In this study, the focus will be on the possibility of a lack of learning during execution of projects, which could lead to poor performance in development effectiveness. This study will particularly look at the lessons learnt by individual road infrastructure projects and examine whether or not the learning points were embraced into other projects. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is an example of a multilateral donor agency that predominantly operates in Africa where there are some challenges with aid effectiveness as described earlier. The study is not an attempt to represent the use of lessons learnt and knowledge management in multilateral agencies in general; it is rather a start from which other researchers can build on in order to answer the question: What can donor agencies do to improve aid effectiveness in their project execution? The major contribution of this study is to encourage donor agencies to look at whether their organisations are learning from their different projects as they seek better development effectiveness.

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Please read the abstract in the 00front part of this document / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / MSc / Unrestricted

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A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering to the Graduate School of Engineering and the Built Environment of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg March 2017 / Large-scale strategic ventures to build, add or improve an asset are being delivered in different sectors of industries around the world. These ventures resort to the intensive use of capital and resources and are mostly referred to as “capital projects”. Because of the large-scale nature of these capital projects, they have profound effects on their host countries, and their impact is larger than simply client and turnover, thereby influencing different areas of surrounding society. The nature and extent of this impact are (i) environmental, (ii) political, (iii) socio-economic and (iv) cultural. Amongst the socio-economic objectives is the capability to provide on-the-job training and create more job opportunities than would otherwise be possible. Recently there has been a surge of these capital projects in sub-Saharan Africa. However, sub-Saharan Africa continues to experience high levels of unemployment and a lack of skillsets. In an attempt to help address these problems, this research project evaluates employment creation and skills transfer during the delivery of capital projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Three case studies (researched between October 2013 and February 2015) were selected to collect data for this research project: (1) Nacala Corridor Railway Project (Malawi), (2) the Medupi Power Project (Republic of South Africa) and (3) the Gautrain Project Phases 1 and 2 (Republic of South Africa). The research findings illustrate clearly that there has been a significant positive shift in the creation of employment and skills transfer on capital projects. However, there are areas of weakness which have been identified even though the three case studies produced different results. In conclusion, the main weaknesses identified in all three projects are the lack of local high-level skilled employees and a clear indication that these capital projects are not being capitalised efficiently to develop skills amongst the locals, which are essential for such projects. Recommendations are provided for the sustainability of skills development and employment creation on capital projects. / MT 2017

D. Tech. Fine and Applied Arts / No documented projects exists that can serve as a guide for the establishment of community economic development projects among women in Southern Africa with the aim to economically empower them through the manufacturing of export quality garments in large volumes. The premise for this study was therefore to investigate opportunities that could potentially result in the economic empowerment of women by equipping them with textile-related skills, in a community economic development context, to make apparel that can be exported to first-world countries. The aim of this research was to devise a community empowerment model that would facilitate a participative process that will induce change - from poverty to economic empowerment - through the medium of garment product manufacture and distribution.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Wits Business School 4 November 2016 / Sub-Saharan Africa faces severe infrastructure deficits including in power generation, water facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. These deficits compound the socio-economic challenges of the most impoverished region in the world. It is estimated that funding of US$ 90 billion per annum is required to address infrastructure deficiencies. Other developing regions including Asia, the Middle East, and South America, have with varying degrees of success utilised the project finance framework to address similar infrastructure deficiencies, and also develop other commercial ventures. Africa has lagged behind in this respect, and still accounts for less than 3% of international project finance flows. The ability to attract and access international and domestic project finance capital, and execute the underlying ventures is an important opportunity to address the challenges noted above. The study contributes to knowledge by deepening our understanding of project finance in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe in the following ways. Firstly, it offers a model through which to monitor key contextual factors that influence the success, failure, and shaping of project and infrastructure ventures. Secondly, it interrogates the main capital structure theories including the static trade off and pecking order theories, and their applicability and relevance for project and infrastructure finance in the selected jurisdictions. It then compares capital structure theory with actual practice of capital structure formulation in the 7 cases studies investigated. This yields important insights as to the most important factors influencing capital structure in project finance in the three selected countries. In particular the constrained supply of capital is observed as the top factor determining capital structure. It further enhances our understanding of why ventures using project finance in these countries may have significantly lower leverage than other similar ventures in developed regions of the world. Thirdly, the study extracts key insights into how stakeholder interactions evolve in the projects by applying stakeholder agency theory to project sponsors, managers, contractors, state institutions, and community organisations. Collectively these insights should contribute to attracting increased capital to project finance in Sub-Saharan Africa, and arranging projects with greater prospects of operational success. / MT 2017

