents a comprehensive review of potential and challenges associated with Trichogramma in biological control of FAW. A total of 11 species of trichogrammatids occurred naturally on FAW eggs. This review includes the occurrence of Trichogramma species on FAW, biological attributes, mass rearing, release techniques, field efficacy and interaction and integration with other parasitoids. Integration of Trichogramma with other parasitoids can resolve the problem related to its penetrative ability against scaled and multi-layered FAW eggs which were discussed. Conclusion: Invasion of FAW in Africa and Asia has provided a prospect for augmentative biological control of FAW using Trichogramma for sustainable production, especially in maize which is used as food and fodder. Integrating Trichogramma with safer and selective green pesticides and their conservation with other natural enemies could help in sustainable and environment-friendly FAW control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a global threat that is better understood through global research spanning many regions, countries, and life-supporting ecosystems. This review focused on the bibliometric analysis of the distribution of a global research compendium on phytoplankton, an aquatic community that accounts for half of the carbon fixation in the global carbon cycle. A total of 716 primary research papers published in the immediate past decade (2012–2022) were reviewed. The articles were sampled from Web of Science and described field and laboratory experiments quantifying the impact of global climate change on phytoplankton from different climate zones (tropical, subtropical, temperate, subpolar, and polar) and ecosystems (freshwater, brackish, and marine). Analyses of these studies suggest that the bulk of the global research effort (80%) focused on high-latitude areas, and only a few (17%) were carried out in the tropics, largely led by four countries (Australia, Brazil, India, and Saudi Arabia), while Africa's contribution was minuscule (<1%). In terms of ecosystems, the majority (76%) of the research was in marine waters, irrespective of the climate zone. Analyses of these studies also highlighted widespread disparities in phytoplankton research in tropical aquatic ecosystems, particularly in Africa. Strategic investment in terms of targeted funding, institutional networks, and partnerships between the global north and global south are necessary to increase phytoplankton research across different ecosystems in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite remote sensing (RS) data are increasingly being used to estimate total evaporation, often referred to as evapotranspiration (ET), over large regions. Since RS-based ET (RS-ET) estimation inherits uncertainties from several sources, many available studies have assessed these uncertainties using different methods. However, the suitability of methods and reference data subsequently affects the validity of these evaluations. This study summarizes the status of the various methods applied for uncertainty assessment of RS-ET estimates, discusses the advances and caveats of these methods, identifies assessment gaps, and provides recommendations for future studies. We systematically reviewed 676 research papers published from 2011 to 2021 that assessed the uncertainty or accuracy of RS-ET estimates. We categorized and classified them based on (i) the methods used to assess uncertainties, (ii) the context where uncertainties were evaluated, and (iii) the metrics used to report uncertainties. Our quantitative synthesis shows that the uncertainty assessments of RS-ET estimates are not consistent and comparable in terms of methodology, reference data, geographical distribution, and uncertainty presentation. Most studies used validation methods using eddy-covariance (EC)-based ET estimates as a reference. However, in many regions such as Africa and the Middle East, other references are often used due to the lack of EC stations. The accuracy and uncertainty of RS-ET estimates are most often described by root-mean-squared errors (RMSEs). When validating against EC-based estimates, the RMSE of daily RS-ET varies greatly among different locations and levels of temporal support, ranging from 0.01 to 6.65 mm d -1 , with a mean of 1.18 mm d -1. We conclude that future studies need to report the context of validation, the uncertainty of the reference datasets, the mismatch in the temporal and spatial scales of reference datasets to those of the RS-ET estimates, and multiple performance metrics with their variation in different conditions and their statistical significance to provide a comprehensive interpretation to assist potential users. We provide specific recommendations in this regard. Furthermore, extending the application of RS-ET to regions that lack validation will require obtaining additional ground-based data and combining different methods for uncertainty assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long COVID, also known as "post-acute sequelae of COVID-19," affects at least 65 million individuals worldwide with a wide spectrum of symptoms that may last weeks, months, or permanently. Its epidemiology and burden in Africa are unclear. This meta-analysis examines long-term COVID-19 effects in the WHO African Region. A systematic search in several databases was carried out up to 12 February 2023 including observational studies from African countries reporting the cumulative incidence of long COVID signs and symptoms. Only studies conducted in African countries were included. Several sensitivity and meta-regression analyses were performed. Among 1547 papers initially screened, 25 were included, consisting of 29,213 participants. The incidence of any long COVID symptomatology was 48.6% (95% CI 37.4–59.8) as psychiatric conditions were the most frequent, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder reaching a cumulative incidence of 25% (95% CI 21.1–30.4). Higher age (p = 0.027) and hospitalization (p = 0.05) were associated with a higher frequency of long COVID. Long COVID poses a significant burden in Africa, particularly concerning psychiatric conditions. The study recommends identifying at-risk people and defining treatment strategies and recommendations for African long-COVID patients. High-quality studies addressing this condition in African setting are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the period of satellite altimetry observation 1993–2018, a comparison was made of estimates of the linear meridional shifts of the jet structure and variations in current intensity in the sector of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) south of Africa (10° E–25° W), obtained on the basis of the parameters derived from the module of the absolute dynamic topography (ADT) gradient : directly , module of the velocity of geostrophic current |u| on the ocean surface, half of square of the ADT gradient , and specific kinetic energy . The analysis was carried out by a method developed earlier and refined in this paper using linear regression analysis. It is shown that qualitatively the characters of the meridional shifts (displacement of the curves of these parameters averaged over latitude and for each year) in latitude and the corresponding current intensity variations (i.e., variations in the parameters themselves) over 26-year observations, when calculated through each of the four parameters, turned out to be similar. The same similarity was obtained from the calculations with respect to the ADT scale. Meanwhile, the quantitative differences between calculations for different pairs of parameters can be significant even in the and pair. In quantitative terms, the absolute values of shifts of the jet structure and variations in the intensity of currents in the ACC band in the studied sector of the Southern Ocean generally increase from those linearly dependent on the ADT gradient module to quadratically dependent ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homosexuality is a sensitive issue in Africa that inspires a great deal of public contention and controversy and attracts much social science research interest. