In this dissertation, we endeavoured to investigate the relationship between mental health and labour market changes in South Africa. We started by understanding the relationship between the aggregate CESD-10 and labour market status and then explored whether this aggregate relationship holds true for each of the three mental health factors that make up the CESD-10 score. Using data from the National Income Dynamics Study, waves 1-5, we documented increasing mental health symptoms with employed to other states of unemployment. This follows for somatic symptoms, depressed affect and positive affect, but the source driving the effects differs between factors and with the CESD-10 as well. We found that those who are NEA suffer to a greater extent in positive affect than in the other two factors relative to the employed. For those who are unemployed (discouraged), we see they also experience the strongest detrimental effect to their positive affect relative to the employed. However, they experience lower depressed affect scores relative to the employed. Those who are unemployed (strict), meanwhile, experience greater depressed affect scores out of the three factors when compared to the employed. As such, we expect to see an average increase in depressive symptoms classifications among those moving from employed to NEA statuses. We can also expect an average increase in depressed affect disorder classifications among those moving from employed to NEA labour force status. Likewise, we can expect higher positive affect across the five waves among those moving from a employed to NEA status. We find that, after controlling for observed individual characteristics and utilizing the panel structure of the data by allowing for individual specific fixed effects, negative labour market shifts have a significant negative impact on mental health. The sub-group analysis shows that this has a particularly adverse effect on black people and males.

The research explored the long-term relationship between FDI, GDP and host country employment by using sector-wise panel data from 1991 to 2017 in Namibia. The study applied unit root testing and Cointegration test to test for the presence of a cointegration relationship between the variables. Also, a vector autoregression model short-run causality among the variables was examined. In the end, Impulse response functions are estimated. The research found both a short term and long-term causality going from FDI inflow to employment. Impulse responses show that both GDP and employment respond positively to an exogenous shock in FDI inflow. However, the employment response to FDI inflow shock is smaller than that of GDP response. The paper also concludes that FDI has no causal effects on economic growth in Namibia. It means that economic growth is not contributed by the FDI significantly the results in this research have some significant policy implications. Therefore, as the results suggest that the FDI inflow has a positive impact on employment, because of the results, the researcher also recommends that Namibia pursue the policy of attracting foreign firms aggressively and create all the conditions required for attracting foreign direct investment in order to create further employment opportunities.

Access to finance is an essential factor in the agricultural value chain and enables participants to purchase essential inputs and infrastructure (e.g. machinery and land) necessary for the production process, grading, processing, packaging and distribution of their produce. Finance is also required where there are specific regulatory requirements (such as licencing and certification) to which a participant must adhere, and these may differ from commodity to commodity. With this in mind, it is clear that any farming enterprise that wishes to enter and participate in the agricultural sector will need access to finance to compete effectively. The study examines the financial needs and challenges faced by contract farmers in achieving transformation in the agricultural sector in South Africa. In line with the number of interviews conducted in other qualitative studies, a sample of eight contract farmers from Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces of South Africa were chosen for the interviews. The study finds that purchase of land, farming infrastructure, farming equipment, working capital for agricultural inputs, and funds for environmental impact assessments are the prevalent financial needs of the sampled contract farmers. Most importantly, the study further documents evidence that business and financial understanding, lack of capital, insufficient collateral, the lending criteria and policies of financial institutions and rigid and non-inclusive products are the major challenges faced by black contract farmers in raising funds to meet their financial needs and their contractual obligations to their sponsors. The study recommends ways in which the farmers believe they could be part of the solution in financially assisting new and emerging farmers and creating a transformed agricultural sector in the country. Farmers believe that this requires a concerted effort by all the stakeholders to close the existing gaps in the current financial mechanisms used to finance farmers in South Africa. It is important that the critical stakeholders (government, development financial institutions and other financial institutions, farmers and their organisations, sponsors and agroprocessors) work closely together so that more can be achieved in the least possible time period. The role of each of the above stakeholders is discussed in the recommendations chapter.

This thesis examines practices of the Informal Settlements Network (ISN), part of the South African Slum Dwellers International (SA SDI) Alliance, as initiators of civic participation in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. The SA SDI Alliance is made up of four organisations namely the Community Organization Resource Centre (CORC), Utshani Fund, the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) and the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP). Through the thesis, I aim to provide an understanding of the nature of civic participation and the formation of "responsible" citizens amongst the urban poor in Khayelitsha, South Africa (Brown, 2015, p. 133). Critical in developing this understanding are the tools of the SA SDI Alliance through which the urban poor of Khayelitsha, Cape Town are allowed to participate in civic affairs. Drawing on theories of neoliberal governmentality the study traces how civic participation facilitated by the SA SDI Alliance manifests nationally through policy and at the provincial and local government level. The ultimate objective of the thesis centres on how participation under neoliberalism affects the lives of people in urban settlements through the activities of self-help organisations such as ISN. Using semi-structured interviews and shadowing three community mediators, the study unpacks the life trajectories and lived experiences of community mediators who are members of ISN. Whilst, describing these community mediators' lived experiences, the thesis examines the tension points relating to how ISN members navigate personal, community and institutions of participations that we do not see in the public discourse. The closer examination of these tension points enhances our understanding of the theoretical discourse surrounding the challenges and contradictions that participants face under neoliberalism. These challenges include the interface with fluid community dynamics. Furthermore, the thesis provides insights into the mutability of roles assumed by the community mediators and how it practically manifests on the ground.

