88 research outputs found
Abdulai Sila in the context of Bissau-Guinean literature
No full textAs lutas pela independência e sua concretização em muitos países do continente africano devem muito às narrativas literárias. Essas narrativas vem alcançando um lugar, ainda que não satisfatório, mas bastante significativo no cenário internacional. Entretanto, no que diz respeito às literaturas da Guiné-Bissau é possível de se notar que ainda há um hiato. O texto a seguir aborda uma das literaturas da Guiné-Bissau através de um de seus representantes, o escritor Abdulai Sila, considerado como autor do primeiro romance bissau-guineense, já que, até então, esse gênero havia sido escrito por autores situados na era colonial e não eram filhos daquele país.The struggles for independence and its implementation in many african countries owe much to literary narratives. These narratives has achieved a place, though not satisfactory, but very significant in the international arena . However, with regard to Guinea-Bissau 's literature it is possible to note that there is still a gap . The following text addresses one of the literatures of Guinea-Bissau through one of its representatives, the writer Abdulai Sila, regarded as author of the first novel Guinea Bissau. Thenceforth, this literary genre had been written by authors situated in the era colonial and were not born in that country
Hope as retaliation or the wondrous world of Abdulai Sila’s literature
No full textNeste artigo, trataremos do conjunto da literatura de Abdulai Sila [1958-] e, em especial, de Dois tiros e uma gargalhada (2013), última publicação do escritor. Investigaremos como dois sistemas culturais de representação – o africano e o ocidental – apreendem a questão da História e de como esses sistemas se interagem na contemporaneidade. Para tanto, iremos discutir a figuração da identidade dos principais personagens de Sila, verificar neles redes e relações de alteridade, intersecções espaço-temporais e formas de identificação com a tradição. Suspeitamos, enfim, que há, nesse autor, um entendimento da História que recupera a magia cultural africana em contraposição à fatalidade da concepção de História posta pelo ocidente.This paper discusses the work of Abdulai Sila [1958-], and, more especifically, Dois tiros e uma gargalhada (2013), last publication by the author. We are going to investigate how two cultural systems of representation – the african and the western – aprehend history and how these systems interact in contemporary times. To this end, we will discuss the identities’ figuration of the main characters, as well as verify networks and alterity relations, spatiotemporal intersections and forms of identification with tradition. We suspect, then, that there is in the work of this author an understanding of history that recovers the african cultural magic in contrast to the inevitability of the conception of history posed by the west
Performance of microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: a cross country analysis of outreach, sustainability, efficiency and regulation
Get PDFA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Economics in the Department of Economics at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2017The overall aim of this study was to conduct a cross-country analysis of micro finance institutions (MFIs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in terms of outreach, sustainability, efficiency and regulation. The specific objectives were: (1) To conduct a general institutional review on the performance of MFIs; (2) To analyse the determinants and extent of outreach and sustainability of micro finance institutions in SSA; (3) To investigate the level of operational efficiency of microfinance institutions in SSA and analyse the factors influencing their efficiency and (4) To analyse the effects of financial regulation of MFIs on their sustainability and outreach performances. The estimation methodologies employed were both descriptive and econometric and included the random effects (RE) method, fixed effects (FE) method, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and the generalised method of moment (GMM) approach. The results of the outreach analysis indicated that a trade-off exists between the depth and breadth of outreach. The RE regression results showed that the gross loan portfolio, the interest rate, operating expenses to assets ratio, return on assets and return on equity are the main significant determinants of MFIs outreach in SSA. In the sustainability model estimation, the FE results show that a negative and insignificant relation exists between MFIs sustainability as measured by operational self-sufficiency and depth of outreach. However, a negative significant relation is found between return on assets and depth of outreach. The nature of the trade-off between sustainability and outreach, therefore, depends much on the variables used. A positive association exists between breadth of outreach and sustainability and the results are robust and consistent using different measures of outreach. The main determinants of MFIs’ sustainability as revealed from the analysis are the average loan size as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI), gross loan portfolio, portfolio at risk, operating expense to assets ratio, interest rate, and governance effectiveness. The results of the SFA show that a wide variation of