Official development assistance as a means to poverty alleviation: evidence from Cameroon
- Authors: Anong, Moussa Moses
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Economic development -- Cameroon , Community development -- Cameroon Cameroon -- Economic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13800 , vital:27309
- Description: Despite the increased popularity of development aid flows from rich nations to poorer ones in the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA), rampant poverty still prevails in the recipient nations. This perhaps explains the lingering debate on the effectiveness of ODA in curbing poverty. Based on Cameroon, this study aims to ascertain if ODA can be relied upon as a tool to fight poverty. The researcher seeks to determine if ODA disbursed to Cameroon has resulted in poverty alleviation among the impoverished from 1980 to 2014, be it directly or indirectly. To this effect, the first research question looks at what the possible causes of poverty in Cameroon are. The second research question dwells on the pattern of ODA to Cameroon over the study period from 1980 to 2014. The final research question seeks to determine the Cameroonian poverty levels over the same period. The definition of poverty in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) and its three poverty determinants as utilized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is adopted as a theoretical base for this research. These determinants of poverty are life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. While the literature review is utilised to outline the on-going debate on the effects of ODA on economic growth and poverty alleviation, it equally provides possible causes of poverty in Cameroon. These include the prevalence of factors such as poor governance, the swindling of public funds without fear, the normalisation of bribes in return for public services, the lack of decentralized administrative and civil services, and the disproportionate distribution of state earnings. Meanwhile, secondary published data sourced from reputable multilateral bodies is used to determine the trend of ODA to Cameroon over the period from 1980 to 2014. This is then correlated with poverty figures over the same period as expressed by the three human development factors or poverty determinants. The research adopts a quantitative approach as correlations and regressions of obtained secondary data are made used of. The results of the correlations reveal that ODA may not be relied upon as a tool for alleviating poverty in Cameroon due to the statistically insignificant relationships it seems to display with all three poverty determinants. The regression results show on the one hand that ODA has insignificant relationships with life expectancy at birth and mean years of schooling, while on the other hand, ODA and GNI per capita display an inverse relationship that is judged to be statistically significant. High ODA figures can therefore be associated with lower GNI per capita values in Cameroon, based on this study. This means that ODA can be assumed to negatively affect the real income of Cameroonians. A reduction in real income might equally lead to a reduced potential to afford basic necessities like healthcare, schooling and housing. As these essentials are not provided for free in Cameroon, this reduced real income may further be held responsible for an overall deterioration of the quality of life. Based on the above findings, the researcher recommends that aid recipient governments put in place supportive systems and strong institutions that are void of corruption and unnecessary bureaucracy so as to better benefit from foreign aid inflows. African countries like Cameroon also need to develop their internal resources and use them to finance and promote their own growth instead of rely on donor funding with diminishing returns. Likewise, the government needs to improve its level of human development through diverting more funds towards developing and facilitating the poor’s access to the country’s education, healthcare, road network and basic amenities like water and sanitation. Finally, inflows in the form of loans rather than grants can better be utilized to promote positive economic growth. While loans are mostly diverted to productive activities, grants may promote dependency, rent-seeking behaviour and bureaucracy. This study is one of the few that relies on country-level data. Most existing studies on foreign aid and its related effects on poverty alleviation were conducted using cross-country data.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An organic rankine cycle heat engine using a rock thermal battery as the heat source
- Authors: Humm, Jason Christopher
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Heat engineering Renewable energy sources
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/10960 , vital:26861
- Description: Organic Rankine cycles (ORC) have unique properties that are well suited to power generation from low grade heat sources. It is envisaged that a domestic scale ORC Heat Engine can be developed that will be able to run off heat stored in a solar charged rock thermal battery. The use of a thermal battery as the heat source for the ORC system will provide the user with electricity during the day and for a number of hours into the night. The concept presented consists of four key components: rock thermal battery, 1 kW scroll expander, condenser and working fluid pump.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Operational review of NCNSM's characterisation facility to determine its delivery on its intended mandate
- Authors: Mabena, Letlhogonolo Fortunate
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Reengineering (Management) -- South Africa , Lean manufacturing -- South Africa , Nanotechnology -- South Africa -- Research , High technology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8824 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019724
- Description: National Centre for Nano-Structured Materials (NCNSM), one of the National Department of Science and Technology’s nanotech innovation centres houses a characterisation facility which provides a wide array of high-tech materials characterization techniques used in nanotechnology research, to any researchers from any part of South Africa, whether from higher education institutions, government institutions or private firms. In this study the operational review was conducted to identify if the NCNSM Characterisation Facility is delivering on its implementation intent. With operational review organisations are able to explore their internal operations and seek recommendations as to how they can manage and operate more economically, efficiently and effectively. Given that they perform appropriately, allocating their resources properly, and performing within time frame set and using cost-effective measures. BPR was used as a framework to conduct the operational review. BPR is a framework for analysis and design of workflows and process within an organisation. It is an improvement initiative that provides radical change of the business processes in an organizational process. The findings of this study indicated that the NCNSM-CF did not entirely meet its implementation intent but it is striving towards the intention. One of the main reasons for the facility not to meet its intended implementation was the difficulty of the researchers/clients to get access to the facility. The current booking system process contributed significantly to the access problem.
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- Date Issued: 2013
The development of a stress management model for staff at the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS)
- Authors: Gxoyiya, Nandipha Tinny
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Job stress -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Medical technologists -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:10859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/223 , Job stress -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Medical technologists -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: The research problem addressed in this study, was to identify strategies that could be employed to reduce stress related problems in the workplace. As the business environment is increasingly subjected to fast changing forces which include increased competition, the pressure for quality and advanced technology, innovation, and an increase in the pace of doing business, the demands on employees have grown equally dramatically. It is therefore essential to develop strategies for managing stress to give employees the required additional energy to handle particularly difficult and stressful work situations. It is important that organisations provide the assistance and support on the issue of stress as part of their proactive approach to managing employee health and safety, by drawing up contingency plans, and to have the necessary infrastructure to deal with such problems. This study investigates the strategies that can be implemented in organisations to reduce stressful situations affecting employees. The information gleaned from the literature and empirical studies enabled the development of a model for stress management in the workplace.
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- Date Issued: 2004