tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138766242009-07-10T19:47:00.123-04:00A platform for analysing and contributing to the issues and solutions raised by George Ayittey's latest book 'Africa Unchained'.Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.comBlogger1313125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-15003706062263063152009-07-10T19:47:00.000-04:002009-07-10T19:47:00.196-04:00

From the The Karatara Project website "...Handouts and charity are NOT the solution for poverty and other problems in Africa - that’s been proven over and over.What Africa really needs is education and enterprise that transforms communities so that they believe in themselves and thrive through trade; not merely survive from aid. This project is all about teaching smart, ‘green’ sustainable wealth

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-80882754440889332572009-07-09T08:11:00.000-04:002009-07-09T08:11:00.206-04:00

Salisu Suleiman's searing indictment of Nigeria's Universities:I interact with students who know everything about soccer, nothing about Socrates; all about Arsenal, nothing about Aristotle; all about Maradona, nothing about Michelangelo; all about Pele, nothing about Plato. I see the mast of memories misted by the fog of foiled, failed folios; I see the sunlight of education supplanted by hollow

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-49657906604886970702009-07-08T08:09:00.001-04:002009-07-08T13:01:33.032-04:00

Babatunde Ahonsi in 234Next writes about Nigeria's defective middle class:Too many of its members are bogged down with devising and pursuing private or individual solutions to macro and collective problems. The resultant strong sense of insecurity about its future well-being is therefore undermining its capacity to think trough what it needs to do to address the root causes of the situation. It

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-87244881785441600652009-07-07T10:18:00.001-04:002009-07-07T10:50:46.009-04:00

In 234Next Obidike Okafor reports on Bisi Silva's Art PlaceIn trying to break uncharted areas in the art world, the curator felt that there were few avenues for critical discourse. So, like a scientist experiments, discovers and develops, Silva set out to create a space that like a laboratory will allow artists to develop themselves, experiment on new ideas and interact with colleagues from

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-52771802547511002802009-07-06T12:00:00.001-04:002009-07-06T12:00:34.041-04:00

The latest on Yahya Jammeh in the Economist:The arrest of nine journalists on sedition charges appears to constitute an attempt to eradicate the last vestiges of resistance to the president's rule in Gambia. There are other threats, however...Meanwhile...Donors have some leverage over the administration and, along with public pressure, the withholding of aid is reported to have been a factor in

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-9078747835681083822009-07-05T18:20:00.004-04:002009-07-05T18:26:41.006-04:00

Via the VOA:Algeria is preparing to host the second Pan-African Culture Festival, and the first in 40 years. The event hopes to draw hundreds of thousands of people to Algiers this July to celebrate Africa's artistic renaissance...[continue reading]Bande annonce du festival panafricain 2009 version anglaiseby eljazairpanaf

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-66095305527206287512009-07-05T17:34:00.003-04:002009-07-05T17:39:38.871-04:00

G Pascal Zachary in the Guardian:Obama's tendency to view Africa through an American lens is thus both understandable and inevitable. Yet his African roots give him a unique capacity to transform American relations with Africa, elevating the importance of African self-reliance and achievement, while striving to make American aid more intelligent and effective. More here.

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-50846186738541803472009-07-05T08:35:00.000-04:002009-07-05T08:35:00.809-04:00

Scarlett Lion interviews Paul Sika covered earlier: On the technical side of things, can you tell me a bit about how you create the sort of Technicolor dream space that your photos occupy? How much of the work happens during the snapping and how much during postproduction?Well I am a digital technology advocate. In fact when I was considering starting photography, I investigated the type of

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-47082264433307290622009-07-04T07:05:00.000-04:002009-07-04T07:05:01.944-04:00

In CS Monitor:The English Restoration poet John Dryden observed that "Mighty things from small beginnings grow." Today, if you poke around in Nigeria, you'll find small beginnings that offer tentative hope. And much of that hope is being generated by women.On a recent trip to Nigeria's capital, Abuja, some friends and I taught a group of close to 100 university graduates. For the sake of

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-13611388093896966572009-07-03T07:40:00.001-04:002009-07-03T07:40:00.520-04:00

Liam Julian reviews James Tooley's The Beautiful Tree:In slums around the world, from Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya to rural villages in Ghana and China and places in between, Tooley has discovered poor people opening small private schools that offer alternatives to dismal or inaccessible public education. The schools charge only pennies a day, and most also provide scholarships to orphans or

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-88224655997349615762009-07-02T09:57:00.001-04:002009-07-02T09:57:02.433-04:00

Paul Collier at TED@State:

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-65178999193192646912009-07-01T08:55:00.002-04:002009-07-01T09:24:40.018-04:00

Jeremy Weate writes:...it might be an idea to begin to compare what the recent influx of diasporic Nigerians has done for the country's corporations. Compare and contrast with India.Ten years ago, Indians with Californian technology experience started to return home during the dot com consolidation that began in late 1999/early 2000.On the back of this migration, India's IT services sector began

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-1340891507093028462009-06-30T08:16:00.003-04:002009-07-01T07:10:27.307-04:00

