Opinion

future of food

Rebuilding resilient agri-food value chains fit for a post-COVID world

Policymakers are no exception, for whom the pandemics' uncontrollable nature has placed them in a difficult situation; the choice between the ... health of the nation and the economy. The impact of the lockdown has affected the supply and demand on a global scale not seen in our lifetime resulting in our first global depression. The effect will inevitably lead to an increase in inequalities and poverty, and the world may record its first increase in poverty since 1998. 

HISTORIC CHANCE

Africa & Diaspora: Using Black Lives Matter campaign and Covid to change status quo

When news of COVID-19 reached the non-scientific world, there was panic and surprisingly, hope. Optimists saw this global crisis as an opportunity ... for people to empathize and connect based on our shared humanity. As heartwarming videos of quarantined Europeans singing on balconies went viral, for a brief moment,  this idea seemed possible.

tax justice

In our COVID-19 haste, we forget financial integrity at our peril

The virus causing COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the planet, threatening both millions of lives, and the global economy. Governments, ... multilateral institutions and investors are taking urgent action to respond to the health and economic crises.

Coronavirus: Counting the economic costs on Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the course of the past few months, many of Africa’s key markets responded to the growing threat of COVID-19 by adopting stringent lockdown ... conditions. What’s become increasingly clear since then is the economic costs of the crisis are likely to be particularly severe across the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region.

think again

China-Africa: Its the politics, stupid!

Forget all the talk of economic colonisation: China wants African votes, not African ports. ...

exposed opportunity

Coronavirus: Chance to improve exposed weaknesses of Africa’s banking system

COVID-19 has disrupted the global economy with the uprooting of supply chains. The decades-long, single-minded focus on optimising supply chains ... helped the world minimize costs, reduce inventory, and boost asset utilisation.

blame game

How the West gets the WHO and Tedros wrong

Western failings and US-China’s tensions led to unfair accusations against the global health body and its Ethiopian boss, Tedros Adhanom ... Ghebreyesus

(ir)relevance of Africa

Reality check: Making Africa relevant must come from Africans

Since attaining political independence over 50 years ago, Africa has followed a path of decline compared to the rest of the world. ...

local roots

Africa’s globalised workforce needs strong local roots

Africa’s population will double by 2050. The continent and its vast pool of exceptionally young human capital – with a median age of 19.7 ... years – is gifted with an historic opportunity for sustained economic development. One of the key factors in realizing this growth is the widening of access to higher education - however, there are legitimate questions to be asked about what kind of education is on offer and who gains access to it.

agriculture calls

End food insecurity across Africa through agricultural change

In the aftermath of the financial and debt crises that started in 2007, food prices increased 57% in 2008 and 64 per cent in 2012, leading to ... a global food emergency in which 75 million more people went to bed hungry. The food crisis contributed to major protests and instability across the world, including in Mexico, Bangladesh and Burkina Faso. In the Middle East, it helped trigger the Arab Spring of 2012.