Academic literature on the topic 'Standard Bank in South West Africa'

The primary objective of this study was to determine the consumer debt level of public servants in the Department of Health in the North West Province, South Africa. The results of the study indicate that most public servants rely almost entirely on the public service remuneration to survive and for debt repayment. The results of the survey also indicate that 96% of public servants in the Department of Health in the North West Province are over-indebted. The respondents also perceived their income to be insufficient and thus resort to credit to maintain their required standard of living. The results also indicate that 63% of the respondents have a debt-income ratio above 20%. The reason for falling into debt is mostly due to lack of funds and insufficient income. The most common types of consumer debt found among the respondents included store cards (26%), followed by personal debt from banks (18%), while vehicle loan debt (37%) consumed the highest rand value of total debt among respondents. Personal loans from banks (21%) comprised the second highest debt value incurred by the respondents. It could be argued therefore that most public servants are over-indebted and could be trapped in a debt cycle if no additional income is provided or if they do not embark on some kind of personal financial management education

We study the connection of innovation in 126 countries by different well-being indicators and whether there are differences among geographical regions with respect to innovation index score. We approach and define innovation based on Global Innovation Index (GII). The following well-being indicators were emphasized in the research: GDP per capita measured at purchasing power parity, unemployment rate, life expectancy, crude mortality rate, human development index (HDI). Innovation index score was downloaded from the joint publication of 2018 of Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO, HDI from the website of the UN while we obtained other well-being indicators from the database of the World Bank. Non-parametric hypothesis testing, post-hoc tests and linear regression were used in the study.We concluded that there are differences among regions/continents based on GII. It is scarcely surprising that North America is the best performer followed by Europe (with significant differences among countries). Central and South Asia scored the next places with high standard deviation. The following regions with significant backwardness include North Africa, West Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean Area, Central and South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Regions lagging behind have lower standard deviation, that is, they are more homogeneous therefore there are no significant differences among countries in the particular region.In the regression modelling of the Global Innovation Index, it was concluded that GDP per capita, life expectancy and human development index are significant explanatory indicators. In the multivariable regression analysis, HDI remained the only explanatory variable in the final model. It is due to the fact that there was significant multicollinearity among the explanatory variables and the HDI aggregates several non-economic indicators like GII.
 JEL Classification: B41, I31, O31, Q55

Abstract. This study characterizes a massive African dust intrusion into the Caribbean Basin and southern US in June 2020, which is nicknamed the “Godzilla” dust plume, using a comprehensive set of satellite and ground-based observations (including MODIS, CALIOP, SEVIRI, AERONET, and EPA Air Quality network) and the NASA GEOS global aerosol transport model. The MODIS data record registered this massive dust intrusion event as the most intense episode over the past 2 decades. During this event, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) observed by AERONET and MODIS peaked at 3.5 off the coast of West Africa and 1.8 in the Caribbean Basin. CALIOP observations show that the top of the dust plume reached altitudes of 6–8 km in West Africa and descended to about 4 km altitude over the Caribbean Basin and 2 km over the US Gulf of Mexico coast. The dust intrusion event degraded the air quality in Puerto Rico to a hazardous level, with maximum daily PM10 concentration of 453 µg m−3 recorded on 23 June. The dust intrusion into the US raised the PM2.5 concentration on 27 June to a level exceeding the EPA air quality standard in about 40 % of the stations in the southern US. Satellite observations reveal that dust emissions from convection-generated haboobs and other sources in West Africa were large albeit not extreme on a daily basis. However, the anomalous strength and northern shift of the North Atlantic Subtropical High (NASH) together with the Azores low formed a closed circulation pattern that allowed for accumulation of the dust near the African coast for about 4 d. When the NASH was weakened and wandered back to the south, the dust outflow region was dominated by a strong African easterly jet that rapidly transported the accumulated dust from the coastal region toward the Caribbean Basin, resulting in the record-breaking African dust intrusion. In comparison to satellite observations, the GEOS model reproduced the MODIS observed tracks of the meandering dust plume well as it was carried by the wind systems. However, the model substantially underestimated dust emissions from haboobs and did not lift up enough dust to the middle troposphere for ensuing long-range transport. Consequently, the model largely missed the satellite-observed elevated dust plume along the cross-ocean track and underestimated the dust intrusion into the Caribbean Basin by a factor of more than 4. Modeling improvements need to focus on developing more realistic representations of moist convection, haboobs, and the vertical transport of dust.

