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- Volume 32, Issue 2, 2018
Africa Renewal - Volume 32, Issue 2, 2018
Volume 32, Issue 2, 2018
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Africa set for a massive free trade area
Author: Kingsley IghoborThe shelves of Choithrams Supermarket in Freetown, Sierra Leone, boast a plethora of imported products, including toothpicks from China, toilet paper and milk from Holland, sugar from France, chocolates from Switzerland and matchboxes from Sweden.
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Interview: Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General, Africa has phenomenal potential for intra-continental trade
Author: Mukhisa KituyiForty-nine of Africa’s 55 countries have signed the framework for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free and unfettered movement of businesspeople and investments. When at least 22 countries ratify it, the AfCFTA will officially come into force, potentially making the continent the largest trading bloc in the world. Africa Renewal’s Zipporah Musau spoke with Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, the secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), on what countries stand to gain and what challenges to expect. Excerpts.
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One-stop border post will boost trading
Author: Tonderayi MukeredziAs the marketing executive of Dairibord Zimbabwe, a stock exchange–listed exporter of food and beverages in Southern Africa, Tracy Mutaviri is looking forward to a bigger market share for her goods when the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) becomes operational.
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Infrastructure key to intra-African trade
Author: Efam Awo DoviKen Ukaoha knows something about infrastructure and intra-Africa trade. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Kenaux International Concept, a shoe and garment manufacturing company based in Aba, southeast Nigeria. Kenaux’s products sell in Nigeria and other African countries, including Ghana, South Africa and parts of Central Africa.
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Trading while caring for people and planet
Authors: Richard Munang and Robert MgendiRatifications are moving ahead, if slowly, on the newly signed African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)—the world’s largest free trade agreement (with the most member countries) since the founding of the World Trade Organization.
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Africa-made luxury loungewear takes on big brands
Author: Ray MwareyaFor centuries, unfinished materials for clothing manufacture—silk, cotton, hides—have been sold and shipped from Africa to the fashion capitals of the West, such as London, Paris and New York. In return, a small number of ready-to-wear clothes, cheap shoes and secondhand garments head back to Africa—at vastly marked-up prices or as charity donations.
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China’s ‘Little Africa’ losing its allure
Author: Franck KuwonuIn a sweltering monsoon afternoon in Xiaobei, in Guangzhou, a city in southeast China, a group of young and middle-aged African men take positions up and down a street lined by shops, alert to the passing of potential clients. Not far from them, in an adjacent street, another group of Africans—three women and a man holding a child in his arms— huddle around bales of merchandise. As the sun slowly sets, the town square fills up with people.
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Interview: Prof. Eddy Maloka, CEO of the APRM, Good governance is the solution to Africa’s problems
Author: Eddy MalokaUnder the auspices of the African Union, African leaders established the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in 2003 as an instrument for monitoring governance performance among member states. A self-monitoring instrument, APRM aims to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices leading to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated regional and economic integration. Africa Renewal’s Zipporah Musau sat down with Prof. Eddy Maloka, the CEO of the South Africa–based APRM Secretariat, to understand how they conduct their business. Here are excerpts.
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The evolving state of African elections
Author: Franck KuwonuGeneral elections could take place this year in at least 12 African countries. Despite myriad social and political reforms, a smooth handover from one leader to a new one looks uncertain in some of the 12 countries, with sectarian conflict predicted in close to half them.
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Youth: Getting ready for public office
Author: Leon UsigbeWith few or no opportunities to emerge as candidates for elective offices—because they are too young or because they have limited experience— some young Africans are now actively campaigning for a reduction in the age limit for running for public office.
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World Cup: Lessons from Russia
Author: Durosimi ThomasOn the morning of 29 June, Senegal woke up to a heartrending headline in Le Soleil, one of the country’s major newspapers. Two words— “La désillusion” (“The Disappointment”)—summed up the paper’s response to the country’s poor showing against Colombia, which ended 0–1, in the crucial World Cup Group H match in the Russian city of Samara.
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Strengthening bonds in the Sahel
Author: Ernest HarschPolitical insecurity in the Sahel has its roots in poverty and climate change, declares Mahamad.
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Interview: Ibrahim Thiaw, Special Adviser for the Sahel, Turning dry Sahel into land of opportunity
Author: Ibrahim ThiawIbrahim Thiaw of Mauritania was recently appointed the UN Secretary-General’s special adviser for the Sahel. A former deputy executive director for UN Environment, Mr. Thiaw is now charged with, among other responsibilities, mobilising domestic and international support for the socioeconomic development of the Sahel region, which covers 10 African countries, according to the UN. In this interview for Africa Renewal, Mr. Thiaw spoke with Minielle Baro of the UN Information Centre in Dakar on his vision, the need for urgency and the significant investment opportunities in the Sahel. These are excerpts.
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Confronting sexual violence in schools
Author: Pavithra RaoRachel Njeri, a student of Makerere University in Uganda, wept bitterly when recounting a sexual assault that took place in April 2018. “I tried to resist his actions but he was stronger than me. He grabbed me and threw me on the cabinet files at the corner.”
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UN calls on countries to stand against genocide
Author: Sharon Birch-JeffreyWith only a few months before the 70th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the United Nations has renewed its appeal for the universal ratification of the Convention. This is meant to encourage states that are still not party to the convention to ratify or sign on to it before the anniversary of its adoption on December 9.
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Is Africa ready for nuclear energy?
Author: Laura GilYears back, nuclear energy was a fancy option limited to the industrialized world. In due course, nuclear could be an energy source for much of Africa, where only South Africa currently has a nuclear power plant.
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Gender: Women-led tech startups on the rise in Africa
Author: Finbarr ToeslandOn the surface, sub-Saharan Africa boasts the world’s highest rate of women entrepreneurs, at 27%. The MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2017 listed two African countries, Uganda (34.8%) and Botswana (34.6%), as having the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs globally.
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