Africa observers oftentimes weigh in on a fruitless argument that tends to break down along rudimentary, and thus almost always wrong, lines that go something oike this: “Africa is in the midst of a catastrophe, and it’s only getting worse!” “No, Africa is doing better than you think!” The discussion is fruitless in part because […]
The Springboks defeated Australia’s Wallabies 29-17 today to take an all-but-insurmountable lead in this year’s Tri-Nations tournament. Peter de Villiers has had his share of missteps, but it is hard not to give him credit for what is turning out to be an outstanding Soringbok squad.
Texas in Africa has a must-read letter to Hillary Clinton about her ongoing Africa trip. She is particularly effective in conveying some important thoughts on Clinton’s pending visit to Goma in the eastern Congo.
Hillary Clinton is meeting with Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed today in order to provide at least symbolic support for that country’s seemingly hapless government and its fight against the Al-Shabaab Islamist radicals who control most of the southern part of the country, including the capital city of Mogadishu — a fight it is difficult […]
The UN Security Council is deeply concerned the Cote D’Ivoire is planning on delaying long-awaited elections and that the beleaguered nation’s leaders are not honoring the peace process.
At Salon, Glenn Greenwald accuses Hillary Clinton (and by extension American policy) of hypocrisy in demanding accountability for war crimes in Africa while overlooking some heinous behavious on its own part or that of its allies. Meanwhile the advocacy group ActionAid thinks that it is all well and good for Clinton (and again, by extension […]
Add to the list of monstrosities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Male rape as a weapon.
It does not seem all that unreasonable for countries like South Africa to take the lead in talking to the United States and other developed Western powers on the issue of climate change by saying: You’ve got yours. So now you can afford to make the changes necessary to running a greener economy. That’s great. […]
Boy, this seems potentially problematic: “Zimbabwe’s mines minister said on Wednesday the country was reviewing a bill forcing foreign companies to sell stakes in their businesses to make it more user friendly.” I have no problem with trying to find a way to reconsider and even to adjust foreign investment. But as with Zimbabwe’s land […]
I think we need to introduce a Godwin’s Law for South Africa: Catsam’s Rule: If you make comparisons between Apartheid and the rule of the African National Congress in which the ANC comes out looking unfavorably, you have automatically lost the argument. (Catsam’s Corollary: Ditto for arguments that South Africa is following the path of […]
Hillary Clinton’s seven-nation trip to Africa started off in Kenya yesterday. Several critics of Obama’s first Africa trip, which took him to Ghana, thought that maybe he ought to start with Kenya, given both that country’s troubled recent history and Obama’s own familial ties to the East African nation. But as with so many of […]
A quick end-of-Tuesday roundup: Always remember, Darfur is not the only crisis in Sudan. Kenya is about to open its first wind farm. Perhaps Kenya can help lead the way in pursuing alternative energies derived from those natural riches in which Africa is abundant (sun, wind, for coastal nations, water) and which are less easily […]
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