Tilling the Sinai’s sands may reap the peace dividend. by Megan Detrie The Sinai Peninsula, Egypt’s large triangular stretch of desert that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, is a renowned site of conflict—and the focus of the new Islamist-led government’s plan to resettle 1m Egyptians and turn 1m acres of desert into farmland. The five-year plan will seek to relieve food insecurity, urban overcrowding and national unemployment (which reached 12.6% this year, according to Egypt’s official statistics agency). Critically, the programme may also diminish the region’s escalating conflict. During last year’s Arab Spring, Sinai residents routed most defence forces…
GGA Dev
A long-term approach to doing business anywhere relies on nurturing relationships, and perhaps more in Africa than elsewhere
Women in Africa’s parliaments: save us some seats by Karen Hasse Women’s political representation is vital to securing greater gender equality, feminists and others argue. Africa has made great strides in electing more women to its parliaments. Four African countries are among the top ten countries with the highest numbers of women in parliament. But even in these countries, gender inequality persists. Many of Africa’s women are still constrained by sexist laws and cultural beliefs that infringe their rights. More women in parliaments “make it more likely that legislatures will repeal regressive policies that deny women their basic human rights…
Building blocs and removing hurdles by Karen Hasse Somewhere near an African frontier, a heavily laden truck is wedged in a long train of other lorries. Its driver has turned off the engine and snoozes in the cab. He and other motorists have been waiting for hours, sometimes days, while their goods bake under the hot sun. Crossing an African border can be tedious, lengthy and expensive. Often, a full set of procedures on either side of the border results in delays, making cross-border trade difficult and costly. “In Southern Africa, a truck serving supermarkets across a border may need…
Africa’s separatist movements The continent has a unique history of separatist movements, but how likely are any of them to win independence? Southern Sudanese swapped the battlefield for the ballot box two-and-a-half years ago. They voted overwhelmingly to sever their ties with Sudan. On July 9th 2011, jubilant street parties in the capital city of Juba marked the creation of the world’s newest sovereign nation. But beyond South Sudan’s freshly drawn borders, some members of the international community were worried. The secession, they said, could spur on the dozens of other separatist movements in Africa. They feared that it set…
Tunisia: Ansar al-Sharia While Tunisia’s political parties quarrel internally and with each other, extremists take control of the country’s destiny. By Anne Wolf Three years ago Tunisians famously took to the streets demanding “jobs, dignity and freedom”, in the first of a wave of popular uprisings in the region that would become known as the Arab spring. Very little of the enthusiasm and optimism that characterised that period remains as the population continues to suffer from economic hardship and political limbo. But many Tunisians are now unsettled by a new threat: the emergence of extremist groups with possible links to al-Qaeda. The West has often held…
In 2000 Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, began seizing the country’s white- owned commercial farms. He promised to give them to the landless. Instead he gave much of this land to his wealthy cronies, wrecking the country’s largest industry. by Tony Hawkins The story of Zimbabwe’s land resettlement began in 2000 when Robert Mugabe released his dogs of war to evict white commercial farmers from their land. That year the country’s farmlands yielded some 4.2m tonnes of agricultural produce, according to the Commercial Farmers Union (see chart below). But by the end of this country’s “lost decade”, 1998 to 2008, agricultural…
The tide of corruption that has swept the continent may be ebbing as governments and Africans are investing more in their own countries
Central African Republic: the rebels formerly known as Seleka This coalition has taken over the country and plunged it into unmitigated violence and chaos Seleka may be the worst tyrant to ever have terrorised the Central African Republic (CAR). This is not said lightly. Whatever can go wrong in the CAR usually does. The country is often referred to as a failed state. Sometimes it is referred to as a non-state surrounded by other countries. More often than not it is simply forgotten. Perhaps the only good Seleka has done is to briefly attract international attention to a crisis that…
