29 Nov 2024
African Think Tank

Association For Strategic Culture and Research Foundation

African Think Tank
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SADC: Dr. Lawrence Stergomena Tax Says Goodbye, and Calls for Scaling Up Sustainable Development in Southern Africa.
Exclusive Interview by Kester Kenn Klomegah
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
2 August, 2021
Russia’s Association of Economic Cooperation with African States (AECAS) complements Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Financing projects in Africa is one of the important keys and, at the same time, the most difficult issue for major Russian companies attempting to expand to Africa, and the financial instruments at their disposal are insufficient according to Anna Belyaeva, Executive Director of the Association of Economic Cooperation with African States.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
18 August, 2021
Africa: The G20 Must Recommit to Covax
By recommitting to COVAX, G20 leaders will recommit to a multilateral solution that builds on the astounding scientific progress of the past year. Based on COVAX's latest forthcoming supply forecast, when topped up with doses through bilateral deals, equitable COVID-19 vaccine access can protect up to 60% of the adult population in 91 lower-income countries.
By Seth Berkley
13 September, 2021
China’s Trade With Africa Reaches Record Highs
A recent report by Economist Corporate Network, supported by Baker McKenzie and Silk Road Associates, BRI Beyond 2020 (Economist report), showed how these strengthening trade links are, in part, a result of favourable financial incentives offered to African jurisdictions by China. According to the Economist report, 33 of the poorest jurisdictions in Africa export 97 per cent of their exports to China with no tariffs and no customs duties.
By Virusha Subban
24 September, 2021
Q&A: At Midterm, Sierra Leone President Vows to Continue Reforms
With two years left in his term, Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio told Voice of America that expanding political freedoms, improving education, holding past leaders accountable for corruption, and promoting gender equality are his administration’s priorities.
By Peter Clottey, Voice of America (VOA)
26 October, 2021
China Is the Biggest Winner From Africa’s New Free Trade Bloc
When the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was initially proposed at the African Union summit in 2012, it had two goals: First, build a pan-African agenda in trade and cooperation. Second, lift a large percentage of people out of poverty by instituting structural economic changes and cooperative legislation.
By Oluwatosin Adeshokan
9 November, 2021
Why Russians Are Complaining How to Engage with Africa
In order to raise the economic influence, Russians have been making efforts to identify a structured finance mechanism for mega infrastructure projects such as nuclear power and energy, natural resources exploration and to significantly increase trade with Africa
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
11 November, 2021
US Investors to Explore Opportunities in AfCFTA
United States investors are looking forward to exploring several opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a policy signed by African countries to make the continent a single market.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
17 November, 2021
COP26 Summit Fails to Take Decisive Action on Climate Change
Another annual international conference on the climate crisis ended on November 13 in Glasgow, Scotland where a contentious debate over the final document revealed fundamental differences on key issues.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
18 November, 2021
Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets
In most coverage, Gates’s donations are broadly presented as altruistic gestures. Yet many have pointed to the inherent flaws with this model, noting that allowing billionaires to decide what they do with their money allows them to set the public agenda, giving them enormous power over society.
By Alan MacLeod
22 November, 2021
US-Africa Relations: An Opportunity Lost Or Found
As Africa’s economies and middle class continue to grow, there is a tremendous market for American consumer goods. Consumer and business spending in Africa is expected to top $6.6 trillion by 2030, up from $4 trillion in 2015. Again, not only China, but also nations in every other region of the world, are looking to fill the continent’s need for consumer goods.
By Ambassador Charles R. Stith
22 November, 2021
Ethiopia Conflict By US Design
American administrations, have consistently backed the TPLF, who established close connections with the US government during their 27 years in power (1991-2018), contacts that they are making full use of now.
By Graham Peebles
30 November, 2021
Burning Ambition: Egypt’s Return To Regional Leadership And How Europe Should Respond
Egyptian foreign ministry officials interviewed for this paper describe the last decade of Egypt’s regional positioning as “defensive” in nature as the country contended with domestic issues.
By Hafsa Halawa
11 December, 2021
Europe Unveils U.S.$340bn Response to China's Belt and Road Initiative
The aim of the EU programme -- called Global Gateway -- is to help underpin the global recovery by mobilising investments in digital, clean energy and transport networks, as well as boosting health, education and research systems across the world. Low and middle-income countries were already facing a US$2.7 trillion infrastructure investment gap before the pandemic, according to World Bank estimates.
