When people think about Africa, breathtaking savannas teaming with migratory wildlife is generally the first thought that comes to mind. What doesn’t come to mind, however, is a robust micro-brewing industry that utilizes the fermentation properties of the locally sourced cassava plant. In an attempt to challenge previously held notions regarding beer brewing in Africa, […]
Isabel Dos Santos, the daughter of Angolan president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, is Africa’s first female billionaire. Dos Santos is an Angolan investor, and according to Forbes, she has become the Africa’s wealthiest female, reaching a net worth of more than a billion USD. She ranks in at 736 richest person in the world overall […]
Are US farmers hurt by food aid reform? The short answer: No. President Obama’s proposal to allow the food aid supplied by the United States to be purchased more locally has obvious benefits: less travel time and expense to feed those in the greatest danger, bolstering local economies, investing in local agriculture to create a […]
2.5 billion people around the world, many of whom live in extreme poverty, are excluded from the formal financial system. Consequently, this exclusion results in the use of risky and expensive financial alternatives that slow individual and macro-level economic development. In the past, microcredit schemes have been used to solve the problem. Recently, a more […]
Amidst a flurry of excitement and criticism, AidData released their latest project: a dataset tracking Chinese aid to Africa. This user-friendly free dataset has sparked debate among policy, practitioner, and academic circles. The data compiles China’s official and unofficial projects between 2000-2011. During this time-period, China committed to 1,673 projects amounting to US$ 75.4 billion. […]
Jay Keasling a professor of chemical engineering at UC Berkeley will finally see his breakthrough mass-produced. On April 10 the pharmaceutical company Sanofi will produce a partially synthetic version of artemisinin, a chemical critical to making today’s front-line antimalarial drug based on the scientist’s discovery. This new synthetic artemisinin is the first of its kind […]
How is it possible that your old clothes could be hurting Africa and its economy and you may not even know about it? The answer is not so simple. Often times when Western countries have used, unwanted clothes they cannot get rid of, they end up a landfill. More recently though, charities that collect used […]
According to a study done by the World Bank, urbanization has proven to be a key factor in eradicating poverty. The bank’s Global Monitoring Report 2013 offers statics that positively reflect urbanization in developing countries and in countries that have made the most progress in reaching the 2013 Millennium Development Goals. The Global Monitoring Report […]
Immigration has always been a hot button issue, especially considering the comprehensive reform laws currently being debated by U.S. congressional leaders. However, what effect would the opening of the nation’s borders have on global poverty? According to several developmental thinkers, quite a bit, as adopting many of the mass migration policies called for in the […]
May 1, 2013 was the kick-off of the two-day Africa Global Business Forum in Dubai. Africa, a continent on the move, has been showing promising signs of economic growth and development. The Africa Global Business Forum is just one more step in the right direction for a continent on the move. The Africa Global Business […]
