Have just completed The Looting Machine – Warlords, Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers, and the Theft of Africa’s Wealth by Tom Burgis. This is a must read for all who love Africa. It provides dates, names, amounts and reveals the extent of looting going on in mineral-rich African countries.. If you have high blood pressure, keep water […]
Development Issues
Ebola’s Lessons
This Foreign Affairs article from Laurie Garrett on how Ebola journeyed through West Africa focuses on Liberia and is a good read. Striking though, is the revelation that the epidemic was on the decline by the time the American troops arrived. This is hardly publicized by the media, depriving the Liberians and their partners of […]
IGC’s Africa Growth Forum
Am in Addis at the IGC’s Africa Growth Forum. Had the chance to listen/learn from one of the architects of the country’s economic transformation underway. Some tough choices had to be made, corresponding to the clear long term vision of a determined leadership. Party politics do not interfere with that vision. 11% growth rate over […]
Policy dilemmas and alternatives in a post-Ebola Economy
Sierra Leone’s economic performance in the three years preceding the Ebola outbreak was impressive. The decline in iron ore prices occurred at the same time and wreaked further havoc to the economy. Paradoxically, some of the consequences were off-set by the Ebola dividend—budget support, limited debt relief, and more aid from donors including the IMF, […]
The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good of Ebola
After the misery, suffering and desolation caused by the Epidemic, the bad is slowly revealing itself and finally for Ebola, some Good seems to have been lurking among it all. There is enough written and still pouring in about the Ugly part of the Ebola epidemic. Sadly, in addition to the human misery of over […]
Interpreting data for post-Ebola Recovery
Its not always easy to interpret data. Take the case of data on per capita expenditure on health by Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as published by the World Bank Health expenditure per capita (current US$) Data from World Bank This shows that Salone is spending far more on health per capita than either Guinea […]