Professor David Shinn. There is agreement among those who follow China-Africa relations that state-owned and private Chinese companies have become major investors in Africa over the past 10 years. Even Chinese individuals are investing small amounts in enterprises ranging from restaurants to acupuncture clinics. It is possible that in the past several years, China was the single largest bilateral source of annual foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa’s 54 countries. There is, however, considerable confusion as to what constitutes Chinese investment in Africa. Many analyses, especially journalistic accounts, conflate investment with multi-billion dollar loans from China to African governments that…
Author: CASADE
The problems in Nigeria’s electricity industry stem from a variety of sources, not least is the absence of a national will to sustain the industry and insist on a twenty-four hour supply of power. But such national disposition would depend on the model used to supply electricity to the end user; the fact that Nigeria, since the inception of its electricity sector, has relied on out-dated, and highly inefficient centralized model of generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity does not help. The 2005 Act to privatize only the generation and distribution links of the energy supply chain is a step in…
By John R. Fenchi. This book is a must read for investors and corporations intent on leaving little or no carbon footprint in generating power. The need for clean energy is urgent, not only in the developed world but also in countries on the verge of industrialization, and sustained growth in the manufacturing sector; this book provides a useful guide. Energy may be the most important factor that will influence the shape of society in the 21st century. The cost and availability of energy significantly impacts our quality of life, the health of national economies, the relationships between nations, and…
(Courtesy of Council on Foreign Relation. Africa in Transition, where this writing first appeared). John Campbell. Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan and wife Patience Jonathan arrives at the polling ward for accreditation in Otuoke, Bayelsa State March 28, 2015. (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen U.S. dollar bank accounts that former Nigerian First Lady Patience Jonathan claims are hers. The total value of the accounts is worth $31.5 million. She has applied to the Federal High Court in Lagos to unfreeze the accounts. Many Nigerians, including the Nigeria Labour Congress, are asking how she accumulated…
By Peter S. Wenz. The solution to reducing unemployment? Inefficiency; according to philosophy professor Wenz’s (Take Back the Center) bold manifesto, which poses seemingly paradoxical solutions to America’s economic ills. While labor inefficiency would appear to doom the U.S. economy by making American workers even more expensive than they already are, Wenz points out that European countries have strong labor unions and reduced work weeks, and they still enjoy favorable trade balances. True, the European approach requires more socialistic practices than American voters would likely support: government-provided daycare, medical care, and leisure, paid for by significantly higher taxes. But Wenz…
Joseph E. Stiglitz. Reviewed by Professor Thomas B. Edsall. Joseph E. Stiglitz’s new book, “The Price of Inequality,” is the single most comprehensive counterargument to both Democratic neoliberalism and Republican laissez-faire theories. While credible economists running the gamut from center right to center left describe our bleak present as the result of seemingly unstoppable developments — globalization and automation, a self-replicating establishment built on “meritocratic” competition, the debt-driven collapse of 2008 — Stiglitz stands apart in his defiant rejection of such notions of inevitability. He seeks to shift the terms of the debate. It is not uncontrollable technological and social…
John O. Ifediora. The current state of affairs in Nigeria would perplex and disturb any observer with the mildest of interest in the country. But for the millions of inhabitants who live the daily experiences of the havoc wrecked on the economy, the seemingly intransigent problems take on existential dimensions. Begin with the obvious….a worsening adult unemployment rate, a free-falling purchasing power of the currency, made more burdensome by rising prices for almost all consumer goods and services, declining quality of healthcare services, and continuous depreciation in quality and kind of available social services. The paucity of electricity is a…
Elliot Kraft. The African Union (AU) plan to launch an All-Africa passport for citizens of the continent’s 54 member states, the benefits and risks of which are riddled with complexity for foreign investors. In the wake of Brexit, African countries party to the AU are moving in the opposite direction. The all-Africa e-passport, designed to transcend visa restrictions on the continent and encourage a freer movement of people, goods, capital, and services, will be launched at the 27th AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda (10th – 18th July). Initially, the privilege will only be extended to particular government officials and heads…
By Mike Smith. Book Review. Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has seized attention for an insurgency that has killed thousands and threatens the security of Nigeria’s northeastern neighbours. But, as Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War makes clear, the Islamist group’s caliphate also mirrors the existential troubles gripping Africa’s most populous country as it stands on the brink of its most open elections for almost two generations. The March 28 presidential and parliamentary polls were postponed from February 14 to give a new multinational military force time to drive Boko Haram from…
In a speech entitled, “Nigeria’s electricity challenges, a road map for change,” The Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, provides a bold assessment of the state of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in Nigeria. While the picture he paints of the industry is ugly, he does so with dispassionate accuracy that gives the audience a good understanding of what plagues one of the most important sectors of any economy. His speech in its entirety: Ladies and Gentleman, When I assumed office as minister, maybe I should have done some of the more traditional things. To tell you that…