With the demise of the Doha Development Round at the WTO Ministerial in Nairobi this past December, the multilateral approach to global trade negotiations has largely ended. Given that the number of regional trade agreements has increased from 70 in 1990 to more than 270 today, it appears that it is every region for itself…

Social media is one of the most powerful tools available to Africans — especially the sizeable youth population — who previously have felt disenfranchised, neglected, and powerless.  Across the continent, this tool has been wielded to demand accountability, strengthen democracy, and increase transparency.  Unfortunately, there are increasing efforts to attack this power.

The African Charter…

Yesterday’s Super Sunday — on which six countries from across the region went to the polls — was generally peaceful but demonstrated that democracy is still a work in progress in some parts of the continent.

Benin. Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou has conceded defeat to “King of Cotton” Patrice Talon.

Cape Verde.  Led by Correia e…

In what is being billed as Africa’s Super Sunday, this weekend will see key votes in six countries across the region.

Benin. After a first round of voting that saw 33 candidates competing to succeed outgoing President Thomas Boni Yayi, Beninese voters are returning to the polls for the runoff between Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou…

Intra-African travel — which is critical to unlocking the region’s tourism potential — is set to become easier, safer and more open.

Easier — Open Skies Agreement between Ethiopia and Rwanda. Ethiopia and Rwanda signed an aviation agreement that will allow their respective national carriers — Ethiopia Airlines and RwandAir — to operate in the…

In the last week of February, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe announced that all privately owned diamond mines would be nationalized and taken over by the newly created state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Co. The move affected six primarily Chinese companies. This decision is in keeping with the larger nationalization plan for mines that the President announced…

Over the past few weeks, there has been a growing movement to promote local production and consumption in Nigeria as a way to address some of the economy’s woes.  One of the leading proposals is to amend the domestic Procurement Act along the lines of the US Buy American Act (BAA), the domestic preference law…