ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
An empirical analysis of the impact of macroeconomic factors on open-end mutual fund prices in Ghana

It is conventional knowledge that changes in macroeconomic risk factors have significant impact on the capital markets (Bali, Brown & Caglayan, 2014). Mutual funds primarily invest in the capital markets (Fairley, 1999); hence it is expected that these systematic factors will have a bearing on their prices. The nexus between macroeconomic factors and mutual funds have been explored extensively for developed markets (Marfo, 2017; Ansong, 2013), however, the evidence is weak for frontier markets like Ghana. The lack of compelling evidence for Ghana is inconceivable as it is a very critical relationship especially for emerging and frontier markets due to their massive response to changes in macroeconomic policy (Muradoglu, Taskin and Bigen, 2000). To fill this gap, this study empirically investigates the relationship between macroeconomic factors and mutual fund prices in Ghana. Based on the literature, macroeconomic variables considered for the study are quarterly data on interest rates, inflation rates, exchange rates, broad money supply (M2) and real GDP covering the period from 2007 to 2017. This study uses a short-run Autoregressive Distributed Lag model to estimate the relationship. The study reveals that interest rates, inflation rates, money supply and real GDP are insignificant determinants of variations in mutual fund prices. The lagged values of fund prices and exchange rates were found to be the significant determinants of mutual fund prices in Ghana. A plausible reason for this result is that the Ghanaian mutual fund industry has failed to price in risks emanating from changes in interest rate, inflation and money supply variations.

Source: Ashesi
An empirical investigation of the costs and benefits from moving up the supply chain: The case of Ghana cocoa

Using simple cost-benefit analysis, this thesis investigates why Ghana, the world‟s second largest cocoa producer, has followed a strategy of exporting its cocoa beans instead of processing the beans into semi-finished and finished cocoa products. It is assumed that apart from the necessary technological ability needed to process cocoa beans the economic incentive for an increasing focus on processing relative to producing the beans for export is the profit incentive. The analysis is complicated by the fact that although there may be higher margins to be earned from processing cocoa, Ghana also earns high premiums from exporting raw beans because it exports the most quality cocoa in the world: all cocoa is typically discounted to Ghana. The results of this study showed that while generally, costs were higher for processing of raw cocoa beans into semi-finished and finished products and revenues from processing were mostly higher than from production for export; profits from processing were always higher than from production. This proved that financially it would be more profitable to increase processing of cocoa beans in Ghana. This study would serve as a springboard for further research on Ghana‟s cocoa industry and would largely benefit the Ghana government and Ghana Cocoa Board with regards to plans for expansion of the cocoa industry. It would aid the government and COCOBOD in the creation of policies and regulations which would boost the industry.

Source: Ashesi
An employee self-service intranet portal system

Human resources management (HRM) is the management of people in an organization. In order for this to be effective, a number of activities must be carried out. Records of these activities have to be kept in order to keep track of progress. Some approaches have been tried over the years to make HRM efficient. These are the paper based system and automation of some HRM. These approaches however have proven to be inadequate. This project focuses on designing and building an employee portal system that would encourage employee interaction and puts as many activities of HRM as possible into the hands of employees. It is also aimed at automating as many HRM activities as possible. By this approach, the human resource manager would be freed up for other important human resource functions, employees would be made to feel a part of the organisation and the organisation would save money, thus making the HRM process both effective and efficient.

Source: Ashesi
Employee training and development strategy for Akroma Plaza Hotel

Akroma Plaza Hotel has had to step up its service delivery efforts to be able to adequately deliver on its core mandate of service delivery as a hospitality establishment. The purpose of this project is to aid the hotel in the provision of unparalleled service delivery in the face of increasing customer expectations by proposing a structured employee training and development strategy. Ghana’s hospitality industry has been described as one of the major emerging markets in Africa and the atmosphere of the country encourages its development with a relatively conducive political atmosphere. However, aside being plagued with utility shortages and taxes, the industry faces the issue of a poorly qualified pool of labour, from which all hospitality establishments must recruit personnel. Located in Takoradi in Ghana’s Western Region, Akroma Plaza Hotel is one not excluded from this issue as it strives to attain heights in hospitality. Results of a needs assessment conducted on the establishment showed that employees were aware of their high-paced working environment and how uniquely work is carried out at Akroma Plaza Hotel. Accordingly, they felt training was extremely necessary. Although other issues such as inventory management and staff motivation were raised, it was recommended that a training and development strategy be proposed in the hopes that it would help curb some of the issues. Literature reviewed ascertained that training and developing employees resulted in reduced business costs and increased motivation of employees. The proposed solution is a two-part training and development strategy based on the works of Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright (1994) and Noe (2010). Limitations of the project included distance barriers and it was recommended that an inventory management system be developed.

