Author: Admin

Analysis in brief: Groaning under the weight of unplanned growth, African cities struggle to be habitable. Taking urban planning seriously will become vitally necessary as the continent’s population becomes larger and more urban. The key is intelligent city planning, starting at the drawing board.

 Key points

• African cities have been allowed to grow ungainly and unsafe as, for decades, local and national officials have been commissioned and then city planning studies were ignored
• A growing African middle-class is demanding more liveable cities and applying political pressure on local and national officials to improve urban environments
• Stricter zoning and green technology will bring investors to cities, generating revenues for urban improvements

Most African cities were not meant to be – that is, they were planned as congenial little ‘white’s only’” colonial towns that were never intended to be giant metropolises hosting millions of residents. When colonialism ended, urban migrants brought country dwellers in search of jobs to cities where they were now legally permitted to live. No thought went into where the new millions would live, how utility services would be provided, or for social necessities from parks to schools. The result was chaos – cities choked by pollution and traffic nightmares, and festering with township slums much larger than developed central business districts. In June 2017, the World Bank released another of its periodic reports on Uganda’s urban situation and blamed poor city planning for contributing to high unemployment. For one thing, potential investors are off-put by the dilapidated physical appearance of Kampala. Co-sponsored by the Kampala Capital City Authority, the study, “Enhancing economic development and job creation in greater Kampala” found transportation systems and building codes also failed to support a business-friendly environment.

Read more →

IOA analysis in brief | South Africa is undergoing a soul-searching exercise in national identity as the democracy’s founding ideals are threatened by the power plays of a ruling party that is causing economic destruction and racial animosity to hold onto power. The parallels between Jacob Zuma and Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe presidency are glaring.

Key points:

• President Zuma has weathered corruption and power-grab scandals and even popular opposition by controlling the political structure of the ruling party that controls government
• Like Mugabe, Zuma is employing anti-white rhetoric and blaming the white minority for the failure of 23 years of ANC economic policy to lift the black majority’s living standards
• A troubling development is the government-condoned paramilitary wing in service of the ANC to intimidate anti-Zuma members of the public

South Africans fear their young democracy will die the death of Zimbabwe’s, under a corrupt, insular ruling party that seems to be duplicating the power-grab strategies of Robert Mugabe.

An all-powerful ruling party, a liberation leader who feels he is incapable of doing wrong, creeping corruption, youth brigades acting as organised thugs to suppress political opposition, domination of state broadcasting to serve the ruling party, use of state institutions for the personal gain of leadership and its cronies, use of state funds for the president’s personal pleasure – these elements and more, pioneered in Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe, are now observed in South Africa. Read more →

IOA analysis in brief | America wants to spend less on UN military missions in Africa to free up more money to spend on the US military. However, this is a false savings, particularly if a continent destabilised by the loss of UN peacekeeping requires future and more costly US military interventions.

Key points:

• The Trump doctrine on foreign policy is interested in Africa only as a source of terrorists who may threaten America
• Washington only wishes to support efforts in Africa that fight specific terrorists that pose a threat to the US, not other conflicts or actions against local terror groups
• As financer of one-quarter of the UN’s peacekeeping budget, the US’s will for a review of peacekeeping missions Washington finds irrelevant will be followed

War is expensive, and the UN has some of its most expensive peacekeeping missions in Africa. The US government wants a price review of operations, signalling a possible security crisis on the continent.

According to Washington’s new foreign affairs strategy, the US intends to “reduce or end funding for international organisations whose missions do not substantially advance US foreign policy interests,” according to a White House statement. As far as the Trump administration is concerned, the US has only one interest in Africa: as a venue to eliminate foreign terrorists before they come to America and cause harm to Americans. As simplistic as this view happens to be, even more simple-minded is the means to achieve this, solely through military action.

Read more →

Analysis in brief | All of Africa’s major economies are carrying out major airport building and expansion efforts in anticipation of ever-rising air passenger numbers. Airports are status symbols in their role as gateway announcements to African destinations, but also play vital roles in economic expansion.

Key points:

• Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa will rival in size the world’s largest airports when expansion is completed
• Rwanda has positioned itself as Central Africa’s aviation hub, home to Africa’s first drone airport
• ‘Open skies’ policies agreed to by all African countries will, when implemented, expand air travel between African countries

Where once, every African country’s pride was its own national airline, today the prestigious item is a gleaming new state-of-the-art airport as Africa’s most populous nations are competing to be regional hubs. They seek to be air transportation centres where long flights from Europe and Asia come and go, and disembarking passengers go on to other countries via shorter route air carriers. Regional hub crowns can be bestowed upon Cairo for North Africa, Addis Ababa for East Africa, Lagos for West Africa, Kigali for Central Africa and Johannesburg for Southern Africa. However, international flights arrive at dozens of international airports distributed across all regions, from which the routes of shorter-haul aircraft emerge like spokes.

Read more →

IOA Analysis in brief | Genetic rescue to repopulate endangered species, drones that patrol game parks from the air to detect animals in distress, and radar and optical imaging devices that relay real-time data to conservationists’ smart phones via satellite relays are some of the tools now employed to protect the African menagerie and wildlife.

Key points:

• South Africa’s giant Kruger National Park has thwarted poachers with a new radar/video imagery system combined with trained sniffer dogs and will expand its use
• Kenya has found success with drones and motion-triggered cameras that track animal movements as well as their human predators
• Mauritius’ initiative to save its pink pigeon population through genetic rescue will be watched as a means to preserve other African species

Africans have honoured their natural endowment of wild animals long before the lucrative tourism industry made the Big Five animals the centrepiece of world travel to the continent. Wild animals have also been a source of food and ingredients for medicines and artefacts. Killing and transporting animals is illegal but for some restricted circumstances, and yet poaching continues at an alarming rate. Yet, natural heritages are at risk as well as the tourism trade, which is drawn to the thrill of an elephant or rhino sighting in the wild. Against well-armed poachers employed by international criminal syndicates, game parks and nature reserves are launching a high-tech counter-offensive.

