Purpose Due to the inconclusiveness of the recent debate on the effect of foreign debt on sustainable development, the aim of this study is to decompose foreign debt into components based on World Bank's definition, namely short-term foreign debt, long-term foreign debt and International Monetary Fund credit (IMF credit) so that the individual effect of short-term foreign debt, long-term foreign debt and IMF credit on sustainable development could be examined in order to correct the limitation in previous studies that employed aggregate foreign debt and show mixed results. Design/methodology/approach The study employs the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique. The study also engages the Driscoll–Kraay covariance matrix technique to check the robustness of the OLS estimates due to spatial interactions and unobserved common factors issues that mostly arise in panel modeling which the OLS technique may not detect. To account for endogeneity, the study uses the system generalized method of moments (GMM), and in addition, utilizes a dynamic panel threshold technique within the GMM to inspect the possibility of having thresholds of foreign debts in the foreign debt–sustainable development nexus. Findings The study found that an increase in long-term foreign debt and IMF credit weakens sustainable development. It also found that short-term foreign debt has no relationship with sustainable development. In addition, it found optimal levels of long-term foreign debt and IMF credit that weaken sustainable development. Originality/value The study is the first to examine the individual effect of IMF credit, long-term foreign debt and short-term foreign debt on sustainable development.
Purpose This article examines the impact of fintech adoption and technology readiness on the financial well-being of financial sector consumers in South Africa, while assessing the moderating role of perceived risk in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Primary data is collected from 486 financial sector consumers in South Africa. Primarily, Principal Component Analysis, reliability statistics, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and correlation analysis were exercised for instrument and data assessment. Furthermore, regression analysis and moderation were employed to achieve the study's objectives. Findings The findings reveal that financial well-being significantly improves with the adoption of fintech and readiness to embrace emerging digital technologies. However, perceived risk moderates this relationship, such that higher perceived risk diminishes the positive effect on financial well-being. Research limitations/implications The findings imply that greater adaptability to fintech digital-based technologies enhances the financial well-being of users. While practitioners should implement awareness initiatives to mitigate perceived risk, these concerns should also be recognized as legitimate responses by users to emerging technologies. Addressing such concerns will assist in refining product offerings and improving technology adoption in a more balanced and sustainable manner. Originality/value This study is the pioneer to investigate the financial well-being of consumers in South Africa by jointly considering fintech adoption, technology readiness and consumers risk profiles, thereby filling an important gap in the literature.
Purpose This study decouples artificial intelligence (AI) from automation to examine their distinct yet interrelated roles in stabilizing Ghana's healthcare, manufacturing and banking and finance sectors following COVID-19. Rather than treating the two concepts interchangeably, the research empirically investigates how AI-driven cognitive analytics versus automation-driven process execution shaped operational continuity, service delivery and economic resilience. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a mixed-methods design, combining primary survey data from 4,311 Ghanaian firms with secondary literature. A comparative sectoral analysis evaluates adoption patterns, performance gains and implementation barriers across healthcare, manufacturing and banking. Findings Results demonstrate that AI and automation delivered divergent but complementary impacts. Healthcare, the most disrupted sector (65.4% of firms affected), benefited from AI diagnostics and telemedicine. Manufacturing leveraged automation for predictive maintenance and quality control, though smaller firms faced expertise and cost constraints. Banking exhibited greatest resilience through AI-powered chatbots, despite limitations in handling complex inquiries. Overall, 91.4% of businesses reported sales declines, representing an estimated loss of 115.2 million Ghana Cedis. Originality/value By decoupling AI from automation, this study provides a conceptually precise, data-grounded framework for post-pandemic industrial policy. It offers actionable strategies to address skill gaps, ethical risks and access disparities, ensuring sustainable technological integration for inclusive national growth in low- and middle-income economies.
Purpose This study investigates the key drivers of inflation in Morocco and assesses the effectiveness of post-COVID monetary policy interventions in managing inflationary dynamics. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on a Bayesian Vector Autoregression (BVAR) model that captures the dynamic interactions between inflation, energy prices, GDP growth, exchange rate and policy rate. Structural shocks were identified using a recursive identification scheme. Findings The results indicate that energy prices and economic growth are the main drivers of inflationary pressures, jointly accounting for over 30% of the variance in inflation, while the exchange rate contributes approximately 6%. The inflation in Morocco shows strong persistence over the short term. The post-COVID monetary policy had limited immediate effects on inflation but played a crucial role in anchoring expectations and supporting medium-term price stability. Originality/value This study is among the first to apply a BVAR and a TVP-VAR framework to inflation dynamics in Morocco by incorporating newly constructed quarterly real GDP data. It provides novel empirical evidence on the relative importance of supply and demand shocks in a developing economy context, and highlights the structural constraints affecting the transmission of monetary policy in the post-pandemic period.
