Youth are able to respond to their needs for an income through entrepreneurship. However, some who operate informal businesses face challenges that may hinder the progress of their businesses and ultimately their income generation. In the light of this, there are support initiatives by the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for small businesses to address some of the challenges they may meet. The question remains whether young people have knowledge of these initiatives and whether they benefit from them. The current study explored the experiences as well as business aspirations of young people running their own informal businesses in Gugulethu. There were fifteen (15) salon owners who participated. These participants were identified using purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data as part of a qualitative, explorative approach. The findings revealed that participants face a number of challenges during the start-up and the running stage of their salons. These challenges differed in nature; but there was a common challenge of the lack of financial support by the government. Those that had no financial problems were those who received financial and emotional support from family and friends. Even though young people were faced with these challenges, they came up with strategies to deal with each identified challenge. These showed how determined these hairdressers were to see their businesses succeed and grow. There are indeed policies, programmes and organizations aimed at ensuring the smooth running of informal businesses. Despite this, most young people were not aware of any association, programmes or service that they as hairdressers could benefit from. The findings also revealed that in spite of their struggles, young hairdressers aspired to expand their businesses, but to do this they required both financial and emotional support.

With the low levels of domestic savings, capital flows can narrow the financing gap and contribute to economic growth and development. However, capital flows can also lead to negative, possibly unintended, consequences. As such, the study sought to ascertain the relationship between capital flows and the exchange rate. The objective of this study was to analyse the impact of capital flows on exchange rates, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa, using the system-generalised method-of-moments (GMM) estimator and panel data of 45 countries from 1990 to 2019. The study is particularly important considering the wave of reforms in the 1980s, advocated for by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which led to a substantial increase in capital inflows in the region. This study found that a relationship between capital flows and the exchange rate does exist and that capital flows do cause the exchange rate to appreciate when controlling for endogeneity. In addition, the findings of the study also confirmed that while both portfolio flows and foreign direct investment cause the exchange rate to appreciate, the impact of portfolio flows on the exchange rate is much more significant than that of foreign direct investment.

With less than a decade before the impending deadline for the realisation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Agenda for Development and with the Covid-19 pandemic having significantly slowed down progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aggressive collaborative efforts from all sectors of the global economy are required now more than ever, not only for the achievement of the targeted goals but also to aid in an inclusive global economic recovery. With the global airline industry having been identified as one of the key pillars for propelling this agenda forward as it is believed to contribute to at least 15 of the 17 SDGs, exploring ways in which this industry can remain profitable and sustainable, so it continues to contribute towards the unified goal has become an important focus area for those at the forefront of the agenda. One of the identified major threats to the longevity and prosperity of the airline industry is said to be the inherent exposure to the volatility in commodity markets, as fuel expenditure generally makes up the single largest cost component of an airline's operating expense. This dissertation, therefore, investigates the relationship between fuel hedging and the firm value of commercial airlines in order to establish the effectiveness of fuel hedging as a potential lever that can be used to effect the desired change towards the realisation of the SDGs. The study draws on evidence from African, European and North American airlines and makes use of a panel least square estimation technique to estimate the behaviour of the parameters in the selected statistical sample over a 10-year period from 2009 to 2019. Using Tobin's Q as a proxy for firm value, the study computes a series of regressions, incorporating different control variables such as airline size, percentage of jet fuel cost to total operating costs, jet fuel cost per passenger, and profit per passenger - which are all deemed to have significant explanatory power to allow for the isolation of the effect of fuel price hedging. The study further makes use of two hedging variables (percentage hedged and fair value of hedging derivatives to assets) in separate regression equations to ascertain their individual relationships with the dependent variable - Tobin's Q. The analysis of the results in this dissertation reveals a positive correlation between the airlines' hedging activity and airline firm value thereby suggesting that mitigating the risks associated to fuel price volatility could yield positive outcomes for firm value. These findings can prove to be useful for those at the forefront of the 2030 global development agenda, as well as the airline companies themselves in driving the SDG goals.

