Africa Archives - Page 65 of 164 - Foreign Policy In Focus

International Financial Reform and Africa: What is to be Done?

by Daniel D. Bradlow, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 20, 2008

Africa, the poorest and least robust part of the global economy, could be the region most severely affected by the financial crisis that began in the rich countries and is now metastasizing into a global economic crisis. Its export earnings are being hit by the recent decline in commodity prices (some prices have dropped by more than 50% since July). Its access to international finance, never exactly robust, is receding: economists estimate that private financial flows to developing countries will be 30-50% lower next year and it’s not yet clear if aid and other official flows will fill the gap. In addition, the World Bank expects remittances from emigrants, which represent about 2% of GDP for all sub-Saharan African countries to decline, and that will directly impact millions of individual households. Growth rates in 2009 will be lower than 2008 rates, and inflation rates will be higher. These developments will set back African efforts to meet the Millennium Development goals and lead to an increased number of extremely poor people in Africa. And already 320 million out of a total population of about 500 million live on less than $1 per day.

Somalia Resurfaces

by John Feffer, Michael Shank | Nov 17, 2008

At long last, the fragile state of Somalia seems to be slowly resurfacing from a searing bout of violence and humanitarian crisis. Interestingly, the light at the end of this decades-long tunnel is not burning at the behest of the United States or the United Nations; rather, it burns because Somali leaders, both within the government and without, have banded together. Frustrated by failed foreign interventions, they are now seeking sustainable Somali-based solutions.

Scramble for Africa

by Steve Fake, Kevin Funk, Saif Rahman | Oct 31, 2008

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Kevin Funk and Steve Fake’s new book Scramble for Africa: Darfur-Intervention and the USA.” All footnotes have been taken out of this version — please see the book for all citations.

Review: A Thousand Hills

by John Feffer, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 13, 2008

A little over a decade after a terrifying genocide left a million people dead, Rwanda has recovered enough to become a tourist destination in central Africa. As veteran journalist Stephen Kinzer reports in his new book A Thousand Hills, Rwanda is an orderly, peaceful, and economically developing oasis in an otherwise strife-torn region. Kinzer points to Rwandan leader Paul Kagame as the prime mover behind this transformation. Ever the cautious journalist, Kinzer knows the pitfalls of this great-man approach to history. “Naïve outsiders, eager for success stories from Africa, are quick to praise any promising leader. Sometimes they are too quick,” he writes. And indeed, fellow journalist Mark Fritz took Kinzer to task in The Washington Post for being too quick himself.

Food Aid Emergency

by Sophia Murphy, Emily Schwartz Greco | Aug 7, 2008

When sudden food price increases started to make headlines last summer, an estimated 852 million people were already living with crippling hunger, which the United Nations defines as continuously getting too little food to maintain a healthy and minimally active life. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates another 50 million people were added to the count in 2007. For people living with hunger, a long-term solution won’t come quickly enough. Many of them will need emergency assistance. Clearly, the UN and donor nations need to plan and invest more strategically to ensure a more food-secure future.

Breaking Taboos: Mixing Sports and Politics with Team Darfur

by John Beckett, Erik Leaver | Aug 1, 2008

The timing was purely coincidental. On Wednesday, July 10, came the news that dozens of armed men in SUVs and perhaps 200 men on horseback had attacked and killed seven United Nations peacekeepers in the Darfur region of Sudan. The next day, I was scheduled to interview Joey Cheek, co-founder of Team Darfur, a coalition of Olympic athletes whose goal is to end the genocide in Darfur.

Sinafrique

by Leif Brottom, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jul 31, 2008

China’s growing economic presence in sub-Saharan Africa is normally portrayed in one of two ways. Either it’s cast as engaging in rapacious resource extraction without local employment and financial gain, or it’s portrayed as a source of beneficent foreign investment, bringing much-needed capital and building infrastructure in the world’s poorest region. The resistance to Chinese timber exploitation in the West African republic of Mali provides a more nuanced look at the Sino-African relationship, which, under certain circumstances, could act as a catalyst for positive political change in Africa.

Postcard from…Freetown

by Joseph Kaifala, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jul 30, 2008

Congress Challenges AFRICOM

by John Feffer, Beth Tuckey | Jul 22, 2008

Congress is finally taking up its constitutionally mandated duties of oversight and responsible budgeting – at least on U.S.-Africa policy. From humanitarian relief for northern Uganda to the Jubilee Act on debt relief, Congress is making some very important steps forward on the side of the African people. Although there have been a few major disappointments like the Farm Bill, the legislative branch is beginning to ask the right questions about responsible U.S. engagement with the African continent, particularly with regard to the U.S. military.

Ballots vs. Bullets in Kenya and Zimbabwe

by Briggs Bomba, Emira Woods | Jul 9, 2008

The world’s attention has been riveted in 2008 by election crises in Africa, first Kenya, and now Zimbabwe. In both cases, challenges remain in converting electoral victory to political power. Can a victorious opposition come to power in the face of an obstinate incumbent? This question is particularly relevant when the incumbent regime controls the coercive apparatus of the state and the opposition only has the ballot in its corner. In the battle of the ballot vs. the bullet, can there ever be a fair match?