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Mycoplasma synoviae in broiler and layer chickens infected with respiratory signs. A total of 80 samples were collected randomly from layer and broiler chickens with respiratory signs in Baghdad from the period between January to May 2017 from the trachea, Lung, Air sac, oviduct, tracheal swabs, conjunctiva swabs, choanal swabs, and nasal swabs and cultured in PPLO medium with supplements, then positive culture subjected to DNA extracted and Polymerase Chain Reaction assay (PCR) to detect Mycoplasma as a genus and Mycoplasma spp by using specific primers targeting16S rRNA gene. The results of culture revealed that the total rate of Mycoplasma isolates was19/80(23.75%). DNA was extracted from 19 positive isolates, all nineteen isolates were positive for Mycoplasma genus by conventional PCR assay, and a product of 270 bp was generated by amplification of the 16SrRNA gene, while a 210 bp region of 16S rRNA gene was amplified for the Mycoplasma synoviae in 19 isolates. The products of amplification of Mycoplasma synoviae16SrRNA gene was sent to MACROGEM (Korea) for sequencing, then submitted in the Gene bank database and have accession number:ID: MG846121.1. Sequencing alignment showed that local MS isolates had highly identical with standard references at gene bank, analysis the phylogenetic tree revealed the presence of 100% identity of the Iraqi isolate to the USA: West Virginia, United Kingdom, Australia, and Brazil, also had 99% identity to South Africa, China, Sweden, USA, and VitNamHatey. This result was concluded that circulation of the Mycoplasma synoviae among birds of the flock and caused respiratory signs in chickens.

AbstractThe history of establishment of the Silurian System (and hence of the Silurian Period) and its principal divisions has been reviewed by Cocks et al. (1971) and Holland (1984, 1989a). The System itself, three of the four Series into which it is divided, and the Stages within these three, are all based upon localities in Britain. The names of all the divisions shown in Fig. I have been ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences. The two major divisions, Lower Silurian and Upper Silurian, remain informal, but they are useful when degree of precision in correlation does not allow reference at the level of Series (Holland 1989a). The boundary stratotypes are all described in Holland & Bassett (1989). Graptolite Biozones have proved especially useful for international correlation in the Silurian and the sequence of Biozones used in Britain is shown in Fig. 1. Correlation of the Biozones wth the global Standard Series and Stages is shown approximately, but is not known with exactitude in all cases.Geodetically the position of the British Isles in the Silurian remained astride the 25°S latitude, a position it had reached in the later Ordovician (Briden et al. 1973); movementwas confined to rotation. During this time the south magnetic pole wandered, in terms of present geography, from near to southwest Africa, to the Horn of Africa in early Silurian times, then back along the equator to west Africa/Brazil at the end of the Silurian.The Llandovery Epoch was chracterized by marine transgressions. Thus in

AbstractNicholas Bhekinkosi Bhengu was founder and leader of the Back to God Crusade in South Africa. This movement started in the mid-1950s and became affiliated with the Assemblies of God in South Africa. But Bhengu's influence went far beyond the confines of the movement he started. His revivals impacted South African society in a profound way and he became internationally recognized as a powerful force for change in South Africa. Controversially, however, he did not enter into the political arena as such, even though he was at one stage of his life a member of the Communist Party of South Africa and even later on in his career continued to affirm the policies of this party. Though apparently apolitical his message had profound political consequences. For example he did much to promote the self-confidence and dignity of his people (despite the dehumanising influences of apartheid which he openly denounced), he insisted on reconciliation between the so-called 'red' people and the so-called 'school' people amongst South African black Africans, and he politely but veryfirmly rejected the standards imposed by white society on blacks. There were also very specific reasons — both theological, philosophical, and pragmatic — why he chose not to become a political activist. His is therefore a very significant case study of the socio-political influences of a ministry that was not overtly political.

Banks play an important role in a country’s economy through investments, deposits and withdrawals. Many banking products are sold to clients to meet their financial needs and obligations. Their performances are therefore very critical in supporting socio economic development. Financial institutions still facing challenges linked to the lack of financial previsions through the use of financial tool that allows preventing financial distress. Banks are not always well-managed because managers lack capacity and the sound knowledge in dealing effectively with the analysis of risk and return and decision-making. The current study highlights and gives orientations on key performance indicators that bank can use to manage their financial conditions in advance in a sustainable manner. The major objective of this research is to critically assess the South African banks performance using Financial Ratio Analysis (FRA)and descriptive statistics through comparative financial statement analysis form 2010 to 2013 between“ the big four” South African banks. In using correlational analysis, the study aim to establish the link between exogenous and endogenous variables of bank performance. The results showed that FirstRand bank was the best achiever with a higher level of performance following by Standard bank, then Absa and Nedbank. Furthermore, it appears that there is a strong relationship between bank performance and bank size because the volume of assets represents the bigger source of bank incomes. This study opens door to further study including both large and small banks and a comparative analysis between two research methods. The paper is divided into five major sections.

