scholarly journals Robustness of IoT-connected e-Taps for sustainable service delivery of rural water supply

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 2251-2260
Author(s):  
Will Ingram ◽  
Fayyaz Ali Memon
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Rate Reduction ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Revenue Collection ◽  
Rural Water ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Physical Findings

Abstract ‘e-Taps’ monitor flow at rural water points in sub-Saharan Africa and enhance revenue collection using pre-paid tags. Real-time, high temporal resolution e-Tap usage data are available to service providers. In this paper, the robustness of the e-Tap is evaluated in the laboratory regarding (1) accuracy of the flow meter and (2) the flow rate reduction caused by addition of a y-strainer and debris build-up. An average relative error of +3.63% across varying flow rates is found. A general calibration will bring 95.45% of measurements within a ±4.54% error range. In the y-strainer, smaller gauze sizes, smaller debris sizes, and higher debris loads cause greater flow rate reductions. The maximum reduction observed was only approximately 68% of the baseline flow rate. These physical findings can be integrated into software solutions to management problems.

scholarly journals Why prepaid technologies are not a panacea for inclusive and sustainable rural water services in Tanzania?

Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-942
Author(s):  
Hans C. Komakech ◽  
Lukas Kwezi ◽  
Mansoor Ali
Keyword(s):  
Cost Recovery ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water Services ◽  
Revenue Collection ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Operation And Maintenance ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Rural Water ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year

Abstract Poor sustainability of rural water schemes is a major problem in service delivery in sub-Saharan Africa. About half of the schemes fail one year after commissioning, mostly due to poor operation and maintenance. Many communities fail to collect and manage water revenue. Prepaid technologies are argued to remedy the poor water revenue management. However, it is not clear to what extent prepaid systems can contribute to the sustainability of rural water schemes. This paper assessed the performance of three different cases where prepaid technologies were used in Tanzania. Although the technologies used can simplify water revenue collection, they are not a panacea to deliver sustainable and equitable water services. The capital cost of the prepaid system is often paid for by donors, which is not being recovered, hence the notion of cost recovery is biased here. Also, a strong institutional capacity and knowledge is required alongside the technology. Therefore, the technology which is being promoted as better for improving cost recovery is, instead, causing a burden on water users.

scholarly journals Assessing Future Water Demand and Associated Energy Input with Plausible Scenarios for Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2169
Author(s):  
Pauline Macharia ◽  
Nzula Kitaka ◽  
Paul Yillia ◽  
Norbert Kreuzinger
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Energy Input ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Current State ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan

This study examined the current state of water demand and associated energy input for water supply against a projected increase in water demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Three plausible scenarios, namely, Current State Extends (CSE), Current State Improves (CSI) and Current State Deteriorates (CSD) were developed and applied using nine quantifiable indicators for water demand projections and the associated impact on energy input for water supply for five Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Kenya to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach based on real data in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the daily per capita water-use in the service area of four of the five WSPs was below minimum daily requirement of 50 L/p/d. Further, non-revenue water losses were up to three times higher than the regulated benchmark (range 26–63%). Calculations showed a leakage reduction potential of up to 70% and energy savings of up to 12 MWh/a. The projected water demand is expected to increase by at least twelve times the current demand to achieve universal coverage and an average daily per capita consumption of 120 L/p/d for the urban population by 2030. Consequently, the energy input could increase almost twelve-folds with the CSI scenario or up to fifty-folds with the CSE scenario for WSPs where desalination or additional groundwater abstraction is proposed. The approach used can be applied for other WSPs which are experiencing a similar evolution of their water supply and demand drivers in sub-Saharan Africa. WSPs in the sub-region should explore aggressive strategies to jointly address persistent water losses and associated energy input. This would reduce the current water supply-demand gap and minimize the energy input that will be associated with exploring additional water sources that are typically energy intensive.

scholarly journals A comparison of high-speed internet service in Ghana: an analytical hierarchy approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Frimpon ◽  
Ebenezer Adaku
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Internet Service ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sub Saharan

Purpose The rising proportion of internet users in Sub-Saharan Africa and the lack of analytical techniques, as decision support systems, in choosing among alternative internet service providers (ISPs) by consumers underpin this study. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for evaluating high-speed internet service offered by ISPs in a sub-Saharan African country. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample size of 150, pairwise comparisons of two ISPs along five criteria of cost, usability, support, reliability and speed were performed by ten person groups of university students working in various organizations in Ghana and undertaking an online Six Sigma Course. Geometric means were employed to aggregate the scores in 15 groups, and these scores were then normalized and used as input into an analytical hierarchy process grid. Findings The results show that consumers of internet services highly emphasize the cost attribute of internet provision in their decision making. On the other hand, it was realized that consumers least emphasize the support provided by ISPs in their decision making among alternative ISPs. Originality/value This study has sought to provide an analytical framework for assessing the quality of service provided by alternative ISPs in a developing economy’s context. The evaluating criteria in this framework also reveal the key consumer requirements in internet service provision in a developing economy’s environment. This, to a large extent, will inform the marketing strategies of existing ISPs in Ghana as well as prospective ones intending to enter the Ghanaian market. Besides, the National Communication Authority, a regulator of communication services provision in Ghana, will be informed about the performances of the ISPs along five performance criteria. This is expected to aid in their regulatory functions.

