April 17
Africa: Trade Deception Returns in Pan-Africanist Guise
The World Bank has exaggerated probable gains from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote partial and uneven trade liberalisation that is unlikely to enhance… Read more »
August 23, 2023
Africa: Unlocking Africa's Potential - Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Progress
At this year's G7 summit in Japan, global leaders emphasized the importance of unity as the world navigates grave threats to multilateralism. The message was clear - trusted global… Read more »
January 27, 2023
Africa: The Year of Debt Distress and Damaging Development Trade-Off
As the year 2022 drew to an end, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warned, "Developing countries face 'impossible trade-off' on debt", that spiralling… Read more »
September 13, 2022
Africa: What Does the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Hold for Women?
Agnes Opus sells cereals in Busia, the border town between Kenya and Uganda. This is her lifeline through which she caters for her immediate family's needs from school fees to… Read more »
August 16, 2022
Africa: A World in Crisis Needs Both Trade and Aid
We are in the toughest period the world economy has faced since the creation of the multilateral system more than three-quarters of a century ago. A quadruple shock of COVID,… Read more »
July 05, 2022
Africa: Weaponizing Free Trade Agreements
Long seen as means to seek advantage on the pretext of providing mutual benefit, free trade agreements (FTAs) may increasingly be used as economic weapons in the emerging new Cold… Read more »
April 26, 2022
Africa: The World Can Stop Capital Flight Now
Curbing capital flight from developing countries is long overdue. New sanctions against Russian oligarchs show this can be done with the requisite political will. Recent research… Read more »
January 01, 2013
Ethiopia: The Rise of Ethiopia's Sole Rebels
Innovative Ethiopian footwear manufacturer Sole Rebels will open its second retail outlet in Taiwan this year. With ambitions to open 30 more franchise stores across the world in… Read more »
March 28, 2011
Southern Africa: Customs Union Eyeing the Money, Not Development
A new revenue sharing formula in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) could boost development but has met with resistance from the governments of poorer states in the… Read more »
June 29, 2007
Ethiopia: Starbucks Coffee Deal Hailed As Model
A deal between Starbucks and Ethiopia that ends their trademark dispute and offers more benefits to Ethiopian coffee farmers has been hailed as a potential model for other poor… Read more »
February 04, 2006
Cote d'Ivoire: Falling Global Prices Make Cotton Unattractive
To stem famine and counter a major reduction in rice imports, more and more farmers have been growing rice during the political crisis that has split Ivory Coast in two since 2002. Read more »
July 12, 2004
Congo-Brazzaville: Country Cut From 'Clean' Diamond List
An international diamond "policing" scheme has stricken the Republic of Congo from its list of countries certified as following global trading rules, and accused the… Read more »