Banks play an important role in a country’s economy through investments, deposits and withdrawals. Many banking products are sold to clients to meet their financial needs and obligations. Their performances are therefore very critical in supporting socio economic development. Financial institutions still facing challenges linked to the lack of financial previsions through the use of financial tool that allows preventing financial distress. Banks are not always well-managed because managers lack capacity and the sound knowledge in dealing effectively with the analysis of risk and return and decision-making. The current study highlights and gives orientations on key performance indicators that bank can use to manage their financial conditions in advance in a sustainable manner. The major objective of this research is to critically assess the South African banks performance using Financial Ratio Analysis (FRA)and descriptive statistics through comparative financial statement analysis form 2010 to 2013 between“ the big four” South African banks. In using correlational analysis, the study aim to establish the link between exogenous and endogenous variables of bank performance. The results showed that FirstRand bank was the best achiever with a higher level of performance following by Standard bank, then Absa and Nedbank. Furthermore, it appears that there is a strong relationship between bank performance and bank size because the volume of assets represents the bigger source of bank incomes. This study opens door to further study including both large and small banks and a comparative analysis between two research methods. The paper is divided into five major sections.

South Africa’s largest bank has recently completed a transformation from traditional systems development to the scaled agile framework. The individual leading the transformation is now considering how to keep the momentum going and possible new directions. Josef Langerman, Head of IT Transformation for Standard Bank, reflected on the extraordinary transformation that his organization’s IT group had recently experienced. Over the past three years, Standard Bank’s IT group had changed from the relatively well accepted systems development lifecycle/waterfall model to a revolutionary large scale agile approach. The results had been gratifying. But it left a question unanswered. Now that things were starting to stabilize, what should be the next steps? The 154-year-old Standard Bank was the largest banking group in Africa, and the 5th largest company headquartered in South Africa. The bank offered a range of corporate, business and personal banking as well as financial services. Its 49,000 employees served over 15 million customers, in 20 countries across the continent of Africa, as well as other countries scattered around the globe. Standard Bank’s IT group, located within the company’s Johannesburg headquarters, had over 6000 employees. The group managed the bank’s technology infrastructure–including a network of nearly 10,000 ATMs, its applications development, testing, deployment, maintenance and operations. By 2014, the bank recognized that its IT performance was lagging industry benchmarks in productivity, turnaround time and employee satisfaction. Employing a “do it in-house” philosophy, it embarked on a major transformation. Abandoning traditional highly structured approaches to project management and development, it had adopted an agile philosophy that was most commonly seen in much smaller organizations and technology startups. The results had been impressive–productivity, cycle time and organizational health indicators had all risen dramatically. The group had also achieved substantial reductions in its budget. Even skeptics within the organization could not fail to be impressed. Now, however, Langerman wondered about the future. He had been cautioned by his group’s HR Culture Transformation Guide that rapid improvement could easily be followed by disillusionment. What could be done to keep the momentum going forward? Should the bank double down on the types of changes to culture, practice and training that had led to its success, or was it time to let things settle? And who should be guiding the change? Should the implementation continue entirely in-house, or should outside consultants–that were working in other areas of the bank–play a significant role? In the near future, he would need to present his recommendations to the group’s CIO.

This thesis summarises research on the implementation of land restitution policy in the old West Bank Location, in East London. Apartheid legislation dispossessed many Black people of their land. After 1994, the new democratic government implemented a land reform programme, land policy was reviewed, and people were compensated for the loss of land either financially or through restoration of their land. The original cut-off date for claims was 1998, but the window for claims was reopened in July 2014 because of difficulties in implementation. The period for the lodging of claims was extended to end June 2019 to allow people who had not yet been able to do so to participate in the process. In case of the old West Bank Location claims, compensation was in the form of land restoration, including houses which would be built for the claimants. This study documents the successes and challenges encountered in the implementation of land policy in the old West Bank Location. Triangulation of methods was used: data were collected from documents, interviews with claimants, interviews with government officials, and observation of meetings. Recommendations with regard to land policy are made on the basis of the research findings.

