- Observing the evolution of the theory of evolution
- Via Marginal Revolution, a video on wine and cereal pairings. I can't quite decide whether to be intrigued or absolutely mortified, or whether to simply laugh it off given that all food and wine pairings are allegedly a scam, anyway
- Sub-Saharan African states are falling behind other regions in terms of competitiveness. While there have been some improvements in the past year (with Uganda registering as most improved), sub-Saharan states as a whole have slipped down the global rankings since they were first listed in 2000
- Freakanomics has a great piece on African entrepreneurship, which highlights the creative ingenuity present across the continent
- Bilateral relations between China and Cuba are at their best time in history, according to Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo. Oh, and the U.N. has declared Castro a "World Hero of Solidarity." Makes you stop and think, doesn' it?
- Think your DSL is faster than a pigeon? Think again
- On this September 11, 2009 please take a moment to remember all those who sacrificed their lives eight years ago today. We will never forget
Doing Business 2010
Doing Business 2010 has been released today, and the oft-cited rankings are now publicly available.
The report contains several interesting findings, perhaps the most important of which is that Rwanda has been ranked as the top business reformer - a first for a sub-Saharan African economy (Mauritius retained its top ranking as the African country in which it is easiest to do business). This ranking is based on the number and impact of reforms introduced in the year - through May 2009 - a summary of which may be found here (scroll down for table). The report also finds that:
Two regions were particularly active this year: Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 26 of the region’s 27 economies reformed business regulation in at least one area covered by Doing Business. Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are reforming at a similar rate, with 17 of 19 reforming in 2008/09. In both cases, competition among neighbors helped inspire widespread reform.
An overview of the report may be found here; report highlights here; and the complete ranking of all 183 economies here.
Noteworthy...
Posting here will likely be light(-ish) through the end of this month, as I'm currently in the process of moving back to Oxford after a year-long hiatus. As you might imagine, things are rather hectic, and I imagine that they will remain as such until I'm properly settled in the city of dreaming spires come the end of September/early October. Please do bear with me!
For now, some very noteworthy reads (now bulleted for your reading pleasure owing to their number. Slightly more optically pleasing, no?):
- Protests have again broken out in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang province, two months after the initial turmoil. Thousands of Han Chinese have taken to the street touting the "uselessness" of the government and its failure to provide appropriate security protections in the region
- John Prendergast, co-chair of the ENOUGH Project, discusses the flaws in the Obama administration's Sudan policy and what should be done to remedy them. Mark Goldberg was right: Darfur activists appear to be losing their patience
- Gmail was down for a while this week, and it seems that the world nearly stood still. Why do we freak out over such seemingly insignificant technical glitches?
- It's no secret that the Chinese cook their books. What's perhaps less well known is that the cooking is done not by central CCP bureaucrats, but by local and provincial government officials. Such a reality speaks to the complexities of center-periphery relations in the country
- Is Kenya falling apart? It certainly appears that way, especially with the Kenyan state growing increasingly less visible and less relevant
- One-third of Chinese scientists want to switch careers and wouldn't recommend their profession to their children. Too little pay, too much work
- While I'm certainly no expert on Honduran politics, I nevertheless find it rather curious that the U.S. is threatening not to recognize the results of the Honduran elections to be held this November. This decision is based on the "current existing conditions" in the country, which have deteriorated since the June 28 coup. If this is indeed the sole guiding motive, surely the U.S. should not have recognized the Iranian election results either?
- Via Texas in Africa I learn of a brilliant series being run by Myles Estey over at The Esteyonage. The series, 'Gettin by,' looks at the micro-economy of Liberia and the means by which people outside the national statistics make a living. While the focus in solely on Liberia, the findings are indubitably applicable to other African states as well
- Amartya Sen's new book, The Idea of Justice, is 490-some pages of wise Sen-isms. Two themes predominate: economic rationality and social injustice. Occasional swings at John Rawls are also taken, which (depending on your guiding philosophy) make the book both witty and exceptionally informative. The Economist's review of the book may be found here
Doing business in China
Beginning this month and continuing through November, The Atlantic will be running a series of clips from the DVD series "Doing Business in China" - a three year project headed in part by James Fallows. The clips will offer footage from factory floors, peasant villages, CCP headquarters, and the offices of foreign firms which have learned to be financially successful in the Middle Kingdom. The idea is to present the "real China," beyond the hype and the noise. It appears to be a most interesting project, and certainly worthy of your attention.
The following is the project's introductory video:
Noteworthy...