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, conducting empirical research on homosexuality in Africa or within African population groups could be subject to several challenges. This article presents an autoethnographic account of my experiences conducting empirical research on attitudes towards homosexuality among Cameroonians based at home and those living in Switzerland. The paper highlights the key challenges, surprises, and lessons learned experienced in the different stages of the research process, from design to data collection, analysis, and publication of findings. Drawing on these experiences, the article calls attention to some aspects that young researchers embarking on research in sensitive topics should be aware of and should plan for upfront. It proposes practical coping approaches that can support young researchers to navigate the difficult waters of researching homosexuality in challenging settings so they can achieve their research goals within the timeframe and resources available to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the notion that mobility plays a critical role in everyday urban life in Africa as elsewhere, this editorial provides an introduction to the special collection 'The Past in Present African Urban Mobility Systems'. As we introduce the papers in this collection, we argue for an understanding of contemporary urban mobility systems that account for their historical roots. While historians of African transport have provided insights into the origins of mobility systems on the continent, we wish to animate the contemporary experience of those systems, advocating for a mobilities longue durée. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of research is dedicated to the measurement of immigration trends and integration processes, but comparative studies of the components of immigrants' well-being are rare. This paper investigates the link between the length of stay and the subjective well-being (SWB) of immigrants. A step-by-step regression method is used to understand interactions between different individual- and macro-level factors in the life satisfaction of immigrants. The results of the European Social Survey (ESS) show that the effect of length of stay on SWB is mitigated by numerous individual- and country-level variables. After all background variables are considered, newly arrived immigrants and those who have been in the new country for more than 20 years had a similar life satisfaction to that of the local-born population. Immigrants with 10 to 20 years' experience in the country seem to have lower life satisfaction than the local-born population. The SWB of different immigrant groups is shaped by cultural background, economic coping, number of social contacts, perception of discrimination, and democracy. These factors influence the life satisfaction of migrants with different lengths of stay differently. The most vulnerable immigrant groups in Europe are those from Africa region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing human-elephant conflict is a recurring issue and the overarching recommendation for elephant management across Africa is to invest time, finances, and planning into community-based natural resource management (CBNRM). In this paper, I outline what CBNRM currently looks like in Africa, and how it may look in the future of elephant conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, human mpox was predominantly a zoonotic disease occurring more frequently in rural children in Africa and characterized by a largely self-limiting febrile centrifugal monomorphic rash illness. However, the 2022 mpox global outbreak has shown that the disease is changing in many ways, including sustained human-to-human transmission via sexual contact, novel clinical presentations, and adverse associations between mpox and advanced HIV. The aim of this paper is to review the traditional and emerging clinical aspects of human mpox and provide updated information on the clinical course and outcome of the disease. We searched electronic databases including PubMed and Google Scholar and identified relevant published literature on mpox. The clinical presentation of human mpox is influenced by the route of infectious exposure, the strain and dose of the infecting virus, and the host immune system. Exposure to the virus can result in sub-clinical or clinical diseases of variable severity. Infections caused by clade I viral strains are more severe than class IIa and IIb strains, which are associated with a milder febrile rash illness, and with anogenital skin lesions in clade IIb infections. Most cases of mpox recover entirely within 2–4 weeks after onset of illness and a few develop skin-related sequelae. Overall, people with advanced HIV infection, children <5 years of age, and pregnant women may present with more severe disease and higher case fatalities. The continued endemicity of the classical mpox in Africa, the emergence of a new clinical form of the disease during the 2022 global outbreak, and the adverse associations between advanced HIV and mpox have implications for the surveillance, clinical diagnosis, and management of human mpox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that the current quest for decolonisation and decoloniality struggles are primarily embodiments of disenchantment with the development doldrums in the continent after decades of political independence. While both decolonisation and decoloniality sound like intellectual pursuits concerned with knowledge production, they are in essence efforts towards recasting and rebooting development in the continent. Despite ingrained differences both decolonisation and decoloniality, aspire towards unmasking the futility and incompleteness of Euro-American epistemological traditions and worldviews. Despite differences in the usage of concepts, both decolonisation and decoloniality reframe the notion of 'delinking' made popular by Samir Amin. In effect, Amin may rightly be conceived as a precursor of the decolonisation struggle. Apart from agitating for a pluriversality of epistemic traditions and 'ways of knowing', both decolonisation and decoloniality seek to reposition Africa in global relations of power and politics and from the above engender sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his theory on delinking, Amin shows how Africa is linked to global Capital. For Amin, it is in this link that Africa's underdevelopment resides. An important element in this linking process is the role that the comprador bourgeoisie plays in its relationship with global Capital, which facilitates the continued underdevelopment of Africa. Amin raises the question of the role that the African comprador bourgeoisie played as agents of imperialism in keeping Africa linked to Europe. From this standpoint, Amin presents the possibility of approaching Africa's underdevelopment from another dimension – the possibility of exploring Africa's underdevelopment as an internally driven process initiated by home-grown African capitalists who accumulate for their own account. Extending the logic of the comprador