Digital finance and poverty in selected Sub-Saharan Countries
- Dube, Ziphozethu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4532-5346
- Authors: Dube, Ziphozethu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4532-5346
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Electronic funds transfers , Transmission mechanism (Monetary policy)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23347 , vital:57616
- Description: Since the 21st century, digital finance has emerged as a critical enabler and an excellent tool for meeting the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through increasing financial inclusion and poverty reduction. The objective of achieving universal financial access by 2030 has led to recognising that financial inclusion has a significant role in economic growth and poverty eradication. The literature demonstrates that access to finance can affect poverty through access to credit, enabling savings, thereby facilitating intertemporal consumption smoothing. Digital finance is key to unlocking financial inclusion, particularly in developing countries. Building capacity in digital payments is one of the best ways to ensure a faster, better, and more cost-effective way to access financial services. The gender gap in developing countries states that (59% of men were reported to have a bank account in 2014, while 50% of women only had a bank account). Some groups, including women and the rural poor, are financially excluded compared to others. This study applied panel data regression analysis and structural equation modelling to investigate the nature of digital finance, its relationship with poverty and the transmission mechanism from digital finance to poverty in selected Sub-Saharan Countries. The results indicate that remittance is one of the most significant determinants of the use of digital finance in the Sub-Saharan region compared to other determinants of use for digital finance. Regarding the transmission mechanism between digital finance and poverty, the path analysis results suggest that the channel for remittance in the transmission mechanism has a more substantial impact on reducing poverty than savings in the Sub-Saharan region. The study recommends that remittance is essential, but savings are not critical in this digital age. This study contributed to literature by identifying the transmission mechanism between digital finance and poverty. This is beneficial to researchers and policymakers . It provides policy practitioners with a reference point on a model to build upon towards providing solutions to the problem, Sub-Saharan Countries encounter on delivering sustainable and broad-based economic growth. The study concludes by proposing that digital finance, particularly mobile money presents an excellent opportunity to increase access to finance and reduce poverty. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
- Authors: Dube, Ziphozethu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4532-5346
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Electronic funds transfers , Transmission mechanism (Monetary policy)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23347 , vital:57616
- Description: Since the 21st century, digital finance has emerged as a critical enabler and an excellent tool for meeting the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through increasing financial inclusion and poverty reduction. The objective of achieving universal financial access by 2030 has led to recognising that financial inclusion has a significant role in economic growth and poverty eradication. The literature demonstrates that access to finance can affect poverty through access to credit, enabling savings, thereby facilitating intertemporal consumption smoothing. Digital finance is key to unlocking financial inclusion, particularly in developing countries. Building capacity in digital payments is one of the best ways to ensure a faster, better, and more cost-effective way to access financial services. The gender gap in developing countries states that (59% of men were reported to have a bank account in 2014, while 50% of women only had a bank account). Some groups, including women and the rural poor, are financially excluded compared to others. This study applied panel data regression analysis and structural equation modelling to investigate the nature of digital finance, its relationship with poverty and the transmission mechanism from digital finance to poverty in selected Sub-Saharan Countries. The results indicate that remittance is one of the most significant determinants of the use of digital finance in the Sub-Saharan region compared to other determinants of use for digital finance. Regarding the transmission mechanism between digital finance and poverty, the path analysis results suggest that the channel for remittance in the transmission mechanism has a more substantial impact on reducing poverty than savings in the Sub-Saharan region. The study recommends that remittance is essential, but savings are not critical in this digital age. This study contributed to literature by identifying the transmission mechanism between digital finance and poverty. This is beneficial to researchers and policymakers . It provides policy practitioners with a reference point on a model to build upon towards providing solutions to the problem, Sub-Saharan Countries encounter on delivering sustainable and broad-based economic growth. The study concludes by proposing that digital finance, particularly mobile money presents an excellent opportunity to increase access to finance and reduce poverty. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
