Neither ‘Friendship Farm’ Nor ‘Land Grab’: Chinese Agricultural Engagement in Angola
Chinese-Angolan agricultural cooperation can be divided into two phases, beginning in 2004. In the first period, from 2004 to 2008, Chinese engagement focused on infrastructure construction.
Puzzling Over the Pieces: Regional Integration and the African Peer Review Mechanism
Regional integration has long been recognised as an important vehicle for Africa’s development; currently, the African Union (AU) officially intends achieving a continent-wide common market by 2023 and a currency union by 2018.
Making AGOA Work for Africa
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) offers duty-free access to the largest market in the world, and has the potential to be a major driving force in African development.
Zimbabwe and South Africa: Security Takes Precedence Over Economy
South Africa and its partners in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) removed Zimbabwe from its agenda following the July 2013 elections in Zimbabwe, which saw Zanu-PF return to power.
State of the Nation 2015: Mining and energy
Putting aside all the controversies surrounding President Jacob Zuma’s delivery of the 2015 State of the Nation address, the speech is worth analysing.
Increasing the Economic Value and Contribution of Protected Areas in Africa
In recent decades the international community has begun to support protected area (PA) governance systems that demonstrate the combined effort to achieve biodiversity and conservation goals while promoting the sustainable use of natural resources and job creation.
A Promise Betrayed: Policies and Practice Renew the Rural Dispossession of Land, Rights and Prospects
South Africans assumed on 27 April 1994 that their vote for freedom would erase the ethnic enclaves known as ‘Bantustans’ or ‘homelands’ and guarantee a common citizenship with equal rights under one law.
Will South Africa’s Minerals Bill take the road less travelled?
On 26 January 2015, President Jacob Zuma provided reasons for referring the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill (MPRD-AB 2014) back to Parliament. The Bill had been shepherded through parliament shortly before the 2014 national elections, and has been on the President’s desk since then.
Where is the African Peer Review Mechanism Heading?
Africa may be rising, but its success is primarily measured by economic growth and development, while discourse on democratisation is far less prominent than at the onset of the new millennium. At the same time, many African states are forging ever-deeper ties with emerging powers that seem to place little value on democracy and human rights.
Africa’s Evolving Continental Court Structures: At the Crossroads?
Heads of state and government (HOSG) in Africa, through the African Union (AU), have for some time expressed particular concern about two developments in current international criminal justice – the exercise of universal jurisdiction and the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC).