Journal Articles

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Browsing Journal Articles by Subject "Africa"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Consumer protection in the telecommunication sector: a comparative institutional analysis of five African countries
    (Elsevier, 2019) Mwakatumbula, Hilda Jacob; Moshi, Goodiel Charles; Mitomo, Hitoshi
    The telecommunications sector has proliferated in recent years, especially in developing countries. However, little attention has been paid to consumer protection issues. As more people get connected to telecommunication networks and competition becomes increasingly fierce, it becomes essential to revamp institutions that ensure consumer protection in the telecommunication markets. This paper analyses the current status of institutions that protect consumers in the telecommunications sector in five African countries from the perspective of three pillars of sound institutional design. The findings indicate that while all cases analysed herein have some form of institution that upholds consumer protection, in most cases, such protection is limited to mobile communications. Furthermore, in most cases, there are only general sanction provisions that are either too weak to bind service providers or that leave overly discretionary powers to regulatory agencies, which can lead to corrupt practices, hence weakening consumer protection. This paper describes current affairs with regard to consumer protection in the telecom industry, identifies its weaknesses, and proposes areas of improvement to attain a healthier telecommunications sector.
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    Data science for empowerment: understanding the data science training landscape for women and girls in Africa
    (Tylor and Frances Group, 2022) Babirye, Claire; Muyoya, Chisenga; Mazumdar, Suvodeep; Jimenez, Andrea; Maina, Ciira; Matogoro, Jabhera; Ndung’u, Margaret Nyambura; Kleine, Dorothea
    The increasing datafication of African societies has led to a proliferation of data science-related training opportunities. These trainings provide young people with the opportunity to learn the skills to work on Data science, with some focused specifically on women and girls. While this is encouraging and brings new opportunities for women and girls to participate in the knowledge economy, it is important to understand the wider context of data science training in Africa, in particular, how women and girls experience their (data science) education, and how this knowledge can impact their lives, sustain livelihoods and bring empowerment. Through a review of the literature, as well as an examination of different pedagogical approaches and practices used by various formal and informal training programs in Africa, we examined the experience of women and girls. We conducted a mapping of the training and networks that have been set up to provide know-ledge and skills and to empower women in data science. We high-light some of the facilitators that have positively contributed to a greater participation of women and girls in data science education, while also revealing some of the barriers and structural impediments to fair access to training for women in data science.
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    Effects of political stability and sector regulations on investments in African mobile markets
    (Elsevier, 2017) Moshi, Goodiel Charles; Mwakatumbula, Hilda Jacob
    This study analyses the effects of regulation and political stability on the allocation of mobile telecommunication investments in the African continent between 2001 and 2011. To better understand the dynamics of investment in telecommunications, a framework was developed to assess factors that determine investments in the telecom industry at the country and industry level, particularly institutions, market size/demand level, market structure and investing cost. The results show that investments in the mobile telecommunications industry are dependent on regulation and liberalization; however, no statistical evidence was found for the effect of political stability as measured by the democratic process. Furthermore, the study has shown that market structure factors, especially competition, market size and the cost of investing in a country, are important in determining the allocation of mobile telecommunications investments among African countries.
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    Gendering design of M-Health applications to support marginalized women: A case of maternal and child health services in Tanzania
    (Kennesaw State University, 2019) Makaranga, Joseph Thobias; Shidende, Nima Herman
    This study aimed at addressing a gap in the existing literature by providing empirical insights into gendered ICT design in rural African settings. The research used qualitative research methods to identify design weaknesses that were causing the exclusion of the poorest and most rural women. The research design enrolled rural women to inform the redesign of the Tanzanian mHealth application, the DHIS Tracker. The app is designed to enable economically disadvantaged rural women to receive targeted healthcare appointments and advice via SMS text messages. Gendered design is used as a conceptual framework to guide the analysis. Also, we use insights from Buskens (2015)’s categories of strategies for empowering women; conformist, reformist and transformist to inform how gendered design can be done in the rural African context. The article ends by providing insights to policy and managerial levels that can be used to promote women empowerment.