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Within the context of public sector accountability, the purpose of this paper is to examine South African state-owned enterprises (SOEs) auditing practices and how they have contributed to mitigating prevalent corporate governance issues in South African SOEs.

This paper utilised a thematic content analysis of archival documents relating to South African SOEs. Firstly, to assess the extent to which the auditing dimension of the corporate governance codes, applicable to South African SOEs, conforms with best practices. Secondly, to determine the extent to which the audit practices of all the 21 South African SOEs listed in Schedule 2 of the Public Finance Management Act, have implemented the identified best audit practices.

The findings suggest that South African SOEs appear to have adopted and implemented best audit practices to enhance the quality of their accountability in relation to their corporate governance practices, as contained in their applicable corporate governance frameworks. However, despite the high levels of conformance, the observation that most South African SOEs continue to fail and require government bailouts, appears to suggest that auditing has no bearing on poor SOE performance, and that other corporate governance factors may be at play.

The discussion and findings in this paper suggest that the auditing practices of South African SOEs are adequate. However, that SOEs in South Africa continue to be loss-making may imply that this has contributed little to mitigating their corporate governance problems. Thus, policymakers and standard setters, including the Institute of Directors South Africa and relevant oversight bodies should pay attention to better developing means by which to curtail fruitless and wasteful expenditures by South African SOEs through improved corporate governance practices.

Most SOEs’ mission statements encourage SOEs to be socially responsible and utilise taxpayers’ monies efficiently and effectively without engaging in fruitless and wasteful expenditure. This study is conceived in this light.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, while acknowledging previous studies, this paper is the first to explore this topic in the context of SOEs and in the context of Africa.

This paper aims to formulate a research agenda by developing a conceptual framework for studying and mitigating corporate governance issues in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), considering pertinent management theories and theories of the firm as described in the contemporary academic discourse on SOEs.

The authors commenced broadly with the traditional narrative review method to understand the field of corporate governance in SOEs in line with subject matter knowledge. The authors carefully identified studies on corporate governance of SOEs and read them, noting and following relevant citations. The authors then proceed with a more methodical (qualitative) systematic literature review (QSLR) process, selecting more explicit articles and taking advantage of the complementarity of narrative and QSLR methods.

The review identifies seven pertinent theories in the organisational field of SOEs and describes five of the seven theories that must be conceptualised in examining corporate governance issues in SOEs. Following the description of the theories, this paper suggests a novel strategy for minimising corporate governance issues in SOEs by bringing together corporate governance problems in SOEs and offering insights into how the management theories and the theories of the firm may be applied in studying and mitigating corporate governance problems in SOEs, considering their practices and characteristics.

This review paper responds to calls for further research into public entrepreneurship and elaborates theories applicable to studying corporate governance in SOEs. This involves navigating through SOEs literature, focusing on theories and how they might be conceptualised to explore corporate governance issues in SOEs. This represents the largest research convergence on SOEs, given that various corporate governance challenges typically face SOEs worldwide.

The review offers guidance on applying theories to understand corporate governance challenges in SOEs, particularly using the identified theories in specific corporate governance problem areas. This study appears to be one of the only ones on this topic. Thus, the propositions put forth suggest that the conceptualisation of corporate governance in SOEs in this paper adds value for academics, practitioners and policymaker observers.

Workspace equality and inclusivity remain critical in promoting diversity and dynamism across all sectors of the economy. Despite recent progress, gender disparities persist in the real estate sector, including education and training programmes. This study employs a quantitative research design to assess gender diversity of real estate education at Federal Polytechnic Ede in Nigeria. The study focuses on female students' enrolment in real estate programmes, their experiences, perceptions and any potential effect on real estate career prospects.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 138 out of all the 150 female students currently enrolled in the real estate programmes. Descriptive statistics and a one-sample t-test were utilised for the data analysis.

The findings indicate an increased number of females enrolled in real estate programmes. Female students face a lack of access to mentorship opportunities and perceive gender discrimination and bias in the real estate industry. However, these industry factors would not deter female students' decision to pursue a career in the real estate industry after graduation.

