Sam Null. The world oil market is complex. Governments as well as private companies play roles in moving oil from producers to consumers. Government-owned national oil companies (NOCs) control most of the world’s proved oil reserves (78% in 2012) and oil production (58% in 2012). International oil companies (IOCs), which are often stockholder-owned corporations, make up the balance of global oil reserves and production. Proved reserves are the amount of oil in a given area, known with reasonable certainty, that today’s technology can recover cost-effectively. Worldwide proved oil reserves are about 1.6 trillion barrels and global oil production averages roughly…
Author: CASADE
The price of oil halved between June 2014 and March 2015. This was mainly due to increased oil supply – particularly in the US, which last year saw the highest volume increase since records began in 1900. An overall slowdown in global demand has contributed to the price drop as well. Low oil prices are bad news for Africa’s major oil exporters. But this is not the whole story. In fact, lower prices and lower inflation will be a boon for African oil importers and consumers, improving growth prospects for many African countries. If governments pursue smart policies, they can…
Vera Songwe. As President Obama said during his recent address at the African Union, “There’s a lot that I’d like to do to keep America moving. But the law is the law, and no person is above the law, not even the president.” This sentence, uttered during his speech to the African Union last month, summarizes President Obama’s message to Africa when it comes to the need for strong institutions. In his speech he highlighted that the first president of the United States, George Washington (1789-1797), refused to run for a third term in 1798—during the nascent years of…
The EU and the African Union are developing a security and development partnership, based on enhancing dialogue between warring factions, overseeing Africa’s peace and security architecture, and supporting African security operations, speakers told an EPC Policy Dialogue organised in cooperation with the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung. This should also focus on providing security as countries emerge from conflicts in order for them to develop, and civil society should be encouraged to play a major role in this. Martin Kastler, Head of Department, Development Policy and Coordination of EU projects, Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, said the Union must strengthen its responsibility towards Africa through a clear, fair partnership.…
By Narayan, Deepa, Ed.; Petesch, Patti, Ed. This book, the last volume in a three-part series, draws on a large-scale worldwide poverty study to present the views, experiences, and aspirations of poor people in 14 selected countries. In each country, interviews and discussion groups were held in 8-15 rural and urban communities that reflected the most prevalent poverty groups and the diversity of poverty in that country. The countries are Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Jamaica. The chapters bring to life the peculiarities of what it means…
Wend William. The phenomenon of migrants traversing the hostile terrain of northern Africa to Europe is not new—not the routes or the dangers. A decade ago,experts estimated that about 2,000 migrants drowned each year attempting to cross the Mediterranean and untold numbers perished in the desert. But after the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, the number of people crossing the Mediterranean from Libya (the Central Mediterranean route) has grown exponentially—resulting in a 277 percent increase since 2013. In fact, 60 percent of all migrants caught illegally entering Europe in 2013 came on boats from Libya. On those boats, nearly half…
Edward Paice and Jonathan Bhalla. “China: friend or foe?” was the title of a special Q & A session with the BBC’s World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, on Tuesday 30 July. Of course loaded leading questions – cast in binary terms – tend to produce answers that are of little value. “China is neither good nor bad. China is a combination of these things”, says Zhong Jianhua, China’s Special Representative on African Affairs – a far more satisfactory starting point for discussion. Nowhere is the debate about China’s motives and practices more live than in Africa. China is either the…
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the country’s collective bank account now valued at $1 trillion and built from off-shore oil reserves, is often held up as a prime example of how such funds can succeed.The usual rule: make prudent investments, stick to them, be transparent and watch the money grow exponentially. But Norway’s Government Pension Fund, as it is formally called, is only one of an estimated 80 or so sovereign wealth funds worldwide that collectively holds $7 trillion US. Other such funds probably also hold lessons for how governments can save wisely for future generations. Lessons that might apply to Alberta’s Heritage Savings Trust Fund,…
Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria. This month, the world moved a step closer to the defeat of Boko Haram, the jihadist group that has terrorized hundreds of thousands in the northern states of Nigeria. In one of my first acts since taking office as president six weeks ago, I have replaced the heads of Nigeria’s army, navy and air force. Our new military leadership has not been chosen because of their familiarity with those in government, as was too often the case in the past, but on their track records and qualifications alone. These new military leaders will be based…
Noam Levey. The little boy born just before sunset was lucky. He had stopped breathing just after his mother delivered him into a shawl as she lay in a cramped hospital ward here in this provincial town 100 miles north of the capital, Maputo. Fortunately, a group of nurses was a few beds away. After a frenzied, 15-minute scramble with a suction machine and ventilator bag, they resuscitated the baby. Two hours later, there would have been no nurse. The ward is staffed only until 7 p.m. The boy probably would have died, joining tens of thousands of children who…