ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Challenges faced by female entrepreneurs within small and medium-scale entreprises (SMEs): A study of the saloon business in Ghana

This study is to find out the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs within Accra, Ghana. Females have been identified as individuals that encounter more obstacles in starting and growing their businesses as compared to their male counterparts especially within informal small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) where they are pre-dominantly employed. Thus, female entrepreneurs in Danquah Circle were participants of the study in that women who owned and managed businesses in the saloon industry were interviewed to further find out the constraints they encounter in starting and growing their business. Data was gathered for this research using secondary and primary data. Secondary data involved the works of scholars and practitioners on the subject under study. Resources such as the Internet, journals and newspaper articles were sources used to collect data. On the other hand, secondary data was used to collate the data from the outlined semi-structured interview questions. Due the primary data, the above findings were gathered to evaluate and analyze the situation of the entrepreneurs in the hair and beauty industry. Recommendations and conclusion were made based on the findings. Recommendations included banks to have a specific loan portfolio for women entrepreneurs in SMEs.

Source: Ashesi
Challenges facing Ghanaian subsistence maize farmers in scaling up production and transition to agri-business

Agricultural productivity in Ghana has been declining for a while (Adombila, 2018). As a result, imports to the country have been increasing (Ghana Commercial Guide, 2019). The Daily Graphic news mentioned that food imports in Ghana averaged to $2.4 billion every year and that includes maize, sugar, meat, rice imports and many other items (Adombila, 2018). Secondary information gathered from different literature review explains why productivity in the Ghanaian agricultural sector has been decreasing. Most of the information gathered is situated around the case of smallholder farmers. Smallholder farmers are farmers practicing subsistence farming (A framework for the development of smallholder farmers through cooperatives development, 2012). Smallholder farming is one of the dominant sector in the in African agricultural sector (Zuma, 2013). This study, therefore focuses on the Ghanaian subsistence maize farmers and the challenges they face, that prevent them from transitioning and scaling up production to agribusiness. Agribusiness is a business that produces, sell and distribute farm products on a large scale ("Agribusiness definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary", n.d.). The main focus area is in Berekuso in the Eastern region of Ghana. The study will answer the following questions: what are the main challenges that compel Berekuso subsistence corn farmers to still practice subsistence farming in the 21 century instead of transitioning to agri- business? and what can be done differently to help subsistence corn farmers to transition to agribusiness? Primary data for this study was collected using in-depth interviews with structured questions for the subsistence corn farmers to answer.

Source: Ashesi
Challenges Facing Private Senior High Schools Due to the Free Senior High Policy: A Comparison of Two Schools

The free SHS policy intended to make secondary education accessible to all Ghanaians, inadvertently poses an existential threat to private senior high schools (SHS). This research sought to identify the challenges faced by two private SHSs in Ghana due to the free SHS policy implemented by Ghana's government in 2017. It achieved this objective by conducting an exploratory, qualitative study on Nananom and Ghana Christian International High School (GCIHS). These are two SHSs with different curriculums, respectively, WASSCE only and WASSCE with an International Program such as British A-level or the French IB. Data was gathered from 28 students, teachers, heads of schools and school staff through semi-structured interviews. A key research finding was that the free SHS policy affected the two private SHSs differently depending on the curriculum and the resiliency of the SHS system. Nananom SHS experienced a drastic reduction in enrolment rate, leaving facilities idle, causing a reduction in fees and, ultimately, funding. Both schools struggled to retain teachers. GCIHS was positively impacted by the free SHS policy as enrolment rates increased but negatively impacted it in other ways. Covid-19 forced both schools to lay off workers and to invest in moving online at high costs. The study recommends that the government of Ghana incorporate private SHSs into the policy to curb the challenges faced by the later. Private SHSs were advised to position themselves better in terms of their finances, quality of service delivery and their strategy to attract students to ensure their survival.