bourgeoisie, this paper argues that Capital in Africa is responsible for internal under development. African Capital too, together with international Capital consciously participates in under developing Africa. We argue that internal underdevelopment is based on a capitalist logic that contains all the standard phenomena associated with Capital, namely, inequality, unemployment, and poverty. Furthermore, exploring the rise of our case studies, viz; the Dangotes, Motsepes, and the Dos Santos', we show how instrumental each of them are in the internal underdevelopment of Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profundity of Samir Amin's contributions to the quest for the development of Africa and the global South is beyond questioning. From the onset, Amin focused on ways to promote autonomous development in the periphery. He advocated delinking and remained true to these convictions till the very end when he concluded that the challenge was not so much about the South moving out of the crisis of capitalism as it was about its moving out of a global capitalist system in crisis; or moving beyond capitalism. This paper interrogates the suitability of this central plank of Amin's political economy vis-a-vis Claude Ake's contention that the greatest impediment to African development inheres in the nature of its politics and that the solution is to be sought therein. We argued that the challenge for contemporary Africa is not so much about exiting the anarchial global capitalist system as it is about striking internal balance in the context of the larger systemic perturbations. But beyond comparing, we mapped the place of contemporary African intellectuals in the continent's development schema along the path of Ake's proposition and in pursuit of the shared vision of these two illustrious scholar-activists for a democratic and prosperous Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some African state responses to transnational organized crime (TOC) are criticized for being overly focused on the use of force by military and law enforcement. Policy approaches that promote using criminal law to deter TOC have helped to shift focus away from the kinetic solutions that may otherwise prevail by default. However, empirical studies show that TOC is enabled by a range of development and governance issues that go beyond the criminal justice domain. Synthesizing recent insights from empirical research on African TOC from academia, think tanks, and policy-oriented international organizations, this article makes the case for a more holistic, people-centered justice and rule of law approach to addressing TOC. Such an approach conceives of rule of law not merely as the process or result of enforcing the law, but as a social and political practice of promoting mutual respect and equality between different actors in the state and society. This people-centered justice and rule of law framework creates space to address various development and governance factors affecting the incidence of TOC, including (i) the availability of alternative livelihoods, (ii) the popular legitimacy of the state and its influence on people's regard for the laws on paper; and (iii) the prevalence of a balance of powers enabling the oversight of all actors involved in TOC, especially certain state officials who facilitate it. Beyond the conventionally punitive approaches to addressing TOC, African leaders could explore the potential of more inclusive policymaking processes, the combined use of formal and informal justice institutions to address the drivers of crime, and the empowerment of marginalized groups affected by counter-TOC policy decisions made by elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrialization constitutes one of the strategies of structural transformation in many sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries. In this paper, we re‐examine the effect of financial development on the industrialization of 35 SSA countries over the period 1996–2018. Contrary to previous work, we formulate the hypothesis that there exists a threshold of financial development beyond which financial development positively influences industrialization. Using the dynamic panel threshold regression model, and system generalized methods of moment models, we find two main results. First, financial development has a negative and significant impact on the development of industrialization. Secondly, the findings show the existence of a nonlinear relationship between financial development and industrialization development. Thus, we find that financial development has a negative effect on industrialization below the threshold while the effect is significantly positive on industrialization in countries whose financial development is above the threshold. The results are stable to the different robustness tests used. These findings highlight the need for SSA countries to develop better financial institutions if they hope to boost the manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poultry population in Africa is mostly composed of local or indigenous chickens appreciated for the unique taste and texture of their meat. However, with the ever-increasing population growth, the free-range or backyard poultry farming system is no longer adapted to supply people with protein requirements. Crossbreeding local hens with an improved rooster weakens the thermotolerance and disease resistance of the offspring in African areas. In this context, the available breeds need to be preserved. The improvement of their productivity should be actualized through the implementation of a sustainable production programme that is simple and less expensive for the farmer, taking into account: feeding, habitat and chicken care. Scientific research should invest more time on the identification and characterization of all available breeds or chicken ecotypes allowing us to know production performances and their nutritional needs. Feeding with locally available resources, vaccination and use of indigenous medicine requiring training of farmers are essential perspectives. This paper focused on the productivity and resilience of indigenous chicken ecotypes in various African tropical environments and some essential factors to improve the birds. For this, a critical analysis was made based on the available data on the birds from research databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Our paper highlights areas of interest to psychologists studying aging in Africa and what has already been learned about aspects of psychological aging from studies done in the African context. We also considered whether there are issues that are unique about aging in the African context that might challenge how aging is typically considered in psychology research. Methods We reviewed articles recently published in major gerontology journals focusing on African older adults, with the goal of identifying key themes of current geropsychology in Africa. Results We identified a number of dominant themes including: subjective aging, psychosocial impact of widowhood at old age, aging in place, stress and caregiving, cognitive aging, interrelations between HIV and aging, and successful aging. Discussion The themes of psychological aging research identified as especially relevant in Africa provide a starting point for psychological aging researchers in general to engage with the African context. Many African countries may be facing common challenges, but the existing studies are not fully representative of the aging population in the continent. Creating a framework for organizing and coordinating funding will help to address