Africa Rising 21st Century

            Some places on Earth are situated in the wrong area.   Either it lies in a geographically dangerous zone or it happens to be in the midst of political upheaval.   Goma , the capital of North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) fits both unfortunate categories. Located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi, it lies in the Albertine rift, the western branch of the East African Rift system. Goma lies perhaps less than 11 miles south of the active Nyiragongo Volcano. In addition to recent volcanic eruptions, the people of Goma have been plagued by the 1994 Rwandan genocide and its aftermath.   It seems Goma residents constantly are presented by one crisis after another.                 The First Congo War (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was...

              Many of us who have traveled widely in Africa have been asked to recommend a first place to go on the continent by new Africa sojourners.   I often say Egypt or Kenya, but many will suggest they go to South Africa because it is the most Western-friendly, with many modern conveniences, numerous English speakers, many great hotels and museums and Western food choices along with Africa fare.   I often refer to it as “Africa lite” for those very reasons.   However, recent events in South Africa have revealed the truth: despite the notable heroism of Nelson Mandela, his fellow liberation leaders and the success in the movement for majority rule, South Africa is a deeply divided nation between haves and have-nots and those who embrace democracy and those who favor a more authoritarian style of government that loots this nation’s vast resources and economic opportunities.   And the façade of a count...

              Terrorist organizations have operated around the world for decades – in the Americas, Europe and Asia.   However, the now-rapid spread of terrorism in Africa with international links is a relatively recent phenomenon.   Groups such al-Shabaab and Boko Haram began as opponents to the ruling governments in their countries, either because of perceived misrule or because of religious discrimination in some form.             However, the rise of international terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda offered the chance to link with a much larger, more international organization.   The success of IS in the Middle East in building a territory labeled a caliphate was attractive to local groups struggling to survive and grow in their own countries.   Still, as a point was made during a recent American Enterprise Institute...

              The world is full of crises, so many in fact that some drop off the radar screen.   When I worked in Congress, South Sudan and Mali were at or near the top of the list of concerns.   Nigeria has not faded from that list, but a lack of solutions has caused its several crises to fade in public discussion if not public concern.   But what I want to present now is an African crisis that has always deserved far more attention than it has received, and that is the ongoing perilous situation in the Central African Republic (CAR).               This country is experiencing a humanitarian crisis, an overload of violence largely due to ongoing civil conflict and a governance predicament.   According to a statement by Mankeur Ndiaye, CAR Special Representative and Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA), the c...

              The recent death of former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda has led to a lot of discussion and remembrance of well-known African leaders of the past, such as Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah.   As with all leaders worldwide and throughout history, these men were flawed, but they are remembered for leading their nations into independence or majority rule.   They may have made unfortunate choices in the opinion of many in some cases, but at least they seemed to care about the welfare of their people.   Their lives and rule were in contrast to other African leaders such as Uganda’s Idi Amin and Milton Obote, Central African Republic’s Jean-Bédel Bokassa , Nigeria’s Sani Abacha and Ethiopia’s Mengistu Haile Mariam.   Their reigns are not remembered fondly and indeed, their names inspire fearful memories of what they wrought ...

Globally, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that international transportation costs average 9 percent of the value of exports, but in Africa, such costs average 11.4 percent, as compared to only 6.8 percent for developed countries.   Given such obstacles as the many landlocked African countries; smaller, older vessels on African routes; the disconnect between African shipping options and the major East-West shipping routes; lower value and quantity of many African exports, and impediments such as bottlenecks at African ports, caused by corruption and port mismanagement, it has been difficult for developed country governments to help resolve such transportation issues.             When I worked on AGOA early on, the prevailing idea was that business-to-business traders must seek their own transportation – that it isn’t government’s place to identify and facilitate commercial transportati...

              Every year, there are numerous days set aside to either commemorate an event or to remind us of some issue that continues to require being addressed. This past June 12 was World Day Against Child Labor, and organizations such as Green America wanted us all to keep in mind that despite many assurances from big players in the chocolate producing community, child labor still exists in Africa around the growing and harvesting of cocoa for chocolate.   However, this is an issue that is much more complex than it may seem.             According to Green America, a nonprofit established to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society, there are still more than one million child laborers in the cocoa sector, and for the first time in 20 years, the number of child laborers globally has increased.  Chocolate sales exceed $100 billion per yea...