Source: Ashesi
Challenges posed by Ghana's land tenure system on investment projects in real estate

Some of Ghana developmental problems have been attributed to its current land tenure system. These problems include land conflicts and the lack of female representation. This study investigates challenges posed by the land tenure system, and how these problems affects investment projects in the real estate sector. These investment projects include investments made by both foreign and local real estate investment projects. The study provides recommendations based on the results on how to modify Ghana’s current the land tenure system to achieve better outcomes in terms of local and foreign investment. The research questions answered include: (i) What threat (s) does Ghana’s current land tenure system pose for investment projects in the real estate sector?” and (ii) what strategies can be used to optimize the current land tenure system to attract and sustain foreign and local real estate investment?. Data was collected from individual landowners and real estate companies using a survey. In total, data was collected from 17 individual landowners and 3 real estate companies. The result of the study showed that individual take longer time to register land as compared to real estate companies. The study found that both individual investors and real estate companies faces challenge of disputes over land ownerships, multiple claimants to same property, inaccurate maps to enable land registrations, delays to projects as a result of unnecessary bureaucracy in land tittle registration, other effect in terms of financial cost and time etc. Respondents proposed digitization of land administration system in Ghana to reduce risk of multiple ownership of lands, synchronizations of various agencies working with land tittle registration in Ghana, training more surveyors to help reduce time it takes to register land etc.

Source: Ashesi
China as a Means to an End: Analysing China's Infrastructure Investment in Africa: A Case Study of Kenya

The reality of China’s global economic power and influence is that the Asian nation’s actions often have resulting effects on other nations around the world. Expansive initiatives such as the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) and the “21st Maritime Silk Road” valued at trillions of dollars embody the superpower’s ambition and equal capacity to boost its economic growth. With trade as a channel of priority in achieving that economic expansion, the implications of China’s global expansion initiatives are applicable not only to African nations but to future dealings involving Africa-China collaboration. Evidence from study findings details complementary and competitive impacts with direct or indirect effects. As such, Africa has every incentive to gain an understanding of the effects China’s infrastructure investment can have on Africa’s development, and the livelihoods of the citizens of partner nations to the BRI. This study explores the impacts of China’s infrastructure on countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Considering 42 Sub-Saharan African nations have assented to collaboration between them and China, understanding the implications of this cooperation can enable African nations to navigate the growing Africa-China relationship. By making an in-depth country-level analysis of the impacts China’s infrastructure investment has, measured through a case study of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, this case realized a holistic picture of how beneficial Africa’s cooperation with China truly is, given the nature of these impacts on livelihood and development. Polarised views on the topic of China’s SSA influence provide further significance for the study’s findings. The findings hold relevance in relation to the creation of Africa-centered policy for future international interactions.

Source: Ashesi
Climate Information Systems For Mitigating Climate Change in Livestock Production in Ghana

As the earth's temperature changes throughout time, climate change has been a worldwide fight. The progression of climate change is likely to affect food security and promote poverty. Although there are several research papers on the effects of climate change on agriculture and the adaptation policies required to curb the effects on the industry, there is barely any research on the effect of climate change on livestock production. Therefore, this paper assesses the effects of climate change on livestock production in Ghana, determines the knowledge level and perceptions of smallholder farmers on the topic, and recommends how climate information systems can be used in creating policies and information dissemination to aid the mitigation of climate change. The research was sourced primarily from Tua and Yong in the Northern region of Ghana. Findings were analyzed using qualitative analysis. From the analysis, it was identified that climate change negatively impacted the socio-economic activities of livestock production by causing diseases in animals. These diseases cause a strain on the income of these smallholder farmers. Findings in the study suggest that climate information services are a highly effective method in combating climate change and promoting sustainable food security. Farmers, however, had little to no knowledge of climate information services. This study concluded then that the impacts of climate change could be curbed by providing information about climate to livestock farmers and ensuring proper information dissemination. Policymakers such as MESTI and NCCC should integrate climate-smart agriculture into livestock production in Ghana and give farmers technologies to help with their operations while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: Ashesi
Comparative Analysis of Higher Education Pursuit Among Urban and Rural Females in Ghana: Opportunities, Challenges, and Interventions

This research presents a comparative analysis of higher education pursuit among urban and rural females in Ghana, focusing on the opportunities, challenges, and interventions necessary to bridge the educational gap. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, the study draws on Bourdieu's theories of Habitus and Capital to explore how social, cultural, and economic factors influence educational attainment. The research identifies significant disparities between urban and rural females, emphasizing the unique challenges faced by rural women. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 females from both urban and rural backgrounds, the study highlights the financial, familial, and perceptual barriers to higher education for rural females, compared to the awareness and accessibility advantages enjoyed by their urban counterparts. The findings suggest that replicating urban-centric supportive factors in rural contexts, along with targeted interventions, can enhance educational outcomes for rural females. The study contributes to the formulation of inclusive educational policies aimed at fostering socioeconomic development and gender equity in Ghana.