the limited research on geropsychology in Africa. Collaborative research projects/programs, joint classrooms, and fellowships that support African geropsychology scholars will be helpful. Geropsychology will benefit from more engagement with the African context by applying innovative approaches such as the adoption of longitudinal designs, mixed-method research, Experience Sampling Methods, translation of measures into indigenous languages, involvement of rural samples, and implementation science and community-engaged research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much research has investigated how objective pull factors in the destination countries affect migration movements, and how subjective push factors affect migration aspirations, we know little about the interrelationship between subjective and objective factors. This paper therefore examines how people's perceptions of their political, economic and social structural environment affect their migration aspirations and to what extent these perceptions are determined by the objective situation in a country. Accounting for individual perceptions is important because individuals may be affected by structural factors to different degrees, and their knowledge of the objective situation may vary. Perceptions may also be affected by individuals' norms and values as well as people's different expectations. This study is based on data from Round 7 of the Afrobarometer survey, fielded between 2016 and 2018 in 34 African countries. Our findings show that positive perceptions of the structural environment are related to lower migration aspirations and that this relationship is only partly dependent on the objective situation in a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African region of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently adopted a strategy aimed at more comprehensive care for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the region. The WHO's World Health Assembly has also newly approved several ambitious disease-specific targets that raise the expectations of chronic care and plans to revise and update the NCD-Global Action Plan. These actions provide a critically needed opportunity for reflection and course correction in the global health response to NCDs. In this paper, we highlight the status of the indicators that are currently used to monitor progress towards global goals for chronic care. We argue that weak health systems and lack of access to basic NCD medicines and technologies have prevented many countries from achieving the level of progress required by the NCD epidemic, and current targets do little to address this reality. We identify gaps in existing metrics and explore opportunities to realign the targets with the pressing priorities facing today's health systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In relation to actual digital usage, empirical research is limited on whether digital technology promotes entrepreneurial development in African economies. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of digital technology usage on entrepreneurship in selected African countries. This study contributes to the literature by using 20 selected African countries over the period of 2012–2016. Unlike existing studies, this paper differentiates between the impact of business, government and individual usage of digital technology by employing the 6th, 7th and 8th pillars of the Network Readiness Index. The study employs panel least square and instrumental variable (IV) estimating techniques and panel corrected standard errors (PCSEs) to analyze the data. The results show that digital technology usage has a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurship in Africa. Further analysis shows that individual usage and business usage have a positive and significant impact on business creation. Social media network usage has a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial development. The study suggests that the growth of entrepreneurship can be enhanced through an ICT usage enabling environment. Individual usage and business usage including social media usage of digitalization are the main drivers of entrepreneurial development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mother continent Africa is known for its various, multiple, and repeated instabilities, the rationale being the great hope and desire for the permanence, fixity, stability, lasting or enduring things that characterize human beings. Irrespective of how great and noble this hope and desire might be, one should admit that permanence or stability in life under the sun is against human nature, which for Qoheleth is הבל, that is, fleeting, transitory, brief, "not stable". The use of הבל applied to different areas of life draws attention to the fleetingness of human experience in the world compared to God's eternity. In Qoheleth's view, there is nothing eternal on Earth: everything is fleeting (הכל הבל). So is political power, which for Qoheleth is short-lived and unstable, whether oppressive or not. It is, therefore, the aim of this paper to explore the hermeneutical possibility of Qoheleth's use of הבל, which could be used to understand the political instability in African leadership. As such, this study calls attention to Qoheleth's use of הבל with a political focus. It reads the text against the context of the oppressive manipulative political control of the powerless, voiceless, and the downtrodden by the powerful in Qoheleth's society, which is no less in today's African society. Consequently, it proposes that a political reading of Qoheleth adds to its hermeneutical understanding, which then can become more meaningful to Africans in an oppressive and depriving social and political environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pan-Africanism is a well-thought-out crusade that entails a dedicated process of economic rebirth involving rebuilding Africa's institutions, structures, and conditions that ensure sustainable economic development. These efforts are considered critical to any development process. However, their efficacy remained less effective in solving the continent's daunting multifaceted challenges because they are largely directed at institution building for enhanced continental peace, security, cooperation, and integration, as shown by the Pan- African ideal of "the 'new' African agenda". The new idea of African renaissance directed at awareness creation for African re-birth, unity, development, and advancement of African history, culture and values is one of the attestations to the failure of Pan-Africanism. This is not to claim that no attempts at several regional and sub-regional integration programmes and efforts have been made. Some of these remained inadequate to realise the objectives of both Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance. The challenges, however, lie specifically in the extent to which African history, culture, and values can be utilised to drive the process of economic reconstruction. The absence of this analysis provides a gap in the literature and challenges Pan Africanism and Africa's drive towards economic reconstruction. Therefore, the paper, using qualitative data, descriptive analysis, and thematic analysis, aims to interrogate how AIK, a totally neglected resource in Pan Africanist ideals, can be innovatively and strategically utilised for Africa's sustainable economic development agenda. The study found that underlying any economic development agenda is the effective understanding, recognition, and integration of people's history, culture, heritage, and shared values, on which