Source: Ashesi
Enhancing bi-lingual education: A feasibility study for a French teacher training institution

Mme. Natalie N’Guessan and Mr. Sablah are a couple who wish to renovate an old family house located in Madina, Accra (57 Westland Boulevard road, Accra Ghana) and use for a teacher training college for potential and current French teachers and tutors. The main aim of this project is to determine and evaluate whether it is feasible in all aspects to establish a French teacher training institution at Madina. The market and technical feasibility analyses resulted in positive outcomes which implies the desirability of the project. The proposed solution is the use of the Business Model Canvas which gives a detailed analysis of the business idea.

Source: Ashesi
Enhancing the Ashesi experience: A diagnosis on the maintenance system of academic and hostel facilities in Ashesi University College

Ashesi University College (AUC) is a Ghanaian private tertiary institution which began academic operations in 2002. In 2011, AUC moved to its own permanent campus in Berekuso from its rented premises in Accra. Over the course of AUC’s two year stay in its new campus, there have been frequent reports of user dissatisfaction with some facilities located within the academic and hostel (residence hall) settings. Inquiries into the activities of the Operations department revealed inefficient processes involved with the maintenance of academic and hostel facilities. This project was therefore conducted in response to these challenges. The aim of the project was to identify the challenges and deficiencies in AUC’s maintenance system and to develop and recommend solutions to improve upon the system. This goal was attained by conducting interviews on relevant authorities and personnel involved in the maintenance system, and by carrying out an extensive research on the student population to identify their specific concerns and satisfaction levels with AUC facilities. Consequently, a maintenance plan was developed for use by the maintenance departments and students (primary users). The developed maintenance plan will among other things, address poor response rates of repair personnel and improve users’ experience with AUC facilities.

Source: Ashesi
Enhancing the fund generation strategy of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA)

Ghana Tourism Authority is the public service agency responsible for promoting regulating tourism in Ghana as well as licensing and classification of tourism facilities and services, research and development. The Authority replaced the Ghana Tourist Board in 2011. The goal of the Authority is making tourism in Ghana the leading sector of the economy. The Authority envisions Ghana as the tourism capital of West Africa. The Authority aims at promoting Ghana on a global platform to attract a new range of tourists From conducting qualitative research from online sources and interviews from employees of the Authority it was identified that significant problem of the Authority was insufficient funding. Government expenditure has reduced over time which has limited the work of the Authority in promoting Ghana domestically and internationally. The Authority however requested that this report not include its financial statement but was provided for research purposes. This project provides solutions to help the Authority with its insufficient funding issue. These solutions which are investing and advertising, would provide the Authority with a long-term steady source of funds to be able to cover its operational costs and endeavor into projects that can further improve on its revenue generation capacity

Source: Ashesi
Enhancing the marketing strategy of Bodyfuel Ghana to grow its customer base

Bodyfuel Ghana is a business in the dietary supplements industry that specializes in supplying healthy nutritional supplements. The business was founded in 2017 by Charles Peprah, a U.S.-based medical practitioner. It is primarily based in East Legon. It operates as a retailer of imported supplements to individual customers, as well as operating in a wholesale capacity to supply pharmacies and hospitals in three regions in Ghana. Favorable micro and macro environmental factors as well as strong prospects for the firm itself have supported Bodyfuelgh’s growth up to this point. The challenge faced by the company today is an overreliance on recurring customers for sales, as indicated by a need to generate more sales from new customers. This project employed qualitative research to gain insight from company personnel as well as managers to better understand the challenge and to inform efforts to find potential solutions. This report has drawn on extensive review of existing literature and relevant marketing frameworks to understand the subject matter. The research results were analyzed and synthesized to arrive at a strategic marketing plan for Bodyfuelgh using the AIDA and marketing mix models, designed to attract new customers to the company. The report also provides recommendations and an implementation plan using the SOSTAC framework to complement the proposed solution. It is the goal of this work to enable Bodyfuelgh to meet its marketing objectives of increasing its sales and expanding its customer base.

