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Geographical accessibilities to health facilities across borders: Implications for the determination of Nigeria's health system performance
Get PDFThis study investigates the question of whether there are potential geographical accessibilities to health facilities across borders between Nigeria, a source country, and its neighbours. For a source country with porous borders and a non-functioning vital registration system, there is a tendency for cross-border utilisation of health services, especially by non-citizens, within geographical proximity. Using geographical information system methods, Euclidean distances from neighbouring country settlements to the nearest health facility across the border were estimated to measure accessibility. Three sets of shapefiles were used for this analysis, including a settlement shapefile, a population shapefile, and a health facility shapefile. The study finding shows evidence of potential cross-border use of health facilities. For settlements within the geographical accessibility threshold, individuals are likely to utilise the health facilities across borders. This may constrain the maximisation of efficiency gains from scarce public resources spent on health and could explain the persistent health financing gap in the source country. Hence, health interventions in the source must be designed to internalise the possible cross-border utilisation of health care to attain desired targets.
Keywords: Geographical Accessibility, Cross-Border, Healthcare Utilisation, Health System Performance
Sovereignty arbitrage 5.3x ROI: Apple’s 900 million in prospective US tariff exemptions to strategically position itself in India
No full textIn a brazen defiance of conventional wisdom, Apple gave up 14.8 billion in state-sponsored production incentives. This paper offers a significant contribution by proposing the Geopolitical Resilience Matrix (GRM), a practical framework that allows enterprises to methodically design sovereign leverage. It indicates that resilience is more than just diversification; it is also about skillfully converting state pressure into competitive advantage—a type of geopolitical jujitsu. The era of passive vulnerability has ended; the future belongs to organizations that design sovereign manufacturing resilience as a fundamental strategic asset. Discover the roadmap for transforming global fragmentation into a unique strategic advantage.
Keywords: Geopolitical Risk, Supply Chain Sovereignty, Manufacturing Resilience, Trade War Strategy, Incentive Arbitrage, Apple-Foxconn, Sovereignty Premium, Geopolitical Resilience Matrix
Hub-and-Spoke 2.0: How Maersk’s Panama Mega-Hub achieves 41% U.S.-Asia resilience, 28% LatAm cost savings, and 14% nearshoring surge
Get PDFMaersk's 2.1 billion in yearly logistics savings for Latin American exports, a 19-day buffer against canal interruptions, and a 28% reduction in inventory costs for car manufacturers that use delayed assembly. This study identifies Panama as the critical hub for resilient, sustainable, and economically inclusive hemispheric trade, providing a reproducible template for reorganizing global supply chains in the face of growing disruptions.
Keywords: Logistics Hub, Panama Canal, Supply Chain Resilience, Nearshoring, Value-Added Services, Trade Corridors, Latin American Trade, Multimodal Transport. 
The role of family physicians in reducing maternal near-miss events: Lessons from a multi-facility review in Lagos
Get PDFMaternal near-miss events (instances in which women survive life-threatening obstetric complications) offer a valuable lens for evaluating the quality of maternal healthcare systems. In Nigeria, where maternal mortality remains unacceptably high, near-miss cases are often underreported and under analyzed. This paper explores the role of family physicians (FPs) in reducing maternal near-miss events through early identification, timely intervention, and coordinated care, drawing on insights from a multi-facility review in Lagos. The analysis highlights common clinical drivers of near-miss events, including postpartum hemorrhage, preeclampsia/eclampsia, and sepsis, often exacerbated by systemic delays in care. Family physicians are shown to mitigate these risks by introducing structured interventions such as routine use of partographs, maternal early warning systems, and emergency obstetric drills. They also lead community outreach programs aimed at improving birth preparedness and recognizing danger signs during pregnancy. Furthermore, their mentorship of non-physician staff and integration of team-based protocols enhance both facility readiness and care quality. The paper advocates for integrating maternal near-miss audits into family medicine residency curricula to strengthen quality improvement competencies. It also calls for expanded continuing education opportunities, peer-support structures, and policy frameworks that formally recognize FPs as essential contributors to maternal care. Finally, investments in rural infrastructure and referral capacity are recommended to support FPs working in underserved areas. By leveraging the unique skill set and placement of family physicians, Nigeria can better address systemic gaps in obstetric care, reduce preventable maternal morbidity, and advance toward its maternal health goals.