According to the Financial Sector (FS) Charter, in August 2002, at the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit, "the financial sector committed itself to the development of a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) charter. It made this commitment, noting that: "Despite significant progress since the establishment of a democratic government in 1994, South African society remains characterised by racially based income and social services inequalities. This is not only unjust, but inhibits the country's ability to achieve its full economic potential. BEE is a mechanism aimed at addressing inequalities and mobilising the energies of all South Africans. It will contribute towards sustained economic growth, development and social transformation in South Africa. Inequalities also manifest themselves in the country's financial sector. A positive and proactive response from the sector through the implementation of BEE will further unlock the sector's potential, promote its global competitiveness, and enhance its world class status". Parties of the Financial Sector Charter agreed on the seven pillars below: 1) Human resource management - provide resources to develop skills of black people with the aim of increasing black participation in all levels of management in the sector. 2) Procurement policies - implement a targeted procurement strategy to enhance BEE. 3) Enterprise development - improve the level of support provided to BEE companies in all sectors of the economy. This would be achieved through skills transfer, administration and technical support. 4) Access to financial services - provide affordable financial services to the previously disadvantaged groups and making sure financial services are accessible to these groups. 5) Empowerment financing - work closely with government and government financial institutions to increase resources for empowerment financing. 6) Ownership in the financial sector - 25% of shares in each party of the FS Charter should be owned by black people by 2010. 7) Corporate social investrnent (CSI) - Each financial institution will have to spend 0.5% of their after-tax profit on corporate social investment projects. The projects should be targeted at black groups with a strong focus on transformation. The research evaluates the applicability of Lewin's Force Field Analysis (a change management model) in the implementation of the Financial Sector Charter at Standard Bank of South Africa. It attempts to achieve this by looking at how the Financial Sector Charter is being implemented at Standard Bank. The research looks at three main areas: 1) The "context" of the research problem, by seeking to understand Standard Bank's understanding of the FS Charter, the importance of implementing the FS Charter by the bank, the progress made thus far in the FS Charter implementation and comparison to the BEE scorecards of the other three main bank. 2) The "process", i.e. how the FS Charter is implemented in the bank, the driving and restraining forces of successful implementation of the FS Charter and the lessons learnt. 3) The "outcome" , i.e. benefits of implementing the FS Charter and what could be done to ensure that change management processes are successfully implemented. Personal interviews were used to discover other valuable information which was not available on the bank's published documents, and other related sources such as the Financial Sector Charter document. The sample size for the study was ten Standard Bank employees from different areas of the bank who are either senior managers or directors, in the bank. Internal publications available on the Standard Bank intranet such as the bank's employment equity plans, and the bank's sustainability reports from 2004 to 2011 (Standard Bank, 2004-2011) were analysed for the purpose of the study. The researcher also analysed public documents such as the bank's annual financial reports, bank's equity reports and internal publications on related topics of the research question. Lewin's Forces Field Analysis (FFA) points out that in any environment where change is required; there are both driving and restraining forces that influence the implementation of a change programme. The FFA is a valuable change management tool at trying to transform the behaviour of an individual, and this will lead to transformation of groups and, ultimately the organisation. It also helps to establish the balance between the driving and restraining forces of the change programme. Lewin's (1951) theory put forward the idea that change occurs in three stages: the first stage of change is unfreezing; the second stage is moving and lastly, the third stage is refreezing. In the unfreezing stage, the bank's change management initiatives would need to be directed at giving the individuals a desire and motivation to be ready and open about a planned change initiative. This could be achieved by clearly communicating why change is important, benefits of change and the compelling reasons for change. In moving, the bank would need to give support and confidence to the people affected by change in order to start accepting and buying-in to new perspectives, which enable them to realise that change will improve the current situation. In the refreezing stage, the bank would need to ensure that new patterns of behaviour are reinforced. This will ensure that the changes are applied in everyday business, and this helps create a sense of stability, where those affected by change feel comfortable and confident with the new approach of doing things. The research concludes that managers should recognise the sensitivity around transformation, and should always try to ensure that change management initiatives directed at transformation are unifying, fair and transparent. This should be done to avoid a situation where an employee (or prospective employees) and other stakeholders feel under-appreciated or overlooked because of their gender or race. This demands a carefully crafted and implemented change management programme, whose results will not only unify the bank's employees, but also create a competitive edge for the bank. Lewin's Force Field Analysis (FFA) model is a change management tool that could be used to produce such results.