The study addresses the issues related to climate change, energy production (traditional biomass and fossil fuels) as well as the potential of exploring renewable energy sources. The area of focus is the SADC region; this paper evaluates the implementation of the SADC Energy Access Strategy and Action Plan. It is an energy policy that was widely accepted and ratified by SADC member states in March 2010. The study is narrowed down to focus on the implementation of this policy in three SADC countries with different levels of energy consumption. These countries are South Africa with 80% of national energy consumption, Lesotho with 18% of national energy consumption and Mauritius which has 99.9% of national energy consumption. This study argues that the SADC Energy Access Strategy and Action Plan has implications for peace, security and development in the region. This is evident in climate change being an issue of emergency, more emphasis has been put on the use of renewable energy as opposed to fossil fuels and traditional biomass, which affects the climate and contributes to global warming. Renewable energy reduces carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.SADC leaders had to come up with ways to adapt to climate change and its effects; this gave birth to the SADC Energy Access Strategy and Action Plan in March 2010. The Action Plan came in as a solution to the energy crisis and as a strategy to realign the SADC energy sector to that of the world. The study further argues that Africa, and in particular SADC region has abundant renewable energy resources (solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy.etc), much of which are still untapped, yet have the capacity to supply the region with renewable energy for decades. The findings of the study confirm that SADC Energy Access Strategy and Action Plan indeed has implications for Peace, Security and Development in the region. The lack of proper planning, commitment and funds, as well as investments into the energy sector hinder the development of the regional energy sector and energy access projects. The SADC region has the potential to meet the energy demands and to venture into the use of renewable energy. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.(International Relations) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013

University libraries exist to support the strategic objectives of their parent universities by providing access to quality and relevant scholarly and scientific information in support of the curricula and research programmes. In fulfilling their core functions, university libraries are increasingly adopting an array of web technologies to deliver quality services to their user community. The aim of this study was to investigate the incorporation of web technologies into the services of university libraries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in order to develop a user-centred model for the deployment of web technologies in university libraries. To achieve this aim, the study was underpinned by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The proliferation of information in the electronic environment, along with increased user preference to access digital information, has made the incorporation of web technologies in university libraries a necessity, not an option. These transformative developments are accompanied by increased user demands for user-centred services. These advances justify the significance of this study, as well as the user-centred model developed for the incorporation of web technologies in university libraries which constitutes the original contribution of the research to scientific knowledge. This study falls within a pragmatic paradigm and followed a mixed method research approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative research strategies in data collection and analysis. The population of this study comprised university libraries in the SADC member states whose language of communication is English. Since this population was fairly small in size, quantitative data were collected from the entire population using a questionnaire. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used to analyse the quantitative data. Qualitative data were also collected from librarians via interviews with purposive sampling being used to select the participants. Another set of the population involved undergraduate and postgraduate students from selected universities from whom qualitative data were collected by means of focus group discussions. Purposive sampling was used to select participants in the focus group discussions. Qualitative data were analysed following the thematic qualitative analytical approach. The findings of this study showed that the majority of university libraries in the SADC region have incorporated numerous web technologies for information discovery, for information sharing and promoting library services, for interactive library services, and for content management. The findings also revealed that the UTAUT constructs, namely, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions have had a major influence on the incorporation of web technologies by university libraries, and on librarians' and students' use of these tools. A few university libraries were found to be ill-equipped with information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and equipment to facilitate the use of web technologies. This study further established that the UTAUT constructs and the Library 2.0 construct of user-centredness can inform the development of a user-centred model for the incorporation of web technologies by university libraries. The study revealed that the majority of students consider web technologies to be vital tools, enabling them to access study and research information, and to share and publish information with their fellow students, their lecturers and librarians. The study culminated in the design of a user-centred model for the incorporation of web technologies into university libraries services.

This paper analyses the competitiveness in the banking sector of eight countries in the SADC region. Both the Panzar-Rosse and the Lerner Index approaches were used for the period 2002- 2013. Although the results yield opposing outcomes, the overall findings suggest that the eight countries cannot be described as being perfectly competitive but rather suggest imperfect competition in these banking sectors. These countries could be characterised as monopolies when using the Panzar-Rosse study and monopolistically competitive when using the Lerner Index.