efforts must be directed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a hybrid analytical framework to comprehensively assess luxury game lodges within protected areas such as Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS). The framework, developed through a synthesis of diverse Social-Ecological Systems (SES) models and tools, encompasses eight key steps, from sustainability context assessment to creating a tailored managerial-ecology model. By systematically analysing ecological, social, and economic dimensions, this framework empowers stakeholders to make informed decisions that balance biodiversity conservation, sustainability, and community engagement in luxury game lodge operations. Its practical application promises to advance the coexistence of ecotourism and environmental protection, fostering the long-term viability of these vital tourism destinations within protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child marriages, often attributed to culture and gender inequality, are prevalent across Africa. Several countries have moved to criminalise the practice. At the core of the criminalisation debate are the fundamental tensions between statutory (state) law on the one hand, and religious and customary law on the other. The growing momentum towards punishment, targeted almost invariably at male offenders, is meant to address the conflict between cultural practices that lead to child marriage and the protection of children's rights. However, some countries have not criminalised child marriage. Thus, the outlawry of child marriages is not universal on the continent. The agitation towards criminalisation—I describe this as 'popular punitvism' ‐ as a panacea, is animated by Western penological justifications, principally, deterrence. However, Western criminological and penological theories may not fully account for a phenomenon in other social and geographical spaces. The paper argues for decolonising and decriminalising child marriages in Africa but not legalising it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increased interests in marketisation of philanthrocapitalism research worldwide, the arguments emphasise 'what' instead of 'how' and 'why' philanthropic philosophy happens across Africa. To address this gap, 51 Tony Elumelu Foundation participants' narratives are focused on to draw on an Africapitalism framework highlighting chasms within and between western neoliberalism frameworks and philanthrocapitalism's marketisation. By framing this paper using philanthrocapitalism discourse, the authors critically examined the activities of African philanthropists and the effects of their neoliberal adoption on recipients. Semi-structured interview analysis produced three key ideologies demonstrating 'what', 'how' and 'why' philanthrocapitalism is marketised, namely, utopianism and the illusion of a better socioeconomic tomorrow; neoliberalism and a culture of dominance; social investment and marketisation of benevolence. These thematic paradoxes were used to create an additional four-aspect Africapitalism framework contributing to 'what', 'how' and 'why' philanthrocapitalism is marketised in Africa, its impacts, challenges and solutions. Contributions, limitations and implications for research are articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the determinants of military spending in Africa by considering the role played by institutions. With data obtained between the years 1996–2019, the Driscoll and Kraay fixed effects, the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM), and the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) estimators are used. The findings suggest that government size, trade freedom, economic risk, and political risk decrease military spending, whereas government stability and military involvement in politics are found to raise it. Using alternative institutional variables, we find that corruption, government effectiveness, political stability, regulatory quality, the rule of law, and voice and accountability significantly diminish military spending in Africa. In addition, concerning the economic determinants, the results reveal that trade openness and total natural resource rents reduce military spending, while GDP per capita, inflation, and foreign debt stocks increase it. Looking at strategic determinants, arms imports, urban population, and ethnic tensions positively affect African military expenditures. Robustness checks show that these results change once regional specificities are considered. The study concludes that institutional factors could be an engine for evolution in Africa's military spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate finance stakeholders across Africa have long sought to understand the complex nature of the climate cash flow architecture. Distribution models are critical mathematical tools for generating the general characteristics of the cash flow that are used to inform policy decisions. In this paper, we undertake a comprehensive investigation of the climate funds flowing into sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by suggesting candidate climate finance models that can be used by policy makers to design simulations that can aid in assessing climate risks, identify more efficient climate finance schemes, and obtain optimal control parameter settings under different scenarios. This is achieved by considering climate finance as a form of insurance. Different dimensions of the data are examined following four distinct groupings of the data set. This is to account for different views of risk by the various climate finance participants. The frequency and severity of the approved funds are analyzed with the aid of various mathematical distribution models and regression analyses. The dynamics of a given variable relative to varying scenarios are examined. The findings obtained confirm the presence of emerging risks induced by the nature of the flow. Central Africa for instance records the lowest theme-specific projects and mitigation finance accounts for more than half of all the climate funds while sectoral-wise, adaptation finance is majorly concentrated in the energy sector. The perpetuation of the observed inequalities across the themes, subregions and sector-specific climate-related projects portends grave consequences as these risks begin to accumulate over time. The Burr mixture model best fitted the approved projects' cost distribution and the factors driving the frequency and severity of approved projects ranged from Central Africa to projects in the general environment sector. One of the policy recommendations emphasized was the need to adopt a risk-adjusted distribution model for climate finance allocation in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals of a "restoration" programme are often not clearly defined, which may radically influence the course of the change effected by the "restoration". In this paper, I examine many restoration studies worldwide, the goals and the practice that was followed. Grasses often play an important role in both the succession and restoration processes. In Johannesburg, South Africa, wind-blown dust caused by gold mining was a problem in the early 20th century, so the goal was to stabilise the tailings. This was achieved by establishing vegetation on the dumps or revegetation of the land on which the tailings were deposited. Stabilisation of the Cape Flats was the goal in the late 19th century to allow easy movement along sandy roads in the region and marram grass was introduced from Europe specifically for this purpose. Revegetation with a different vegetation type is