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Abstract
Digital credit has expanded rapidly in Africa, with opaque loan terms amidst low consumer financial literacy. Rich data from Malawi shows substantial demand for a digital loan with a base interest rate of 10% over 15 days, yet most borrowers are not aware of loan terms, repay late and incur substantial late fees. Regression discontinuity analyses show no evidence that access to small digital loans harms consumers' perceived well-being. A short, randomised, phone-based financial literacy intervention improved knowledge, but did not increase timely loan repayment and modestly increased loan demand, ultimately increasing the likelihood of ever defaulting.

AbstractElectricity users in sub‐Saharan Africa face persistent unreliable and unaffordable access. However, users' perspectives and experiences have largely been absent from policy literature. Content analysis of energy access policy literature reveals two long‐held assumptions: (1) any connection is better than no connection; (2) residents who object to this poor access have an entitlement problem. This paper critically interrogates these assumptions by using ethnographic data gathered during fieldwork in Unguja, Tanzania. It finds that long‐held policy justifications are easily contravened by real‐life experiences of sub‐par service and counters conventional narratives that blame users for the failure of electricity systems in their communities.

AbstractThe European Green Deal aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The effort required to meet greenhouse gas emission targets or other sustainable development goals depends on the difference between baseline levels and policy targets. This paper provides a set of plausible world agricultural baseline scenarios through 2050 with a variety of agricultural indicators: food calories consumed, crop calories produced, average crop yields, and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Growth of agricultural activity varies widely across world regions, from Europe with a relatively stable population to sub‐Saharan Africa with rapidly growing populations and per‐capita incomes.

Fact Sheets on Decentralisation in Africa provide clear and accessible materials to assist policymakers, practitioners, students and the public at large to better understand the various concepts and mechanisms associated with decentralisation. They focus primarily on local government and unpack the 'toolbox' of instruments and concepts that make up the broader framework for decentralisation. These concepts are often difficult, multifaceted and located in complex theory. The aim of the Fact Sheets is to present them in such a way that they can be understood by a wide range of audiences, and which identifies, explains and distinguishes key concepts relevant to the African context.

Social work education in Africa is faced with a myriad of challenges that require immediate attention for a sustainable future. If the principles of social justice, human rights and respect for diversities are central to the social work profession, then the education and practice of social work in Nigeria should be culturally relevant in engaging people and structures to address challenges. Participants for the study included four social work educators, 10 social work students and four social work practitioners. Findings from the research suggest the need for a paradigm shift from Western pedagogy to a more inclusive Nigerian pedagogy for a sustainable future.

AbstractAfrican trading brokers in China buy knock‐off or copy goods and move them through customs via bribery to African ports; this trade, although illegal, brings desired global products to Africa. This paper, based on interviews with African trading brokers, examines how the internet and Covid‐19 have affected their trade. African customers can now find out the accurate prices of goods; computerized customs regimes make bribery difficult; and Covid‐19 has raised shipping costs. While the informal economic arrangements of these trading brokers will probably continue despite policymakers' efforts to eradicate them, China may no longer be the source of their goods.

In West Africa, women's organizations have created the Women's Situation Room (WSR) – a mechanism aimed at preventing and responding to episodes of violence and instability. Drawing on experiences from Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria, the article explores how strategies developed and deployed by WSRs use gender as a productive force to counteract violence. We identify three ways in which WSRs take advantage of gendered constructions: feminist organizing creates the political networks that make the WSRs possible; women's location outside formal politics gives them legitimacy; and maternal constructions of femininity give them the power to disrupt and coopt potentially violent actors.

Vertical standing columnar form surmounted by carved face with delicately carved features and a triple-crested coiffure. A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Drums are among the most important art forms in Africa, used both as a musical instrument and as a work of sculpture significant in many ceremonial functions, including dance, rituals, story-telling, and communication of messages. ; https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/african-sculptures-and-masks/1033/thumbnail.jpg

Fact Sheets on Decentralisation in Africa provide clear and accessible materials to assist policymakers, practitioners, students and the public at large to better understand the various concepts and mechanisms associated with decentralisation. They focus primarily on local government and unpack the 'toolbox' of instruments and concepts that make up the broader framework for decentralisation. These concepts are often difficult, multifaceted and located in complex theory. The aim of the Fact Sheets is to present them in such a way that they can be understood by a wide range of audiences, and which identifies, explains and distinguishes key concepts relevant to the African context.

A trendy issue amongst African businesses is employment of strategic green marketing strategies to maximize the visibility of environmental sustainability, in sync with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 15. This short essay has synthesized and reviewed literature relating to green marketing and environmental sustainability in Africa, as well as revealed potential gaps for future research. This literature review was conducted using keywords such as green marketing, social responsibility and environmental sustainability guiding the systematic search process. It is recommended that African countries and associated business organizations employ green marketing strategies so as to raise awareness of environmental sustainability.

Among non-EU female immigrants, women from North Africa and the Middle East show the lowest convergence towards native EU-citizens' labor force participation (LFP) levels. Are their traditional views on gender roles the reason for this phenomenon? In this paper, we analyze the effect of gender roles on the labor market assimilation of immigrant women in the EU using the European Social Survey. We find that all female immigrants assimilate towards natives, but women from more traditional source countries work roughly 4 pp less than women from less traditional source countries over the years of residence in the host country.

This article investigates the socio-economic impact of mental illness on individuals and their caregivers in Ghana, whose plight is dire due to poverty, stigma and discrimination. Seeking to illuminate participants' lived experiences, the study is based on grassroots, first-hand narratives from 12 individuals receiving psychiatric care and 7 of their caregivers. Including caregivers fills a major research gap because they have not been studied extensively in Ghana or Africa, despite facing similar challenges including financial burdens and stigma. We conclude with recommendations for improving government support and social work practice in the context of mental illness in Ghana.

AbstractNew plant breeding technologies (NPBTs), including genetically modified and gene‐edited crops, offer large potentials for sustainable agricultural development and food security while addressing shortcomings of the Green Revolution. This article reviews potentials, risks, and actually observed impacts of NPBTs. Regulatory aspects are also discussed. While the science is exciting and some clear benefits are already observable, overregulation and public misperceptions may obstruct efficient development and use of NPBTs. Overregulation is particularly observed in Europe, but also affects developing countries in Africa and Asia, which could benefit the most from NPBTs. Regulatory reforms and a more science‐based public debate are required.

This case study suggests how shock-responsive social protection systems can be the basis of a government-led response to a health crisis and a rapid-onset disaster. It also points to how linking pre-arranged finance to safety nets can help with quick delivery of cash to vulnerable populations post-disasters. This experience complements existing evidence and experience in other parts of Africa, where social protection systems have been used for responding to drought, a slow-onset natural disaster. It also informed the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone, which will provide further lessons for shock-responsive social protection globally.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) represents a major source of direct and indirect employment. Yet, despite the livelihood benefits and the growing interest from governments, donors and policy makers to formalise ASM, most artisanal miners still operate informally. Focusing on Liberia, this article critically investigates the question of why formalisation efforts continue to fail and argues that the persistence of informality in the sector needs to first be understood as a rational strategy for those who profit from it. Only then can sustainable mining reforms be linked to broader national and international extractive sector policy frameworks.