inefficiency exists among MFIs as the institutions achieve an average cost efficiency of 40.09 percent. This suggests that substantial cost reduction possibilities exist which firms need to consider enhancing their efficient operations. The main determinants of MFI efficiency are total assets, operating expenses to assets ratio, average loan balance per saver, the percentage of female borrowers and borrower per staff member. Finally, the GMM estimation revealed that regulation has a significant impact on both the social and financial performance of MFIs in SSA. This implies that the transformation of not-for-profit entities to become regulated institutions need to be pursued to enhance the attainment of the dual goals of MFIs. The study recommends that governments should work to improve the business environments within which MFIs operate and also allocate more budgetary support to pro-poor interventions for complementary development. Also, improvements in the regulatory environment will help ailing MFIs to overcome liquidity constraints and achieve their stated objectives more sustainably. Managers of MFIs should monitor their cost side variables and adopt low-cost outreach technologies (such as the M-Pesa) innovatively to help cut down their cost of operation and improve their efficiency and sustainabilit
A difícil Mistida guineense : nação e identidade da Guiné-Bissau através da triologia de Abdulai Sila
Get PDFApós mais de cinco séculos de dominação e exploração portuguesa, a Guiné-Bissau, pequeno país localizado na costa ocidental da África, assume a difícil tarefa de constituir-se como nação e, dessa forma, forjar sua identidade nacional. Acreditando que a literatura apresente papel singular em tal engenho, o presente trabalho busca, através da trilogia do autor do primeiro romance nacional, Abdulai Sila, analisar como essas complexas construções vêm-se alicerçando e erguendo. Os romances A Última Tragédia (1995), Eterna Paixão (1994) e Mistida (1997), por tratarem de diferentes períodos do território em questão, da colonização ao pós-independência, possibilitam uma análise abrangente e elucidativa, além de lançarem mão da esperança como característica principal, indo de encontro à difícil realidade do pós-independência. As ideias, sobretudo, de Homi Bhabha, Edward Said e Stuart Hall, a respeito de cultura, nação, identidade, pós-colonialismo, constituem o cerne teórico e analítico dessa dissertação. Sob a óptica dos Estudos Culturais, por meio do entrecruzamento entre o discurso histórico e ficcional, o hibridismo pressuposto faz-se nítido. Às riquezas e belezas da cultura africana, expressas pelas diversas e diferentes etnias, unem-se aspectos culturais lusos, assim como elementos advindos e consequentes da realidade global e interconectada do mundo contemporâneo. Assim, a nação e a identidade guineense, ainda em processo de construção, já deixam entrever sua característica híbrida, em que o tradicional e o moderno conjugam-se e entrelaçam-se igualmente.After more than five centuries of portuguese domination and exploration, the Guinea-Bissau, small country located in the occidental coast of Africa, assumes the difficult task to constitute itself as nation and, in this way, to forge its national identity. Believing that literature presents singular paper in such device, the present work searches, through the author‟s trilogy of the first national romance, Abdulai Sila, to analyze how these complex constructions are founded. The romances A Última Tragédia (1995), Eterna Paixão (1994) e Mistida (1997), for dealing with different periods of the territory in question, from colonization to post-independence, they make possible an including and elucidative analysis, beyond making use of hope as main characteristic, opposing to the difficult reality of post-independence. The analytical and theoretical core of this dissertation is constituted by the Homi Bhabha, Edward Said and Stuart Hall‟s ideas about nation, identity and post-colonialism. Through the point of view of the Cultural Studies, crossing historical speech and ficcional speech, the supposed hybridism becomes clear. To the wealth and beauties of the African culture, expressed by the ethnic differences, portuguese cultural aspects are joined, as well as consequents elements of the global reality of the contemporary world. Thus, the nation and the identity of Guinea-Bissau, still in construction process, allow already to see its hybrid characteristic, where the traditional and the modern are equally conjugated and interlaced
Meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis in Northern Ghana
Get PDFDespite improvements in technology, treatments and understanding of how bacterial meningitis
develops, the disease remains a potentially life-threatening emergency capable of causing significant
morbidity and mortality. N. meningitidis, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae type b, which are
commensally normal human nasopharyngeal flora, are the most important and common causes of
bacterial meningitis. N. meningitidis (especially, serogroup A) is well known for its association with
epidemics in the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa. This nearly always starts during the dry
season and stops during the onset of the rains and occurs every 8-12 years in the “meningitis belt”
with attack rates sometimes exceeding 1% during these epidemics. H. influenzae type b and S.
