HIV/AIDS scourge and economic growth in sub-Sahara Africa
This study examines the impact of HIV/AIDS scourge on economic growth of some selected Sub-Sahara African countries. The three sub-Sahara African regions (Southern, West and Eastern) are categorized into lowest and highest HIV prevalence rate, using the global report of the UNAIDS 2012 data. In each region, the lowest and the highest HIV prevalence rate countries are selected respectively. Thus, we consider a panel of three countries in each category over a period from 1995–2012. We used these data to estimate the cross-country level regressions of these two categories, using panel data models. Thus, our results are in twofold: For lowest HIV prevalence rate category, the pooled OLS model was the “best” model. This pooled OLS model indicated that, for one unit increase in HIV prevalence rate, the gross domestic product per capita of countries is expected to decrease by US $23.46, holding all other variables constant. Again for highest HIV prevalence rate category, the fixed effect model was the “best” model. The fixed effect model revealed that, one unit increase in HIV prevalence rate will cause the gross domestic product per capita of countries to decrease by US $9.98, holding all other variables constant. Generally, for a unit increase in HIV prevalence rate, the impact of HIV on the economy is two-thirds larger in lowest HIV prevalence rate countries than that of the highest HIV prevalence rate countries.
S Twumasi-Ankrah, JT Ashaolu, Isaac Ankrah
Holistic analysis of the relationship between capital structure and stock price of consumer staples
Purpose: This study seeks to assess how capital structure and stock price are related to Ghana's consumer staple sector. Design/methodology/approach: The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has six consumer staple companies listed on it. The stock prices, equity values, debt values, market capitalization, and earnings per share of the listed consumer staple sector companies obtained from GSE were analyzed using Excel and SPSS. The result indicated that between 2011 and 2019, the companies recorded high mean equity value than mean debt value. The correlation analysis also suggested a weak relationship between capital structure and stock price. The fitted regression models suggested that capital structure is not a predictive variable for the stock price. Findings: The study discovered that consumer staple sector companies must pay much attention to the capital structure since it has a weak relationship with the stock price. Because its effect is not easily identified within a short period but accumulates over time which severely influences investors' decision. The study also observed that capital structure and stock price variations pose certain challenges to the companies. Practical implications: Financing decisions play a vital role in the management of firms. Two main funding options accessible by firms are equity and debt. Firms have the choice to go in for one or both funding options. Investors who patronize these stocks or shares gain interest in the performance of the firms' stocks. It is worth noting that equity and debt make up a firm’s financing structure. Originality value: An optimal capital structure is obtained when a firm has the right …
M Owusu-Akomeah, Joseph Asare, EA Kuma, Stephen Owusu Afriyie
International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management
S.O Owusu-Akomeah, M.N., Asare, J., Kumah, E.A., & Afriyie
Holistic IoT Security, Privacy and Safety: Integrated, Approaches Protecting a Highly Connected World
Holistic IoT Security, Privacy, and Safety: Integrated Approaches Protecting a Highly Connected World is an authoritative, technical guide authored by Konstantinos Loupos. The book details the architecture, deployment, and practical application of the European Union’s ERATOSTHENES project, providing an enterprise blueprint for building trustworthy, self-defending Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems. Rather than treating device vulnerabilities, data privacy, and physical safety as isolated issues, this text provides a unified, defense-in-depth framework for highly distributed environments. It bridges the gap between digital asset defense and real-world physical safety, tackling the risks that arise when billions of low-power, heterogeneous edge devices are connected to critical infrastructure.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Home grown school feeding programme: The Ghanaian model as icon for Africa
Horngren’s Cost Accounting (A Managerial Emphasis), 16th Edition.
Horngren’s Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, 16th Edition
Hospitality and Tourism Marketing: Building Customer Driven Hospitality and Tourism Organizations
Hospitality and Tourism Marketing: Building Customer Driven Hospitality and Tourism Organizations is an absolutely crucial book in light of the world post COVID-19. Following the pandemic, big hotel chains like the Accor Group and Marriot closed outlets, but post COVID-19, the global hospitality and tourism sector is bouncing back. In bouncing back though, the pandemic brought to the fore the absolute need for high levels of customer centricity in a world that was gripped by fear. This new Hospitality and Tourism (H&T) Marketing book takes a customer-oriented approach to discussing marketing discipline in the global H&T sector. With chapters spanning topics like service characteristics of hospitality and tourism marketing, people management strategies for service businesses, consumer behaviour, designing and building brands, electronic marketing, internet marketing, database marketing, and direct marketing and relationship marketing, this book has the right balance of technology and consumer-oriented topics to provide the right balance for tourism marketing practitioners post pandemic.
Robert Ebo Hinson, Ishmael Mensah, George Kofi Amoako, Esi Akyere Mensah, Isaac Coffie, Eddy Khosa
Host perspectives of international volunteer tourists in Ghana: the case of Asebu community
Volunteer tourism discourse seems to have a disproportionate emphasis on the guest at the expense of the host. This trend seems to be replicated in the Ghanaian studies although it is well understood that without host support, tourism cannot be sustainable. Thus, this inquiry sought to examine the host guest relationship from the lens of the host, mainly from the relatively unexplored dimensions of language, power and reciprocity. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to solicit data from forty three participants in the Asebu community from November 2015 to April 2016. The data was analyzed using QDA miner, to bring out the themes and patterns in the transcript. The results indicate that the host has different perspectives towards the international volunteer tourist. These perspectives appear to be shaped by the degree of host involvement in the volunteer tourism enterprise. The findings revealed a spectrum of attitudes toward the guest which ranged from tolerance, indifference to suspicion. It was established that the host uncertainty about the motives of the guest was predicated on resident’s perceptions of direct benefits from volunteer tourism. Based on the findings, it was concluded that host perspectives of the volunteer tourist is function of contact factors which either enabled or mitigated interactions. It was recommended that the volunteer tourism organisation consider addressing the feelings of uncertainty among the host, by giving communities enough information about the motives and activities of the volunteer tourists.