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Itinerant merchants are actively involved in various economic activities within and around African cities, albeit on a small scale. However, there remains a gap in understanding their contribution to host cities' local economic development (LED). This research aims to fill this gap by examining how itinerant immigrant retailers support LED in host cities, using Wa in Ghana. Recognising their role is essential for informing location-specific development plans to boost local economies. Employing a qualitative research approach, we interviewed 52 participants, including itinerant immigrants, city residents, and officials from relevant state agencies. Thematic analysis using NVivo version 11 was employed to analyse the responses. Itinerant merchants play a crucial role in local economies by creating employment opportunities, providing income sources for residents, ensuring convenient access to goods and services, and contributing to market diversification. We discuss how these insights could inform LED policies and planning in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the government of Ghana set out to reorganise some administrative regions to ensure balanced development across the country. The reorganisation was informed by spatial extent and concerns about the limited access to government institutions or services, measured by the travel distances between communities or towns and the capital of a region. However, studies have failed to assess the changes in the spatial extent and the travel distances from human settlements to the regional capitals in the newly created regions as well as the distribution of public services. As such, the motivation for this study. The data were gathered using an interview guide and from the Mapcruzin open-source database whereas the analysis was done using ArcMap, Geographical Information Systems, descriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests, and thematic analysis. The results indicate that the reorganisation significantly decreased the average travel distances in all the regions of interest, and the same was observed at the district and municipality levels, which suggests a general improvement in accessibility to services and institutions. However, the average travel distance rose for a few affected districts and municipalities. To achieve balanced development, the government must improve the transportation network to facilitate better access to public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), a social assistance programme, aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability. To this end, complementary services accompany such programmes to accelerate the process. However, a few studies have concentrated on access to complementary services. As such, this study focuses on investigating access to LEAP complementary services employing the mixed-methods design. Data were collected from 229 LEAP beneficiaries and LEAP programme implementers using questionnaires and an interview guide. The analysis of data involved descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The study found that national health insurance (NHI), school feeding, the education capitation grant, and labour-intensive public works were the LEAP complementary services accessed although skewed to NHI. The barriers to access to complementary services included unavailability of services, ignorance of entitlement, inability to enforce the memorandum of understanding, and poor institutional coordination. To improve access to complementary services, sensitisation and enforcement of memorandum of understanding are vital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's self-help groups (SHGs) play an essential role in the fight against poverty. Despite this, studies on the impact of SHGs on women's asset accumulation and incomes tend to focus on rural and urban areas, with peri-urban areas receiving little attention. Consequently, to help fill this gap, using the after-only study design, this study investigates the contribution of SHGs to asset accumulation in Wa's peri-urban areas. A questionnaire and an observation guide were used to collect data from 199 SHG members. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, while descriptive statistics, parametric and non-parametric methods were used to analyze quantitative data. Members were given loans, according to the study, but the repayment schedule was unfavourable. After joining SHGs, both productive and non-productive assets were acquired. Furthermore, those who took out loans and invested in income-generating ventures saw an increase in their earnings. In general, SHGs contributed to asset acquisition and income. SHG members should invest in productive assets to increase their incomes, according to the policy recommendation of this study. This study is unique because it focuses on SHGs in peri-urban areas, deviating from the norm by arguing that SHGs contribute to asset accumulation in those areas, thereby empowering members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]