ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Constraints facing the home mortgage finance scheme in Ghana, a case study of Kumasi HFC Bank (Ghana) Limited

Housing is one of the most important assets and a basic necessity mankind cannot do without The Unite Nations General Assembly Resolution in 1998 to approve the global strategy for shelter to the year 2000, acknowledged the pressing need for decent housing in the developing economies. In Ghana, the opportunity to own a house involves outright payment for it, build over a period of time, or fall on the services offered by the housing mortgage finance institutions. It is fact that the housing services offered by these mortgage finance institutions are beyond the affordability of majority of shelter seekers. The objectives of the study are to identify and thoroughly investigate the factors affecting the home mortgage finance scheme in Ghana and how to address them. Using HFC Bank (Ghana) Limited as a case study, the research examines the role of mortgage finance institutions in the housing delivery in Ghana. The research revealed that, income levels of workers, land acquisition, the macroeconomic effect of inflation and the problem of liquidity due to low savings rate of households were the main factors affecting the administration of the home mortgage finance schemes in Ghana. High interest rate cost, borrowers default in the repayment of loan, unemployment and difficulty with regular flow of fund were also drawbacks to the scheme. The research strategy adopted included survey method via the use of questionnaires, interviews and observations. All kinds of publications, annual reports and newsletters were consulted. The method of data analysis entails the application of nonparametric statistical test. The study concludes by recommending that, a micro finance scheme be formed and the establishment of a national housing development fund to cater for the low and moderate-income households’ financial needs. The study recommends further that, an efficient policy on land acquisition be implemented to ensure effective and efficient land acquisition for housing development in Ghana. Finally, the study recommends that, government should adopt policy to control interest rate and inflationary pressures to ensure effective and efficient lending and borrowing in the housing mortgage finance market in Ghana.

Source: KNUST
Constraints in the production and marketing of knockdown furniture in Ghana

The project investigates the nature and extent of the constraints in the production, and marketing of knockdown furniture in Ghana. The investigation is basically an in-plant survey and observation of the factories of twenty-two (22) firms which produce knockdown furniture in Ghana. A checklist of questions is prepared and used for interviews to reveal the strengths and weaknesses in strategic operating areas within the firms. Factors that affect the production and marketing of knockdown furniture are examined. These factors are attributed to deficiencies in production technology, economic and management constraints. The problems besetting the knockdown furniture industry are complex, widespread, serious and above all, real. Abundance of raw materials which contributed to the business success of yesteryear’s, has become the same cause of much of the present-day manufacturing failures. Technological developments and advances generally find minimal adoption in. the industry. The sad effects of inadequate knowledge on wood seasoning and finishing techniques are best reflected in the declining number of modern technologically-aware and cost-conscious customers. Equipment and facilities improvement and increasing costs of labour, supplies and materials round off the major difficulties the industry has to surmount. Control of quality of production, use of efficient machines, mill capacity utilization, stocks of raw materials to he maintained, efficient waste utilization and upgrading of production skills are management problems which should be critically examined. Recommendations have been made to improve the existing situation. These include availability to the industry of credit or external finance, equipment and machinery, and other inputs,

Source: KNUST
Constraints of industrialization and technology transfer in Ghana

Industrialization and Technology Transfer (TT) are important for the socio-economic development of any country. Successful Technology Transfer (TT) was a key factor in the rapid industrialization of the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) of Asia. Ghana‟s inability to develop industrially is due in part, to the lack of effective technology transfer beneficial to the industrial sectors of its economy. The objective of this thesis was to identify constraints of industrialization and technology transfer in Ghana. The study made use of a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and interviews in collecting data. The study reveals that, the lack of national priority areas for effective technology transfer, inadequate science and technology infrastructure, insufficient research and development (R&D) initiatives, under developed entrepreneurial skills, and inadequate R&D funding are collectively hindering successful transfer in Ghana. Furthermore, low technology adoption and diffusion in critical sectors of manufacturing industry among others are some of the constraints that the study found.

Source: KNUST
Constraints in Contract Claims in the Ghanaian Construction Industry: Study in the Western region.

