Thesis (Dtech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. / Electrical energy is an important resource for human and economic development. On the demand side, electrical energy management is needed because of the tendency of manufacturing industries to consume large amount of energy and as a result lead them to spend more money in paying bills for the consumed electrical energy. In addition, the amount of electrical energy generated in Sub-Saharan Africa is incomparable with demand requirements. The predominant sources of electrical energy generation are fossil fuels and hydro. Generation of electricity by fossil fuel needs high capital investments and high running costs. Concurrently, the process of burning fossil fuels has an adverse effect on the environment. In order to minimize these effects, electrical energy management in manufacturing industries has to be instituted and implemented.

This thesis attempts to evaluate the role of the World Bank in Sub-Saharan Africa's development. It argues that the World Bank has stepped beyond the boundaries of a typical lending institution by linking its aid to political reform. The study argues that in this capacity the Bank has contributed to the halting democratization process currently underway in Africa. The economic effects of the World Bank's Structural Adjustment Programmes have been less successful. As yet, the programmes have not produced the expected results and there is no evidence of long-term, sustainable economic recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa. These programmes are, however, long-term strategies and it may therefore be too premature to reach a final conclusion. They may also have been affected negatively by unfavourable political environments. This study, noting the negative effects of the international terms of trade and prices for African exports, concludes that although economic recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa will be facilitated by domestic political and economic policy reform, there is also a need for reform of the international economic order. The World Bank has correctly identified the need for domestic improvement, but it has a tendency to disregard the negative consequences of the existing structure of the international economy.

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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As the regional arm of the United Nations in Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is faced with the challenge of conforming to the broader agenda of its mother body while it simultaneously strives to be seen to devise solutions that are unique to Africa's development needs. This means that the ECA needs to find a way of striking a balance between the demands of international development trends and the viability of such trends for Africa. The United Nations, similarly to other influential multilateral institutions like the World Bank, has moved into the 21st century with the 'partnerships approach' to development. The central idea behind these partnerships is that of promoting active participation between the state, the private sector and civil society in contributing towards development. What this means, therefore, is that development is no longer viewed as the sole responsibility of the state, but rather calls for a closer working relationship between these three sectors. Given the fact that these sectors are at different levels of development in many African countries, with some countries not even having an active civil society, private sector or even a strong state, the ECA has to make sense of what exactly partnerships mean for Africa. This study is based on an understanding that if the ECA wishes to have an impact on the African continent, it will have to engage its Member States in order to develop a common idea and approach to the conceptualisation and implementation of partnerships in Africa. In light of this background, this study focuses on South Africa as a Member State of the ECA and one of a few countries that have a strong civil society and developed private sector. What is also significant about South Africa is the fact that a number of significant initiatives that involve both state and non-state actors have been evident in the period since the first democratic elections of 1994, thus allowing for an informed response from representatives of the different sectors. A South African response has thus been compiled from the six interviews that were conducted, two with representatives from each of the three sectors. Following from the responses, the study makes recommendations as to how the ECA can playa leading role in