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University, industry and government relationships, known under the Triple Helix, have been studied under various aspects. The West African region and countries have been analysed with mutual information and transmission power, two information theory-based indicators. The purpose of this paper is to portray the landscape of West African Triple Helix innovation systems using three main game theory indicators (core, Shapley value and nucleolus) with the objective to measure the synergy within the selected innovation systems.

The collaboration between university, industry and government is modelled as a three-person coalitional game. Bibliographical data of selected countries were collected from Web of Science and organised according to collaboration patterns between the three actors. The characteristic functions of the games were computed, the cores plotted, the Shapley values and the nucleoli computed.

Either university or government has more power to create and lead to synergy; government shows solidarity towards university and industry in most of countries; and they are joined in their efforts by industry in two countries. The core exists in all the countries meaning that all the selected innovation systems present synergy; however, the extent is limited and varies over countries.

Innovation includes all research products; however, this study focuses on publications only.

Synergy within a Triple Helix innovation system is studied up to now with information theory indicators. The paper portrays the landscape of West African Triple Helix innovation systems using three main game theory indicators: the core, the Shapley value and the nucleolus and gives a new way to study university, industry and government relationships.

The extent to which microfinance succeeds varies greatly even among countries. The paper aims to look at why microfinance develops in some countries rather than others. It aims to identify institutional factors that can be introduced to enable microfinance to succeed in a country.

A small‐sample comparative approach is used, combined with correlation analysis. The research methodology was dictated by the need to find countries that are culturally similar and have the same regulation in order to be able to study other elements.

The authors find that the success of microfinance is linked to its economic performance, in terms of both levels of per capita income and growth, as well as regulatory and public governance, with the amount of remittances being received in a country and with life expectancy at birth.

Different sources provide different data. So, the findings may not be robust but it is the best available data.

The data shows a high correlation between aid and the development of microfinance and also more so between remittances and the growth of this sector. This has some implications for policies aiming at developing entrepreneurship through microfinance.

Most papers when looking at the success of microfinance across regions have failed to take into account differences in cultures and regulations; thus there is a residual bias. The paper's originality stems from the fact that it explains the success of microfinance while controlling for cultural and regulatory factors, and also goes into public governance indicators. This kind of comparative institutional analysis has not been performed for this region.

Strategic management, sustainable development, business economics, construction management, energy management.

Undergraduate and Master's level business and management programmes with a focus on environmental or strategic management.

Fewer than two percent of Guinea Bissau's rural households had access to electricity from the grid. Efforts by the state monopoly to improve that figure by expanding the grid have had little effect, in part because the rural population was sparse. Central Electronics Limited, a public sector based company in India, was assigned to develop economic solar systems as a safe and eco-friendly substitute for the diesel gensets under IBSA (a trilateral, developmental initiative among India, Brazil, and South Africa) with the help of United Nations Development Program. The case provides an opportunity to examine the strategy of a small and poor nation to meet the needs of modern energy sources needed for improvement in health, education, transportation, and commercial development. The case focuses on Guinea Bissau's use of a trilateral partnership to achieve its rural electrification objectives despite several push backs.

Students will demonstrate ability to analyse, comprehend, and evaluate the essence of solar energy as an alternate for costly grid energy in the initial stage of development. It will also provide students to converse with the specific advantages of solar systems over conventional power generating systems and construct a novel solution that serves the needs of various stakeholders at the bottom of the income pyramid.

Teaching note.

Energy consumption in transportation accounted for over 29% of total final consumption (TFC) of energy and 65% of global oil usage, and it is highly connected to mobility. Mobility is essential for access to day-to-day activities such as education, leisure, healthcare, business activities, and commercial and industrial operations. This study examines the energy consumption for the transport industry, and the level of renewable energy development in some selected Sub-Saharan African (SSA) nations. This study relied on previous publications of government, reports and articles related to the subject matter. Vehicle ownership is fast increasing, particularly in cities. Still, it begins at a relatively low level because the area is home to countries with the lowest ownership rates worldwide. In its current state, the energy sector faces significant challenges such as inadequate and poorly maintained infrastructure, dealing with increasing traffic congestion in cities, large-scale imports of used vehicles with poor emission standards that affect air quality in cities, a lack of safe and formally operated public transportation systems, and inadequate consideration for women and disabled mobility needs. Motorcycle and tricycle are dominating the rural areas, accounting for a substantial amount of this growth. Aviation is the largest non-road user of energy, and this trend is predicted to continue through 2040 as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grows and urbanisation expands. This study revealed the energy consumption for the transport industry, and the level of renewable energy development in some selected SSA. Rail and navigation lag behind current global levels. The usage of biofuel and rail transport was recommended.

Describes a workshop on the universal availability of publications (UAP) in francophone West Africa held at the National Library, Côte d’Ivoire, with participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The meeting was organized by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Abidjan, the (International Federation of Library Associations) IFLA regional office in Dakar and the IFLA UAP programme; and generous funding was provided by Unesco. Aims included raising awareness of the importance of availability, increasing co‐operation and providing an insight into the scope offered by new technology.

This chapter assesses the regional and national approaches to improving food security for rice consumption in West Africa.

Using the Arkansas Global Rice Model and the RICEFLOW frameworks, we examine the consequences of pursuing self-sufficiency in rice. National rice development strategies have been designed to double the 2008 rice production levels by 2018. The Coalition for African Rice Development and the Africa Rice Center have assisted 23 nations in developing national strategies. We evaluate the strategies of 15 nations for rice land expansion and intensification to increase yields for regional self-sufficiency.

West Africa accounts for nearly 25% of global rice imports. The elimination of rice imports reduces global rice prices. Results show that achieving self-sufficiency in West Africa is inefficient at the global level. However, if self-sufficiency makes domestic rice uncompetitive with imported rice, then West African consumers will demand a significant price discount for domestic rice, thus reducing benefits to producers and consumers.

Because of the partial equilibrium nature of this study, the consequences for diversification of West African diets are not explored. Although beyond the scope of this chapter, a coordinated policy sequencing approach toward enhancing productivity and quality of rice production – as well as increasing investment in infrastructure, institutions, and emergency food reserves – should be studied more thoroughly to achieve food and nutritional security for West Africa.