In The News

Sudan: Helping the Exiles Return

Ramiro Lopes da Silva March 31, 2005
As civil unrest in southern Sudan settles down, exiles from the region have begun to return in droves. Despite better living conditions in developed countries in Europe and the Americas, these immigrants are surprisingly willing to move back to their country of origin. "Given the choice, people will almost always return to their homes," writes Ramiro Lopes da Silva. This voluntary...

Where Faith Is a Healer

Madeleine Bunting March 28, 2005
While secularism has taken hold in Europe, the story in the rest of the world has been quite different. Seemingly different regions, such as the Americas and the Middle East, have experienced substantial increases in religiosity. Africa is no exception: Christianity and Islam are expanding dramatically, and traditional African religions are experiencing a renaissance. A forthcoming BBC report...

Dollar's Fall Silences Africa's Garment Factories

Michael Wines March 14, 2005
The fall of the US dollar has begun to have a real and tangible effect upon southern African economies. In countries like Lesotho, where the struggling economy is dependent upon the garment industry, closing factories have cost thousands of jobs in the past months. Competition from the giant Chinese apparel industry contributes to the sudden squeeze, but the key factor, writes the New York Times...

North Ugandan Conflict, Forgotten But Still Deadly

Katherine Southwick March 9, 2005
From Sudan to Congo to Côte d'Ivoire to Rwanda, the African continent seems plagued with humanitarian crises. Some of these situations have received international attention – though often times, too late. Others have been virtually ignored. Such is the case with Northern Uganda, home to one of Africa's longest and most brutal civil wars. As Katherine Southwick reports, the anti-...

The Year of Africa's Economic Turnaround?

Amarnath Singh March 8, 2005
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economies of 30 African countries, as well as the continent as a whole, are projected to grow at a relatively high rate this year. However, Africa's nations still face many obstacles to becoming market miracles. Many remain paralyzed by poverty, AIDS, bad governance, high development and infrastructure costs, and social instability....

Tsunami's Legacy Includes Airborne Toxins

Ochieng' Ogodo March 3, 2005
A recently released United Nations report details the environmental consequences of the South Asian tsunami. Sewage, asbestos, and oil have contaminated groundwater throughout the region. The ecological disaster has spread to Somalia, whose coastline has long been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste by other nations. Evidence now shows that the tsunami stirred up this nuclear waste,...

Leveraging the Dragon: Toward "An Africa That Can Say No"

Chris Alden March 1, 2005
China is extending its economic influence to every corner of the world, and natural-resource-rich Africa is no exception. Between 2000 and 2003, China-Africa trade volume increased from US$10 billion to US$18 billion. However, some fear that this bilateral relationship is not built on equitable terms. According to economist Chris Alden, Africa's trade deficit with China has increased...