UNAM Gā-aisib Repository (University of Namibia)
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Assessing the effects of financial literacy on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Windhoek
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science (Accounting & Finance)Financial literacy is one of the key factors for the effective operation of businesses including SMEs. Thus, the lack of financial training (financial knowledge) and poor financial management capacity could be detrimental to the effective management of business resources. This study assessed the effects of financial literacy on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Windhoek. For data collection, the study drew a sample of 100 registered SMEs (50 SMEs that attended the financial literacy training and 50 SMEs who did not attended the financial literacy training) using stratified and simple random sampling methods and structured
questionnaires. The study applied an ordinary least squares technique to examine the determinants and effects of financial literacy on the performance of SMEs in Windhoek. The results suggest that tertiary education and financial literacy training significantly influences financial knowledge. The study finds that attending the financial literacy training programme significantly increases the composite score index of financial knowledge by 0.04 units while being 30 – 50 years old significantly increases the index by 0.07 units. Completing tertiary education significantly increases the financial knowledge index by 0.10 units. Therefore, ensuring participation in the financial training initiative and educational attainment of individuals enhances the level of financial knowledge of SMEs. Financial literacy training and financial knowledge are both important determinants of the performance of SMEs in Windhoek. Specifically, a unit increase in the composite index of financial knowledge significantly increases the composite score of business performance by 0.16 units and attending the financial literacy training significantly increases the composite index of business performance by 0.14 units. Gender, number of dependents, age of business, business type, business ownership and educational attainment are also important in explaining the performance of SMEs. This suggests that policy options that promote financial literacy and financial knowledge will enhance the performance of SMEs in Windhoek
Prospects of rhizobial inoculant technology on Bambara groundnut crop production and growth
No full textAfter peanuts and cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata), the Bambara groundnut (Vigna
subterranea (L.) Verdc) is the third most significant food legume in Africa. It is
characteristically grown in marginal soils, is drought tolerant, and also has the
potential for nitrogen fixation. Despite that, year-on-year Bambara groundnut
yields are on a gradual decline due to a combination of abiotic and biotic
stresses such as uneven annual rainfall and climate-induced changes in soil
microbial community compositions, negatively impacting food security. Thus,
the application of rhizobial inoculants at planting significantly improves yields in
many leguminous crops. Moreover, symbiotic inoculants are well established in
developed countries for improving nitrogen fixation and productivity in grain
legumes. Sub-Saharan African countries, however, still under-utilise the above
practice. In crop production, nitrogen (N) is the most frequently deficient
nutrient since it stimulates root and shoots growth. Whereas nitrogen
fertilisers can be used to supplement soil N levels, they are, however, also
costly, at times inadequate, may not be timely in supply and may have
deleterious environmental consequences. Hence, rhizobial inoculants are
seen as a cheaper, easier, and safer method for improving N-fixation and
crop productivity in grain legumes, as a result, smallholder farming systems are
food secure. Thus, identifying the most efficient rhizobial strains for biofertiliser
production for Bambara groundnut is of utmost importance to the
farming communities
Investigating TransNamib’s contribution to economic growth and development
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration (Management Strategy)Public enterprises were created to perform and accelerate critical functions such
as economic growth and development in any country. However, they have
dismally failed to deliver on the mandate they were created for. The overall
objective of this study was to investigate TransNamib’s contributions to
economic growth and development. The study employed a structured
questionnaire to collect quantitative data with a causal-comparative research
design to test the relationships between the independent and dependent variables.
The population was 150 stakeholders of TransNamib composed of the board of
directors, the executive, middle and below management, as well as workplace
representatives. The data was captured and analysed using the Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26. The study found that TransNamib is not
effective in its operations. Moreover, the study managed to gather the factors
impacting TransNamib’s contributions to economic growth and development.
Some of the factors were lack of management commitment, political interference,
and lack of research and development. Collectively, leadership commitment is
important to the growth and development of any organisation. An organisation
without the support and commitment of its leaders will quickly wither and die.