Exclusion of women in the church governance structures : The Case of the Baptist Church of Southern Africa in Cradock Region
- Authors: Mbali, Nkosinati McGiven
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Women in church work , Church and social problems -- South Africa , Cradock Baptist Church
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23924 , vital:61567
- Description: In every community there are women. However, they are often marginalized because they are perceived as being unable to make a meaningful contribution to various economic endeavours or society in general. Sometimes they are shunned by their own families, while even church communities have been known to treat women in thoughtless ways. As a result, their spiritual potential cannot be effectively tapped. The research has explored many experiences of women in the mainstream Baptist Churches of Southern Africa in Cradock Region in the Eastern Cape. The study delves into the barriers that prevent the full inclusion of women in church life and what churches are and/or should be doing to remove such barriers so that women can embrace all that a church has to offer and progress on their spiritual journey. The study also looks at the importance of systematic theology in the church and how it should be directed at enabling women to exercise their spiritual gifts. The study applied the theoretical framework that discussed what is faced by women in the church, providing in-depth literature and Biblical review, and examining selected individuals who contributed to the study on what is faced by women daily in their spiritual growth. It provided important insights into how involved the participants are in church activities and whether they face subtle or more overt discrimination. A few strategies were also considered aimed at improving conditions for excluded women in the church, not only through better physical access but also through greater acceptance by the church leadership and the membership as a whole. The findings from the study will not only help the churches that were the focus of the fieldwork to help their women members embrace church life more fully and exercise their spiritual gifts, but they will also provide important insights for the broader Christian church towards the potential of inclusive community that will contribute richly to the spiritual enhancement of their church, family and community. For the survey work, the researcher adopted a qualitative approach. The participants' sample consisted of adults with a range of women and men of the church. Supplementary input was solicited from women and men who understand the challenges presented by both parties – particularly when a lack of familiarity with certain physical conditions leads to an unthinking, and sometimes uncaring, attitude. The data has been collected using informal and semi-structured interviews and observation. Being able to exercise choice and having control over their lives and a sense of independence were singled out as being of great importance to the women participants, as these factors contributed to their well-being and satisfaction with life. Most of the participants reported that they were not warmly embraced by their churches, because of their gender, and they were able to lead a fulfilling life of worship. However, more could be done to enhance their participation in church affairs and to become role models for other church communities that are not as accommodating through a lack of knowledge, training and resources. The research only focused on the rural, white, Coloured, Indian and African residential areas in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Therefore, the study will only focus on the Baptist Church of Southern Africa in Cradock Region and should ideally not be generalized to areas other than those selected for this study. There is much scope for more detailed research to be conducted on disability in other Christian churches to break down both physical and attitudinal barriers that prohibit many individuals' spiritual and emotional satisfaction and growth. Each Chapter has a unique contribution to advancing the central argument of the study with Chapter One introducing and painting a backdrop against which the problem of the marginalisation and exclusion of women in church leadership and structures must be understood. In Chapter Two the researcher reviews the relevant literature, gaining a deeper understanding of what knowledge already exists in the body of knowledge, identifying gaps and using the study to propose solutions for what might be done to mitigate the challenge. In an attempt to guide the study, an appropriate research methodology is suggested and discussed in Chapter Three. This chapter deals with what data needed to be collected and what instrument had to be used to analyse the data. The appropriateness of the research methodology is of the essence in deciding what path the study must follow to realise the objectives of the study and respond to the set research questions. In Chapter Four, the collected data is presented and analysed using the mechanisms proposed in Chapter Three. Finally, a consolidation of the findings is presented in a summary with recommendations of what mechanisms the researcher has distilled from the analysed data. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
- Authors: Mbali, Nkosinati McGiven
