Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Kamel Morjane PHOTOS: AFP/getty images
Negotiations over expanding Tunisia’s integration into the European Union are raising questions about the efficacy of Brussels’ soft power mechanisms in promoting political reform in the Southern Mediterranean
More . . .
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton addresses a press conference of the 8th Africa Growth Opportunities Act Forum in Nairobi
Ten years after the Clinton administration adopted the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a groundbreaking piece of trade legislation, Agoa’s architects are petitioning to take it a stage further and increase US investment in Africa
More . . .
Anna Tibaijuka PHOTOS: WEF
Africa’s urbanisation must be understood and managed to prevent growing inequalities from becoming a source of conflict, according to Anna Tibaijuka, under-secretary-general of the United Nations and executive director of urban development body UN Habitat.
More . . .- Kaberuka’s revolution
Quiet streets greeted the African Development Bank’s return to Abidjan, its former headquarters, this May for its 45th annual meetings. The bank left in 2003, precipitated by the deteriorating security situation in the city as Côte d’Ivoire slid into civil war. Today it occupies three buildings in Tunis – a “Temporary Relocation Agency” that has begun to seem less and less temporary. Its dislocation has been frustrating for bank staff and for international partners, but with elections in Côte d’Ivoire repeatedly postponed an imminent return has seemed unlikely.
- Nurturing innovation
The Nile Exchange is one of a number of initiatives designed to provide a boost to Egypt’s small- and medium-sized enterprises but these are just a small step on the difficult path towards creating a culture of entrepreneurship in the region
- Strength in numbers Comesa’s proposal for a common investment area could act as a spur to cross-border investment
- Reforming Senegal’s customs A public-private partnership has vastly improved the customs clearing procedures at Dakar port
- Ajai Chowdhry: Exclusive Interview “India as a country didn’t do enough branding. You know how that branding happened? It was Indians working abroad that created the Indian brand. Engineers who went out, doctors who went out, software engineers who went out, administrators who went out, researchers, scientists, teachers. These are the people who actually created brand India”
- The fight against corruption The UK’s new bribery laws should bring more clarity to corporate prosecutions, but the movement of large companies into the developing world presents huge challenges for the authorities
- Kanayo Nwanze: Exclusive Interview “One factor that emerged from the 2007-2008 food crisis was the clear linkage in the developing world between food security and political stability. It brought down two governments, one in Haiti and one in Madagascar. What happens in some small developing country affects a big one in Europe. They realised that food security is no longer what we used to think it was”
- Signposting the route to private investment Attracting private investment back into African infrastructure will be critical if the continent is to open up bottlenecks and catalyse development
- Jørgen Ole Haslestad: Exclusive Interview “We see the huge potential that this area has. If we can participate in moving it in the direction that we would like to see it, then we can sell more products. We can’t do that if we’re just sitting, listening and selling our fertiliser. Here we have to be active. I’m not into this for the fun of it. We’re not an NGO”
- Gathering storms test US capacity With emerging security concerns in Somalia and Nigeria and events coming to a head in Sudan, the US faces major challenges in the year ahead
- Middle ground or party lines? If the UK opposition can articulate its Africa and development policies in terms of security, immigration and commercial promotion and keep its own right wing at bay, then victory in May’s elections may not change the trajectory of Britain’s approach to the continent
Sign Up
For the latest news and updates from This is Africa.
Interviews
Andry Rajoelina
“We are on the path to reform and this is the first time that the one in power will not run in the next presidential election...”
Anna Tibaijuka
Africa’s urbanisation must be understood and managed to prevent growing inequalities from becoming a source of conflict, according to Anna Tibaijuka,...
