In addition to performing their basic fiscal functions, governments in developing economies are constantly challenged by new and re-emerging socioeconomic issues such as insecurity, hunger, natural disaster, collapsing infrastructure and disease outbreaks. These piles of challenges have made the competition for limited resources fierce and hence the need to mobilize more funds. Bearing this in mind, this study explored the role of ICT in mobilizing tax revenue in a trade bloc made up of developing countries—Southern African Development Community (SADC). Using panel data of 12 member countries of the bloc between 2001 and 2020 within the Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) framework, the estimated parameters of the employed measures of ICT (internet usage and mobile cellular) indicated that ICT has a statistically significant positive effect on tax revenue. The results are consistent for all categories of taxes examined including total tax revenue, taxes on goods and services, and taxes on income, profit and capital gains. Following the outcomes of this study, it is recommended that in addition to sound public finance policies, policies aimed at fostering digital automation of tax processes should be focal in revenue mobilization plans of member countries.

In addition to performing their basic fiscal functions, governments in developing economies are constantly challenged by new and re-emerging socioeconomic issues such as insecurity, hunger, natural disaster, collapsing infrastructure and disease outbreaks which have made the competition for limited resources fierce and hence the need to mobilize funds. Revenue mobilization forms a critical crux of development plans in any economy and the public finance literature is replete with an investigation of factors that motivate revenue mobilization. In spite of the documented indisputable roles of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economic performance of developing economies and the resultant aggression in mobilizing FDI, its implications for tax revenue have not been well investigated. This study, therefore, assessed the role of FDI in mobilizing tax revenue in South Africa. Accounting for the potential structural break, the study used time series data from 1994 to 2021 within the Autoregressive Distributed Lag–Error Correction Model (ARDL-ECM). The results showed that FDI has a statistically significant negative effect on tax revenue. Following the outcomes of this study, it is recommended that in addition to sound public finance policies, the government should prioritize efficient investment policies in its FDI mobilization drive.

Given the indisputable roles of remittance and financial development in countries’ economic performance, enhancing the nexus between the two variables has become pertinent. The remittance–financial development literature has surged, with a growing argument that making the relationship work is conditioned on mediating roles of certain economic indicators. Despite the overwhelming evidence of the transformative roles of digital technology, the assessment of its possible mediating role in the remittance–financial development nexus is lacking in the literature. Hence, using pooled data of 35 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries sourced from the World Bank’s Development Indicators, this study examined the mediating effect of digital technology in the relationship between remittance inflows and financial development. Using two indicators of ICT—fixed broadband and mobile cellular subscription—the results of the generalized method of moment analysis suggest that digital technology spurs remittance inflows to promote financial development in SSA. The results are consistent for both measures. These findings imply that remittance and digital technology are complementary in promoting financial development in the sub-region. Based on these outcomes, the study therefore advances the enactment of policies aimed at fostering diffusion of digital technology and achieving the sustainable development goal’s recommendation of lower transaction cost of remittances.

Recurring global health concerns such as the COVID-19 pandemic served as perfect examples of the "health is wealth" discussion and contributed to a growing understanding of the strong relationships between multiple risks to global socioeconomic success and poor health. Another development is the inclusion of gender-specific health goals in the SDGs which have highlighted the critical role of women’s health in attaining global health and ending the cycle of poverty. This study aims at examining factors influencing women's health in two Southern African countries namely South Africa and Eswatini affected by a significant burden of disease. The regression outcomes show that female economic participation, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), female education, teenage pregnancy, income and urbanization have varying effects on female health outcomes in both countries using gender specific socioeconomic factors within the framework of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL). This research engages policy makers and strategists in the health sector on the need to address gender disparities in formulating health policies. Moreover, policies and strategies aimed at fostering better health outcomes by solving national priority health challenges in particular the HIV/AIDS epidemic and health-risk behaviours should be prioritized.