Thousands of African workers kept in appalling conditions
Hoping to escape the war, death and destitution rampant in their home countries, thousands of African workers embark every year on a grueling journey to the affluent Persian Gulf countries looking for employment. The more fortunate ones will end up doing backbreaking manual labor earning a pittance, barely enough to make ends meet. Should they be unlucky, a fate worse than...
The U.S. role in 1966 coup against Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah
The West African country of Ghana celebrated the anniversary of the Sept. 21 birth of its first prime minister and first president, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. Celebrated annually and called “Memorial Day,” Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to achieve independence. Independence from its British colonizer occurred on March 6, 1957. If March 6, 1957 is a day to be...
As U.S. struggles, Africa’s Covid-19 response is praised
JOHANNESBURG—At a lecture to peers in September, John Nkengasong showed images that once dogged Africa, with a magazine cover declaring it “The Hopeless Continent.” Then he quoted Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah: “It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity.” The coronavirus pandemic has fractured...
U.S. effort to block Ethiopian dam recalls legacy of British colonialism
(GIN)—Based on guidance from President Trump, the State Department is suspending $130 million in security-related aid to Ethiopia over a nearly-completed dam that would lift Ethiopia from poverty and end the shadow of British colonialism that favored Egypt. Programs on the chopping block include security assistance, counterterrorism and military education and training, anti-human trafficking programs, and broader development assistance funding,...
The historical impact of African musicians on the geopolitical stage
When it comes to appreciating the power of African artists and their historical impact on geopolitics there is no shortage of icons from which to choose. A recent documentary produced by France24 focusing on the legacy of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie is a case in point. His historic 1963 speech to the United Nations General Assembly inspired reggae legend Bob...
South Sudan: Progress on peace agreement ‘limps along,’ UN envoy tells security council
Although the transitional government in South Sudan continues to function, with state governors now appointed, among other developments, progress on the 2018 peace agreement “limps along,” the top UN official in the country told a virtual meeting of the Security Council on Sept. 16.. David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), updated ambassadors on the country’s...
Africa’s development tied monetary sovereignty and an alternative economic development model
In an open letter signed by 550 internationally renowned personalities, which includes African economists, in a move that’s the intellectual equivalent of marching in the street, they challenged the continent and its leaders “to forge ahead and aspire to a better future in which all of its people can thrive and realize their full potential.” While the resource rich continent...
The myth of Western economic development
Brazilian economist Celso Furtado’s classic 1974 book, “The Myth of Economic Development,” he argues the very idea of Latin America and Africa someday enjoying a similar livelihood as Western Europe and North America is “unrealizable in practice.” He writes that any attempt to generalize, or use as a model, the lifestyles of the world’s well-to-do would lead to a collapse...
The toll of binge drinking on South Africa
The South African Alcohol Alliance (SAAPA), is a collaborative initiative of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that advocate for evidence-based alcohol policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the years the group has reported on the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. Its reporting included the fact that even though over 60 percent of South Africans do not consume alcohol, the population that does...
Zimbabwe’s suffering and lingering land crisis
With the Zimbabwean economy in free fall, the government has agreed to pay $3.5 billion in compensation to White farmers. The land, which was originally attained by the White settler colony under British colonial rule, was expropriated by the Robert Mugabe government to resettle displaced Black families. The agreement signed July 29 at President Emerson Mnangagwa’s State House offices in...