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Using debt to finance investments is a common feature in the balance sheets of state-owned entities (SOEs). The greater the degree of financial leverage, the higher the proportion of debt resulting in greater interest payments that negatively affect the earnings attributable to shareholders. This paper considers the determinants of debt financing in light of the debt crisis that the South African economy faces and, more so, the public sector and its validity under capital structure theories. The data set was analyzed for the financial period from 1995 to 2020 of thirty-three commercial SOEs in South Africa. Multiple regression models were tested using the Generalized Method of Moments estimator. The results highlighted that significant variables affecting state-owned entities’ debt levels are profitability, age, growth opportunities, liquidity, probability of bankruptcy, and non-debt tax shield. The policy recommendations are that the government prioritizes reducing debt levels for South Africa to develop and achieve sustainable development. The changes in firm-specific factors that affect the optimal capital structure and the entity’s value must be considered.

South African universities are facing significant financial challenges that threaten their sustainability. Factors such as reduced government funding, unpredictable tuition collection, and the need to generate additional revenue have become major concerns for universities. This study investigates the perceptions of academic and non-academic staff regarding revenue sourcing to enhance financial sustainability at a university of technology. Quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire. The findings show that the university is using a diversified revenue structure and that revenue sourcing is a financial challenge for the university. This implies that the university's current revenue generation strategies are inadequate. The respondents perceived revenue sourcing as a financial challenge and that relying on a single source of revenue is not financially viable. Low research output was considered a barrier to financial sustainability and improving research output was identified as a means of improving financial sustainability. Respondents agreed that appointing staff members who could attract funding and improvements in the infrastructure of the university would assist in removing barriers to financial sustainability and increase income together with offering short courses. Recommendations suggested by the respondents to increase revenue included the need to diversify revenue sources and that offering new courses and using international collaborations and university segments to establish industrial partnerships would generate additional revenue.

Globally, water resource management has emerged as an important research area and is acknowledged as a crucial factor in achieving sustainable development goals. Despite its significance, water-related sustainability disclosures regarding water and water-related risks among companies are alarmingly weak. Many companies are not effectively measuring, managing, and disclosing their water-related risks. Hence, this paper aims to analyze water-related reporting and disclosure requirements of a sample of ten South African mining and non-mining companies with a high water profile, listed on the JSE Socially Responsible Investment Index. The companies’ level of compliance on water disclosure was assessed based on their reporting in the integrated and or annual reports. The findings revealed that sampled five mining companies performed poorly in terms of disclosure across the frameworks of awareness, disclosure, management, and leadership. On the other hand, the selection of five non-mining companies grasped the severe effect of the water crisis on their businesses and performed better in all the framework categories. The average score for the selection of mining companies was 65% compared to the 93% for the non-mining companies. Stakeholders need to focus on water governance processes that require improvement to enable the stakeholders to make better decisions on water management; subsequently, this is an area that needs to be addressed in future research.

Background: Women have generally lower levels of financial literacy than their male counterparts, regardless of country of origin. This financial literacy gender gap makes women more vulnerable to the effects of pandemics, like the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Aim: This study sought to examine financial literacy competencies of women in agribusiness and their financial experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting: The study was carried out in five agricultural districts namely, Gweru, Masvingo, Mutoko, Mount Darwin, and Mutare. The districts represented Zimbabwean agricultural regions. Methods: An embedded mixed methods research design was adopted where both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for analysis. Data were successfully collected from 216 women in agribusiness and follow-up interviews were conducted with 15 informants. Results: Women in agribusiness have poor financial literacy competencies. Most women in agribusiness practised only a range of 2–3 good financial behaviours out of the eight examined concepts, with only 10% scoring above the minimum expected score of six. During the pandemic, women in agribusiness lost income and failed to take care of household and business expenses. Conclusion: Women in agribusiness do not practise vital financial literacy competencies required for financial wellbeing and financial resilience. Therefore, the study recommends the implementation of training programmes that capacitate women with basic financial literacy competencies such as budgeting, saving, and retirement planning. Contribution: Financial literacy competencies were conceptualised together with financial experiences during a pandemic for the first time. More so, in the agribusiness sector which is crucial for economic development.

Budgets are a compass and guiding light for businesses. Therefore, management and owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must carry out suitable and precise capital budgeting activities and methods to ensure business longevity and progression. There is a high risk of SMEs failing soon after they are found, with one likely cause being poor management skills. Thus, the study aims to assess the management skills of the capital budgeting planning and practices of SMEs. The objective is to ascertain the influence of management skills and owners on current capital budgeting planning and practice. The study adopted the quantitative method by administering questionnaires to 108 owners and managers in the Springfield Industrial Park. The findings of the study indicate that owners and managers were solely responsible for decision-making. Secondly, owners and managers lacked the financial skills, ability to control and lead staff. The study was limited to owners and managers in the SMEs and therefore cannot be inferred to any other area or subject/s. Future studies can be conducted in other regions, of which a comparative study is recommended that owners and managers in SMEs improve their business knowledge, as well as upskilling their financial ability in the capital budgeting process. Thus, the implications of improving owners and manager's business knowledge will lead to timeous, smarter, and informed decision-making. It is therefore recommended that owners and managers take up short courses to improve computer literacy and financial skills in business processes.

