Tag Archives: Reviews

BBC Podcasts: Alan Johnston; Alan Greenspan

BBC’s programme, From Our Own Correspondents, a programme that is a compendium of ‘personal reflections by BBC correspondents arround the world, features a special edition of the programme, presented by Alan Johnston, the former BBC Gaza correspondent who was help by the Army of Islam for 114 days. Click here to listen to the programme,… Read More »

Eldis Newsfeed

Eldis is an arm of the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex. The managers of the website collect development related articles, publications and general information. According to the website, the managers of Eldis ‘focus on materials which are of strategic, policy or practical interest for development practitioners based in both the North and South.’ I have… Read More »

Resources and Aid, any Similarities?

I downloaded Andrew Mwenda’s TEDTalks presentation and watched it last night. One of his main arguments was that aid makes the government fat, and that because of aid, governments are more attentive to the World Bank and the IMF than to their own citizens. Let’s elaborate on the argument a bit: governments know from whom… Read More »

Nicolas Sarkozy on Africa

Many people have described Sarkozy as a hyper-active (think of his near-attack on paparazzi in the USA last week) and power drunk politician, but not many have described him as racist. Well, we now add that to many of the adjectives that describe him. On July 26, 2007, on a university campus in Dakar, President… Read More »

Nigeria as a Black Superpower?

It is well known that Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, and the largest economy in West Africa; it is fairly well known that Nigeria’s military has been intervening in hot spots in the region; it is perhaps even less known that Nigerian movies are now, all over Africa, what bollywood movies were in… Read More »

The Informal Sector in Africa

I don’t know if you guys know, but my research is on informal economy in West Africa…. This morning, I got a confirmation that I am on the right track. I saw George Ayittey’s Ted Talk presentation and it reinforced what I always thought: the real economy in most African countries is the informal economy.… Read More »

Berlin, Letters From Iwo Jima

I am off to Berlin today. I am going in the company of one of my colleagues and his son. So, in effect, I am going as a ‘proper’ tourist. By the way, have you guys seen Letters from Iwo Jima? I saw it yesterday and I really liked it. It is a very nice… Read More »

Beyoncé

I watched Dreamgirls last night, and it was so funny to hear Curtis Taylor, Jr.(Jamie Foxx) tell Deena Jones (Beyoncé) ‘Your voice has no personality, no depth.’ The funny thing is that I never thought much more than that of Beyoncé.

Jeff Koinange (With Update)

Jeff Koinange, CNN’s Africa correspondent was fired by CNN on May 29. Many people have said that it was because it was found that he fabricated a large part of the story on MEND in Nigeria. I am still wondering what he fabricated. Was the display of the hostages also ‘fabircated’? I think that CNN… Read More »