The World Bank has provided both the specialist and generalist with an invaluable overview of the results of \"adjustment\" made by many governments in sub-Saharan Africa. This is yet one in a long list of quality studies of the most economic problems facing the region (for example, see World Bank, Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Agenda for Action, Washington, DC: World Bank, 1981 or World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth, Washington, DC: World Bank, 1989). The region's overall economic growth rate during the past two decades has been disappointing; its real GDP per capita actually declined by an annual rate of 2.2 percent from 1989-90. Sub-Saharan Africa has found itself sinking backwards economically while other developing areas of the world are leaping forward. For example, the Bank study found that at independence in 1957, Ghana was less poor than South Korea and in 1965 Indonesia's economic output was about the same as Nigeria's. By 1993 Indonesia produced three times the output of Nigeria, while South Korea's economy was six times larger than Ghana's. Sub-Saharan African contains about 11 percent of the total population of the world's developing countries but represents about 16 percent of the developing world's poor. Evidence provided by the World Bank study suggests that economic reforms have in general led to improved economic performance. The Bank studied 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa which had undertaken adjustment strategies in the 1980s. The study found that no African country has firmly established, in the broadest sense, a sound macroeconomic policy stance. However, it did conclude that the six countries—Ghana, Tanzania, Gambia, Burkino Faso, Nigeria and Zimbabwe—which have made the most improvement in macroeconomic policies between 1981-91 also performed the best in economic terms. For the six most successful states, their median rate of GDP per capita growth between 1987 and 1991 was 0.4 percent, and although low, it did represent a turnaround from the one percent annual declines during the early and mid 1980s. In contrast, the other 23 countries studies saw median GDP per capita growth fall by 2.1 percent. The six best performers saw their median increase in exports grow by eight percent, while those 11 with ineffective policies witnessed exports declining by 0.7 percent. The best performers saw industrial growth accelerate by six percent, compared with 1.7 percent for the worst 11 countries. Agriculture grew more quickly—by two percent—in the states which had substantially reduced the taxation of export

Adjustment in Africa: Reforms, Results, and the Road Ahead

International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management (IJECM; ISSN 2348-0386) is a double blind peer reviewed monthly e-journal IJECM intend to contribute to the development and dissemination of multidisciplinary knowledge on management, commerce & economics to increase dialogue among scholars, researchers and practitioners. In the same line IJECM publishes: - empirical studies that analyze specific questions using qualitative or quantitative techniques. - conceptual papers that develop propositions and outline further research; - review articles/ perspectives that summarize and evaluate the stock of theoretical and applied knowledge on a specific issue

International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management

Understanding stakeholders’ approaches to sustainability in building projects

Cost overrun of construction projects has been a key concern for all stakeholders of projects for many decades now. Many studies have been done in the past and continue to be done currently to understand the underlying causes of construction project cost overruns. However, the empirical evidence of the causes seem not be clear due to the silo approach in understanding the causes of construction project cost overruns. The purpose of this paper is to take the debate a step forward by providing an understanding of the causes of project cost overrun from a system’s perspective, especially from a less researched environment.,Data were collected and analysed from 131 respondents who were mainly involved in construction works in public procurement entities in Ghana. A two-staged approach was employed in collecting data from the respondents. The first stage involved an interview session with key informants in the construction industry in Ghana to ascertain the detailed causes of cost overrun of construction projects. The second stage focussed on the validation of these detailed factors by a wider stakeholder group through questionnaires. Factor analysis was employed to consolidate these detailed factors into major causes of construction project cost overruns.,The results show that there are primarily four major causes of most public sector construction projects cost overruns. These four major causes of cost overruns are poor contract planning and supervision; change orders; weak institutional and economic environment of projects and lack of effective coordination among the contracting parties.,The study provides more insights as to the critical and major factors that underpin public sector construction projects cost overruns and more importantly provides a basis for common treatment of the multiple risk factors engendering public sector construction projects cost overruns.

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Cost overruns of public sector construction projects: a developing country perspective

A discussion of a paper with the aforementioned title by M. Long, published in this journal (Volume 127, Number 3, March 2001), is presented. The discusser acknowledges that, while the author's database will undoubtedly serve as a valuable resource for geotechnical engineers involved with excavations, their support, and control of deformations, a number of points should be considered when examining the various tables, plots, and preliminary conclusions put forth in the paper. These points are listed, and closure from the author is provided.

