EDITORIAL:

Unlocking undiscovered Africa

IAN BEALES
If China is, as once famously described, a riddle wrapped in an enigma, then Africa is a cliché, encased in a myth. It is still burdened by pre-colonial Western notions of the Dark Continent: impenetrable and disorganised; sick, broke and divided; exploitable and exploited. A landmass the size of Africa...
GLOBAL INSIGHT: AFRONOMICS

Two-speed Africa

PAT LANCASTER AND ANVER VERSI
What is it that gives Botswana one of the highest growth rates in the world,...

Africa’s promise: a discussion on economic potential

World leaders in government and business will gather in Cape Town to discuss ‘Delivering on...

Afronomics: Africans hit the high street

ANVER VERSI
Image: Simon Davis/DFID CC BY-SA 2.0 Virtually all the major African cities today look like...

Unlocking talent and accelerating economic diversification

A preview of the 23rd World Economic Forum on Africa by the event’s organisers. With...

Africa by numbers

Algeria Capital city: Algiers Head of State: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Head of Government : Prime...
GLOBAL INSIGHT: SYMPOSIUM

Mo Ibrahim: one of Africa’s great visionaries

MO IBRAHIM
Over the last decade, Afro-pessimism has been replaced by a new narrative focusing on the...

Our vision for a new and thriving Africa at peace

DR DLAMINI-ZUMA
The 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) and African...

Building strong, transparent states

DONALD KABERUKA
Across the continent, we see six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies – per capita...

Africa’s new dawn?

PAUL COLLIER
It is uncertain and hard to call, but there are real signs that profound global...

Global Insight: Africa’s Big 50

ANVER VERSI
Heads of State Ali Bongo Ondima, President, Gabon Born: 9 February 1959 Ali Bongo Ondima...

Forbidden desert

GEORGE JOFFé
A haven for terrorism under siege, have years of civil war turned the Sahara into...

Africa 2050: Economic revolution

DUNCAN CLARKE
Africa’s GDP could increase from $2 trillion today to $29 trillion in the next 40...

Continental shift

PETER GUEST
In just a decade, the dialogue has changed – Africa is now viewed through a...

A patchwork quilt of hope

RICHARD SYNGE
Things have much improved since African intellectuals made an appeal to the continent to “take...
SPOTLIGHT: NIGERIA

“I am very confident there will be a massive new wave of investment activity”

ATEDO PETERSIDE
Global: With the anticipated finalisation of the sale of power generation and distribution companies to...

Understanding the democratic deficit

SYLVESTER ODION AKHAINE
The way in which the return to civilian rule was organised in 1999 means that...

Security challenges: the Islamist threat

SOLA TAYO
Islamist insurgency in parts of the north has been in the news headlines, but is...

The energy sector powers up

TUNDE OBADINA
Millions of Nigerians who have for decades endured epileptic electricity supplies, or none at all,...

Nigeria: hurrying to an uncertain destiny

ANTONY GOLDMAN
Beset by security problems and governance issues, Nigeria continues to confound its critics, with an...

Where Eagles dare to fly

LEONARD LAWAL
Victory in the African Cup of Nations in Soweto in February brought glory and riches...

Younger generation makes a stylish mark

One of the performances before the Soweto final of the African Cup of Nations was...

Growth lures big investors

Africa’s sleeping giant has finally awoken to the potential of becoming a highly favoured emerging...
SPOTLIGHT: RWANDA

Rwanda: Kagame keeps them guessing

IRENE MALEMA
Halfway through his final constitutional term in office, Paul Kagame has suddenly prompted a public...

Speaking English becomes cool

EUGENE KWIBUKA
The adoption of English in schools and businesses gets an enthusiastic reception in Rwanda as...

East Africa’s new hinterland

EUGENE KWIBUKA
Foreign and local investment in a wide range of services has helped keep Rwanda’s small...

Africa comes to dance, sing and rap

Young stars from around Africa were rocking away all over Rwanda for this year’s Pan...
SPOTLIGHT: SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa: enter the stormy petrel

ANVER VERSI
As the ANC freezes out its rebels, could a heroine from the past provide a...

South Africa’s rainbow anthem

TOM NEVIN
The cultural mix in South Africa is unique in the world. It is not so...

