E-Governance in Africa and the Challenges Confronting Urban E-Planning

2015 ◽  
pp. 1443-1465
Author(s):  
Carlos Nunes Silva
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Planning Development ◽  
Administrative Tradition ◽  
Near Future

This chapter explores trends in the development of e-governance in Africa, issues, challenges, opportunities, and innovative practices, as well as the impacts that such process is likely to have in the progress of Urban e-Planning in the continent, namely in the five Lusophone African countries: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe. The first part is focused on e-governance development in Africa. The second section deals with the case of the Lusophone African countries. The level of Urban e-Planning development in African cities is in general far behind cities in developed countries. Besides sharing a common colonial history, administrative tradition, and official language, these five African countries have in common similar urban planning cultures. Despite the overall negative picture of e-governance development in Africa that emerges from this overview and the huge barriers it is confronted with, there are signs that it is possible to have a rapid and sustained progress in the field of Urban e-Planning in the near future.

E-Governance in Africa and the Challenges Confronting Urban E-Planning

2015 ◽  
pp. 306-328
Author(s):  
Carlos Nunes Silva
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Planning Development ◽  
Administrative Tradition ◽  
Near Future

This chapter explores trends in the development of e-governance in Africa, issues, challenges, opportunities, and innovative practices, as well as the impacts that such process is likely to have in the progress of Urban e-Planning in the continent, namely in the five Lusophone African countries: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe. The first part is focused on e-governance development in Africa. The second section deals with the case of the Lusophone African countries. The level of Urban e-Planning development in African cities is in general far behind cities in developed countries. Besides sharing a common colonial history, administrative tradition, and official language, these five African countries have in common similar urban planning cultures. Despite the overall negative picture of e-governance development in Africa that emerges from this overview and the huge barriers it is confronted with, there are signs that it is possible to have a rapid and sustained progress in the field of Urban e-Planning in the near future.

Challenges and Prospects for E-Planning in Lusophone African Countries

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Nunes Silva
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
The People ◽  
Published Report ◽  
The World ◽  
Planning Development ◽  
Administrative Tradition

The level of E-Planning development in African cities is in general far behind cities in developed countries. This is also, to a large extent, what happens in the five Lusophone African countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe). Besides sharing a common colonial history, administrative tradition and language these five African countries have in common similar urban planning cultures. In the recently published report “E-Government Survey 2012: E-Government for the People” the United Nations confirms a growth tendency in the implementation of e-government throughout the world, a trend that will make possible the development of E-Planning in countries where this new urban planning paradigm is still missing or has been insufficiently implemented, as is the case of the five Lusophone African countries. This review of the UN 2012 E-Government Survey aims to summarize and discuss the key challenges for e-government development identified in the survey and, based on these findings, to explore the challenges and prospects for e-Planning adoption in the five Lusophone African countries.

scholarly journals Corruption and multinational companies’ entry modes. Do linguistic and historical ties matter?

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Grande ◽  
Aurora AC Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Direct Investment ◽  
Entry Mode ◽  
Multinational Companies ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Entry Modes ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Very High

The literature on FDI entry modes and corruption tends to convey the idea that corruption leads to a choice between low equity modes, i.e. joint ventures with local partners, and non-equity modes, namely exports and contracting, in order to avoid contact with corrupt state officials. Recently, some studies have argued that despite corruption, linguistic and historical ties between home and host countries lead MNCs to prefer high-equity modes. Focusing on a rather unexplored setting, the African countries, most specifically the Portuguese-speaking ones (PALOP – Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa), which include countries where levels of corruption are very high (e.g., Guinea-Bissau and Angola), high (e.g., Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe), and intermediate (e.g., Cape Verde), maintaining also close linguistic and historical ties with Portugal, we found that the FDI entry mode is associated with the less corrupt markets. Thus, our results do not support the recent contention that cultural and historical links are likely to perform a mediating role, by fostering foreign direct investment, in supporting African countries to overcome the dismal growth some have been facing in the last few decades. On the contrary, our findings highlight the pressing need for these countries to combat corruption if higher economic growth via FDI attraction is envisioned.

Part III The Relationship Between the Judiciary and the Political Branches, 6 An Overview of Judicial and Executive Relations in Lusophone Africa

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastos Fernando Loureiro
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
The Political ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Law Professors ◽  
Language Literature

This chapter examines judicial–executive relationships in Africa’s Lusophone systems, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and the island nations of Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, which are often neglected in the English-language literature. These systems continue to follow the Portuguese system closely not only because of their colonial history but also due to an ongoing process in which Portuguese sources are widely used and judicial officers and law professors often receive training in Portugal. The result is the persistent view of the separation of powers wherein the judiciary is subordinate to the legislature, the executive, and to the law that those branches alone create; its role is understood chiefly as a resolver of disputes between private parties. While the constitutions of these states offer textual protection for the judiciary’s independence, only Cape Verde has made important strides to realizing this in practice. Executive influence over the judiciary is strong.

