Browsing by Subject "SDG"

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    Open Access
    Measuring of social returns by South African impact investors
    (2024) Ntombela, Nelisiwe; Alhassan, Abdul Latif
    There is vagueness in measuring the social returns of impact investments. This creates uncertainty for investors on the impact that the investments have on the socio-economic environment in South Africa. There is no standard measurement metric, and this casts doubt on the quality of the impact data reported. This may hamper South Africa's potential to benefit from the positive effects of impact investments. This dissertation sought to understand the social returns measurement instruments within the South African impact investment landscape and explore the factors that influence their utility. The study was exploratory and qualitative in nature undertaking a thematic analysis of interview data from 11 impact investment practitioners in institutions in South Africa. From the analysis of the interview data, the prevalent measurement instruments within the impact investment landscape in South Africa can be categorised into frameworks, performance indicators, and monitoring and evaluation methods. The findings also revealed that there is no single measurement standard for impact investments in the South African context. Furthermore, the study revealed the subjectivity of social returns, inconsistent and weak reporting standards, inadequate measurement metrics, and a lack of established standards as the main themes when looking at the factors influencing the utility of measurement instruments. Finally, the measurement of social returns can be improved by assigning monetary value to impact, optimisation of measurement through technology, ESG integration and value-driven decision-making, narrative-based impact reporting, and external validation and accounting. Based on the findings of the study, the author recommends the establishment of a single customised measurement tool that incorporates performance indicators of SDGs and ESGs be adopted in the South African impact investment context and that more research should be undertaken on the use of technology to track and report impact data.
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    Open Access
    Open Educational Resources within a Knowledge System for Achieving Quality Education SDG
    (IFLA, 2017-07-17) Raju, Reggie
    The high levels of poverty and poor access to quality education, among a myriad of other challenges, have contributed to economic and social exclusion in Africa. These exclusions must be viewed against the backdrop of the emergence of a global knowledge-based society in which the production and dissemination of knowledge has become critical for meeting social and economic needs. Education, in the view of Breidlid (2009), is critical for poverty alleviation and economic and social inclusion. Education is central to promoting sustainable development. It is therefore essential to mobilize necessary resources, including openness resources to steer the global south towards economic and social inclusion. This paper will discuss the exploration of a ‘knowledge system’ that facilitates the networking of open educational resources (OERs) to strengthen the educational system in Africa. The bringing together of contributors who use appropriate technology for innovation will enhance the educational process which will in turn advance learning for growth and development. Key to the effective contribution of knowledge systems to SDGs is information and communication technologies (ICTs). Libraries have responded positively to the potential of ICTs and have recently been utilising that potential to offer publishing services using Open Source Systems (OSS) such as Open Journal Systems (OJS), DSpace, and the Open Monograph Press (OMP). These open source systems, which are a significant component of the openness movement, are exploited to deliver open content which includes open access publishing and sharing of scholarly content. The bias in this paper is the publishing of open educational resources for the development of education in the global south. An educated and informed society will contribute to the broadening of access to wealth for social justice, growth and development.
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    Open Access
    The Role of Development Finance Institutions and Aid Agencies in Zimbabwe’s achievement of Sustainable Development Goals
    (2018) Murambadoro, Betty; Rogers, Steven Nabieu
    This research looked at external funding and its role in determining the success rate of the developmental agenda at country specific level. To undertake this investigation, the role of external funding was assessed alongside other factors largely viewed to be also relevant in discussing the success of the development agenda. The research relied on primary data collected from various participants deemed to be relevant stakeholders in development studies and its success drivers. The sample comprised bilaterals, multilaterals, aid agencies, private commercial sector, policy makers, regulators and the UN agencies. Extensive research was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires and also supported by interviews to probe further on the key sub-topics. The other factors explored alongside external funding in terms of their significance in influencing outcome of the development agenda are strong financial institutions, strong legal institutions, economic reform, competent human capital and international trade. While the factors linked to governance were ranked highly in terms of significance in driving Zimbabwe’ s achievement of sustainable development goals, the numeric difference on points scored were not materially significant. The research outcome highlighted the interconnectedness of the factors assessed in augmenting the impact of capital inflows in meeting the development agenda. In addition, it exposed the significance of broader stakeholder consultation and commitment at a national level.