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In this study, the impact of access to electricity on poverty reduction for Botswana is examined using the annual data from 1990 to 2021. The study was motivated by the need to establish if access to electricity could be a panacea on poverty reduction in Botswana. Given that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals deadline is fast approaching, and Botswana being one of the signatories, is expected to end poverty in all its forms – Goal 1. Establishing the role that electrification plays in poverty alleviation, helps in refocusing Botswana’s poverty alleviation strategies on factors that have high impact on poverty. The main objective of this study, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between poverty alleviation and access to electricity in Botswana.

The study uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to investigate the nature of the relations. Two poverty proxies were used in this study namely, household consumption expenditure and life expectancy.

The study found access to electricity to reduce poverty in the long run and in the short run, regardless of the poverty measure used. Thus, access to electricity plays an important role in poverty alleviation and Botswana is recommended to continue with the rural and urban electrification initiatives.

The study explores the impact of access to electricity on poverty reduction in Botswana, a departure from the current studies that examined the same relationship using energy consumption in general. This is on the back of increasing dependence of economic activities on electricity as a major source of energy.

This study aims to investigate the intricate relationships between a community energy system, water resources and biodiversity conservation, with a specific focus on augmenting community energy resilience in Bondo. The primary objective is to gain an in-depth understanding of how community members perceive and experience the challenges related to balancing the often-conflicting demands of energy, water and biodiversity conservation within this context.

The research uses a qualitative approach to unravel the multifaceted dynamics of community energy systems, water resources and biodiversity conservation in Bondo. Data were collected through focus groups and direct observations, enabling a nuanced exploration of community perspectives and lived experiences. The subsequent analysis of this qualitative data follows established thematic analysis procedures.

The study's findings shed light on the formidable barriers that impede rural communities in Malawi from accessing electricity effectively. Even in communities fortunate enough to have electricity connections, the lack of knowledge regarding productive electricity use results in community energy systems operating at significantly reduced load factors. Furthermore, the intricate challenge of managing a biodiversity hotspot persists, exacerbated by the densely populated peripheral communities' continued reliance on forest, land and water resources. These activities, in turn, contribute to ecosystem degradation.

In a context where government-led management of forest reserves and game reserves has not yielded the expected results due to a multitude of factors, there arises a compelling need for innovative approaches. One such innovation involves fostering partnerships between the government and experienced trusts as lead organisations, providing a fresh perspective on addressing the complex interplay between community energy systems, water resources and biodiversity conservation. This novel approach opens doors to explore alternative pathways for achieving the delicate balance between human energy needs and the preservation of vital ecosystems.

The goal of this research is to analyse the obstacles to the implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in India and to gain an understanding of the contextual inter-relationships that exist amongst those obstacles.

Potential barriers and their interrelationships in their respective contexts have been uncovered. Using MICMAC analysis, the categorization of these barriers was done based on their degree of reliance and driving power (DP). Furthermore, an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) framework for the barriers to mHealth activities in India has been proposed.

The study explores a total of 15 factors that reduce the efficiency of mHealth adoption in India. The findings of the Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) investigation show that the economic situation of the government, concerns regarding the safety of intellectual technologies and privacy issues are the primary obstacles because of the significant driving power they have in mHealth applications.

Promoters of mHealth practices may be able to make better plans if they understand the social barriers and how they affect each other; this leads to easier adoption of these practices. The findings of this study might be helpful for governments of developing nations to produce standards relating to the deployment of mHealth; this will increase the efficiency with which it is adopted.

At this time, there is no comprehensive analysis of the factors that influence the adoption of mobile health care with social cognitive theory in developing nations like India. In addition, there is a lack of research in investigating how each of these elements affects the success of mHealth activities and how the others interact with them. Because developed nations learnt the value of mHealth practices during the recent pandemic, this study, by investigating the obstacles to the adoption of mHealth and their inter-relationships, makes an important addition to both theory and practice.