Purpose This study examines the long-run relationship between renewable energy consumption, economic growth, and sustainable development in Nigeria over the period 2000-2023, while controlling for foreign direct investment (FDI), inflation, and urbanisation. It seeks to determine whether renewable energy and growth meaningfully contribute to multidimensional sustainability outcomes in a structurally volatile macroeconomic environment.Design/methodology/approach The study employs Fourier-based cointegration techniques to account for nonlinear dynamics and smooth structural breaks in Nigeria's macroeconomic time series. The Fourier Autoregressive Distributed Lag model is used to test for long-run relationships, while Fourier Integrated Modified OLS (FIMOLS) and Fourier Fully Modified OLS (FFMOLS) estimators provide robust long-run elasticity estimates.Findings The results indicate that renewable energy consumption and economic growth positively influence sustainable development, although their effects are inelastic. Urbanisation exerts a positive but conditional impact, whereas FDI inflows and inflation negatively affect sustainability outcomes. The significance of Fourier terms confirms the presence of structural shifts and cyclical adjustments in Nigeria's development trajectory.Originality/value This study contributes to the African sustainability literature by integrating renewable energy and growth within an SDG-based sustainability framework while explicitly controlling for macroeconomic stability, the structure of foreign investment, and the demographic transition. By applying Fourier-based estimators, it captures structural nonlinearities often overlooked in conventional African time-series analyses. The findings provide policy insights for aligning energy transition, macroeconomic stability, and investment governance with long-term sustainable development objectives in Nigeria and similar Sub-Saharan African economies.
Purpose This study explores the influence of board structure and director compensation on the financial reporting quality of nonfinancial firms listed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach Data from 110 firms listed on 10 securities exchanges from 2017 to 2023 were utilized. The Beneish M-Score serves as a proxy for earnings manipulation, employing a limited-dependent-variable estimation methodology with a multi-country panel dataset. Following the model specification tests, a random effect model was fitted. A pooled OLS model was employed for a robustness check. Findings The study finds that larger boards and higher directors' compensation are associated with a lower likelihood of earnings manipulation, indicating improved monitoring efficacy. Additionally, larger firms are less likely to engage in earnings manipulation, underscoring the need to enhance monitoring of smaller firms. Originality/value This study bridges the gap in the literature by providing cross-country evidence of financial reporting quality in Sub-Saharan Africa, an underexplored emerging market context. It contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing empirical evidence on the influence of board structure and directors' compensation on financial reporting quality across countries.
Purpose This study aims to examine whether fiscal autonomy (independent variable) influences intergovernmental transfers (dependent variable) and development-oriented expenditures proxied by capital expenditures (outcome variable) in Ghana's Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).Design/methodology/approach This study uses a balanced panel of 261 MMDAs, Ghana's local government units, over the period 2018-2024 (1, 827 observations) and applies panel regression, instrumental variable estimation, panel vector autoregression and spatial econometric models.Findings Fiscal autonomy was negatively associated with intergovernmental transfers, indicating that the transfer system may weaken local revenue mobilisation incentives. Simultaneously, fiscal autonomy had a positive and economically meaningful effect on capital expenditures, suggesting that internally generated revenue provides a more reliable basis for development-oriented spending than transfer dependence. Dynamic and spatial results further show that these effects persist over time and generate spillovers across neighbouring jurisdictions.Practical implications Transfer formulas should incorporate fiscal effort, improve predictability and reduce disincentives for local revenue generation. Strengthening local revenue systems and accounting for spatial interdependence can improve decentralisation outcomes.Originality/value The study shows how transfer design can reverse expected decentralisation incentives in a lower-middle-income country context and provides new evidence from Ghana using an integrated static, dynamic and spatial framework.