The competitive bidding system forces contractors to price their work in a way that will give them the best opportunity to be the lowest bidder. Sometimes, too much attention is placed on getting the work and not enough attention is given to how the work can be done profitability. From the scope and objectives of the study, different test have been conducted and the procedure used for this is the quantitative method through questionnaire. This was to solicit the experience of qualified personnel on site to identify the constraints in the construction contract claims in the Ghanaian construction industry. This case study, questionnaire was developed for the contractors who are registered to the Ministry of Water Resource Works and Housing classified under financial class D1K1, D2K2. The study was limited to contractors working in the Western region. It was revealed that almost all the contractors’ questionnaire used the standard condition of contract (P.P.A) Public Procurement Authority. On the part of dispute resolution mediation was rank first with expedient and litigation last with 1.5 percent. About eighty percent (80%) always notify the clients when they identify claims by writing while less than five percent (5%) communicate to the clients through telephone communication. It was shown that contractors who purchase contract document bid for contract work or project do not study the content of the document. This has given way for some of the client to argue their way out which leads to constrain on the part of the contractor. Documentation was also one of the major problems which bring about constraint, most of the contractors do not keep proper documents of failed activities when there are variations, valuation or any type of claims. To put in justifiable claims, to avoid constraints or misunderstanding between the client and the contractor, documentation is the key. To avoid constraints in the construction contract claim documents must be prepared by competent persons. The public procurement board should come out with a standard procedure administering claims and specifying days that the client should respond to notification of claims to avoid misunderstanding and conflict on site.

Source: KNUST
Constraints to the production of exported value-added wood product – a case study of Timber & Transport Company

It is the objective of government that timber firms in Ghana increase the production of exported value-added wood products. This project work therefore undertook to examine factors hindering the timber firms to positively respond to this government directive. The timber and Transport Company, (TAT) Kumasi was used as a case 6tutty for the work because it faces most of these factors. The study of this firm has revealed a lot of operations and resource problems. These problems have manifested themselves as the dominant production and marketing constraints which have hindered the firm from producing exported value-added wood products. The study has further revealed that the various measures taken by the government to boost the production of exported value’ -added wood products have not achieved the desired results because of the inadequacy of such measures in the light of the problems encountered by the firm in particular, and the timber industry as a whole. the problems impeding the production of exported Value-added wood products have been identified as partly internal and partly external to the timber firms, suggestions made here to boost production of such products consist of measures to be taken by timber firms as well, as those to be taken by the Government.

Source: KNUST
Constructing optimal stock portfolio with Markowitz Model

A portfolio is a collection of financial assets consisting of investment tools such as stocks, bonds, gold, foreign exchange, asset-backed securities, real estate certificates and bank deposit which are held by a person or a group of persons. In Ghana, constructing portfolio with standardized optimization model still remains a myth. In this paper, we analyze the applicability of the classical Markowitz model on the Ghana Stock Exchange. We further determine which Stock-index is profitable for an investor; thus should the investor invest in the GSE-All-Share Index, Non-financial Index, or the Financial Index given the current performance of the indices. Historical monthly data of stock prices, market capitalization and dividend per share from 2007 to 2010 were used to compute the market indices. The study concludes that it is profitable for an investor to invest 83.44% of his capital in the non-financial index while investing 16.56% in the financial index. We further conclude that the Ghanaian stock market obeys the tenet of the Markowitz model.

Source: KNUST
Construction Cost Control Mechanisms by Contractors in Ghana.

Cost is a fundamental component of any construction project. It is of much essence that the construction industry has control on cost performance of construction projects to ensure that construction cost is within the estimated budget constrain. The aim of the study is to explore the factors affecting construction cost control by Contractors in Ghana. The study was carried out along the tenets of a preliminary literature review and followed by a survey using a structured questionnaire. Thirty two (32) questionnaire were retrieved out of the 39 distributed. The data collected were analyzed using Relative Importance Index (RII) and mean score. The study revealed that, Earned Value Analysis, Actual versus forecast reconciliation, budgetary planning or control, Variance analysis, Reserve analysis, Unit Costing, Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT/COST) and Project Cost-Value Reconciliation are the mostly and frequently used Construction cost control techniques by contractors. Lack of cost planning/monitoring during preand-post contract stages, Poor Project planning, Delay payment to contractors, Cash flow and financial difficulties faced by contractors, Inflation pressure, Fluctuation of prices of materials, Poor financial control on site, Project location, Complexity of projects, Wrong Estimation Methods, Inexperience of Project Leaders are the major factors that affect construction cost performance. It was revealed that the effective ways to control construction cost are; Contingency / Risk Management, controlling costs throughout the projects, selecting appropriate procurement options, Plans of Work and Periodic Reviews, Value Management / Engineering, Budgetary Control, Cash Flow Monitoring