often a logical option where land use is of paramount importance. Replacement with crop plants or grasses is where the previous vegetation is replaced by an alternative land use that will be of benefit to the local people. The terms "rehabilitation" and "restoration" are often used interchangeably. Early researchers on the subject pointed out that rehabilitation is on the trajectory to full restoration or the original former state of the degraded site. In this review, the rehabilitation processes are discussed following dune mining in South Africa and at sites in Mozambique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Population growth and urbanization pose several threats to terrestrial ecosystems, especially in forest ecological zones worldwide. This study examines the drivers of average willingness to pay (WTP) to restore urban forests in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach: It utilizes survey data of households and employs a robust Heckman two-step estimator with bootstrapping to address the research objective. Findings: The study underscores the role of income, gender, education and perception of the health benefits of forests as the underlying determinants of restoration bids by respondents. These drivers have a positive and statistically significant effect on forest restoration. Education and gender appear to be the most effective by magnitude, followed by the perception of health benefits, then income. Attention is therefore drawn to relevant economic, sociocultural and psychological factors towards the goal of forestry to improve well-being in urban centres. Originality/value: This paper seeks to add methodological insights to the literature on reforestation and land use changes in the Accra metropolitan area and the local population's WTP for reforestation in this area. In principle, this is a case study informing about the values people hold for forests in Ghana and Africa, where a knowledge gap exists with respect to their socio-economic valuation. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2022-0618 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is currently faced with complex conflict situations and confronted with difficult choices to rebuild economies based on business-as-usual development models or choose to develop more sustainably. Addressing security-sustainability challenges in Africa therefore calls for innovative ways to avoid that armed conflicts and insecurity set back efforts towards achieving sustainable development in Africa by 2030. The paper introduces the concept of Environmental Intelligence for Sustainability (EIS) as an analytical tool to assess security-sustainability risks in Africa. It shows how the EIS framework helps analyze the implications of armed conflicts on achieving sustainability through a pragmatic instrument for African policy makers, development practitioners, businesses, and regional/international organizations to better integrate conflict risks into their sustainability planning processes. The article highlights the need for a more holistic, systematic, and coordinated Africa-wide Environmental Intelligence for Sustainability as a core element for building peace and stability while achieving sustainability by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically examines whether Africa's low corruption agenda can be achieved amid election cycles. We employ country-level data from 36 African countries covering the period 1998–2020. Using fixed effects, random effects and dynamic panel data regressions, our results suggest that in election years, increment in government expenditure is associated with higher corruption perception while increment in real GDP growth lowers corruption perception than in non-election years. On regional differences, the effect of election cycles on corruption perception was found to be greater in southern part of Africa than the rest of the sub-regions. These findings may have important implications for policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure assets are vital for economic development and integration, but they also encompass political risks. In Africa, infrastructure assets have remained a paradox where there is great potential for opportunities but very few projects get to the final phases. Adequate infrastructure can propagate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals whilst supporting recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing from a longitudinal data set from 2000 to 2021 for 35 African countries, the paper empirically examined the nexus between infrastructure and political risk. Several techniques were employed to determine the dynamic effect, cointegration and causality between infrastructure and political risk. Controlling for the potential endogeneity in infrastructure the system Generalized Method of Moments, the relationship between political risk and infrastructure was ascertained. Furthermore, the ARDL-PMG was employed to determine the cointegration and causal relationship between infrastructure and political risk. The results suggest a cointegration between infrastructure assets and political risk. Infrastructure adjusts to changes in political risk to its long-run equilibrium at a speed of adjustment of 16.9 per cent. Bridging infrastructure gaps in Africa requires an extensive set of actions. Thus, the policy derivatives of our findings, suggest controlling the proliferation of political risk to support infrastructure investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the African context, the threat of the disruption of traditional business value-creation processes, currently facilitated by the growing information technology (IT) ecosystem, came with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on interfirm relationships within the context of the digital ecosystem in Africa. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs an explanatory–exploratory qualitative approach from an interpretivist stance to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on interfirm relationships. The authors conducted seven in-depth interviews with top management executives in a Nigerian technology company, together with the company's archival data that provided the pre, during and post pandemic (2018–2021) business-to-business (B2B) relationship structures, to determine how these relationships have been affected. Findings: The results suggest that the pandemic had a minimal effect on partnership relationships in the B2B ecosystems of the case company but affected only non-partnership relationships. Research limitations/implications: The authors' qualitative study is interpretive and the sample size is limited. Hence, there is a need for caution in generalizing the findings. The framework can be further validated across a wider population. Practical implications: Partnerships can help organizations weather business crises. Consequently, organizations should maintain a healthy number of partnership relations to deal with periods in which challenges emerge in the business landscape. In other words, with tight contracts and a strategic focus on goals and objectives, partnership relations can help organizations weather business crises. Originality/value: This study builds upon the burgeoning body of literature on digital ecosystems within the African context, which is a relevant contextual contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale cross-border trade is ubiquitous in Africa. This paper uses disaggregated trade data to assess the determinants of the product portfolio of different groups of small-scale traders at the border between Uganda and Kenya. Using