This study to the best knowledge of the researchers is the first to investigate gender dimensions of real estate programmes in the context of African higher education institutions; thereby contributing to the body of knowledge on gender diversity in this field.

Managing patients’ health information is one of the building blocks of the health system and the adoption of health information technologies like electronic health records (EHRs) is expected to reduce the various challenges in keeping and accessing quality health-care data that aid decision-making among medical practitioners. This study aims to investigate how leadership styles and change management affected the job performance of health information management practitioners on their adoption of EHRs in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.

The study used primary data collected using a Likert scale questionnaire from 117 health information management officers and health information technicians in selected tertiary hospitals in South-Eastern Nigeria. The data were analysed using bivariate correlation and multiple regression techniques of inferential statistics.

The analyses revealed that transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style and change management had significant positive influence on the job performance of health information management practitioners. However, laissez-faire leadership style did not show any significant positive influence. A further analysis showed that the combined effects of leadership styles and change management were also affirmed to significantly influence the adoption of EHRs for quality health-care delivery in Nigerian tertiary hospitals.

The study contributes to health information management and the need to understand how leadership styles and change management can influence the adoption of EHRs. However, there is no adequate research that examined the role of leadership style and change management in influencing the job performance of Nigerian HIM practitioners regarding their usage of EHRs in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.

We developed the Goal Achievement Scale in Colleges of Education (GASCE) to address the lack of context-specific assessment tools for evaluating goal achievement in Nigerian colleges of education. Existing instruments fail to capture the unique challenges of these institutions, making a reliable and valid scale essential for assessing educational success.

Using a descriptive survey research design, we developed and validated the GASCE through expert review, pilot testing, and statistical analyses. Our sample of 450 respondents from Nigerian colleges of education participated in exploratory factor analysis (EFA), graded response modeling (GRM-IRT), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA). We assessed reliability using composite reliability and validated construct and criterion-related validity through correlations with external goal achievement measures.

CFA confirmed a six-factor structure – critical thinking, committed teaching, high motivation, intellectual fitness, professional fitness and social fitness – with strong model fit indices. Reliability testing showed high internal consistency (Omega alpha: 0.845–0.919). MG-CFA confirmed measurement invariance across academic and non-academic staff (Δcomparative fit index < 0.015, Δroot mean square error of approximation < 0.010), while criterion-related validity was supported by significant correlations with external measures.

While the sample size supports validation, it may not fully represent all Nigerian colleges of education. Future research should expand the sample and incorporate objective performance data for further validation.

The GASCE provides policymakers, educators and administrators with a robust tool to assess and improve educational performance, facilitating targeted interventions and efficient resource allocation.

The GASCE fills a critical gap in educational assessment by offering a reliable, context-specific tool for Nigerian colleges of education. It enables comprehensive evaluation of goal achievement, supporting continuous improvement in teacher education programs across Nigeria.

Fish farmers in Africa often operate on small-scale culture units, primarily due to poor access to funding and low technology adoption. Digital innovation platforms seek to enhance farmers’ access to finance, production and farmers’ income. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support these claims. Therefore, this study investigated the factors influencing fish farmers’ access to microcredit from digital innovation platforms and the impact of this microcredit on fish farms’ yield and income in Nigeria.

A mixed-methods approach was adopted, and data were gathered from 387 fish farmers through a well-structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. The data were analyzed using probit regression and instrumental variable two-stage least squares regression.

The results revealed that ownership of smartphones, awareness of digital agricultural innovation platforms, farmers’ education, income, fish farming as a primary occupation, cooperative society and extension contacts positively influenced farmers’ access to microcredit from digital innovation platforms. The age of farmers and household size negatively influenced their access to digital microcredit. Digital microcredit positively and significantly impacted fish farms’ yield and farmers’ income.

Digital microcredit significantly increased fish farm yield and income. Therefore, digital innovation platforms should be encouraged and promoted through the creation of awareness about their ability to solve inadequate financing in agriculture by agricultural extension agents.

This study contributes to our understanding of the influencing factors for farmers accessing digital microcredit and how digital microcredit enhances farm yield and income.