Source: Ashesi
Entrepreneurship, young people and Ghana's development: A case study of the ICT sector

The underdevelopment of the Ghanaian economy can conceivably account for the socio-economic and other challenges confronting Ghana’s youthful population. Ghana hopes to use the ICT4AD policy to create a conducive environment to take advantage of enormous benefits that come from the usage of Information and Communications Technology. Using the ICT sector as a case study, this paper discusses how entrepreneurial traits were promoted and or undermined as Ghana’s young entrepreneurs’ setup and run their businesses. The central finding for this work was that entrepreneurial capacity was undermined by the general corporate and cultural environment in Ghana. For economic development to take place there is the need to put in place institutions and mechanisms to cater for the entrepreneurial potentials of young people within the country. In other words, institutions must be created and an enabling environment constructed to nurture, support and develop the entrepreneurial capacity of the youth.

Source: Ashesi
Ethical and privacy concerns involved in Ghanaians using the internet

The internet has become an unavoidable tool for development and communication in Ghana and so it is ignorant to avoid the increasing disregard for ethics and privacy on the internet and the lack of awareness of how our data and personal information are protected. This thesis research is aimed at gathering information on the awareness of Ghanaian internet users on these issues and making recommendations for software and application developers and policy makers on these issues.

Source: Ashesi
Ethical or not? Assessing the effectiveness of Giving Voice to Values as a course in Ashesi University College

This paper seeks to evaluate the pedagogy of ethics instruction at Ashesi University College with an aim of recommending methods to adopt from the perspective of alumni of Ashesi University to adequately prepare graduates to deal with values conflict situations in corporate Ghana. Interviews were conducted for fifteen alumni of the university from the 2009 and 2014 graduating year groups. Data retrieved were manually analyzed using thematic analysis. Results showed that there has been a considerable positive change in perceptions of alumni about ethics and ethical action. Results also showed that the major difference between individuals that experience the Giving Voice to Values course, and those that did not was seeking third parties for assistance in the face of values conflict situations. Though the Ashesi education has contributed to the ethical personalities of its graduates some gaps in teaching ethics were being identified. It is recommended that Ashesi develops a four-year Giving Voice to Values curriculum to ensure the effectiveness of teaching skills in ethical action.. Keywords: Ethics, values conflict situations, Giving Voice to values

Source: Ashesi
Ethics training in Ghanaian corporations.

Ethics is an essential part of employee training. Studies conducted suggest that the benefits that may be derived from the implementation of ethics training in an organization are numerous, ranging from increase in productivity to improvement in employee effectiveness. This exploratory study investigates how ethics training programs implemented in an organization may impact the performance level of the organization's employees. The study also seeks to find out some of the specific benefits that may be derived from the implementation of ethics training. The main question that this study attempts to answer is; Does ethics training have an impact on employee performance? The study is set in Ghana specifically in the city of Accra. Three interviews with key employees and 40 distributed questionnaires constitute the instruments used during the compilation of this study. Findings suggest that ethics training plays an important role in the employees' performance in an organization and is an essential ingredient if success is to be achieved. The findings also suggest that the employees themselves consider ethics training as a vital element for their personal improvement and as a necessary factor for the achievement of their targets. The findings and lessons obtained during the compilation of this study may constitute a good addition to already scarce intellectual resources on ethics training in the Ghanaian context. The findings may also be beneficial for companies trying to improve on ethics training in Ghana as well as serve as assistance in further research.

Source: Ashesi
Evaluating the effectiveness of Ghana's juvenile justice system in rehabilitating the offender

This dissertation critically examines the Juvenile Justice System in Ghana, with particular reference to its effectiveness in reforming the Juvenile offender. The research sought to ascertain what actually takes place at the Remand and Correctional facilities in comparison to the requirements of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2003. In particular, emphasis was placed on the effectiveness of programs aimed at reforming such offenders during their period of incarceration. Skills training and re-socialization programs offered at such institutions were examined to establish its efficaciousness. The methodology employed in evaluating the effectiveness of the Juvenile Justice Administration in Ghana included meetings held with members of the juvenile justice system, in Accra. Additionally visits were made to correctional homes and juvenile detention centers to conduct semi structured face to face interviews and questionnaire administration. Where appropriate, telephone interviews were used to garner information. The findings and analysis presented in this study consists mostly of information obtained from a qualitative study of a sample comprised of some workers and inmates of the Correctional Centers in Accra as well as a few legal practitioners involved in the Juvenile Justice System. The study postulates that, there is a major disconnect between the theory or legal provisions for the reformation of juvenile offenders and the actual practice. It was realized that the practices in the correctional homes to a certain extent do not match the provisions in the Juvenile Justice Act and this is as a result of the lack of resources to carry out the stipulated practices diligently. The restriction and conditions that come with detention however according to the study has the ability to deter the child from repeating an offence so as to avert such undesirable situations. The practices of the various stakeholders in the juvenile justice system need close monitoring and supervision to ensure conformity with the law governing the system so as to ensure the human resources offenders are well nurtured and harnessed for national development.