a weighted fractional response model, it finds that wheelchair-bound traders have a significantly higher propensity to handle products that are subject to high protection than other traders. This result suggests that border officials discriminate in favor of traders with disability in the enforcement of trade policies or the solicitation of bribes. More generally, the findings question the effective implementation of preferential trade agreements in Africa and call for trade policy reforms to be complemented by targeted measures to reduce the hardship faced by vulnerable groups within the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive terrestrial ecosystems of tropical Africa are a significant store of carbon, and play a key but uncertain role in the atmospheric budgets of carbon dioxide and methane. As ground-based observations in the tropics are scarce compared with other parts of the world, recent studies have instead made use of satellite observations assimilated into atmospheric chemistry and transport models to conclude that methane emissions from this geographical region have increased since 2010 as a result of increased wetland extent, accounting for up to a third of global methane growth, and that the tropical Africa region dominates net carbon emission across the tropics. These studies rely critically on the accuracy of satellite datasets such as those from OCO-2, GOSAT, and Sentinel-5P TROPOMI, along with results from atmospheric transport models, over a geographical region where there are few independent data to test the robustness of published results. In this paper we present the first ground-based observations of greenhouse gas column concentrations over East Africa, obtained using a portable Bruker EM27/SUN FTIR spectrometer during a deployment covering the first few months of 2020 in Jinja, Uganda. We operated the instrument near-autonomously by way of an automated weatherproof enclosure, and observed total atmospheric column concentrations of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, as well as carbon monoxide, a useful proxy for emissions from incomplete combustion processes in the region. We discuss the performance of the combined enclosure and spectrometer system that we deployed in Jinja to obtain this data, and show comparisons of our ground-based observations with satellite datasets from OCO-2 and OCO-3 for carbon dioxide, and Sentinel-5P TROPOMI for methane and carbon monoxide, whilst also comparing our results with concentration data from the GEOS-Chem and CAMS atmospheric inversions that provide a means of increasing spatial and temporal coverage where satellite data are not available. For our measurement period, we find statistically significant differences at the 95% confidence level between the EM27/SUN and OCO-2 XCO2 (OCO-2 lower by a mean of 1.20ppm, standard deviation 1.05ppm), and between the EM27/SUN and Sentinel-5P XCO (Sentinel-5P lower by a mean of 3.68ppb, standard deviation 7.00ppb), whilst we found that the differ-ences between the EM27/SUN and OCO-3 XCO2 (OCO-3 lower by a mean of 1.15ppm, standard deviation 1.61ppm), and between the EM27/SUN and Sentinel-5P XCH4 (Sentinel-5P lower by a mean of 8.33ppb, standard deviation 10.5ppb), were not statistically significant. With regards to the model comparisons, we also see statistically significant differences between the EM27/SUN and a global GEOS-Chem inversion for XCO2 (GEOS-Chem lower by a mean of 0.35ppm, standard deviation 1.08ppm), between the EM27/SUN and a high-resolution GEOS-Chem inversion for XCH4 (GEOS-Chem lower by a mean of 3.80ppb, standard deviation 12.5ppb), and between the EM27/SUN and CAMS global analysis XCO (CAMS lower by a mean of 11.7ppb, standard deviation 8.94ppb). Our results demonstrate the value of ground-based observations of total column concentrations, and show that the combined EM27/SUN and enclosure system employed would be suitable for acquisition of the longer-term observations needed to rigorously evaluate satellite observations and model calculations over tropical Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical Africa and the North Atlantic Ocean are significantly influenced by African Easterly Waves (AEWs), which play a fundamental role in tropical rainfall and cyclogenesis in that region. The dynamics of AEWs can be described in a PV framework and redistribution of PV by latent heat release links PV to the important cloud and rain processes within the waves. This paper introduces an innovative approach for a comprehensive identification and tracking of potential vorticity (PV) structures within AEWs. By employing AEW tracking and computing the wave phase of each point within the AEW domain using a Hilbert transform, we are able to effectively identify and collect 3-D PV structures associated with specific AEWs. To facilitate a climatological analysis, these structures are subsequently characterized by low-dimensional descriptors, including spatial information, intensity, and geometric approximations. A climatological analysis reveals the seasonal evolution and the structural attributes of PV anomalies within AEWs over the study domain. PV feature locations closely align with the African Easterly Jet's latitudinal shift during the summer season. Analysis of the mean pressure level of the 3-D PV structures shows a remarkable shift during their life-cycle, indicating deep moist convection characteristics over land, and more shallow convection characteristics over the ocean. Both, composite data centered around identified AEW troughs and statistical analysis of main axes agree on an downshear tilt of the PV feature over land, and a tilt to the south over the ocean. The trough-centered analysis reveals distinct differences between satellite-estimated and model-predicted rainfall. The agreement between the results of the composite analysis and the feature analysis provides confidence in our feature approach as a novel diagnostic tool. The low-dimensional representation of PV features enables the research on further statistical analyses, for example the relationship of these features with tropical cyclogenesis or as predictor for rainfall in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore whether China-Africa exchange will influence on the African environment. This paper selects four paths of China-Africa exchanges and explores the impact of each path on the African environment under the influence of different factors. We found that construction income and Africa's exports to China will increase Africa's carbon emissions. Foreign direct investment and China's exports to Africa will lead to a reduction in carbon emissions in Africa. The resource moderation will reduce the significance of the environmental impact of each path on Africa. Based on the above conclusions, several suggestions are made on the policies and actual operations in the path of China-Africa exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations in the troposphere are decreasing globally, with Africa as an exception. Yet, the region is understudied, with a deficit of ground-based observations and highly uncertain CO emission inventories. This paper reports multiyear observational CO data from the Mt. Kenya Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station, as well as summertime CO isotope observations from both Mt. Kenya and Nairobi, Kenya. The CO variability at Mt. Kenya is characterized by slightly increased concentrations during dry periods and a strong influence of short-term pollution events. While some data gaps and differences in instrumentation complicate decadal-scale trend analysis, a small long-term