Non-governmental organisations are criticised for pandering to the whims of the donor community at the expense of local populations. The real question is: can they bring about real change?
Chinese company managers at the site of a highway project in Kenya. While traditional donors fund the social sectors, China’s emphasis is infrastructure.
Reuters/Antony Njuguna
The pervasive new argument is that China is upending the dominance of traditional Africa aid donors from the West. But a new study shows that while China is making inroads, the West is staying put.
The IMF was blamed after the 2014 Ebola crisis for contributing to the failure of West African health systems to develop.
Reuters/Baz Ratner
West African health systems were weak before the IMF got involved. Sadly, the policy reforms demanded by the IMF in exchange for loans have undermined governments’ ability to repair these problems.
Some changes to visa rules could make travel easier for scientists.
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Scientists from the developing world perceive current visa rules as a major impediment to professional travel. They miss out on opportunities to collaborate globally.
Many South African business leaders blame economic exclusion on the government and unionists.
Reuters/Rogan Ward
A change of attitude which comes with some deep introspection by South African business leaders can help address some of the country’s key socioeconomic challenges.
BRICS leaders at a meeting ahead of the G20 summit in Turkey in 2015.
REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin
The BRICS bank is positioning itself to play a significant role in those areas in which the international financial institutions are seen to have failed.
African countries are facing a huge problem brought on by a sovereign debt crisis.
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Grassroots protesters are questioning the logic of export-led ‘growth’ and renewed fiscal austerity pushed through the ‘Africa rising’ narrative. They want policies that meet their basic needs.
Mozambique should prioritise spending on infrastructure, agricultural development and human capital to ensure sustained growth.
Reuters/Grant Lee Neuenburg
Mozambique returns to the limelight following controversy over its external debt. How can the country contain this situation and avoid a downward spiral?
Major development banks are funding logging, mining and infrastructure projects that are having enormous impacts on nature. Here, forests are being razed along a newly constructed road in central Amazonia.
William Laurance
Big new investors such as the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank are key players in a worldwide infrastructure, and that could be bad news for the environment.
Rwanda’s experience shows that the ‘Green Revolution’ is not as transformative as it is made out to be.
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The modernisation of agriculture has been touted by economists and the IMF as a way of reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. But caution about the benefits of the Green Revolution is advisable.
China’s made it clear, all nations allowed.
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How much debt is Queensland really in? How much of that debt can past Labor governments bear responsibility for, and has the current Liberal National government cut or added to it? And how does Queensland’s…
A carrier’s liability for damage, loss or delay of baggage is governed by a number of overarching international treaties.
Adam Fagen
If you get on a plane and your baggage ends up being delayed, damaged or lost, who’s responsible: you or the airline? And what rules apply when you’re flying between different countries – even if you don’t…
Dominique Strauss-Kahn at Cannes last year.
EPA/Ian Langsdon
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back. On Thursday May 16 he took a major part in a prime-time documentary about the Euro – where he criticised Nicolas Sarkozy’s response to the 2008-9 economic crisis. The following…