E-Governance Development in Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Nunes Silva
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Negative Picture ◽  
African Cities ◽  
The Third ◽  
Planning Implementation ◽  
Planning Development ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Near Future

This note explores trends in e-governance development in Africa and examines barriers and challenges confronting the development of Urban e-Planning in the continent. It has three main sections, besides the introduction and conclusion. The first is focused on e-governance development in Africa, examines the overall context of ICT in Africa and assesses e-government progress in Africa; the second deals with the barriers confronting e-planning; and the third discusses the challenges for e-planning implementation in Africa. Despite the overall negative picture of e-governance development in Africa that emerges from this review and the huge barriers it is confronted with, there are signs that it is feasible to have a rapid and sustained progress in the field of Urban e-Planning in the near future. However, considering the low level of conventional urban planning development in the continent, gradual implementation of e-Planning solutions in African cities is recommended.

scholarly journals Higher Education in Portuguese Speaking African Countries

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrício Vitorino Langa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
International Expert ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Baseline Study ◽  
Higher Education Systems ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe

This publication is the result of a baseline study of the state of the higher education systems in the five Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP): Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe. The project was undertaken by an African international expert in the field of higher education studies and was fully sponsored and supported by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). The report offers a historical overview of the development of higher education in PALOP from colonial times to the present. The main objective of this baseline study is to map the landscape and dynamics of change in the higher education systems of PALOP countries. It focuses on describing the latest developments of trends of expansion, financing, governance and policy reforms closely linked to the development of higher education systems in these countries. Furthermore, the study will facilitate an informed debate and the dissemination of knowledge on the role of higher education for development in Africa.

Skills and Competencies Required by Academic Librarians in an Internet-Driven Environment

Mousaion ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakubu A. Liman ◽  
Priti Jain ◽  
Baluwami Grand ◽  
Athulang Mutshewa
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Library Services ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Internet Skills ◽  
Use Of Internet

This paper reviews literature on the skills and competencies required by academic librarians in an Internet-driven environment. Content analysis methodology was used to review literature. Purposive sampling was also used for identifying literature on skills and competencies of librarians in the use of Internet services in academic libraries. A total of 118 publications were selected. Findings from the articles reviewed show that librarians from developed countries required skills and competencies in Internet usage to provide effective library services. However, the findings also show that academic librarians from developing countries, especially in Africa, are still lagging behind regarding Internet skills and competencies to provide effective information services in the library. The paper concludes that despite changes brought by the Internet, there are still gaps in the way library services are provided because of poor Internet knowledge, skills and competencies of academic librarians. The paper recommends that academic librarians in African countries acquire Internet skills and competencies to update their knowledge and technological skills for effective library service provision.

Group Communication in City Planning Decisions (on the example urban projects of Moscow region)

Communicology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.A. Samoylova ◽  
O.A. Zhirkov ◽  
S.V. Belkin
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Communicative Interaction ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Planning Decisions ◽  
Spatial Environment ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Planning Development ◽  
Political Economic

The authors set out the basics of urban planning policy and represent the capabilities of modern information and communication tools for an integrated way of fixing the material and intangible world for urban planning purposes in the living environment (material and spatial environment). Namely, the possibilities of communication in the field of urban planning development carried out in the context of many circumstances cover federal, regional, municipal and corporate levels of management, while taking into account political, economic, social and technological relevant factors, as well as historical and national special aspects and urban planning typology of territories. The authors describe the operation of the developed computer program Decision Support Solutions (DSS) for evaluating decision options by interested participants in urban planning activities for various urban planning types of territories. The relevance of the article is driven by the need for practical use and legalization of the presented communicative interaction. This will facilitate the identification and solution of conflicts at the pre-project stage of urban planning, as should help to consider the requirements of consumers and their support for ongoing decisions and actions of public authorities at all levels.

scholarly journals An overview of the nutrition transition in West Africa: implications for non-communicable diseases

2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
William K. Bosu
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Fruit And Vegetables ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Dual Burden

The nutrition landscape in West Africa has been dominated by the programmes to address undernutrition. However, with increasing urbanisation, technological developments and associated change in dietary patterns and physical activity, childhood and adult overweight, and obesity are becoming more prevalent. There is an evidence of increasing intake of dietary energy, fat, sugars and protein. There is low consumption of fruit and vegetables universally in West Africa. Overall, the foods consumed are predominantly traditional with the component major food groups within recommended levels. Most of the West African countries are at the early stages of nutrition transition but countries such as Cape Verde, Ghana and Senegal are at the latter stages. In the major cities of the region, children consume energy-dense foods such as candies, ice cream and sweetened beverages up to seven times as frequently as fruit and vegetables. Adult obesity rates have increased by 115 % in 15 years since 2004. In Ghana, the prevalence of overweight/obesity in women has increased from 12·8 % in 1993 to 29·9 % in 2008. In Accra, overweight/obesity in women has increased from 62·2 % in 2003 to 64·9 % in 2009. The age-standardised proportion of adults who engage in adequate levels of physical activity ranges from 46·8 % in Mali to 94·7 % in Benin. The lingering stunting in children and the rising overweight in adults have resulted to a dual burden of malnutrition affecting 16·2 % of mother–child pairs in Cotonou. The prevalence of hypertension has been increased and ranges from 17·6 % in Burkina Faso to 38·7 % in Cape Verde. The prevalence is higher in the cities: 40·2 % in Ougadougou, 46·0 % in St Louis and 54·6 % in Accra. The prevalence of diabetes ranges from 2·5 to 7·9 % but could be as high as 17·9 % in Dakar, Senegal. The consequences of nutrition transition are not only being felt by the persons in the high socioeconomic class, but also in cities such as Accra and Ouagadougou, where at least 19 % of adults from the poorest households are overweight and 19–28 % have hypertension. Concerted national action involving governments, partners, private sector and civil society is needed to re-orient health systems and build capacity to address the dual burden of malnutrition, to regulate the food and beverage industry and to encourage healthy eating throughout the life course.

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