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Women in church work , Church and social problems -- South Africa , Cradock Baptist Church
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23924 , vital:61567
- Description: In every community there are women. However, they are often marginalized because they are perceived as being unable to make a meaningful contribution to various economic endeavours or society in general. Sometimes they are shunned by their own families, while even church communities have been known to treat women in thoughtless ways. As a result, their spiritual potential cannot be effectively tapped. The research has explored many experiences of women in the mainstream Baptist Churches of Southern Africa in Cradock Region in the Eastern Cape. The study delves into the barriers that prevent the full inclusion of women in church life and what churches are and/or should be doing to remove such barriers so that women can embrace all that a church has to offer and progress on their spiritual journey. The study also looks at the importance of systematic theology in the church and how it should be directed at enabling women to exercise their spiritual gifts. The study applied the theoretical framework that discussed what is faced by women in the church, providing in-depth literature and Biblical review, and examining selected individuals who contributed to the study on what is faced by women daily in their spiritual growth. It provided important insights into how involved the participants are in church activities and whether they face subtle or more overt discrimination. A few strategies were also considered aimed at improving conditions for excluded women in the church, not only through better physical access but also through greater acceptance by the church leadership and the membership as a whole. The findings from the study will not only help the churches that were the focus of the fieldwork to help their women members embrace church life more fully and exercise their spiritual gifts, but they will also provide important insights for the broader Christian church towards the potential of inclusive community that will contribute richly to the spiritual enhancement of their church, family and community. For the survey work, the researcher adopted a qualitative approach. The participants' sample consisted of adults with a range of women and men of the church. Supplementary input was solicited from women and men who understand the challenges presented by both parties – particularly when a lack of familiarity with certain physical conditions leads to an unthinking, and sometimes uncaring, attitude. The data has been collected using informal and semi-structured interviews and observation. Being able to exercise choice and having control over their lives and a sense of independence were singled out as being of great importance to the women participants, as these factors contributed to their well-being and satisfaction with life. Most of the participants reported that they were not warmly embraced by their churches, because of their gender, and they were able to lead a fulfilling life of worship. However, more could be done to enhance their participation in church affairs and to become role models for other church communities that are not as accommodating through a lack of knowledge, training and resources. The research only focused on the rural, white, Coloured, Indian and African residential areas in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Therefore, the study will only focus on the Baptist Church of Southern Africa in Cradock Region and should ideally not be generalized to areas other than those selected for this study. There is much scope for more detailed research to be conducted on disability in other Christian churches to break down both physical and attitudinal barriers that prohibit many individuals' spiritual and emotional satisfaction and growth. Each Chapter has a unique contribution to advancing the central argument of the study with Chapter One introducing and painting a backdrop against which the problem of the marginalisation and exclusion of women in church leadership and structures must be understood. In Chapter Two the researcher reviews the relevant literature, gaining a deeper understanding of what knowledge already exists in the body of knowledge, identifying gaps and using the study to propose solutions for what might be done to mitigate the challenge. In an attempt to guide the study, an appropriate research methodology is suggested and discussed in Chapter Three. This chapter deals with what data needed to be collected and what instrument had to be used to analyse the data. The appropriateness of the research methodology is of the essence in deciding what path the study must follow to realise the objectives of the study and respond to the set research questions. In Chapter Four, the collected data is presented and analysed using the mechanisms proposed in Chapter Three. Finally, a consolidation of the findings is presented in a summary with recommendations of what mechanisms the researcher has distilled from the analysed data. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
Land expropriation without compensation: a study of constructions of the Parliamentary process in selected mainstream and “ground-up” media from 27 February – 12 August 2018
- Authors: Jacobs, Luzuko G
