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The adoption of e-taxing plays an important role in modernizing tax administration. Ghana, like many other developing countries, has adopted e-taxing to modernize its revenue collection processes and improve its tax-to-GDP ratio. This study aims to examine the current state of e-taxing maturity in Ghana, focusing on the advancements made and what can be done to achieve a mature e-taxing system.

Through qualitative design, interviews were conducted with Ghana Revenue Authority, National Information Technology Agency and Businesses to provide an in-depth understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improving e-taxing maturity.

The study reveals mixed e-taxing maturity. While the digital service aspect of e-taxing has seen progress, digital infrastructure, digital analytics, digital integration and digital culture hinder the full actualization of mature e-taxing.

The findings suggest the need for a comprehensive plan that addresses regulatory, cultural, technical and organizational aspects to drive digital transformation in e-taxing tax implementation.

The lack of resilient infrastructure, especially in rural areas, can worsen societal inequalities. Owing to the lack of telecommunication infrastructure and poor internet connectivity in rural areas, businesses in these areas may lack the needed information for business growth and expansion. This can result in unfair treatment of rural businesses widening the inequality gap between businesses in urban areas and rural areas. Therefore, the study is important from the standpoint that implementing the recommendations will help to bridge the gap between businesses in urban areas and rural areas.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is among the first to conduct an empirical study on e-taxing maturity in Ghana.

Electronic government (e-government) initiatives are critical in bringing about transparency, accessibility and efficiency in public service delivery. Drawing upon e-government literature and the political system theory, this paper aims into the challenges faced by businesses in using e-government applications and how the implementation of e-government can be improved.

Using a qualitative research method, data was gathered through in-depth interviews with top executives of businesses in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

This study reveals that uneven access to digital technology, security concerns and resistance to change are the main challenges hampering the use of e-government applications by the business sector. Furthermore, this study identifies opportunities for facilitating the implementation of e-government including seeking for feedback from the business community, benchmarking and monitoring and collaboration among government agencies.

This study highlights the challenge of digital divide, which hinders the full realization of the benefits of e-government services for the business sector. Policymakers need to prioritize e-government programs that bridge the gap by way of improving internet connectivity, digital literacy and access to technology. Policymakers should embark on targeted infrastructure development, information, communication and technology training and programs to advance adoption of the e-government among underserved business communities.

Government agencies must conduct training programs on digital skills and cyber-security for businesses. In addition, businesses should introduce change management initiatives that promote culture of ingenuity and flexibility.

This study contributes to the filling the dearth of knowledge on the discourse on e-government adoption in developing economies, particularly in the context of business to government e-government model.

Waste management has become a topical issue among scholars, practitioners, and industrialists. This study extends the debate on waste within informal communities, highlighting the functionalities of local assemblies in Ghana, a developing country context. This study utilized the desk research regime situated within the qualitative approach. Several sources of data, including key policy documents in context, were used to inform the conclusion reached. The results show a lack of independence of local assemblies to enforce waste management by-laws in informal communities. It further indicates that limited waste management departments within the metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) and a lack of funds are to blame for effectively managing waste and sanitation in the informal settlements. Being desk research, the findings of the study should be carefully interpreted to reflect similar settings and characteristics across national, regional, and international contexts. The study explored the nuance of waste and sanitation management and discovered some setbacks to effective waste management, as well as practical ways of addressing them. This research is one of the few to examine waste management and sanitation-related issues within informal communities in a developing country context.

The chapter explores the implications of digitalization on the informal economy of Ghana, focusing on the agricultural, microcredit, transportation, and retail sectors. The study was designed as a qualitative study with data collected from books, articles, government reports, business reports, and newspapers. The data collected were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The study argues that in the agricultural sector, e-agriculture initiatives and digital tools have improved farming practices, providing timely scientific knowledge to farmers and increasing yields. The microcredit sector has been transformed through digital financial services, which have expanded financial inclusion, lowered costs, and simplified regulatory compliance. In the transportation sector, digital platforms like Uber and local startups have streamlined operations, improved safety, and created economic opportunities for drivers. Additionally, e-commerce platforms have facilitated stock ordering and delivery for retailers, reducing downtime and formalizing their transactions. These digital innovations are crucial in enhancing the formalization of the informal economy in Ghana, providing numerous benefits for businesses and individuals in these sectors.

This study aims to examine the motivations and supports of stakeholders in the slum communities, Ghana.

Two-stage methodologies were used for data collection. Published Google News articles about the phenomenon as well as exploratory qualitative in-depth interviews with 15 participants.

The evidence shows that structured and unstructured are the two main categories of stakeholders operating in the space of slums in Ghana. It shows that stakeholders are motivated by their objectives and ethical or moral obligations to provide support in the form of consumables, housing and finance to the slums.

Because of the data collection regime used in this project, findings are specific to the Ghanaian context and not generalisable. However, the results could be beneficial in other contexts with similar slum phenomena.

