Perspectives on Global Development and Technology最新文献

Many countries in the world competed to integrate technology in all sectors, and some of them were able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in this area. However, African countries face several challenges in the field of digitalization. This article aims to study the results of these difficulties that appeared clearly during the COVID-19 crisis. The study used a SWOT analysis to highlight the status of the digital transformation in Africa. The results recommend that the countries need to integrate the digital innovation into the systems of work, education, healthcare, and environment. Also, it proved that these challenges, especially those related to the digital integration, represents a great obstacle to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

Incontrovertibly, stigma and its concomitant stigmatization continue to derail the efficacy of the campaign to subdue stigma that negatively affects people’s health-seeking behavior. This is because they are engulfed with fear, despondency, shame, and guilt. The current article, through a literature review methodology, discusses pertinent states of stigma and stigmatization associated with COVID-19 in eclectic contexts, but with more focus directed to Sub-Saharan Africa. Findings indicate that COVID-19 is associated with stigma and stigmatization: fear of contagion; hatred and maltreatment meted out against health professionals; a lack or unavailability of the vaccines and concerns for their efficacy; and mythical and fallacious environments. The article recommends that for effective de-stigmatization of COVID-19, societies need to explore how stigma is caused. The governments and other COVID-19 campaign authorities must work synergistically to control, regulate, and streamline the information dissemination process so that it is bereft of ambiguities, myths, and mistruths surrounding COVID-19.

In this article, I propose the vulnerable group theory of financial inclusion. The theory begins with the premise that vulnerable people are often left behind in society, they suffer the most from economic hardship and crises, and they are at risk of being excluded from the formal financial sector. The theory therefore proposes that financial inclusion efforts should be targeted at all vulnerable people and groups in society. Bringing vulnerable people into the formal financial sector will give them access to available formal financial services, which they can use to earn income and acquire assets that they can use to take themselves out of the vulnerability bracket. The study also identifies the vulnerable groups in need of financial inclusion and proposes a vulnerability grid. Several avenues to expand the theory are suggested.

Though the benefits of mobile adoption in banking institutions are extensively recognized, there is a low pace of its adoption among customers. The establishment of behavioral factors that can motivate banking customers to adopt mobile banking has been a concern. Provided that no single framework can fit all sizes, this study builds on past research to invest in behavioral factors among customers toward MB adoption. Through a cross-sectional survey design, 325 questionnaires were distributed among university students in Tanzania to assess customer behavior that can motivate MB adoption. Using structural equation modeling (AMOS 21), the study found that when customers possess judgmental heuristic knowledge that allows them to understand how risks associated with the adoption of MB can be resolved, they are motivated to adopt the innovation. The study recommends the importance of providing knowledge to their customers through various mechanisms and the benefits associated with mobile banking adoption.