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Globally, female entrepreneurship is increasing in developing countries, although women-owned businesses typically operate on a smaller scale and generate lower profits than their male counterparts. In South Africa, youth face significant challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment, exacerbated by unequal income distribution, which locks many into poverty and worsens psychosocial issues. The South African Ministry of Social Development identifies these factors as reasons to encourage young female entrepreneurship to combat these adversities. A study within the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality (KSDLM) utilised a questionnaire to gather insights from female youth entrepreneurs, revealing high perceptions of their contributions to economic growth and employment creation in the region, with mean values of 4.24 and 4.21, respectively. These findings underscore the crucial role of female youth entrepreneurship in driving local development and promoting confidence in women's economic contributions. The study underscores the importance of supporting women's entrepreneurship through policies and educational programs to stimulate social transformation and economic growth, ultimately contributing to a more equitable society. Addressing the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs is crucial to realizing their full potential and enhancing the nation's economy.

In an era of compounding crises, skills training is increasingly critical for building resilience in social enterprises (SEs), particularly in marginalized contexts. This study investigates the role of skills training in fostering resilience among township-based social enterprises in Johannesburg, South Africa. Operating within a legacy of spatial apartheid, chronic unemployment, and systemic inequality, these SEs face multidimensional skills gaps that constrain their scalability and sustainability. Through a qualitative, interpretive research design involving 15 SEs in Soweto, this study explores the key skills gaps, the contributions of training to resilience, and the systemic barriers to effective skills development. The findings reveal that skills gaps span financial literacy, technical competencies, digital skills, leadership, and psychosocial preparedness. Skills training, delivered through formal programs, private incubators, and informal peer networks, contributes to resilience by enhancing financial legitimacy, ensuring operational continuity, building social capital, and fostering psychological empowerment. However, significant barriers, including cost, geographic inaccessibility, communication gaps, and cultural mistrust, limit the inclusivity and impact of training initiatives. The study concludes that for skills training to be truly transformative, it must be reconceptualized towards co-designed, context-sensitive, and holistic models that integrate technical, managerial, and psychosocial capabilities. The insights contribute to the discourse on sustainable development and inclusive entrepreneurship in the Global South, offering implications for policymakers, development agencies, and social entrepreneurs seeking to build resilient ecosystems

Government-led housing initiatives are essential in disrupting cycles of poverty, as access to adequate shelter serves as a foundation for wider social and economic progress. This article includes 280 landless families from the Asharayan of Gopalganj district. The primary data for this study were collected with a predetermined questionnaire from June to August 2024. A stratified sampling technique was used to ensure a representative sample of landless households across the five upazilas of Gopalganj District. The sample is almost evenly split between males (47.9%) and females (52.1%), showing a slightly higher proportion of women. The largest age group is 25–40 years (44.6%), followed by 40–55 years (34.6%). Most respondents belong to nuclear families (80.4%), while only 19.6% live in joint families. The majority of households consist of 4–6 members (59.6%). Most households have at least one earning member (76.1%). A large proportion of respondents are illiterate (48.9%), while about one-third (33.2%) have completed primary education. Most earn between BDT 10,000–15,000 (28.2%). A majority (74.6%) reported an improvement in their condition, while 25.4% stated no improvement from staying in the Ashrayan project. Bivariate analyses showed a significant association between the improvement of overall conditions-such as housing, health, child education facilities, economic situation, satisfaction level, employment status, average monthly income, access to loans, and electricity-and the living conditions of the Ashrayan project’s residents. Binary logistic regression model detect that electricity facilities, housing condition and employment have significant impact on socio-economic condition of the landless people of that Ashrayan Project.