pneumoniae are mostly endemic affecting certain risk groups. N. meningitidis serogroup W135,
traditionally known to cause isolated cases, has raised general concern in recent years due to
outbreaks in Burkina Faso since 2002 attributed to it.
Following a major meningococcal meningitis epidemic in Northern Ghana in 1996/7 the Navrongo
Health Research Centre in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical Institute in 1998 initiated a longterm
colonization and disease study in the Kassena Nankana District (KND), with the aim of
contributing to the understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, improved intervention and
early detection of bacterial meningitis epidemics in the “meningitis belt”. As part of this long term
study, this thesis focuses on meningococcal colonization and invasive disease surveillance
(pneumococcal and meningococcal), burden of pneumococcal meningitis and the relationship
between environmental factors and the risk of meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis.
From 1998 to 2005 clonal waves of nasopharyngeal colonization with pathogenic and nonpathogenic
meningococcal genoclouds were observed in the KND through the longitudinal
meningococcal colonization study of residents of 37 randomly selected compounds. These
meningococci were not only less diverse and unstable in composition with rare non-groupable
strains, but they were also mostly made up of predominantly hyperinvasive strains (up 71%) with
constant microevolution. In 1998 serogroup A meningococci ST5 caused an outbreak of
meningococcal meningitis in the KND with persistent carriage up to 1999, disappearing in 2001. In
2000 serogroup X ST571 meningococci emerged with high carriage rates and few cases. Carriage of
this serotype persisted until 2001 when it was replaced by serogroup A ST7 which only disappeared
at the latter part of 2005 after causing outbreaks between 2002 and 2004.
Although N. meningitidis serogroup W135 has been the cause of epidemics in neighbouring Burkina
Faso since 2002, only sporadic cases (4) were reported in Ghana from 2003 to 2004. The disease
isolates were very similar to the Burkinabe epidemic strains by Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis
analysis. Colonization surveys over a one-year period in one of the patient home communities
(which has semi-closed features) showed an initial high carriage rate of 17.5% and persistence of
carriage with rapid microevolution.
Between 2000 and 2004 there was an outbreak of pneumococcal meningitis (PCM) caused by a S.
pneumoniae serotype 1 clonal complex in the KND with features (seasonality, clonality and broad
age spectrum of the patients) characteristic of meningococcal meningitis (MCM). This hypervirulent
serotype is repeatedly being isolated in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
A two-year survival analysis comparing 67 PCM cases recorded at the War Memorial Hospital
(WMH), Navrongo, Ghana, identifiable on a demographic surveillance system, with equal numbers
of MCM and community controls, showed profound excess mortality of the PCM compared with
both MCM and community controls. A case-control study of sequelae (using a structured disability
questionnaire, neuropsychological and audiometric examinations of both cases and controls),
matching for age, sex and geographical location, including 46 traceable survivors of PCM (cases),
46 community controls (CC) and 34 survivors of MCM, showed that hearing and speech impairment
as well as psychiatric disorders are much more frequent and severe in PCM than MCM.
Epidemics of MCM and PCM are closely related to climate. A time series analysis of weekly
meteorological data (humidity, rain fall, dust, wind speed, temperature and sunshine) from the local
weather station and the corresponding reported epidemiological data (confirmed meningococcal and
pneumococcal cases) from 1998 - 2004 from the WMH microbiology database was carried out using
negative binomial regression and Bayesian methods. The aim of these micro epidemiological
analyses was to describe as well as provide an early warning system for the short-term prediction of
likely meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis outbreaks in the KND.
The environmental factors that influence the incidence of PCM and MCM were found to be similar
but not always the same. The duration of a preceding absence of rainfall appears to be the best
predictor of both PCM and MCM outbreaks. Outbreaks of MCM are best predicted by concurrent
decrease in rainfall with increase in weekly mean maximum temperature. Those of PCM are
influenced by concurrent decrease in rainfall.
