PBS: Escaping Eritrea … [Read More...] about ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ
Zimbabweans’ survival strategies
Kudzai Mashininga |12 Mar 2020 | Mail & Guardian oseph Mbano* keeps the contact details of every fuel attendant he meets. He’s made friends with about a dozen of them, hoping to be tipped off when fuel is available in Harare, so that he can fill up one of his family’s two vehicles. They can no longer afford to keep both cars on the road; getting petrol for one … [Read more...] about Zimbabweans’ survival strategies
More African countries confirm first Covid-19 cases
Thirty African countries are now treating nearly 400 patients with Covid-19 David Lewis |16 March 2020 | Business Day Nairobi — Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma pledged to donate more than 1-million coronavirus tests to Africa on Monday, as more African nations confirmed their first cases or shut borders amid fears of the disease's impact on fragile … [Read more...] about More African countries confirm first Covid-19 cases
The United States Must Not Pick Sides in the Nile River Dispute
Ethiopia and Egypt are at odds over a Nile dam. Washington should be helping them compromise, rather than doing Cairo’s bidding. By Addisu Lashitew | March 14, 2020 | Foreign Policy Egypt and Ethiopia have once again locked horns over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile. On Feb. 26, Ethiopia temporarily suspended its participation in the … [Read more...] about The United States Must Not Pick Sides in the Nile River Dispute
The Digital Dictators: How Technology Strengthens Autocracy
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Erica Frantz, and Joseph Wright, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2020 I’ll be watching you: outside a mosque in Xinjiang, China, June 2008 Kadir Van Lohuizen / Noor / Redux The Stasi, East Germany’s state security service, may have been one of the most pervasive secret police agencies that ever existed. It was infamous for its capacity to … [Read more...] about The Digital Dictators: How Technology Strengthens Autocracy
Africa’s Democratic Moment? The Five Leaders Who Could Transform the Region
By Judd Devermont and Jon Temin | June 11, 2019 | Foreign Affairs In the 60-plus years since the countries of sub-Saharan Africa started becoming independent, democracy there has advanced unevenly. During the Cold War, many African states turned into Soviet- or U.S.-backed dictatorships. Afterward, some nascent democracies made notable gains, but others … [Read more...] about Africa’s Democratic Moment? The Five Leaders Who Could Transform the Region
African praise of Saudi Arabia highlights diplomatic pressures
Sam Mednick, Elias Meseret, and Ahmed Mohamed Salem Associated Press | October 24, 2018 | Christian Science Monitor In the weeks after Jamal Khashoggi's murder, five African nations made statements in support of Saudi Arabia. The statements are an example of how foreign aid may influence diplomatic decisions, particularly in the horn of Africa. Addis Ababa - As … [Read more...] about African praise of Saudi Arabia highlights diplomatic pressures
Fresh Prince: The Schemes and Dreams of Saudi Arabia’s Next King
F. Gregory Gause III | May/June 2018 Issue | Foreign Affairs It is not often that a Ritz-Carlton becomes a detention facility. But last November, when a large slice of the Saudi elite was arrested on accusations of corruption, the luxury hotel in Riyadh became a gilded prison for hundreds of princes, billionaires, and high-ranking government officials. Behind this … [Read more...] about Fresh Prince: The Schemes and Dreams of Saudi Arabia’s Next King
Mo Ibrahim: Africa’s decade of ‘lost opportunity’
Simon Allison | 30 Oct 2018 | Mail & Guardian The 2018 African governance index was released this week. It’s not good news. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance, now in its 11th iteration, is the most comprehensive measure of governance on the African continent. It makes for thoroughly depressing reading. “Public governance progress in Africa is lagging … [Read more...] about Mo Ibrahim: Africa’s decade of ‘lost opportunity’
Villagers win landmark case against mining company
Allan Seccombe | 25 October 2018 | Business Day Constitutional Court judgment sets precedent for how mining companies should deal with land owners A group of 38 villagers won an important victory in the Constitutional Court against their own community mining company and set a precedent for how land owners should be dealt with by mining companies. In a ruling that … [Read more...] about Villagers win landmark case against mining company
Ethiopia gets female president as it commits to reforms
George Obulutsa | 25 October 2018 | Business Day Primer Minister Abiy Ahmed reshuffled cabinet has 10 female ministers Addis Ababa — Ethiopia’s parliament has approved senior diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president, proceedings on state television showed, cementing another shift in the country's political system from Prime Minister Abiy … [Read more...] about Ethiopia gets female president as it commits to reforms