As West African countries try to battle Ebola, countries such as Uganda provide a model for improved detection and prevention
By Betsy McKay, Nicholas Bariyo and Drew Hinshaw
The Wall Street Journal - Aug. 22, 2014
In 2000, the deadly Ebola virus struck Uganda. And like the current outbreak in West Africa, now the largest in history, Uganda was completely unprepared. Combating it in a remote northern district under siege from a rebel insurgency, Ugandan health authorities failed to stem an initial outbreak. Frightened residents—many displaced by militants and living in congested camps—hid their ill relatives, infecting themselves as they wiped away the sweat and blood of the sick or as they prepared infectious bodies for burial. Patients fled hospitals, spreading the disease. Health-care workers ran away too. Uganda defeated the epidemic several months later, but by then, 425 people contracted Ebola, and more than half of them had died. It was the largest Ebola outbreak on record—until this year. Today, Uganda has a different Ebola story to tell. The East African nation has had four more occurrences with the disease, but none has proved as deadly as the first in 2000. Authorities from the nation's president to village leaders exhort Ugandans to be on the lookout for people with symptoms. Health officials screen airline passengers and have stockpiled hospitals with supplies. Teams of veterinarians test wildlife for viruses like Ebola that can infect humans. Uganda has even sent doctors to West Africa to train medical staff there during the outbreak.
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Monday, August 25, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Africa Rising
"In Economics, the Majority is Always Wrong" Stories of Africa's economic boom rest on shaky foundations. John Kenneth Galbraith can help.
Think Africa Press | 18 August 2014
This US-Africa Leaders Summit, held at the start of this month, fell at a time of rising concern over the sustainability of Africa’s economic emergence. In particular, many watch with excitement, as well as anxiety, at the ravenous investor interest in African debt and in new joint ventures that aim to serve the continent’s consumers. The boom in investment has been so striking of late that these flows could soon be Africa’s leading source of hard currency.
However, while these trends continue to inspire hope in some quarters, in many other circles faith in the idea that this capital surge will generate full employment, reduce inequality and eradicate poverty is waning. Instead, various commentators now worry about overheating, overreach, resource misallocation and non-performance. Meanwhile, stories such as excessively-indebted Ghana’s recent expression of interest in subjecting itself to another course of International Monetary Fund (IMF) medicine provide further fodder to those that emphasise the potential for bubble trouble south of the Sahara.
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Think Africa Press | 18 August 2014
This US-Africa Leaders Summit, held at the start of this month, fell at a time of rising concern over the sustainability of Africa’s economic emergence. In particular, many watch with excitement, as well as anxiety, at the ravenous investor interest in African debt and in new joint ventures that aim to serve the continent’s consumers. The boom in investment has been so striking of late that these flows could soon be Africa’s leading source of hard currency.
However, while these trends continue to inspire hope in some quarters, in many other circles faith in the idea that this capital surge will generate full employment, reduce inequality and eradicate poverty is waning. Instead, various commentators now worry about overheating, overreach, resource misallocation and non-performance. Meanwhile, stories such as excessively-indebted Ghana’s recent expression of interest in subjecting itself to another course of International Monetary Fund (IMF) medicine provide further fodder to those that emphasise the potential for bubble trouble south of the Sahara.
READ MORE....
Friday, August 15, 2014
Africa: Another Apple of Discord Between China and US?
Marina Dzhashi
Rianovosti - 14/08/2014
Africa holds great economic potential for foreign investment, however the ongoing local conflicts present a lot of threats associated with the opportunities. Find out what developments are likely to follow as a result of the summit and what's in store for Africa in this edition of Agree or Disagree.
As a continent of great economic potential and strategic importance Africa attracts investors from abroad with the Chinese investment so far being the most aggressive. Some analysts believe that China and the US rivalry over Africa may escalate to the point of cold war.
Radio VR’s Agree or Disagree discusses how justified this view is withGeorge Koo, the founder of Strategic Alliances and Brendon O' Reilly, a journalist and writer for China Outlook. Nearly 50 African heads of state converged on Washington DC to discuss how to strengthen ties between the US and one of the world's fastest-growing regions.
READ MORE....