Furthermore, the study found that there is a challenge of political interference in
the operations of public enterprises. Amongst other outcomes, it was established
that political interference has a serious financial implication for TransNamib due
to unnecessary bureaucracy and potential conflict on the manner in which the
enterprise should function, hence this dilemma may conflict with its strategic
goals. The study recommended that TransNamib should employ the art of good
governance as a principal basic approach in working smarter to achieve the
objectives and align its business model to the interests of all its stakeholders
Investigating into factors influencing the planning for post-retirement living for the construction sector employees in the Oshana region Namibia
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration Management StrategyThe purpose of the study was to investigate the factors influencing the planning for
post-retirement living for the construction sector employees in the Oshana region in
Namibia. Moreover, the pragmatism philosophy adopted was most appropriate as the
researcher combined elements of the positivist and interpretivist philosophies.
Furthermore, the participants comprised of 30 construction sector employees from
the Oshana Region, Namibia. Additionally, the study used semi-structured interviews
as a data collection method. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data by
coding themes, making comparisons and examination of the data. The findings of
this research are that construction sector employees do not venture into retirement
planning and the sociodemographic group with low retirement planning interest is
men, low-income earners and financially illiterate individuals. In the final analysis,
the study recommends that more research is required to validate the data from these
construction employees. The study also recommends the need for construction sector
employees to acquaint themselves with the dynamics and literacy on financial issues
and retirement plannin
An analysis of barriers to Public Sector innovation in Namibia
No full textThis study is exploratory and aims to fill
some of the knowledge gaps and inform
policy makers of the barriers that should
be lifted to spur innovation in Namibia's
public sectorThis study is about barriers to public sector
innovation in Namibia. It is motivated by
the fact that while the Government of the
Republic of Namibia has adopted a wide
range of public policies and programmes,
and established institutions to promote the
efficiency and effectiveness of its public
sector, not much is known as to whether
these measures are enhancing innovation in
service delivery and public administration.
There is a paucity of evidence-based analysis
on public sector innovation in Namibia. The
study fills the gap and aims to stimulate further academic inquiry into this area. Based
on an online survey, face-to-face interviews,
and focus group discussions at regional
and national workshops, we identified and
analysed barriers to public sector innovation
in the country. The study recommends a
strategic policy framework and whole-of government institutional configuration to
spur on innovation in public service delivery and administration. It suggests further
research on the measurement of public sector
innovation, and detailed analysis of specific
barriers to innovation in public service
Clove polysaccharides
No full textClove (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & Perry) is an essential herb with well-documented health benefits. Carbohydrates were detected in the ethanolic bud extract of S. aromaticum. Two antithrombotic polysaccharides were isolated from the flower buds of clove by anion-exchange chromatography, hydrophobic interaction column chromatography, and size exclusion chromatography with molecular weight ranging from ca. 34,000 to ca. 103,000 Da. Clove polysaccharides have the backbone of type I rhamnogalacturonan, and the side chain of arabinan with the sulfate is being positioned at 6 of 3-linked galactosyl residues. Although
polysaccharides from cloves have an antithrombotic ability, their activities in vitro are lower than that of heparin. Sulfated polysaccharides from cloves show a slightly lower salt concentration due to their relatively low sulfate/sugar ratio, which gives distinctive structural characteristics compared to other polysaccharides such as algae polysaccharides. The anticoagulation action with no toxicity in vivo of low molecular weight sulfated polysaccharide may represent a valuable and safe antithrombotic agent. This chapter gives an overview of polysaccharides from S. aromaticum, their characteristics, and their potential applications
Spatial, seasonal, interannual variability and long-term trends in the diet of Cape fur seals along the Namibian coast (1994 – 2018)
No full textA research dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences)To fully understand how the Cape fur seal population responds to changing ecological and environmental conditions, and be able to comprehend their functional roles in the ecosystem, a thorough understanding of their diet composition, seasonality, interannual variation and long-term trends, is necessary. The diet of the Namibian Cape fur seal population was studied from prey remnants recovered across a 25-year time-series (1994 – 2018) of monthly scat samples (n = 1270) collected at various colonies situated along the entire Namibian coastline. Colonies in close proximity had similar prey matrices, and all colony samples were grouped into four geographical regions, namely the Far North (FN), Central North (CN), Central South (CS) and Far South (FS) regions.