Nigerians are a conquered people.-Sahara Reporters'They Came in the Name of Helping'A canny chameleon-Blaise CompaoréThe Longevity Project,Ghana.Black Economic Empowerment failed-Moeletsi MbekiCarnegie's gospel of wealth

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-47732259455295151712009-06-29T07:27:00.003-04:002009-06-29T07:27:01.036-04:00

Juliette Tuakli of Child and Associates in the Stimulist:If we don’t start systemically supporting African mothers and re-conceiving the role and relevance of African women, we simply will not enjoy sustained economic development in Africa. Full stop. As things stand, the continent’s considerable “female resources” — agricultural skills, negotiation, commitment to infrastructure development and,

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-13238278411297484292009-06-28T09:06:00.001-04:002009-06-28T09:06:00.069-04:00

In a paper M. Bratton and R. Mattes report on attitudes to democracy building:The good news is that democratic attitudes are generally on the rise among the African populations we have surveyed. If sustained, this up-tick– measured prior to the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008 – is a promising portent forfurther democratization. But the bad news is that fewer than half of all

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-82520735209225976442009-06-27T08:06:00.001-04:002009-06-28T07:14:05.541-04:00

The Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) aims to create a safe and structured residential community for orphaned children in Rwanda. The village will be a place of hope, where traumatized youth can "dry their tears" (Agahozo) and "live in peace" (Shalom).-website

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-1777564141256889022009-06-26T10:12:00.001-04:002009-06-26T10:12:00.931-04:00

In Bookforum James Gibbons writes:Are we in the midst of an “African literary renaissance,” as Rob Spillman (author of God and Soldiers) contends, an el boom from the other side of the Atlantic? Perhaps, but the surge of African writing is tellingly different from the Latin American explosion of the ’60s. Besides being identified with magic realism (though not all its writers practiced it), the

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-49317604437827605582009-06-25T10:53:00.001-04:002009-06-25T10:53:01.089-04:00

Makaechi's ...mission is to offer solutions to the social and economic hardship that affect our global community. We pledge to introduce innovative platforms that will inspire a call to action for the greater good. We believe that we can improve the quality of countless lives through the implementation of simple technologies, self-help initiatives, and public awareness. Watch a video from their

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-21905007743776473222009-06-24T10:35:00.005-04:002009-06-24T10:35:00.189-04:00

An architect of Singapore's astounding economic growth-via Ethan ZuckermanInvesting and empowering farmers-GuardianNurturing an industrial renaissance in Ghana.Africa,Business destination-TIMEFavoring poor governments over poor people-Aidwatch

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-36907849783971108882009-06-23T08:00:00.001-04:002009-06-23T08:00:51.976-04:00

From the Amend website:Road traffic injuries are the number one cause of death and disability for children between the ages of 5 and 21 in the developing world — in areas where little, if any, emergency and pre-hospital medical care is available.Remember the adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? It’s true. The most effective way to improve this reality is to stop the incidents

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-62769840020190470892009-06-21T09:38:00.001-04:002009-06-21T09:38:01.760-04:00

YK project's ewaBAMJO is:...A bi-annual international festival for interdisciplinary arts, specially dedicated to throwing glamour on the city of Lagos and establishing relationship through DANCE, CIRCUS, COMEDY, MUSIC, DRAMA, SPOKEN WORD and other interdisciplinary art forms, under one dance umbrella, that brings about conferences, debates, film screening and shows around the theme: HOME AND

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-61858148686408515102009-06-20T09:47:00.002-04:002009-06-20T09:47:00.493-04:00

Democracy in Dakar a film by Nomadic Wax bridges the gap between hip-hop activism, video journalism and documentary film and explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process.African Underground: Democracy in Dakar - Episode # 1 from Nomadic Wax on Vimeo.via Society Hae

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-21121056632010517282009-06-19T09:03:00.001-04:002009-06-23T01:59:39.091-04:00

Aikins Adusei rails against the complicity and complacency of the Western Media when it comes to the acquired loot deposited in Western Institutions:Corruption is rife in Africa because there are banking institutions in Europe especially Switzerland, France, Jersey Island, Britain, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria, US and many others who accept money from African leaders without questioning the

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-2772494204032356022009-06-18T09:12:00.000-04:002009-06-18T09:12:01.295-04:00

The Madhvani Foundation's underlying goal:...is to maintain and promote scientific and technical education among the people of Uganda. The scholarship programme is aimed at benefiting Ugandans pursuing either undergraduate or graduate studies at University level in Uganda...they are looking for graduates with vision;individuals who are able to perceive the path to Uganda's future and who not

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13876624.post-12614212992368884012009-06-17T09:45:00.000-04:002009-06-17T09:45:00.385-04:00

Nicholas Norbrook reports in The Africa Report .“Ghanaian farmers should be thinking about what they can sell into Niger, not what they can send to the UK,”-Tom Lines .Refocusing on local demand makes sense given the steady growth of African economies over the past decade. Galloping urbanisation and an emergent middle class has created the conditions for the emergence of supermarket chains in

Emeka Okaforhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573984373251779325noreply@blogger.com2