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Purpose The incentive to strengthen university governance is espoused by a number of implications but among these three are very conspicuous: improve quality of university education system, and thus provide students and the general public value for money; enhance the utilization of resources invested in university education; and nevertheless contribute significantly in human capital formation, guaranteeing effective and efficient public leadership and services to society. However, there are dearth studies on how this can be realized in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Ghana. The purpose of this paper is to explore pertinent issues for desirable university governance and how it can be achieved in the sub-region drawing from the Ghanaian perspective. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative study seeking to explore the questions: what is needed to ensure desirable university governance? And how can it be achieved? Data were collected from primary sources and bolstered with secondary sources. In-depth interviews (structured and semi-structured guides) and documentary evidence were used to collect data from 19 participants in selected public and private universities in Ghana. Findings The study examines key governance issues such as funding, accountability, infrastructure, trust, and regulation. The paper further identifies and discusses dilemmas (weakness in legislative instruments, quality assurance, increased enrollment and self-regulation) institutions of higher learning have had to contend with in the discharge of their duty. Social implications In an effort to make a difference between poverty and wealth, knowledge becomes an indispensable means and university education is at the center of such knowledge. The call for public universities to be managed like businesses continuous to be as contentious as an issue, as the term governance and the discussion might not end any moment soon. For the proponents of this idea, public universities are no longer getting the needed resource support from the state and by implication the state does no longer view university education as a social good and, therefore, they must find their own way of operating by introducing reasonable fees to generate revenue. However, the school of thought that is against this idea thinks that university education must continue to be treated as a social good because it is geared toward the development of the country and is expensive and if not subsidized, who can afford. The poor and disadvantaged will be marginalized and so the state must directly or indirectly continue to fund university education in return for accountability. Originality/value This explorative study is a contribution to the discourse of university governance. It primarily focuses on issues that could serve as a catalyst in enhancing university education. This has important implications for equipping universities in Ghana and within the African sub-region with similar challenges for a better output to meet the development needs of its ailing economies and reposition it as a major firebrand to instill competition on the global arena of lifelong learning.

This research seeks to study the factors that enhance or preclude owners of SMEs in Ghana in making risk management decisions. The study was conducted with managers of SMEs in four regions in Ghana. The researchers adopted a quantitative approach and employed STATA 10 and SPSS version 20 in the analysis. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample units. The probit model was used in the analysis of data. A total of 447 SMEs were sampled for the study, with at least 111 from each of the selected regions. The probit results show that the demographic factors indicate a positive influence on the likelihood that managers will take risk management decisions. All of the business related demographic factors are significant at various levels and positive, except for risk-loving. The economically related factors, such as the estimated amount at risk, the estimated cost of risk management and the estimated total monthly income after tax all have a positive influence on risk management decision making. However, government and tax policies are perceived to negatively influence risk management decisions by managers. We recommend that institutions working closely with SMEs acquire the expertise to train the managers of SMEs on risk management practices.

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