Source: Ashesi
Consulting Project for Rising Sun Academy: Financial Management and Human Resource Management

The financial management and human resource management of low fee-paying private schools is often neglected because the focus is mostly on government and high fee-paying private schools. Rising Sun Academy is a low fee-paying private school, and the school’s goal is to cross the chasm by moving from an ineffective to an effective human resource and financial management system. The sampling method used to obtain respondents for one-on-one and focus group interviews is the snowballing technique. The outcome of the research study demonstrates the main human resource and financial management problems of Rising Sun Academy. The paper discusses the solutions touching on their viability, desirability and feasibility, the implementation plan and the key success factors and indicators. The research depicts the high employee turnover rate and the late payment and non-payment of school fees as the problems of Rising Sun Academy. The research outcome suggests an employee motivation plan handbook and instalment plan system for both problems.

Source: Ashesi
Consumer insights and analytics: Analyzing its use in and impact on marketing campaigns in Ghana

Currently, Ghana lags in the use of data for organizational and governmental decision-making (Kyeremanten-Jimoh, 2018). Unlike developed economies which are mostly data-driven because of the availability of various of technologies which allow for effective data analysis for needed insights, Ghana is still trying to find its feet within the field of technology and is assumed not to necessarily regard the importance of and role of harnessing data for every decision made towards fueling the economy for success. Subsequently, there is not enough literature on how consumer data and consumer insights are employed in the preparation of marketing campaigns tailored to the Ghanaian market or public. This resulted in carrying out a qualitative study to explore the current situation surrounding the use of consumer data and insights on marketing campaigns with a focus on organizations in the Ghanaian mobile telecommunications industry. Findings revealed that organizations are not fully aware of the implications of employing analytics on consumer data that their various operations generate to attain insights. The mobile telecommunications industry is an industry that generates huge sets of consumer data due to the proliferation of mobile phones and other technologies; thus, it tries to capitalize on data generated to fuel its marketing campaigns and decisions. Recommendations from this study include the need to train marketers with regards to consumer insights, the need to use analytics on data that companies in the industry generate, and the need to have an insights generation framework among others. This would help organizations within the industry possibly experience the full benefits of using consumer data and insights in their marketing campaigns.

Source: Ashesi
Contemporary Africa-China relations: Re-examining the collaboration-domination debate

As China emerges to be a new global power, its relation with Africa is overheated with domination or collaboration debate. The pessimistic argues that China offers puny aid aimed at exploiting nature resources and creating a neo-colonialism state in Africa, while the optimistic argues that Chinese aid is aimed at creating mutual win-win collaboration that tend to lift poverty in Africa. This study will attempt to offer explanation using historical and aid/investment analysis as a focal point of reference. In this regard this work seeks to position Africa-China relation debate within historical, contemporary context as well as examine the nature of aid.

Source: Ashesi
Contribution of dry season farming to the alleviation of poverty among small scale farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana

In the Upper West Region of Ghana, most the people are engaged in subsistence agriculture. A major challenge that they face is a long dry season of about eight months that renders most of them jobless. This research assessed the possibility of dry season farming in improving living standards of rural farmers. The research revealed that most farmers used dams with canals and furrows, others used canals with fuel powered pumps and some used wells for irrigating their crops. An average dry season farmer earns more than GHC2000 a month, which is more than enough to lift him out of abject poverty. Farmers can provide the basic needs of their families and still address other secondary needs. The potential of dry season farming to reduce poverty would have been greater if there were measures in place to mitigate the challenges of the average farmer. Some of these challenges include: inability to acquire farm inputs like fertilizer and agro- chemicals; high disease infestation; animals grazing on their crops; and no extension support. In solving these problems, more officers should be posted to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority and provided with the necessary logistics to help the farmers meet their farming needs. Social enterprises and individuals can create business opportunities by providing credit facilities to farmers, helping them with savings, offering extension services, facilitation of market for their produce and providing sizeable irrigation schemes for farmers in smaller communities.

