Sustainable Wealth Creation Research Articles

Partnering, poverty reduction and rural enterprise advancement

NEPAD\'s (New Economic Partnership for African Development) overall vision for agriculture seeks to maximize the contribution of Africa\'s largest economic sector to achieve self-reliant and productive economies. In essence, NEPAD aims for agriculture to deliver broad based economic advancement, to which other economic sectors, such as manufacturing, petroleum, minerals and tourism, may also contribute in significant ways, but not at the same level as agriculture. Agriculture has been identified as the vehicle through which Africa will have to alleviate its poverty, hunger and food insecurity problems. Given this scenario, the University of Fort Hare (UFH) has, through its establishment of the Rural Enterprise Advancement Programme (REAP) and its implementation through the Nguni Cattle Project and the Agri-Park Business Training Programme, restructured its agricultural research, training and community partnering activities and established a strong partnering relationship with NEPAD Council. The main focus of REAP, as advancement programme, is to actively and constructively contribute to: i) Cost effective harnessing of the best available expertise and knowledge; ii) fulfilling all its functions optimally through the creation and fostering of purposeful and effective dynamic relationships or linkages – both of strategic and operational value; iii) organically growing, developing and replicating rural enterprises in other areas at the best possible costs; and iv) building a frame of reference for purposeful agricultural and agriculture related business and social growth research, training and community partnering programmes. Agricultural extension has now (through the design and implementation of REAP) started with new strategies to create opportunities for greater participation in agriculture as well as greater sustainable wealth creation opportunities for small-scale farmers. South African Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 35 (2) 2006: pp. 258-277

Transitioning from Dysfunctional to Normal Banking System after The 1997 Crisis: Thailand Policy Considerations

Transitioning from dysfunctional to normal banking system after the Thailand 1997 crisis is fundamentally a dynamic, trust building, process-oriented management problem. It is not a static goal oriented process with close-end solution because of multi-dimensions and dynamic complexity nature of the problem. The critical factor for success is to have adequate understanding and prudent addressing of all the stakeholders' interests - foreign and domestic, private and government, borrowers and lenders. It is very important that banks should be restored to its normal function as 'bridge of trusts' for fund users and fund providers to nurture a recreation of innovative SME entrepreneurs. The objective is to stimulate new value added private investment for sustainable growth and wealth creation. To mitigate the principle and agent problems in this process, one must dynamically understand, monitor and administer the management process well. Good theoretical knowledge and practical experience on banking operations in incomplete and imperfect market are also required. The proposal for transitional process in stages on Schumpeterian ground is designed to facilitate environment for identifying and creating incentive compatibility with risks and rewards sharing among stakeholders in cooporative competition setting. Government as a principle first endows all agents with trust capital in the form of limited, but contestable, banking competition, partial credit guarantee scheme and demand side intervention in value added business activites. All agents would have strong incentives to compete with one another in repeated game-like transactions to build information capital and reputation capital over time. The agency problems are alleviated by reputation building, efficient truth telling, self-sorting tournaments game with third party monitoring. The main focus is to jump start the economy through the fostering of new SMEs by providing partial credit guarantee with limited time, market based incentives and other related measures.

Sustainable Wealth Creation At The Local Level In An Age Of Globalization

(1998). Sustainable Wealth Creation At The Local Level In An Age Of Globalization. Regional Studies: Vol. 32, No. 9, pp. 863-871.