PAST EVENT
Thursday, November 19, 2009
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC
On November 19, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings hosted Antoinette Sayeh, director of the African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for a discussion on the economic outlook for Africa. The IMF has just released its semi-annual Regional Economic Outlook for Africa which contains findings that indicate sub-Saharan Africa’s economic activity has slowed sharply with the onset of the global financial crisis. As the world economy stages a tentative recovery, what does this mean for the region? Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Richard Joseph, November 04, 2009, The Brookings Institution
On October 29 President Zuma surprised the South African Parliament by announcing the need to "respond with urgency and resolve" to the "devastating impact of HIV and AIDS" on the nation. Richard Joseph discusses recent efforts to combat this disease in Africa and what can be done to facilitate further effective and humane action. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Mwangi S. Kimenyi, November 03, 2009, The Brookings Institution
On October 26 Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, announced that the U.S. was revoking the visa of a top Kenyan official because of his role in blocking reforms in the country. Mwangi Kimenyi discusses this approach and urges that the focus should be on overhauling institutions, not targeting individuals. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ernest Aryeetey, November 03, 2009, The Brookings Institution
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Treasury Neal Wolin's visit to three African nations demonstrates the commitment by the current administration to African development issues. Ernest Aryeetey urges Deputy Secretary Wolin to focus on sustainable development and encourage countries to establish frameworks for long-term growth. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, October 26, 2009, United Nations General Assembly
Since 2004 there have been encouraging trends related to internal displacement. Walter Kälin notes that the use of the Guiding Principles as the relevant framework for protecting IDPs and the development of national and regional laws and policies on internal displacement have been positive trends. However, despite such positive trends, the challenges presented by climate change, the disregard for civilian populations in conflict zones, a shrinking humanitarian space, and protracted displacement situations still remain unchanged. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Andrew Solomon, October 23, 2009, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
Decades of armed conflict, natural disasters and climate change, have given rise to sizable populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout Africa. On October 23, African heads of state and government signed a legally binding convention on internal displacement, which as Andrew Solomon notes, demonstrates their commitment to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of IDPs, to facilitate durable solutions and to ensure that millions of people are no longer excluded from society as a whole. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, October 23, 2009, AU Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and IDPs
Forced displacement is a devastating experience that often takes years or even decades to recover from. Africa hosts the worlds largest population of internally displaced persons and, as Walter Kälin points out, has taken the initiative to go beyond the existing state of law by creating the first binding international law on internally displaced persons. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Mwangi S. Kimenyi and Njuguna S. Ndung'u, October 16, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Access to financial services is crucial to economic growth and poverty reduction, yet a large proportion of households in developing countries lack access to financial services. Brookings expert Mwangi Kimenyi and Njuguna S. Ndung’u, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, discuss the Kenyan experience with mobile phone banking and how this technology can expand the financial services frontier. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Mwangi S. Kimenyi, October 15, 2009, The Brookings Institution
There is wide agreement that the African developmental problem is largely rooted in its institutions. Mwangi Kimenyi discusses the link between size and the quality of governance in African countries. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, October 01, 2009
9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
Washington, DC
In October 2009 a high-level delegation of officials from the office of the president and government of Kenya visited the Brookings Institution. The event, which was hosted by the Africa Growth Initiative, included discussion on the key political, economic, and social challenges currently affecting Kenya’s development. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
9:15 AM to 10:45 AM
Washington, DC
On September 30, the Brookings Institution hosted Chief Ojo Maduekwe, the foreign minister of Nigeria, for a conversation on the U.S.-Nigeria partnership, and the challenges and opportunities for democratic and economic reform and regional stability in Africa's most populous country. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon, September 29, 2009, The Washington Examiner
The spring 2009 operation to rescue the captain of the Mersk Alabama did not end the problem of piracy and it was not a model for the future, writes Michael O’Hanlon. Instead, he believes a U.S. House idea to insert U.S. military personnel onto cargo ships for dangerous parts of the journey is a good one because they are well trained and can use force carefully. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Cynthia Baldwin, September 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The challenges that the judiciary system in Uganda has faced are well known, but the country has come a long way from that past. In a new paper, Cynthia Baldwin proposes a four-part approach to control judicial corruption. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Anouar Boukhars, September 22, 2009, Common Ground News Service
Brookings Doha Visiting Fellow Anouar Boukhars examines recent commentary that the Obama administration is distancing itself from democracy promotion in the Middle East. Boukhars finds that these claims are largely untrue, and points to examples of continued funding political reform as well as why some goals of the Bush administration needed amendment. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, September 17, 2009
12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Washington, DC
Morocco has often been hailed as a model for democratic reform in an otherwise authoritarian region. In order to understand better the progress Morocco has undergone since the 1990s, when it started on the path of democratic reform, the Saban Center’s Patkin Visiting Fellow in Arab Reform, Maâti Monjib, led a policy luncheon discussion regarding the various advances and obstacles associated with Moroccan democratization. Read More