Rianovosti - 14/08/2014
Africa holds great economic potential for foreign investment, however the ongoing local conflicts present a lot of threats associated with the opportunities. Find out what developments are likely to follow as a result of the summit and what's in store for Africa in this edition of Agree or Disagree.
As a continent of great economic potential and strategic importance Africa attracts investors from abroad with the Chinese investment so far being the most aggressive. Some analysts believe that China and the US rivalry over Africa may escalate to the point of cold war.
Radio VR’s Agree or Disagree discusses how justified this view is withGeorge Koo, the founder of Strategic Alliances and Brendon O' Reilly, a journalist and writer for China Outlook. Nearly 50 African heads of state converged on Washington DC to discuss how to strengthen ties between the US and one of the world's fastest-growing regions.
READ MORE....
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
A New Article: Contributions of Africana Scholars to the Theory of Human Rights in Sociology
By Biko Agozino
Theoria and Praxis: International Joural of Interdisciplinary Thought
Vol 2, No 1 (2014) The Idea of Human Rights
Eurocentrism dominates and distorts human rights discourse as is the case with almost every other topic in sociology. The assumption is that human rights are Western values with the best exemplars of the tradition to be found in western liberal democratic states based on theoretical and legal-philosophical ideas developed by the Enlightenment and by the Western scholars who inherited that tradition. By neglecting other communities of interpretation on the human rights discourse, Eurocentrism contributes to the stunting of social thought the way ethnocentrism usually does. This papyrus departs from the Eurocentric approach by focusing on the profound contributions of people of African descent to the theoretical clarification of human rights issues and to the heroic historical struggles to advance the practice of human rights for all of humanity.
Download the article.......
Theoria and Praxis: International Joural of Interdisciplinary Thought
Vol 2, No 1 (2014) The Idea of Human Rights
Eurocentrism dominates and distorts human rights discourse as is the case with almost every other topic in sociology. The assumption is that human rights are Western values with the best exemplars of the tradition to be found in western liberal democratic states based on theoretical and legal-philosophical ideas developed by the Enlightenment and by the Western scholars who inherited that tradition. By neglecting other communities of interpretation on the human rights discourse, Eurocentrism contributes to the stunting of social thought the way ethnocentrism usually does. This papyrus departs from the Eurocentric approach by focusing on the profound contributions of people of African descent to the theoretical clarification of human rights issues and to the heroic historical struggles to advance the practice of human rights for all of humanity.
Download the article.......
Monday, August 4, 2014
A New Book: The Scramble for African Oil
Oppression, Corruption and War for Control of Africa's Natural Resources
Douglas A. Yates
PLUTO PRESS, 2012
Africa is often seen as a place to be pitied or feared as an area of
instability. This book challenges these complacent assumptions, showing
how our demand for oil contributes to the chronic problems plaguing the
continent.
Douglas A. Yates shows how the 'scramble' by the great powers for African oil has fed corruption and undermined democracy. Yates documents how Africans have refused to remain passive in the face of such developments, forming movements to challenge this new attempt at domination.
This book is an urgent challenge to our understanding of Africa, raising questions about the consequences of our reliance on foreign resources. It will be vital reading for all those studying development and global political economy.
Douglas A. Yates is Professor of International Relations & Diplomacy at the American Graduate School, International & Comparative Politics at the American University of Paris, and Anglo-American Law at the University of Cergy-Pontoise. His most recent book is The French Oil Industry and the Corps des Mines in Africa (2009).
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PART ONE: POWER FROM ABOVE
1. Foreign States and Trade Relations
– Colonialism, Neo-Colonialism and Globalization
– Reserves, Production, Peak Oil and War
– Case Study: Neo-Colonialism in Gabon
– French Domination by Elf-Gabon
2. Multinational Corporations and Nationalization
– The Legacy of Geography?
– The Legacy of Slavery?
