“The rise of social protection in form of social safety nets is attributed to the forceful return of poverty onto the international development agenda credited to World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)” (Chisinga, 2007:3). The basis of the discussion of social protection as a new model for development derives from the vision of the initiative as a path to sustainable economic development due to its holistic approach to poverty eradication and capability deprivation (Taylor, 2008)."In Africa, where pre-existing welfare regimes are often absent or comparatively very weak, the origins of cash transfer schemes stem from the search for alternatives to food and input transfers to tackle hunger"(Slater,2011:256). In the sub-Saharan region, for example, countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Namibia and Malawi have similarly embraced the trend by adopting social grants and cash transfers as a solution to poverty and capability deprivation. Malawi, portrays a vivid image of a country with little resources for 17 million inhabitants, leaving more than half of the population below the poverty line (Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MDGS) III report (2017). The goal of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) is to reduce poverty, hunger and increase school enrolment among the poorest 10% of households. Targeting the correct 10% is key to the success of the program. The World Bank Group, Malawi Poverty Assessment (2016), calls into question the likelihood of precisely targeting the chronically poor people in such initiatives. On the other hand, Houssou et al., 2007 and Slater, 2011 insist on the need to evaluate the foresee-ability of contextual intervention programs, especially if a country does not have the capacity for widespread social grants as targeting becomes a matter of concern. The idea is that social cash transfers will be successful in reducing poverty if the right individuals are targeted. Considering the high poverty rate in Malawi and the gaps between the lower poverty deciles and the income profile are marginal (Ellis, 2008), how accurate is the decentralized targeting process? Based on this rationale, this exploratory research explored and highlights the complexities in targeting of beneficiaries in the program which, as a result has contributed to the derailment of the program. Findings show that the Government of Malawi (GoM) has overlooked the necessary control mechanisms to achieve effective targeting. As such, the study identifies anomalies in the targeting process that play a significant role in affecting the achievement of the goal of the program. Thus, SCTP falls short of combating poverty in a multi-dimensional manner.

The agriculture sector in Kenya contributes about 34% of the GDP and is a major employer both formally and informally. The sector has historically experienced challenges in accessing commercial financing, with banks committing less than 5% of their portfolio to agriculture, which has limited the sector's growth. In August 2016, the Kenyan government introduced interest rate ceilings in a bid to reduce the cost of borrowing, thereby releasing more capital to all enterprises, including those in the agricultural sector. This study sought to examine the effect of these interest rate ceilings on the growth in lending to the agricultural sector in Kenya. The study estimated a panel multiple regression model for 26 commercial banks, spanning a 5-year period between 2014 and 2018. The analysis revealed that the amount of credit supply to the agricultural sector increased following the imposition of interest rate ceilings. The findings from the panel regression analysis confirmed that variations in the amount of loans to the agricultural sector were affected by the imposition of interest ceilings. The finding held after controlling for bank-specific characteristics, such as firm size, equity, asset quality, liquidity and interest spread, suggesting that interest rate ceilings, if prudently applied, could lead to increased access to credit for the agricultural sector. However, the subsequent reversal of the interest rate capping law demonstrated that this is a blunt tool for enabling access to credit not only because of its ineffectiveness but due to the fact that it is prone to politicisation. This study, therefore, recommends that the government creates a favourable policy environment that enhances competition and information sharing in the banking sector which will lead to lower costs of credit. If they are deemed necessary, interest rate caps should be selectively used to enhance lending only to sectors where there is sufficient empirical evidence of their effectiveness.

This study examines the impact of foreign exchange reserve accumulation on macroeconomic stability in South Africa over the period 1995-2016 using a vector error correction model. The results show that foreign exchange reserve accumulation has a positive impact on macroeconomic stability.

