This study sets out to explore the challenges associated with small and medium enterprises (SME) in obtaining funds from financial institutions. Specifically, it seeks to identify the types of credit facilities used by SMEs in Namibia, examine the factors that limit SME access to credit from banks and to understand the challenges associated with SMEs in accessing credit facilities. This study employs the logistic technique to correlate survey data from 120 small and medium firms in Namibia, to examine the likelihood of access to credit from a financial institution. The study has found that the type of credit used by SMEs is either short-term loans, medium-term loans or long-term loans. The conclusion reached is that the majority of SME business owners preferred short-term loans to finance their business activities. This leads to another question: whether financial institutions' products, designed for the SME sector, are well aligned with this finding or if this is another challenge to SMEs in accessing funds. The study revealed factors in accessing credit by small and medium-sized enterprises, including: requests by the financial institutions for collateral and audited financial statements of account; length of operation, and details of competent management, capable of giving the banks confidence and assuring them that the loans will be repaid; rates of interest which determine the loan costs. These are some of the factors that determine SME access to finance. The study strongly recommends that SME businesses keep up-to-date business financial records for various reasons, such as to keep track of their operations, and to provide this information to financial institutions in the event of their making applications for funding. Also, SME firms should build strong balance sheets, displaying their profits, so as to ensure that they are able to meet the collateral requirements of the financial institutions.

This study analyses the relationship between electricity prices, consumption and economic growth at national and per sector levels in South Africa over the period from 2006 to 2017 using the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach and error correction model (ECM). With regards to electricity consumption, in the mining and residential sectors, the relationship between electricity consumption and GDP is insignificant and thus adheres to the neutrality hypothesis. In contrast, in the services, transportation and industrial sectors, there is a positive relationship between GDP and electricity consumption, which adheres to the conservative hypothesis. Lastly, the agricultural sector has a positive relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in the short run, and thus adheres to the growth hypothesis. In the case of electricity prices and electricity consumption, the results find that the relationship is insignificant on a national basis and this is true for the services, transport, residential and agricultural sectors too, whereas there is a negative association with electricity consumption in the mining sector while the industrial sector has a negative association with electricity prices. The results for the relationship between electricity prices and electricity consumption show that in the national, services sector, transport sector, residential and agricultural sectors, electricity consumption has an insignificant relationship with the electricity prices. This is in contrast to the mining sector, whose electricity consumption is negatively associated with electricity prices while the industrial sector electricity consumption has a positive and significant relationship with electricity prices. With regards to the relationship between electricity prices and GDP, the results find that there is an elastic association in the national, services, mining, and industrial sectors with a negative impact on the GDP in the long run. In contrast, the relationship between electricity prices and GDP in the transport and residential sectors is insignificant.

The South African local governments are facing enormous issues that challenge their financial independence and the fulfilment of their constitutional powers in providing service delivery to communities within their jurisdiction areas, amongst other things. Although the National government provides grants to the local governments, they are not sufficient to meet the basic needs of communities within sub-national provinces – given the rapid growth in population and the high levels of unemployment. Property tax is one of the sources of municipalities' revenues, over which the local governments have full autonomy. A vast number of scholars in literature emphasize the potential and the importance of property tax revenues within local government spheres, its contribution towards the improvement of community lives, and in providing the public infrastructures with the services they require – if they are fully utilised. This study examines the impact of macro-economic factors (gross domestic product, inflation, the unemployment rate, and the population rate) on property-tax revenues in South African municipalities across the nine provinces, from the year 2005 to 2018. The panel-data model was estimated by using fixed and random effect-estimation techniques. The findings provide evidence to suggest that there is a negative and positive relationship between property tax revenues and macro-economic determinants, depending on each subcategory from which the total property-tax revenue is based. The main results of the study indicate that the variation in economic activities does not improve property-tax revenue mobilization across South African local governments. Inflation was found to have a discouraging impact on the property-tax revenues derived by municipalities. Although the population rate reflected a stable trend during the study period, the results indicated that it has had a negative impact on property-tax revenues. Generally, the unemployment rate has depicted an unstable trend over the study period; and the findings show that it has had a negative effect on property-tax revenues across South African municipalities. The study suggests some policy recommendations for achieving optimal property-tax revenues. In addition, the study has contributed to the body of knowledge; and it has provided an analysis of the various macro-economic determinants – by sing widely accepted indicators in an emerging market. This research also recommends further exploration of the impact of other macro-economic determinants on property-tax revenues, in any future research studies. These include macro-economic determinants, such as the interest rate and household income, amongst other issues, which are not part of this study.

