Africa’s Green Voice Falls Silent: 2013 London Memorial to Meles Zenawi
By Michael Street Our struggle is not a marathon but more akin to a relay race where those who ran earlier pass on the baton to those who came later – Meles Zenawi ‘THE MOST INTELLIGENT POLITICIAN I’VE EVER MET’…
An Extraordinary Journey (Video)
On his recent trip to Africa in early July, US President Barack Obama announced his $7.bn Power Africa initiative focused on just six countries the US believes have the greatest potential to succeed in addressing the continent’s electricity needs. To…
Africa’s Coming Crash and How the Green Economy can Prevent it
By Michael Street The future of the world is green and when we plan for our future we must do so on the basis of green technologies. All the more so because we have not heavily invested in old technologies…
Yadesa Zewege Bojia Reflects on African Union Flag on 50th Anniversary
Photo: Yadesa Bojia Tadias Magazine By Tadias Staff “I was told by an official from the Ethiopian ministry of Foreign Affairs that when Meles Zenawi found out the winner was an Ethiopian, he told them to go find the guy,”…
The 23rd Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council opens in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Videos)
Photo: African Union Headquarters Building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia May 22, 2013 [ Meles Zenawi would have been very proud to attend and host this great AU session. ] The 23rd ordinary session of the Executive Council of the African…
Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, the Woman who Successfully Launched Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) and Changed Many Lives (Video)
Photo: Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin By Sarah McGregor Cornell Food Fight Leads Gabre-Madhin to Battle Africa Scarcity When Eleni Gabre-Madhin climbed onto a cafeteria table as a junior at Cornell University almost 30 years ago and begged students to end the…
Africa Must Deepen Broadband Penetration To Achieve Growth
VENTURES AFRICA- Frank Jejding, the newly-appointed Head of Region for Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, has call on Africa governments to fashion out ways to deepen broadband penetration on the continent. Jejding said potential of the African markets are yet untapped and…
Africa, China and the United States Relationships (Audio Interview)
Ambassador David H. Shinn, among others, participated in an hour long radio program on 21 April 2013 dealing with Africa, China and the United States titled “China-Africa: Is the Honeymoon Over?“. Veteran journalist Eric Olander moderated the program and post-doctoral…
How the Private Sector is Changing Chinese Investment in Africa
The Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment published on 15 April 2013 a brief study titled “How the Private Sector Is Changing Chinese Investment in Africa” by Xiaofang Shen, senior visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of…
Uganda to Build 600 MW Hydro Power Plant on The Nile River at a Cost of $2.2 Billion USD
By Nicholas Bariyo Uganda Confident China to Fund 600 MW Karuma Power Plant KAMPALA, Uganda, April 15, 2013 — The Ugandan government is confident that China will provide funding to finance the construction of a 600-megawatt Karuma hydro-power plant on…
The European Union’s and China’s Relations with Ethiopia
Ethiopia, China and the European Union Christine Hackenesch, research fellow at the German Development Institute, published an article in the first issue for 2013 of the Journal of Current Chinese Affairs titled “Aid Donor Meets Strategic Partner? The European Union’s…
The African Opening in Turkish Foreign Policy
Turkey-Africa Relations Ortadogu Analiz published in Turkish in October 2012 followed by an English translation in 2013 an article by Isa Afacan titled “The African Opening in Turkish Foreign Policy.” While Afacan notes that Africa remains secondary to Turkish foreign…
Africa’s Economic Boom: Five Countries to Watch
By C. Matthew Hawkins April 12, 2013 South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, and Ethiopia all have economies that are growing at a brisk pace. But their future depends on how they invest that money, writes Matthew Hawkins. As competition for…
China and Africa: Challenges and Predictions
Photo: Ambassador David H. Shinn On 8 April 2013 Ambassador David H. Shinn addressed the Cosmopolitan Club in Manhattan on the topic of “China and Africa: Challenges and Predictions.” After making a series of assumptions about the future of China…
Motherland – A Film by Owen Alik Shahadah (Jacob Zuma, Meles Zenawi, Ali Mazrui) – Video
Motherland (Enat Hager) is the most powerful documentary on Africa. Fusing history, culture, politics, and contemporary issues, Motherland sweeps across Africa to tell a new story of a dynamic continent. From the glory and majesty of Africa’s past through its…
Top Five Reasons Why Africa Should Be a Priority for the United States
By: John P. Banks George Ingram Mwangi Kimenyi Steven rocker Witney Schneidman Yun Sun Lesley anne Warner March 2013 Introduction: Why Africa Matters to the United States Mwangi Kimenyi, Senior Fellow and Director, Africa Growth Initiative, Brookings Institution For over…
The Next Shanghai May Be in Africa
Photo: The late PM of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, with Chinese Primier By Stephen Hayes In 1987, I visited Shanghai for the first time. As I walked the streets, it was as if I were walking on a movie set that…
China and Africa in the Xi Jinping Era
By Ambassador David H. Shinn While China’s policy in Africa during the Xi Jinping era will look much like that of the Hu Jintao period, the challenges will be greater. Recently installed Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit…
Is Africa Really Rising?
