Ok, so this criticism is pretty picayune, but in his review of Tony Blair’s new memoir, A Journey: My Political Life, Fareed Zakaria writes the following sentence: “The fact is that Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were the two most successful political figures in the post-cold-war world because they understood the essential truth of economic […]
So George Clooney and celebrity Africa activist John Prendergast think that we (the US, its allies) need to do more with regard to the situation in the Sudan. Fair enough. Prendergast has long been an advocate for the Sudanese people and while I could do with less of his retiring-to-the-fainting-couch appeals to emotion, and while […]
AfricaNews is reporting that a Zimbabwean security consultant and a Somali aid worker working for Save the Children organization were kidnapped by unknown gunmen armed with heavy machine-guns in the town of Adado near the Ethiopian border. The security consultant who is also believed to be a British national had reportedly gone to Adado to […]
Yet another great way to shed some perspective on African geography: Accompanied by this: [Hat Tip.]
One thing that bothered me about Kenya’s new constitution was that the US government lobbied heavily and spent $23 million (including funding NGOs) to bring about a “yes” vote. Vice President Biden, who personally traveled to Kenya, was quoted in the media saying that Kenya’s new constitution would “allow money to flow” from the US foreign […]
“The conviction therefore that our past tells us that the time for Africa’s Renaissance has come, is fundamental to the very conceptualization of this Renaissance and the answer to the question: Whence this confidence? Unless we are able to answer the question “Who were we?” we will not be able to answer the question “What […]
(Mandela with Conversations With Myself, Mail & Guardian.) Nelson Mandela’s new book, Conversations with Myself, which contains excerpts of his private journals, letters and personal notes, was released today across the globe. Barack Obama wrote the book’s foreword.
Three countries, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Morocco, have placed bids to host the 2015 and 2017 African Cup of Nations. South Africa just successfully hosted the World Cup. Morocco was a finalist to host that event before South Africa emerged victorious. Even the romantics in the CAF cannot possibly think rewarding […]
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe may be a certified critic of the West, except that those words in the quotes bellow are not his but that of General Paul Kagame, the darling of the West, of Rwanda. Kagame, the rebel-hero who defeated the genocidal government in July 1994, has been accused of heavy-handed crackdown on his […]
The BBC recently ran a wonderful slideshow feature on South Africa in pictures, 1950-2000. Have a great weekend.
Let’s face it — Zanzibar does not get a whole lot of face time even in circles where African affairs are on the front burner. I’m as guilty of this sin of omission as anyone — according to my “Categories” list, I have yet to devote an entry to Zanzibar. Well, consider that sin rectified […]
Is anyone listening? Whether development aid or good governance, an increasing number of Africans are questioning the rhetoric around these goals. Valid or not, I think their criticism should not just be shrugged off. The truth is, when it comes to Africa, there is an unspoken code among the International Development Community (including the UN) […]
“Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is relinquishing his position as president of the larger faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) next year,” reports AfricaNews. The change in the MDC-T leadership comes as a result of the party constitutional term limit, which allows an incumbent to hold office for a maximum of two five-year […]
I should have written about this last week, but the United States has taken steps to strengthen ties with Somaliland and Puntland, the two regions that have broken free from Somalia and which possibly represent the best real chance for success in the region. I am not suggesting that it is a good idea to […]
On Facebook, a Namibian citizen journalist is reporting that the Ministry of Information has embarked on a nation-wide survey to Namibia’s thirteen political regions to get “people’s opinion on the branding of a new Nationhood and National Pride campaign, dubbed “My Namibia.” No big surprise there! But if this is not a new low for […]