Tag Archives: africa

By Andrew M. Mwenda How the West has built a global incentive system that sustains a negative narrative against Africa Steve Biko once said the greatest weapon in the hands of an oppressor is not his armies and arms but the mind of the oppressed. Antonio Gramsci had made a …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why the U.S. president always feels compelled to lecture to Africans and my obsession with his meddling It has become custom for U.S. President Barak Obama to constantly volunteer unsolicited advice to African people whenever a given country is going through some major event. So when …

By Youma Nana Western model of political organisations and how its rituals return peaceful outcomes I belong to a school of thought which believes that African societies should define their own political model. I am very comforted that discussions especially with many in the young intellectual elite lead to a …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How corruption becomes a necessary vice for successful politicians who win elections by denouncing it Here is a thought experiment. Imagine you are a presidential candidate for the 2016 elections in Uganda. You have all the good policies and ideas. And you want to build a …

This article was written for The Guardian How regurgitating stereotypes and prejudice about Africa easily gets you audience in Western media So I chanced upon an article by a one Patience Akumu (`Why Obama doesn’t understand the lust for power of our African leaders’, The Guardian UK, Aug.2). To Akumu, …

By Agnes E. Nantaba Elly Twineyo Kamugisha is the Executive Director of Uganda Exports Promotion Board (UEPB). He spoke to Agnes E. Nantaba about private sector led development and the economy. Any three things we don’t know about you? I love Uganda; I have always told people around me to …

By Ghada Hammouda But only if its yieldable socio-economic power can be harnessed by the government and private sector While advanced economies are facing the problem of an aging population, one of Africa’s most attractive assets both domestically and internationally is that it holds the world’s largest youth demographic. To …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Our continent needs to focus on its positive attributes and use those to inspire future generations The definitive clash of wills during the Second World War that paved the way for the defeat of Nazi Germany was the battle of Stalingrad. Soviet leader Josef Stalin had …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why poor countries may need a more activist president, one willing to intervene to get them to work Let me do what the Germans call Gedanken (a thought experiment). Political power in most of post-colonial Africa has tended to be personalised. We feel that this is …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why African elites sound angry and frustrated though continent’s economies grow faster than rest of the world Over the last decade and a half, Sub Sahara African economies have been growing fast and creating prosperity for many. Today, our continent is exporting and importing more and …