This study examined how conflicts between learners’ and teachers’ rights influence teachers' safety in South African schools and how school management structures respond to such situations. South African schools continue to experience high levels of learner violence and disciplinary disputes that are often framed through competing interpretations of human rights. These tensions shape teachers’ daily work and raise concerns about safety, dignity, and professional well-being. The study was guided by an interpretivist paradigm and informed by Curwin and Mendler’s Discipline with Dignity model. A qualitative case study design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers and learners at a secondary school in Limpopo Province. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The findings show that persistent rights-related conflicts and learner aggression create significant emotional, psychological, and professional strain for teachers. Teachers reported limited institutional support after incidents were reported. School Management Teams often prioritised learner welfare, inconsistently applied policies, and offered few practical safeguards for teachers. The study recommends clearer reporting mechanisms, stronger SMT accountability, regular review of school safety policies, and collaborative interventions involving parents, district officials, and support professionals to strengthen teacher protection and restore professional dignity

This paper examines the Resource-Based View (RBV) and the Theory of Firm Heterogeneity to clarify their theoretical boundaries and enhance their explanatory power. It addresses key limitations of RBV, including endogeneity, tautological reasoning, and limited attention to contextual influences, and examines how digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) reshape strategic resources and firm heterogeneity. The study employs a systematic review of the strategic management literature. It synthesises the core assumptions of RBV with insights from firm heterogeneity, evolutionary theory, and capability-based perspectives to assess how internal resources, contextual factors, and technological capabilities shape competitive advantage. The review indicates that RBV and the Theory of Firm Heterogeneity provide complementary explanations of persistent performance differences among firms. Competitive advantage depends not only on heterogeneous resources but also on firms' ability to adapt, integrate, and deploy these resources in response to changing environmental and institutional conditions. Digital transformation and AI further amplify firm heterogeneity by creating differences in technological capabilities and innovation capacity. The paper advances the strategic management literature by integrating RBV with the Theory of Firm Heterogeneity, offering a more comprehensive explanation of sustained competitive advantage. It demonstrates how digital technologies and AI reshape strategic resources and identifies future research opportunities in contextual influences, capability development, and technology-driven competitive advantage.

This exploratory qualitative study investigates the systemic factors contributing to persistent failures in strategic planning within law enforcement organisations. Drawing on 25 semi-structured interviews with strategic planners, station commanders, middle managers, and senior law enforcement managers, the study examines how organisational experiences, perceptions, and institutional dynamics shape the development and implementation of strategic plans. Guided by Systems Theory, New Public Management, Public Value Theory, and Evidence-Based Policing, the study applies Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis to identify critical weaknesses in environmental scanning, leadership stability, evidence utilisation, organisational capacity, resource allocation, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The findings reveal that strategic planning failures are deeply rooted in governance gaps, fragmented organisational processes, and inadequate analytical and institutional capacity. The study refines the Integrated Strategic Planning Model for Law Enforcement (ISP-LE) and offers practical recommendations to strengthen evidence-informed, democratically aligned, and operationally grounded planning. Implications for policy, organisational reform, and future research are discussed.

This article employs a structured, theory-guided comparative policy analysis to examine the persistent deficits in community trust that undermine primary health care (PHC) service delivery in Nigeria. Despite numerous reforms targeting financing and administrative structures, PHC utilization remains low and citizen confidence fragile. Drawing on policy learning theory, this study argues that Nigeria’s PHC reforms have predominantly involved first-order, instrumental adjustments, failing to foster deeper shifts in governance philosophy or state-citizen relations essential for building trust. Using Rwanda as a contrasting case, the analysis illustrates how its post-genocide PHC reconstruction leveraged second- and third-order policy learning to embed community trust within governance through co-production, robust accountability mechanisms, and deliberate institutional design. The paper identifies context-sensitive policy lessons for Nigeria, emphasizing that trust must be recognized and actively governed as a strategic resource for legitimate, responsive, and sustainable PHC systems, rather than merely a residual outcome of service delivery.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, grants all official languages parity of esteem and equal treatment. The Constitution also recognises injustices of the past and historical diminished use of indigenous (African) languages. It is against this backdrop that this democratic constitution calls-upon the national and provincial government to take practical and positive measures in encouraging the use and elevation of the status of African languages. In advocating for these languages, the Constitution declares that a minimum of two official languages be used by the government in executing government activities. Contrastingly, the heads of court resolutions in 2017 declared English a lingua franca in South African courts. In a diverse country such as South Africa with twelve official languages, this raises critical concerns in terms of the country’s diversity, inclusivity, and multilingualism policies. With a distinct focus on Eastern Cape legal courts, this study examines the constitutional linguistic rights on the use of English as a lingua franca in South African courts system. The study adopted a qualitative research approach embedded within the exploratory-explanatory research design. The data was obtained from secondary sources, which in this context are judicial precedents. To analyse the collected data, close-reading and thematic content analysis techniques were adopted. The findings of the study exhibit English as a language of power and access in law, this positions African languages at the periphery, limiting their development and incorporation in legalese. Also, the use of English as a lingua franca in the Eastern Cape courts contravenes the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. This study submits that legal practitioners and linguists should critically explore, language studies to bridge the knowledge gap.  Additionally, the government should create channels which allow the practical use of African languages in the court of law.                                                                                                                                             