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Discourse analysis , Communication Political aspects South Africa , Land reform Press coverage South Africa , Land reform Government policy South Africa , Communication in mass media , Frames (Sociology) South Africa , Journalism Political aspects South Africa , Moneyweb Holdings Ltd. , City Press (South Africa) , Afriforum (South Africa) , African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/297807 , vital:57630 , DOI 10.21504/10962/297807
- Description: This study investigates the constructions of land expropriation without compensation (LEwC) in the discourses of two mainstream media, Moneyweb and City Press, and two ground-up platforms, Afriforum and the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA). It follows the February 2018 adoption by Parliament, of LEwC as a policy to reorder the country’s unequal and racially bifurcated economy. The motivations for, and opposition to the policy locate land as ‘the issue’ in conquest and capitalism. How land is signified therefore, is important to the understandings of ‘restitution’ and/or ‘resolution’. The news platforms selected here are diverse: Moneyweb focuses on investments. City Press concerns itself with politics. Afriforum and AFASA are alternative sphericules linked to ethnically- polarised quotidian concerns with land as a key focus. Discourses are central to how citizens see and construct themselves and one another as subjects. As such, media frames can be connected to justice and inter-‘race’ complexities. This is a study of media influences in cultivating certain meanings and understandings of tenuous and fractious political situations characterised by inequality and interracial enmity. The thesis draws from the Epistemologies of the South as well as Marxism to constitute the locus of its enunciation of colonisation, liberal capitalism, land question, justice, ideology, discourse, and framing. This framework is geared towards emic understanding of interrelated local and global contexts of the land question. Conceptual clarity is key to the development of an emancipatory imagination. Qualitative framing analysis and critical discourse analysis are used in this study to examine a diachronic corpus of 124 articles from the four platforms covering 167-days, from the adoption of the LEwC motion through the initial round of public hearings. The findings suggest a strong influence of the structures of coloniality in discourses across a wide political spectrum. The frames and counter-frames in the four platforms are simultaneously divergent and similar. Some are reactionary and conservative, others are liberal-transformational and even radical-prefigurative. All however, orbit around abyssal, North-centric, liberal capitalist normativity as the centripetal centre. The study proposes rethinking of the land question, a radical exorcism from land discourses, of structures of coloniality of power, knowledge, and being. Their mobilisation, predominance and naturalisation in political communication is anti-transformation and helps keep Black South Africans to this day, under the heavy yoke of an oppressive colonial and Apartheid reality as perpetual economic slaves. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
- Authors: Jacobs, Luzuko G
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Discourse analysis , Communication Political aspects South Africa , Land reform Press coverage South Africa , Land reform Government policy South Africa , Communication in mass media , Frames (Sociology) South Africa , Journalism Political aspects South Africa , Moneyweb Holdings Ltd. , City Press (South Africa) , Afriforum (South Africa) , African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/297807 , vital:57630 , DOI 10.21504/10962/297807
- Description: This study investigates the constructions of land expropriation without compensation (LEwC) in the discourses of two mainstream media, Moneyweb and City Press, and two ground-up platforms, Afriforum and the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA). It follows the February 2018 adoption by Parliament, of LEwC as a policy to reorder the country’s unequal and racially bifurcated economy. The motivations for, and opposition to the policy locate land as ‘the issue’ in conquest and capitalism. How land is signified therefore, is important to the understandings of ‘restitution’ and/or ‘resolution’. The news platforms selected here are diverse: Moneyweb focuses on investments. City Press concerns itself with politics. Afriforum and AFASA are alternative sphericules linked to ethnically- polarised quotidian concerns with land as a key focus. Discourses are central to how citizens see and construct themselves and one another as subjects. As such, media frames can be connected to justice and inter-‘race’ complexities. This is a study of media influences in cultivating certain meanings and understandings of tenuous and fractious political situations characterised by inequality and interracial enmity. The thesis draws from the Epistemologies of the South as well as Marxism to constitute the locus of its enunciation of colonisation, liberal capitalism, land question, justice, ideology, discourse, and framing. This framework is geared towards emic understanding of interrelated local and global contexts of the land question. Conceptual clarity is key to the development of an emancipatory imagination. Qualitative framing analysis and critical discourse analysis are used in this study to examine a diachronic corpus of 124 articles from the four platforms covering 167-days, from the adoption of the LEwC motion through the