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship that exists between emotional stability, stress and work-family conflict among Standard Bank female employees. For this purpose data was collected from the female employees of Standard Banks in Alice, Fort Beaufort, King Williams and East London Town’s in the Eastern Cape. A sample of 72 female bank employees was drawn from the population. Neuroticism is the opposite of emotional stability and it was mostly often used in place of emotional stability in the study. Results of the study indicated that all study variables are significantly positively correlated with one another. The findings of this study is helpful in the banking industry in order to design human resources policies which will reduce the work-family conflict and decrease stress for female bank employees and for future research in respective topics. The implications of this study are discussed along with recommendations for future research and professional managerial practice.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.<br>The core business of schools is to develop, implement and sustain an effective and efficient curriculum delivery process in order to provide quality education to all learners. External and internal changes though constantly affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the curriculum delivery process and it is required of schools to adapt and meet the demands that are required by these external as well as internal changes. Successful adaptation in an ever-changing environment also depends on how successful a school transforms itself into a learning organisation, develops conducive learning circumstances for learners and encourages constant learning by staff members as well. Research in this respect indicates that principals play a very important role in transforming schools into learning organisations. Schools as learning organisations are also recognised as complex organisations, which consist of multiple relationships or linkages between educators, learners, parents, fellow colleagues, provincial and national education departments, government, service providers, as well as other stakeholders. These relationships are never stable, nor predictable and it requires of principals to monitor, understand and interpret changing circumstances and respond appropriately. Appropriate responses must reflect our country’s constitutional values, which promote collaboration and consultation with all stakeholders. It also requires of school principals to apply a leadership approach, which not only facilitates participation by all stakeholders, but which focuses on empowerment as well. Furthermore, the role of principals in leading and managing schools has changed tremendously and there is a great need to empower principals and school management teams with facilitatory-and-empowering leadership competencies. Such competencies will enable them to understand, interpret and manage change in collaboration with other role-players much more effectively. It will also enhance their ability to effectively lead and efficiently manage the curriculum delivery process and all other supportive systems, such as the academic planning, assessment, finance, procurement, maintenance and human resources systems. Considering the former, this study focuses on the development of a governance model for schools, which considers schools as complex organisations continuously affected by change in the external as well as internal environment. Hence, the governance model provides principals and senior staff members with the understanding how to manage these changes in terms of principles which are derived from complexity theory. Complexity theory informs the practice of school leadership coherently and provides principals with the insight to look at the school educational system as a whole in order to advance organisational effectiveness continuously. According to complexity theory, no system is stagnant; it constantly changes, adapts, learns and evolves. The governance model therefore outlines various facilitatory-and-empowering leadership approaches which are required to cope in an environment which are continuously affected by change. It also illustrates the supporting role of effective communication and sound labour relations in this respect and outlines various management roles, which are required of the principal to transform schools into learning organisations. The governance model also focuses in particular on three essential governance processes, which are applicable to the translation of monetary allocations into appropriate nonpersonnel resources. These governance processes are budgeting, cost management and information technology. The last part of the model focuses on the various control systems for quality assurance purposes, such as whole school evaluation, systemic evaluation, performance appraisal and risk management. In conclusion, West Bank secondary school was used as a case study to experiment with and study the impact of appropriate leadership approaches, management roles, governance processes and controls. The integration of existing research and practice knowledge at this institution aims to extend the scope of application of the governance model to all schools in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

