Political violence denies countries the investment they needConflict in Africa can result in economic devastation that lingers on far beyond the last crack of gunfire, because aid and trade matter more to the continent’s economic growth than they do to others. The loss of international partners – and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in particular – can drain an African country of its economic lifeblood for years after a coup d’état or a civil war. International ventures are naturally risk averse, and foreign investment is inherently volatile. For investors in Paris, Beijing, London or New York, nothing seems quite so risky…
Brian Klaas
Madagascar: textiles in tatters With internationally-approved elections last December, the island nation may regain membership into an important trade club Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, is teeming with entrepreneurs. The official market stalls are overcrowded and hand-painted rickety wooden stalls spill into the streets. Even in off-limits areas around government buildings, vendors still hawk their goods aggressively. On a recent trip, a man approached me while I was walking. He was carrying a baby car seat under his arm. “Would you like to buy this car seat?” he asked. “I don’t have a car,” I replied. “That’s okay,” he assured me, “you…
Elections should bring peace, not war. But for the past 15 years, whenever voters in Côte d’Ivoire went to the polls, ballots turned to bullets. After the 2010 election sparked the latest civil war, tensions remained, leaving the victors scrambling to forge a new order built on justice and reconciliation. In the wake of violence, a new political order had to be built slowly, piece by piece, in courthouses and in prisons, by judges and by jailers. In the context of shaky post-election justice and reconciliation, Ivoirians re-elected President Alassane Ouattara to a second term on October 25, 2015. The…
Conflict in Africa can result in economic devastation that lingers on far beyond the last crack of gunfire, because aid and trade matter more to the continent’s economic growth than they do to others. The loss of international partners — and foreign direct investment in particular — can drain an African country of its economic lifeblood for years after a coup d’état or a civil war. International ventures are naturally risk averse, and foreign investment is inherently volatile. For investors in Paris, Beijing, London or New York, nothing seems quite so risky in Africa as a group of men in…
Africa: market-dominant minorities Though the economies of many African countries are dominated by minorities, politicians often choose to accept the benefits By Brian Klaas Between “Brexit” and Donald Trump, 2016 seems to be a year of political rewards for those who demonise minorities and disparage immigrants. And while the rhetoric has turned ugly—against Eastern Europeans, among others, in Britain and notably, Mexicans and Muslims in the United States—none of those demonised groups holds a disproportionate economic influence over their respective societies. In fact, these communities are disproportionately poor when compared to the majority—whites. How much more potent would Trump’s xenophobic…
Madagascar: a tale of two mines The forsaken Ilakaka and coddled Ambatovy mining operations exemplify the problem and the solution By Brian Klaas In the early 1990s, only 40 people lived in Ilakaka, a sleepy village off the beaten path in south-west Madagascar more than 700km from Antananarivo, the capital of the rugged Indian Ocean island. The government took little interest in the village; it was no more than a blip on the map. But in 1998 the discovery of pink sapphires in Ilakaka brought a huge demographic change to the village. A year later, it was home to 100,000…
Madagascar: personality trumps principle In this poor island nation, everyone wants to be on the side that is winning Political parties in Madagascar are often empty shells, little more than ways to legitimise individual candidates with the illusion of a broader movement. Similarly, opposition parties in this island nation are usually façades. With no ideology or platform they tend to rush to the centre of state power like moths to a flame, quickly contradicting the notion that they are in opposition at all. The most recent experience of non-existent opposition began last year, when Madagascans voted in the December 2013…
Somalians in the United States The Somali diaspora is a blessing and a curse for the government back home Hail a taxi in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and you are likely to find a Somali refugee behind the wheel. The twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul are one of the largest Somali municipalities outside of Somalia. About 32,000 citizens of Somali origin are living in Minnesota, a state in the American Midwest, according to 2011 figures from the US Census Bureau. Community leaders suggest there may be as many as 50,000. The Somali diaspora is a potent political force, driving local…
Military takeovers in Africa When will the AU bare its teeth? It was late 1987 when Blaise Compaoré became president of Burkina Faso in a coup d’état. Michael Jackson was atop the charts with his album “Bad” and the Berlin Wall would stand for another two years. Twenty-seven years later, Mr Compaoré lost power the same way he had taken it. Burkina Faso’s military hijacked a wave of popular protest and toppled the long-time strongman from his Ouagadougou throne on November 1st 2014. Mr Compaoré’s convoy of tinted-window sport-utility vehicles snaked south-west to Côte d’Ivoire, following the path to exile…
Constitutional term limits Several presidents in Africa are seeking to stay in power by abolishing constitutional term limits When democracy swept across Africa in the 1990s, optimism spread that the era of “Big Man” politics had ended. It no longer seemed plausible that a president could stay in office indefinitely. Multi-party elections had arrived and soon became commonplace. Surely, elections and genuine democracy would prove to be the long-overdue antidote to power-hungry presidents hell-bent on staying in office, no matter the cost. Unfortunately, two and a half decades later, the reality has not lived up to this dream. Elections are…