This study investigates the impact of sovereign credit ratings on foreign exchange rate returns for a sample of 27 African countries over the period 2003–2018 to examine the response of the exchange rates around the time of sovereign rating announcements. The data consist of longterm foreign currency sovereign ratings, outlooks, watch lists and daily exchange rates. The study applies a combination of an event study methodology using both univariate and multivariate analyses and the Granger causality tests in a panel framework as well as impulse response tests. The results suggest that, in Africa, exchange rates do not react significantly to changes in sovereign credit rating announcements. No significant evidence of contagion was found. It is thus implied that foreign exchange rates do not react significantly to new information from credit rating agencies which shows a disjoint between macro-economic fundamental performance and financial markets. African countries are encouraged to focus on stabilising their currencies, as well as attending to macro-economic fundamentals that will result in improved credit ratings.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the most electricity-poor region in the world with an estimated 62.5 percent or just above 600 million people without access to electricity and those who have access, are connected to an unreliable system that does not meet their energy needs. The introduction of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) is perceived to be the panacea to all the sector's problems in that it will attract much-needed private investment, increase generation capacity, reduce electricity tariffs due to efficiency and competition and ultimately increase the rate of access to electricity by the general population for the region. This study examined the impact of IPPs on electricity generation growth, tariffs and access in 48 countries in Sub- Saharan Africa using panel data from 1990 to 2013. The findings suggest that over the 23-year period, only 40 percent of the sampled countries had used IPPs for power generation. In addition, results from the panel regression estimations confirmed that the use of IPPs has increased regarding electricity generation growth and electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa and also led to a reduction in electricity tariff. The policy implication of this study is that Sub- Saharan African countries should allow for the participation of IPPs to achieve increased generation capacity, reduction of tariffs and increased access to electricity by the general population.

Abstract Despite powers and resources given to local authorities to deliver and manage their own resources, most municipalities still struggle to achieve their objectives as set out in the South African constitution. This research study sought to investigate and establish whether the infrastructure development funding by DFIs e.g. the DBSA invested in some of the under-resourced municipalities in all the provinces of the country has resulted in improved service delivery and upliftment of the socioeconomic standard of their communities and if not, what the specific reasons are. A qualitative research methodology was conducted because the objective was to get the opinions and experiences of the under resourced municipalities throughout all the nine provinces of South Africa. The results of the study indicated that municipalities are very aware of the role of DFIs and all the municipalities that participated in the study stated that they had received development loans from the DBSA. The results of this study also revealed that all the respondents indicated that development finance they received made a significant difference in improving infrastructure developments in their municipalities. It has advanced and uplifted the socio economic statuses of the communities and improved service delivery and quelling the frequency and severity of service delivery protests. Poor governance was a serious impediment in municipalities where lack of accountability, lack of leadership, tensions between political and administrative interface; poor ability of many councillors to deal with the demands of local government; lack of clear separation of roles between the legislative and executive; inadequate accountability measures and support systems and resources for local democracy and poor compliance with the legislative and regulatory frameworks for municipalities and fraud and corruption are among the key governance challenges faced by municipalities

Among other challenges, it can be argued that poverty remains the greatest challenge facing the developing countries, particularly for Sub-Saharan countries. A significant proportion of people in the developing world are severely affected by poverty. In 2013 it was estimated that 787 million of the world population lived in severe poverty (World Bank, 2016). Moreover, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for half of the population who are severely affected by poverty. Using Namibia as a case study and data sets from 1991 to 2017, this research investigates how financial development impacts on poverty reduction in the country. The study employed the Johansen Cointegration Procedure and Vector Error Correction Model to test the data. The data was obtained from the World Development Indicators and the Namibia Central Bank. The main findings suggest that financial development is important for poverty reduction in the Namibian context, and has a positive and significant effect on poverty reduction. Further, there was a unidirectional causality between financial development and poverty. The Johansen cointegration results reported three cointegration equations amongst the variables, confirming a long-run cointegration relationship between financial sector development and poverty reduction. Interestingly, the per capita GDP is negatively associated with the poverty measure. The study recommends the government to focus on policies that stimulate credit to the private sector. In terms of trade openness, policies should aim at improving and strengthening fair bilateral and multilateral trade, as well as promoting regional trade in order to grow trade volumes.

