ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Using technology to improve adult literacy in Ghana

According to the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) conducted between October 2012 and October 2013, 69.6% of adults in the country are literate .Initially, being literate meant to be able to read and write, but today it is not only about reading and writing but being able to fully utilize these skills to solve problems. Literacy should focus on how the learner can apply whatever they learn in their daily life activities. The busy schedule of Adesua Ye students does not allow them to come for adult literacy classes. From interviewing Adesua Ye students and random adults, all they needed from the adult literacy program is the ability to help their children with their assignments and interact with their clients. This paper seeks to explore how technology can be used to improve Adult literacy. This way, they would not have to come to class every single day of the week. However, classes would not be cut off completely because of the high rate of e-learning drop-out.

Source: Ashesi
UT Financial Services: Looking for the next mountain to conquer

An entrepreneur and co-founder of a private, non-deposit-taking, non-bank financial firm in Africa took his company public following a decade of phenomenal growth and strong performance. Established in an era when the traditional financial institutions would not grant credit to small and medium enterprises, the company successfully pioneered a wide variety of unique services in the non-bank financial services industry. Capitalizing on the failure of formal institutions to meet the needs of the informal sector, the entrepreneur had achieved organic growth by providing short-term loans and complementary services to customers in the neglected segment of the financial services market. The image of a high-performing company, coupled with the successful initial public offering surpassing all expectations, put tremendous pressure on the company to continue to grow the enterprise and deliver superior performance. To obtain substantial funds from the investing public, the onus is on the entrepreneur to select and pursue an appropriate strategy to keep the enterprise on a growth trajectory.

Source: Ashesi
Vehicle condition monitoring for fleet management

With the many advances in technology, the field of fleet management is becoming more relevant in everyday activities. The ability to keep track of service vehicles while they are on the move is very useful to as it helps businesses who operate such services to cut cost and monitor employees who are on the move. Currently, there are many variations of fleet management systems which depend solely on locational data from a GPS enabled device like a mobile device. There are also much more costly fleet management systems which can track the location of vehicles and do so much more. This project aims to provide a less costly management solution which can track a vehicle's location, as well as observe data on a vehicle's on-board network for commercial use and for vehicle diagnosis.

Source: Ashesi
Vehicle speed detection with LiDAR

Ensuring traffic safety is of utmost importance in today's world, where the use of private automobiles is on the rise, especially in our communities, schools and residential areas. This work explores the two main speed measurement techniques that work on the same "Time of Flight" principle, with heavy focus on using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. The resulting design was a small speed measurement system that captures images of speed limit infringements and can interface with a smart device like a smartphone or computer for real-time visualisation of the results.

Source: Ashesi
Verifly: A drone-supported First Aid system for Ashesi University

Drones are autonomous vehicles that have been beneficial to humans since their creation. Drones are considered to carry out activities efficiently. In the last ten years, drones are becoming a common sight. Filming for TV and Movies, surveillance, delivery, and hobby flight are some tasks which make use of drones. The potential of drones is slowly, but surely being uncovered and yet we`ve just scratched the surface. Companies like Amazon use drones to make deliveries more efficient. Drones can make standard services efficient, like in healthcare, public security, etc. This project utilizes drones for deploying emergency healthcare and uses technologies like GPS location, mobile applications, web services, drones, and ground control stations. The system is designed to aid first responders to an incident or injured people. This project also introduces a drone policy to govern the use of drones at Ashesi University.

Source: Ashesi
Vision Vantage: A decision support system for footbal player scouts

The rapidly evolving sports technology landscape, characterized by advancements in data analytics, machine learning and real-time processing, has paved the way for innovative solutions in player and game analysis. This paper presents Vision Vantage, a cutting-edge football analysis web application harnessing computer vision and machine learning to overcome the limitations of traditional player evaluation methods. Vision Vantage integrates video processing with comprehensive statistical analysis to offer a transformative approach to game assessment and player performance evaluation. The core functionalities of Vision Vantage include object detection using YOLOv5, multi-object tracking with Byte Track, and backend management through FastAPI. These technologies collectively enhance the accuracy of player and ball tracking, enable speed and distance estimation, and facilitate pass detection. The system's architecture supports seamless user registration, game creation, video uploads and skill management, ensuring a robust and user-friendly experience. Rigorous testing phasis, including unit and component testing, validated the system's functionality and performance. Unit tests confirmed the effective handling of valid and invalid inputs across various endpoints, while component testing, conducted using Cypress, verified the smooth operation of frontend interfaces. User testing further refined the system based on feedback, leading to a transition from Django to FastAPI for improved machine learning model integration. Despite its successes, Vision Vantage faces limitations, notably inconsistencies in tracker IDs and challenges related to processing large video files. These issues impact data integrity and system performance, highlighting areas for future improvement. Recommendations for future work include the development of a player highlight component to dynamically showcase high-performing players based on statistical analysis. This enhancement aims to provide deeper insights into player contributions and improve the scouting experience by offering value performance metrics and visual indicators. Vision Vantage represents a significant advancement in football analysis technology, provide a comprehensive tool for player evaluation and game assessment.