Purpose This study examines the evolution of weak-form market efficiency in the Nigerian Exchange by analysing return dynamics over the full sample period (2018-2023) and across three structural regimes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: the pre-COVID period (2018-2019), the COVID crisis (2020-2021) and the post-COVID recovery phase (2022-2023).Design/methodology/approach The study applies a hierarchical testing framework to evaluate the martingale difference hypothesis using daily returns from the NGX All-Share Index and the NGX Banking Index. Linear dependence is examined using Ljung-Box and runs tests, nonlinear dependence using the Brock-Dechert-Scheinkman (BDS) test, and the Generalised Spectral Test (GST) is employed as the primary test of the martingale property.Findings The results reveal time-varying efficiency consistent with the adaptive market hypothesis. We detect significant return dependence in the aggregate market during the pre-COVID and COVID regimes, which indicates deviations from weak-form efficiency. For the banking sector, supporting diagnostics detect dependence, but the GST does not reject the martingale difference hypothesis, suggesting behaviour closer to the efficiency benchmark. In the post-COVID period, the GST no longer rejects the martingale hypothesis for either index, indicating measurable improvement in informational efficiency.Research limitations/implications This study uses index-level data rather than firm-level observations and examines a relatively short post-COVID period, which may limit generalisability and the ability to capture firm-specific dynamics. Nevertheless, the findings provide valuable insights into evolving market efficiency in the Nigerian Exchange and highlight the role of institutional reforms, improved disclosure and nonlinear analytical methods in understanding adaptive efficiency in emerging markets.Practical implications The findings suggest that improvements in market infrastructure, disclosure systems and regulatory surveillance can enhance informational efficiency in emerging markets. For regulators, strengthening transparency and digital trading platforms may accelerate price discovery and reduce return predictability. For investors, the results indicate that market efficiency evolves across regimes and sectors, implying that trading strategies should adapt to changing market conditions. Overall, the study highlights the importance of institutional reforms and advanced analytical methods in understanding and monitoring market efficiency in developing financial systems.Originality/value This study provides a regime-segmented evaluation of weak-form efficiency in the Nigerian Exchange using a hierarchical framework that integrates linear diagnostics, nonlinear dependence tests, and spectral analysis. By comparing the aggregate market with the banking sector, the findings demonstrate that informational efficiency evolves across systemic shocks and varies across sectors within the same frontier market environment, indicating that the banking sector may respond differently to economic changes compared to other sectors, which could have implications for investors and policymakers.
Purpose This study investigates the relationship between financial development (FD), human capital (HC) and economic growth (EG) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approach This study employs the novel method of moment quantile regression (MMQR) to assess the heterogeneous associations between FD, HC and EG across the quantiles. Besides, this study utilizes feasible generalized least squares to validate MMQR outcomes.Findings The MMQR outcomes indicate that FD and HC are positively and significantly associated with EG across the lower, medium and upper quantiles in SSA economies. The magnitude of the association for HC is larger than that of FD and increases across the quantiles. The findings also reveal substantial heterogeneity across the SSA regional blocs, suggesting that the finance-human-growth relationship varies by regional structure.Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that FD and HC strategies in SSA should be region-specific rather than uniform. The policymakers should prioritize improving education quality, skills alignment and the efficiency of financial intermediation. The tailored reforms in the financial and education systems reflecting regional structural differences can better support sustainable and inclusive EG in SSA economies.Originality/value This study contributes to the existing body of literature by assessing the heterogeneous relationship between FD, HC and EG in SSA economies, including regional blocs, a dimension that has been largely unexplored in previous research.
Purpose- This study analyses the asymmetric impact of crude oil prices and exchange rates on stock market performance across 15 African countries from 2018 to 2024. It examines how these relationships vary across bearish, normal and bullish market conditions, challenging the efficient market hypothesis in African contexts. Design/methodology/approach- The study employs Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) with fixed effects, capturing regime-dependent responses and cross-sectional heterogeneity. Subsample analysis differentiates oil-exporting countries (Nigeria, Angola, Libya) from oil-importing nations. Findings- Oil prices exert a positive impact on stock markets which is stronger during downturns (0.97 at 0.10 quantile) than bullish periods (0.63 at 0.90 quantile). Exchange rate depreciation has a negative effect across quantiles (-0.14 to -0.11). Oil-exporting countries benefit more from price increases during downturns than importers. Practical implications- Oil exporters should accumulate sovereign wealth funds during price upswings. Importers need exchange rate stabilisation, as depreciation reduces stock values. Investors should increase oil-sector exposure during bearish markets and hedge currency risk in import-dependent economies. Originality/value- This study contributes limited multi-country evidence on Africa's oil-stock nexus using quantile techniques, providing actionable guidance for currency stabilization, sovereign wealth fund management and diversification strategies.
