SPECIAL FEATURE: No Partnership Quick Fixes
Public-private partnerships have been hailed as a new way to conduct state business and harness the funding and expertise of the private sector. But a new study shows they fail unless government plans well and fixes its chronic problems of non-transparent politically-manipulated procurement.
Without Courage, Money Is Not Enough To Fight AIDS
Botswana, one of Africa’s richest nations, has the money and the drugs to fight HIV, but those afflicted often don’t seek treatment. A creative programme turns social stigma on its head.
Weaning States Off Subsidies
European Commission draft plans to reform the decades-old “sugar regime” were finally unveiled in June, to the dismay of sugar producers from Europe’s former colonies.
Swaziland Country Report
In the current political climate of Swaziland, it has been challenging to undertake a study of this magnitude and there have been a number of drawbacks.
Success Rate of Beijing’s Plans to Alleviate Poverty is Unprecedented
China has captured the world’s attention. There are two reasons for this: 1.3 billion people and a rate of economic growth doubling the economy every five years since 1980.
EU Entry a Lesson for AU’s Peer Review
While there was great anticipation about the results for Africa at the Gleneagles summit, perhaps the release of Ghana and Rwanda’s African peer review reports will prove more significant.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Community Solutions for Africa’s AIDS Orphans
On a maize-covered hill in Swaziland’s central belt, 75-year-old Josphephia Sihlongonyane surveyed the coming harvest with her neighbour, Dorkas Dlamini. The ears were fat and drying on the stalk in the April sun. It would be a fine yield, the two women agreed.
What Ails Africa’s Banks
Lack of credit and underdeveloped financial services prevent growth in Africa, businesses say. Filling the gap between street-level informal traders and the big corporations run by multinationals or the state, Africa’s small and medium-sized firms could be the driver of jobs and economic growth.
New Technology Expands Banking Access
African banks are caught in a vicious cycle: lack of infrastructure and weak technology mean poor service and high costs.
Trading Up?
Despite having been present at the creation of the general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT), South Africa is a new actor on the global stage, and the architects of its trade strategy have to deal with increasingly challenging contradictions between the structure of the local economy and the rules of the global game.