The Grahamstown Festival has become a huge and complex annual celebration of the arts, transforming the small Eastern Cape city for ten days every year. However this event had very modest beginnings, as did music and festivals in the city of Grahamstown. From its early days Grahamstown showed strong signs of becoming an important cultural centre, presenting numerous musical concerts from 1812, the festival tradition in the city beginning in 1887. The modern arts festival, initiated in 1971, had a chequered history during the early and mid 1970's, weathering economic recession, petrol restrictions and a repressive and restrictive political atmosphere. However by 1979 the event had become established and popular enough to ensure continued success during the 1980's. The period 1980-89 was one of great growth and development for the festival regarding attendance, and the number and nature of productions presented. Music had always been an integral part of the festival, and for the first time its role in this artistic celebration is being examined. The impact of such an event is varied and far-reaching, and thus difficult to assess, but the thesis ends with an attempt to gauge the Festival's impact.

The following is a case study report on the Cape Town business unit of Standard Bank Properties. The research project falls within the ambit of services marketing which introduces several unique management challenges for service businesses that sell services as a core offering. The principal aim of the case study is to gain an understanding of why customers bank at the business unit and to discover what aspects are critical to customer satisfaction. A further goal of the research is to examine how the business unit could improve customer satisfaction and to highlight any impediments to further improving customer satisfaction at the business unit. It is generally regarded that quality customer service is essential to building customer relationships and hence the research project emphasis on services marketing and customer satisfaction within a financial services context. The paper commences with an overview of the South African Banking Sector and its unique challenges such as the Financial Service Charter and newly introduced legislation such as Financial Intelligence Centre Act. The case study will specifically investigate the property finance industry and a detailed analysis of the business unit's operations and process flow will also be undertaken. The reason for this background information is to assist the reader to understand how the business unit operates. The research project will investigate four unique differences between goods marketing and services marketing whereafter three theoretical propositions are introduced, namely the dyadic interaction and service encounter, the Service Profit Chain and finally Relationship Marketing. Evidence in the form of a narrative will be led from insights obtained from interviews conducted with customers and staff at the business unit against these propositions with support (or otherwise) from independent surveys and documents from the business unit. The result of this analysis is the identification of several areas of concern specifically: New employees and the service encounter, Problems with FICA, Lack of a customer complaint handling system, Empowerment issues, Turnaround times, Reliance on key staff These insights together with the evidence from the literature review will be analysed and several recommendations made to improve customer service and ultimately customer satisfaction at the business unit. Several recommendations for further research are offered as well as the identification of limitations including but not limited to the specificity of the case study report.

Over the course of the last three decades, it has become popular practice to evaluate tourism events like cultural festivals in financial terms, through the use of economic impact studies. This can be attributed at least in part to the notable growth in the number of festivals being held globally and, as such, a higher level of competition between festivals for the limited funding which is available. Economic impact studies, and the resultant findings, have thus become powerful tools for the lobbying of sponsorship, and it has become increasingly important that the impact calculations be as accurate as possible, so as to effectively allocate both government and private resources to projects which will be of the greatest benefit to the host region. The allocation of funding is especially vital in an area like the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which is faced with many financial difficulties. The allocation of public funds to an event like the National Arts Festival, which is hosted in a relatively wealthy part of the province, might be weighed against initiatives which directly benefit the poorer parts of the region. Although it is acknowledged that the benefits which are felt by the host community of a cultural event go beyond that of the financial, it is often on this basis that festivals are most easily compared. The primary goal of the thesis was to analyse the various forms of methodological bias which can exist in the economic impact analyses (EIA) associated with cultural events. Theoretical considerations were discussed, specifically regarding economic impact as a method of measuring value. Various forms of bias (including data collection, the calculation of visitor numbers, multipliers, defining the area of interest, inclusion of visitor spending, and accounting for benefits only, not costs) are put into a real-life context, through the investigation of economic impact studies conducted on three selected South African festivals (the Volksblad, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstfees, and the National Arts Festival), and one international festival (the Edinburgh Festival). An in-depth comparison of two separate studies conducted at the National Arts Festival (NAF) in 2004 (by Antrobus and Snowball) and 2005 (by Saayman et al.) was made, focussing on the manner in which the economic impact was calculated. Having considered the common forms of bias, and assessing several possible reasons for the difference of approximately twenty million Rand in the advertised economic impacts, it was concluded that, most likely, the miscalculation of visitor numbers was the cause. This was confirmed when the Antrobus and Saayman methods were applied to the 2006 NAF data, and noting that the economic impact figures arrived at were strikingly similar. As such, it is advisable that extreme caution be taken when calculating visitor numbers, as they can significantly influence the outcome of an economic impact study. It is recommended that each study should also have transparent checks in place, regarding the key calculation figures, to ensure that less scrupulous researchers are not as easily able to succumb to the pressure event sponsors might impose to produce inflated impact values.

