IRIN has two stories about the movement of human capital in Southern Africa that reveal a region in flux. The first shows how South Africa is trying to stanch the brain drain of skilled and highly educated workers and professionals, particularly in the healthcare profession. The second reveals beleaguered white former Zimbabwean farmers who had lost […]
I wanted to go back to a previous post of last week on Kyrgyzstan's potential hydropower development, because I couldn't consider all the dilemmas in one post. One dilemma I started to set up: much of the discussion concerns what kind of capacity would be needed in order to a. serve Kyrgyzstan; b. serve Central Asia's power needs and develop energy […]
Tajikistan, in partnership with the World Bank, is soliciting investment in its cotton enterprises, and international agricultural concerns have another two weeks to submit bids for investment. The forward, signed by Sharif Rahimov, the Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management and attached to the call for bids, is beautifully-expressed: it asserts […]
Louis E.V. Nevaer reports in the San Francisco Chronicle that American guns being smuggled into Mexico are helping fuel drug-related violence there. Mexico's military is searching southbound traffic along the border for shipments of weapons. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez acknowledged the problem last month in Mexico saying, “We are concerned about the number of weapons coming into […]
FPA's Migration blog includes an entry of interest to those following migration issues that relate to Mexico. The posting, “A Day Without a Mexican?” can be viewed here.
Cape Town has a perception as a racist city, according to Danny Jordaan, South Africa's Local Organizing Committee CEO for the 2010 World Cup. And he believes that the city (and the country in general) will have to shed that image if the 2010 event is to be a success. As a step in that […]
I’ve been reading through poems lately, and found this one about Afghanistan. It was written by reporter Eliza Griswold, who has been a reporter in Afghanistan, Africa, and Guantanamo. She has a book out: Wideawake Field (2007), published by Farrar Straus & Giroux. Buying Rations in Kabul The Uzbek boys on Chicken Street have never had enough […]
Well, as many Central Asia watchers are aware, Uzbekistan's elections were supposed to take place this last December. Therefore, they are over six months overdue. Some vague announcements of elections this December instead were made. But, as recently noted, no election preparation seems to be forthcoming. At last, perhaps a glimmer of electioneering? Or just […]
At last According to Ferghana.ru, the bodies of the missing Nurbank managers, Mr. Joldas Timraliev and Mr. Albar Hasenov, have been found. They have been missing since January. According to the same report, DNA testing was used to verify identity. Both officials showed the marks of torture. Mr. Rakhat Aliev, former-son-in law of President Nursultan […]
It doesn't take much to tip the scales toward economic catastrophe for the people southern Africa. A poor harvest followed by a bitterly cold winter means that Swaziland is experiencing some of its worst economic conditions in recent years. Food and medical scarcities, inadequate shelter, and general economic vulnerability have created conditions for a miserable winter for South […]
Not at all surprisingly, the Mugabe government's unilateral price cutting, and crackdown on those who would defy it, has proven to be a short-term palliative and not a long-term solution. Store shelves are empty. Shortages reign. Prices may be low, but no one can buy goods. Producers have stopped producing, store owners have stopped purchasing […]
A couple of items from West Africa caught my eye this morning: Ghana recently discovered oil off of its coast. But oil has usually proven to be a mixed blessing in Africa, bringing with it what has come to be known as the “petro-curse”: Fueling kleptocracy and division, exploiting poor workers for the benefit of […]
Yesterday, C. J. Chivers wrote in the International Herald Tribune that Turkmenistan's heroin addiction rate is phenomenally high: but how high, no one knows for sure. Under the Turkmenbashi, medical care was decimated, census and other facts not gathered, and crime prevention agencies turned increasingly to profit. In this article, Chivers ties the increasing pall that heroin […]
IWPR is reporting that Darigha Nazarbaeva, recently divorced from Rakhat Aliev, will be standing down from Parliament. Her father's party, Nur-Otan, sees her as a liability in upcoming August 18 elections. Ms. Nazarbaeva's Asar Party merged into Nur-Otan in 2006. The elections follow a number of Constitutional amendments, previously most famous for introducing a loosening […]
The militarization of petroleum and natural gas. . . I found an interesting news item about Gazprom last week that to me further indicates bonding between the political and economic in Russia's energy front. I lifted this pretty much verbatim from Andrea Mihaelescu at UPI (emphasis added): Russian gas giant Gazprom now has a right […]