By Cable News Network
15 December, 2021
The Russia-Africa Situation Analysis Report
The report proposes that dialogues should be enhanced between civil societies, including expert and academic organizations. In a situation where a rapid expansion of trade and economic relations is difficult (for example, due to economic stagnation or a crisis in the respective country), the humanitarian track can become one of the ways to deepen relations further.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
15 December, 2021
Financing Africa’s Post-Covid-19 Development
The financing needs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) estimated at $2.5trillion for developing countries, was substantial even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has exacerbated the financing challenges. According to the 2021 OECD Global Outlook, the annual SDG financing gap in developing countries is estimated to have increased by $1.7 trillion, or roughly 70%, in 2020
By Ms. Vera Songwe
27 December, 2021
US-China Sustainable Infrastructure Collaborative Opportunities: Green Partnerships Must Begin In Africa
The United States has an opportunity to work closely with African nations and China to implement new infrastructure projects sustainably. The US must take advantage of China’s rhetoric on adherence to new environmentally friendly practices. The ‘green’ way must become the only way to conduct infrastructure projects.
By Hannah Bases
13 January, 2022
Africa’s Path To Recovery In An Uncertain World
Beyond the health crisis, securing the recovery will be a complex task, requiring policymakers to make difficult trade-offs to meet people’s immediate and long-run needs, while avoiding excessive debt. Achieving this balance is never easy, but it is more challenging than ever in today’s uncertain environment. Each country’s course will be guided by its own circumstances, including economic growth, inflation pressures, budget space, and its ability to attract public and private financing.
By Kristalina Georgieva, Macky Sall
13 January, 2022
Information operations: An understudied facet of Russian influence in Africa
Russia’s Evolving Information Operations
By Miriam Roday, Sarah Daly
20 January, 2022
The Horn of Africa States – A New Regional Block
After a nearly two decades old antagonistic relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea, it ended with a seemingly unexpected rapprochement between the two countries in July 2018.
By Dr. Suleiman Walhad
16 February, 2022
Afghanistan Funds Seized by Biden Administration
The withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, weakened the image of the White House under Biden. Perhaps Biden is attempting to regain a portion of the perceived military prowess of Washington by provoking an incident with Moscow over the independence of Ukraine.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
17 February, 2022
Can Africa Unite?
The AU and the EU, both together and individually, must focus their efforts on the appropriate vehicles for attaining this goal. For its part, the AU will need to establish stronger institutions capable of nurturing economic growth and ensuring that its gains are widely shared. As recent coups in West Africa show, many African countries have a long way to go to establish good governance and thereby provide for their populations.
By Malado Kaba
19 February, 2022
Police Killings Continue While the Biden Administration Calls for More Funding to Law-Enforcement
Two examples of the inability of the administration to satisfactorily handle the rise in police violence against the oppressed, are the recent exonerations of law-enforcement officers in the killing of Ma’Khia Bryant (featured image) in Columbus, Ohio in April 2021 and Breonna Taylor during March 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Bryant, a 16-year-old in foster care, was gunned down by a police officer called to the scene of a fight between two teenagers.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
17 March, 2022
Foreclosures Moratorium Extended for One Year in Detroit and Wayne County
The so-called Great Recession of 2008-2010 can be viewed as the modern-day manifestation of the housing crisis, although the actual problems extend back many decades to the inherent racist character of the Federal Housing Act and the Federal Highway Act enacted from the 1930s to the 1960s.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
5 April, 2022
Execution in Grand Rapids Illustrates Failure to End Police Terrorism
Over two weeks after Patrick Lyoya, 26, was stopped, chased, tackled and shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids patrolman, killing him instantly, there still has not been any punitive action taken against the white officer responsible for the death of the Congolese immigrant.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
24 April, 2022
South African KwaZulu-Natal Province Imperiled by Flooding
These living arrangements are part and parcel of the continuing legacy of the former racist apartheid system which was rooted in segregation to facilitate the super-exploitation of African labor. Africans and other people of color communities were placed in areas of the country which were away from the central cities.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
28 April, 2022
Detroit’s Fiscal Budget: A Case Study in Corporate Domination
These developments in Detroit represent a microcosm of the U.S. as a whole. There is an inflation rate of more than 8% not witnessed in more than four decades. At the same time, the Biden administration has provoked a conventional war with Russia over the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) further into Eastern Europe.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
14 May, 2022
Libya still plagued by conflict: there is no hope for stability
The Tripoli Municipal Council revealed that five people were injured; four of them are civilians, the fifth belongs to Diplomatic Security, and a member of the “166th Brigade” Misurata supporting Bashagha was killed, in the vicinity of the Al-Nawasi Brigade camp.
By Miral Sabry Al Ashry
26 May, 2022
Top stories
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