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Background: Gestational diabetes (GD) can threaten the health of both the mother and the foetus if it is not effectively managed. While there exists a growing body of research on self-management interventions for GD, there is a lack of reviewed studies regarding the various self-management interventions in Africa. The purpose of this review is to map the evidence of self-management interventions for GD in Africa. Methods: Searches for records were conducted in four major databases, including PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct and Journal Storage. Additional documents from Google and Google Scholar were also added. The guidelines for conducting scoping reviews by Arksey and O'Malley were followed. Results: The results revealed that intermittent fasting, education on diet, insulin injection, blood glucose monitoring, physical activities, lifestyle modification and foot care were the available self-management interventions for GD in Africa. Most of the reviewed studies reported intermittent fasting and patient education as effective self-management interventions for GD in Africa. The barriers identified in the reviewed studies were either patient-related or facility-related. Patient-related barriers included lack of awareness, and negative attitude, while facility-related barriers included lack of access to education on GD, especially, face-to-face educational interventions. Conclusion: It is crucial to consider the cultural and personal needs, as well as the educational level of women with gestational diabetes when creating an effective self-management intervention. Optimal results can be achieved for self-management of gestational diabetes by integrating multidisciplinary approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the nexus between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow and tourism development. Using annual data for 44 countries in Africa from 1995 to 2014, and three different specifications of panel autoregressive distributed lag model, the study investigates short-run and long-run dynamics between FDI and tourism development. The study finds a significant positive relationship and a bidirectional long-run causality between FDI inflows and tourism development. In addition, the results show a negative short-run relationship between exchange rate and tourism development. Furthermore, there is evidence that economic growth and political stability are important determinants of tourism development. A major policy implication for African countries is that creating a politically stable environment and sustaining a growing economy help attract FDI inflows to boost tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a marked increase in the internationalization activities of African firms over the last two decades or so, resulting in the emergence of regional challenger firms that are aggressively competing with foreign multinationals in terrains historically dominated by the latter. However, our understanding of this phenomenon is limited, as empirical research examining the nature of internationalization of African firms is scarce, and research directly investigating drivers, outcomes, and boundary conditions of the internationalization of African firms is lacking. The goal of this special issue, therefore, is to contribute to the scholarly understanding of the increasingly prevalent internationalization of African firms. This guest editorial provides a summary of the six articles in this special issue, and highlights three broad thematic issues: internationalization opportunities for African firms (accelerated private‐sector development and regional integration, and ability to overcome institutional voids); internationalization challenges (global competitiveness challenges, limited management and cross‐cultural capabilities, and overcoming the liability of Africanness); and internationalization risks (losing focus on home markets and over‐internationalization). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight important contemporary themes in international marketing strategy from the perspective of Sub-Saharan African firms.Design/methodology/approach The approach adopted is a review and synopsis of the existing body of research on international marketing research in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a discussion of the manuscripts included in the special issue.Findings International marketing in Sub-Sahara Africa is growing steadily, driven largely by rapid changes in socio-economic and demographic characteristics of consumers in this market. The growing appetite of multinational enterprises to explore new growth opportunities on this continent and the increasing intra-Africa cross-border transactions is driving unique approaches to international marketing that are predicated on using non-traditional means to produce, communicate and distribute products and services.Research limitations/implications While the international marketing opportunities and challenges discussed in this paper are not exhaustive, the paper highlights important research themes that need consideration regarding international marketing research in Sub-Saharan Africa.Originality/value This introductory paper emphasizes the unique international business landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa and discusses its international marketing strategy implications. The paper further draws attention to a number of unanswered research questions that require additional research, and thus bring Sub-Saharan Africa to international marketing scholarly enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops and tests arguments that the relationship between organizational creativity and market performance is channeled through new product development (NPD) capability, and that the indirect effect of creativity on performance, via NPD capability, is conditional upon levels of environment dynamism and market responsiveness. The proposed relationships are tested on a sample of 221 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a major sub-Saharan African market. Findings from the study indicate that process and product NPD capabilities partially mediate the effect of novelty and usefulness elements of organizational creativity on market performance. The study further finds that while environment dynamism weakens the indirect effects of novelty and usefulness of organizational creativity, via process and product NPD capabilities, on market performance, the effects are strengthened under conditions of greater responsiveness to target market needs. A theoretical contribution from this study is the finding that how organizational creativity dimensions drive market performance is more complex than previously thought: it depends on whether or not organizational creativity components are first used to develop an organization's process and product innovation capabilities, and whether target market environment conditions are dynamic and an organization has ability to respond to target market demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]