This study seeks to examine the relationship between mobile money and financial inclusion in Lesotho in order to assess the viability of mobile money as a tool for advancing Lesotho's financial inclusion agenda. The study uses a number of deposit bank accounts as a proxy for financial inclusion (FI) and a dependent variable in three vector autoregression (VAR) bivariate models. Each of the three mobile money variables; number of mobile money registered accounts (MMC), number of agents (MMA) and volumes of mobile money transactions (MMT) are regressed against financial inclusion to investigate the relationship with each. The results indicate that among the three proxies of mobile money, only two have a relationship with financial inclusion: MMC and MMT. MMA does not show any relationship with financial inclusion. The relationship between FI and MMT is one-way from FI to MMT, which is not important for the purpose of this study. The MMC relationship with FI is the opposite of that of MMT and FI. There is a positive causal relationship from MMC to FI, indicating the positive influence of mobile money accounts of financial inclusion. The paper recommends that the government of Lesotho creates an enabling regulatory environment that supports the adoption and growth of mobile money in order to improve financial inclusion.

With the worldwide focus on financial inclusion to decrease poverty levels by banking the unbanked, understanding how to facilitate the banking of the previously unbanked in developing countries has become a globally topical issue. To contribute to this discussion from the perspective of Africa, the following paper endeavours to compute financial inclusion indices (FII) for 36 African countries. The paper leverages a model developed by Cámara and Tuesta (2014), using a two-stage Principal Component Analysis with definitions for financial inclusion variables from Sarma (2008). Upon computing the indices, we then endeavour to study the relationship between financial technology (fintech) and financial inclusion by running a regression analysis between fintech variables and the financial inclusion indices. As expected, we find that the highest financial inclusion levels are in the Southern and East African regions, with the lowest in Central Africa. The introduction of mobile money has had a significant impact on financial inclusion levels, particularly in East Africa. Our analysis also finds that the usage variable is critical in understanding the depth of financial inclusion. While this is so, there is still a great need for improvements across financial access, usage and availability in Africa. The regression analysis confirms this assessment, showing that overall, the use of mobile accounts has a positive and significant relationship with financial inclusion. At the same time, the use of digital payments for existing accounts also improves financial inclusion but to a lesser extent. The distinction between the impact of mobile banking and digital payments is an important one given that ownership of mobile banking increases the number of people with access to financial services while using digital payments merely deepens and enhances the usage of existing account holders. Macroeconomic factors of economic growth and banking sector development also are significant for financial inclusion, though to a lesser degree. This paper recommends the study of what impacts the sub-indices both positively and negatively, and how countries can maximise each sub-index, as it is an important focus area for policymakers who are looking to improve financial inclusion levels for their respective countries. We further recommend the development of a unified taxonomy on financial inclusion and its measurements. The role of policymakers would be to propel forward the formulation of this taxonomy, working with all the relevant stakeholders.

South Africa's reintegration into the global economy post-1994 has not produced the expected levels of industrialisation and growth-enhancing structural transformation that has traditionally been achieved by developed countries in the past. South Africa faces the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment and needs structural growth that is inclusive and sustainable. However, trying to emulate the traditional structural transformative growth paths that developed countries have followed previously, will prove unsuccessful due to changes in the global economy. This paper, therefore, argues that an alternate growth path is needed, especially given that global warming and the effects of climate change act as a threat multiplier to economic growth and development. Furthermore, the world economy is shifting away from fossil fuels and resource depletion towards greener technologies and products. South Africa needs to adopt a growth path that accounts for the current climate and global context to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth for future competitiveness. This paper, using the Economic Complexity Methodology, identifies green industries that South Africa is best positioned to develop and grow given the existing knowledge and capabilities within the economy. A case study is conducted on the wind-power industry which proves to be a promising option given South Africa's current economic climate and the potential for employment creation. This paper aims to highlight the opportunities for the development of green industries in South Africa and the limitations that hinder this potential.

