Timeshare vacation ownership, a purchase of the right to occupy accommodation or a facility for a defi ned period of time during a year over a specifi ed number of years or perpetually, has over the past 30 years experienced a signifi cant and sustained growth to become one of the most sought after products in the hospitality industry. The timeshare industry grew from $ 50m in 1975 to $ 10bn in 2006 fueling a signifi cant increase in the industry capacity. This paper ascertains why timeshares have gained so much signifi cance to hotel developers and to explore whether consumers should invest in timeshare vacation ownership. Two divergent factors combined to drive the popularity of timeshares ownership among hotel owners. First, the multiple sources of income namely contract sales, interest payments and maintenance and club membership fees. Secondly, timeshares are immune to economic performance. Timeshares are not suitable as investment properties because prices are infl ated to cater for the expensive marketing programmes, which account for more than 43 per cent of the contract price. However, industry surveys suggest that the owners are generally satisfi ed. Consumers should not enter into timeshare vacation contracts for investment purposes but for buying a vacation in advance. Even then, it is better to purchase outright instead of fi nancing the purchase.

China has over the past thirty years experienced unprecedented economic growth averaging over 10% per year (“China GDP Annual Growth Rate ∣ 1989-2018 ∣ Data ∣ Chart ∣ Calendar” n.d.). For this reason, the relationship between China and Africa is often characterized as a case of China colonizing Africa to own natural resources and their associated infrastructure to feed its industrialization. Despite this postulation, Africa sees the cooperation as based on mutual interests in areas such as energy. The two regions could leverage their cooperation with the help of the international community to significantly advance access to electricity in Africa by improving energy efficiency, deploying cookstove programs to reduce health hazards and deaths from smoke inhalation, diversifying energy portfolio, and creating power pools that countries experiencing hiccups in their systems could tap into to meet their electricity needs. The two regions could also formulate energy policies to support these programs. Additionally, the energy infrastructure in Africa is still in infancy presenting an excellent opportunity to utilize emerging technologies and new power systems that are more efficient, resilient, and clean.

The analysis of the trends in the growth of the digital economy in Africa particularly sub-Saharan Africa and the drivers behind that trend are presented in this paper. The author concludes that the digital divide between Africa and other continents is rapidly closing owing to deployment of large data pipes to connect the continent to other regions and countries within the continent, reduction in the cost of internet delivery, increased internet security, decline in the cost of cell phones, increase in population particular the emergence of the youth population which is quick to adopt new technologies, and the migration of the population to cities. Other contributing factors include adoption of production technologies such as such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, the need for telemedicine to deliver healthcare to rural areas and migration of most business transactions to online platforms, which all produce large volumes of data for instant use.

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The increased electricity demand amidst inadequate electricity generation in South Africa has plunged the country into frequent power outages and load shedding. However, the country still has the lowest electricity transmission and distribution losses in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite low losses, there is still an opportunity to reduce losses further and reduce power outages and load shedding. This study examines the determinants of electricity transmission and distribution losses in South Africa. The results will inform policymakers on avoiding higher electricity transmission losses to alleviate the current electricity shortfall. Using the time-series data from 1971–2020 and the autoregressive distributed-lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration, the study confirmed a long-run relationship between electricity transmission, distribution losses, and income, price, investment, political regime, and economic integration. Regression analysis from the ARDL methods revealed that investments, political administration, and economic integration positively influence electricity transmission and distribution losses. At the same time, income reduces electricity transmission and distribution losses in the long run. However, income, price, and economic integration minimize electricity transmission losses in the short run while the remaining variables maintained their positive effects. The implication is that without proper checks in place, an expansion in South Africa’s economic integration, investment, and democracy may negatively affect the electricity sector of the country through an increase in electric power losses, while higher income will help the industry via lower electric power losses. The paper, among other things, recommends building a robust economy to ensure lower levels of electricity transmission and distribution losses.