Recently, bankers have come to realise that banking operations, especially corporate lending, affect and are affected by the natural environment and that consequently, the banks might have an important role to play in helping to raise environmental standards. Although the environment presents significant risks to banks, in particular environmental credit risk, it also perhaps presents profitable opportunities. Stricter environmental regulations have forced companies to invest in environmentally friendly technologies and pollution control measures and in tum generated lending opportunities for bankers. This research examines the corporate practices of three of the four dominant banks in South Africa with respect to the environment, focusing on issues of climate change and environmental risk management by way of reporting and disclosure to all stakeholders. The emphasis on environmental reporting by South African banks has been reinforced by the latest release of the King III Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa. Global governance requires that the triple-bottom line should be applied in all corporate undertakings due to globalisation and trade liberalisation; however, the banking sector has responded poorly to the clarion call. The false view that the banks have no significant relationship with environmental degradation is being disproved. Environmental management is a huge and massive reconstruction of what has gone wrong with nature by human influence. The South African banks have had to face with the challenging tasks of reporting on the direct and mostly the indirect impacts of their environmental activities. Based on the three sampled banks which incidentally had greater percentages of the market capitalizations, the banks have fairly performed in environmental reporting. For example, Standard Bank (SA) Ltd has just signed the Equator Principles in 2007 implying corporate lending was done in 2007 without any respect to environmental impact assessments by corporate borrowers. Consequently, environmental reporting was not done to facilitate informed decision-making by stakeholders mostly shareholders and the communities where borrowers tun businesses. The objective of this research study is to investigate the extent and quantity of/voluntary environmental disclosures in the annual and sustainability reports of the banks listed on Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The periods examined were those subsequent to the release of the Exposure Draft Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) issued in 1999. Using content analysis to focus on the environmental aspects, the research study compared three annual reports and three sustainability reports of 2007 year for the three sampled banks in order to evaluate reporting practices in the period surrounding this intervention. The results suggest a trend to triple bottom-line reporting and the extent and quantity of environmental information, albeit in specific categories.

The arts in many countries, but particularly in developing ones, are coming under increasing financial pressure and finding it difficult to justify the increases in government funding needed to maintain and grow the cultural sector. The trend in cultural economics, as well as in other areas, appears to be towards including qualitative valuations, as well as the more traditional quantitative ones. This thesis argues that the value of cultural events should include long term historical qualitative analysis, financial or economic impact and a valuation of the positive externalities provided by cultural events and that any one of these should only be regarded as a partial analysis. Four methods of valuing the arts using the South African National Arts Festival (NAF) as an example are demonstrated. Firstly, a qualitative historical analysis of the role of the NAF in South Africa’s transformation process from Apartheid to the democratic New South Africa is examined, using theories of cultural capital as a theoretical basis. It is argued that the value of cultural events needs to take into account long-term influences especially in countries undergoing political and social transformation. The second valuation method applied is the traditional economic impact study. Four economic impact studies conducted on the NAF are discussed and methodologies compared. It is concluded that, despite the skepticism of many cultural economists, the method can provide a useful partial valuation and may also be used for effective lobbying for government support of the arts. Chapter four discusses willingness to pay studies conducted at the NAF in 2000 and 2003 (as well as a pilot study conducted at the Klein Karoo Nationale Kunstefees). It is found that lower income and education groups do benefit from the positive externalities provided by the Festival and that this is reflected in their willingness to pay to support it. It is also argued that such contingent valuation studies can provide a reasonably reliable valuation of Festival externalities, but that they may be partly capturing current or future expected financial gains as well. Finally, the relatively new choice experiment methodology (also called conjoint analysis) is demonstrated on visitors to the NAF. The great advantage of this method in valuing cultural events is that it provides part-worths of various Festival attributes for different demographic groups. This enables organizes to structure the programme in such a way as to attract previously excluded groups and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each part of the Festival.

The author would like to thank Adam Harris, partner at Bowman Gilfillan, Juanitta Calitz, associate professor at the University of Johannesburg, and Riza Moosa, director at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa, for valuable feedback on a draft of this chapter. The author also benefitted from discussions with Stephen Gamble, chairman of the Loan Markets Association’s Africa Group, and Alex Otto, head of Structured Products and Principle Investments at Standard Bank Group. The material contained herein is intended as a general guide only and is not intended to be a memorandum of law study, nor to provide legal advice, and should not be treated as a substitute for legal advice concerning particular situations. Legal advice should always be sought before taking any action based on the information provided. The publishers, editors, and author bear no responsibility for any errors or omissions contained therein.