The study found that bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus was the most abundant prey species at all four regions. This was followed by Cape horse mackerel Trachurus capensis in northern Namibia (CN and FN) and the lanternfish Lampanyctodes hectoris in southern Namibia (CS and FS). Cape hake Merluccius capensis was the third most abundant prey species in three regions, but negligible in the Far North. All the other prey species combined contributed less than 7 % of the total numerical diet composition. The monthly contribution of the three main prey species varied in all regions, but, bearded goby was dominant during all months in the Far North and Far South regions. The study indicated that the bearded goby abundances were less variable in relation to other species in all the regions. However, the bearded goby seemed to be the least preferred prey. This
is because when Cape horse mackerel or lanternfish were available, the Cape fur seals readily switched and fed more on those than the more abundant bearded goby. There were significant interannual variations in the contribution of the first two most important prey species in each region, being negatively correlated to each other (r = -0.84, n = 10, P < 0.002; r = -0.62, n = 25, P < 0.001) for bearded goby and Cape horse mackerel in the FN and CN respectively, (r = -0.52, n = 25, P < 0.007; r = -0.63, n = 22, P < 0.002) for bearded goby and lanternfish in the CS and FS regions, respectively. The spatial, seasonal andlong-term variations in the contributions of the main prey species were related to the geographical distribution, abundances as well as the calorific values of each prey species (the bearded goby has the least calorific content of the considered species). There was a long-term increase in the proportion of the bearded goby in the diet of the Cape fur seals
in the Central North and Far South regions (t = 3.21, n = 10, p < 0.001; t = 4.06, n = 22, P = 0.001), an increase in Cape horse mackerel in the Far North region (t = -5.01, n = 10, P < 0.001) and a decline in lanternfish (t = -2.19, n = 22, P = 0.04) in the Far South region. Lanternfish and bearded goby are currently not exploited in Namibia. With minimal pressure from fishing, their variability in the diet is thus likely related to their natural variability in abundance, with possible alterations due to changing environmental conditions affecting their abundance directly or their availability to the fur seals through depth distribution. The study indicated that the abundance of the lanternfish declinedwhereas that of the bearded goby increased in southern Namibia (CS and FS). Therefore, to understand the decline in lanternfish abundance in the Cape fur seal diet in southern Namibia, the study further investigated the link between its discrete monthly and long term diet contribution and to the coastal upwelling index and sea surface temperature recorded across the same timeframe in the same area. There was a significant positive correlation between the discrete monthly lanternfish abundance and coastal upwelling in
the Central South region (r = 0.41, n = 90, P < 0.001) and a significant negative correlation between the discrete monthly lanternfish abundance and in situ SSTs in both the Central South (r = -0.27, n = 300, P < 0.001) and Far South region (r = -0.27, n = 300, P < 0.001).
The long-term monthly lanternfish abundances showed significant correlations with the SSTs in the Far South region (r = -0.60, n = 12, P = 0.04). This was the first attempt to relate the abundance of the lanternfish in the diet of the Cape fur seal to fluctuations in the coastal upwelling and sea surface temperature in Namibia. These correlations provided a view of how climate variability affected the diet of higher trophic levels. Furthermore, they revealed that the diet composition of Cape fur seals inferred from scat sampling do not only help us understand their dietary composition and variations over time, but also contribute to better understanding the underlying causes of abundance fluctuations - especially for species that are currently commercially unexploited (and thus not actively assessed and/or monitored in Namibia). The knowledge assimilated by this study therefore helps in better understanding the relative importance of prey species, especially the non-commercially important species to the diet of a top predator in a functional ecosystem, as well as insights into the relationships that these species have
with environmental variables such as coastal upwelling and sea surface temperature
Investigating the effectiveness of Namibia postal services visa cards on the customer's banking satisfaction
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master in business administration- FinanceThe aim of the research was to "investigate how the customers perceive the
effectiveness of NamPost Visa Cards on their banking satisfaction in the Erongo
Region." The objectives of this research were (1) to assess the effectiveness of the
NamPost Visa Card on customer banking satisfaction in the Erongo Region, (2) to
identify the challenges faced by NamPost customers during their banking transactions
in the Erongo Region, and (3) to determine the customer service strategies that can be
used to improve banking in the Erongo Region. A mixed research methodology was
used to collect data from employees and customers of NamPost through a closed-ended
questionnaire, which was completed by 388 customers, and an in-depth interview,
which was administered to 12 employees of NamPost in the Erongo Region. The study
established that e-banking offers a variety of banking services to customers and that
the use of Visa Cards provides a banking method for using post-savings books.
