In On Africa Press Release: 10 February 2020
IOA PRESS RELEASE – 10 FEBRUARY 2020
Innovative youth-focused digital platform launches with the aim of unifying thousands of young people across South Africa
IOA’s ‘Voices Unite’ platform, which launched on the 10th of February, will bring together tens of thousands of youth aged 18-34 through a large-scale national research study focusing on a wide range of pertinent topics. These topics include the state of education, youth unemployment, the future of work, media and technology, infrastructure, healthcare and many others.
POSITION PAPERS
Africa’s population boom offers two outcomes: economic opportunity or humanitarian crisis
Africa’s population boom offers two outcomes: economic opportunity or humanitarian crisis
By James Hall
Analysis in brief: No continent will see population growth like Africa in the 21st century. Whether this growth brings economic progress, or the reverse, betterment of social services or their collapse and a strengthening of democracy or political chaos depends on planning and visionary leadership.
Even with deadly pandemics occuring like the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, the remaining 80 years of the 21st century will see huge rises in Africa’s population numbers. Within the next 30 years, as the world’s population is expected by the UN to increase by 2 billion persons, from 7.7 billion today to 9.7 billion in 2050, five of the nine countries that will constitute more than half of that growth will be located in Africa. They are in order of their growth: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt. The aforementioned countries have one thing in common. In 2020, each country is experiencing some degree of political disruption, from a terrorist insurgency in Nigeria, rebel warfare in DRC, and degrees of encroaching authoritarianism in Egypt, Ethiopia and Tanzania. One fear of political observers is that as populations grow and strain available resources and degrade the environment, political instability will increase.
Mozambique’s energy sector caught in Southern Africa’s first terrorist insurgency
Mozambique’s energy sector caught in Southern Africa’s first terrorist insurgency
By James Hall
Analysis in brief: Southern Africa’s first terrorist insurgency is casting doubt on progress to commercially exploit Mozambique’s promising natural gas deposits. Mozambique’s government has been unable to thwart the terror attacks, offering little hope for relief to multinational energy giants at work in the country
The reaction of two of the largest oil companies at work in Mozambique, Total and ExxonMobil, to the insurgency of Islamist militants in the country’s northern Cabo Delgado province has signalled their perception of where the conflict is headed. Meeting with government authorities, the company officials did not press for a cessastion of violence that was threatening their investments, but merely for the deployment of more troops to guard their operations. Some oil installations have already been attacked. By their request for security, the oil majors were admitting there was no immediate solution to the terror operations now five years old, or their faith that government has a plan or ability to suppress the insurrection. Rather, the oil firms want protection beyond what their private security companies can provide. Clearly, they believe Mozambique is being challenged by a long-term problem; one that the Southern African Development Community has finally admitted has regional repercussions. Ironically, through their unkept promises to the people of Cabo Delgado, the energy companies are also responsible for their unsettled security situation.
Coronavirus reshaping the way African societies are looking at alcohol consumption
Coronavirus reshaping the way African societies are looking at alcohol consumption
By James Hall
Analysis in brief: South Africa’s ban on the sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages came as a response to the Covid-19 outbreak. However, the immediate success the ban has produced in lowering deaths, injuries and domestic violence raises the obvious question of how to retain these benefits when the ban is lifted at the end of the crisis. Alcohol abuse in South Africa is just one social malady that may get the attention and remedial action it deserves as society re-examines itself in the wake of the historic pandemic.
South Africa is the bellwether of Sub-Saharan Africa. From providing a new model for African democracy in the post-Cold War era to showing how a diversified economy buttressed by cutting-edge technology and good transportation infrastructure produces the most vibrant economy, Africa’s southern-most nation has been the paradigm to be emulated. With the outbreak of Covid-19, South Africa’s mitigation strategy, most notably its nationwide lockdown, has been duplicated by neighbouring countries. One mitigation that seemed radical for Africa’s largest wine producer and exporter was a ban on the sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Yet, no public objection arose because the need was explained, and the benefits were soon apparent. Three weeks after South Africa imposed the ban, the World Health Organisation on 14 April 2020 recommended that alcohol consumption should be restricted to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
REPORTS
Education in the Age of the 21st Century
Education in the Age of the 21st Century
Responding to the challenges and opportunities of the 4th industrial revolution
During an event held by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation (TMF) in 2018 in partnership with Heavy Chef, former President Mbeki stressed the importance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for the African context, and expressed concern about whether South Africans in general, and educators in particular, are adequately prepared to respond to the challenges of the 4IR. In response to Mbeki’s call, the TMF formed a multi-stakeholder Working Group (WG) comprising of academics, educators, policymakers, civil society and thought-leaders to tackle the complex question of what practical steps South Africa, and Africa in general, needs to take to build a foundation for a successful transition into the 4IR.
The TMF contracted In On Africa to lead the comprehensive research assessment and analytical work of the WG, and provide support throughout the project on the planning, managing, implementing, assessing and reporting. Through extensive consultation with the WG, experts in the education space, and a wide range of sources, it has become clear that South Africa (as well as other African countries) is not currently equipped to join the 4IR. This is for a number of reasons, including a lack of basic and technical infrastructure, poorly trained teachers, curricula that are no longer relevant, and education stakeholders not collaborating effectively.
Botswana 2019 Election Review
Botswana 2019 Election Review
An assessment of Botswana’s socio-political landscape
Long considered a beacon of democracy and good governance, Botswana’s 2019 General Election was the first true test of the democratic experiment running since 1966. Known primarily for its diamond mining industry and as a safe haven for African elephants, Botswana made headlines when the lifting of its elephant hunting ban in early 2019 saw the sons of the country’s founding father leave the party that he had formed. What transpired subsequently has been a cunning battle of politics and extravagant campaigns, culminating in the most tightly contested elections in the history of the country.
IOA’s latest special report contextualises Botswana’s socio-political landscape in the lead up to the 2019 General Election, and looks to analyse the events preceding the election and their impact on the final election outcome. A further value-add which the report provides is the codification of common socio-political practices and general knowledge that is widely known by most Batswana, yet tends to lack in the broader literature. The main aim of this report is to equip the reader with the necessary knowledge to better-understand the country’s political and social dynamics, and their subsequent impact on the outcome of the 2019 election.
The Africa Country Benchmark Report (ACBR)
The Africa Country Benchmark Report (ACBR)
The Africa Country Benchmark Report (ACBR) is the definitive resource for understanding Africa, providing comprehensive assessments of all 54 African countries. The report scores, ranks and insightfully assesses each country holistically, as well as across business, economic, political and social factors, all presented in an 750-page infographic-driven publication.
View the ACBR intro video below or click here for more information on the ACBR.