This research study explores ‘Challenges faced by Non-Profit Organisations in South Africa'. The study was informed by a qualitative approach and an exploratory design. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect the data, with participants selected from twenty purposively sampled NPOs. A semi-structured interview schedule was utilised and data was analysed using Tesch's (1990) process for data analysis. Ethical clearance was received from the Department of Social Development at the University of Cape Town. The research study found that NPOs do face a number of challenges that are prevalent in their start-up phase, relating to organisation leadership, financial sustainability and resource management. Organisation leadership challenges revolve around a lack of leadership, knowledge, experience and/or skill; managing and monitoring service delivery; the impact of the pressure to survive; and growth complications. Challenges in terms of financial sustainability and navigating the funding landscape pertain to are donor attraction; fundraising knowledge; donor relationships and the power dynamics; donor perceptions; the impact of sources of funding; and the influence of immediate survival needs on long-term planning and sustainability. Resource management is also a challenge in terms of physical and human resources, such as staffing, role ambiguity, cost of salaries and the effect of reliance on alternative streams of income, the tension between the finances available and the quality and/or experience of the person that the NPO is able to afford, and the impact of high staff turnover. Any one of these challenges can cause start-up NPOs to become vulnerable, unsustainable and likely to fail. The contribution that this study makes to knowledge building is an enhanced evaluation of the challenges that NPOs face in South Africa, and the factors that they may employ to mitigate these challenges and increase their likelihood of success. It recommends practical alternatives to the way that NPOs operate in terms of organisational leadership and financial sustainability, that may improve their chances of survival and success. The main recommendations talk to the need for consulting, in-depth reviewing of the NPO landscape, partnerships and collaboration, and financial self-sufficiency.

Employee turnover can have devastating consequences on an organisation's efficiency and productivity, as it has cost implications, affects the human and social capital investment of an organisation, and can lead to employee burnout. Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) provide valuable services in South Africa by addressing social and economic development issues. Should NPOs have a high employee turnover, it can impact their sustainability, growth, and performance. Consequently, this can influence the contribution they make to the social and economic development of the country. Retention strategies are used to prevent and combat employee turnover, with the aim of increasing organisational performance and sustainability. Therefore, the study sought to identify and explore the factors that lead to employee voluntary and involuntary turnover, the retention strategies NPOs use, and the effectiveness of these strategies. The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. The quantitative phase of this approach involved identifying current trends relating to staff turnover and retention strategies used by NPOs in Cape Town. The key themes that emerged through the quantitative phase of the study were explored in more depth by the qualitative phase of the study, providing a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute towards employee turnover and the retention strategies used to retain employees. The study's population was staff in leadership and/or management positions (CEO/Director and Human Resource Manager) at NPOs that provide social development services in Cape Town. The non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to draw a sample from the population for the quantitative phase of the study, of which 40 NPOs responded. The nonprobability purposive sampling technique was again used to draw a sample of 8 participants from the quantitative responses to participate in the qualitative phase of the study. The main findings of the research suggest that NPOs are aware that leadership styles and practices, and organisation culture and cohesiveness are strong contributing factors that lead to voluntary turnover, low performance, and deviant behaviour. NPOs experience that a goaldirected and people-orientated culture implemented by transformational leaders and organisational cohesive practices that make it clear what is expected of employees are the most effective ways of increasing employee motivation, satisfaction, commitment, and performance. Although these are strong retention practices, NPOs experience funding as a huge barrier to retain staff and implement retention strategies. In addition, NPOs implement strong stress reducing practices to address the emotional and psychological stress and burnout that is associated with NPO work. NPOs have a high focus on providing their employees with training and development opportunities to increase their performance but lack the ability to promote employees due to the size of the organisation. The findings suggest that NPOs are aware of the organisational factors that impact employees' performance, behaviour, and desire to leave. The effectiveness of retention strategies used by NPOs can be increased by addressing the barriers that prevent NPOs from implementing retention strategies.