Furthermore, the study found that carrying Visa cards is safer than carrying cash
because funds are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with Visa cards. More
so, the study revealed that Visa cards are convenient to use, and the accounts can be
linked to mobile phones for reporting transactions, making it easier to manage
transactions. One of the main challenges highlighted was that the customers could
suffer considerable losses when the system is offline, or they could suffer data
corruption or hardware failure. Furthermore, the study found that a lack of technical
knowledge about how to use Visa cards could cause complications for large
transactions. Apart from that, the study found that there are several fees associated
with using a Visa Card and that if one forgets the Visa Card PIN, they might not have
the option to complete the transaction. The study recommended that the service fees
on the transactions be reduced and that simple terminology be used with examples
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when setting up a payee. This will enable the customers to not struggle to understand
or read the ATM output while they are doing their transactions. More, the study also
said that improving online banking security issues would also help people use Visa
cards in the Erongo Region more ofte
Phase 3 evaluation of an innovative simple molecular test for the diagnosis of malaria in different endemic and health settings in sub Saharan Africa (DIAGMAL)
No full textRapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) have become the cornerstone for the management of
malaria in many endemic settings, but their use is constrained for several reasons: (i) persistent malaria antigen (histidine-rich protein 2; HRP2) leading to false positive test results; (ii) hrp2 deletions leading to false negative PfHRP2 results; and (iii) limited sensitivity with a detection threshold of around 100 parasites/μl blood (pLDH- and HRP2-based) leading to false negative tests. Microscopy is still the gold standard for malaria diagnosis, and allows for species determination and quantitation, but requires trained microscopists, maintained microscopes and has detection limit issues. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop and evaluate more sensitive and accurate diagnostic tests. To address this need
we have developed a direct on blood mini PCR-NALFIA test that combines the benefits of molecular biology with low infrastructural requirements and extensive training.
Methods
This is a Phase 3 diagnostic evaluation in 5 African countries. Study sites (Sudan, Ethiopia, Burkina, Kenya and Namibia) were selected to ensure wide geographical coverage of Africa and to address various malaria epidemiological contexts ranging from high transmission to near elimination settings with different clinical scenarios and diagnostic challenges. Study participants will be enrolled at the study health facilities after obtaining written informed consent. Diagnostic accuracy will be assessed following the WHO/TDR guidelines for the evaluation of diagnostics and reported according to STARD principles. Due to the lack of a 100%
specific and sensitive standard diagnostic test for malaria, the sensitivity and specificity of the new test will be compared to the available diagnostic practices in place at the selected sites and to quantitative PCR as the reference test
Analysis of food safety and food handling knowledge among street food vendors in selected local food markets in Windhoek
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Microbiology)Contaminated food leads to foodborne disease outbreaks (FDO) that cause millions of deaths among people every year. In Namibia, many low and middle-income consumers use street-vended foods (SVF) with compromised quality of raw materials, degraded handling and storage conditions that do not meet food safety standards. Therefore, this study was conducted by means of a descriptive, cross-sectional study of six Windhoek locations of Okuryangava, Katutura, Klein Windhoek, Kleine Kuppe, Prosperita, and Otjomuise. Food samples were purchased for laboratory analysis to determine pH, moisture and total plate count (TPC). Systems-Theoretic Accident Models and Processes (STAMP) was adopted, informed by data gathered based on event chain models drawn from street food handlers (SFH). Food-handlers were knowledgeable about the need for hygienic practices such as hand washing (94.6%), and cleaning of utensils (83.5%). Knowledge on food pathogens revealed that 72.1% did not know food pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter, and E. coli, meanwhile, only 28.4% did not know that parasites, fungi, and viruses act as agents to cause food poisoning. There is a none-consistent pattern of SFH knowledge with regard to hygienic practices during food handling and processing. pH values were lower (3.21±0.29) for liquid beverage than all solid foods that ranged from 6.81±0.10 to 7.54±0.16. The moisture percentage was higher (90.97±0.85) for liquid beverage than all solid foods that ranged from 37.66±1.20 to 63.28±0.89. High TPC of 5.28±0.49 Log CFU/g was detected in matangara, followed by sausage (5.06±0.99), kapana (3.07±0.47), and oshifima (2.66±1.99). STAMP with ready to use scenarios was introduced to deal with accidents that lead to FDO. Moreover, an assessment of the potency and appropriateness of food preservation methods and preservatives are ii recommended. A robust food safety regulatory regime, including a strong component of food safety training for contamination prevention should be pursued and is recommended for SVF handler