The recent release of veteran journalist and editor Bheki Makhubu from a Swaziland jail should have been a momentous occasion for media freedom and freedom of expression activists in southern Africa. Instead, it has turned out to be a missed opportunity to inspire confidence, re-energise practitioners and consumers alike, and call the bluff on repressive […]
SADC
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
When the dust settles, who will provide justice for xenophobia victims?
By Angela Mudukuti The deplorable and execrable attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa have exposed many alarming gaps and inadequacies. Gaps in leadership at the domestic and regional level and major gaps with regard to access to justice and accountability. Estimates indicate that 300 perpetrators have been arrested but how efficiently and effectively will […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tsvangirai, it’s time to step up or step down
To anyone who has been paying close attention to developments in Zimbabwe since 2009 – after the formation of the government of national unity (GNU) – the 2013 election result was almost a forgone conclusion. Governments of national unity, as I have written elsewhere, create a false sense of security and unity in deeply polarised […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will SADC let Swaziland descend into war?
Last week Wednesday Swaziland woke up to shocking news of a 28-year-old activist who was sentenced to 85 years in prison after confessing to a spree of petrol bomb attacks that targeted mainly police officers and government officials. We all missed the story because Swaziland only makes headlines when King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
SA a key player in regional trade and development
South Africa has succeeded to reinsert its economy back into world trade following a long period of internal political difficulties and international reactions to the apartheid regime. The ratio of trade in goods and services to GDP rose from 41% in 1994 to 53% in 2011, indicating that the international exchange of goods and services […]
Posted inNews/Politics
On Zim’s wounded political beasts
Addressing the recent ZANU-PF annual congress, party leader and Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe likened the (mis)fortunes of his party to those of a wounded beast. “We are now like a wounded beast,” Mugabe said, adding emphatically, “You know how a wounded beast fights. Let’s fight back and restore our own pride.” Mugabe’s unhappiness with the […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Informal cross-border trade should be formalised
Despite being a source of income for many living on the African continent, as much as 43%, informal cross-border trade is regarded as illegal. Informal cross-border trade refers to trade in processed or non-processed merchandise that may be legal imports or exports on one side of the border and illicit on the other side and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA’s woes will ripple through region
Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has remained generally robust against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy. Regional output is projected to expand by at least 5% in 2012 to 2013, a similar pace to that recorded in 2010 to 2011. That being said, there is significant variation across the region, with solid expansion being recorded […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The importance of private sector growth and development in Africa
The private sector is Africa’s primary engine of growth. It generates an estimated 70 percent of Africa’s output, approximately two-thirds of its investment and 90 percent of employment on the continent. Based on these statistics supplied by the African Union (AU), the creation and development of private sector jobs is seen as one of the […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Macroeconomic convergence within the SADC region
Since its evolution from the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) into the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Southern African regional formation has targeted gradually deepening its integration, starting with the creation of a free trade area in the coming decade. In addition to this free trade area, further goals such as the achievement […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Understanding the growing trend of large-scale land acquisitions in Africa
The exponential international interest in investing in African farmland has attracted considerable attention recently. A 2011 Africa Development Bank study notes that 29 million of the 56 million hectares of land – approximately 51.8 percent – sought after by foreign investors globally is located in sub-Saharan Africa. Though countries with abundant uncultivated land attracted the […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Challenges to regional integration and trade in Africa
History and the legacy of colonialism have bequeathed the African continent with a legacy of fragmentation. The African continent geographically is divided into 54 countries, 28 of which have a GDP under $10-billion. In addition, 26 countries have a population under 10-million inhabitants, and 16 nations are landlocked. This fragmentation has traditionally been a significant […]