Purpose This research examines the impact of export diversification across various economic sectors on Africa's economic growth from 1990 to 2023, focusing on 18 resource-rich nations. Design/methodology/approach Panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) was used for estimation. Findings The Johansen Fisher Panel Co-integration Test revealed long-term relationships among the variables. Results indicate that diversification in agricultural exports negatively affects economic growth, while diversification in manufacturing and service sectors has no significant impact. Originality/value The study recommends that governments adopt mechanized farming, develop industries for raw material transformation, and enhance service sectors to improve economic contributions.
Purpose This study examines the effect of price and service quality on consumer switching behaviour in Nigeria's telecommunications industry, testing the global assumption of price dominance in a market characterized by infrastructure constraints and inconsistent service quality. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was employed, with data collected from 845 consumers in Lagos and Ibadan through a structured questionnaire. A logistic regression model was used to analyse the determinants of switching behaviour. Findings A clear hierarchy of effects was identified. Attractiveness of substitutes (Odds Ratio: 1.98) and advertising (OR: 1.48) have strong positive influences on switching. Customer loyalty (OR: 0.89) and service quality (OR: 0.92) are significantly associated with reduced attrition. Price exhibited a small but significant effect (OR = 1.01). Critically, service quality moderated this effect: consumers tolerated higher prices only when service quality was adequate, confirming that push factors (price) operate conditionally rather than additively. Research limitations/implications The geographical focus on urban centres usually limits generalisation. The findings suggest telecom firms should prioritise brand distinctiveness and targeted marketing over price competition, while strengthening loyalty programmes. Originality/value This research extends the Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) framework by demonstrating that the weighting of switching drivers varies with market infrastructure conditions. In Nigeria's low-infrastructure context, pull factors (attractiveness of substitutes) and mooring factors (customer loyalty) dominate push factors (price), challenging price-dominant models from developed markets and offering a context-sensitive framework for understanding consumer behaviour in African emerging economies.
Purpose This study examines the short-run dynamics between interest rates and non-performing loans (NPLs) in Ghana's banking sector, focussing on how fluctuations in lending rates influence credit risk and financial stability.Design/methodology/approach The study employs quarterly data spanning 2008 to 2023 and applies time-series econometric techniques, including unit root tests and a dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework, to capture lagged responses and adjustment behaviour in NPLs.Findings The results indicate a statistically significant short-run relationship between interest rates and NPLs, with increases in lending rates leading to higher credit risk after a lag. Inflation mitigates NPLs in the short term, while credit expansion initially improves loan performance but subsequently contributes to higher default levels. The evidence suggests that NPL dynamics are driven primarily by short-run adjustments rather than persistent long-run relationships.Practical implications The findings highlight the need for monetary authorities to balance inflation control with credit market stability and for regulators to strengthen credit risk monitoring in response to evolving macro-financial conditions.Social implications The study underscores the importance of coordinated macroeconomic and prudential policies in sustaining credit access, protecting borrower viability and strengthening the resilience of Ghana's financial system.Originality/value This study provides updated empirical evidence on the short-run monetary policy-credit risk nexus in an emerging market context, using an extended dataset for Ghana and a dynamic ARDL approach focused on short-run transmission mechanisms.
Purpose The main objective of this study was to investigate the determining factors of commercial banks' efficiency in Ethiopia by using both parametric (SFA) and non-parametric test (DEA) approachs among 13 commercial banks that were enrolled throughout the study period from 2011-2020. Design/methodology/approach The study used secondary data from audited financial statements of each bank in the sample, the National Bank of Ethiopia and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation for non-financial statement variables. To estimate the technical efficiency score, both parametric (SFA) and non-parametric test (Data Envelopment Analysis -DEA) approaches were employed on input variables. Findings The empirical findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in technical efficiency among Ethiopian commercial banks. Over the study period, the aggregate efficiency scores demonstrate consistently high performance, with Overall Technical Efficiency (OTE) averaging 97%, Pure Technical Efficiency (PTE) at 98%, and Scale Efficiency (SE) reaching 99%. These results, derived from both Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), underscore not only the operational competence of the sector but also highlight areas for potential scale optimization and managerial improvement. Practical implications The study suggests that bank management and policy makers should give attention to the internal and external factors of efficiency, which are highly significant variables to set direction for smart resource management and a technically efficient banking system. Originality/value This study applied both parametric (SFA) and non-parametric tests (DEA) approach by incorporating institutional level and macro-economic variables in the underdeveloped financial system context of Ethiopia, Africa. The findings of this study are valuable to the banking practitioners and policy-makers in the new milestone of Ethiopia's financial system, of launching the capital market and opening the banking industry to foreign banks after a close to a millennium.