Keywords: Maternal Near- Miss, Family Physician, Maternal Health, Primary Care
Assessing the reliability of AI-driven predictive models in food safety risk management
No full textSustaining food safety in a world that has undergone globalization with complex supply chains makes it very challenging. Conventional risk management methodologies are sometimes inadequate in addressing emerging risks, making the use of AI and predictive modeling invaluable tools in enhancing food safety evaluation and decision making. AI-based models have the prospects of identifying contamination risks at an early stage, enhancing the optimization of hazardous control measures, and increasing the effectiveness of compliance monitoring. Nevertheless, the reliability of their predictions is still questionable due to factors such as data integrity, model interpretability, and regulatory compliance that influence their applicability in practice. Despite AI's potential, challenges such as inconsistent data sources, varying regulatory standards, and adaptability across diverse food production environments limit its efficacy. Addressing these issues is crucial for AI-driven models to be fully integrated into food safety management systems. This paper provides a critical review of the current AI-based predictive models for food safety risk management synthesizing insights from existing literature, industry studies and regulatory reports. Through an evaluation of the strengths, drawbacks and limitations of these models, this research emphasizes the importance of developing standardized validation frameworks and improved strategies for integrating data across models. Overall, this research enriches the current discourse regarding the use of AI in food safety and offers key recommendations for improving model reliability and performance in protecting consumers and safeguarding public health
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Predictive Modeling, Food Safety Risk Management, Data-Driven Decision Making
Perceptions of government innovation support programs by U.S. women and minority business owners
No full textThis multiple comparative case study examined the perceptions of U.S. women and minority business owners regarding government innovation support programs, addressing a literature gap on these programs' effectiveness and accessibility for underrepresented groups. The research focused on whether these business owners viewed government initiatives as beneficial for fostering innovation. Research questions explored the experiences and challenges these business owners faced with these programs. Data collection included three open-ended interviews with a program director who provides small business government support, and two business owners: one who received government support and one who did not. Additionally, document reviews and a research questionnaire (N = 100) were also used to gather comprehensive data for triangulation. Findings revealed that while many respondents saw potential benefits in government support programs, significant barriers existed concerning business owner awareness, access, and perceived relevance. These barriers were noted by both the questionnaire and interviewed participants. The study suggested the need for more targeted outreach and tailored support mechanisms to improve the effectiveness of innovation support programs for women and minority business owners. These insights could help develop a more inclusive and impactful policy framework, creating equitable support mechanisms for these groups. Future research should extend this study across diverse geographical and demographic landscapes, exploring regional economic conditions and cultural differences and comparing impacts on nonminority business owners. Doing so would deepen the understanding of the unique advantages and barriers faced by women and minority business owners.
Keywords: Innovation, U.S. Government Support, Women Entrepreneurs, Minority Business Owners, Accessibility, Barriers to Entry, Inclusivity, Policy Development, Equity
Investigating Agile Portfolio Management Techniques for Prioritizing Strategic Initiatives in Large-Scale Government IT Projects
No full textLarge-scale government IT projects often face challenges in aligning strategic priorities with evolving policy objectives, budget constraints, and stakeholder demands. Agile Portfolio Management (APM) offers a dynamic framework for managing competing initiatives, enabling public sector organizations to respond to change with increased flexibility, transparency, and value delivery. This review investigates Agile Portfolio Management techniques used to prioritize strategic initiatives within complex government IT environments. It explores how frameworks such as SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), Lean Portfolio Management, and Kanban-based governance models facilitate value stream alignment, portfolio-level visibility, and data-driven decision-making. The study also examines the role of participatory budgeting, value mapping, and weighted shortest job first (WSJF) prioritization in enhancing stakeholder engagement and ensuring optimal allocation of limited resources. Case studies from federal, state, and municipal agencies are analyzed to highlight implementation outcomes, institutional constraints, and scalability concerns. The review Highlights the importance of integrating agile governance, continuous feedback loops, and risk-adjusted prioritization to maximize strategic alignment and policy impact in public IT portfolios. Ultimately, this research provides insights into tailoring Agile Portfolio Management for bureaucratic structures, promoting accountability, and improving the responsiveness of digital government initiatives.