initial round of public hearings. The findings suggest a strong influence of the structures of coloniality in discourses across a wide political spectrum. The frames and counter-frames in the four platforms are simultaneously divergent and similar. Some are reactionary and conservative, others are liberal-transformational and even radical-prefigurative. All however, orbit around abyssal, North-centric, liberal capitalist normativity as the centripetal centre. The study proposes rethinking of the land question, a radical exorcism from land discourses, of structures of coloniality of power, knowledge, and being. Their mobilisation, predominance and naturalisation in political communication is anti-transformation and helps keep Black South Africans to this day, under the heavy yoke of an oppressive colonial and Apartheid reality as perpetual economic slaves. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
Stakeholder engagement in social enterprise: designing a sustainable business model for the ‘Food for Us’ mobile application
- Authors: Tantsi, Idah Thato
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Business planning South Africa , Sustainability South Africa , Mobile apps South Africa , Social responsibility of business South Africa , Social entrepreneurship South Africa , Food for Us (Application software)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/317141 , vital:59904
- Description: This study aimed to develop a sustainable business model that is cognisant of the fundamental principles of social enterprises that can sustain the operation of the Food for Us mobile application that links farmers with buyers in Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. The Food for Us mobile application lacks a supporting sustainable social business model to sustain its continued operations, hence the need to develop one. In the study, data was generated qualitatively underpinned by an interpretive paradigm, in three workshops guided by the Delphi method. A stakeholder salience model was applied to identify key stakeholders and their salience. Three key stakeholders, namely users (farmers and buyers), Experts (App developers) and the consortium were identified. The study concluded that developing a sustainable social, innovative business model requires substantive consultation with multiple stakeholders in society. Every stakeholder is important and possesses varying salience, hence stakeholder mapping is an important exercise. The study further concluded that financial sustainability and social inclusion are critical social enterprise elements to consider in the process. The undertaking to enhance financial sustainability opens an understanding on the importance of income streams, the key activities, and value propositions offered by the mobile application. The need to remain socially inclusive brings forth questioning of value propositions, accessibility, user friendliness towards stakeholder diversity and needs. The study offers a solution for the Food for Us mobile application in the form of a prototype which is ready for testing, and if desired results are achieved, this can enhance the much needed continued operations of the mobile application. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
- Authors: Tantsi, Idah Thato
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Business planning South Africa , Sustainability South Africa , Mobile apps South Africa , Social responsibility of business South Africa , Social entrepreneurship South Africa , Food for Us (Application software)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/317141 , vital:59904
- Description: This study aimed to develop a sustainable business model that is cognisant of the fundamental principles of social enterprises that can sustain the operation of the Food for Us mobile application that links farmers with buyers in Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. The Food for Us mobile application lacks a supporting sustainable social business model to sustain its continued operations, hence the need to develop one. In the study, data was generated qualitatively underpinned by an interpretive paradigm, in three workshops guided by the Delphi method. A stakeholder salience model was applied to identify key stakeholders and their salience. Three key stakeholders, namely users (farmers and buyers), Experts (App developers) and the consortium were identified. The study concluded that developing a sustainable social, innovative business model requires substantive consultation with multiple stakeholders in society. Every stakeholder is important and possesses varying salience, hence stakeholder mapping is an important exercise. The study further concluded that financial sustainability and social inclusion are critical social enterprise elements to consider in the process. The undertaking to enhance financial sustainability opens an understanding on the importance of income streams, the key activities, and value propositions offered by the mobile application. The need to remain socially inclusive brings forth questioning of value propositions, accessibility, user friendliness towards stakeholder diversity and needs. The study offers a solution for the Food for Us mobile application in the form of a prototype which is ready for testing, and if desired results are achieved, this can enhance the much needed continued operations of the mobile application. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
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