The natural variations in the predominance of different pharyngeal meningococcal serotypes and
serogroups over time might contribute to meningococcal meningitis epidemics in the African
meningitis belt. The future epidemiological trend of meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis
will be influenced by changes in the use of antibiotics, immune status, aging of the global population
and technology. The introduction of carbohydrate-conjugate or common protein vaccines to routine
immunization schedules, together with maternal immunization and enhanced disease (and/or
colonization) surveillance, could make pneumococcal and meningococcal diseases of less public
health importance
Uma faca de dois gumes: a questão do poder no teatro de Abdulai Sila
No full textOne of the central aspects of the myth of Antigone revolves around the question of who holds power and how it is used. This problem urgently manifests itself in the current situation in Guinea-Bissau, a country that has experienced a succession of 17 presidents and 32 prime ministers since its independence in 1974, along with at least six coups and counter-coups, to sum up, political instability mainly driven by personal vanity. It is well known that political power, despite not being inherently negative, carries the risk of becoming autonomous, inevitably seducing its holders to use it unscrupulously for purely private economic gain. In the first three plays of Guinean author Abdulai Sila, As orações de Mansata (2007), Dois tiros e uma gargalhada (2013), and Kangalutas (2018) the acquisition and use of power are crucial issues, demonstrating that the specific historical situation of Guinea-Bissau is perceived as the greatest problem of contemporary society. When it comes to ruling and enriching oneself, almost everyone ends up betraying the revolutionary ideals of the past. Thus, both As orações de Mansata and Dois tiros e uma gargalhada depict scoundrels fighting and slaughtering oneanother to gain power. Fortunately, in both plays, these (self-)destructive tendencies are counterbalanced by a pronounced pragmatism that transcends political partisanship and ideological biases, a constellation that repeats itself with exclusively female protagonists and similar outcomes in Kangalutas. Sila recognises the issues of power abuse and acknowledges that the mechanisms governing this process are, on the one hand, human; however, on the other, they are not unavoidable. The three plays highlight the appropriate strategies for eschewing this deleterious effect, showcasing individuals who know how to resist the seductions of power. The wise elders, with their ancestral knowledge, and the younger generation, with their faith in a better future, can come together to overcome the immense problems that currently plague Guinean realityUm dos aspetos fulcrais do mito de Antígona gira à volta da questão de quem tem o poder e como o exerce. O problema impõe-se com urgência na situação atual da Guiné-Bissau, país que vivenciou desde a sua independência em 1974 até hoje uma sucessão de 17 presidentes e 32 primeiros ministros, com pelo menos seis golpes de estado e contra-golpes, em suma, instabilidade política que se deve em grande parte a vaidades pessoais. É sabido que o poder político, apesar de não ser em si uma força negativa, tem o perigo inerente de se tornar autónomo, seduzindo os seus detentores quase inevitavelmente a usá-lo sem escrúpulos, para fins económicos puramente privados.Nas três primeiras peças de teatro do autor guineense Abdulai Sila, As orações de Mansata (2007), Dois tiros e uma gargalhada (2013) e Kangalutas (2018), a questão da aquisição e do uso do poder é fulcral, o que comprova que a situação histórica concreta da Guiné-Bissau é percebida como o maior problema da sociedade contemporânea. Quando se trata de reinar e enriquecer, quase todos acabam por trair os ideais revolucionários de antigamente. Assim, tanto As orações Mansata como Dois tiros e uma gargalhada mostram protagonistas corruptos que lutam, trucidando-se uns aos outros, para conquistar o poder. Felizmente, nas duas peças, estas tendências (auto-) destrutivas são contrabalançadas por um acentuado pragmatismo, que se sobrepõe a partidarismos políticos e ideologismos, uma constelação que se repete com protagonistas exclusivamente femininas e resultados idênticos em Kangalutas. Sila vê os problemas dos abusos do poder e reconhece que os mecanismos que governam este processo são, de um lado, humanos; porém, do outro lado não são incontornáveis. As três peças evidenciam as estratégias adequadas para evitar este efeito deletério, mostrando pessoas, que sabem resistir às seduções do poder. São os homens-grandes com a sabedoria secular que representam, assim como a geração jovem com a sua fé num futuro melhor. Juntos podem superar os imensos problemas dos quais sofre a realidade atual guineense
