NEWS ANALYSIS

How failure to share family cultural history endangers symbols that represent common ancestral origin COMMENT | NATHAN KIWERE | Writing on page 137 of his book, ‘The Baganda’ (Macmillan and Co., 1911), John Roscoe, a British colonial historian, states that when animals were becoming scarce, Kintu, with the general consent of …

It is important to recognise that data alone are not enough, common sense matters COMMENT | KAUSHIK BASU | After years of stressing the importance of evidence-based policymaking, economists have clearly had some influence on politicians. What economists now need to do is to impress upon those same politicians that citing …

Weighing economic, political ties and future relationships that could prove decisive for Africa COMMENT | HANNAH RYDER | Ask anyone with a basic knowledge of Africa which country is more poised for success – Zimbabwe or Kenya – and he or she will undoubtedly answer “Kenya.” Events of the last week …

Why inflation and monetary-policy adjustments by central banks might not impact its price COMMENT | JIM O’NEIL | Writing about oil prices is always risky. In a January 2015, I suggested that oil prices would not continue to fall, and even predicted that they would “finish the year higher than they …

  Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Old alliances between North Korea and several African nations forged at the height of the Cold War will not be swept away easily. While threats from the United States and UN sanctions have forced many governments on the continent to keep their distance …

French domination sparks fight with Chinese   Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Oil companies—Total E&P, Tullow Oil and CNOOC—are locked in a bitter fight for control of Uganda’s oil sector.  The coveted prizes are deals worth about $20 billion. The three entered a partnership in 2012 when Tullow Oil, which …

  Meressa K Dessu | ISS TODAY | With the civil war in South Sudan concluding its fourth year, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is maximising its efforts to revitalise the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) through the establishment of a …

Six barriers that make it difficult for African states to use research for policy COMMENT | WILLEM FOURIE | African policymakers need access to high quality evidence to implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) successfully. The SDGs are arguably the most broad-ranging development goals to be ratified by United Nations member …

Kampala, Uganda | LINDA-GAIL BEKKER | There have been great strides and many important victories in the fight against HIV. Scientific innovations and sustained investment have been the most important weapons in this ongoing battle. Nevertheless the epidemic retains a powerful grip – especially on people in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, 19.4 …

Unlocking economic growth by breaking through both cost and planning barriers of physical infrastructure COMMENT | FARHAD KHAN | The African Development Bank projects that Uganda’s GDP will grow from 5.1% in 2017 to 5.8% in 2018. Among other factors, the government has highlighted the role of information communications technology (ICT) as …