The purpose of this study was to explore various public participatory stakeholders in the management of the City of Harare’s informal sector as well as to assess the role of stakeholders in the governance of this sector within the context of political polarisation. In doing so, the study employed a mixed method approach which included a questionnaire survey (N=195), in-depth interviews (N=12) and documentary analysis. Main observations suggested that public participation was far from being achieved due to a multiplicity of factors. Furthermore, despite the introduction of a progressive constitution and the existence of various participatory mechanisms, various challenges continue to inhibit public participation in Harare. These include lack of funding, continued central government intervention, re-centralisation of governance due to loss of political power by the ruling party, political polarisation, resistance by administrators to co-opt the public into decision-making processes and failure to adapt to change. In addition, despite commendable efforts by various stakeholders to engender stakeholder participation, there was a distinct absence of the development and implementation of effective stakeholder involvement strategies in flea market governance. The analysis also showed that the role of the Council especially that of councillors, has been diminishing over the years and conversely, City administrative officials have become more powerful beyond their line of duty. To make matters worse, currently, there are no specific legislative provisions that provide for community participation. The findings will be of interest to local government officials and scholars alike as they have a number of practical implications. There is a need to put in place a robust legislative framework that promotes citizenry involvement and that de-links party politics from development and governance of local authorities. A key policy priority should, therefore, be to inculcate a culture of inclusivity, tolerance and de-centralisation of power and governance.

The Historically, research focusing on the money demand function developing economies (especially Eastern European transition economies) was a difficult undertaking because of under-developed financial systems and the unavailability of data. This study aims to assist in filling this gap in the literature by employing three different estimation techniques to estimate the M1 and M2 money demand functions for Hungary. The study uses quarterly data for an 18-year period, obtained from the IMF’s International Financial Statistics database. The results based on the bounds testing procedure as well as the other two approaches confirm that a stable, long-run relationship exists between the demand for money and its determinants. The results’ robustness is enhanced by the similarities between the results of the various approaches used in the study. The money demand function can therefore theoretically serve as a tool to measure the effect of monetary policy decisions and in determining what parameters of the money demand function to adjust in order to yield the required effects. It is suggested that, in the case of Hungary the M1 money demand function might be the most appropriate model on which monetary policy decisions should be based. Keywords: Money demand, Hungary, stability, ARDL, cointegration

Firms in South Africa and other developing countries are facing a rapid increase in capital cost accompanied by an increase in leverage as a result of operating in uncertain environments, which complicate firms’ financing decisions and strategies. This paper examined the impact of rising leverage levels on firm’s cost of capital and the effect of country risk shocks on cost of capital and financing decisions among JSE listed firms. A dynamic panel model estimated with twostep system generalised methods of moments (GMM) was used to analyse panel data from 198 listed non-financial firms. The results suggest that the rising debt levels of JSE listed firms are negatively associated with weighted average cost of capital and cost of debt. Cost of equity was found to be an increasing function of firm leverage. High financial risk was found to be associated with an increase in cost of capital, high political risk associated with an increase in cost of equity and weighted average cost of capital (WACC), while an increase in economic risk is associated with high WACC and cost of debt. The study establishes that disaggregated country risk shocks significantly affect firms financing decisions. Keywords: Cost of capital, Leverage, Country risk components, GMM

The relation between asset returns and country risk is an important issue for international investors seeking diversification opportunities in emerging markets, particularly in South Africa. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of economic, financial and political components of country risk on stock and bond returns. A non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model was used to analyse the time-varying dynamic relationship between the country risk components and the two financial asset markets for a sample of 15 years monthly data. We found an asymmetric relationship between country risk and asset returns of the two markets. Political risk has long-run and short-run implications on stock and bond returns, while economic risk only has short-run effects on bond returns. These results suggest that international investors should carefully consider different components of country risk when seeking diversification opportunities.

The leading global discourse amongst development partners for the past three years has been predominantly dominated by Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 set new global development thinking and an ambitious target for the global scene run up to 2030. Tourism, as one of the central industries to global development, proclaimed 2017 as a year of Sustainable Tourism to rally the tourism industry towards the common global agenda in a manner that tackles the global challenges. There has been an acknowledgement that even though Agenda 2030 does not put tourism at the forefront of addressing the SDGs, the industry can help address most if not all the SDGs. This qualitative research paper makes use of various selected case studies selected from the southern African region chosen randomly to highlight how tourism can assist in meeting SDGs. Drawing lessons from various cases, which include a review of the tourism organisation's annual reports and SDG Voluntary National Review Reports, highlights that in most developed and developing countries tourism has been identified as a remedy for achieving SDGs. The study found that given the nature and scope of the industry, tourism has a critical interest in the meeting of SDGs as an environmentally sensitive industry. The research argues that for tourism to be an effective vehicle for achieving SDGs, there is a need for a collaborative approach that includes various stakeholders, including academics, as the issue of SDGs is not well understood amongst tourism stakeholders, which reduces the impetus and attainment of the global goals. Such collaborative effort in the spirit of leaving no one behind will propel the industry on a sustainable path.