The economic impact of carbon emissions in Africa is gaining traction in the extant literature. This study adopted Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to concomitantly track data on carbon emissions versus economic growth in Africa from 2018 to 2022 providing evidence from a meta-analysis. Through database searches, 591 publications were identified. A machine learning algorithm called Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) was used as a visualization technique for reporting trends in the eleven papers selected for the analysis. Identifying, evaluating, and summarizing the findings of all relevant individual studies conducted in Africa on the impact of economic growth on carbon emissions contributes to the existing body of knowledge. This study fills a critical gap by surveying the studies conducted in Africa in the last five years, implying that economic growth negatively and significantly triggers CO2 emissions in Africa. The debate on the economic impact of CO2 emissions in Africa, the most vulnerable continent to climate change, is elucidated. The findings tracked sources of data for carbon emissions in Africa. The results showed that although some studies reported a positive correlation (and some a negative correlation) between economic growth and carbon emissions, most studies concur that the economic impact of carbon emissions over a timeline can be explained by the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Therefore, there is a dire need for African countries to strengthen economic growth without deteriorating their environment or having ecological footprint. Future research must assess whether this trend on the economic impact of carbon emissions in Africa continues. AcknowledgmentThe authors express their appreciation to the Durban University of Technology for providing the resources to conduct this study.

This study aimed to examine whether government financial assistance influences the financial performance of state-owned enterprises. Commercial state-owned enterprises in South Africa that are listed under the Public Financial Management Act during the post-apartheid era from 1995 to 2017 were sampled. Government guarantees were measured as a dummy variable, while financial performance was measured by accounting measure: return on assets (ROA). Endogeneity issues were addressed, and data analysis was performed on an unbalanced panel using the two-step system GMM. The empirical evidence indicated that support by the government in the form of guarantees and subsidies has a significant negative effect on the financial performance of state-owned enterprises. This is an indication that continued government bailouts to poor performing state-owned enterprises exacerbates their poor financial performance and encourages these enterprises to become too reliant on government assistance, burdening the national fiscus. AcknowledgmentsThe author gratefully acknowledges the National Research Foundation of South Africa for the research grant and Dr Farai Kwenda for his supervision during the study.

The purpose of this research is to determine if the financing behaviour of South African state-owned entities (SOEs) have a target capital structure which they adjust towards and if so, the speed of adjustment, a central tenet of the Trade-off Theory. An unbalanced panel data set from a sample of thirty-three commercial SOEs were studied using a dynamic partial adjustment model. The findings provide strong evidence that South African SOEs follow the trade-off theory based on the existence of a target capital structure and speed of adjustment of 21.5% per annum towards the target which is slower than other SOEs in developing economies. The findings also revealed that these SOEs take almost five years to close off two-thirds of the gap between the actual and optimal capital structures. The findings will be of interest to observers of the economy, as they measure the capacity of SOEs to play a leading role in investment and in improving the efficiency of the economy. They could also inform decision making and policy development on SOEs.

PurposeGiven the significant role of both integrated reporting and cost of capital in the survival and prosperity of a firm, it is essential to understand their relationship by investigating whether integrated reporting influences the cost of capital of a firm. This research paper aims to examine the impact of integrated reporting practice on the cost of capital of listed firms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approachThe study covered a period of 10 years from 2009 to 2018. One hundred and forty-seven listed firms in 10 SSA countries were used for the study. The study employed panel data analysis and utilised a dynamic estimation technique called the generalised method of moments.FindingsThe evidence shows that integrated reporting has a negative relationship with cost of capital, indicating integrated reporting can reduce firms' cost of capital. The results further showed that social, governance and environmental disclosures all have negative relationships with cost of capital, suggesting that firms that make these disclosures would have a lower cost of capital. These results are consistent with signalling theory, which holds that firms send a positive signal to the market about their performance and prospects when they provide information relating to value creation, predominantly environmental, social and governance issues.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of the study is the selection of only English-speaking countries. French-speaking countries may have a different reporting practice, hence a different effect on the cost of capital.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to policy development on integrated reporting in SSA and informs key stakeholders involved in promoting and supporting the adoption of integrated reporting in Africa.Originality/valueThe findings from this paper consolidate existing research in integrated reporting and cost of capital by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between integrated reporting, its components and the cost of capital from emerging economies. This study contributes to the understanding of investors' reactions to integrated reporting. Further, it fills a gap in the non-availability of literature on the relative impact of the various components of integrated reporting.

The purpose of this study aims to improve risk control, mitigation, and interbank risk comparison by advocating for Mauritian banks to adopt a standardised operational risk definition. The study suggests improving operational risk reduction or hedging, encouraging openness in risk management capabilities, and standardising risk assessment methods in accordance with Bank of Mauritius requirements. The study also recommends that banks create operational risk management committees to supervise risk control and mitigation initiatives. These committees should be composed of experienced personnel who are well-versed in the consequences of operational risk in the banking industry. Using a mixed-method approach, insights are obtained from various banks operating in Mauritius, with data acquired from a substantial sample of 150 participants. Targeting Mauritian bankers, questionnaires were distributed across reputable banks, and data were meticulously collected and analysed. The findings highlight contemporary concerns regarding economic well-being and the security of assets held by banks. It is recommended to implement changes on a modest scale initially, subject to close monitoring over a specified period, with the possibility of gradual expansion if successful outcomes ensue. In conclusion, this research is significant due to the limited exploration into operational risk management within the Mauritian context.