Cyber Security of Children

2008 ◽  
pp. 46-61
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Mutula
Keyword(s):  
Cyber Security ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Internet Service ◽  
Online Security ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Developed World

This author discusses issues and threats to children’s cyber security vis-à-vis access to useful children online literature and the implications for sub-saharan Africa. The author points out that whereas the benefits of online children literature are immense especially in Africa where there is paucity of print literature, increasing cyber security and crime targeting children is of growing concern to governments, school teachers, parents, and Internet service providers. The chapter observes that whereas the developed world has made attempts to put in place mechanisms and systems such as acceptable user policies and protection software to mitigate undesirable consequences of online insecurity to which children are the most vulnerable, Africa is lagging behind despite the pervading Internet on the continent. The author notes that censorship of online literature is not the panacea to cyber insecurity, but parents should work closely with teachers and service providers to find pragmatic ways of protecting children online. Africa could learn a lot from developed countries on how to balance between access to useful online information resources against the growing cyber crime targeting children. The author cautions that the future of online security with regard to children’s safety in cyberspace is bound to become more complex as technologies become more advanced and online predators evolve sophisticated ways to circumvent online security measures, calling for the development of a proactive security strategy to protect children online.

Turning on the township: financial inclusion in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-446
Author(s):  
Louise Whittaker ◽  
Graunt Kruger
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Actions ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Economic Engagement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore practitioner and academic conceptualisations about what drives individuals (who are the target of financial inclusion efforts) to adopt and use financial services. It compares this with individual’s personal subjectivities to understand how the similarities and differences might contribute to problems in financial inclusion efforts. Design/methodology/approach To uncover such conceptualisations, a Foucauldian discourse analysis of three texts is conducted. Findings The analysis uncovers the ways in which financial subjects are produced. Important points of discontinuity are evident between texts, pointing to potential failures within financial inclusion constructs. Distilling aspects of continuity between texts shows up three kinds of subjects produced predicated on the site of economic engagement as owners of bodies, tangible property and intangible property. These subjects are shown to all share concerns with income and expense management. The analysis shows that subject positions and strategic actions (including the use of financial service providers) are mutually reinforcing, and that therefore financial subjects will engage only to the extent that the product or service enacts their subject position. With the financial subject as the starting point, it is possible to understand the use or rejection of particular financial products and services. Research limitations/implications Asset building is proposed as a field of activity not currently considered part of mainstream financial inclusion, questioning the terms on which individuals are to be financially “included”. Originality/value Approximately 2 billion people globally, and 66 per cent of adults in sub-Saharan Africa, are excluded from the formal financial system. While financial inclusion is considered beneficial, many projects face significant challenges. This suggests insufficient understanding of what drives individuals to adopt and use financial services. This paper makes a contribution by exploring the gap between academics, practitioners and individuals using a method that has not previously been applied in this field, and uncovering differences in understanding that have not previously been explored. The insights into financial inclusion in provided in this paper are original in the literature.

The Theology of Emergency: Welfare Reform, US Foreign Aid and the Faith-Based Initiative

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Emergency Relief ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Social Authority ◽  
Sub Saharan

This article addresses the rise of faith-based emergency relief by examining the US President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS (PEPFAR), a public health intervention focused on the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that the theological turn in humanitarian aid serves to amplify ongoing dynamics in the domestic politics of sub-Saharan African states, where social services have assumed the form of chronic emergency relief and religious organizations have come to play an increasingly prominent role in the provision of such services. In the context of an ongoing public health crisis, PEPFAR has institutionalized the social authority of the Pentecostal and charismatic churches, leading to a semantic confluence between the postcolonial politics of emergency and the Pentecostal/Pauline theology of kairos or event. Far from being confined to the space of foreign aid, however, the faith-based turn in humanitarianism is in keeping with ongoing reforms in domestic social policy in the United States. While on the one hand the sustained welfare programmes of the New Deal and Great Society have been dismantled in favour of a system of emergency relief, on the other hand the federal government has intensified its moral, pedagogical and punitive interventions into the lives of the poor. The wilful transfer of welfare services to overtly religious service providers has played a decisive role in this process. The article concludes with a critical appraisal of the links between African and North American Pentecostal-evangelical churches and questions the revolutionary mission ascribed to Pauline political theology in recent political theory.

scholarly journals Promoting Undetectable Equals Untransmittable in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implication for Clinical Practice and ART Adherence

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 6163
Author(s):  
Nicholas Ekow Thomford ◽  
Doreen Mhandire ◽  
Collet Dandara ◽  
George B. Kyei
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Death Sentence ◽  
Art Adherence ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
Viral Loads ◽  
Persons Living With Hiv ◽  
Sub Saharan

In the last decade, reliable scientific evidence has emerged to support the concept that undetectable viral loads prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Undetectable equals untransmissible (U = U) is a simple message that everyone can understand. The success of this concept depends on strict adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the attainment of suppressed viral loads (VLs). To achieve U = U in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), poor adherence to ART, persistent low-level viremia, and the emergence of drug-resistant mutants are challenges that cannot be overlooked. Short of a cure for HIV, U = U can substantially reduce the burden and change the landscape of HIV epidemiology on the continent. From a public health perspective, the U = U concept will reduce stigmatization in persons living with HIV (PLWHIV) in SSA and strengthen public opinion to accept that HIV infection is not a death sentence. This will also promote ART adherence because PLWHIV will aim to achieve U = U within the shortest possible time. This article highlights challenges and barriers to achieving U = U and suggests how to promote the concept to make it beneficial and applicable in SSA. This concept, if expertly packaged by policy-makers, clinicians, health service providers, and HIV control programs, will help to stem the tide of the epidemic in SSA.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document