Imports and exports play a vital role in every country’s economy. Both of these variables depend to a great extent either on the appreciation or depreciation of the country’s currency. Imports, exports and exchange rate are some of main determinants of economic growth and are also affected by economic growth. This paper aims to determine the effect of exchange rate and economic growth on both exports and imports in the South African economy. To achieve this objective, a test for cointegration was carried out using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. This model was applied on a time series quarterly data from 2008 to 2018. The error correction model and Granger Causality tests were performed to define the short-run and causal relationship amongst variables. The regression analyses reveals the existence of a long-run relationship within the estimated variables. In support of the economic literature, the study findings indicated that economic growth positively effects on both exports and imports. Nonetheless, the analysis depicted that in the long-run, Rand appreciation leads to more imports and fewer exports. Furthermore, the Granger Causality text suggested a bidirectional causality between the exchange rate and imports; between economic growth and imports, and between the exchange rate and economic growth. Succinctly, the used variables have a causal relationship with one another. Based on the findings, the study highlighted the pertinence of economic growth and emphasised the role played by the exchange rate in maintaining the balance between imports and exports. The study recommended that both currency value and economic growth should be given urgent attention in order to revive the deteriorating economy of South Africa.

The future of a stable and viable economy within South African Metropolitan cities will depend on the strengthening of key industries coupled with technological advancement. The aim of this paper is to identify key industry clusters in all four coastal metropolitan cities of South Africa namely Cape Town, eThekwini, Buffalo city, and Nelson Mandela Bay. Location quotient analysis is employed as a method to determine the industries that are playing key roles in the economic development and growth of the metropolitan cities. This paper uses a four-point 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 as the latest employment data available and a five-year interval is used as optimal data in terms of capturing potential structure change in the local economy of the coastal metropolitan cities in South Africa. Findings of this paper show that sub-industries in the manufacturing and service sectors have been the main drivers of the economic development in these metropolitan cities. Despite the creation of new technology, new business and new jobs to spearhead economic development in South Africa, the results obtained from this study indicate that some of these metropolitan cities are actually characterised by economic stagnation in some of their sub-industries that are supposed to be the key role players in economic growth. Keywords: Location quotient, industry cluster, metropolitan cities, South Africa.

This article empirically examines the impact of microfinance programme participation on household food security in Malawi. There has been an increase in the role of micro activities such as microfinancing that target the poor, vulnerable, and marginalised people in development agendas. This makes it essential to assess the effect of micro activities, for example, microfinance programmes on welfare indicators such as food security. The study used cross-sectional data that was collected in Malawi for the Third Integrated Household Survey in 2010-2011. It employed the Heckman Selection Model, which was deemed applicable since the selection to participate in credit programmes is typically non-random. Total real annual consumption per household was used as a proxy to capture household food security. The results of the study indicate that females contribute more to the food security state of a household than males. It also established that education level significantly and positively contributes to the state of household food security. Lastly, the study established that households that participated in microfinance programmes experience improvements in their status of food security. In light of this, it recommends that policymakers expedite the operationalisation of microfinance programmes with the intent to increase participation by improving policies such as the Microfinance Policy and Action Plan (2002). There should also be an increase in adult literacy programmes and development of microfinance institutions that target women.

Supply chain management is becoming more complex for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the need to improve performance seems to be significantly necessary. For SMEs to be efficient and effective towards minimising disruptions within the supply chain, ensure availability of resources and improve just-in-time delivery, information sharing coupled with supply chain collaboration and responsiveness are essential strategies to enhancing business performance. Therefore, the current study regards supply chain collaboration, responsiveness and information sharing as major factors influencing not only SMEs performance, but also allowing SMEs to better coordinate their business activities both within and outside the business environment. In this study, a quantitative research methodology was applied. Relational governance theory (RGT) provided structure to a clear understanding of information sharing among SMEs and customers, highlighting that SMEs aiming to improve their performance, should adopt the style of collaborating with the right suppliers and continuously communicating with the members of the supply chain. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) results support the empirical findings suggesting that the model fits the study. The reliability and validity of the constructs (composite reliability) and the average variance extracted sought the empirical findings that correlate the need for SMEs to employ information sharing, supply chain responsiveness and supply chain collaboration as a determinant influence on SMEs performance.

Entrepreneurship has been considered an imperative component of economic development. This is specifically true for developing countries, such as South Africa, where economies face high levels of unemployment and poverty. Several countries have emphasised the importance of female entrepreneurship development, and evidence from the literature suggests that entrepreneurs who accumulate entrepreneurial training prove higher commitment to stay in and grow the business. As such, the aim of this study was to explore the differences in various entrepreneurial factors between South African female entrepreneurs having some form of entrepreneurial training and those who have not had such training. The methodology followed a quantitative descriptive approach using a convenience sampling method. Female entrepreneurs from all nine South African provinces were included and data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. In total, 510 useable questionnaires were returned. Data were analysed using descriptive, reliability and validity analysis, MANOVA and ANOVA. From the results, four variables returned a statistically significant value: external motivation, intention to grow the business, entrepreneurship training and education and business growth factors. From these variables, all with the exception of the external motivation variable, reported higher means for the group who had previous exposure to entrepreneurial training. No differences were observed for the variables concerning internal motivation, intention to remain in business and attitude towards business. The literature supports the findings in that females who had previous entrepreneurial training reported higher means for intention to grow their business. Surprisingly, females with previous entrepreneurial training reported a lower mean for external motivation, possibly suggesting that training may affect their outlook regarding desire for wealth, applying skills and knowledge, proving oneself and improving one’s status, for example. Recommendations include that government should introduce and promote special training programmes for female entrepreneurs and facilitate funding opportunities for these businesses to ensure sustained growth.