Stakeholders In Africa Research Articles

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Its Promises for the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Girls and Women in Africa

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals take into account the economic, social and environmental challenges of our world. In relation to the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of girls and women, the Sustainable Development Goals provide a platform for the enhancement of the SRHR of adolescents and women, especially in Africa. The promises of SDGs are to eliminate gender disparities in the education sector and to ensure equal access at all levels particularly for the vulnerable girls and women in Africa. The SDGs promise to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages through universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes. Predictably, few years down the line, most African countries have not demonstrated sufficient commitment and political will towards the realisation of these noble goals. The reproductive and sexual health of concerned girls and women in Africa that have been deliberately relegated for several decades can no doubt be redeemed by the SDGs. We advocate to Governments, non-governmental organisations and stakeholders in Africa to work towards the realisation of the SDGs and for more sensitization to enable African women live a happy and fulfilled life devoid of discrimination, sexual abuses or exploitations, injustice as well as unequal access to economic, political and reproductive health services.

Status and Performance of Open Access Journals in Africa

This article reports on an examination of the uptake and status of open access journals (OAJs) in Africa based on the listing of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The article addresses the questions of the pattern of distribution of OAJs in Africa and examines the distribution of the oldest closed access journals that have migrated to the open access (OA) platform; the distribution of the publishers; and the licensing regime and publication languages. We first downloaded all the content of the DOAJ into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and then into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, after editing. For data on publishers, the list of publishers was pasted into the MS Excel spreadsheet and physically sorted. As at November 2014, the total volume of OAJs globally registered in the DOAJ was 10 152, including those born closed which have now migrated to the OA platform. Globally, Europe produced the largest number of journals, followed by Asia, North America, South America and Africa. South America produced the highest number of journals per country. Egypt had the highest number of journals through the activities of one organisation, Hindawi. A journal of African origin is the oldest closed access journal in the DOAJ database; while corporations dominate OAJ publishing. Generally, OA uptake in Africa is considerably low. We suggest that the DOAJ should be proactive in sensitising publishers and other stakeholders in Africa about their services and the benefits, and how to include their journals in the database.

Open Government Data in Africa: A preference elicitation analysis of media practitioners

Open Government Data (OGD) continues to receive considerable traction around the world. In particular, there have been a growing number of OGD establishments in the developed world, sparking expectations of similar trends in growing democracies. To understand the readiness of OGD stakeholders in Africa especially the media, this paper (1) reviews current infrastructure at OGD web portals in Africa and (2) conducts a preference elicitation analysis among media practitioners in 5 out of the 7 OGD country centers in Africa regarding desired structure of OGD in developing countries. The analysis gives a view of the relative importance media practitioners ascribe to a selected set of OGD attributes in anticipation of a more functional OGD in their respective countries. Using conjoint analysis, the result indicates that media practitioners put premium on ‘metadata’ and ‘data format’ respectively in order of importance. Results from the review also reveal that features of current OGD web portals in Africa are not consistent with the desired preferences of users. Overall, the study provides a general insight into media expectations of OGD in Africa, and also serves as a foundational knowledge for authorities and practitioners to manage expectations of the media in connection with OGD in Africa.

Governing the “Digital Shadows”: Public Policy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Acquisition and Utilization in Africa

This paper examines the challenges of appropriating the benefits of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution by African states, against the backdrop of the realities of globalization and the role that ICT plays in global power relations. Built on the foundations of Jurgen Habermas’ public sphere, it weaves a conceptual framework around the ideas of a “cyber-square” and “cyberspace policy” to argue for an African perspective to the adoption, acquisition and utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to meet the specific needs of sub-Saharan African countries. It argues that, in spite of the challenges of ICT development in Africa, it is a lifeline that African states should embrace determinedly through purposeful public policy. It argues this deliberately to underscore the importance of purposeful ICT policy making to meet Africa’s needs for social and economic revival and the promotion of the numerous national and continental interests that straddle the broad spectrums of the African political, cultural and economic landscapes. Through the use of secondary data, the author gives evidences for these by drawing examples from African countries. The paper recommends a multi-stakeholder approach to ICT policy development that reigns in not only African governments but also other stakeholders in Africa’s ICT revolution. This, it argues, will help Africa evolve acceptable, adaptable and beneficial ICT policies capable of galvanizing and sustaining positive development to move Africa to its next stage of development.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSITIES CO-PRODUCTION IN AFRICA

