Tag Archives: africa

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why South Korea succeeded where Uganda failed A common argument to explain (the better term would be to “caricature”) post independence failures in Africa is always in comparison to East Asia. It is often argued, for example, that by 1960, Ghana and South Korea had the …

By Ahmed M. Mohamoud Silyano Obsessed with Mogadishu, the UN and AU are blind to growing sanctuaries of progress in the Horn – escpecially Somaliland Drought, famine, refugees, piracy, and the violence and terrorism endemic to the shattered city of Mogadishu, a capital ruined by civil war: these are the …

By Donald Kaberuka The idea that a system can deliver economic development while closing avenues for democracy is not consistent with sustainability Twenty years ago, someone coined the term “Afro pessimism.” Those were the days of large macroeconomic imbalances, unsustainable debt, slow or negative growth and a rather chaotic beginning …

Mubatsi Asinja Habati Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organisation, works for the promotion and protection of human rights globally. The Independent’s Mubatsi Asinja Habati spoke to the organisation’s Africa Division Executive Director, Daniel Bekele. What do you make of Human Rights Watch work in Africa? In Africa we …

By Bob A. Kasango Whether Gaddafi outlives the NATO airstrikes or not, he is the wrong man for Libya and Africa must ask him to go as they ask NATO to stop the shelling. Rebel leaders rejected a plan presented by the African Union (AU) for a ceasefire and an end to …

We need to take responsibility for ourselves, to empower our people. External assistance is okay. But we need to begin with our own solutions. And so it was that on my flight from Amsterdam to Dubai I stumbled upon a documentary on poverty in Malawi by singer Madonna. Like most …

By Joe Powell If incentives for cost-effective clean energy are not put in place, Africa may follow the same dirty industrialisation route of China and India. Environmentalists and poverty campaigners have not always found themselves on the same side of development debates. A basket of contentious subjects that divide the …

By Andrew Mwenda Last Saturday, October 16, I was a guest on Capital Radio’s Capital Gang programme and our debate settled down to the subject of democracy in Africa ‘ specifically on Uganda and Rwanda. Like most debate on anything in Africa, the discussion did not use the facts of …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Most of this week has been consumed by the debate on the progress poor countries have made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). I have never been an enthusiast of MDGs because I see them as part of the increasing efforts by the international community …

By Rukiya Makuma Independence babies that wont grow up 2010 is the year for Africa as 17 countries celebrate 50 years of independence since colonial rule. Africans resisted the colonialists on grounds of segregation, slavery, exploitation and domination. But 50 years after, how have these countries performed? Are they still …