Suchergebnisse

Technological advances are increasing interest in the potential role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in enabling quality education outcomes in Africa. At present, however, the geographies of ICT use in Africa is poorly understood, and ICT education policy development has occurred in a relative empirical void. Relevant studies have largely been focused on wealthier African nations, largely neglecting poorer regions where education issues are most acute. This article works to address this lacuna. Drawing upon extensive fieldwork, it provides a detailed snapshot of ICT use in education in the northern Sierra Leonean district of Koinadugu. We subsequently argue that a lack of access to electricity, along with limited numbers of qualified teaching staff, presents fundamental barriers for realizing ICT use in classroom settings. Nevertheless, we also identify some promising trends with respect to the informal use of mobile Internet by teachers and students to augment learning in the classroom

Historically, 'energy poverty' in Sub-Saharan Africa has been understood in relatively static terms and its solutions largely understood as a modernist state-led project of expanding centralised distribution to achieve a coordinated 'transition' from traditional fuels. In recent decades, however, political economies of energy in the region have exhibited considerable dynamism, changing what energy poverty looks like. The rapid dissemination of mobile phones, for example, has meant that most households now require near daily access to some form of electricity, inducing creative local responses. As well, with increased Sino-African trade, a plethora of cheap lighting products such as dry-cell battery torches and small-scale solar products have become widely available, reducing consumer interest in kerosene lamps and fuel. Finally, charcoal has emerged as a key cooking fuel for growing urban populations—introducing a new/expanded source of rural revenue while disrupting a decades long official campaign to induce 'transition' from firewood to LPG. We demonstrate how these particular changes are occurring through the example of dynamics in Sierra Leone in West Africa.

AbstractThis research scans the association between economic growth and derivatives markets in the Asia‐Pacific region between 2001 and 2022. Using the autoregressive distributed lag model, we reveal a bidirectional linkage between derivative markets and economic growth. We further demonstrate that both derivatives and stock markets have a strong positive association with economic growth, underscoring the significance of financial markets in driving economic advancement. We suggest policies prioritizing sustainable economic development and regulation of financial markets, particularly derivatives and stock markets, to increase market transparency, reduce information asymmetry, and foster economic growth.