Keywords: Agile Portfolio Management, Strategic Initiatives, Government IT Projects, Prioritization Techniques, Large-Scale Programs
Exploring the Interdependence Between Higher Education, Cybersecurity, and National Security; Implications for National Sovereignty and Policy Development
No full textHigher education system in any economy whether developing or industrialized is one of the major pillars on which national security stands because, among other factors, it ensures the continuous availability of professionals in critical areas of national security and general development needed from policymaking to execution. In the same vein, national security entails preserving the academia from whom policies, technologies and other beneficial ideologies have emerged, some of which are directly instrumental for (and are indeed indicators of) a country’s strength and continuous success. Cyber security is crucial to every aspect of the economy; it has become one of the highly sought after fields in the discipline of Information and Communication Technology. As a field of research within the academia, it also sustains the educational system directly and through related industries in a chain of complex interdependence, especially for tertiary education. Cyber security also supports e-commerce, nuclear security and warfare, banking, aviation etc. Any breach or failure in a country’s cyber security could cause a breach in the integrity of any of the above-mentioned aspects (and even more) in far-reaching ways, which could negatively impact the sovereignty of a country. A syllogistic connection exists between higher education, cyber security and national security. This connection, albeit direct seemingly, exists in such a manner that the inadequacies in one of these socio-economic aspects could threaten the functionalities and operations of the others in several ways, especially national security. Numerous attempts made both internally and externally to steal classified information, hijack databases/operational systems and data theft has spawned the need for understanding this phenomenon. This paper explores these connections, underlying factors and provides a dialectic explanation therewith.
Keywords: Cyber Security, Functionalism, Higher Education, And National Security, Information
Identifying pragmatic competence in the narrative of visually impaired secondary students: A clinical discourse analysis approach
No full textThis study aims to investigate the characteristics of narrative discourse among secondary students with visual impairments (VI) through Clinical Discourse Analysis (CDA) by Damico (1985), with a focus on pragmatic competence. Language samples were collected from 22 VI students (N= 22; n=7 in inclusive schools, n=15 in specialized schools) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, who were asked to present three discourse situation (spatial direction, narrative and reasoning). All participants had total blindness or low vision without developmental disorders. The data were analyzed using quantitative measures: Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Type-Token Ratio (TTR), grammatical accuracy, lexical category distribution, gesture behavior and combined with pragmatic analysis procedures in CDA. Findings revealed that students consistently used gestures and demonstrated overall grammatical stability; differences emerged between the two groups in terms of pragmatic performance, particularly in gesture appropriateness. The integration of quantitative data provided a comprehensive view of VI students’ communicative development. This combining of different data components contributed to better outcomes and offered effective communication support strategies within both inclusive and specialized educational settings.
Keywords: Pragmatic competence, Clinical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Narrative discourse, Nonverbal communication, Blinds/ Visually Impaired (VI) Students
Exchange rate determination in oil dominated African economies: A comparative analysis of Nigeria and Angola
No full textAfrican countries of Nigeria and Angola are examples of countries naturally endowed with abundant deposit of crude oil and these countries depend so much on oil exploration for export revenue and foreign exchange earnings. The rate of exchange rate fluctuation in these countries is suspected to have a link with the countries’ oil price and revenue. This study investigates and compares the significance or otherwise of crude oil price in the determination of exchange rate in these oil dominated economies. An autoregressive distributed lag model is used in the study, and it is estimated for Angola and Nigeria. The findings of the research show that the price of crude oil has a long-term, significant negative impact on the exchange rates in both Nigeria and Angola; hence, a rise in the price of crude oil causes the exchange rates of both countries to appreciate over time. In these nations, trade openness and gross domestic product are also found to be common factors that have an inverse effect on the exchange rate. In the short term, the real interest rate has a major impact on the exchange rate in Nigeria, whereas it has little effect in Angola. Equally, net capital flows has short run significant effect on exchange rate in Angola, its short run effect on exchange rate in Nigeria is insignificant. It is recommended that economic diversification initiatives should be given top priority by policymakers in Nigeria and Angola. They should increase investments in non-oil sectors, particularly in agriculture and industry, and set up efficient systems for managing and preserving oil earnings.
Keywords: Exchange Rate Appreciation, Crude Oil Price, Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model, Net Capital Flows, JEL Classification: C22, F31, O24