Uhuru getting tripped up again. He is asked about the exorbitant salaries that ministers and MP’s are making. He responds by saying that parliamentarians enacted it. So what? it’s still exorbitant. Uhuru then says it’s wrong that they are making that much, but goes on to try and defend it by saying [...]

I used to think that in Africa, the craziest, most violent people were Somali’s. However, since I’ve spent the last weekend reading about Rwanda, I’d have to say that the Rwandese could actually be a close second and maybe even first. Strange story #1: When Juvenal Habryimana seized power in 1973 in a bloodless coup, he [...]

I said I was going to read this new book about Rwanda called: A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It. Anyway, I finished reading it this weekend and the book really confirmed what I have come to believe about present day Africa, which is, that we are not [...]

Every year, there are articles in the Kenyan papers about the whereabouts of the Rwandese genocide perpetrator, Felicien Kabuga. For years, people have believed that Kabuga was and probably still is, hiding somewhere in Kenya, but nobody can seem to find him. However, while Kabuga’s name is well known on the world’s most wanted listed, [...]

Rwanda is beginning to get lots of international attention because of it’s amazing transformation from genocide to economic prosperity. A friend of mine forwared this fascinating discussion on Rwanda that was taking place on a public radio station. You can listen to the entire discussion here. (you need either realplayer or windows media). According [...]

If this election is close, I don’t think I’ll be able to watch it without my stomach exploding.  For the record, now that Obama is the nominee, I want him to win, but I’m soooooo nervous because the polls are soooooo close. However, that’s not what I want to talk about in this piece.  I want [...]

Did anyone catch this story in the Nation about Google East Africa signing a deal with a marketing agency called Wunderman Kenya? I’m reading this story and wondering why on earth this company had to sign a deal with google if all they wanted to do was start advertising online.  I mean, all you have to [...]

I’ve been listening to the coverage of the elections in Zimbabwe and I can’t understand why anyone is trying to compare the situation in Zimbabwe to the situation in Kenya! Zimbabwe’s economy has all but collapsed; Kenya’s hasn’t. Zimbabwe has the highest rate of inflation in the world at 100,000%; Kenya doesn’t. 80% of Zimbabweans are unemployed; This [...]

He’s a Nigerian by the name of Aliko Dangote.  He owns a sugar and cement company.  I heard on the radio today that he controls a company that supplies European candy makers with most of their refined sugar.   I did not know that most of Europes refined sugar comes from Africa.  His company also supplies the Nigerian [...]

There’s an interesting article in the NYT on Malawi’s new found answer to tackling it’s perennial hunger problems. In short: they stopped listening to the “experts” at the world bank.“Over the past 20 years, the world bank and some rich nations Malawi depends on for aid have periodically pressed this small, landlocked country to adhere [...]

Here is a description of her from Salon Magazine: “There can be no doubting the résumé of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, named today by Robert Zoellick to a top position at the World Bank. A survivor of Nigeria’s Biafran war, she made her way to the United States at age 18 and received degrees in economics from Harvard [...]

Chinese Entrepreneurs moving to AFRICA in search of better economic opportunities! what? what? From the NYT: “for many budding Chinese entrepreneurs, Africa’s emerging economies are inviting precisely because they seem small and accessible. Competition is often weak or nonexistent, and for African customers, the low price of many Chinese goods and services make them more [...]

There’s an interesting article here (Rwanda Trying to get connected) about an American entrepreneur who tried to start an internet cable company in Rwanda.  The article highlights some of the difficulties he’s encountered.  He was hired after the Rwandese minister met him at a wedding party in Boston! Bottom line: Africa has to lay the fibre [...]

What’s that Bob Marley song called? oh yes…”Redemption Song”. If you know the words, sing along…. “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our mind. Wo! have no fear for atomic energy, cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time. How long shall they kill our prophets, While we stand aside and [...]

“Whether measured by per capita income or by the gross domestic product of its nations, Africa is the poorest place on earth.” This is a quote taken from an author who recently attended the TED conference in Tanzania. After describing how terribly poor Africa is, he then goes on to talk about the founder of [...]

An interesting story on Africa’s crumbling university system. Kenya is not mentioned. The focus is on Senegal, but the issues are the same. What really caught my attention about this article was yet another World Bank policy that has proved disastrous for Africa — The Bank reduced spending on university education and increased [...]