The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is blessed with millions of hectares of fertile land, plentiful rainfall and perennial sunshine. It could be Africa’s breadbasket. Yet people there are hungry. by François Misser Rotten leadership, two devastating civil wars and smouldering rebel skirmishes, have left nearly 50m, or three-quarters of the DRC’s population, hungry. Yet the DRC boasts 75m to 80m hectares of arable land that could feed a billion people, according to Thomas Kembola Kejuni, a former secretary general at the ministry of agriculture. But only 10% of this potential is tilled. The population scrapes by on insufficient imports…
GGA Dev
The concerns of the political elite revolve around ‘political budgets’ and the price of loyalty in South Sudan
Slowing growth and growing political uncertainty spell difficult times ahead for this central African country
Ugandan mayor Jennifer Musisi’s strong city government attracts praise and criticism Some see Jennifer Musisi, the head of Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA), as a trailblazer of urban transformation in Africa. To others she represents an authoritarian regime that has ridden roughshod over citizens’ livelihoods and human rights. A lawyer and former tax administrator, Ms Musisi was hand-picked by Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, to head the KCCA amid criticism that the authority was no more than a tool of the ruling party. Her name, Musisi, which means “earthquake” in Luganda, the country’s most widely spoken dialect, reflects the firmness of…
Our survey of the country’s 234 local municipalities reveals a pattern of extremes [embeddoc url=”https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2019/12/TABLES-GPI-2016.xlsx” download=”all” viewer=”microsoft”]
Foreign ownership of African land: beneficial or exploitative? by Simon Allison Some call it neo-colonialism. Others say it is Africa’s hidden revolution. Still others term it a disaster waiting to happen. Whatever the phrasing, the headlines and reports are uniformly grim when it comes to land grabbing in Africa, an issue which has dominated coverage of African agriculture over the last few years. Shady sovereign wealth funds or western investors with less than honourable intentions are buying the continent’s land at knock-down prices, claim concerned non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Africa has become the destination of choice for investors looking for cheap,…
In Africa, doing good business is being good business
A privately-funded initiative in this central African country is helping to protect a pristine environment
Western Sahara: the Polisario Front Prolonged stalemate keeps the conflict unresolved and refugees in exile A 2,700km wall of sand and stone separates the territory of Western Sahara into two parts. This berm, which varies in height from two to five metres, is supported by bunkers, barbed wire, radar systems and landmines. It separates the western Atlantic Ocean coastline of Africa’s last colony from the eastern Sahara. The military fortification stands as a symbol of the longstanding political struggle, which has divided this mainly desert territory in north-west Africa. For nearly four decades since Spain relinquished its rights to its…
Tension simmers along Kenya’s pristine beaches near Mombasa, the country’s second- largest city and a major tourist destination. This Indian Ocean resort is the site of recent terrorist bombings and rioting. by Clar Ni Chonghaile Along Kenya’s beaches, coconuts thump dully on white sand sloping to turquoise waters and reefs filledwith starfish. But behind this paradise lies another picture—one of poverty, crippling unemployment, paltry public services and a discontent that is fuelling fears of violence ahead of next March’s presidential elections. The Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a once-outlawed group that is now facing a new crackdown, wants Kenya’s coastal region…