MCom (Economics) / Department of Economics / The need to realise steady economic growth, measured in this research by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), has ignited a plethora of studies about the contributors of economic growth and their optimal levels. Government expenditure is one contributor to economic growth. From a theoretical standpoint, optimal government size is depicted by an inverted U-curve known as the Armey curve which is hypothesised between the relationship of government size and economic growth. Empirical literature provides evidence that optimal government size is between 20-30 percent a share of GDP. However, little has been done to investigate the optimal level of isolated components of government spending that maximizes economic growth. One component of government spending that has gained limelight over the past decade is that of social assistance. Defined as public expenditure spent as cash and food transfers to the poor, this research uses social assistance expenditure to assess its optimal level that maximizes growth. This is important because some policymakers are concerned about the ballooning budgets directed at social assistance, and argue that the scarce resources need to be transferred to other social services sectors such as health and education. Basing on the panel-data accessed from the World Bank, this research uses the quadratic equation model to determine the optimal level of social assistance for African and Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries covering the period 2009-15. The finding is that the optimal level of social assistance spending for African and OECD countries is 3.2 percent of GDP and 29.4 percent of GDP respectively. The study also finds that both African and OECD countries operate below the optimal levels and it is suggested that they need to increase social assistance spending in order to realize positive contributions to economic growth. / NRF

This study makes the assumption that community participation in the governance of mineral resources is a requirement of sustainable development and that through a fundamental rights-based approach, it can be made effective. The concern is that an affected community should not only be involved in the decision-making process, but its view must also influence the outcome in respect of whether or not a mineral project should take place and how it should address development issues at local level. It is assumed that this legal approach will improve mineral governance by bringing more transparency and accountability. In many African resource-rich countries, community participation has until now been practiced with more of a soft approach, with the consequence that it has been unable to eradicate the opacity existing in the management of revenues generated by mineral exploitation and also deal efficiently with the recurrence of fundamental rights violations in the mineral sector. Obviously, the success of the fundamental rights based-approach is not absolutely guaranteed because there are preconditions that must be fulfilled. The synergy between community participation and some relevant concepts like democracy, decentarlisation, accountability, (good) governance and sustainable development must be well balanced for the participation process to bring positive outcomes. Also, because the fundamental rights based-approach is conceived here within the framework of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, its normative and institutional components, despite the potential to make participation effective and successful, require that some critical challenges be addressed in practice. The study ends with the conclusion that the fundamental rights based-approach is appropriate to make community participation effective in the mineral-led development process taking place at local level, provided that its implementation is kept reasonable. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / D.Law

This study makes the assumption that community participation in the governance of mineral resources is a requirement of sustainable development and that through a fundamental rights-based approach, it can be made effective. The concern is that an affected community should not only be involved in the decision-making process, but its view must also influence the outcome in respect of whether or not a mineral project should take place and how it should address development issues at local level. It is assumed that this legal approach will improve mineral governance by bringing more transparency and accountability. In many African resource-rich countries, community participation has until now been practiced with more of a soft approach, with the consequence that it has been unable to eradicate the opacity existing in the management of revenues generated by mineral exploitation and also deal efficiently with the recurrence of fundamental rights violations in the mineral sector. Obviously, the success of the fundamental rights based-approach is not absolutely guaranteed because there are preconditions that must be fulfilled. The synergy between community participation and some relevant concepts like democracy, decentarlisation, accountability, (good) governance and sustainable development must be well balanced for the participation process to bring positive outcomes. Also, because the fundamental rights based-approach is conceived here within the framework of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, its normative and institutional components, despite the potential to make participation effective and successful, require that some critical challenges be addressed in practice. The study ends with the conclusion that the fundamental rights based-approach is appropriate to make community participation effective in the mineral-led development process taking place at local level, provided that its implementation is kept reasonable. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / LL. D.