Call for papers for a special issue of African Identities to be published in the summer of 2012 (African Identities: Journal of Economics, Culture and Society) More than a decade and half ago, Donal Cruise-O’Brien (1996) had declared that the African youth were ‘a lost generation.’ This fatalistic summation of the fate of the African… Read More »
… could have been the title of a detailed piece by The Economist on the actions of the Chinese Queensway Syndicate in Africa: The syndicate is built on links forged during the cold war. It is largely the creation of a man known as Sam Pa. Though he uses several names, he was born Xu Jinghua.… Read More »
The Executive Summary: African countries south of the Sahara are poised to enjoy a surge in growth in their banking systems during this decade. The three main drivers of this development will be generally very high rates of economic growth, financial deepening to fulfil huge unmet needs for basic financial services and new technologies to… Read More »
…is the title of a piece by Knox Chitiyo for the Guardian. An excerpt: The UK’s engagement with Africa is often expressed in terms of a “new scramble for Africa“, but this misses out what Africa wants. Certainly Africa wants partnerships with the west, but these need to be equal partnerships that also serve Africa’s… Read More »
1. Another one strikes black gold (trying desperately to resist using the line from Queen’s popular song) 2. Can stocks be safer than bonds (strange times, right?) 3. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, formerly of World Bank, then of Nigeria’s finance ministry, then of World Bank, returns to take charge of Nigeria’s economy 4. Commentary on Islamic finance… Read More »
From a new Accenture report titled At the tipping point: Financial services in Africa comes of age: The Accenture research study… highlights new growth triggers for financial services, pointing to rapid market development in some countries. While the paths to growth vary, these triggers often include innovation through (very) low-cost offerings and distribution, dramatically opening up… Read More »
Just got this in the mail: Stipendium: 3 doctoral scholarships (Bonn) in research project on land use and climate change adaptation/ West Africa The three doctoral candidates will work on the following research subjects: 1. Historical relations between demography and land use in West Africa 2. Decision‐making within rural households in West Africa 3. The… Read More »
Islamic finance in Nigeria – BusinessDay Why mobile money arrived in Africa before the UK – BBC What DSK’s fall says about transatlantic differences in attitudes to sex, power and the law – The Economist A new freight train route connects Antwerp in Belgium to the western Chinese city of Chongqing, 11,000 kilometers away –… Read More »
G. Pascal Zachary in Fanzine: The master narratives about Africa are inevitably political; art about Africa and Africans, especially art created by non-Africans, inevitably becomes intertwined with the historical use and abuse of the African imaginary. The political entanglements of literary artists engaged with African affairs are complicated by the emergence of a new humanitarianism,… Read More »
Sometime last week I attended a podium discussion at the Berlin Humboldt University. The topic was Africa as the laboratory of globalisation. The idea was to discuss different ways in which Africa serves as a laboratory for ideas that then travel to other parts of the world. Some of those on the podium are STS… Read More »