By Michel Street ‘Is Africa really rising?’ was the title of a 10-day, on-line Economist debate that ended on 22 March 2013. Despite the optimism over Africa now reaching fever pitch, with global investors salivating at the continent’s prospects, the 200 debaters were not…
A Growing Opportunity – Measuring Investments in African Agriculture
Introduction Sub-Saharan African agriculture could, and should, be thriving. According to the World Bank, the region has the right conditions to feed itself: enough fertile farmland, enough water and enough favourable climates. According to the International Fund for Agriculture Development…
BRICS and Africa
Photo: David H. Shinn BRICS and Africa Next Generation of African Security Leaders Africa Center for Strategic Studies National Defense University Fort McNair Washington, D.C. 19 March 2013 Remarks by David H. Shinn Adjunct Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs…
Putting The Green Economy into Africa’s Growth Story
By Michael Street A CALL TO ACTION ‘Africa is a green field for investment because it is the least developed region on earth’ — Meles Zenawi, late prime minister of Ethiopia, September 2009 The rise of Africa as the final…
A Green Aid Stimulus for Africa
By Michael Street On 2 March the UK’s Observer published a special report on the legacy of the 2005, G8 Gleneagles debt-relief for developing countries and the concurrent Make Poverty History campaign. This report included articles by former UK prime minister, Tony Blair –…
The Role of Public Sentiment and Social Media in the Evolving China–Africa Relationship
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) published in January 2013 an analysis titled “The Role of Public Sentiment and Social Media in the Evolving China-Africa Relationship” by Yu-Shan Wu, an assistant researcher at SAIIA. The title is misleading…
Embracing Africa’s Economic Potential (Videos)
U.S. Senator Chris Coons Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs March 7, 2013 Recommendations for Strengthening Trade Relationships Between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from Senator Coons Executive Summary Detailed Examination of Recommendations…
Ethiopian Born Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi Networth Now at $13.5 Billion, Ranks at 65th in the World
Photo: Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi We would like to take this opportunity and thank Mr. Al Amoudi for his commitment to Ethiopia and its people! Forbes World’s Billionares List this year boasts of 1,426 names of billionaires from 64 countries,…
The Economist: Africa – A Hopeful Continent (Video)
March 2nd 2013 |From the print edition “Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister from 1995 until his death last year, achieved impressive gains by taking development into his own hands” Africa rising African lives have already greatly improved over the past…
Report from The 2nd Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum held in Bishoftu, Ethiopia
The China-Africa Think Tank Forum (CATTF) has published the results of its 2nd meeting that took place in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on 12-13 October 2012. Beginning on page 49 the paper contains the summaries of 50 presentations by African, Chinese and…
China in Africa: What the Policy of Nonintervention Adds to the Western Development Dilemma
Chinese vs. Western Development Model in Africa PRAXIS: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security published in 2012 an article titled “China in Africa: What the Policy of Nonintervention Adds to the Western Development Dilemma.” The author is Madison Condon, a…
China-Africa Expert, Ian Taylor, on China-Africa Relations
China-Africa expert Ian Taylor, St. Andrews University, spoke on 8 January 2013 at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. Below is a summary of his remarks, which touched on a wide range of China-Africa issues. ===…
China’s New Leadership and Sino-Africa Relations
The Brookings Institution published a brief analysis in January 2013 titled “China’s New Leadership and Sino-Africa Relations.” The authors are all associated with the Africa Growth Initiative: Yun Sun, visiting fellow; Julius Agbor, Africa research fellow; and Jessica Smith, research…
New Challenges Arise as China-Africa Ties Deepen
Oxford Analytica published on 21 January 2013 an analysis titled “New Challenges Arise as China-Africa Ties Deepen.” It argued that attention is shifting from alleged East-West ideological competition to the practical challenges and opportunities Africa faces in engaging at multiple levels…
Private Chinese Investment in Africa: Myths and Realities
Xiaofang Shen, visiting scholar in the SAIS China Studies Program and former World Bank investment specialist, published in January 2013 an excellent study titled “Private Chinese Investment in Africa: Myths and Realities” as a World Bank working paper. The paper…
African Development Bank (AfDB) Commits $1.1 Billion To Boost Geothermal Development
Financing Change, an AfDB report has revealed expected results from a programme financed by the bank with $1.1 billion and Climate Investment Funds (CIF) with $420 million in order to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 6.9 million tones and connect…
Davos, Re-Risking Africa and the Green Economy
By Michael Street Jan. 25, 2013 De-Risking Africa was the title of the main session on Africa at the 2013 World Economic in Davos, Switzerland. On 23 January a distinguished panel, including two African presidents, two from the private sector…
China’s State Media Engagement in Africa: An Instrument of Public Diplomacy
Dec. 20, 2012 The West has not been interested in Africa for decades. Now, after seeing what China is doing in Africa, the topic of Africa, specifically, Africa’s relations with China, has come to the front pages. Most western states…
New Trends in African Media: The Growing Role of China
Dec. 19, 2012 The Oxford University China Africa Network hosted on 9 November 2012 a conference on “New Trends in African Media: The Growing Role of China.” Dr. Iginio Gagliardone and Dr. Harry Verhoeven prepared a brief conference report that…
The Rise and Fall of (Chinese) African Apparel Exports
Dec. 19, 2012 The Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford published in August 2012 a study titled “The Rise and Fall of (Chinese) African Apparel Exports.” Written by Lorenzo Rotunno, Pierre-Louis Vezina and Zheng Wang, it explained…
African Development: Dead Ends and New Biginnings (By Meles Zenawi)
PRELIMINARY DRAFT (Not for quotation) This draft for discussion comprises selected extracts of a monograph under preparation. They include drafts of a couple of chapters in their entirety, the concluding sections of several chapters and in some cases, only the…
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