In The News

John Feffer February 5, 2016
Though Botswana relied almost exclusively on its diamond wealth, its economy has grown steadily since 1966, rivaling China and South Korea’s growth rates. Good governance allowed Botswana to avoid the resource curse that afflicted many of its neighbors. Botswana’s diamond-producing industry is lucrative and provides well-paying, often unionized jobs to locals. Recently, diamond companies have...
January 26, 2016
The Pentagon is gathering intelligence in Libya, preparing to target Islamic State holds with allies France, Great Britain and Italy. “That is deeply troubling,” argues the editorial board of the New York Times. “A new military intervention in Libya would represent a significant progression of a war that could easily spread to other countries on the continent.” The terrorist group is estimated to...
January 15, 2016
Al-Shabab is reported to have attacked an African Union military Base in a small town west of the capital of Mogadishu: “Kenya contributes more than 4,000 troops to the 22,000-strong AU force that is in Somalia helping the UN-backed government battle al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda,” reports BBC News. The African Union is a continent-wide force supported by 54 nations. Al-Shabab may be...
Ben Casselman December 31, 2015
Microloans for as low as $25 have long been praised for triggering innovative entrepreneurship and reducing poverty – by allowing the purchase of a few chickens or a cell phone. Ben Casselman takes a more critical look at microloans for FiveThirtyEight, writing, “A series of six independently conducted randomized controlled trials found that a variety of microlending programs had little to no...
Benjamin Fox December 24, 2015
Companies seek to maximize profits by reducing tax payments, relocating if necessary. Tax avoidance and illegal financial flows cost Africa $50 billion per year, suggests one report. “Legislation in Europe and North America is now in force requiring extractive sector firms to publish country-by-country reports of all payments they make to governments, a system that is gradually being expanded to...
Charles Mkoka December 14, 2015
The Chinese Embassy is pledging support for a Stop Wildlife Crime campaign to stop ivory trafficking in Malawi. China’s ambassador to Malawi said that blame for such smuggling often centers on Chinese nationals, but the government opposes the criminal activity. Zhang Qingyang, China’s ambassador to Malawi, “added that China has put into force a number of laws and regulations and consistently...
Peter Müller, Ralf Neukirch and Andreas Ulrich December 11, 2015
European leaders are meeting behind closed doors to tighten the continent’s external borders and stem the flow of refugees from areas of conflict in the Middle East. Spiegel Online reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to finalize a deal that includes Turkey: “Essentially, it calls for Europe to provide billions in aid to Turkey in exchange for Ankara doing all it can to prevent...