Student Number : 0107471X - MSc research report - School of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Water plays a global role in an enormous variety of ways. More importantely it also plays a fundamental role on a regional and local scales where it has a profound effect on the environment and socio economic development. It is a prerequisite for many of the mans activities and as such it must be managed and protected accordingly. In this water quality plays a fundamental role and water quality monitoring is a foundation stone of any serious efforts to manage water resources on any scale. The research conducted focused on water quality monitoring in the SADC region. It looked at the current practice and the gaps present with respect to the real needs and international best practice. SADC region is characterized by trans-boundary water systems where pollution of water resources is often not understood properly nor has been seriously studied. A regional Water Quality Monitoring Program is advocated to address these issues and is seen as one of the prerequisites for effective water resources management in the SADC region. Existing Water Quality Monitoring in individual countries of the SADC region has been studied on the basis of existing (limited) information and gaps with respect to international best practice have been identified. Recommendations have been made regarding the establishment of the SADC Water Quality Monitoring program. A set of principles on which this should be based have been formulated. It has been concluded that SADC countries do not have an appropriate water quality monitoring in place and that what does exist is not in line with the best practice recommendations. It is suggested that without an appropriate regional water quality monitoring program water quality could become one of the limiting factors of the future economic development in the region.

This study discusses the case of modernising the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional payments system facilitated by the SADC Payment System Project. The long-term objective is to have harmonised cross-border and inter-bank settlement systems to facilitate the economic activity such as supporting the flow of trade within the SADC region. The SADC Payment System Project purports to have adopted a strategic management process to achieve its mandate. The modernisation process is in line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP). The aim of the RISDP is to provide strategic direction with respect to various SADC programmes and activities and to align the strategic objectives and priorities of SADC with the policies and strategies for achieving its long-term goals. The concept of payment, clearing and settlement system is explained to provide the context within which the national payment system fits in the economic system and its role towards economic development. The first objective of the study is to discuss the strategic management process. The objective of the discussion is to reflect how the strategic management theoretical constructs were translated into practice. The second objective of the study is to explore the environmental and country internal factors that are likely to impact on and delay the fully harmonised regional cross-border and inter-bank settlement systems. Although not exhaustive, the identified factors include; - The structural arrangements of country- specific teams that support the modernisation initiatives, - The availability of skills and capacity to harness the implemented systems within each member country in the SADC region. iii - The influence of foreign fund donors, as a result of a possible duplication of efforts, - The repair state of power supply and communication networks, - The supporting legal and regulatory regimes, - The forms of economic systems, - The influence and the extent of trade flows with the SADC region, and - The resilience banking networks in the facilitation of financial information flows within each member country and externally (internationally). The target population of central bank officials who also take an active role in the modernisation of SADC regional payments systems were requested to provide feedback on the prepared questionnaire to address the above factors. The responses provided are summarised in Chapter 5. It was clear from the responses that the identified factors appeared to pose little challenge for respective member countries. However, additional comments by respondents indicated that there is still a lot of groundwork to be covered. There was an evidence of the need for on-going training in payment systems and to improve communication networks and power supply within each member country, especially on the remote country areas/rural areas. Some members also hinted a warning on developing systems, which would have a potential to become white elephants if other sectors are not developed in parallel to the regional payment systems. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.

This study discusses the case of modernising the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional payments system facilitated by the SADC Payment System Project. The long-term objective is to have harmonised cross-border and inter-bank settlement systems to facilitate the economic activity such as supporting the flow of trade within the SADC region. The SADC Payment System Project purports to have adopted a strategic management process to achieve its mandate. The modernisation process is in line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP). The aim of the RISDP is to provide strategic direction with respect to various SADC programmes and activities and to align the strategic objectives and priorities of SADC with the policies and strategies for achieving its long-term goals. The concept of payment, clearing and settlement system is explained to provide the context within which the national payment system fits in the economic system and its role towards economic development. The first objective of the study is to discuss the strategic management process. The objective of the discussion is to reflect how the strategic management theoretical constructs were translated into practice. The second objective of the study is to explore the environmental and country internal factors that are likely to impact on and delay the fully harmonised regional cross-border and inter-bank settlement systems. Although not exhaustive, the identified factors include; - The structural arrangements of country- specific teams that support the modernisation initiatives, - The availability of skills and capacity to harness the implemented systems within each member country in the SADC region. iii - The influence of foreign fund donors, as a result of a possible duplication of efforts, - The repair state of power supply and communication networks, - The supporting legal and regulatory regimes, - The forms of economic systems, - The influence and the extent of trade flows with the SADC region, and - The resilience banking networks in the facilitation of financial information flows within each member country and externally (internationally). The target population of central bank officials who also take an active role in the modernisation of SADC regional payments systems were requested to provide feedback on the prepared questionnaire to address the above factors. The responses provided are summarised in Chapter 5. It was clear from the responses that the identified factors appeared to pose little challenge for respective member countries. However, additional comments by respondents indicated that there is still a lot of groundwork to be covered. There was an evidence of the need for on-going training in payment systems and to improve communication networks and power supply within each member country, especially on the remote country areas/rural areas. Some members also hinted a warning on developing systems, which would have a potential to become white elephants if other sectors are not developed in parallel to the regional payment systems. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.