This is Africa
When I saw the Leonaro DiCaprio Film ‘Blood Diamond’ two years ago I thought it a pretty good depiction of some of the realities of Africa today — corruption, Western greed, African greed and a fair bit of violence. My South African friend Karnie scoffed at such naivete. Read more
Slowdown — what slowdown?
Salim was playing basketball down by the beach in Dar es Salaam. Unlike the IMF, he’s not too worried about things.
Tanzania — Women’s week
Every year starting 1st March is women’s week in Tanzania.
Unlucky 13
The 13 African countries identified by the IMF as vulnerable to the economic downturn are as follows :
- Angola
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Ghana
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Mauritania
- Nigeria
- Sudan
- Zambia
I’m personally surprised not by the inclusions but by certain absences (Zimbabwe anyone?).
The IMF refers to these countries as LICs — Low Income Countries (the full report is here . . . warning 70-page PDF, alternatively try Andrew Walker’s briefing) .
But are we in the developing countries guilty of appealing to Africa’s sense of shame rather than its dynamism when we categorise countries in this way?
It’s a point former World Bank Africa boss Robert Calderisi makes in his book The Trouble With Africa. A timely tome I’ve decided to read. If you’re after an insider’s view of how the IMF and the World Bank treat Africa and Africans it’s an authoritative source.
Africa Week — the editors’ view
Private enterprise in a global downturn. Read more