This research paper applies the synthetic control method to measure the economic cost of sanctions imposed on South Africa between 1985 and 1994. The economic sanctions imposed on South Africa between 1985 and 1994 by the United Nations, the United States of America, and the European Community negatively affected the economy. This negative effect on the economy, measured by the gross domestic product per capita, continued until 1998 despite the sanctions having ended four years earlier. Using the synthetic control method, this research paper measures the economic cost by estimating the difference in the gross domestic product per capita between the treated country (South Africa) and the counterfactual (synthetic South Africa). Synthetic South Africa represents South Africa without undergoing treatment (sanctions). What would have happened if sanctions were not imposed? The results indicate that the economic cost is most pronounced after the sanctions ended, indicating a substantial lag effect. South Africa's gross domestic product per capita is 30% lower than synthetic South Africa by 1998. This potentially indicates that the sanctions had a long-lasting effect. The results are not sensitive to the composition of the donor pool. Furthermore, the placebo tests reveal that the results are statistically significant at the 10% threshold with only one country (Philippines) having a treatment effect that is larger than South Africa's and a better fit. For target nations, it means that policy makers should acknowledge that a policy that leads to sanctions may have a severe and long-lasting impact on the economy. Potential areas for future investigation include estimating the humanitarian effect of the sanctions imposed on South Africa and applying the synthetic control method approach to other sanctions episodes in the past.

This thesis investigates the level of sustainability of two microfinance institutions (MFIs): Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and Capitec Bank of South Africa. Data from 2004 to 2013 is used in this study employing internationally accepted sustainability criteria, namely, the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) 2010 Microfinance Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) and the SEEP Framework of 2005. The results of this study indicate that although the operations of both microfinance institutions are sustainable, Capitec Bank exhibits a higher level of sustainability as compared to Grameen Bank. This is evidenced by Capitec Bank’s higher levels of profitability, capital adequacy and solvency, operational self-sufficiency, and healthier asset portfolio. This finding underlines South Africa’s financial sector’s stability, institutional quality, competitive market, and solid regulatory framework. The sustainability criteria suggest that Capitec Bank and other South African MFIs should heed Grameen Bank’s low ROE and insufficient capital adequacy and solvency measures. Ensuring healthy and strategic lending portfolios gives a good ROE for a firm’s shareholders. Furthermore, the capital adequacy and solvency ratios have important implications for an institution’s capital structure. Therefore, Capitec and South African MFIs should maintain healthy ROE, capital adequacy and solvency ratios in order to ensure their long-term sustainability. As future research, it would be useful if data were made available to enable an assessment of a failed South African MFI to obtain clearer insight into the South African microfinance sector. Furthermore, data on Grameen and Capitec’s asset quality and social performance will give additional insight into the social sustainability of these two MFIs.

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 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.

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.

South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world with vast differences in socioeconomic conditions. At the same time its carbon emissions are the highest on the continent. Recognising the need to both reduce poverty and inequality and carbon emissions, the South African government introduced the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The REIPPPP is a competitive bidding scheme and once independent power producers (IPPs) are appointed as preferred bidders a nonnegotiable, standardised and rand (ZAR)-dominated 20-year power purchase agreement is signed with the national energy producer, Eskom. In order to qualify, project companies must commit to certain economic and socio-economic development criteria within their host communities. The inclusion of this requirement is meant to uplift the quality of life in the host communities. The objectives of this study included exploring the socio-economic benefits of the REIPPPP using the SlimSun Swartland Solar Park (SlimSun) project in the Swartland Municipality as a case study. This study was thus exploratory in nature and qualitative research techniques were used. The sample population was derived through convenience sampling and data was collected via interviews with the project company, a local NGO, the municipality and the local community trust. From the thematic analysis, community trust; education; food, nutrition and healthcare; and upliftment and dignity were identified as the socio-economic development benefits which the host community derived from the REIPPPP. In investigating the experience and perceptions of community members with SlimSun, a key theme that emerged was the importance of trust between stakeholders and how strong community relationships, including with local government, helps in identifying initiatives that address the needs of the community. While this study cannot make generalisations, based on the findings, the researcher would recommend that the REIPPPP Office considers providing guidelines to the REIPPPP projects that working with local governments and NGOs may help to create lasting benefits to host communities.