Source: KNUST
The construction industry of Ghana: exploring the nexus between communication and project delivery(activities); a case study on the road sector (Accra)

Communication is the exchange of information with the emphasis on creating understanding between the sender and the receiver. All project Participants prepare information in a variety of ways to meet the needs of project stakeholders. Team members also receive feedback from these stakeholders. However, the purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between communication and project delivery and its objectives are to determine the various communication channels employed by project professionals within the road sector in Accra, to identify the communication barriers affecting project delivery, to assess the perceived impact of project communication on project delivery. The study introduction offers the overview of the construction industry. Followed by the literature which review the overview of the construction industry in Ghana, the concept of Communication and gives an outline of the road sector in Accra. The main three (3) agencies and departments under the Ministry of Roads and Highways which includes the Department of Feeder roads, Department of Urban roads were carefully chosen to be the case studies for this research. The mixed method, which includes open and closed questionnaire, were used to collect data from construction professionals. SPSS was used for the analysis respectively. After the discussion was made, there was a complete relationship established among responses received. This study draws attention of project companies to take interest to develop communication skills of all their project professionals, since communication stand as a strong backbone in project delivery. In conclusion, communication among project professionals is necessary for project delivery.

Source: KNUST
Construction Heuristic for the inspection of Electricity Meters (Case Study: Koforidua Municipality, Eastern Region, Ghana)

Chinese postman problems (CPP) heuristic algorithm is used for several real-world route inspection problems, such as street sweeping, mail delivery, solid waste collection, street watering among others. They can however, be modelled as CPP with some peculiar constraints. As a part of the preventive maintenance programme for the electricity service providers, this study employs the CPP heuristic algorithm to the inspection of electricity meters along the streets in Koforidua municipality as an undirected network. A formal definition of the CPP is presented. The heuristic procedure consists of cluster first, route second method. The Dijsktra‘s algorithm is initially implemented with Matlab programme to find the optimal distance to be covered in each route and the optimal route is found with the Fluery‘s algorithm. The construction heuristic algorithm is proposed which gives near optimal feasible solutions and applied to find the optimal inspection route for four (4) main inspection blocks within the municipality. The adoption of the proposed heuristic in Koforidua resulted in an optimal distance for the four inspection blocks as follows 6.17km in block-1, 9.015km in block-2, 9.955km in block-3 and 12.172km in block-4. The results revealed a good performance of the proposed heuristic method for any route inspection problem for Koforidua township.

Source: KNUST
Construction management role as practiced by Ghanaian construction firms

Effective construction management process is a key to success of a construction project. Successful management of construction project has to be based on thorough and updated information, and processed utilizing well designed construction management strategies from inception to completion. The aim of this research has been to explore the construction management processes used by Ghanaian construction firms and develop ways of improving these managerial strategies and skills to make them more competitive. Construction management related literature has been generally reviewed. A survey questionnaire supported by interviews is used to explore the construction management role as practiced by the local firms. Twenty-five questionnaires were distributed to contractors with D1K1 registered with Ghana Cocoa Board; twenty-one questionnaires were received and analyzed. The analysis revealed perceived management processes specific to construction projects and were also assessed through a qualitative research approach. The study explores the use of software in managing and updating the construction management processes. The study concluded that almost all the firms are aware of management but not effectively practiced to achieve the desired results at the end of a project. The evidence gathered suggests that, professional project management services, emanating from project inception to completion can potentially help in minimizing the effects of some of the key managerial challenges. One of the main recommendations of this research is to encourage local firms to spend few minutes by their construction managers at each point of a project, briefing on management practices to all workers, especially site workers, before commencement of work, to inculcate in them management processes, and improving the practices on construction sites

Source: KNUST
Construction Cost Control Mechanisms by Contractors in Ghana.