PurposeThis study investigates the dynamics of exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) in Morocco.Design/methodology/approachUsing a two-regime Markov Switching Model (MSM) with quarterly data from 1998Q1 to 2024Q4. The MSM is employed to capture potential non-linearities and structural changes in the relationship between exchange rate fluctuations and consumer price inflation, particularly in light of the 2018 exchange rate regime reform.FindingsThe results reveal a profound non-linearity, identifying two distinct and highly persistent states. The dominant regime, representing the economy's "Normal State", is characterized by a statistically insignificant pass-through, effectively zero. In contrast, a second, rarely occurring "Crisis State" features an extremely high and significant ERPT of 7.51, indicating periods where inflation becomes hyper-sensitive to currency fluctuations. Crucially, the analysis finds no evidence that the 2018-2020 exchange rate reforms triggered a regime shift. The economy remained firmly in the zero pass-through state before, during and after the reforms, with the only shift into the crisis state being driven by the global inflation shock of 2021-2022. This suggests that while Morocco's inflation dynamics are resilient to domestic policy adjustments, they remain vulnerable to severe external shocks.Originality/valueThis research distinguishes itself by being among the first to employ a Markov-switching approach to specifically model ERPT in Morocco. While previous studies have utilized methodologies such as the structural vector autoregression (SVAR) or ARDL.
PurposeThis study explores how audit committee (AC) oversight is enacted in practice and how professional (functional) diversity, structured review activities and interactions with external auditors operate as governance mechanisms shaping audit quality in Ghana's rural and community banks (RCBs), a systemically important yet under-examined segment of the country's financial sector.Design/methodology/approachGuided by agency theory, resource dependence theory, and stakeholder theory, the study adopts a qualitative research design and draws on semi-structured interviews with 15 audit committee members and 15 external auditors. The data were analyzed using NVivo-assisted thematic analysis to generate process-oriented insights into audit committee oversight practices.FindingsThe findings show that audit committee effectiveness in RCBs is shaped by three interrelated oversight mechanisms: (1) professional (functional) diversity that enhances collective judgment and critical scrutiny, (2) structured and rigorous review of auditor independence, audit processes, and financial reporting and (3) sustained but independent communication between audit committees and external auditors. These mechanisms collectively strengthen audit oversight and support higher audit quality in resource-constrained banking environments.Practical implicationsThe study provides actionable governance guidance for regulators, boards and policymakers by demonstrating how audit committee composition, review discipline and auditor engagement can be strengthened to improve audit oversight in community-based financial institutions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to audit governance literature by moving beyond proxy-based evidence to provide process-level, qualitative insights into how audit committee oversight operates in practice. By integrating agency, resource dependence and stakeholder perspectives within the context of rural and community banks in an emerging economy, the study extends existing theories to stakeholder-intensive and resource-constrained institutional settings relevant across Africa and similar contexts.
PurposeFinancial development and globalisation are performing important roles across the economies in the world. However, the increase and decrease in financial development and globalisation may have different impacts on economic growth contrary to the assumption of an intrinsic monotonic relationship. This study therefore investigates the asymmetric effect of financial development and globalisation on economic growth in Nigeria during the period from 1980 to 2023.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed non-autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) for the estimation of the results while the Wald test is used to determine the existence of an asymmetric relationship both in the short run and long run.FindingsThe Wald test shows that the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Nigeria is asymmetric both in the long run and short run. Similarly, long-run and short-run asymmetric relationship between globalisation and economic growth is also confirmed by the Wald test. The NARDL results show that financial development increase is beneficial to economic growth while financial development decrease is harmful to economic growth in the short run and long run. The study also found that globalisation increase stimulates economic growth both in the short run while both the increase and decrease in globalisation reduce economic growth in the long run.Originality/valueThis study adds to the existing literature by determining the effect of the increase and the decrease in financial development and globalisation on Nigeria's economy.