Universities are engine of growth and development if well managed and sustained. Most of the universities in Africa are performing below expectation especially in co-production. Therefore, the study seeks to explore the role of university in fostering co-production with reference to Africa. What are the key features of highly co-production universities? And why is it that African universities are not innovative? Qualitative method was used, interviews were conducted with some of the stakeholders in Africa and secondary data were used. Secondary data were sourced through newspapers, journals and text books to validate the data. The findings reveal that lack of collaboration, poor funding, inadequate man power and lack of training constitute hindrance to innovation practice. The paper suggests, collaboration, information technology development and training should be enhanced.

Toxicovigilance Systems and Practices in Africa

African consumers and citizens are growingly aware of the wide range of toxic poisoning scenarios from different products and hazards. Recurrent episodes on poisoning that have been reported in Africa include toxic hazards in consumers’ products ranging from food to herbal medicine, drugs, and cosmetics. Chemical poisoning remains an issue that is overlooked by public health stakeholders in Africa. Available information on toxicovigilance systems and practices in African countries is reviewed in terms of increasing development, organization and articulation levels. Less than nine out of 54 African countries have a legally recognized toxicovigilance system. Of these, the majority have created toxicovigilance systems recently, and are facing many challenges in developing them, at regional and country levels. Basic structures for a good toxicovigilance system include a phone line service (available 24/7), and hospital facilities. Pesticides emerge as the hazard recognized by all of the toxicovigilance systems, and may represent a prototypic toxicant towards a toxicovigilance system that is inclusive of a wider spectrum of toxicological hazards for the protection of community health. Toxicovigilance today is more reactive than preventive in Africa, but some milestones are present that constitute some promising seminal efforts.

Collaboration as a way of building entrepreneur universities in Africa

Universities are engine of growth and development if well managed and sustained. In Africa, however, universities are relatively less productive especially in collaboration. Therefore, the study explored the role of universities in fostering co-production with reference to Africa. For instance, what are the key features of highly co-production universities? And why is it that African universities are not innovative? Qualitative method was used, in-depth interviews were conducted with some of the stakeholders in Africa, and secondary data were used. Secondary data were sourced through newspapers, journals and text books to validate the data. Convenient sampling technique was used in the determination of the respondents. The findings reveals that lack of collaboration, poor funding, inadequate man power and lack of training constitute hindrance to innovation practice. The paper suggests, collaboration, information technology development and training should be enhanced.

Regional Projections of Extreme Apparent Temperature Days in Africa and the Related Potential Risk to Human Health.

Regional climate modelling was used to produce high resolution climate projections for Africa, under a “business as usual scenario”, that were translated into potential health impacts utilizing a heat index that relates apparent temperature to health impacts. The continent is projected to see increases in the number of days when health may be adversely affected by increasing maximum apparent temperatures (AT) due to climate change. Additionally, climate projections indicate that the increases in AT results in a moving of days from the less severe to the more severe Symptom Bands. The analysis of the rate of increasing temperatures assisted in identifying areas, such as the East African highlands, where health may be at increasing risk due to both large increases in the absolute number of hot days, and due to the high rate of increase. The projections described here can be used by health stakeholders in Africa to assist in the development of appropriate public health interventions to mitigate the potential health impacts from climate change.

RISK DRIVERS OF FALSIFIED AND SUB-STANDARD MEDICINES IN EAST AFRICA: PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF PHARMACEUTICAL DRUG FACILITY OWNERS/EMPLOYEES

