While China has a strategic planning process, America has neither a plan nor a strategy COMMENT | STEPHEN S. ROACH | China’s leaders are hard at work putting the finishing touches on the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan. Meanwhile, since the beginning of his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a …
Read More »When men take their wife’s surname
Why a Constitutional Court judgment seeking to promote gender equality has upset traditional leaders COMMENT | ANTHONY DIALA | A unanimous Constitutional Court ruling has sparked fierce controversy by affirming the right of South African men to adopt their wives’ surnames if they wish to. It emerged from a lawsuit against the …
Read More »Is the end nigh for the AGOA trade legislation?
Without AGOA and other traditional instruments of soft power, the United States will increase its isolation from Africa COMMENT | WITNEY SCHNEIDMAN | The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), legislation that has been the cornerstone of the U.S.-African commercial relationship for the last 25 years, is set to …
Read More »When Namibia stunned me
An African country without a strong leader that has managed to avoid the pitfalls of its contemporaries THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The Batooro have a saying: akaana katabuunga katekereza ngu nyinako nuwe acumba ebinura (a child who has not travelled thinks the mother is the best …
Read More »Africa universities must return to serving society
Achieving the continent’s vision will not be secured by policies alone, but by the purposeful engagement of its institutions COMMENT | PROF USHOTANEFE USEH | As the continent looks to Agenda 2063; the blueprint of the African Union (AU) for a prosperous, integrated and peaceful Africa, and the United Nations (UN) …
Read More »Open letter to Israel foreign minister Sa’ar
The great threat to Israel’s survival is not the Arab nations, the Palestinians, or Iran, but the policies of its government COMMENT | JEFREY D. SACHS | Dear Mr. Minister, I write to you following your speech at the United Nations Security Council on August 5. I attended the session but …
Read More »A new economic logic for sustainability
Sustainability initiatives will never achieve transformative change, because the current economic framework is structurally misaligned with planetary and societal boundaries COMMENT | IOANNIS IOANNOU | Companies have long justified sustainability initiatives as a way to boost their reputation, comply with external and internal standards, or generate incremental profits. But the …
Read More »Climate change is making Africa’s debt burden worse but new debt contracts could help
COMMENT | MAGALIE MASAMBA | Many African countries are already struggling with heavy debt burdens. Climate change is making this worse. Africa contributes the least to global emissions but suffers the most from extreme weather, rising temperatures and drought. These disasters affect not just people’s livelihoods but also national revenues, making …
Read More »Rethinking Africa foreign policy in the ESG era
The debate between positivist and normative frameworks shifts focus from power and profit to planet and people COMMENT | CHRISTOPHER BURKE | As foreign governments and corporations race to secure critical minerals across Africa, the language of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles is becoming more prominent. Behind the policy papers …
Read More »Rights and freedom shouldn’t be celebrated on placards
Why human rights activism who never evade or resist arrest entrench the state’s systems of oppression COMMENT | NNANDA KIZITO SSERUWAGI | Uganda’s human rights movement risks inadvertently reinforcing and entrenching the very systems of oppression it seeks to challenge, particularly by seeking justice from the State and its legal mechanisms. …
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