Africa

Abstract African economies are under pressure to grow at a higher rate in order to raise the living standards and create sufficient jobs for its bulging youthful population through application of science, technology, and innovation as articulated in continental and global development agendas such Agenda 2063, and 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. African universities are […]

African states are increasingly leveraging the power of telecom operators to advance goals that the state itself struggles to secure (e.g. security and fiscal goals). This suggests a paradigmatic shift in African politics, whereby telecom operators have become a face of the state, exerting agency over state and citizen in pervasive and sometimes unexpected ways. […]

Mitigating the Sahel Security Conundrum: The Need for a Strategic Paradigm Shift The Sahel security conundrum (described in this article as an “immunodeficiency security disorder”) is a unique security dilemma facing the region. The Sahel region represents the ‘spinal cord’ of the continent’s geopolitical body, and as such the phenomena of its security conundrum not only […]

Since 2015, the DR Congo, a major rent-based economy in Africa, has embarked into macroeconomic turbulence with significant inflationary pressures and a severe exchange rate depression, partly due to a commodities slump. The economic downturn has contributed to strengthening the acute social crisis. The country is a fragile state on the edge, a product of […]

In Unequal Partners: American Foundations and Higher Education Development in Africa, Fabrice Jaumont focuses on American private foundation efforts since 2000 to invigorate the interest of governments and policymakers in higher education and its networks throughout Africa.[i] Reflecting this renewed interest, the primary subject of this work is the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa […]

Within the same week in August 2018 that the White House welcomed the President of Kenya and pledged to expand U.S. economic cooperation in Africa, the leaders of the two largest economies in Europe (Germany and the United Kingdom) were crisscrossing in Africa with the same overarching mission: a focus on economic cooperation and the […]

Measuring impact of a long term systemic change project Isabel Opice Isabel Opice is a second year MPA/ID student at HKS. Prior to HKS, she worked as an Office Advisor in the Secretariat in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In the everyday life in Brazil, I have seen stark social injustice: young homeless children on […]

In recent years, multilateral trade agreements among African countries have become increasingly popular. In March 2018, in Kigali Rwanda, leaders gathered to sign an agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), the biggest trade pact in the post-World Trade Organisation (WTO) era. Other initiatives are underway, including the formation of a tripartite free […]

Abstract: In this exciting reflection, Arthur A. Catraio, Researcher at the Brazilian School of Public Administration, makes the case for a more nuanced narrative around African growth prospects. He uses recent trends to highlight the analytical limitations of Dani Rodrik’s Growth Strategies (2003) concerning sub-Saharan African countries. He finds that countries like Botswana and Mauritius […]

At times like this, analysts and critics search for the right phrase to capitalise on their following. So far, watershed, landmark and game changer have been used to describe the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Unsurprisingly, the majority of Africans whom this agreement affects, are unaware of the radical facelift the continent is about […]

In this episode of the Middle East Weekly podcast we discuss the events that occurred in Gaza this past weekend, where the Israeli Defense Forces killed 18 people and injured nearly 1000 in reaction to Palestinian demonstrations near the border fence which separates Gaza from Israel. The Palestinian protests began on the anniversary of Land […]

To begin this week’s podcast, Mariam Ghanem updates us on the unsurprising results of the elections in Egypt. Then, Blaire Byg discusses Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s tour of the US, which has included visits with celebrities like Oprah in addition to the more predictable cast of politicians and journalists. It seems that MBS is […]