This study investigates the impact of infrastructure development on economic growth among 10 selected African countries over a period of 15 years from 2000 – 2015. The study uses panel data to analyse the effect of infrastructure components on economic growth. The findings show that infrastructure development impacts economic growth, and further identifies that African countries should prioritise investing in Power and the Human Development Index (HDI). These results suggest a need for reform in policies and planning. African states will be required to invest time in planning their infrastructure investment in advance with clear timelines and funding requirements. To attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in power infrastructure, States will need to reform both monetary and political policies to create an attractive investor environment. Lastly, States will need to reform fiscal policies to prioritise investment in the HDI.

Political conflict in Zimbabwe led to a series of crises that has negatively affected the nation's socio-economic status for over a decade now. The public sector's ability to provide basic services has been affected by a dead economy: the scarcity of resources such as money, water, energy, food, and medical care has meant that a once-desirable system has become dysfunctional and is too incapacitated to meet the needs of the public. The population has been reduced to paupers and forced to adopt informal survival strategies to access services that in a functional economy would have been provided by the government. Little is known about how services that cannot be forfeited, in particular sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, are accessed by the most severely disadvantaged segment of the population: people living in rural areas. This study explores how the economic crisis shapes Tshitshi women's access to and use of SRH services. Specifically, it maps out Tshitshi women's experiences in accessing SRH services, the coping mechanisms, and the non-biomedical alternatives within the socioeconomic deprivation they encounter. Data was collected in Tshitshi village located in Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe using qualitative methods through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. In analysing data, I used thematic analysis with the help of NVivo version 12 to identify and sort themes. The study adopted the transnational care framework which was informed by the findings of the research, where I identified transnational medical resources and care as the overarching theme. Findings show that Tshitshi women's access to and use of SRH services is mostly influenced by transnational care resources which is how they improvise and manage the healthcare genocide. To cope with the lack of biomedical services, Tshitshi women improvise and access non-biomedical services which present convenience in availability, affordability, and acceptability. The study results elicited recommending outsourcing of medical supplies as an acceptable measure provided the state can be trusted to commit to meeting the needs of the people in positive sustainable ways.

