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Risk Communication Strategies Used During the Rising Water Levels Around Kenya’s Lake Naivasha
No full textRisk communication is critical to providing a scientific understanding of perceptions and responses to climate change threats. Using seven focus discussion groups comprising 75 participants, this study examined the role of risk communication in effective implementation of climate change adaptation during floods experienced around Lake Naivasha basin in Kenya in 2018. Specifically, within the contexts of Protective Action Decision Model and risk communication in relation to flood occurrences, the study investigated the following: knowledge and awareness of climate change, risk communication systems put in place to enhance adaptive behaviour and whether the risk communication systems in place were viewed as effective. Findings revealed that the participants understood what climate change is, and related it to their own experiences. In addition, as there was no clear communication before the floods occurred, the risk communication systems were seen as not effective enough, even though the participants received warnings about the imminent rise of water levels in the freshwater lake
Remote Work and Digital Progressions during the Covid-19 Pandemic for Auditors and Financial Managers in Johannesburg, South Africa
No full textThe emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) marks a significant transformation, introducing technological and digital advancements that are reshaping how work is conducted, largely through virtual platforms (Abe 2020: xviii). This shift is altering both the nature of work and traditional workplace concepts. While research acknowledges developments across various employmentsectors, the increasing reliance on virtual arrangements has yielded mixed outcomes. This paper argues that the 4IR, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, has blurred the boundaries between physical and virtual work environments, often rendering physical workplaces less relevant. This transformation holds the potential to significantly impact worker engagement and well-being. Using a qualitative research approach, 26 interviews were conducted with auditors and financial managers in Johannesburg-based firms. The exploratory findings revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital accounting practices for auditors and financial managers working remotely. Moreover, working from home was a double-edged sword for the participants in this study, as they compared their experiences during and before the pandemic. The findings demonstrate that digital processing dictates how work isconducted in the accounting and financial sectors. 
A Framework for Fourth Industrial Revolution Adoption by Small-Scale Rural Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Literature Review
No full textClimate change is witnessed in unpredictable weather conditions that negatively affect human lives, economies, and farming worldwide. This results in severe heat waves and a shift in rainfall patterns. This is a major global threat to agriculture and food security, especially for rural farmers. Small-scale rural-based farmers contribute immensely to local communities’ socio-economic well-being and food security. However, most of the small-scale rural farmers are constrained, especially regarding resources. There is a need for the agricultural industry in rural areas to adopt the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies to predict and make well-informed decisions on how to manage existing, often constrained resources efficiently. Government support, in various forms, is equally needed. Furthermore, adopting 4IR by small-scale rural farmers will assist countries in the Sub-Saharan African region in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 2 on ‘Zero Hunger’ by achieving food security and promoting smart, sustainable agriculture. However, there is a deficiency in the literature on 4IR adoption frameworks to guide small-scale rural farmers in adopting 4IR tools to manage their resources and promote sustainable agriculture. This study aims to develop a 4IR adoption framework that could guide small-scale rural farmers in adopting 4IR tools for managing their resources and promoting smart agriculture. A systematic literature review approach is employed to identify critical components significant for adopting 4IR in rural farming. Rural farmers may use this framework as a guiding lens when adopting 4IR tools. This study broadens the scope of the scant literature on the best practices for adopting 4IR for smart small-scale rural farming in Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing nations with similar setups. The smart-scale rural farming is mainstreamed within the smart village concept and the greenfield orgreen economy resilient to harsh climate change conditions. 
Africa’s Political Questions Today
No full textAfrica stands at a crossroads, a continent of immense potential yet facing a complex web of political, social, and economic challenges. In an era marked by rapid globalization, technological advancement, and shifting geopolitical alliances, the political questions confronting Africa today are both urgent and consequential. From debates about governance and democratization to struggles over resource management and economic justice, the continent\u27s future is shaped by forces both internal and external
Resisting Religious Trauma and the Stultification of Queer Subjectivities in Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees
No full textIn Nigeria, politics is intricately linked to religion to such an extent that political leaders have relied on religious doctrine to criminalise same-sex relations and legitimise the country’s queerphobic policies. This paper examines Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees (2015) to demonstrate the ways in which Nigerian political leaders weaponise what Myra Mendible (2016) calls “stigmatised shame” in their efforts to deter the manifestation of queer identities and to render queer subjectivities docile. Focusing on Okparanta’s main character, Ijeoma, I explore the ways in which she resists docility enforced through Bible lessons and imagines queer freedom through a subverted reading of biblical scriptures. I argue that this subversion of scriptures often widely read as condemnation of queer subjectivities illuminates ways in which their normative interpretations are confined to adopted imperial heteronormative formulations. I further argue that Ijeoma’s subverted reading highlights Christian theology’s intentional resistance to understanding conceptual resources needed in the formulation of well-rounded queer subjectivities—an understanding that would espouse their legitimacy—and in turn delineates them to condemnation. I contend that the novel’s interrogation of shame, weaponised through biblical scriptures and inherent in contemporary conceptual resources that inform Christian ideology, intercepts its effects that lead toreligious traumatisation
Queer Africa: New Directions in Literature, Film, and Fashion
No full textThe last decade has seen a proliferation in cultural productions that represent and narrativise queer lived experiences in Africa. Concomitantly, there has also been a growing body of scholarly work which has attempted to intellectualise these diverse cultural productions. However, as noted by Osinubi, “[w]ithin African queer scholarship, debates on good social practices concern the uneven constitution of the field and the responsibilities of scholars towards globally dispersed African communities” (2018, p.597). One of the most pressing challenges facing queer African studies has been this uneven constitution of the field, where much of the scholarship is produced by scholars who are either not African or are not based in Africa. Most of the scholars in the field are located in the Global North and work within institutions that have the capital to shape the production and dissemination of knowledge. What this does, in many instances, is to exclude or marginalise Africa-based scholars. This exclusion and marginalisation of African scholars, as Musila (2025) explains, is materialised in the way that scholarship from Africa and by African scholars is framed as belated. According to Musila, the “charge of belatedness is often framed in the diction of lack – lack of originality, lack of theoretical rigour, out of step with contemporary debates in the field of study, redundant” (2025, p.2)
Are Sino-Africa Relations Mutually Beneficial for Africa? The Case of South Africa and Zambia
Get PDFThroughout the years, China has managed to acquire enormous political and economic growth. Through these efforts China gained global recognition from then world superpowers (Britain, France, and United States of America), and was introduced to the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member in 1971. In order to maintain this position in the international arena, China focused on strengthening her rapidly developing economy by entering the African diaspora where she would acquire much needed raw minerals and varying sources of energy to sustain and further bolster her developing but competitive economy. These relations resulted in strengthened political and economic relations between China and African countries. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Sino-Africa relations are mutually beneficial, and not lopsided in favor of Chinese interests. To determine this, the paper will be assigned with four task; (1) analyzing diplomatic and economic interactions between China and African nations (vice versa); (2) addressing the common perceptions and misconceptions associated with China’s activities in Africa; (3) to determine whether indeed Sino-Africa relationships are based on mutual gains or if they are lopsided and in favor of China’s interests; (4) to determine whether or not these relations and interactions have a promising future.