An interview survey was conducted among drug shop owners to investigate the access to and perception ofcounterfeit medication along transport corridors of East Africa spanning Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and DemocraticRepublic of Congo. Owners of 171 retail drug outlets of modern medicines were interviewed on their knowledge,perception, and practices related to counterfeit medicines. Forty-four (44) encounters with counterfeit medicines werereported. Twenty-two (22) of the 171 interviewed drug store owners said that quality was the least important aspectthey considered when procuring drugs. Generally, 65.9% of the drugs were sourced from registered wholesalers anddistributors while the remaining 34.1% were supplied by unregistered in-country or cross-border sales representatives.In all the four countries, the 10 fastest moving drugs were reported to originate from 27 different countries with most(39%) from India. From 171 interviewees, 135 acknowledged that they were aware of the existence of counterfeitdrugs, 106 of whom attributed their level of awareness to mass media. Only 32 of the interviewees reported havingreceived any formal training on counterfeit medicines at seminars or workshops. 160 of the intervieweesacknowledged that counterfeit drugs pose a major threat to the patient and pharmaceutical market. The region has aplethora of drug outlets run by attendants with varying backgrounds, diverse knowledge on medicines and practicepatterns. There is an urgent need for medicine regulators and other stakeholders in Africa involved in medicine safety,to focus on properly regulating these outlets and also standardizing and training the drug outlet personnel.

Increasing the priority of mental health in Africa: findings from qualitative research in Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia

Despite the high prevalence of mental illness, mental health remains a low priority in Africa. There has been no investigation of the views of stakeholders in Africa on why this is and what can be done. This paper reports a comparison of the views of stakeholders in Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, focusing on the priority given to mental health by the government at the national and regional/province levels. We conducted semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and used a two-stage approach to analysis: firstly framework analysis in each study country, followed by comparative analysis of the country data. Mental health was largely considered a low priority at national and regional/provincial levels in all four countries. We identified nine factors affecting the priority of mental health, which were grouped into three categories: legitimacy of the problem, feasibility of response and support for response. Respondents put forward a range of experiences and suggestions for increasing the priority given to mental health. We conclude with broad suggestions to raise the priority of mental health. These suggestions are particularly relevant as mental health increases in priority on the international agenda, in order to inform advocacy for increased priority for mental health in Africa.

The plant biotechnology flight: is Africa on board?

The development of plant biotechnologies has been very rapid in recent times, especially in the developed countries. The technologies have created a new branch of biotechnology known as molecular farming, where plants are engineered to produce pharmaceutical and technical proteins in large quantities. An evaluation of the status of plant biotechnology development in Africa revealed that majority of the countries that are involved in biotech activities are still at the level of tissue culture applications. This calls for urgent and sincere commitments on the part of the various stakeholders in Africa, especially the governments, to the development of biotechnology capacity.

Illicit exploitation of natural resources

in Angola, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, warlords and leaders of militias and rebel movements prospered from the pillaging of their nation’s natural wealth as much as financiers of crime rackets, dishonest civil servants, corrupt politicians or national and international corporations. This impromptu alliance of stakeholders in Africa’s wars and violence could be broken down only with tens of thousands of peacekeepers, targeted sanctions against the most persistent looters and with billions of Dollars invested in rebuilding governmental capacities. Still, many nations are far from safe. Too heavy is the toll of war, violence and corruption to rebuild these countries in a few short years. With global demand for most commodities reaching record heights and while most of these resource rich states’ oversight and law enforcement institutions are still in shambles, it is as easy as ever - and much more profitable - to gain access to natural resources. Adhering to legal standards continues to be a minor consideration. For warlords and leaders of militias who have successfully transformed themselves into elites by joining political parties or by becoming businessmen, it’s business as usual. Sadly, these elites are greatly assisted by the apparent disinterest or inability of leading global companies – the ultimate users of raw materials - to reign-in the continued illegal exploitation of the developing world’s natural resources. Just in the last few months several investigations have revealed once again how criminal behavior is still pervasive in the natural resource business and how it affects each consumer around the world in unexpected ways. For at least four years it has been known that thousands of artisan diggers are exploiting cassiterite deposits (a tin oxide) around Walikale, in Eastern DRC. A report by Nicholas Garrett in the Financial Times (6th March 2008) confirmed again that these artisans are laboring under the dictate of the renegade 85th brigade of the Congolese army led by Colonel Samy Matumo. The production not only enriches these bands of soldiers and their commanders, but for years the cassiterite has been bought and traded through Western metals exchanges and brokers. Eventually it is used for the production of electronic products made by largest companies in this sector.