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Bamboo can be used to produce solid, gaseous, and liquid fuels, as well as to generate heat and biofuels for transport and electricity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the physical and fuel properties of Bambusa vulgaris in three ecological zones for their utilization potential for the production of biofuels. Thirty-six samples of Bambusa vulgaris culms from 3 ecological zones in Ghana were milled to powder to assess the physical and fuel properties. The physical properties; moisture content, high heating values, bulk density, density, and ash content were investigated. The fuel properties were based on ultimate analysis, carbon, hydrogen nitrogen, and oxygen. The mean moisture content (MC) for the green bamboo ranged from 68.8% (dead culm) to 148% (mature culm) and 168% (juvenile culm). The MC for dried samples ranged from 9.09 to 13.06%. The results showed that the % MC of the samples increased with decreasing values of high heating and ash content. The mean density of the matured bamboo culms varied from 616.84 to 641.68 kg·m–3 and dead bamboo culms from 609.01 to 632.72 kg·m–3. Marginal reduction in density was observed in dead bamboo culms across the three ecological zones as compared to the mature bamboo culms. This implies that when B. vulgaris overgrows, its density decreases. High heating values ranged from 16.12 to 18.14 MJ·kg–1. Bulk density determines the transportation and storage of biomass; it ranged from 0.12 to 0.52 g·m–3. The ash contents were within the threshold (≥3%) of European standard. The mean values for the ultimate analysis of carbon (48.46 to 53.31%), hydrogen (5.60 to 6.56%), nitrogen (0.58 to 0.61%), and oxygen (39.73 to 41.35) were higher. Fuel properties of Bambusa vulgaris are comparable to some wood types, lower to denser wood types, but higher than most of the herbaceous energy crops and agricultural residues. This means that Bambusa vulgaris may be a good feedstock for the production of bioenergy in terms of heat, charcoal, biogas, bio-power, and transportation fuel.

Additional file 1: Table S1. History of malaria-related signs/symptoms and caregivers’ health-seeking behaviour for their child’s symptoms including what action they took, whether they visited the health facility and the reasons for not visiting a health facility. Figures represent number and percentage (in parentheses). Table S2. Odds ratio of factors that influence malaria infections in children under five in East Akim district, Ghana.

Additional file 2. mRDT diagnostic accuracy by type and region.

Objectives: To evaluate the suitability of the male and female chairs for administrative staff in Kumasi Technical University in Ghana. Methods/Analysis: The male and female chairs were used as seats by the administrative staff in doing office work. The evaluation exercise was conducted in 47 selected offices in the administrative block at Kumasi Technical University. Effectively, each administrative staff from the gender groups was given six hours evaluation session. Questionnaires on good seat points and chair feature evaluation checklists were administered at the end of the session of which data were recorded. Findings: The majority - 75.51% males and 85.71% females - found it easy in entering and leaving the chairs upon sitting on them to do office work. None of the male and female administrative staff experienced pain at the back of their knees while using the chairs in the working environment. Also, 65.30% males and 80.00% females reported that they felt comfortable in using their respective office chairs. With respect to participants’ view about the chair feature checklists, 67.35% - 81.63% males agreed that the male chair was constructed using ergonomic principles, whilst 68.57% - 100.00% females agreed that the female chair was constructed using ergonomic principles. Application: Importantly, none of the users experienced restriction to movement and circulation of blood since their knees did not get into contact with the underside of their desks. Finally, the methodology for the evaluation of the two chairs was found to be simple and effective by providing information to the institutional head and users. Keywords: Evaluation, Anthropometry, Chair Measurement, Good Seat Point, Chair Feature Evaluation Checklist, Kumasi Technical University

This paper assesses the importance of non-pecuniary factors on tax compliance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In addition, the paper examines how legal origins affect tax compliance factors. Using the Round 5 of the Afrobarometer survey data across 29 countries, the findings revealed that non-pecuniary factors in the form of tax knowledge limitation; non-compliance by others; and corruption of tax officials are associated with reductions in the probability of tax compliance in SSA. On the contrary, factors such as trust in tax department; handling the provision of health, education and road needs, tend to be associated with increase the probability of complying with tax laws and obligations in SSA. In terms of legal origins, institutions and fiscal exchange have bigger association with compliance for common law countries (British origin) and civil law countries (French origin) respectively. JEL Classification: H26, H41Keywords: Tax knowledge, tax compliance, fiscal exchange, institutions, SSA