Source: Ashesi
Visually Appealing, AI-Powered, Modular Time Management Application To Enhance Productivity Among Teenagers And Young Adults

Time management is a crucial skill among young adults, particularly those with academic, professional, and personal life. The practical use of this skill typically involves a combination of some time management tools and techniques. This makes it less effective. For instance, individuals may utilize models of prioritization such as the Eisenhower Matrix to determine the level of urgency and importance of activities, followed by decomposing the activities into to-do lists and subsequently calendaring them as events using calendar systems.However, most of the available tools are monosolutions they're designed to tackle one aspect of time management, and therefore aren't ideal overall. And the few applications that allow for multiple frameworks are difficult to learn and use, such as with tools like Notion, in which users may be left to construct elaborate systems from the ground up. Moreover, these tools are usually designed mainly for functionality and design.This project proposes the development of a Visually Attractive, AI-driven, modular time management system to enhance productivity among teenagers and young adults. The system consolidates needed structures such as the calendar, to-do lists, and priority matrices as flexible modules under one umbrella. The proposed solution, through the combination of flexibility and smart automation, seeks to offer an integrated, easy-to-apply and aesthetically pleasing solution to individual time management.

Source: Ashesi
VocaStream: Real-Time Audio Transcription with Speaker Diarization and Translation

This project addresses the limitations of current speech-to-text technologies by developing an integrated transcription system that combines real-time processing, speaker identification, and multilingual support. Despite advances in automatic speech recognition, many existing solutions lack the ability to accurately transcribe speech in real-time while distinguishing between different speakers and operating across multiple languages. Our system leverages a FastAPI backend and Vue.js frontend to process both live recordings and uploaded media files with a WebSocket-based communication framework for minimal latency. The architecture incorporates OpenAI's Whisper model for speech recognition alongside speaker diarization capabilities for distinguishing between speakers, and a translation framework for cross-language functionality. While the current implementation effectively handles real-time transcription for short audio segments, ongoing development focuses on implementing audio chunking strategies for longer files, improving WebSocket stability, and fully integrating diarization and translation features. This project contributes to improved accessibility in digital communication by providing a comprehensive tool for educational settings, business meetings, and content creation, with particular attention to user-centric design and intuitive editing capabilities.

Source: Ashesi
Voiocs ofInclusion: Understanding Stakeholder Perspectives in Enhancing Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities in Ghanaian Higher Education

Inclusive educationis increasingly recognisedas essentialfor promoting equityand accessibilityin higher education globally. This qualitative study investigatesthe perspectivesofkey stakeholders, namely faculty, abled-bodied students, and students with disabilities, on inclusive education practices within Ghanaian higher education, specificallyat the Universityof Ghana (Legon) and Ashesi University. Data were collected through semi-structured interviewsand analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal significant disparitiesin institutional accommodations, physical accessibility, faculty responsiveness, and social integration betweenthe two institutions. Ashesi University demonstrated relatively structured accommodationsand supportive faculty attitudes, while Universityof Ghana (Legon) showed pronounced gapsin accessibility, infrastructural support, and social integration. A notableand novel findingisthe critical importanceof peer awarenessand student-led advocacyfor enhancing inclusive education. The study highlightsthe necessityfor holistic, institution-wide cultural changeand stakeholder collaborationto dismantle barriersto inclusive education. Recommendationsare providedfor institutional policy enhancements, faculty training, infrastructural improvements, andthe fosteringof peer-led inclusivity initiatives.

Source: Ashesi
Votechain: Voter Fraud Prevention for Remote Blockchain-Based Voting Systems

The election process is irrefutably pivotal in the socio-economic development of democratic states. Yet, with apparent vulnerabilities in some voting protocols, the democratic rights and duties of citizens are immensely challenged through voter fraud. Progressively, such procedures have been digitized to control the weaknesses in these systems. Despite the advancements of modern voting machines, some of these vulnerabilities persist. Following the development of Blockchain technology, novel spaces for Blockchain-based solutions have expanded. Responding to the information security demands of data management, the Blockchain model provides a usually decentralized append-only leger with integrated smart contracts to authenticate records. The project aims to leverage this technology to design and develop a low-cost remote security-oriented Blockchain-based voting system.