Source: Ashesi
Evaluating the performance of Kantanka vehicles in the Ghanaian market; A focus on marketing and other input related factors

This thesis examines the automotive industry in Ghana with a focus on Kantanka Automobiles; the first indigenous automobile manufacturer in Ghana. Kantanka automobile Company Limited specializes in the manufacturing of both on-road and off-road vehicles that are designed to accommodate the Ghanaian and African terrain. This research paper sought to identify the factors affecting the firm’s performance with a focus on marketing and to determine the desirability of Kantanka vehicles to the Ghanaian consumer. This is a descriptive research which involves both primary and secondary data. The study was carried out primarily through questionnaires which to be disseminated to the employees of Kantanka Automobiles as well as selected persons in the labor force of the economy. An interview with the marketing manager of Kantanka Automobiles was also conducted to obtain relevant information for this study. The key findings of this study show that there is relatively low brand awareness of the indigenous vehicle manufacturer. It also shows that Kantanka Automobile Company Limited suffers from lack of financial support which is slowly crippling the firm belonging to the infant industry in the economy. Analyzing these findings, the study recommends that there is the need for relevant stakeholder engagement, including the government to help facilitate the provision of domestic automobile parts as well as manufacturing centres with modern tools and machinery to effectively aid the development of Kantanka Automobile Company Limited and the automobile industry. It also recommends that It would be of great benefit if the government of Ghana provides an enabling environment in the form of tax exemptions, and subsidies to reduce the burden on the indigenous vehicle manufacturer.

Source: Ashesi
An evaluation of governmental policies used in the management of natural resources: A focus on Botswana and Nigeria and lessons for Ghana

Abstract This paper examines the theory of the resource curse in relation to Botswana and Nigeria, two countries in Africa abundant in natural resources. After reviewing existing literature relevant to the topic, this paper considers policies and regulations used in the management of natural resources from both countries in an attempt to find out how Botswana has managed to be identified as a country enjoying unmatched growth rates in Africa while Nigeria is barely taking advantage of the resources available to it. This analysis will serve as a reference point to the Ghanaian government on steps to take to avoid the resource curse in its enthusiasm to benefit from the Jubilee oil fields. With regards to Ghana, this paper reviews the Petroleum Revenue Management Act and its provisions for the collection and distribution of petroleum revenue in the country. The paper focuses on anti corruption measures used in both countries to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of rent. The paper comes to the conclusion that transparency plays a key role in the growth and development of a country especially when it comes to resource revenue. It must therefore be noted that institutions play an important role in the management of resource revenue, and even though it is important to learn from other successful countries, policies used to combat corruption must be modified to suit the economic, political, social and legal environment of the particular country. Keywords: natural resources, resource curse, institutions, corruption

Source: Ashesi
Evaluation of the effectiveness of rent control laws in Ghana : A case study of Mallam township

The lack of decent accommodations is a global issue, especially in the third world, including Ghana. This phenomenon has necessitated delving into the factors and challenges in the implementation of Rent Control Laws (RCLs) in Ghana, as the 1963 rent law in Ghana has not seen updates in modern times. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of RCLs focusing on the Mallam Township. The objectives of the research were to find the level of awareness of the rent legislation amongst residents of Mallam and identify the tenancy problems landlords and tenants face, how they are resolved and how long it takes. The research employed a mixed-method approach that sampled 80 landlords, tenants, and one Rent Control Officer. The data obtained from responses to the questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Microsoft Excel. An indepth interview with the officer at Mallam provided qualitative insights on the effectiveness of the RCLs. The findings revealed that most of the parties are aware of the RCLs. The main tenancy problems are the failure of landlords to effect repairs and the failure of tenants to pay for rent. The office mostly resolved these tenancy problems. Solutions to most tenancy problems take averagely a minimum of one week and a maximum of one month to provide. The research concludes that generally the RCLs are effective but to improve their effectiveness, the law around rent advances should be addressed and the number and technical capacities of rent officers and offices should be increased in every constituency.

Source: Ashesi