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The agro-processing sub-sector of the manufacturing industry has high recognition on the South African government’s development agenda. Yet, the contribution of the sector to the economy with respe...

In South Africa, exploiting economic opportunities in the handicraft sector could create livelihood and employment for ordinary citizens living in rural areas. The potential contribution of handicraft small enterprises to sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation is yet to be fully exploited. It is also regarded as a sector with great growth potential, but the degree of support provided to the handicraft sector is low. The study aims to evaluate the socioeconomic factors influencing the viability of handicraft small businesses operating in KwaZulu-Natal. Data collection was drawn from a stratified random sample of 196 handicraft practitioners operating in different areas of KwaZulu-Natal Province with a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed with the STATA statistical package. The results obtained from the study have shown that 84 enterprises (42.86%) were not viable, whereas 112 of the 196 handicraft enterprises (57.14%) were viable. The percentage of overall correct classification for this procedure was equal to 77.96%. Percentage sensitivity for the fitted logistic regression model was equal to 60.71%. Percentage specificity for the fitted logistic regression model was equal to 82.14%. The p-value obtained from Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test was equal to 0.0884 > 0.05. This indicates that the fitted logistic regression model is fairly well reliable. The findings from the analysis showed that two factors significantly influenced the viability of handicraft enterprises. These two factors were the belief that handicraft business could sustain the handicraft practitioner, and the level of support for handicraft businesses from non-governmental organizations is decreasing. AcknowledgmentSouth Africa SarChi Chair, Nation Research Fund and Department of Science and Technology, South African, for providing funding for this research.

The newly elected South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, set an ambitious objective to attract US$100 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for South Africa’s sustainable socio-economic develo...

Poverty alleviation has been positioned high on the international development agenda following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. African countries init...

This research paper explores how the China–Africa Science and Technology (S&T) relationship has evolved over the years based on two specific outputs: research publications and patents. China–Africa...

Bridging the innovation chasm requires different solutions, one of which is awareness. In the university context, it is important to measure the awareness of the university community in respect of ...

The direct current (DC) system is becoming the major trend for future internal power grid of electric vehicles (EVs). Since DC power grid system has a different nature to conventional alternating c...

Microfinance institutions render essential services to start-up small, micro, medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) by way of extending loans to entrepreneurs. SMMEs operating in South Africa have relatively better access to microfinance loans in comparison with those operating in Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. A survey was conducted in order to compare the relative ease of access to microfinance loans in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia based on a survey conducted in the four Sub-Saharan African countries. The ease of access to microfinance loans was assessed based on criteria defined by Barry and Tacneng (2014). A total of 401 SMMEs participated in the study. Loan applicants were asked to provide answers to questions that indicated the ease of securing loans and meeting loan repayment conditions. Emphasis was placed on the demand for collateral as a requirement for extending loans to applicants, the assessment of entrepreneurial and auditing skills of loan applicants, the difficulty of meeting loan repayment conditions, and adherence to regulations and guidelines recommended by governments. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate methods of data analyses were used for data analyses. The study found that about 21% of SMMEs were satisfied with the ease of securing loans, whereas the remaining 79% of SMMEs did not. The ease of access to microfinance loans varied by country in which South African loan applicants were the most satisfied in comparison with the remaining three countries. Securing microfinance loans, as well as fulfilling loan repayment conditions were easiest in South Africa, and most difficult in Ethiopia. In terms of ease of securing loans and meeting loan repayment conditions, the order of nations was ranked as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. In all four countries, the ease of access to microfinance loans was influenced by country of business operation, extent of benefits realized by SMMEs, and highest level of formal education.

The paper explores the factors driving Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) by Emerging multinational enterprisess (EMNEs) and the patterns of knowledge transfer in six cases of EMNEs from three BRICS’ economies (India, China and South Africa). It found that there are significant differences between the OFDI from EMNEs and Developed multinational enterprise (DMNEs), which cannot be explained by using traditional FDI models. The way that EMNEs enter and operate in developed and developing countries are different. Knowledge transfers between EMNEs and developing host economies are predominantly one way and the former transfers more technology and knowledge than they gain. In the case of EMNEs and developed host economies, the knowledge and technology transfers appears to be more evenly matched, a two-way street benefitting both parties. The paper makes two major contributions: (i) it attempts to identify and distinguish the factors driving OFDI and patterns of knowledge transfer of OFDI from EMNEs and shows how they differ from DMNEs; (ii) it highlights aspects of OFDI by EMNEs such as expansion into countries outside their respective regions, and different patterns of technology and knowledge transfer in the South and North respectively.

Scholarly publication output of engineering research from the member countries of the African Union (AU) are mapped using scholarly publication data from the Scopus® database of Elsevier. The countries are ranked based on various parameters, for example; number of publications, activity index, citations received and so on. The collaboration profiles of countries are plotted using Social Network Analysis tools. The results show that the engineering research publications are increasing in Africa at an exponential rate. However, this is not the main research focus, as the indicators like the activity index and the relative specialization index show overall negative productivity. The possible reason for low productivity in engineering science is perhaps due to the limited coverage of African scholarly publications in global citation databases. Interestingly, engineering research papers from the AU member countries have received quite a good number of citations. So, it is fairly certain that African engineerin...

The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies have been the subject of many scholarly studies in recent years, as well as featuring in the popular media. This special issue of the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID) called for original research contributions in the various aspects of Science Technology and Innovation (STI) studies in the BRICS group of emerging economics. The issue is composed of 11 research papers on different STI topics relevant to the BRICS countries.

Economic success of a nation is highly related to Scientific and Technological (S&T) capability building. Therefore, both industrially developed and developing nations follow explicit strategies to increase their technological competency. However, Technological Capability (TC) building cannot be completed in isolation. It is a long-term process and requires a country to pass through different phases of learning, infrastructure development, human resources management and institutions building. This chapter analyses Indian and South African S&T capability through the major input (R&D expenditure, manpower) and output indicators (High Technology Export, Technology balance of payment, scholarly publications, patents and so on). It is observed that India is ahead of South Africa in some respect but in some areas South Africa’s performance is quite good. The study concludes with the policy recommendations from the developing countries’ particularly the South African perspective.

Climatic fluctuation is putting Nigeria’s agriculture system under serious threat and stress. The study of the effect of climate change on agricultural productivity is critical given its impact in ...