Source: Ashesi
Wall climbing robot: model design, logic control and model simulation

Industrial accidents are on the rise. This fact is even more prevalent in developing countries where the countries lack the safety standards required to ensure workplace safety in the pursuit of economic development. As land in prime locations becomes increasingly scarce, there is an argument for building skyscrapers. But this just creates a new workforce that are subject to the horrific dangers of cleaning glass panels at heights well above the ground. In this applied project, I designed a robot, Wall-C to take the pain of climbing to unfavourable heights and undertaking the incredibly dangerous tasks of cleaning sky-scrappers. Wall-C is a simple and affordable robot that works via linear actuation and vacuum pressure. Using a path planning algorithm that I designed and implemented, the robot climbs the glass wall, traverses the entire surface area with its wipers and descends once the glass is clean. Testing of Wall-C was two-fold. First, FEA analysis was performed on Wall-C and this revealed an entirely stable frame with a factor of safety of 8. The second assessment, a cleaning efficiency test, proved the robot could clean at a rate of 1731𝑚𝑚%/s (or 6.228𝑚%/h).

Source: Ashesi
Wandalute: An efficient online application for staff-transport logistics management.

Although we have significantly advanced in technology over the decades, there is still a reliance on conventional approaches to handling logistics. With a focus on the transportation of staff members out-of-office, this paper proposes an online application called Wandalute to ease the process a transportation logistics officer undergoes when assigning drivers to staff members who have requested office-owned transportation in fulfilling office duties. Wandalute is a Chitumbuka (Malawi native) word which means "They haven't left" . It is time for PLAN Malawi's staff members to request office transportation void of a cumbersome process that previously existed, which involved back and forth phone calls. This work intends to create a web-based application that would manage transportation requests made. The goal is also to address Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 9, which entail economic growth, and industry and infrastructure, respectively, through utilizing the company s transport resources.

Source: Ashesi
Wanderer:an Ai-Powered Career Readiness and Evaluation Platform

The job market post-pandemic has been very competitive, especially in the STEM field. This demands that students equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills to perform well during interviews to guarantee employment. Unfortunately, most students lack the proper guidance and resources to prepare for these interviews effectively. Many struggles with the practical application of theoretical concepts, problem-solving techniques, and the ability to demonstrate their knowledge and articulate their thoughts during technical interviews. Several companies have created mock interview platforms to assist students and professionals during their interviews. Platforms like Pramp and Leetcode allow students to practice coding problems, engage in peer-to-peer mock interviews but they fall short on providing personalized feedback based on the candidate’s performance. The proposed solution aims to provide students with personalized mock interview experiences. Wanderer streamlines the interview process by utilizing an AI (Artificial Intelligence) agent that carefully guides the user throughout the session by giving hints, suggestions, and customized feedback on their performance during and after the interview session. The successful implementation of the proposed solution would enable students to practice and be more conversant with the technical interview environment and reduce their chances of failure. Ultimately, the proposed solution would be an asset to students and professionals alike who want to practice and improve their interviewing knowledge and skills.

Source: Ashesi
Water quality monitoring

Water quality is one important factor considered in distributing potable water to the population. Bad water quality leads to the spread of diseases to people and livestock. Good water quality, however, promotes healthy living. At Ghana Water Company Limited, water quality is monitored every hour. Often, time is taken to cross-check the values recorded on the water quality parameters, for example pH, to ensure accuracy. Also, staff members have to be available daily to monitor the water quality. A system that monitors the water quality daily every hour ensuring accuracy in its measurement was designed for this project. The system has a database that stores all the parameters measured and a web dashboard to display the data. The web dashboard also displays the data on a graph to show the peaks at different times.

Source: Ashesi
Wearable Device for Jump Rope Exercise With Personalized Calorie Calculation and Jump Style Recognition

Jump rope exercises are increasingly popular for their cardiovascular and muscular benefits, but most wearable fitness trackers lack the precision needed for high-intensity, dynamic activities like jump rope. This capstone project addresses this gap by designing a wearable device tailored specifically for jump rope exercises. The system integrates an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense Rev2 microcontroller, a BMI160 IMU sensor, and a MAX30102 heart rate sensor to count jumps, estimate calorie burn, and recognize various jump styles using machine learning techniques. Data is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to a companion web application, providing real-time feedback on performance metrics such as jump count, heart rate, and personalized calorie expenditure. Additionally, the data is stored in a relational database for long-term tracking. Extensive testing and validation demonstrate the systemcuracy and optimizing battery life, ensuring the device becomes a reliable tool for jump rope enthusiasts.