An Analysis of South Africa’s Foreign Policy Priorities on Africa: The Domestic-Foreign Policy Nexus, 2018-2022
Get PDFThis research paper explores the nexus between South Africa’s domestic and foreign policies between 2018 and 2022, using a neoclassical realist framework, and with a focus on South Africa’s foreign policy priorities on Africa. It measures the state’s performance against its pronounced foreign policy priorities towards the continent. This paper aims to examine whether the citizens of South Africa are an asset or a liability to the state’s stated foreign policy objectives. Furthermore, it examines how South Africa can improve its foreign policy such that the domestic developments in the state may positively impact the African continent. The paper uses qualitative research, with data analysis of case studies. The findings indicate that South Africa does not have a coherent foreign policy, which in turn negatively affects the African continent, and that South Africa is a long way from achieving a pan-Africanist foreign policy. The paper concludes by contemplating the importance of educating South African policymakers and citizens in strengthening and implementing the DIRCO’s mission and objectives.
Making BRICS Work for its People and for those in the Global South
Get PDFSince 2009 and more specifically in the past five years, there has been growing global fascination with the burgeoning BRICS as many countries express interest at its membership. From five to ten nations after the Johannesburg Summit of 2023, BRICS Plus (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Plus Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates), BRICS Plus has become a formidable global multilateral powerhouse with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over $28,5 trillion (28% of global GDP) and a combined population over 3.5 billion people (45% global population).
BRICS has prioritised its operations to be pegged against its three main pillars of cooperation, i.e., (a) Political and Security Cooperation, (b) Finance and Economic Cooperation, and (c) Cultural and People to People Cooperation. (3.5 billion people). To date, one of the boldest initiative distinguishing BRICS from all other multilateral formations outside of the United Nations (UN) system include the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB). Outside of the NDB, there are numerous initiatives coming of the annual declarations which are adopted by the heads of states at the various BRICS Summits.
This special issue was conceived out of the 2nd BRICS Research Institute Conference co-hosted between the University of Kota from and Durban University of Technology that took place between 13th and 15th February 2023 at the University of Kota in India. The conference key note address and opening were delivered by the honourable Vice Chancellor of the University of Kota, Professor Dr Neelima Singh. The theme of the conference was “Growth and Sustainability of Livelihoods in the BRICS countries: Knowledge Sharing in Social Justice, Governance, and Multilateralism," and the primary objective of the conference was to solicit contributions from BRICS scholars regarding advancements made by BIRCS in the themes of: (1). Entrepreneurship and development research; (2). New Development Bank – as a Catalyst for the BRICS Economic Growth and Development;(3). Climate emergency and challenges for BRICS countries; and (4). BRICS people-to-people exchange and cultural integration through tourism and air transport.
A total of 203 abstracts were received towards this conference as follows: 63 for the theme of Entrepreneurship, 62 towards New Development Bank – as a Catalyst for the BRICS Economic Growth and Development; 46 to climate emergency and 36 towards BRICS people-to-people exchange and cultural integration. A total of 40 full papers were received post conference and subjected to double-blind peer review process by an esteem team of BRICS scholars. A total of eleven papers that went through the double-blind peer review process made it to this publication on the basis of their quality.
In this publication, papers are clustered in only three main themes which are (a) Climate emergency and challenges for BRICS countries, (b) BIRCS and COVID-19, and (c) Entrepreneurship and future perspectives in BRICS. A summary of each contribution to this publication is made hereunder
Comparative Analysis of the Government Structure and Policies to Disaster Response Adopted by the BRICS: Perspectives from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFDisasters have increased in severity, diversity, and frequency over the years. Consequently, disaster response requires the involvement of different stakeholders, which makes managing disaster and humanitarian operations a challenge. Thus, the present research aims to compare the government structure and policies of the BRICS countries (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to disaster response operations, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research adopts the case study by investigating official government documents and public information. The results identified that the BRICS developed: (i) a vertical and centralized coordination approach within their territories in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) some cases of independence and misalignment between national and local governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and (iii) creation and adjustment of particular policies and programs for the pandemic period with little consideration of government structures and policies for disaster response developed before the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research might compare the response to other disasters faced by all the BRICS countries and collaboration opportunities among them