Read more →

IOA Analysis in brief | To spare US companies accounting costs, the new US presidential administration may end due diligence measures that retard the sale of minerals which finance Central African insurgencies and terror groups.

 Key points:

• The Dodd-Frank Act as amended in 2015 requires US companies to verify the origin of minerals from 10 African states where they may have been smuggled
• The new US presidential administration is on the verge of scrapping the conflict mineral avoidance measures in an anti-regulation campaign gone awry
• If Central African governments could tackle corruption and make the mining industry legitimate, the trade in conflict minerals would dry up at its source

  Read more →

Analysis in Brief | Youth unemployment affects South Africa’s economic and social development. Young people need to be innovative in finding employment opportunities. Community service is an effective means to providing relevant workplace experience and improving personal skills to better chances of gaining relevant employment.

 

Key points:

• In 2016, youth unemployment in South Africa stood at 51%, which ranks 4^th globally
• Gaining work experience in a competitive job market is difficult for young people who lack experience and practical skills
• Community work offers a way for graduates and students to improve their chances of permanent employment, while assisting their community in a positive way

In On Africa (IOA) is currently working to expedite and encourage positive changes in South Africa’s youth sector by focusing on youth unemployment with several companies, organisations and individuals. Voices Unite is IOA’s upcoming initiative that seeks to offer South Africa’s youth a platform to voice their concerns, ideas and experiences and to utilise those insights in informing the way forward. As a preface to this initiative, a pilot study, with more than 1,400 respondents across South Africa, was implemented by IOA and Columinate, a research partner. In this pilot study, respondents were asked to indicate what issues/topics were constantly on their mind: first was crime; second, corruption; and the third important issue to them was unemployment (selected by 65% of youth respondents).

Read more →

IOA analysis in brief | A global surplus of shipping containers, those metal boxes big enough to be large rooms, coincides with a need for inexpensive solutions to Africa’s housing needs. However, imaginative architects have fashioned containers into libraries, schools and offices of remarkable utility and playful beauty.

 Key points:

• Extending 9 metres in length, single containers can be converted into homes or stacked together to make larger structures
• Current uses for container conversions are clinics, schools, staff housing and offices
• Large buildings erected from containers cost 25% less than brick and mortar buildings

By re-imaging containers, affordable housing and public buildings are sprouting up in colourful, boldly-angular displays. Africa is witnessing a wave of recycling that is inspiring a new field of architecture.

Shipping containers, those 6 or 9 metre long rectangular metal boxes stacked like blocks on railway cars or on the decks of sea freighters, have been providing quick and easy solutions to a variety of building needs in Africa for 20 years. From the days when discarded containers were used as improvised housing by the poor, designs today that resemble mobile homes provide compact kitchen and bathroom facilities beside sleeping quarters. Because they are metal set beneath the African sun, the transformed boxes are equipped with air conditioning.

Read more →

By Carla Sterley [1]

IOA analysis in brief | As Nigeria’s middle class has developed, opportunities for growth in the country’s consumer sector have emerged. This has sparked the interest of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) looking for investment opportunities in Africa, allowing for Nigeria to open their economy to international players.

Key points:

• Nigeria’s consumer class is expanding, resulting in a rise in consumption of consumer goods
• Increased consumption means that opportunities for investment by global players in the retail industry have increased
• This economic influence has both positive and negative implications for the population’s financial future

Nigeria’s middle class is influencing the country’s international economic outlook, allowing for increased foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities in the consumer industry.  The West African country, which is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, is home to a growing middle class – a consequence of a strong economy, high rate of urbanisation and the growth of educated professionals earning competitive salaries. This development has resulted in a middle class economic outlook and the transformation of a demand-driven economy. This is especially evident in the consumables and electronics sectors of the state’s economy. Demand for goods has stimulated interest from foreign investors, generating additional FDI.

Read more →

Civilians are the primary agents in their own protection, and international actors have only recently begun to support civilian self-protection efforts. Engaging locals in their own protection, however, does not come without challenges. 

Written by Leigh Hamilton

The protection of civilians during conflicts is one of the UN’s most significant undertakings. While the humanitarian branches of the organisation perform protection activities, it is mostly UN peacekeepers who act to prevent or respond to threats of physical violence against civilians. The UN Security Council first authorised peacekeepers to use force to protect civilians in 1999 during the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). Since then, the UN has launched 17 peacekeeping missions, the majority of which have been mandated to protect civilians. Some missions, such as the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), have mandates that make the protection of civilians the mission’s chief priority. Read more →

While upgrading national systems with an eye at a unified continental system, African railways won’t be left behind in the next technological leap toward self-driving transportation.

 

IOA analysis in brief | Trains will drive themselves across Africa’s terrain in the near future, with the technology available today to make autonomous engines that are safer, more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly than the human-driven type. If Africa’s rail systems do not adapt to the new technology, they will become extinct in a new age of self-driving long haul truck transportation.

 Key points:

• Autonomous trains are a reality today, but require massive spending on new technology
• Most African railroads are owned by governments or linked to governments, which hinders adaptability and innovation
• Africa is dedicated to its rail system, with 11,000 km of new line now being built at a cost of US$ 30 billion

Read more →