Source: Ashesi
Web-based pharmacist expert system for supporting community pharmacy practice – premier point chemists

Community pharmacies are well positioned to be the first port of call for healthcare in the community. The services they provide improve the health and well-being of customers and therefore affirms their role as establishments for trusted health advisory. The daily demand for health consultation and advice from customers imply that community pharmacies get very busy. Some customers with health concerns cannot make it to pharmacies during working hours due to their busy schedules and exigencies of workload. This can compel them to look elsewhere for their health needs such as searching the internet, talking to family and even friends in a matter of urgency or when necessary. However, in most cases, it is difficult to assert the accuracy and reliability of the information found or given. With the possibility of false, misleading or incomplete health information available and provided, customers may not be directed to take appropriate measures for their health conditions. In this project, a web-based pharmacist expert system is implemented for the community pharmacy context, specifically for Premier Point Chemists located at North Labone, Accra, Ghana. The system is implemented to support and provide an around the clock healthcare access for Premier Point Chemists to attend to customers who need health consultation on common, occurring minor ailments in instances where the pharmacy is closed or not operating.

Source: Ashesi
Web/mobile IT solutions for microfinance institutions

MicroFin is a web and mobile IT solution for microfinance companies which support the core businesses of these institutions. Over the years microfinance firms have become an essential financial instrument for alleviating poverty in order to promote sustainable economic growth in Ghana. More importantly, there is the need for IT solutions to give the industry players competitive advantage. MicroFin provides user friendly applications for susu collection, record tracking, savings and loans administration. MicroFin uses both mobile and web based applications to support the operations of microfinance companies to help them achieve their company goals and objectives.

Source: Ashesi
Wells Fargo: Lessons for African companies on loyalty marketing as a growth strategy

Wells Fargo is in the news, but for the wrong reasons. The company has been fined US$185 million and more than 5,000 employees have been fired for secretly creating more than 2 million customer accounts without the customers knowing it. Indications are that the woes of the bank are only just beginning. The scandal brewing is a result of the “Gr-eight” Initiative, a cross-sell initiative by the bank which takes advantage of customer loyalty to increase the average number of products held by customers from three to eight. Many of us marketers have caught this loyalty bug at some point in time. As branding and marketing become the order of the day in African businesses and markets, many are buying into the myth of loyalty marketing as a growth strategy. But that’s all it is: a myth with no backbone; growth cannot be achieved through increasing customer loyalty.

Source: Ashesi
Will hedging joint cocoa price and production risk benefit Ghana?

This paper assesses the usefulness of risk hedging on futures markets for a cocoa exporter subject to concurrent price and output (revenue) risks. The analysis is conducted for Ghana, the world’s second largest exporter of cocoa beans. Using cocoa export revenue data, the cocoa exporter’s utility maximization problem (UMP) is solved using a Constant Relative Risk Aversion (CRRA) utility function due to Nelson and Escalante (2004) which displays risk vulnerability. Risk vulnerability is the most natural restriction on preferences (Gollier and Pratt, 1996). Simulation results from solving the UMP indicate that as a result of production risk, optimal revenue hedge ratios are much smaller than optimal price risk hedge ratios for reasonable values of the risk parameter. When transaction costs are incorporated into the hedger’s UMP , optimal revenue hedge ratios decline further although they remain positive. The findings indicate that limited use of the futures market is optimal for Ghana because it improves cocoa exporter utility relative to the unhedged position. These results should provide valuable information to policy makers in Ghana and other cocoa producing countries because they confirm that revenue risk hedging is a viable risk management alternative even when transaction costs are accounted for in the UMP of the hedger.

Source: Ashesi
Wireless mobile phone charging system

A prototype of a wireless charging system was designed to tackle the problem of desks being messy as a result of electric cables that are used in charging mobile equipment and the inability to use the mobile devices when they are being charged. The design employs a method which is referred to as strongly coupled magnetic resonance which employs four coils to operate: two self-resonant and two inductors. The system was successfully designed in which power was successfully transmitted between the transmitter and receiver, and a range of about 6cm was achieved. Line of sight was not necessary for the transmission. The output was, however, a low voltage that could power an LED. Further work is required to be carried out to reduce the size of the system and incorporates it in charging mobile equipment.

Source: Ashesi