promoting partnerships in Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Verenigde Nasies se Ekonomiese Kommissie vir Afrika (EKA), 'n streeksvertakking van die Verenigde Nasies in Afrika, staan gedurig voor die uitdaging om te konformeer met die breër agenda van die moederorganisasie, maar streef terselfdertyd daarna om spesifieke antwoorde te vind vir Afrika se unieke ontwikkelingsbehoeftes. Dit beteken dat die EKA 'n middeweg tussen die eise van internasionale ontwikkelingstendense en die toepaslikheid daarvan in Afrika moet vind. Net soos die Wêreldbank en ander invloedryke internasionale instansies, is die Verenigde Nasies se benadering tot ontwikkeling in die een en twintigste eeu geskoei op 'n vennootskapsbasis. Die onderliggende oogmerk van dié benadering is die aanmoediging van aktiewe bydraes tot ontwikkeling deur die staat, privaatsektor en burgerlike samelewing. Derhalwe beteken dit dat ontwikkeling nie meer gesien word as die uitsluitlike verantwoordelikheid van die staat nie, maar eerder as 'n funksie van samewerking tussen die drie bogenoemde sektore. Aangesien baie Afrika state hulself op verskillende vlakke van ontwikkeling bevind, tesame met die feit dat sommige nie oor 'n aktiewe burgerlike samelewing, private sektor, of selfs 'n sterk staat beskik nie, is dit die taak van die EKA om gestalte te gee aan die konsep van 'vennootskappe' binne 'n Afrika konteks. Hierdie studie gaan uit vanaf die standpunt dat die EKA alleenlik 'n impak sal hê as lidstate betrek word om 'n gemeenskaplike verstandhouding en benadering tot die konsepsualisering en implimentering van vennootskappe in Afrika te ontwikkel. In die lig van bogenoemde, fokus die studie op Suid-Afrika, as EKA lidstaat en een van 'n paar Afrika state met 'n sterk burgerlike samelewing en goed ontwikkelde privaatsektor. 'n Verdere belangrike dimensie in die geval van Suid-Afrika, is die aantal belangrike inisiatiewe wat gesamentlik tussen staats- en nie-staatsinstansies sedert 1994 aangepak is. Hierdie inisiatiewe het verseker dat verteenwoordigers van alle sektore 'n ingeligte benadering tot besluite rakende die ontwikkeling van die streek kon volg. Vir die doeleindes van hierdie projek is ses onderhoude gevoer - twee per sektor - ten einde 'n beter begrip te kry van die land se benadering tot vennootskappe in diens van ontwikkeling. As 'n uitvloeisel van hierdie studie, word 'n aantal aanbevelings gemaak oor hoe die EKA 'n leidende rol kan speel in die aanmoediging van vennootskappe in Afrika.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Commodity issues have assumed renewed importance in debates about the attainment of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals for Sub-Saharan Africa and objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. For instance thirty-four countries in Africa depend on up to three commodities for more than half of their foreign exchange earnings. Despite the importance of commodity markets to economic development on the continent commodity-related research has not attracted the needed attention. The study considered eighteen primary commodities exported by most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The commodities were drawn from metals, agricultural raw materials, food and energy sub-groups. This dissertation presents results of research work underlying six stand-alone essays focusing on the relationship between commodities and various aspects of economic performance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst three of the six essays dwelt on issues affecting commodities of interest to most African countries the others considered particular commodity markets in a selected number of countries. First the relationship between commodity markets and economic growth is studied. The second essay examined trends and volatility in Sub-Saharan Africa’s key commodity prices over the past four decades. Role of commodity prices in macroeconomic policy in South Africa is also investigated using a new research approach. The fourth essay estimated the supply response of a number of tradable and non-tradable agricultural commodities in Ghana. In the fifth essay a range of volatility forecasting models were evaluated using eighteen commodity spot prices. The last essay examined the interaction between changes in commodity prices, money supply, inflation and the real exchange rate in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. The findings of the study indicate that a negative relationship exist between extent of primary commodity dependence and economic growth. The study also revealed that volatility levels have not changed for nine out of the eighteen commodities