This study aims to investigate the impact of the 2013 privatization of Nigeria’s energy sector on the technical performance of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and its workforce.

This study used a questionnaire-based approach, and 196 participants were randomly selected. Analytical tools included standard deviation, Spearman rank correlation and regression analysis.

Before privatization, the energy sector, managed by the power holding company of Nigeria, suffered from inefficiencies in fault detection, response and billing. However, privatization improved resource utilization, replaced outdated transformers and increased operational efficiency. However, in spite of these improvements, BEDC faces challenges, including unstable voltage generation and inadequate staff welfare. This study also highlighted a lack of experience among the trained workforce in emerging electricity technologies such as the smart grid.

This study’s focus on BEDC may limit its generalizability to other energy companies. It does not delve into energy sector privatization’s broader economic and policy implications.

The positive outcomes of privatization, such as improved resource utilization and infrastructure investment, emphasize the potential benefits of private ownership and management. However, voltage generation stability and staff welfare challenges call for targeted interventions. Recommendations include investing in voltage generation enhancement, smart grid infrastructure and implementing measures to enhance employee well-being through benefit plans.

Energy sector enhancements hold positive social implications, uplifting living standards and bolstering electricity access for households and businesses.

This study contributes unique insights into privatization’s effects on BEDC, offering perspectives on preprivatization challenges and advancements. Practical recommendations aid BEDC and policymakers in boosting electricity distribution firms’ performance within the privatization context.

In this paper, the authors examine the strategies used to reduce labour costs in three public hospitals in South Africa, which were effective and why. In the democratic era, after the revelations of large-scale corruption, the authors ask whether their case studies provide lessons for how public service institutions might re-make themselves, under circumstances of austerity.

A comparative qualitative case study approach, collecting data using a combination of interviews with managers, focus group discussions and interviews with shop stewards and staff was used.

Management in two hospitals relied on their financial power, divisions between unions and employees' loyalty. They lacked the insight to manage different actors, and their efforts to outsource services and draw on the Extended Public Works Program failed. They failed to support staff when working beyond their scope of practice, reducing employees' willingness to take on extra responsibilities. In the remaining hospital, while previous management had been removed due to protests by the unions, the new CEO provided stability and union–management relations were collaborative. Her legitimate power enabled unions and management to agree on appropriate cost cutting strategies.

Finding an appropriate balance between the new reality of reduced financial resources and the needs of staff and patients, requires competent unions and management, transparency and trust to develop legitimate power; managing in an authoritarian manner, without legitimate power, reduces organisational capacity. Ensuring a fair and orderly process to replace ineffective management is key, while South Africa grows cohorts of competent managers and builds managerial experience.

Despite the global resolves to curtail fossil fuel consumption (FFC) in favour of clean energies, several countries continue to rely on carbon-intensive sources in meeting their energy demands. Financial constraints and limited knowledge with regards to green energy sources constitute major setbacks to the energy transition process. This study therefore aims to examine the effects of financial development and human capital on energy consumption.

The empirical analysis is based on the system generalised method of moments (SGMM) for a panel of 134 countries from 1996 to 2019. The SGMM estimates conducted on the basis of three measures of energy consumption, notably fossil fuel, renewable energy as well as total energy consumption (TEC), provide divergent results.

While financial development significantly reduces FFC, its effect is positive though non-significant with regards to renewable energy consumption. Conversely, financial development has a positive and significant effect on TEC. Moreover, the results reveal that human capital development has an enhancing though non-significant effect on the energy transition process. In addition, the results reveal that resource rents have an enhancing effect on the energy transition process. However, when natural resources rents are disaggregated into various components (oil, coal, mineral, natural gas and forest rents), the effects on energy transition are divergent. Although our findings are consistent when the global panel is split into developed and developing economies, the results are divergent across geographical regions. Contingent on these findings, actionable policy implications are discussed.

The study complements extant literature by assessing nexuses between financial development, human capital and energy transition from a global perspective.