increase is resolved. High-pollution events are consistent with isotopic signal from downwind savanna fires. The isotope fingerprint of CO in Nairobi indicates an overwhelming dominance (near 100 %) of primary emissions from fossil fuel combustion with implications for air pollution policy. In contrast, the isotope signature of CO intercepted at the large-footprint Mt. Kenya region suggests that at least 70 % is primary sourced, with a predominance likely from savanna fires in Africa. Taken together, this study provides quantitative constraints of primary vs. secondary CO in the eastern Africa region and in urban Nairobi, with implications for satellite-based emission inventories as well as for chemical transport and climate modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the ongoing failure of hybrid transgenic Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton unique to India. The underlying cause for this failure is the high cost of hybrid seed that imposes a suboptimal long-season low plant density system that limits yield potential and has associated elevated levels of late-season pests. Indian hybrid Bt cotton production is further complicated by the development of resistance to Bt toxins in the key pest, the native pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella Saunders, PBW), resulting in increased insecticide use that induces ecological disruption and outbreaks of highly destructive secondary pests. Rainfed cotton production uncertainty is further exacerbated by the variable monsoon rains. While hybrid cotton produces fertile seed, the resulting plant phenotypes are highly variable preventing farmers from replanting saved seed, forcing them to buy seed yearly (i.e., market capture), and effectively protecting industry Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The lessons gained from the ongoing market failure of hybrid Bt cotton in India are of utmost importance to its proposed introduction to Africa where, similar to India, cotton is grown mainly in poor rainfed smallholder family farms, and hence similar private–corporate conflicts of interest will occur. Holistic field agroecological studies and weather-driven mechanistic analyses are suggested to help foresee ecological and economic challenges in cotton production in Africa. High-density short-season (HD-SS) non-hybrid non-genetically modified irrigated and rainfed cottons are viable alternatives for India that can potentially produce double the yields of the current low-density hybrid system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major 21st Century global health challenge. The WHO African Region Member States committed to develop and implement multisectoral national action plans (NAPs) that address AMR, in line with the Global Action Plan (GAP). Objective: The aim of this paper is to present the progress of AMR response in the WHO African Region based on the annual Tracking AMR Country Self-Assessment Survey (TrACSS), with a focus on human health indicators. Methods: This was a secondary data analysis of responses from fortyone countries that participated in the 2021 TrACSS. Results: Of the 41 countries that responded to the 2021 TrACSS, 35(85%) have developed NAPs. 15 (37%) of countries have functional AMR multisector working groups. 55% (21/41) of countries are collating data nationally on AMR surveillance. Forty nine percent of countries conducted small-scale AMR awareness campaigns and 53% (21/41) covered AMR in some pre- and in-service training for human health workers. While 83% of countries reported having laws and regulations on the prescription and sale of antimicrobials, only 32% (13/41) have national systems for monitoring antimicrobial use. Twenty-three (58%, 23/41) reported having Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) programs at select health facilities. Conclusion: Countries have developed and are implementing AMR NAPs. Gaps still exist across key indicators monitored through TrACSS. Effective AMR response requires established functional multisectoral governance mechanisms in the One Health approach; political commitment, sustainable funding, and clear monitoring and reporting is critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown a possible link between women achieving some degree of economic independence through empowerment and a decline in gender-based violence (GBV). However, inadequate funding has been a major challenge in developing economies, while foreign aid has been seen as an alternative funding source. Foreign aid for promoting women's rights and gender equality is improving in African countries. Yet, according to official statistics, the frequency of GBV in Africa is among the highest in the world. Given this, this paper examines the impact of women's aid and institutional quality on factors that can reduce GBV using both cross-sectional autoregressive lags to investigate short- and long-run implications and the Panel Vector Correction Model to examine the shock effect of aid on other variables. Also, the mediating role of institutional quality and women's aid are considered. The metrics used for the factors that reduce GBV are female children out of school, the secondary school gender parity index, the genital mutilation prevalence rate, and the metrics for institutional quality are the rules of law and government effectiveness. The implications from the findings show that enhancing the legal structure is very important in Africa, given the low coefficient values to reduce discrimination against the right to education; more should be done to increase the enrolment of female students through the maximisation of women's aid in order to achieve the short- and long-term objectives of reducing gender violence. The findings also show that the rule of law significantly aids in the reduction of female genital mutilation in the short and long run; government effectiveness is insignificant. Also, they show that women's aid also reduces female genital mutilation, albeit at a low rate. The results of this study call for strong enhanced government support and funding to end the practice of female genital mutilation and discrimination against female education in the short and long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As entering the twenty-first century, the degradation of Africa’s marine environment has become increasingly severe due to rapid population growth, urbanisation, natural disasters, the pressures of overfishing and economic development. Therefore, protecting and restoring Africa’s marine ecosystems is essential to realize the benefits of these resources at the global and regional levels. This paper drew on ecological indicators such as catch data, mean trophic level (TLm), relative primary production required (%PPR), and loss in secondary production index (L index) to measure and assess the impact of marine fisheries on ecosystems. Meanwhile, it constructed a pathway model based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis to assess ecosystem-level impacts by analysing how economic growth and urbanisation affect the structural diversity of marine ecosystems in West Africa, to study the more complete processes associated with marine resource depletion. Economic growth and urbanisation were found to have both direct and indirect effects on marine trophic structure, and the combined effects suggest that the economic EKC hypothesis does not apply to the marine ecosystem of West Africa, while the urban EKC hypothesis is supported, and that increased levels of urbanisation will benefit diversity of marine fishery catch in West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]