The United Nations estimated that to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals globally, they require approximately USD6 trillion per annum, totalling between USD90 to a USD100 trillion of investments needed over the 15 years. African countries are struggling to finance their infrastructure development needs and require innovative solutions to finance their infrastructure gaps. The African Development Bank noted that Africa's infrastructure needs can be estimated between USD130 and USD170 billion per annum with an estimated financing gap of USD68 billion to USD108 billion. Blended finance received international attention during the Third International Conference on Finance for Development in 2015 when it was mentioned in the adopted resolution report dubbed the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (here forth the Addis Agenda). The overall objective of this study is to explore the private sector participation investing in economic infrastructure in Africa and the public sector's understanding of blended finance. The research also focuses on the role of multi-and bilateral development banks in mobilising the private sector and the government support required to attract private sector participation investing in infrastructure projects For this study, the Convergent Parallel Design mixed research method is employed where both the quantitative and qualitative data are collected concurrently or in the same phase. The World Bank PPI database is used as the primary quantitative data source, while nine qualitative indepth interviews were conducted. The results from the multiple linear regression model indicate that projects with multi-lateral development bank' support are characterised by lower private sector participation in infrastructure investments in Africa. Furthermore, countries receiving concessional support from the International Development Association (IDA) are receiving lower private sector participation in their projects. In-depth interviews with public sector officials indicated that most of the officials had an overall understanding of blended finance in line with current market definitions. Officials, however, were not convinced with the use of concessional funding and loans in the blended finance structure due to the conditions precedents which came with it but felt like they had no choice but to accept these conditions due to the needs of the countries and the project involved. Informed by the findings of the study, the study recommends that blended finance should be localised for the African context and makes key policy recommendations linked to the OECD principles for blended finance.

The study titled “The applicability of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to the condom use intentions and behavior of migrant youth in South Africa” explores the predictors of condom use behavior and intentions of migrant youth in SA. It examines the influence of acculturation on the relationship between condom use intention and actual behavior. The background portrays migration ordeal as a current trend plaguing the socioeconomic global fabric with an increasing flow rate in Africa. Conversely, South Africa's (SA) economy and political position attracts an influx of youth migrants in compromised situations rendering them vulnerable to various diseases such as HIVAIDS. The conceptual dimension of the study was substantiated by two major theories, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Berry's theory of acculturation. In the salient phase of this dissertation, an elicitation qualitative study was conducted six months prior to the commencement with a sample size of 20. The purpose was to formulate the basis of this thesis, as informed by the theory of planned behavior and reasoned action, through in-depth open-ended questions. The study proper utilized a cross-sectional survey design in the 18 to 35 years cohort. The questions formation and design in the current quantitative study was informed by the findings of the elicitation study. Acculturation was used as a mediating variable. Similarly, Data was entered using EpiData Version 3.1 and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Standard version. In this study; the sample size probabilistically estimated to 500 participants. However, the data base that was validated following exploratory statistics was made of 454 participants from 31 countries with a return rate of 90.8%. The research findings indicated a Less than half of migrants in South Africa had a positive attitude towards the use of condoms, with a weight of 43.6%. The findings highlighted that pre-disposition to use condom is highly predicted by attitude. Less than half of migrants in S.A. had a positive attitude towards the use of condoms based on subjective norms, with a weight of 43.2% and this could explain why they had positive attitude towards condom only to a low extent. It was therefore recommended that the government of S.A. should improve on the regularization of migrants as to foster access to health care and so far, their self-efficacy. Parents should be sensitized on the need to enhance the use of condom by their teenager, sensitization of youth migrants in S.A. on risky sex behavior and notably the need to use condom should be increased and a model to enhance condom use shall consider all the predictive components because their combined effects strengthen intention and so far, the potential to act or behavioral outcome.

The overall aim of the study was to explore factors that could be associated with criminal behaviour of youth offenders diverted in the life skills residential diversion programmes at Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre, so as to contribute towards a better understanding of their profile. Therefore the study explored the participants' family backgrounds, the circumstances surrounding the committal of their offences and their responses to the offences they were diverted for in the life skills diversion programmes. An exploratory-descriptive type of a qualitative design was adopted in this study. A semistructured interview schedule was used as the research instrument for conducting in-depth face-to-face interviews with the participants. The study had one set of target population; who were 18 youth offenders (both male and female) between the ages 14-17 attending life skills residential diversion programmes at Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre. The profile of the participants seem to indicate that most of them had absent fathers and therefore lacked male figures who could act as role models. The study found that biological fathers of most participants were either deceased, whereabouts unknown, not involved in their financial maintenance or those who had stepfathers, had a bad relationship with them. The findings indicated that the participants' mothers were unavailable and therefore most participants were taken care of by their grandmothers. However, it seems most grandmothers often failed to supervise their grandchildren properly and as such it created an opportunity for the participants to be mischievous with no consequences for their behaviour. It was also found that violence in the family also contributed significantly to the aggressive criminal offences of some of the participants. Lastly, the study showed that the influence of drugs and negative peer pressure also played a significant role in the participants' involvement in criminal behaviour.