The thrive to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 is never been easy, and numbers are still showing that Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging in access to electricity index. Most of the energy poor communities residing in the rural part of the region, this by itself is a conundrum with multifaceted implications. The high capital expenditure for renewable energy technologies, the low paying ability of the society in Sub-Saharan Africa, the unavailability of anchor customer’s and so on needs new means of approaching the access problem. This study aims to enlighten policy makers on promoting energy as input to production than merely focusing on the access issue. In the report, a renewable mini-grid powering a local economic activity of a remote agrarian village in Ethiopia is discussed. Through a simulation study using PVsyst and Homer Pro tools, a yearly optimized PV diesel hybrid system with rounded up lowest LCOE of $0.17/kWh is obtained for the village in the case study. The LCOE of the mini-grid with lead acid battery and Li-ion battery is also studied at a yearly average operating temperature range of 10 to 40 ℃. The simulation-based study demonstrated that mini-grid systems with lead acid and Li-ion battery have fairly comparable LCOE between 10 to 20 ℃, however the Li-ion battery results in a lower LCOE for operating temperature beyond 25 ℃. The study has shown that mini-grids with productive energy can be cost effective option for powering areas where the grid-connection is cost and time intensive to address the energy poverty issue by 2030 or after.

Cervical cancer rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are amongst the highest in the world. The World Health Organization currently estimates that worldwide, cervical cancer will kill more than 443,000 women per year by 2030, of which 90% of deaths are predicted to occur in SSA. The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine provides primary protection against the most common cancer-causing strains of HPV that are responsible for cervical cancer. Over the last five years, there has been a slow increase in the number of African countries that have introduced the HPV vaccine via demonstration and pilot projects, and a minority of African countries that have incorporated the HPV vaccine into their National Immunisation Programmes. As part of this systematic review, a literature review was conducted and revealed that research has been conducted on top-down barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccine uptake and have found that poor health system capabilities, inaccessibility to medical care, low cervical cancer screening levels, inadequate infrastructure, finances, and health worker training are significant systemic barriers to HPV vaccination success in SSA. Little research has been conducted on demand-side or end-user perspectives of, and decisions around, the HPV vaccine. In order to complement existing research, and inform current and future implementation approaches, this qualitative systematic review explored stakeholder understandings of the HPV vaccine in SSA. This review searched the following databases: Embase (via Scopus), Scopus, MEDLINE (via PubMed), PubMed, EBSCOhost, Academic Search Premier, Africa-Wide Information, CINAHL, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) and found a total of 259 articles. Of these, 31 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the review. Braun and Clarke’s six step process for conducting a thematic analysis was used for analysis and studies were assessed for quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Three major themes emerged from the thematic analysis: knowledge is intertwined with misinformation; fear shapes contradictory perceptions about the HPV vaccine; and social norms and gender dynamics are relevant factors in how stakeholders understand the HPV vaccine in SSA. This review iterates the importance of first working with communities to gauge understandings of the HPV vaccine, before trying to implement change through education, sensitization and behavior change.

African business leaders may not be effective because of a lack of transformational leadership skills. Business leaders applying transformational leadership skills can strengthen relationships with followers and enhance organizational performance. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of Liberian business leaders regarding transformational leadership skills needed to lead profitable organizations. Building on a conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, data were obtained from open-ended interviews of 20 Liberian business leaders operating in the capital city of Monrovia. Interviews were transcribed, coded, validated through transcript review, and analyzed to generate themes. The most prominent themes were the need for Liberian business leaders to act as role models, to attend to individual employee's needs, and to demonstrate ethical conduct. The findings indicated that Liberian business leaders may adopt transformational leadership to help a company gain a competitive advantage, make profits, and enhance employees' commitment and organizational performance. These findings may contribute to positive social change by creating awareness among Liberian business leaders about the benefits of transformational leadership to expand company operations, create employment opportunities, and contribute to poverty reduction in Liberia. Research findings may be useful information to Liberian policymakers, business leaders, and scholars seeking to understand business leadership challenges in a postconflict economy.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The exportation of institutions from developed economies to developing countries has been a development strategy that international actors have employed for decades. In the 1990s and early 2000s international donors introduced philanthropic foundations into African countries. The Ford Foundation was instrumental in setting up a number of foundations in African countries to promote the mobilization of local philanthropic resources for self-reliant community-driven development. However, more than a decade after their establishment the Ford-founded philanthropic institutions continued to depend heavily on international funding. This dissertation investigates why Ford’s exportation of foundation philanthropy to African countries for the promotion of local resource mobilization was unsuccessful. Current explanations attribute the local resource mobilization ineffectiveness of donor-founded philanthropic institutions to domestic factors --- developing country governments’ failure to provide an enabling environment for the development of nonprofit institutions. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, I go beyond the endogenous explanations to examine the role and institutional transplantation strategies of the external actor, the Ford Foundation. Based on in-depth interviews with former staff and consultants of the Ford Foundation, as well as staff of selected Ford-founded African foundations in Kenya, Ghana, and Senegal (namely The Kenya Community Development Foundation, the African Women's Development Fund, and TrustAfrica) I contend that the oft-cited domestic “obstacles” are actually the preexisting local conditions that Ford should have taken into consideration during the formulation and implementation of its philanthropy promotion program in African countries. Using institutional transplantation theories as a framework, I argue that Ford failed to achieve its local resource mobilization goal in African countries because the American-inspired foundation model that it transplanted in those countries for the purpose was incompatible with the local African cultures of giving and philanthropy.

