The first issue of Africa in Fact published last year, in January, dealt in depth with the scourge of Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) in all its toxic forms in Africa, a global phenomenon that poses a direct threat to good governance in every corner of our continent. In this issue, we turn our attention to TOC’s evil twin, corruption, a corrosive force that left unchallenged eats into both heart and soul of the democratic process. Definitions of corruption vary but broadly speaking it describes the abuse of power – and resources – by public servants and elected officials for private…
Susan Russell
Susan Russell
Susan Russell is the editor of Good Governance Africa’s quarterly journal, Africa in Fact. She has worked in the media industry for more than 30 years as a journalist, editor, publisher, and as a general manager. Career highlights include several years working for Business Day and more than a decade as a reporter, editor and General Manager at the Sunday Times in Johannesburg.
Bemoaning the inconvenience of a 24-hour power cut that began in a corner of Johannesburg on Christmas Day – following several days without water – the response from a friend recently returned from West Africa was, “well, at least here we have a schedule; in Nigeria there is no notice [of cuts].” Small mercies. In a grossly unequal city like Johannesburg, blighted by crumbling infrastructure and local government unwilling or unable to keep the taps flowing and the lights on, there are far too many citizens for whom even an intermittent supply of either water or electricity remains unattainable. As…
Two decades into the 21st century, it is difficult to accept that on a planet where so many people suffer the health and other consequences of too much of everything, millions of Africans still struggle to access two of the most basic human needs: sufficient food and clean water. The figures are stark. As Raphael Obonyo writes in this issue, Africa is facing unprecedented food insecurity, with more than 134 million people in 29 out of 54 countries facing acute shortages, according to the US Department of State Humanitarian Information Unit. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that about…
There is a single statistic mentioned in almost every article in this issue of Africa in Fact, that describes the extent of Africa’s energy poverty in the starkest terms. That is, 600 million Africans (roughly 60% of the continent’s population) still do not have access to electricity at all and for whom the debate over what a just transition from fossil fuels to renewables looks like remains moot. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 commits to ensuring “universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030″, with the intention of “substantially increasing” the share of renewable…
Welcome to the first issue of Africa in Fact for 2023, which we devote to the phenomenon of transnational organised crime (TOC), an ever-evolving menace that threatens the security, well-being, and livelihoods of millions of people on this continent, subverting efforts at political, economic, and social development in the process. TOC is a broad term for a wide range of activities that include human trafficking and smuggling, illicit financial flows, money laundering, illicit trade in drugs, firearms and other weapons, precious metals and gemstones, wildlife, and wildlife products such as rhino horn and pangolin scales, fake medicines, and environmental crimes…
