Africa’s trade interests need country leadership to benefit from the WTO

Despite perceptions that Africa has benefitted little from the World Trade Organization, there are great expectations that its new head, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will champion the continent’s interests. But as the WTO faces a range of immediate challenges, should this be relied on? Teniola Tayo writes that is the responsibility of Africa’s leaders to set the agenda on what is needed for successful trade and development policies

What Thandika Mkandawire taught me about African development

Professor Thandika Mkandawire (1940–2020) transformed economic and development scholarship on Africa, developed a community of African social scientists and campaigned for greater recognition of the continent’s knowledge production. Teniola Tayo writes on his tremendous influence and her response to the news of his recent passing

Will Africa’s free trade area increase inequalities?

The immediate challenge facing Africa’s new single market may be too little trade, but there is a looming danger of growing interstate inequality and uneven development

#endsars to #endswat: Nigeria needs real change

The #EndSARS protests across Nigeria have led to the notorious police group’s dissolution. Yet announcements of a new tactical police force has created doubt about a commitment to meaningful police reform, and justice for victims of violence by SARS officers. Teniola Tayo describes the campaign and the importance for Nigerian citizens, asking whether the nation expects an end to police brutality

A qualitative exploration of the experiences of young people and their parents regarding the impact of missing school to attend hospital based orthodontic appointments

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of young people and their parents regarding the impact on school performance due to time away from school for orthodontic appointments and to explore their views about a possible extension to the current service. DESIGN: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. SETTING: UK district hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven pairs of interviewees: Young people undergoing fixed appliances and their parents. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people and their parents. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. A framework approach was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of the data identified five main themes which were (i) Expectations of the treatment process and appointments, (ii) Impact of school absences and treatment, (iii) Appointments, (iv) Implications for young people, parents, and others and (v) Satisfaction with treatment. These themes were then further subdivided and analysed. CONCLUSIONS: Thematic analysis of the data identified five main themes which were (i) Expectations of the treatment process and appointments, (ii) Impact of school absences and treatment, (iii) Appointments, (iv) Implications for young people, parents, and others and (v) Satisfaction with treatment. These themes were then further subdivided and analysed

Catalyst and Instrument of National Growth: Interrogating the Significance of Entrepreneurship in Nigerian Economic Development

Entrepreneurship as it is widely believed is a fueling developmental hub and cause of financial progression of any given economy. The general Entrepreneurial activities have been found to be proficient of creating optimistic and progressive impacts towards nation's economy and improved class of life expectancy of the people. This study based on this, sourced to look at the entrepreneurship as a catalyst and instrument of progress and improvement in Nigeria economy. The study make used of the secondary data and the outcome signposts that entrepreneurship has immensely contributed significantly to the employment generation and growth of Nigerian economy. Some of the major observation is that entrepreneurship development has massively enhanced job creation. And, however consequently lead to economic development. It is recommended that Nigerian should advance more especially some other economic opportunities while government should ensure the enabling environments for purposeful development of entrepreneurship practices. Keywords: Entrepreneurship Development, Impact, Nigeria Economy. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-3-13 Publication date: January 31st 202

Investigating ESL Learners’ Socioeconomic Environment on Their Writing Competence in Lagos, Nigeria: Implications for Pedagogy

This study investigated the influence of Junior Secondary School (JSS) students’ socioeconomic environment on their competence in writing in English. Ten schools from randomly selected private and public schools in Lagos State, Nigeria were used. A total of 300 randomly selected students constituted the sample. Data were collected through structured questionnaire and adapted essay writing tests. Students’ tests were marked by considering content, organisation, expression, and mechanical accuracy (COEMA) as criteria and scored on 10 points: thus, 6-10 points was regarded as competent; while 1-5 points = incompetent. Information on students’ socioeconomic environment was collected through the questionnaire. Results revealed 66% of the respondents demonstrated writing incompetence and 34% demonstrated writing competence. Of the 66% of incompetence, 45% was from the public schools while 21% was from the private schools. Of all the socioeconomic factors examined, language of communication at home was established as a determining factor. All stake holders, especially, teachers must focus on grammar for the improvement of students’ writing skill.Key words: Socioeconomic environment; English Writing Competence; Private school; Public schoo

From Alternative Provision to ‘adulthood’: Is there a role for the educational psychologist?

Alternative Provision (AP) serves as an educational setting for students who are unable to access mainstream settings, often due to social, emotional, and mental health needs. Unlike special schools, AP does not primarily cater to students with diagnosed special educational needs but instead supports those who have disengaged or been excluded from mainstream settings. Existing research has examined students’ experiences within AP, and highlights the value of factors such as relational support and increased agency. However, there is limited research on the long-term outcomes of these young people, particularly their transition to adulthood. Even less is known about the role of educational psychologists (EPs) in supporting individuals aged 16 to 25 who have previously attended AP. The present research contributes to knowledge in this area through an exploration of the lived experiences of three young adults who completed secondary education in an AP, and have since transitioned to adulthood. This research utilised interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine participants’ meaning making around their transition, considering how this shaped their self-conceptions, and overall perceptions of adulthood. The findings highlight the complex and ongoing process of transitioning to adulthood, identifying five protective factors in the process. Implications for EP practice with AP leavers aged 16 to 25 are considered, focusing on transparent, accessible, developmental and community-based approaches

The Comparative Study of Finite Difference Method and Monte Carlo Method for Pricing European Option

Numerical methods form an important part of options pricing and especially in cases where there is no closed form analytic formula. We discuss two of the primary numerical methods that are currently used by financial professionals for determining the price of an options namely Monte Carlo method and finite difference method. Then we compare the convergence of the two methods to the analytic Black-Scholes price of European option. Monte Carlo method is good for pricing exotic options while Crank Nicolson finite difference method is unconditionally stable, more accurate and converges faster than Monte Carlo method when pricing standard options. Keywords: Option, European option, Asian option, Monte Carlo Method, Finite difference method

Hydrolysis of raw tuber starches by amylase of Aspergillus niger AM07 isolated from the soil

Eight Aspergillus niger strains which produced strong starch degrading amylase were isolated from the soil using a medium containing Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) starch as substrate. Amylase production was detected by the disappearance of the blue colour around the colony. Among the isolates, A. niger AM07 produced the largest clear zone (7.0mm) on Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) agar plate and also gave the highest amylase yield (806 U/ml) in solid-state fermentation process, hence it was selected for further studies. The crude amylase preparation of A. niger AM07 had temperature and pH optima activities at 60oC and 4.0 respectively. The optimum substrate concentration was 3 %. The action of the crude amylase of A. niger on raw tuber starches of yam, cassava, sweet potato and cocoyam were studied in comparison with the well known maize starch which is a cereal starch. The crude amylase was able to hydrolyze all the raw starches tested. Hydrolysis was significantly (