So the big news out of South Africa today is that Julius Malema, firebrand president of the ANC Youth League and general lightning rod for controversy has been suspended (or forced to “vacate his position”) for five years from the ANC. And for good measure the party also ousted the Youth League’s “arrogant” spokesman, Floyd […]
Posting has been light on my part because I have been in an almost constant state of travel of late. My apologies. And that travel continues tomorrow when I begin a trip that will ultimately take me to the Sport and the Global South conference to be held next Tuesday and Wednesday (November 15th and […]
It is tragic to see the continuing violence and instability in Somalia. It is not clear to me if the recent development is an opportunity or a start of another cycle of violence and the displacement of millions of Somalis. In fact, what is happening today in Somalia and in the sub region as a […]
Liberia has finished the first phase of what is turning out to be a fascinating presidential election that also reveals just how fragile the country’s recovery from the depths of internecene warfare is. Incumbent president and recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf leads all candidates but appears set to fall short of the […]
Is South Africa’s Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula using a traditionally marginalized cabinet position as a springboard to something larger within the ANC hierarchy? Nickolaus Bauer of the Mail & Guardian thinks so. There is no reason why the Sports Ministry or any other traditionally modest post cannot provide an opportunity to shine. Competence […]
Is there good economic news ahead for Africa? The IMF thinks there is a possibility: The International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday a rosy outlook for Sub Saharan Africa growth in 2012 but warned of significant risks from global financial volatility that could subdue demand and private inflows into the world’s poorest continent. Economies […]
The Foreign Policy Association has released the results of its National Opinion Ballot in which highly-informed participants in the Great Decisions (GD) program, the centerpiece of the FPA, weigh in on the various issues that GD covers in a given year. Among the issues that this year’s poll respondents addressed was the instability in the […]
Although the rugby world’s attention is understandably focused on the New Zealand-France match that will determine the world champion this weekend, Ecouter La Radio has a story (also available here in the original French) on an organization that is using rugby to help change the lives of poor children in Senegal. It is easy to […]
I’m still recovering from the 1-2 punch of the Boks being ousted from the IRB Rugby World Cup and Bafana Bafana getting pipped at the wire for a berth in the finals of the African Cup of Nations on a dubious tiebreaker. The frustrations derive from different sources, however. As an almost universal rule I […]
On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, Liberians will go to the polls to choose the country’s next president from a pool of 16 aspiring presidential candidates, which includes the incumbent Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The election comes a few days after President Johnson Sirleaf and another Liberian women’s activist Leymah Gbowee were awarded the Nobel Prize […]
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has just released its 2011 Index of African Governance. I’d encourage you to follow the link and download to your heart’s content. For most of you the Summary will be more than sufficient. On the whole Ibrahim himself argues, “The findings of the 2011 Index present a complex yet hopeful picture […]
Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of South Africa’s ANC Youth League and lightning rod for controversy may find that his wave has crested too early. Recent polls indicate that his popularity is waning, particularly in the cities that provide so much of his support. This news should not come as a surprise. Of late when […]
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