A colossus in the kingdom of Lilliput

TOM NEVIN
South Africa’s latest budget aims to boost job prospects and investor confidence at home, but...
GLOBAL ARENA: AFRICULTURE

Saving mother Africa

JAMES HONEYBORNE AND NICK EASTON
There are more of us on the planet than ever before and yet we are...

Haute and cool

SINEM BILEN-ONABANJO
Forget the leopard print kitsch, african fashion now has designs on global luxury. If you...

Beat generation

MARK COLES
African music has long been popular in Europe. But while artists from Mali and Algeria...

The rise and rise of African films

ALEXA DALBY
African film-making has come a long way since it was banned in French colonies prior...

Lions of the world’s catwalks

Lamine Badian: The Parisian designer of Malian origin who is behind the label Xuly Bët...

Manhattan transfer

Africa’s new concrete jungles aim up to keep costs down. Africa is on the move...
GLOBAL ARENA: TALKING POINTS

Breaking up may not be so hard to do for the UK

GEORGE MAGNUS
British voters have been promised a referendum by 2017 on whether or not to stay...

Is Europe cracking up?

IAN TRAYNOR
While the EU falls out over economic policy, a wave of separatism is causing another...

Tipping point?

IAN BEALES
After a series of horrific assaults that shocked the world, international outrage could at last...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: COMMONWEALTH IN ACTION

From the Commonwealth Secretary-General

HE KAMALESH SHARMA
Commonwealth Day 2013 saw the signing and release of the Commonwealth Charter by the Head...

Enterprising theme for 2013

RT HON. SIR ALAN HASELHURST MP
This year’s Commonwealth theme is ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’. Sir Alan Haselhurst explains what this focus...

“Sri Lanka should be on CMAG’s agenda”

SIR RONALD SANDERS
Head to head: The venue for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is Sri...

“Sri Lanka has not acted outside the constitution”

NEVILLE DE SILVA
Governments in many countries have constitutional powers to remove judges in extreme circumstances. Sri Lanka...

The birth of Bangladesh

STUART MOLE
From the devastation of civil war, a new country was born, which was almost immediately...

Bangladesh: challenges and achievements

FAROOQ SOBHAN
Forty-two years after independence, Bangladesh has been identified as one of the next 11 emerging...

Key events and meetings

IANA SEALES
Youth Programme celebrates 40th anniversary The Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) is celebrating 40 years of...

Commonwealth School Enterprise Challenge

VERITY SHARP
Schools are being invited to take part in the 2013 Commonwealth School Enterprise Challenge. The...

Westminster and Cardiff play host to Sri Lankan parliamentarians

VERITY SHARP
Six young cross party Sri Lankan parliamentarians and political representatives visited the UK between 25...

Enterprise in the Abbey

VERITY SHARP
This year’s Commonwealth Observance saw dancers, singers, poets, politicians and religious leaders coming together to...

“We have unprecedented capacity to do each other harm”

KATIE SILVESTER
Avaaz founder Ricken Patel spoke about human rights, poverty and democracy at this year’s Commonwealth...

A royal reception in Cambridge

The Prince of Wales met with a group of students to discuss youth employment and...

Thursday is the new Friday

Civil servants in the Gambia are being given an extra day off every week so...

Solomon Islands dolphin slaughter angers conservation groups

Up to 900 dolphins have been killed in Solomon Islands following a dispute between islanders...

Commonwealth Club to be sold off as RCS moves out

London’s Commonwealth Club is to close, as the club’s owner, the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS),...

Canada phases out 75-year-old one-cent piece

The Royal Canadian Mint has confirmed that the Canadian penny will be phased out of...

African Trilogy writer dies

Nigerian writer and lecturer Chinua Achebe has died in Boston, USA, at the age of...

Books – recent titles reviews

In the Ring: a Commonwealth Memoir Don McKinnon, Elliott & Thompson, 2013, ISBN 13-978-1908739261 From...

Icons of iconoclasm

By a mischievous trick of fate, Baroness Thatcher and Hugo Chávez, iconic ideological opposites in...

Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK

More than 800 awards are made by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission each year to support...

Combating gender-based violence

MONIRA RAHMAN
Having worked with survivors of acid and petrol attacks in Bangladesh for the past 14...
Amnesty International