The conclusions drawn serve as a springboard for urban managers responsible for slum administration and management to develop policy packages to incentivise and enlist more non-slum stakeholders in the existing stakeholders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the few that expands the frontiers of the stakeholder model within context to discover specific slum stakeholders, their motivations and support for the slums in a consolidated manner.

The increasing concern for the protection of the environment through pollution prevention, conservation of resources and less usage of energy has attracted several firms to align green practices with their supply chain and human resource policies and practices. This study explores the influence of green human resource management and green supply chain management practices on operational, market, financial, social and environmental performances.

The study uses partial least square–structural equation modeling approach to analyze the data gathered through structured questionnaires from supply chain and human resource managers in manufacturing and hospitality firms in Ghana.

It is established that green supply chain management practices play complementary partial mediating role between green human resource management and operational, market, social and environmental performances, while it plays competitive partial mediating role between green human resource management and financial performance. Subsequently, the analysis reveals that the synergy between green human resource management and green supply chain management creates the highest value in operational performance, followed by market performance, environmental performance, financial performance and social performance.

The study proposes and tests a conceptual model that examines the synergistic influence of green human resource management and green supply chain management on operational, market, financial, social and environmental performances.

The integration of building information modelling (BIM) and life cycle assessment (LCA) is an effective means of achieving sustainability in the built environment. However, research remains scant on BIM-LCA integration in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI). This study aims to evaluate the barriers to BIM-LCA integration in the GCI from the perspective of construction professionals.

Epistemologically relevant theory was developed using interpretivism and post-positivist principles and tested using primary quantitative data. Firstly, a comprehensive literature review identified and examined BIM-LCA integration barriers. Structured surveys of 216 Ghanaian construction professionals collected data on BIM-LCA integration barriers. Data was then analysed using exploratory factor analysis.

Findings revealed three clusters of barriers, namely, organisational barriers; technical complexity; and knowledge and education. These findings identify and recommend solutions to BIM-LCA integration barriers to standardise processes, raise awareness and integrate project management systems. BIM-LCA adoption will increase productivity, sustainability, construction sector employment (and skills development) and economic growth. This paper concludes with future research on how artificial intelligence and machine learning could improve BIM-LCA integration in building designs. Such work would reveal how new technologies can be used to overcome adoption barriers and promote sustainable building.

This research provides novel knowledge on the barriers to BIM-LCA adoption in Ghana. Practical recommendations for overcoming these barriers are also proposed, e.g. developing standardised procedures and protocols, increasing awareness and education and integrating BIM-LCA into project management systems.

Since the fifteenth century when Europeans first established a credible presence in Ghana, colonial values have played a significant role in shaping lifestyles in the country. Despite these imported influences, the courtyard house remains the predominant house form in rural and urban areas alike. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that there is relatively little appreciation within academic and policy-making circles of its versatility. In this paper, the authors focus on the built form of the urban courtyard house and examine its utilitarian qualities from a predominantly architectural viewpoint. Finally, an attempt is made at predicting the medium-term future of this house type.

This study aims to review the status quo, current state of research, research hot themes and research gaps in sustainable facilities management (SFM) in the built environment (BE) through an extant literature review.

To map and analyze knowledge paths in the context of SFM research, a sequential explanatory mixed-method review involving bibliometric and content analysis was used to help identify current research trends, research hot themes and knowledge gaps. The Scopus search engine was used to find 169 relevant articles. For a better understanding of the literature accumulated, a bibliometric analysis was carried out by using VOSviewer to reveal current research themes, the status quo and current state of research as well as research gaps.

Through the literature review and content analysis, the current research themes on SFM revealed from the study include green building technologies, assessment methods of SFM, smart buildings and building information modeling. The research hot themes in SFM include smart buildings and green building technologies, green buildings (GB), architectural and building designs in the university sector, assessment methods in buildings and decision-making and the adoption of asset and facility management in the university sector. Indoor air pollution, intelligent buildings, climate change, maintenance, environmental management, facilities, historic preservation, environmental performance, energy management, etc. are the research gaps identified from the study, and these serve as potential areas for future research studies under SFM. It was recognized that facilities managers are increasingly involved with sustainability policies within their organizations and are developing sustainability agendas to keep up with the changing nature of the facilities management (FM) profession.

The findings of this study hold relevance to the FM practice, as the integration of SFM by facilities managers can lead to waste reduction, decreased operating expenses and reduced energy consumption. In addition, occupants of sustainable buildings experience improved conditions that contribute to better health and productivity, thus boosting their overall well-being. Consistent with the themes of smart buildings and green technologies, revealed to be the hot themes in the SFM research scope, properties with sustainable features can command higher rental rates and property values, appealing to a broader range of stakeholders. SFM practices in universities can aid in saving money from reduced facility operational costs and improve the image of institutions while creating better indoor environments for students and staff. The analyses of countries involved in research can open doors for the establishment of research groups and the development of collaboration between universities in different countries researching similar topics of interest.

The geographical scope of this study is not limited and, therefore, encourages broad applicability of the findings to the global sustainable BE.