Despite the significant economic contribution of the jua kali enterprises, the industry is beset by fundamental financial issues that limit their firm performance. Consequently, many of these enterprises fail soon after they open for operation; 50% to 95% fail during the first five years. The development of seed capital is one of the main issues affecting the firm performance of Jua Kali enterprises. This research assessed the effects of seed capital on firm performance of Jua Kali enterprises in Kamukunji, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to; establish the effect of angel investors, equity financing and crowdfunding on firm performance of Jua Kali enterprises in Kamukunji, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The anchor theory was the Resource-Based View, Pecking Order Theory, and Information Asymmetry Theory. The study used quantitative methods, applying positivism paradigms. Both explanatory and descriptive research designs was used in this study. The target population was the 4763 Jua Kal enterprises in Kamukunji, Nairobi City County, Kenya and unit of enquiry their managers/owners. Using, a formula, the study obtained a sample size of 367 respondents. The study used stratified proportionate sampling and simple random sampling to obtain respondents from the associations. Construct validity was used to examine the questionnaire's validity and Cronbach's alpha at the 0.7 level was used to test its reliability.  Data was analysed to produce descriptive and inferential statistics. The results from the analysis were presented on frequency tables.  The study found that each of angel investors, equity financing and crowdfunding, has significant effect on firm performance of Jua Kali enterprises in Kamukunji, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study recommends for angel investors to be active not only in providing finance but also in strategic mentorship and networking, and advisory services. For entrepreneurs, internal equity financing should come first while the potential of crowdfunding can be harnessed by training business owners. More so, entrepreneurs should build management skills, financial literacy, and strategic abilities while the government and regulatory bodies should streamline policies and clarify compliance requirements with supportive tax incentives.

The motor vehicle assembly industry is crucial for industrial development, job creation, and economic growth. However, Kenya’s motor vehicle sector has seen a decline in local market share, revenue, and competitiveness due to strategic stagnation, weak innovation, and operational inefficiencies. This study therefore examined the effect of competitor elimination strategy on the performance of motor vehicle assemblers in Kenya. The study was anchored on the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory. It adopted a descriptive and explanatory design. The target population comprised all 21 licensed and operational motor vehicle assembly firms in Kenya and the 202 employees directly involved in strategy and operations at three management levels across these firms. A census approach was used, and primary data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Three firms were purposively used for the instrument pretest, after which the main study was conducted among the remaining 18 firms. Construct validity was assessed through factor analysis, and reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha (≥ 0.70). Descriptive statistics provided foundational insights, while inferential analysis included Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation and simple linear regression; thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. The study found that competitor elimination strategy had a positive and statistically significant effect on the organisational performance of motor vehicle assemblers in Kenya (R² = 0.340, β = 0.451, p = 0.000). Policymakers in Kenya should promote innovation, product differentiation, and strategic positioning through R&D incentives, first-mover support, and cross-industry collaboration to enable effective competitor elimination. Motor vehicle assemblers should implement product bundling, differentiated offerings, strategic alliances, and innovation initiatives to create unique market space, reduce direct competition, attract new customers, increase market share, and enhance overall performance and sustainability. This study provides insights to guide strategic innovation and competitiveness in Kenya’s motor vehicle assembly industry, contributing to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Africa’s Agenda 2063, and Kenya Vision 2030.