studied however, changes were observed in the other nine. Another key finding of the study was that there is merit in using gold and metal prices as variables in forming monetary policy in South Africa. It was also observed that random walk and autoregressive models consistently outperform more complex models in forecasting volatility in commodity spot prices. Results of the supply response study suggest that even though producers usually respond to price incentives, structural features of domestic agricultural commodity markets in Ghana may have hindered the conversion of improved incentives to higher agricultural growth. Results of the last paper indicate that in Ghana commodity price increases impact money supply growth and inflation whilst in Nigeria the effects of crude oil price increases produces higher inflation and appreciation of the real exchange. In the case of South Africa effects of gold export booms were transmitted through changes in money supply, inflation and real appreciation of the domestic currency. The results of the study have implications for both decision makers in business and government. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kommoditeits-aangeleenthede het vernuwe belangrikheid in die debat rakende die vervulling van die Verenigde Nasises se Millennium Onwikkelings Doelwitte vir Sub-Sahara Afrika en die doelwitte van die Nuwe Vennootskap vir Afrika se Ontwikkeling aangeneem. By voorbeeld, vier-en-dertig Afrika lande is afhanklik van tussen een en drie kommoditeite vir meer as die helte van hul buitelandse valuta inkomste. Ten spyte van die belangrikheid van kommoditeits-markte vir ekonomiese ontwikkeling op die kontinent het kommoditeits-verwante navorsing nog nie die nodige aandag gekry nie. Die studie het agtien primêre uitvoer-kommoditeite wat deur die meeste Sub-Sahara Afrika lande uitgevoer word oorweeg. Die kommoditeite is afkomstig van metale, onverwerkte landbou produkte, voedsel en energie sub-groepe. Hierdie tesis bied die resultate van navorsing wat gedoen is op ses afsonderlike opstelle wat fokus op die verhouding tussen kommoditeite en verskeie aspekte wat die ekonomiese vertoning in Sub-Sahara Afrika beïnvloed. Drie van die ses opstelle fokus op faktore wat kommoditeite van belang vir meeste Afrika lande affekteer, terwyl die ander geselekteerde lande se unieke kommoditeits-markte oorweeg word. Die eerste opstel bestudeer die verhouding tussen kommoditeits-markte en ekonomiese groei. Die tweede opstel oorweeg tendense en volitaliteit in Sub-Sahara Afrika se belangrikste kommoditeits-pryse oor die afgelope vier dekades. Die rol van kommoditeits-pryse in Suid-Afrika se makro-ekonomiese beleid word ook ondersoek met behulp van 'n nuwe navorsings benadering. Die vierde opstel maak 'n skatting van Ghana se aanbod van verskeie verhandelbare en nie-verhandelbare landbou kommoditeite. In die vyfde opstel word 'n reeks volitaliteitsvoorspellings-modelle ge-evalueer deur agtien lokopryse te gebruik. Die laaste opstel bestudeer die interaksie tussen veranderinge in kommoditeits-pryse, geld aanbod, inflasie en die reële wisselkoers in Ghana, Nigerië en Suid-Afrika. Bevindinge van die studie dui daarop dat 'n negatiewe verhouding tussen die graad van primêre kommoditeits-afhanklikheid en ekonomiese groei voorkom. Die studie het ook bevind dat volitaliteits–vlakke vir nege van die agtien kommoditeite wat bestudeer is nie verander het nie, terwyl veranderinge in die ander nege waargeneem is. 'n Kritiese bevinding was dat daar meriete steek in die gebruik van goud en ander metal pryse as veranderlikes in die formulering van die monetêre beleid in Suid-Afrika. Dit is ook waargeneem dat “random walk” en autoregressiewe modelle deurlopend beter vaar in die voorspelling volitaliteit in kommoditeits lokopryse as komplekse modelle. Resultate van die aanbod respons studie dui daarop dat alhoewel produseerders gewoontlik reageer op prys insentiewe, struktule eienskappe van die binnelandse landbou kommoditeits-mark in Ghana moontlik die effek van verbeterde insentiewe op landbou groei kon beperk het. Resultate van die laaste opstel dui daarop dat kommoditeits-prys verhogings in Ghana die geld-aanbod groei en inflasie beinvloed, terwyl in Nigerië die effekte van ru-olie prys verhogings lei tot hoër inflasie en appresiasie van die reële wisselkoers. In die geval van Suid-Afrika word die effekte van die skielike groot toenames in goud-uitvoere die duidelikste waargeneem deur veranderinge in die geld-aanbod, inflasie en die reële appresiasie van die binnelandse geld-eenheid. Die resultate van die studie het implikasies vir beide besluitnemers in besigheide en die regering.

