By Ha-Joon Chang Reviewed by Professor Arne Rückert. Ha-Joon Chang’s book Kicking Away the Ladder represents an important addition to the growing body of literature which engages critically with the neoliberal approach to development, promoted most ardently by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The central puzzle of the book is the simple yet intriguing question of ‘how did the rich countries really become rich?’ (p.1). In addressing this question, Chang manages to cover an impressive number of country cases and a wide scope of development policy, resorting to the inductive historical method. Despite the…
Author: CASADE
Bukola Bolarinwa. In Paul Smith’s book “The Terrorism Ahead”, he theorizes that “terrorism is a constant feature of human civilization — it is neither new nor is it likely to ever end”. Terrorism has been used as a weapon since the 1700’s but the rise in globalisation and mass media mean that more people see and feel the effects of acts global terror in any region. According to the UNDP In the past five years alone, 33,000 people have died in terrorism-related violence in Africa. Violent extremism and groups espousing it are threatening to reverse Africa’s development gains not only…
Abdisaid M. Ali . The growth of Salafist ideology in East Africa has challenged long established norms of tolerance and interfaith cooperation in the region. This is an outcome of a combination of external and internal factors. This includes a decades-long effort by religious foundations in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to promulgate ultraconservative interpretations of Islam throughout East Africa’s mosques, madrassas, and Muslim youth and cultural centers. Rooted within a particular Arab cultural identity, this ideology has fostered more exclusive and polarizing religious relations in the region, which has contributed to an increase in violent attacks. These tensions…
During the course of the US presidential electoral process in 2016, no one, except for those with supernatural powers, gave Mr. Trump a respectable assumption of beating Hilary Clinton in the race for the White House. Any such presumption would have been laughable. But no one is laughing now, not least are African leaders and their citizens who are still mystified by the American electorate, and for many good reasons remain uncertain in a world led by President Trump. If the impetus for their uncertainty and misgivings are real or imagined, they lack the luxury of inaction…they must and should…
John Campbell. Former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Allison Maduekwe will be tried for money laundering in the United Kingdom in June. For many observers, Maduekwe is the face of high-level corruption in Nigeria. A former minister of transport, she served as petroleum minister in the government of Goodluck Jonathan. During her days of flying high, she collected “firsts,” she was the first female minister of transport, the first female minister of petroleum, and the first female secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). She was also the first female appointed to the board of…
Nadine Sunderland. Today, Power Africa announced a new partnership arrangement with the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP) focused on increasing regional power interconnections and generation among the Nile Equatorial Lakes countries. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and NBI — signed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Executive Director of the NBI Secretariat — centers on collaboration, funding and technical assistance for regional power generation among the participating Nile Basin countries. “I am pleased today to sign this Memorandum of Understanding, on behalf of…
There is substantial evidence that the resolution of conflicts in Africa is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable economic development and growth. Countries that were previously torn by conflicts such as Angola, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia have moved decisively from economic stagnation and decline to steady economic growth. But Africa remains home to a number of significant conflicts. These conflicts impart considerable costs to the countries concerned but also to their neighbors. Furthermore, there are many fragile states, and the possibility of new conflicts is real. The causes of conflicts in Africa include ethnic distrust, religious discrimination…
This area of research remains controversial; but the hypothesis has anecdotal evidence to back up what economists and development experts have been alluding to for decades, which is that hot and humid climatic conditions are contributing factors to underdevelopment in the tropics. In a recent research entitled ” Climate and Economic Development: Further Evidence in Support of “The Tropical Effect,” Mariam Khawar provides more evidence to this effect. A short version of her research is presented here. Mariam Khawar Abstract Economists have historically ignored the relationship between geographical factors and economic growth and development. However researchers in other fields, historians…
Morten Jerven. Reviewed by Katrina Manson. Africa is becoming something of a trend. Analysts have recently sought to paint the continent as a rising one — marked not by war and pestilence but by aspirational consumers who, no matter how little money they might have, keep on spending. Growth rates for sub-Saharan Africa outstrip those of almost all other regions in the world save emerging Asia, so it seems such contrarians have a point. But Morten Jerven is more interested in exploding a different piece of conventional wisdom: whether Africa ever stopped growing at all. His short book rails against…
Edited by Thokozani Simelane, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman. The world’s demand for energy coupled with a decreasing stock and supply of fossil fuels is propelling the transition to renewable sources of energy. This global movement presents many opportunities and challenges to Africa. If Africa can identify the opportunities and start to position itself, with its abundant sources of renewable energy, it stands a chance of being a global player in the production and supply of renewable energy. Achieving this will, however, require a combination of effective planning and investment on infrastructure, skills and technology. In determining how this should be done, this…