The development of services and the infrastructure may bring about the sustainability of regional trade, investment, and economic development. Adequate infrastructure is a key element required in growth and productivity (Cesar & Serven, 2004). The availability of sound regional infrastructure will support the SADC to attain a minimum of 7% economic growth. Consequently, opportunities are then created for exports and imports, markets, labour, and highquality services and products through infrastructural development in SADC economies. Insufficient infrastructure pressures trade, which in turn surges the price of executing business, causing the region to be unappealing to potential investors, which then discourages economic growth (Dube, 2013). The infrastructure has been responsible for over half of sub-Saharan Africa's latest increased growth and accomplishment; and it has additional untapped possibilities (Gutman et al., 2015). The issue then is why the SADC members are experiencing low economic growth and weak competitiveness, when so many infrastructural development projects have been implemented. Consequently, the study then is seeking to examine the impact brought in by infrastructural development in SADC on its economic growth. To accomplish this a Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag model was used on a sample of five countries, covering the period of 2003 to 2020, based on the availability of the data. The findings of the study highlighted the fact that infrastructural development is an enabler of economic growth and development. The results concluded that infrastructural development enhances the economic growth in the SADC region; and these findings are in line with those of Kodongo and Ojah (2016), who found that infrastructural development positively affects economic growth. Furthermore, from these findings, it may be noted that the different types of infrastructure (that comprise Transport, Electricity. ICT and WSS) all have a positive impact in relation to economic growth, such as the findings, supported by Estache and Wren-Lewis (2016). Given the findings of the study, the possible recommendation is that SADC member state governments must put in place policies that would attract more infrastructural development funding and make budgetary provisions for infrastructural development. Lastly, future studies on infrastructural development and economic growth need to factor in the role of quality in institutions, as well as an interaction term, between institutional quality and infrastructure, in order to capture the various country-specific effects.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of mental health challenges among university students from marginalised backgrounds. The intention was to understand the effects of a university student's socio-economic background and circumstances on their mental health, as well as their access to the necessary mental health resources and services. South Africa continues to be plagued by high levels of poverty and inequality. The legacy of Apartheid persists post 1994, and many black South Africans still face financial and social exclusion (Marais, 2013). Poverty and inequality inhibit young people from having the material and non-material resources they need in order to complete university successfully (Rothmann and Van Zyl, 2012). When focusing on students' mental health challenges, we see that the transition from high school to university is a challenging time and without the relevant support structures, it can lead to an individual experiencing high levels of anxiety and other mental health challenges. The main objectives included determining the ways in which a student's financial and social exclusion affect their transition to university, mental health and the way in which they cope with stress. Ward's (2009) definition of social exclusion and Gamble and Brennan's (2005) stress vulnerability model were used as the lens' to examine the links between socio-economic deprivation and their experiences of mental health challenges. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 students from marginalised backgrounds enrolled at an institute of higher learning. All 18 students were receiving financial assistance in order to cover their university costs. A semi-structured interview schedule was used as the instrument to guide the interviews. This instrument contained open-ended questions and enabled the researcher to gain a detailed picture of a participant's beliefs and experiences. The findings reveal that since inception, NSFAS has played an important part in the transformation of the student population and addressing the inequality in South Africa. However, students from marginalised backgrounds continue to face unique socio-economic challenges at university and require support structures. The findings have also determined that the concept of black tax remains relevant and that the legacy of Apartheid still effects many young black South Africans. This material and non-material related stress renders a student prone to facing mental health challenges and their struggles to cope with their academics. Daily stress combined with previous major life events and predisposed genetics, contribute to mental health challenges. It was also found that although there was still a stigma, most students still sought professional help. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that universities need to involve students in finding practical, long-term solutions to the mental health crisis on campuses. It is also recommended that the university environment and staff be inclusive and also reflect the experiences of university students of colour. In addition, it was recommended that the government include higher learning institutes in their national policy regarding mental health in South Africa. The study aims to create further understanding and interest, as well as the need to better address these inequalities which manifest throughout a student's university life.

Using in-depth interviews and analysis of empirical research, texts and documents, this study attempts to provide a critical analysis of Kenya's trade, infrastructure, and security in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is important since it would give interested parties a glance at how prepared Kenya is for the AfCFTA as well as offer a comparison with its continental counterparts in these areas of integration. It was revealed that that Kenya's trade is relatively integrated with the rest of Africa but is still quite some distance behind the most integrated countries. Given that the AfCFTA will lead to increasing intraAfrican trade, the study revealed that Kenya's export basket is relatively diverse suggesting that Kenyan industries could benefit from larger markets. Furthermore, despite being one of the leaders in intra-African trade, Kenya's current level of intra-African trade is still relatively low. This is due to procedural problems, customs and administrative procedures and the over reliance of imports from outside the continent. Strong political will and the application of reforms in the region has allowed Kenya to perform better than most sub-Saharan and lower middle-income countries in terms of infrastructure and how integrated that infrastructure is with the rest of the continent. However, several infrastructural challenges threaten Kenya's successful implementation of the AfCFTA. These challenges include the high cost of implementing infrastructural projects in Kenya, project delays, the politicization of infrastructure development and poor execution and management of road investments. Lastly, the study revealed that Kenya has historically been one of the more insecure and politically unstable countries in the region but there have been some improvements over the last five years. Several security and political obstacles threaten the successful implementation of the AfCFTA in Kenya and East Africa. These obstacles, which include terrorism, ethnic tensions, porous borders, and inefficient security cooperation, stand to negatively impact regional integration in the context of the AfCFTA by destabilizing trade and movement of persons across the region.