Why Africa is losing out by letting the peer review process collapse
Why is the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the continent’s most important governance assessment and promotion tool, in the doldrums?
Untangling the regulatory yoke for businesses in South Africa
South Africa is a country of contradictions. Depending on one’s circles and political or moral convictions one always gets something fascinating. If it’s not Nkandla, its Ramaphosa flying on a Gupta plane.
Should Heritage Day be renamed Heritages Day?
South Africa has seldom approached Heritage Day with a more fractured sense of what constitutes our heritage and what should be celebrated. Angry exchanges over the character of our universities, language policy, public memorials and so on have exposed the divides that run through our society and have even called into question whether we are one nation.
New development goals on health need more work to be realistic
The next chapter of the global development agenda – the Sustainable Development Goals – will shift the global focus and debate around health systems.
China–Africa Co-operation: Capacity Building and Social Responsibility of Investments
The increasingly visible Chinese economic presence in Africa has led to analyses that run the gamut from highly laudatory, ie, considering Chinese investments as a contribution to African development, to strongly critical, ie, considering them as exploitative.
Shifting Security Challenges in the China–Africa Relationship
China’s involvement in African security has deepened in recent years, with growing multilateral engagements with the AU and the UN.
WTO 2.0: Will the WTO be able to reinstate its centrality in the global trading landscape in the 21st century?
That the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been in the grip of a systemic crisis since 2008 is well known. Notwithstanding relatively minor successes at the Bali Ministerial in December 2013, the WTO’s negotiating function remains effectively stalled. The Nairobi Ministerial, set to take place in December 2015, is not likely to yield systemic solutions, notably to break the Doha Round impasse.
The United Nations at 70: South Africa’s role in global peace and security
Today, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) will convene for the 70th time since its inception in 1945, at the UN headquarters in New York. UNGA takes place every year and is one of the few times during which heads of state from all over the world attend to discuss matters of global import.
Cancelled APRM Summit Sends Distressing Signals
The sudden cancellation of an Extraordinary Summit on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) raises serious concerns about the future of this important home-grown African governance and accountability tool. Nairobi was scheduled to host the APRM Forum of Heads of State and Government on 10-11 September 2015.
Next Time Better? Conducting the APRM’s ‘Second-Generation’ Reviews
Reviews conducted under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) are intended to occur at regular intervals, helping countries conduct an ongoing assessment of their governance.