Abstract/Summary

FOREWORD: I would like to welcome each participant to the WABER 2021 Conference. Since its inception in 2009, the WABER Conference series has done a great deal to nurture and support researchers, initially in West Africa, also, in other parts of Africa and elsewhere. I would like to thank all delegates for your participation which enables us to keep this Conference going. The WABER Conference enjoys a positive international reputation and has continued to grow from strength to strength over the past 13 years. For this, I would like to thank our team, keynote speakers and participants over the years for every contribution you have made to the success of this Conference. This year's Conference has an excellent programme, line up of speakers and authors. I would like to thank and commend the authors of all 72 papers in this Conference proceedings. If the research paper writing process was compared to a marathon, the authors of the 72 papers in this publication would be adjudged as the ones who have endured and finished the race. We opened the call for papers for this Conference in December 2020 and over 100 abstracts were submitted by authors. However, it is one thing to propose to write a paper, and it is quite another thing to actually write the paper. Therefore, I would like to thank and congratulate all authors who succeeded in completing the process of getting published in this conference proceedings. It is befitting that we have an excellent range of interesting topics in the 72 papers to be discussed at this conference. We are honoured to welcome Professor Charles Egbu, Vice Chancellor of Leeds Trinity University, to give us a special opening address. In the three days of this conference, we will have various plenary presentations by experienced international academics and I would like to thank and welcome each of them below. Professor Albert Chan Richard Lorch Professor Taibat Lawanson Professor Dato’ Sri Ar Dr Asiah Abdul Rahim Professor George Ofori. In addition to these speakers, we have other interesting sessions on the programme including a special session for doctoral students and supervisors several other experienced speakers addressing various topics that should be of interest to many of us. I would like to thank all members of the organising team particularly Associate Professor Emmanuel Essah, Dr Yakubu Aminu Dodo and Dr Sam Moveh for their efforts which has helped to organise this Conference successfully. I would also like to thank all of our reviewers particularly Associate Professor Emmanuel Essah and Dr Haruna Moda for the considerable time and effort spent reviewing and checking all papers to ensure a high standard of quality. The WABER Conference Team always plays an excellent role in the success of our events and I would like to thank and appreciate the contributions of Florence, Sam Boakye, Victor Ayitey and his team, Kwesi Kwofie and Issah Abdul Rahman to the success of this Conference. I hope you enjoy our first hybrid conference and engage with our exciting speakers on the diverse topics that will be covered over the three days of this Conference.