Africa in the global economy
No full textAccording to the author, Africa as used throughout the book refers only to sub-Saharan Africa unless otherwise noted
Raped Africa, Mother Africa, emasculated Africa : the evolution of the gendered national body in the fiction of Abdulai Sila
Get PDFA exploração e trauma da nação colonizada muitas vezes escreviam-se no corpo feminino, e consecutivamente a terra acordava-se características femininas. Os colonizadores europeus falavam da sua missão divina e patriótica para penetrar terras virgens para inseminá-las com a semente da civilização. Esta alegoria evoluiu no discurso pós-colonial na violação figurativa da terra colonizada e das sociedades que as habitavam. Os nacionalistas africanos e pan-africanistos, através da figuração da nação como família (McClintock, 1993) e na sua romantização das suas origens como Mãe-África perpetuaram a feminidade inata da terra nativa. O presente papel examinaria o gênero do corpo no qual se escreve a narrativa da nação nas três novelas do autor Bissau-Guineense Abdulai Sila. A Última Tragédia (1995), a sua segunda obra publicada mas a que se situa primeira na cronologia narrativa dos seus romances, enfoca-se na tropa da África feminina em inscrever a nação colonial sobre o corpo do protagonista, Ndani, enquanto ela passa simbolicamente pelas violações físicas, psicológicas e culturais que também igualmente tiranizavam a nação. Eterna Paixão (1994) caracteriza-se pela romantização da Mãe-África carinhosa, vital, fecunda: um simbolismo que se derrama para os corpos femininos como a conexão tempestuosa do protagonista afro-americano com o continente pós-colonial reflecte-se nas suas relações com a figura caseira da mãe África(na) e com a mulher africana moralmente pervertida e sexualmente carregada. Finalmente, este papel explorará e interrogará a evolução inovativa do autor do corpo nacional pós-independência como o homem emasculado em Mistida (1997). Aqui o corpo masculino está o sítio na qual a corrupção e a violência política que se fermentavam nos anos precedentes à guerra civil em 1998 e as suas graves consequências na fábrica social da Guiné-Bissau escrevem-se nas invalidezes físicas, cicatrizes psicológicas e incapacidades sociais de personagens comoventemente masculinos.The exploitation and trauma of the colonised nation has often been written upon the female body, and in turn the land has been accorded feminine characteristics. European colonisers talked of their divine, patriotic mission to penetrate virgin lands in order to inseminate them with the seed of civilisation. This allegory evolved in postcolonial discourse into the figurative rape of the colonised land and the societies that inhabited them. With the figuring of the nation as family (McClintock, 1993) the innate femininity of the native land was perpetuated in African nationalists’ and 'an-Africanists' romanticisation of their origins as Mother Africa. This paper will examine the gendering of the bodies upon which the narrative of the nation is written in the three novels of the Bissau-Guinean author Abdulai Sila. A Última Tragédia (1995), his second published work but whose narrative sits chronologically first of his three novels, centres on the trope of the female Africa in inscribing the colonial nation upon the body of his protagonist Ndani as she symbolically undergoes the physical, psychological and cultural violations which likewise oppressed the nation. Eterna Paixão (1994) features the romanticisation of Africa as the loving, vital, fecund Mother, a symbolism which spills onto female bodies as the African-American protagonist’s tempestuous connection with the post-colonial continent is reflected in his relationships with the homely African Mother figure and the sexually charged, morally deviant African Woman. Finally, this paper will explore and interrogate Sila’s innovative evolution of the post-independence national body into the emasculated man in Mistida (1997). Here the male body becomes the site upon which the corruption and political violence brewing in the years preceding the 1998 civil war and their grave consequences upon Guinea Bissau’s social fabric are figured in the physical disabilities, psychological scarring and social incapacities of poignantly male characters
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