For much of the past two hundred years, a basic assumption has been that hillforts had a primarily defensive function. That they served also as settlements or for community gatherings, perhaps even for ritual or ceremonial activities such as seasonal festivals or inaugurations of kings, has been variously inferred, but it was not until relatively recently that the purpose of community defence within the framework of a hierarchical society was so fundamentally challenged. The reasons, however, were often based upon individual site circumstances, from which generalization hardly seems justified. At the Chesters, Drem in East Lothian (Figure 5.2a), for example, it was argued (Bowden and McOmish 1987) that the hillfort's defensive capability was compromised by being overlooked from the south by higher ground, from which missiles might have been projected into the enclosure. Tactically this seems odd, since the fort's multiple lines of enclosure, especially at its northwest- and east-facing entrances, makes it on plan one of the more complex multivallate hillforts in Britain. Whether these had realistic defensive capability or were intended primarily for display and status remains open to debate. Whilst it is certainly true in individual cases that hillforts were not sited topographically with tactical advantage as a paramount consideration, or that a regional class like the hill-slope forts of the south-west were apparently at a disadvantage from higher ground, or that the area enclosed by some hillforts was so great as to make their defence logistically impractical, equally we could cite hillforts where the enclosing earthworks by any standard would have been a very formidable barrier to assault. Every generation reads its archaeology in the conceptual context of its own time, and it is hardly surprising that a generation brought up with two world wars should have interpreted hillforts in terms of ‘invasions’. Wheeler's (1953: 12) description of Bindon Hill, Dorset, as a ‘beach-head’ could hardly have been conceived by anyone other than the brigadier who had fought through North Africa and the Salerno landing in Italy. Nevertheless it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the current challenge to the defensive role of hillforts stems not so much from individually anomalous sites as from a more general objection to the concept of conflict in prehistory, and is one facet of what has been noted earlier as the ‘pacification of the past’ (Keeley 1996: 23).

Religious meanings and concerns have had a prominent role in a wide variety of political conflicts in recent decades. After the Six-Day War in 1967, for example, religious Zionists interpreted Israel’s victory in explicitly religious terms and saw Israeli occupation of the ancient lands of Judea and Samaria in the West Bank and of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as evidence that the divine redemption of the Jewish people was at hand. Muslims, in contrast, saw Israeli occupation of the Old City of Jerusalem as a threat to al-Haram al-Sharif, the sacred compound atop the Temple Mount and one of Islam’s most revered sites. Radical Islamists have cast many other conflicts in religious terms, including the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s, the civil war in Bosnia in the early 1990s, and the conflict between Chechen separatists and Russia that started in the mid-1990s. Interpreting these conflicts as attacks on the global Muslim community, radicals from various Muslim countries took up arms in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya in defense of Islam. Out of these contexts, al-Qaeda emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s as a transstate terrorist army that focuses on more dispersed, symbolic targets in its war against Western antagonists. On a regional scale, tensions between India and Pakistan have contained an overt religious dimension since independence, exacerbated by the rising influence of Hindu and Muslim fundamentalisms in the region. This religious dimension found symbolic expression in the late 1980s and 1990s through military nomenclature, with Pakistani missile systems that bore names linked to the early Muslim conquests of northern India (Ghauri, Ghaznavi), and India’s deployment of missile systems named after principal Vedic deities (Agni, Surya) and a Hindu hero in the wars against Muslim conquest (Prithvi). In Africa, political violence has arisen in various states out of postcolonial competition among traditional animists, Muslims, and Christians. In Sudan, for example, conflict between the Muslim majority in the north and animist and Christian minorities in the south has provoked a devastating civil war. These examples illustrate the persistent complexity of the intersection of religious meanings and war.

Squalls are one of the main issues for the design of West Africa floating units mooring systems. At the present time and due to the lack of more relevant information and models, squalls are represented by on site time series of time varying wind speed and relative heading. The first FPSO units were designed on the basis of a reduced Squall database. Nowadays, the number of squall records has been significantly increased and a response based analysis can be carried out. The present paper is focused on the Gulf of Guinea environment. The area has been divided into two zones: North (Nigeria…) and South (Congo, Angola…). This approach enabled us to deal with 90 Squall events for North zone and 115 Squall events for South zone. Two different mooring systems, with quite different natural periods, have been investigated in order to cover the range of already installed spread moored FPSO’s. For every Squall of the database, time domain and modal simulations have been carried out in order to obtain the maximum values of the axial tension in mooring lines and of the offset of a standard spread moored unit. Then a statistical procedure is applied a) to estimate 100-year return period values for these parameters and b) to assess overall trends besides the differences between results from both zones and both mooring systems. A comparative study has also been carried out to relate the 100-year return period extrapolations with the values derived from classical design procedures in order to evaluate the potential design margins for extreme responses. Finally, areas needing further investigation are identified.

This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&amp;D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&amp;D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU’s (African Union’s) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&amp;D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only “about” data, but which “is” data. According to an article1 by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), “At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge.” Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is “trust” – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. “This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy”, says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect2 project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&amp;D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa)3 project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly)4, have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System5 (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community6 (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high- performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array7 (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs 8 (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/ supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries 9 programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10 ). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management.