Here are a few stories that I’ve been thinking about in recent days: A new report from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), Africa and the Arab Spring: A New Era of Democratic Expectations, the first volume of the Africa Center’s new Special Report series, uses the Arab Spring as a lens through which […]
It is always worth remembering the elections are a necessary but not sufficient condition for the emergence of democratic states. The same can be said about the connection between elections and the twin pillars of freedom and stability that most of us desire for struggling nation states. I’ve been thinking of these linkages as the […]
A couple of weeks back South African cricket legend Basil D’Oliviera passed away, presumably from complications due to the Parkinson’s disease from which he had suffered for many years. D’Oliviera is best known for his centrality in the crisis that bore his name, the “D’Oliviera Affair.” Unable to play cricket at the highest levels in […]
Five weeks of pretty much nonstop travel has taken its toll on, among other things, my posting and editing here at the Africa blogs. Redemption starts now! I was interviewed the other day by a reporter for The Christian Post on recent events in Egypt and you can see the resulting article here.
As Morocco prepares for parliamentary elections this Friday, check out this campaign poster by the Party of Justice and Development (Islamists) from @__Hisham (a great person to follow on Twitter for insightful Morocco-related info, btw). It’s what some in Morocco are referring to as the PJD’s female “Dream Team.” It is, of course, interesting because […]
So, next Friday, Morocco will be the first country in the region to hold parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring. (Tunisia’s recent election, an Islamist-strong assembly was chosen to write the new constitution. Egypt will hold parliamentary elections on Monday, November 28 to choose members of both its legislative chambers.) Morocco hasn’t received as much […]
Ali Abdullah’s continuous refusal to step down is costing Yemen and its neighbors. The tenacious leader’s action is exporting the disaster, living conditions, threat to safety, health and livelihood of refugee from East Africa. According to the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration sources from the region, thousands of Africans continue to seek […]
So the big news out of South Africa today is that Julius Malema, firebrand president of the ANC Youth League and general lightning rod for controversy has been suspended (or forced to “vacate his position”) for five years from the ANC. And for good measure the party also ousted the Youth League’s “arrogant” spokesman, Floyd […]
Posting has been light on my part because I have been in an almost constant state of travel of late. My apologies. And that travel continues tomorrow when I begin a trip that will ultimately take me to the Sport and the Global South conference to be held next Tuesday and Wednesday (November 15th and […]
It is tragic to see the continuing violence and instability in Somalia. It is not clear to me if the recent development is an opportunity or a start of another cycle of violence and the displacement of millions of Somalis. In fact, what is happening today in Somalia and in the sub region as a […]
Liberia has finished the first phase of what is turning out to be a fascinating presidential election that also reveals just how fragile the country’s recovery from the depths of internecene warfare is. Incumbent president and recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf leads all candidates but appears set to fall short of the […]
Is South Africa’s Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula using a traditionally marginalized cabinet position as a springboard to something larger within the ANC hierarchy? Nickolaus Bauer of the Mail & Guardian thinks so. There is no reason why the Sports Ministry or any other traditionally modest post cannot provide an opportunity to shine. Competence […]
Is there good economic news ahead for Africa? The IMF thinks there is a possibility: The International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday a rosy outlook for Sub Saharan Africa growth in 2012 but warned of significant risks from global financial volatility that could subdue demand and private inflows into the world’s poorest continent. Economies […]
The Foreign Policy Association has released the results of its National Opinion Ballot in which highly-informed participants in the Great Decisions (GD) program, the centerpiece of the FPA, weigh in on the various issues that GD covers in a given year. Among the issues that this year’s poll respondents addressed was the instability in the […]
Although the rugby world’s attention is understandably focused on the New Zealand-France match that will determine the world champion this weekend, Ecouter La Radio has a story (also available here in the original French) on an organization that is using rugby to help change the lives of poor children in Senegal. It is easy to […]