– Case Study: Yankee Landlords of Cabinda
– Portuguese Colonialism, American Imperialism
– Angolan Nationalism and the MPLA
3. International Organization and Governance
– Improving Governance in Africa's Oil Sector
– International Organizations: TI, Global Witness, PWYP, EITI
– Case Study: Chad and the World Bank Model
4. Rentier States and Kleptocracy
– Oil Rent and the Rentier
– Rentier Mentality, Allocation State
– Spanish Guinea (1778-1968)
– Dictatorial Guinea
5. Praetorian Regimes and Terror
– Soldiers and Oil
– Typology of Military States
– The Military in Congo-Brazzaville
– From Praetorian Rule to Personal Dictatorship
PART TWO: POWER FROM BELOW
6. Journalists and Intellectuals
– The Treason of the Clerks
– Cameroon: the Agathon of Mongo Beti
– The Return to Cameroon
7. Political Parties and Elections
– Electoral Democracy in Africa
– Multiparty Democracy in Sao Tome E Principe
– Oil and Corruption in Multiparty Democracy
8. Armed Struggle for Independence
– Oil and War
– Regional Identity and Violence
– Southern Identity and Violence in Sudan
– John Garang and the 'New Sudan'
9. Popular Resistance and People Power
– Things Don't Fall Apart
– Oil and Violence in the Niger Delta
– Collapsing the Failed State
10. Unscrambling the Scramble for African Oil
– Solution 1: Controlling Corruption
– Solution 2: Direct Distribution of Oil Revenues
– Solution 3: Invest in Social Development
– Solution 4: Boycott African Oil
– Solution 5: Stop Consuming Oil
READ MORE.....
Douglas A. Yates
PLUTO PRESS, 2012
Africa is often seen as a place to be pitied or feared as an area of
instability. This book challenges these complacent assumptions, showing
how our demand for oil contributes to the chronic problems plaguing the
continent.Douglas A. Yates shows how the 'scramble' by the great powers for African oil has fed corruption and undermined democracy. Yates documents how Africans have refused to remain passive in the face of such developments, forming movements to challenge this new attempt at domination.
This book is an urgent challenge to our understanding of Africa, raising questions about the consequences of our reliance on foreign resources. It will be vital reading for all those studying development and global political economy.
Douglas A. Yates is Professor of International Relations & Diplomacy at the American Graduate School, International & Comparative Politics at the American University of Paris, and Anglo-American Law at the University of Cergy-Pontoise. His most recent book is The French Oil Industry and the Corps des Mines in Africa (2009).
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PART ONE: POWER FROM ABOVE
1. Foreign States and Trade Relations
– Colonialism, Neo-Colonialism and Globalization
– Reserves, Production, Peak Oil and War
– Case Study: Neo-Colonialism in Gabon
– French Domination by Elf-Gabon
2. Multinational Corporations and Nationalization
– The Legacy of Geography?
– The Legacy of Slavery?
– Case Study: Yankee Landlords of Cabinda
– Portuguese Colonialism, American Imperialism
– Angolan Nationalism and the MPLA
3. International Organization and Governance
– Improving Governance in Africa's Oil Sector
– International Organizations: TI, Global Witness, PWYP, EITI
– Case Study: Chad and the World Bank Model
4. Rentier States and Kleptocracy
– Oil Rent and the Rentier
– Rentier Mentality, Allocation State
– Spanish Guinea (1778-1968)
– Dictatorial Guinea
5. Praetorian Regimes and Terror
– Soldiers and Oil
– Typology of Military States
– The Military in Congo-Brazzaville
– From Praetorian Rule to Personal Dictatorship
PART TWO: POWER FROM BELOW
6. Journalists and Intellectuals
– The Treason of the Clerks
– Cameroon: the Agathon of Mongo Beti
– The Return to Cameroon
7. Political Parties and Elections
– Electoral Democracy in Africa
– Multiparty Democracy in Sao Tome E Principe
– Oil and Corruption in Multiparty Democracy
8. Armed Struggle for Independence
– Oil and War
– Regional Identity and Violence
– Southern Identity and Violence in Sudan
– John Garang and the 'New Sudan'
9. Popular Resistance and People Power
– Things Don't Fall Apart
– Oil and Violence in the Niger Delta
– Collapsing the Failed State
10. Unscrambling the Scramble for African Oil
– Solution 1: Controlling Corruption
– Solution 2: Direct Distribution of Oil Revenues
– Solution 3: Invest in Social Development
– Solution 4: Boycott African Oil
– Solution 5: Stop Consuming Oil
READ MORE.....
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