Browsing by Author "Joseph Jakisa Owor"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Africa’s Preparedness for AI-Driven HRM Practices: A Systematic Literature Review
(International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2025-08-27) Joseph Jakisa Owor; Kofi Sarpong Adu-Manu; Mary Naula Owor
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming Human Resource Management (HRM) globally, reshaping recruitment, workforce analytics, and employee engagement. While the Global North has advanced rapidly, Africa’s adoption remains limited and uneven due to infrastructural gaps, weak regulatory frameworks, and low AI literacy. This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) guided by PRISMA methodology to assess Africa’s readiness for AI-driven HRM across six dimensions: digital infrastructure, policy frameworks, organizational capacity, skills readiness, ethical and cultural alignment, and employee wellbeing. The findings highlight a dual reality. On one side, Africa struggles with poor broadband penetration, fragmented policies, and insufficient training among HR professionals. On the other, positive developments are emerging, including innovation hubs in Kenya and Rwanda, growing digital literacy in South Africa, and increasing university–industry partnerships. Comparative insights from the Global North and peers such as India reveal both shared challenges and valuable learning pathways. This review contributes to knowledge by moving beyond deficit-based perspectives. It underscores Africa’s unique opportunities to pursue Afrocentric, ethically grounded, and culturally sensitive strategies for AI integration in HRM. In doing so, it emphasizes context-specific approaches that can transform AI adoption into an inclusive and responsible driver of organizational change and human development.
Financial Inclusion Outcomes in East Africa, 2017-2025: A Cross-Country Analysis of Access, Usage, Quality and Empowerment
(Advanced Research in Economics and Business Strategy Journal, 2025-12-31) Joseph Jakisa Owor
Financial inclusion is central to sustainable development in Africa, yet its effectiveness depends on more than simply expanding access to financial accounts. This study examines progress in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda between 2017 and 2025, focusing on whether increased access to financial services has translated into meaningful empowerment outcomes. The analysis is guided by four hypotheses: (1) access does not guarantee regular usage; (2) service quality determines sustained inclusion; (3) digital channels can foster empowerment; and (4) gender disparities persist despite narrowing gaps in account ownership. Findings reveal divergent country experiences. Kenya is approaching saturation in account ownership, with digital services increasingly integrated into daily life and contributing to higher levels of resilience, though risks of over-indebtedness are evident. Tanzania demonstrates strong gains in mobile money adoption and interoperability, yet empowerment outcomes remain limited due to persistent service quality concerns. Uganda shows steady growth in access, but usage continues to lag, constrained by high transaction costs, weak consumer protection, and entrenched gender inequalities. Overall, East Africa outperforms many developing regions in expanding access, but empowerment outcomes remain uneven and fall below global averages. The study concludes that the next frontier of financial inclusion lies not in widening access but in strengthening quality, building resilience, and embedding gender-sensitive digital innovations. Policy recommendations call for user-centred strategies that emphasize affordability, transparency, consumer protection, and empowerment, ensuring that financial inclusion becomes a transformative pathway to sustainable development.
The Policy-practice Divide in Financial Inclusion in Six African States
(Journal of Development Policy and Practice, 2025-12-24) Joseph Jakisa Owor
Over the past decade, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has witnessed a surge in National Financial Inclusion Strategies (NFIS), framed as vehicles for reducing poverty, promoting equity and accelerating economic transformation. Yet, a persistent policy-practice divide undermines these ambitions, particularly in fragile and low-capacity states. This article investigates this divide through a comparative analysis of six East African countries—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan—drawing on the Global Findex Database (2017, 2021), NFIS documents and peer-reviewed literature. Building on institutional theory, fragility studies and policy implementation models, we propose a conceptual framework linking policy inputs, institutional capacity and fragility to outcomes in access, usage and equity. Findings reveal that while Kenya and Rwanda demonstrate relatively strong alignment between strategy and practice, anchored in regulatory innovation and digital infrastructure, fragile contexts such as Burundi and South Sudan show limited progress, with informal systems filling the void left by formal institutions. The article’s originality lies in its explanation of why these divides persist, highlighting institutional capacity, governance quality and fragility as critical mediators. We recommend recalibrating NFIS towards usage-driven goals, embedding gender responsiveness, supporting informal-formal linkages and strengthening monitoring systems. By reframing financial inclusion as both an equity imperative and a macroeconomic resilience strategy, this article advances scholarly and policy debates on how African states can bridge the implementation gap.