Database for retaining wall and ground movement due to deep excavations. discussion and closure

The purpose of this study was to identify various implementation bottlenecks to the Ghana Public Procurement Law 2003 (Act 663). The study adopted multiple research approaches, including; review of relevant literature, interviews and questionnaire survey of 49 District Assemblies and Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana. The study identified low capacity of procurement professionals, low interaction between procurement entities and Public Procurement Authority (PPA), deliberate controlling of competition, non-compliance with provisions of the law, splitting of contracts into smaller lots, lack of funds and non-cooperativeness of suppliers, as the major challenges militating against the implementation of the Public Procurement Law.

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Public procurement in ghana: the implementation challenges to the public procurement law 2003 (act 663)

Theories are employed to enhance conceptualization of research ideas. They facilitate useful explanations for better understanding of research findings. However, the use of theories to advance stud...

A theoretical framework for conceptualizing contractors’ adaptation to environmentally sustainable construction

Public procurement is perceived to be susceptible to corruption from project inception to completion. There is ample evidence across the world that corruption hinders economic development; reduces social services; diverts investments in infrastructure and social services and impacts the poor disproportionately The study assesses the perceptions of procurement professionals; specifically practicing quantity surveyors on the existence of corruption in the procurement process and also establishes the stages in the procurement process fraught with corrupt practices. A survey research design was employed and purposive sampling technique adopted. Descriptive statistics, relative importance index and one sample t-test were adopted in analyzing the data. This research results confirmed the perception that corruption exists in public procurement in Ghana. It also revealed that the public procurement law is contributing immensely in curbing corruption. The study further revealed that corruption is more prevalent at the tender evaluation stage of the procurement process. Keywords: Corruption, Ghana, Public Procurement, Procurement processes, Susceptible.

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Curbing Corruption in the Public Procurement Process in Ghana

For effective policy development and implementation for sustainable housing, the perspectives of professionals (i.e., suppliers of housing facilities and services) and households (i.e., consumers thereof) must be assessed concurrently. However, with sparse studies examining both the supply and demand-sides of sustainable housing development simultaneously, policymakers are plagued with unbalanced information. Consequently, eclectic and specific policies cannot be formulated for implementation. This study presents a concurrent evaluation of sustainability challenges from both perspectives towards identifying symmetries and asymmetries on sustainable housing barriers. Four categorizations of barriers were developed from extant literature, viz: ‘economic’, ‘social’, ‘environmental’ and ‘institutional’ barriers. Primary data was gathered using a structured questionnaire that was distributed via a non-probability purposive sampling technique to both professionals working in formal/regulated institutions of the Ghanaian housing market and household occupants. A test of significant difference on underlying barriers was conducted using Mann-Whitney U test. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) technique was also employed for dealing with subjectivity in responses attributed to differences in respondents' aim, motivation and experience for an objective evaluation of a multivariate factor (i.e., category of barriers). The study's findings revealed significant differences among some underlying barriers rated by the two respondent groups. Likewise, there were significant differences supported at p < 0.05 at a Z-value of −2.24 and p < 0.05 at a Z-value of −1.48 on the social and environmental categories of barriers, respectively. Practically, results on the test of significant difference are indicative of barriers that require all-inclusive and specific policies. Moreover, the FSE indices provide allocative purpose by directing resources from policymakers towards more critical barriers for sustainable housing. 

Evaluation of symmetries and asymmetries on barriers to sustainable housing in developing countries

Giant strides have been taken in developed countries towards the achievement of sustainable development goals. This has been pursued largely through the establishment of relevant policies and regulations and that significantly require the construction industry’s role. Environmental sustainability is foundational as far as the pursuit of sustainable development is concerned. However, in developing countries, construction organizations are yet to be enabled to adapt to Environmental Sustainable Construction. How can these organizations be enabled to adapt to ESC? The aim of this paper is to find out enablers of construction organizations’ adaptation to ESC in developing countries. A review of literature on the enablers of sustainability within the construction industry has be conducted and the need to identify enablers within the context of developing countries have been revealed. A content analysis of qualitative data obtained from an averagely 1½ hour in-depth interview of 13 construction organizations has been used to develop a relational model outlining primary elements required to enable commencement of regularization of ESC practices. On this basis, a conceptual framework explaining different time zones required for regularizing ESC, has been developed. Thus, a clear direction towards the development of a broader framework towards construction organizations’ adaptation to ESC in a developing country context has been provided.

Sarfo Mensah

Papers

Public procurement in ghana: the implementation challenges to the public procurement law 2003 (act 663)

A theoretical framework for conceptualizing contractors’ adaptation to environmentally sustainable construction

Curbing Corruption in the Public Procurement Process in Ghana

Evaluation of symmetries and asymmetries on barriers to sustainable housing in developing countries

Towards enabling construction organizations’ adaptation to environmental sustainable construction in developing countries