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BACKGROUND: Previous studies show a positive association between household wealth and overweight in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries; however, the manner in which this relationship differs in the presence of educational attainment has not been well-established. This study examined the multiplicative effect modification of educational attainment on the association between middle-income and rich household wealth and overweight status among adult females in 22 SSA countries. We hypothesized that household wealth was associated with a greater likelihood of being overweight among middle income and rich women with lower levels of educational attainment compared to those with higher levels of educational attainment. METHODS: Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 2006 to 2016 for women aged 18-49 years in SSA countries were used for the study. Overweight was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2. Household wealth index tertile was the exposure and educational attainment, the effect modifier. Potential confounders included age, ethnicity, place of residence, and parity. Descriptive analysis was conducted, and separate logistic regression models were fitted for each of the 22 SSA countries to compute measures of effect modification and 95% confidence intervals. Analysis of credibility (AnCred) methods were applied to assess the intrinsic credibility of the study findings and guide statistical inference. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight ranged from 12.6% in Chad to 56.6% in Swaziland. Eighteen of the 22 SSA countries had measures of effect modification below one in at least one wealth tertile. This included eight of the 12 low-income countries and all 10 middle income countries. This implied that the odds of overweight were greater among middle-income and rich women with lower levels of educational attainment than those with higher educational attainment. On the basis of the AnCred analysis, it was found that the majority of the study findings across the region provided some support for the study hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS: Women in higher wealth strata and with lower levels of educational attainment appear to be more vulnerable to overweight compared to those in the same wealth strata but with higher levels of educational attainment in most low- and middle- income SSA countries.

Promotion of cycling is important to reach the goals for climate mitigation of the Paris Agreement and Goals ofthe Agenda 2030. Sustainable transport, both rural and urban, could contribute to at least seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (ITDP 2015). There is relatively little research on cycling in Africa, and there is also much less research on cycling at night. Some studies show the importance of road lighting for minimising the reduction in the numbers of cyclists after-dark and suggest 'only a minimal amount of lighting can promote cycling after-dark, making it an attractive mode of transport year-round' (Uttley at el. 2020). So far, these studies have little relation to the situation in developing countries, which is why a first study in Nairobi, Kenya, is carried out here as an example. ... [From: Introduction]

Urban quality of life is measured by how clean the environment is, how safe people feel, how close they are to green spaces, and in general by the quality of outdoor space. Good quality public spaces are spaces that reduce road accidents through managing appropriately different transport modes, especially walking and cycling [1]. Cycling is healthy, economical, and environmentally sound form of mobility that is fundamental to life. More than one billion of the people in African cities walk or cycle for more than 55 minutes every day - to reach work, home, school, and other essential services [2]. One-third of the population of the African continent uses active mobility as a daily means of transport. This reveals that there is a potential of using cycling as a daily mode of travel in Africa. However, the poor quality of infrastructure for cycling sends a message that cyclists are not welcome in the urban environment. Despite the widespread use of non-motorized modes, transport planning and the provision of infrastructure in most of the cities in Africa have become carcentered, undermining the importance of cycling and walking. While the majority in the global south are active mobility users, they are not being respected by the public policies and experience 93% of the world's traffic fatalities and injuries [3]. Road traffic accidents are a major shes are not different in Africa. The World Health Organization Global Status report on Road Safety 2018 showed that the African region had 26.6 deaths per 100,000 populations, which is the highest among all regions [5]. Sub-Saharan Africa still has the highest per capita rate of road fatalities of any region in the world. Unfortunately, in most cases, the victims of traffic casualties are primarily pedestrians and cyclists [6]. Much of that is linked to the neglect of the infrastructure needs for pedestrians' and cyclists' safety. [From: Introduction]