Cost is a fundamental component of any construction project. It is of much essence that the construction industry has control on cost performance of construction projects to ensure that construction cost is within the estimated budget constrain. The aim of the study is to explore the factors affecting construction cost control by Contractors in Ghana. The study was carried out along the tenets of a preliminary literature review and followed by a survey using a structured questionnaire. Thirty two (32) questionnaire were retrieved out of the 39 distributed. The data collected were analyzed using Relative Importance Index (RII) and mean score. The study revealed that, Earned Value Analysis, Actual versus forecast reconciliation, budgetary planning or control, Variance analysis, Reserve analysis, Unit Costing, Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT/COST) and Project Cost-Value Reconciliation are the mostly and frequently used Construction cost control techniques by contractors. Lack of cost planning/monitoring during pre-and-post contract stages, Poor Project planning, Delay payment to contractors, Cash flow and financial difficulties faced by contractors, Inflation pressure, Fluctuation of prices of materials, Poor financial control on site, Project location, Complexity of projects, Wrong Estimation Methods, Inexperience of Project Leaders are the major factors that affect construction cost performance. It was revealed that the effective ways to control construction cost are; Contingency / Risk Management, controlling costs throughout the projects, selecting appropriate procurement options, Plans of Work and Periodic Reviews, Value Management / Engineering, Budgetary Control, Cash Flow Monitoring.[ Keywords: Cost, Construction, Control, Contractors, Project

Source: KNUST
The construction of a gas-fired kiln using low-density bricks composed from mfensi clay for schools

The acquisition of kilns for firing student’s clay works has been a difficult problem for most Senior High Schools and other users of kilns in the educational sector. The 0.42m³ capacity kiln was designed and built with locally obtainable raw materials, locally composed low-density bricks and mortar, and locally manufactured gas burners rated at160000 joules. This is a solution for schools teaching and learning pottery and ceramics as an elective subject. Institutions whose work and activities require the use of kilns will also find this handy. High pressure regulators were fitted onto the 15kg gas cylinder to enable regulation and delivery of high gas pressure to the burners for combustion. A solution has been found in the business of kilns construction with very efficient heat maintenance properties for firing clay products, giving rise to increase in temperature and even distribution of heat is available in bringing green ware to a point of maturity (bisque) at 1100°C.Mfensi clay mixed with sawdust serves as a very useful ceramic material for the production of low-density bricks for the construction of a gas-fired kiln. Recommendations have been made for the production of locally manufactured gas kilns in Ghanaian schools.

Source: KNUST
Construction of a novel convolution based fractional derivative mask for image edge analysis

This thesis presents a new approach in constructing a more e efficient fractional derivative mask for image edge analysis based on the ddefinition and properties of convolution. By the defi nition of convolution, the generalised Strivastiva-Owa's operator was rewritten with its order restricted to the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative. Applying linearity, commutative and derivative properties of convolution to the resultant expression, a new mask with higher effi ciency, memory eff ect and computational equivalence to the classical edge detector is developed as per the experimental results obtained. From the experimental results, it is observed that, the new mask has the potency to find edges in details quite signifi cantly as well as hidden edges which is a deffi ciency of the classical edge detectors. It can also be used on a region growing algorithm during region segmentation acting as an edge function in its termination process. The experiments conducted on the mask were done using some selected well known synthetic and medical images with realistic geometry. Using visual perception and performing both mean square error and peak signal-to-noise ratios analysis, the method demonstrated signifi cant advantages over other known methods.

Source: KNUST
Construction of a Texturing Device for Managing Surface Defects of Locally Produced Vegetable Tanned Leather

Leather surface quality is very vital when it comes to leather artefact production. Leather surface defects reduces the surface quality of leather thereby affecting the value of the leather products on the market. In view of this, this research emphasizes the need to utilize leather surface defect management techniques which is keen as it tends to improve the surface quality of the leather and its products at large. The study identified various defects and management methods which are currently implored by leather users to manage surface defects. The research further designed, produced and tested the efficacy of an alternative leather defect management device. This intervention was adopted based on the assertion made by Allman (2012-2016), Deines (2014) and Anon (n.d.) that texturing contributes quality to surfaces and their appearance by improving and correcting surface imperfections. By employing the qualitative methodology to address the problems identified the research used arguments and suggestions to advance the fact that texturing truly improves and corrects surface imperfections in some leather defects. Defects which could be corrected include grain loosening and wrinkled surface defects. Defects like holes and patched remained as they are after the intervention. Cuts, molds, and parasitic infections were slightly nullified. The study further recommended other researchers to take it upon and develop different textures to test effectiveness of varying textures for various leather surface defects.

Source: KNUST