The thesis argues for one proposition: 'philosophical assumptions matter'. It uses a contemporary debate about poverty to show how philosophical assumptions matter. The poverty debate pits the Income/Consumption (IIC) approach to poverty against the Participatory (PA) approach to poverty. The philosophical assumptions are epistemological, with implications for methodology, and normative, with implications for conceptions/aspects of well-beinglill-being. It is argued that philosophical assumptions matter in three ways: I) they affect research orientation; 2) they affect conceptual categories in use; 3) they may affect research outcomes (with potential policy implications). The first issue is addressed in Chapter 2 which examines epistemological/methodological links between two different traditions of inquiry in the social sciences, Empiricism and critical hermeneutics, and the IIC and PA approaches to poverty, respectively. It examines both historical and analytical links. The latter establish connections between conflicting epistemological positions concerning knowledge and truth/validity and methodological aspects of the two poverty approaches concerning: determination of well-beinglill-being, measurement of ill-beinglwell-being, stance toward individual preferences, sources of data and prescriptive aims. The second issue is addressed in Chapter 3 which examines links between two different approaches to normative theory, Naturalist Normative Theory (NNT) and Discursive Normative Theory (DNT), and the conceptions/aspects of ill-being used in the IIC and PA approaches to poverty, respectively. As above, it examines both historical and analytical links. The latter establish connections between different modes of normative theory construction and the constituents/aspects of ill-being in the two poverty approaches. The third issue is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5 which compare findings of the IIC and PA poverty approaches undertaken in the Republic of Guinea with a view to determine if they identify different groups as 'poor' or 'worse-off' because they are using different conceptions/aspects of ill-being. Chapter 4 examines the poverty condition of female-headed and male-headed households, the distribution of girls and women in poor households, and the intrahousehold, gender distribution of food and health, to determine if women or girls face greater consumption poverty than men or boys. Chapter 5 presents the results of a Participatory Poverty Assessment which used a variety of techniques to determine if villagers considered women as a group to be 'worse-off than men. Chapter 6 concludes and offers a number of reasons why the central argument matters.

This dissertation seeks to understand the factors that influence government responses to HIV/AIDS among sub-Saharan African countries. Specifically, I hypothesize that 1) under certain circumstances, countries with democratic institutions are more likely to fight the epidemic aggressively and 2) there are multiple pathways to strong government action. By examining government performance in 29 sub-Saharan African countries, I find strong support for both hypotheses. A case study of Botswana shows that various aspects of a democratic society, from the competitiveness of the political arena to an active civil society, shape government responses to HIV/AIDS.This research has both theoretical and practical implications. It contributes to the existing knowledge about the effects of democracy on public well-being by highlighting that, even in regions where democratic institutions may not be well-established, their dynamics are still powerful enough to encourage governments to adopt policies that benefit their populations. Additionally, it expands our understanding of HIV/AIDS policy-making in sub-Saharan Africa and in other areas of the world by specifying the different environments which lead governments to be aggressive in addressing the epidemic, a finding of interest to those involved in the field of development.

The objectives of the research was to critically analyse arguments for and against agricultural trade liberalization and its impact on food security, investigating the nexus between the three pillars of agriculture and food security, considering how the Agreement on Agriculture and the Food Aid Convention addressed the concerns that were raised by the different parties during the negotiation period, and finally it considered how the current multilateral negotiations in agriculture can provide a secure framework within which developing African countries can pursue effective policies to ensure their food security.

<p>The dissertation examines three military interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa which took place in the mid and late 1990s in Rwanda, the DRC and Lesotho. These interventions took place despite high expectations of international and regional peace on the part of most analysts after the collapse of cold war in 1989. However, interstate and intrastate conflicts re-emerged with more intensity than ever before, and sub-Saharan Africa proved to be no exception.</p> <p><br /> The study sets out to analyse the motives and/or causes of military interventions in Rwanda in 1990, the DRC in 1996-7, and the DRC military rebellion and the Lesotho intervention in 1998. In analysing these interventions, the study borrows extensively from the work of dominant security theorists of international relations, predominantly realists who conceptualise international relations as a struggle for power and survival in the anarchic world. The purpose of this analysis is fourfold / firstly, to determine the reasons for military interventions and the extent to which these interventions were conducted on humanitarian grounds / secondly, to investigate the degree to which or not intervening countries were spurred by their national interests / thirdly, to assess the roles of international organisations like Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations, in facilitating these interventions / as well as to evaluate the role of parliaments of intervening countries in authorising or not these military interventions in terms of holding their Executives accountable. In this context, the analysis argues that the intervening countries / Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Namibia, Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe appeared to have used intervention as a realist foreign policy tool in the absence of authorisation from the United Nations and its subordinate bodies such as the OAU and SADC.</p>