Patients with mental illnesses exhibit disproportionately higher rates of substance use compared to the general population, a pattern that is linked with exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms leading to poorer overall health outcomes. Consequently, a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence and patterns of substance use among psychiatric patients is essential for the development of effective, evidence-based mental health interventions. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and patterns of substance use among psychiatric patients attending a tertiary hospital in Tshwane, Gauteng Province. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted among psychiatric patients, with a sample size of 405. The Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) version 3.1 was used to collect data on substance use, while a quantitative questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic information; both were analysed descriptively. The findings of this study indicated a high prevalence of substance use, with 70.1% of participants reporting substance use. Furthermore, schizophrenia emerged as the most common psychiatric diagnosis, accounting for 32.6% of cases. Alcohol was the most frequently used substance (60.5%), followed by tobacco (49.9%) and cannabis (26.4%). These results highlight the significant overlap between psychiatric illness and substance use, emphasizing the bidirectional relationship between the two. It is thus concluded that substance use is highly prevalent among psychiatric patients, underscoring the urgent need for integrated treatment approaches that address both psychiatric conditions and substance use disorders to improve clinical outcomes, reduce relapse rates, and enhance overall quality of life.

Emergency care units are high-pressure, fast-paced environments where nurses, as frontliners, play a critical role in delivering life-saving care to patients in acute need and mental health emergencies. Despite their crucial contributions, nurses working in these settings face unique challenges that can impact not only the quality of patient care but also the physical and emotional well-being of nursing staff. Understanding these challenges is important for optimizing workplace conditions, enhancing patient care outcomes, and reinforcing the indispensable contributions of nurses within emergency healthcare settings. This study explored the challenges faced by nurses caring for mental healthcare users in emergency care units. A qualitative exploratory-descriptive design was used.  Purposive sampling selected a sample of 14 nurses from the population who participated in the study. Data were collected using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Data analysis was guided by thematic analysis. The findings showed that poor infrastructure and increased workload were major challenges faced by nurses in emergency care units. These challenges impacted their ability to provide optimal care to mental healthcare users. Despite the significant challenges identified, emergency care units remain central to critical patient care. Improving infrastructure and alleviating staff workload are essential to building a more resilient and responsive emergency care system. We recommend that healthcare institutions develop and implement strategies to support nurses and enhance patient outcomes within emergency care units.

This study seeks to examine the impact of quality control techniques on operational efficiency in manufacturing organisations, specifically identifying the most successful practices that foster long-term success. The research employs a twofold approach: it first analyses current literature on the incorporation of quality principles in diverse manufacturing companies, identifying shortcomings.  Secondly, employing quantitative methodologies through surveys directed at South African manufacturing experts. This study utilised a purposive sample method to choose participants from the available population.  Purposive sampling is a nonprobability sampling technique that involves gathering data from designated target groups or individuals according to a defined criterion. The results indicate that employee training, ongoing improvement, and internal audits are the paramount quality control techniques, substantially promoting a culture of quality and advancing operational development. Employee engagement, proactive strategies, and remedial actions are seen as essential components for maintaining enduring operational performance. The incorporation of supplier quality management and control charts improves decision-making and guarantees product uniformity. The research highlights that organisations can enhance competitiveness, operational efficiency, and customer happiness through the implementation of good quality control practices. These methods result in enhanced production, decreased operational expenses, and increased market sustainability. Organisations must prioritise staff training, ongoing enhancement, and supplier quality control to maintain a competitive edge. This study enhances the existing information by emphasising the essential quality control techniques that affect operational efficiency in manufacturing entities. It offers significant insights into the execution of quality control techniques and their influence on business performance, presenting pragmatic recommendations for managers aiming to enhance operational efficiency.