Source: Ashesi
The contribution of football to national development

In Ghana the speed with which development is being achieved is constantly under scrutiny. This developmental process is mainly rooted in donor-funded programs undertaken by the government. It is essential that the nation finds self-sustaining alternatives to support these programs and in time do away with reliance on foreign aid. The purpose of this study was to investigate if football qualifies as one of such alternatives. The study posed the question of whether or not football currently contributes substantially to economic development. The study then assessed the implications of this contribution for economic development in the long term. The study was conducted by gathering opinions of members of a Supporters‟ group/organization in Ghana using questionnaires. The study was also based on data on match revenues and attendances at home league matches of 14 teams played over a 17-week period. Finally, the study also relied on expert analysis and opinions of credible and established individuals on the Ghanaian football scene. The study found that, based on the variables evaluated, football contributes to economic development but not substantially. However, it was conclusive that football‟s current contribution has the potential to be massively substantial in the long run if given the right environment to thrive in.

Source: Ashesi
Corporate Governance and Human Resource Function of Pharmageorge

The PharmaGeorge Work Package 1 consulting team was tasked with finding solutions to corporate governance and human resource management problems that had been plaguing PharmaGeorge Chemists Ltd, a pharmaceutical company which deals in the retail, wholesale, and production of pharmaceutical products within the Greater Accra Region. The brief provided to us by officials within PharmaGeorge indicated that there was no human resource department nor was there a board of directors. They also noted the lack of a performance management system, standard operating protocols, and a clear, concise management structure. Armed with this knowledge, the consulting group conducted an internal scan of the organisation and analysed the wider Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry. The consulting group went on to conduct a situational analysis and needs assessment research of PharmaGeorge. The group settled on the use of a qualitative research method, specifically the interviewing of some employees and management of PharmaGeorge to source out the problems; corporate governance, and human resources management wise. After an analysis using the content analysis tool, it was clear that PharmaGeorge did not have a clear, understandable, and documented governance structure. Employees are also unsure of the hierarchy, reporting lines and do not possess a document outlining their job responsibilities. PharmaGeorge also lacked data on the performance of its employees, making it difficult for the company to assess what gaps needed to be filled. After an extensive desk study plus reviewing of the results of the needs assessment, it was determined that the optimum solutions to the corporate governance and human resources management issues of PharmaGeorge Chemists Ltd is a corporate governance framework/strategy that details a board structure, an organogram, job descriptions for every role within PharmaGeorge and a performance management system.

Source: Ashesi
Corporate governance and investment decisions: The mediating role of capital structure

The principal purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of capital structure on the connection between corporate governance and investment decisions. Eighteen Ghanaian firms were selected as a sample for this research using purposive sampling. Three multiple regression models and panel regression were used in this research paper to establish if capital structure mediates the relationship between corporate governance and investment decisions in Ghana. The first regression model investigates the direct connection between corporate governance and investment decisions. The second regression model investigates the relationship between corporate governance and capital structure. Finally, the third regression model examines the indirect relationship between corporate governance and investment decisions using capital structure as the mediating variable. Investment decisions are measured by growth in total assets, capital structure is measured by debt ratio, and corporate governance is measured by board size and board independence. The study results show that for all eighteen companies, there is a positive relationship between corporate governance and investing decisions, corporate governance and capital structure, and capital structure mediating the connection between corporate governance and investment decisions. Preliminary conclusions drawn in the existing literature on the connection between corporate governance and firm performance have been built on by this study but narrow the subject of ‘performance’ down by emphasizing investment decisions. Keywords: Investment Decisions, Mediation, Capital Structure, Corporate Governance, Multiple Regression,

Source: Ashesi
Corporate social responsibility, a tool in creating corporate brand awareness: A case study of the telecommunication industry in Ghana

This study is an effort to find out the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in creating Corporate Brand Awareness. University students have been identified by the telecommunication companies as an attractive target group with financial prospects. Therefore, questionnaires sought to find the views of 120 students that provided insight to the role that CSR plays in creating corporate brand awareness in the telecommunication industry. The results from the research showed that CSR plays a role in creating brand awareness for the companies that are highly engaged in it; in this case, Zain and MTN. This is particularly so because, these companies made sure that customers and the public at large were aware of their CSR activities. On the other hand, the CSR activities of a company like Kasapa were not known to the public and so it was considered to be inactive in CSR. It is also important to mention that, most consumers factor into their purchasing decision, the element of brand awareness, implying that they were more likely to purchase a product or service of a brand that they are more aware of. Therefore, creating brand awareness through CSR moves a company further to completing the purchase of its product or service. Other benefits derived from using CSR as a tool in creating corporate brand awareness include protection of brand reputation and a solid foundation for brand perceived loyalty and quality.

Source: Ashesi