May 03, 2014
Ethiopia: Kerry Backs Journalists Ahead of World Press Freedom Day
United States Secretary of State John Kerry has spoken out publicly against the Ethiopian government's use of anti-terrorism laws "as mechanisms to be able to curb the free… Read more »
April 30, 2014
Africa: Kerry Pledges to Promote Democracy, Rights & Peace
United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Addis Ababa today on the first stop of a visit to east and central Africa. As his trip began, he responded by email to… Read more »
April 17, 2014
Africa: U.S. Private, Public Sectors Step Up to Power Challenge
My grandmother spent her whole life in southern Ethiopia and passed away a few years ago without ever having switched on a light. I also spent much of my early life in Africa,… Read more »
April 02, 2014
Ghana: Student Accepted to All Ivy League Schools in U.S.
A New York high school student whose family immigrated to the United States from Ghana has been accepted to all eight Ivy League schools in the U.S, according to CNN. Read more »
April 01, 2014
Africa: Young Leaders Have Hope for Africa
Hundreds of people packed a Congressional committee room last week to see a panel of young leaders discuss their ideas for positive change across Africa. Read more »
March 20, 2014
Africa: Stolen Funds Dwarf Development Aid - Mbeki
The illicit flow of money out of Africa is at least double what the continent receives from development assistance, according to conservative estimates. Large corporations are… Read more »
March 05, 2014
Senegal: Dakar Reaches Out to Finance Big Development Plans
Senegal's Minister of Budget Mouhamadou Mactar Cisse met with business representatives in Washington, D.C. last month to present the country's ambitious development plan and… Read more »
February 20, 2014
Nigeria: Women's Group Receives Major U.S. Award
A Nigerian organization dedicated to promoting the rights of women in the country's legal systems has received a major award from an American foundation for its "outsized impact"… Read more »
February 08, 2014
South Africa: Ford Foundation Pledges Support for 'Visionaries' Tackling Inequality
In 2004, a decade into South Africa's extraordinary experiment with democratic government, Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminded us that we could "kiss reconciliation and forgiveness… Read more »
January 21, 2014
Africa: Three Myths That Block Progress for the Poor
The introduction to the 2014 Gates annual letter, published by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Read more »
Africa: Empowering Women Builds Better Futures
Melinda Gates says everyone wins - and lives are saved - when teenage girls are in school rather than having babies. Excerpted from the 2014 Gates annual letter, published by the… Read more »
Africa: Gates Tackles Prophets of Doom On Poverty, Foreign Aid
The American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Bill Gates, has mounted a vigorous attack on prophets of doom who say that poor countries are destined to remain so and that foreign… Read more »
January 16, 2014
Central African Republic: More CAR Peacekeepers May Be Needed
Amid fears that the conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) could descend into a genocide, a senior member of the Obama administration's foreign policy team says the time… Read more »
December 12, 2013
Africa: We Must Continue the Long Walk - Ambassador
An address delivered by Ebrahim Rasool, South African ambassador to the United States, to a memorial service for Nelson Mandela, in the National Cathedral, Washington, DC: Read more »
South Africa: 'Boy, Did They Blow It' - Mandela's Soccer City Memorial
Never, never and never again will South Africa receive in one day anything like the number of global leaders that turned up for Nelson Mandela's memorial service at the FNB stadium… Read more »
December 10, 2013
South Africa: President Obama's Full Speech at Mandela Memorial
U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a powerful speech at former South African president Nelson Mandela's memorial service: Read more »
December 09, 2013
Liberia: Fighting for Liberia's Future – One Issue at a Time
A Conversation with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Read more »
December 02, 2013
West Africa: U.S. to Boost Public-Private Investment for Growth
As she begins a trip to Ghana, Liberia and Senegal this week, Elizabeth Littlefield, president and chief executive officer of the United States government's development finance… Read more »
November 18, 2013
South Africa: U.S. Rapper Eminem to Perform in South Africa
Showtime Management has announced that multiple award-winning U.S. rapper, Marshall Mathers popularly known as Eminem, will perform in South Africa early next year on his Rapture… Read more »
November 14, 2013
Nigeria: U.S. Declares Boko Haram, Ansaru As 'Terrorists'
The United States has declared the Nigerian militant groups Boko Haram and Ansaru as "foreign terrorist organisations" under U.S. law. Read more »
November 11, 2013
Africa: Helping Mothers to Deliver Healthy Children Safely
Holding the hand of Kumi as she went into labor at 3 am is a moment I'll never forget. Kumi lives in small hut in rural Ethiopia, hours away from the nearest health facility - and… Read more »
October 29, 2013
Africa: For GE, Africa's Infrastructural Needs Represent Business Opportunity - Jay Ireland
General Electric, a well-known American brand with longstanding engagement in Africa, is "expanding its footprint" across the African continent (see GE in Africa brochure). The… Read more »
October 10, 2013
Egypt: U.S. Withholds Military Aid From Egypt
The Obama administration has announced that it will withhold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military and cash assistance to the Egyptian government until there is… Read more »
Libya: Prime Minister Freed After Kidnapping By Militia
Libyan state television is reporting that Prime Minister Ali Zidan has been released, hours after news agencies reported his 'arrest' by gunmen. Read more »
Libya: Prime Minister 'Arrested' by Gunmen
Libyan PM Ali Zeidan has been seized by armed men in the capital, Tripoli, according to the BBC. Read more »