This study investigates the relationship between exposure to online promotional content and changes in business image evaluations and purchase intention toward informal clothing enterprises in Bangladesh. Based on the O-S-O-R framework, the study conceptualizes online promotional content as the stimulus, post-exposure business image as the post-orientation construct, and purchase intention as the response, considering age group and frequency of social media usage as pre-orientation factors. Using a nonprobability purposive sampling approach with self-selected participation, the study implemented a one-group pretest-posttest design through an online questionnaire administered to 391 respondents in Bangladesh. Analyses included descriptive statistics, reliability tests, exploratory factor analysis, paired-samples t tests, Spearman correlations, and linear regression. Results indicated statistically significant increases between pre-exposure and post-exposure for business image (mean difference = −1.297, t = −50.945, p < .001) and purchase intention (mean difference = −1.254, t = −39.308, p < .001). Age group was negatively associated with post-exposure business image, whereas frequency of social media use was positively associated with it. Post-exposure business image was also a strong predictor of purchase intention (β = .486, p < .001, R² = .236). This study contributes to the literature by extending extant research on digital consumer response in informal small-business clothing retail in Bangladesh and suggests that well-designed promotional content is positively associated with business evaluations and purchase-related intentions. Since this study used a one-group pretest-posttest design, the results should be interpreted as evidence of association rather than causation.

This study examines how formal and informal institutional pressures influence public sector financial reporting quality in Ghana. Despite ongoing public financial management reforms, challenges such as weak enforcement of standards, inconsistent disclosures, and limited transparency continue to undermine reporting quality. Existing research has largely emphasised technical and administrative determinants, with limited attention to the role of institutional pressures in shaping reporting behaviour. Grounded in Institutional Theory, the study adopts a quantitative approach and collects data from 344 senior finance officers across ministries, departments, and agencies in Ghana. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is employed to analyse the relationships between regulatory environment, government structure, societal expectations, stakeholder expectations, and financial reporting quality. The results indicate that government structure and societal expectations significantly enhance financial reporting quality, while the regulatory environment and stakeholder expectations have no significant direct effects. The study contributes to institutional theory by demonstrating that formal and informal pressures exert unequal influence in a developing-country public sector context. It also extends public sector accounting literature by providing large-sample empirical evidence from Ghana. The findings suggest that improving reporting quality requires strengthening governance structures, enhancing civic accountability mechanisms, and improving enforcement capacity.

This paper analyses the impact of economic globalisation on income inequality in Botswana, emphasising both direct and indirect transmission mechanisms. The study utilises annual time-series data from 1990 to 2023, employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and the Toda–Yamamoto Distributed Lag (TYDL) Granger causality method to examine the interrelations among economic globalisation, trade openness, inflation, economic growth, and income inequality. The results indicate a consistent long-term link among the variables, wherein economic globalisation diminishes income disparity, whilst broader globalisation and trade openness likely to intensify it. The causation findings indicate that both economic globalisation and globalisation directly impact income disparity, while globalisation also indirectly influences inequality via inflation. Real GDP per capita indirectly affects inequality via globalisation, while exports directly contribute to inequality. The study indicates that while economic globalisation fosters economic growth and integration, its advantages are inequitably allocated. It advocates for inclusive economic globalisation policies, targeted fiscal redistribution, financial inclusion, and export diversification to guarantee equitable and sustainable growth in Botswana.

With the increasing awareness of health and the widespread adoption of social media advertising, health food advertising has become an important source of information influencing consumer decision-making. However, existing studies have primarily focused on the effects of attitudes or behaviors, with limited attention to the underlying psychological mechanisms. Therefore, this study applies optimal arousal theory to examine how expertise and trustworthiness in health food advertising influence consumers’ purchase intention through perceived information relevance. The findings indicate that both expertise and trustworthiness positively affect perceived information relevance, which in turn significantly enhances purchase intention. These results suggest that individuals tend to pursue an optimal level of stimulation, and when advertising information evokes an appropriate level of psychological arousal and aligns with personal needs, it is more likely to facilitate positive behavioral responses. In addition to confirming the importance of perceived information relevance, this study extends optimal arousal theory from the level of sensory stimulation to the cognitive level, thereby advancing the development of optimal arousal theory research.

