Africa has an extensive and varied cultural history that includes works of art, music, literature, customs, and historical locations. These cultural resources are essential for creating identities, promoting social cohesiveness, and advancing economic development. However, for these institutions to have the greatest impact on the world and contribute to sustainable development, they must be managed and engaged effectively. Exploring the management of cultural institutions in Africa and their potential for global impact and sustainable development is the goal of this research study. The study relies on the extensive review of available literature, case studies, and in-depth interviews with key informants, and data obtained, subjected to content and thematic analyses. It aims to uncover flexible management techniques that can improve the global reach and sustainable development of African cultural institutions by examining successful models and cutting-edge approaches. The results of this study will help those responsible for administering Africa’s cultural institutions to formulate practical guidelines and policy recommendations. Africa can further establish its cultural identity, advance cultural diplomacy, and utilize its cultural capital to propel social and economic advancement by utilizing the potential of these institutions for global impact and sustainable development.

Infrastructure development policies have been criticised for lacking a deliberate pro-gender and pro-informal sector orientation. Since African economies are dual enclaves, with the traditional and informal sectors female-dominated, failure to have gendered infrastructure development planning and investment exacerbates gender inequality. The paper examines the effect of the infrastructure development index, the size of the informal economy, and the level of economic development on gender inequality. The paper applies the panel autoregressive distributed lag method to data on the gender inequality index, infrastructure development index, GDP per capita, and size of the informal sector for the period 2005–2018. The sample consists of 44 African countries. The research established that the infrastructure development index, its sub-indices, GDP per capita, and the size of the informal sector are crucial dynamics that governments need to consider carefully when formulating development policies to reduce gender inequality. The research found that investment in infrastructure in general, transport infrastructure, and energy infrastructure reduces gender inequality. infrastructure development has gender inequality increasing effects in some countries and gender inequality reducing effects in others. The pattern suggests that at the continental level a Kuznets-type patten in the relationship between gender inequality and infrastructure development, gender inequality and size of informal sector, and gender inequality and GDP per capita exists. Some countries are in the region where changes in these covariates positively correlate with gender inequality, while others are in the region where further increases in the covariates reduce gender inequality.

Due to the incapacity of families in Sub-Saharan African nations to satisfy basic necessities for home maintenance, this study is required to enable policy shifts in the area of consumption tax. The study looks at the impact of consumption taxes on the purchasing power of families in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on Nigeria and Kenya. The datasets used for this inquiry range from 1994 to 2022. Among the factors are purchasing power parity (PPP), value added tax (VAT), and exchange rate. We obtained the statistics from the World Bank, the Central Banks of Nigeria and Kenya, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study used the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model established by Pesaran et al. (2001). The findings reveal that the inclusion of VAT on the prices of products and services significantly harms households throughout Nigeria compared to those in Kenya. VAT has a significant negative impact on consumer purchasing power in Nigeria but has an immaterial negative impact on household spending capacity in Kenya. The influence of the currency rate is positive and beneficial in Nigeria, whereas it is negative but intangible in Kenya. Due to economic disparity, the report suggests policy reforms in favour of families. It is also suggested that the government develop additional work possibilities, diversify the economy, and give subsidies for basic housing necessities.

As digital technologies continue to shape the economy, countries are faced with increasing scrutiny in the use of digital transformation to aid productivity and improve performance. In South Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Small and medium-sized businesses’ (SMEs’) uptake of digital technologies, as many businesses had to shift their operations online and adopt new digital tools and technologies to solve the challenges posed by the pandemic. This has led to an increased focus on digital transformation mechanisms among South African firms. Therefore, the study examines the effect of digital transformation on the productivity of firms using cross-sectional data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) (2020). The survey was based on firms and is a representative sample of the private sector in the South African economy and covers a wide variety of business environment themes, such as infrastructure, competitiveness, access to finance, and performance indicators. We found that digital transformation improved productivity of South African firms. Furthermore, empirical findings are reassuring robust to the IV-2SLS and quantile regression model, size of business, sectoral and provincial analysis. Finally, we recommend that policy makers should develop and implement initiatives to improve digital infrastructure, including high-speed internet access and reliable connectivity, especially in rural and underserved areas.

Homelessness is a global social issue that has affected various nations around the world, including South Africa. The instances of homelessness began during the apartheid era in South Africa and have since risen to alarming levels in provinces such as Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal, as reported in the 2022 census. Despite the lack of comprehensive research on homelessness in South Africa, this study conducted a scoping review to evaluate research completed on homelessness from independence to 2020 in the country. The scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and involved a systematic search of the Development Southern Africa and Urban Forum databases. A total of 72 research articles were identified, with 10 meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the review, which were then analyzed using thematic analysis. The study identified several key themes, including homelessness as a reflection of patriarchal systems, gender-based conflicts leading to homelessness, proactive and reactive interventions by non-state actors for homeless individuals, and the quantitative focus of research on homelessness in South Africa from independence to the present day. The study presents the applicability of these findings to tackle homelessness in Papua New Guinea and recommends the use of mixed methods approaches to research homelessness in South Africa to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the various dimensions of homelessness in the country.

Climate change has adverse effects on ecosystems and several socio-economic sectors including health. Indeed, infrastructure, continuity of medical services, and the hospital environment are all directly affected by the effects of climate-related risks. This study aims to describe the observations of the effects of climate change risks on health systems in the Greater Lomé health region of Togo. We used an interview guide and a questionnaire to collect information. The observations allowed us to assess the effects caused by climate risks. According to the results, 84.62% of respondents attest that health centers experience flooding during rainy periods and damage caused by strong winds is noticeable among 76.92% of respondents. More than 25.40% and 61.86% respectively of respondents mention that droughts and floods have effects on health systems. The results of this study will allow health system managers to become aware of how to plan useful actions to facilitate the management of climate-related risks in health facilities in the Greater Lomé health region. In view of all these results, it is necessary that measures be taken to strengthen the resilience of health systems through awareness campaigns and training of actors throughout the health pyramid.