The leaders of the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—agreed in principle on the broad outlines of a much-anticipated new development bank that would serve the same purpose as the World Bank. But they said they needed to conduct further talks in order for the idea to actually materialize. The BRICS meeting took place in [...]
Africa Has 650 Million Mobile Subscribers; More Than the US or EU
December 21, 2012 | Posted by
Africa’s mobile phone market is now 650 million subscribers strong, reports the World Bank, which means it’s bigger than either the United States or European Union. The number of mobile phones in Africa has grown 40-fold since 2000. Africa’s mobile telecom market is second only to Asia in scale, and it’s growing almost as fast. If current trends [...]
Report Details Shocking Racism at the World Bank
December 3, 2012 | Posted by
The modern mission of the World Bank is to alleviate world poverty, but although Asia and Africa are home to 80 percent of the world’s poor, the racism of the bank is so deeply entrenched and pervasive that the nations of Africa have virtually no say over the bank’s policies and actions and blacks have no [...]
Western Companies See Big Money-Making Opportunities in Africa
October 19, 2012 | Posted by
Drawn by the chance to make significant return on investment, Western companies from the U.S. and Europe are flocking to countries in sub-Saharan Africa looking for opportunities and recruiting more managers willing to relocate to Africa. Companies like J.P. Morgan now view Africa as a much less risky investment than they did a few years [...]
Africa Continues Growth Despite Global Economic Woes
October 7, 2012 | Posted by
World Bank’s semiannual Africa’s Pulse report on the African economy projects 4.8 percent growth during 2012 for Sub-Saharan Africa, consistent with last year’s 4.9 percent growth rate. The positive analysis comes in lieu of poor performance in the global economy. Without accounting for South Africa, the continent’s most lucrative economy, the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa [...]
Diaspora Bonds: Bad Idea That Refuses to Die
September 2, 2012 | Posted by
Diaspora Bonds are a bad idea that refuses to die. They reflect the idea that members of the diaspora are just so many walking dollar bills. For too many Jamaicans the diaspora is a financial resource to be harvested. Instead of mutual respect, the relationship between Jamaica and its diaspora can seem almost predatory. Jamaica [...]
World Bank Study: Black South Africans Still Disadvantaged in Their Homeland
July 26, 2012 | Posted by
Johannesburg — In an ideal society, every child would have an equal shot at achieving their human potential, regardless of their race, gender, family background or where they were born. The reality in South Africa, one of the most unequal societies in the world, is that a white boy born to a two-parent household in [...]
Hopeful News: African Child Mortality Experiencing Biggest Declines Ever
May 22, 2012 | Posted by
It is, says Gabriel Demombynes, of the World Bank’s Nairobi office, “a tremendous success story that has only barely been recognized”. Michael Clemens of the Centre for Global Development calls it simply “the biggest, best story in development”. It is the huge decline in child mortality now gathering pace across Africa. According to Mr Demombynes [...]