This study investigated the determinants of the rising fossil fuel consumption for three Sub-Saharan African countries - Ghana, Kenya and South Africa - to help manage the rising consumption fossil fuel consumption. The study employed the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square and Canonical co-integration regression techniques using data from 1975-2013. Among other results, the study revealed that income and urbanization increased fossil fuel consumption for all the countries. Also, while trade reduced fossil fuel consumption for Kenya and South Africa, the opposite was found for Ghana while the efficiency of the service sector reduced fossil fuel consumption for all the countries. The results of the study suggest efforts should be geared towards strengthening the energy efficiency system in each of these countries to help reduce fossil fuel consumption. Also, it is necessary that tariff and non-tariff barriers on products that do not promote energy efficiency is raised and vice versa, inter alia., International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, Vol 17 (2018)

This paper examines the financial determinants of private investment in Ghana using annual time series data from 1970 to 2010. Based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure to cointegration, the paper finds existence of cointegration among the variables. The empirical results support the view that private investment declines in both the short run and long run if the real interest rate is high and investors face severe financing constraints when credit is made scarce to the sector. Recommended were policies that would eliminate the financing constraints to make credit easily accessible to private investors.

This paper is a contribution to the empirics of climate change and its effect on sustainable economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using data on two climate variables, temperature and precipitation, and employing panel cointegration techniques, we estimate the short- and long-run effects of climate change on growth. We establish that an increase in temperature significantly reduces economic performance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, we show that the relationship between real gross domestic product per capita on one hand, and the climate factors on the other, is intrinsically non-linear.

This paper applies a local-linear non-parametric kernel regression technique to examine the effect of macroeconomic factors on stock market performance in Ghana. We show that the popular parametric specification in the existing literature suffers from functional misspecification. The evidence suggests that the relationship is non-linear and hence the implied elasticities are non-constant, contrary to findings in the literature. The main finding of the study suggests that stock prices are significantly affected by macroeconomic fundamentals and oil price shocks albeit weakly. This reinforces the need to closely monitor behaviour of macroeconomic indicators while sustaining prudent macroeconomic policy management.

This thesis consists of four independent papers. Paper I examines the effect of environmental policy on economic growth in a small open economy in a neoclassical framework with pollution as an input. We show that the effect of environmental policy on growth is stronger in the open economy case relative to the closed economy model if the country has strong aversion to pollution and thus serves as a net exporter of capital in the international capital market. On the other hand, if the agents in the economy have low aversion to pollution and thus import capital, the effect of environmental care on growth is stronger in the closed economy relative to the open economy. Paper II analyses the effect of asymmetry in factor endowments between resource-rich and resource-poor countries on equilibrium bias of technology development and adoption possibilities. First, we show that the bias in equilibrium technology in the resource-poor North is determined by its relative abundance of human capital and physical capital. Secondly, we show that the equilibrium bias in technology in the resource abundant South is dependent positively (negatively) on the relative abundance (scarcity) of skilled (unskilled) labour and the relative abundance (scarcity) of physical (natural) capital in the North. This force is dampened by the relative scarcity of skilled labour and physical capital in the South. These forces drive wage inequality, high cost of capital and skill technology mismatch in the South, all of which are bad for growth. These effects cumulatively, explains part of the observed differences in growth performance between resource -rich and resource-poor countries. Paper III investigated the relationship between long run economic growth in Ghana and natural resource abundance using time series econometric techniques. Using a number of indicators that could proxy for resource abundance in eight alternative specifications, the results rejected the resource curse hypothesis. Paper IV provides an empirical analysis of the factors accounting for inflation dynamics in Ghana using the bounds test and other econometric approaches. We find that real output, nominal exchange rate, broad money supply, nominal interest rate and fiscal deficit play a dominant role in the inflationary process in Ghana.

This paper examines the effect of environmental policy on economic growth in a small open economy in a neoclassical framework with pollution as an input. We show that environmental policy imposes a drag on long run growth in both the open and closed economy cases. The effect of environmental policy on growth is stronger in the open economy case relative to the closed economy model if the country has strong aversion to pollution and thus serves as a net exporter of capital in the international capital market. On the other hand, if the agents in the economy have low aversion to pollution and thus import capital, the effect of environmental care on growth is stronger in the closed economy relative to the open economy. Thus, from our set-up, environmental policy is harmful to growth but environmental sustainability need not be incompatible with continued economic growth.