This research seeks to investigate the individual and organisational elements that can influence patient happiness in premium healthcare environments. It also seeks to determine which factors most significantly account for variations in patient experience among hospital units. This research employed a mixed methods design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). The quantitative phase employed an online survey method including 1,751 frontline staff, including nurses and patient-facing administrative personnel, across 14 premium hospitals in Indonesia. This sample constituted 64% of the overall population coverage. The study assessed seven constructs: competency, motivation, weariness, emotional intelligence, leadership support, workplace culture, and hospital policies. Simple linear regression analysis was employed to examine the correlation between these variables and unit-level patient satisfaction levels. The qualitative phase employed a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) methodology, with eight participants selected via maximum variation sampling. The qualitative data were examined with the Gioia thematic analysis method to comprehend the operational dynamics of these aspects in everyday practice. Our results indicate that five of the seven hypothesised parameters strongly predicted patient satisfaction at p < 0.05. The strongest predictor of workplace culture was identified, with a R² value of 0.641. Subsequently, emotional intelligence exhibited a R² of 0.565, while hospital policies demonstrated a R² of 0.560. Individual competency, with a p-value of 0.458, and weariness, with a p-value of 0.812, did not substantially predict patient happiness. The study's findings, derived from a qualitative method, elucidate how organisational elements manifest through specific daily routines, including shift briefings and well-defined standard operating procedures. In high-quality healthcare environments, organisational factors seem to be more significant predictors of patient satisfaction than the proficiency of individual staff members. These factors encompass organisational culture, leadership availability, and explicit hospital regulations. This discovery undermines the presumption that individual staff proficiency is the primary distinguishing element in patient satisfaction. When hospitals implement rigorous hiring requirements and staff achieve the requisite baseline competency, organisational variables significantly influence patient experience. Consequently, the results indicate that leaders in premium healthcare should not concentrate just on enhancing individual competencies. They must also enhance work culture and leadership techniques that promote continuous patient-centered service behaviour.

This study examines the effects of disaggregated corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on the economic wellbeing of host communities in Tanzania’s mining sector. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the study adopts a quantitative cross-sectional design using primary survey data collected from 393 respondents in three gold-mining regions - Geita, Mara, and Kagera, with 332 valid responses analysed using SmartPLS 4. The analysis focuses on the effects of economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic CSR practices on community-level economic outcomes. The findings indicate that ethical, legal, and philanthropic CSR practices have positive and statistically significant effects on economic wellbeing, while economic CSR practices are not statistically significant. These findings suggest that while legal CSR practices contribute positively to economic wellbeing, their influence remains relatively modest, indicating that compliance-based interventions alone may not generate substantial household-level improvements. In contrast, responsible business conduct and community-oriented investments appear to exert a stronger and more direct influence on local development outcomes. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical support for disaggregating CSR into distinct dimensions when assessing development outcomes in extractive industries and highlights the need to move beyond aggregate CSR measures toward more differentiated and context-sensitive analyses. From a policy and practice perspective, the findings underscore the importance of aligning CSR initiatives with community priorities and strengthening implementation frameworks to enhance their developmental impact in resource-dependent economies.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the enforcement mechanisms and compliance challenges in Africa’s Continental Trade Regime. This study employed the qualitative doctrinal and policy research design to explore the issue of the enforcement of transport services regulatory matters within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The study adopted a doctrinal analysis of the AfCFTA instruments with a combination of thematic policy reviews; hence, it relied exclusively on secondary qualitative data obtained from authoritative legal and institutional sources. Primary data sources and materials comprise the AfCFTA Agreement, Protocol on Trade in Services, the Dispute Settlement Protocol, and relevant annexes that govern regulatory cooperation, market access, and nontariff barriers. The data collection procedure involved a systematic desk review and thematic analysis for qualitative studies to analyse the data. The review shows four main enforcement mechanisms of the regulatory framework of transport services under the AfCFTA. These include legal obligations and notification requirements, institutional oversight by AfCFTA bodies, peer review and political accountability, and dispute settlement mechanisms are some of the most outstanding aspects of the AfCFTA Agreement. Factors including regulation fragmentation, the absence of enforcement powers, non-transparency, and restrictive market access conditions, insufficient professional standards in commonality, insecurity, and transport barriers challenges the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms. The authors conclude that the design of the AfCFTA alone is not adequate in facilitating the opening of the transport service. The study therefore provides pragmatic measures to strengthen the institutional capacity, harmonise the regulations, and monitor compliance better. These reforms can influence the reduction of trade costs, the improvement of supply chain reliability, and the attainment of the AfCFTA's broader aim of economic integration across the continent.