Domestic debt has over recent years increasingly grown to be a significant portion of the financing budget for the government of Malawi. As such, this study investigated the impact that domestic debt has on economic growth in Malawi. The research employed classical time series estimations techniques covering unit root and cointegration analysis based on annual data from 1984 to 2015 to examine the long-run and short-run relationship between domestic debt and economic growth in Malawi. The findings of the study show that in the long-run domestic debt has a positive impact on economic growth in Malawi, while a negative long-run relationship was established between inflation and economic growth. High inflation was found to stifle economic growth. In addition, the study established that government consumption expenditure and population growth also have a negative impact on economic growth. The study therefore recommends that the government needs to use domestic debt in moderation for as long as it positively impacts economic growth and that an effective monetary policy exists that reins in inflation. Furthermore, the study recommends that government needs to control government expenditure and take acceptable steps that will manage population growth.

This study 'Quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres: an exploratory study of stakeholder views' was carried out with a sample of fifteen principals of effective ECD centres in the Western Cape, South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative, exploratory approach using a semi-structured interview schedule for face-to-face interviews with the participants. A purposive sample was used and the selected sample were geographically spread across the Western Cape Metropolitan area.The findings revealed the following: Effective ECD centres that provide quality care and education is of critical importance and should be prioritised in South Africa. Governing bodies play critical roles in the effectiveness of ECD centres; these roles include: governance and accountability, ensuring financial sustainability, decision-making and administration, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, and conflict resolution. ECD forums are also a valuable asset for ECD centres. Structure and routine, indoor learning materials and the arrangement of the classroom are important components of quality learning programmes. Qualified ECD teachers provide quality learning programmes for children and outdoor play is important for children's holistic development. Parental involvement improves learning outcomes for children and relationships with stakeholder's assists centres in providing a holistic programme. Principals play a crucial role in ensuring a quality service is provided.

The education system is a source of language discrimination and exclusion for many young people in South Africa. In South Africa, African languages are spoken by more than 70% of the population, while the colonial languages English and Afrikaans represent less than 25%. However, most South African schools use English or Afrikaans as the main language of instruction. Learners' transitioning to using and learning in a colonial language, and the role languages plays in youth education and development are the root cause of many challenges, including poor academic performance, unequal access to opportunity, social exclusion, and challenging identity formation. This qualitative study aimed to explore the intersection between language, educational opportunities, and identity from an isiXhosa speaking youth perspective in Cape Town, Western Cape. In depth individual interviews were conducted with 12 black African Xhosa youth, between the ages of 18 and 29. The researcher sought to examine the effects of the language challenges faced by isiXhosa speaking youth during their education journey and to gauge the perspective of isiXhosa speaking youth regarding the role of language in their academic performance, opportunities, and social identity. The researcher adopted the following three concepts as a framework for analysis: Sen's capability approach (1999), social identity theory by Tajfel and Turner (1979), and Soudien's work on language in post-apartheid education (2012). This study was important in order The findings revealed that participants faced various challenges in relation to language use in education, specifically transitioning to English as the main medium of instruction. The participants' experiences differed depending on the age at which they transitioned to using English in the education system, but the outcomes of this transition were similar. Their academic performance was negatively impacted by needing to learn in a different language. They had unequal opportunities throughout their education compared with native English speakers, putting them at higher risk of social exclusion and impacting negatively their access to higher education and employment. The participants' advocated for the need to decolonise education, specifically in regard to perceptions and use of languages, because of the prejudices and judgments based on their ability to speak English rather than their actual skills and capabilities. Participants tended to compare languages and look down on isiXhosa, then facing identity crises when returning to their Xhosa families. They had to navigate multiple identities depending on the language and context in which they found themselves. This study recommended reducing inequities by implementing inclusive language policies and measures to accommodate learners with non-colonial first languages, provide support through their transition to a new language, and not weighting incorrect English against them in non-English class. The recommendations also included the need to adapt national exams and grading systems to ensure all learners' have the opportunity to perform to their best ability. The government must also increase its investment in South African languages to promote their use in professional and public spaces. Finally, institutions must be encouraged to use multiple languages in schools, universities, and workplaces.