I had it in my mind to write something substantial here today, as there is indeed very much to talk about. Unfortunately I'm a bit under the weather and fear that any attempts at coherent argument or analysis will fall flat - and fast! Ergo, today's noteworthy reads...
Fred Kaplan asks: What's Bill Clinton doing in Pyongyang?
Perhaps the answer has something (or everything) to do with news that Burma is secretly building nukes
A great project in northern Uganda - Women's Income Generating Support - headed by Chris Blattman and Jeannie Annan provides women with grants and business training
Might China agree to an oil embargo on Iran?
What to do about climate change induced migration in Ghana (and arguably elsewhere)
Sweet beans of life!
I confess: I'm an addict. I can scarcely get through a day without a cup of coffee. Or two. Sometimes even three. Every morning I make my way to the local coffee shop for my fix. In Oxford, Cafe Nero in Blackwells Bookshop is my cafe of choice. I always opt for a window seat so that I might watch the world go by on Broad as I sip my Americano and peruse the day's news. In Evanston, I found a home in Peet's; the wonderful aroma of coffee brewing hits your nose the moment you open the door. Most recently I discovered the Hungarian Pastry Shop in New York City and am longing to go back. What better way to pass a morning than with a delectable croissant, a perfect cup of coffee and a view on St. John the Divine?
Given my addiction, I can't help but comment on all the coffee related news that I've been stumbling upon recently. Last week I blogged that Starbucks is opening an office in Rwanda, with the hopes of collaborating with local farmers as a way of helping them overcome poverty, and of developing a potentially lucrative export market. According to Appfrica, Africa's first chain coffee factory opened in Uganda just yesterday. The factory is owned by Uganda's Good African Coffee company, which controls a value chain that begins with Ugandan farmers and continues all the way to supermarket shelves. The company has promised 50% of the profits to growers, their families and communities, and further offers training to farmers to help improve the quality and sale value of their crop. What a great initiative to promote local entrepreneurship.
China's coffee market is likewise heating up, with Costa Coffee, 85c and Dunkin Donuts now on the scene. Before, China's coffee market was dominated entirely by Starbucks (and its knock-off, SPR), which is now beginning to lose its grip. Presumably Starbucks is losing its grip in other markets as well, which is why the company has begun an intensive rebranding campaign, and is even considering adding alcohol to its menu. Because the one thing missing in this world is place where you can get free wifi, a bran muffin and a Stroh's.
But who knows: with Tim Horton's now aggressively entering the American market and 85c beginning to dominate in China, a bottle of Stroh's with your latte and muffin may be the perfect marketing pitch. Personally, though, I'd just opt for an Irish coffee. Extra strong, if you please.
Noteworthy….
Bansky, the British street artist, has left his mark on the African continent. This Flickr page has a wonderful collection of his images which highlight Western perceptions of Africa
China is now an empire in denial, according to the FT's Gideon Rachman
Kindles, iPods and the end of cultural snobbery? Oh dear, this can't possibly be good.
Starbucks has opened an office in Kigali, Rwanda, and is set to partner with local coffee farmers. I wonder if this means that I can get my sugar-free vanilla soy latté fix next time I'm in Rwanda?
According to this projection, China will be the second most populous country in the world by 2050 (it is currently first), followed by the U.S. and Nigeria. India will be the foremost populous, while the Congo will be ninth-most.
Humming a familiar tune
Barack Obama delivererd his speech to Ghana's Parliament this past Saturday (full text of the speech may be found here) in what was his first presidential trip to sub-Saharan Africa. A collection of opinions on the speech may be found at the BBC's fantastic 'Africa Have Your Say' program.
What I have to say is this: While there is little denying the significance of Obama's trip or the importance of his now oft-repeated statement that "Africa's future is up to Africans," the content of his speech was altogether unsurprising and contained nothing that hasn't already been said. Like other Western leaders who have addressed African nations in the past, Obama came touting the need for Africans to embrace democracy and market capitalism; to battle corruption, cease the ongoing violence, work with the West to combat disease and - in short - embrace the 21st century. This is all well and good, but such catch-phrases amount to no more than empty suits when not substantiated with specifics. Even his claim that Africa's future rests with its own people has been made numerous times in the past; most recently by the likes of Bill Easterly, President Kagame of Rwanda, and Dambisa Moyo in her ever-controversial book Dead Aid.
There was a welcomed shift in tone when Obama promised to cut down on funding American consultants and administrators and instead put resources and training into the hands of those who need them (i.e. resident Africans), as well as when he highlighted the economic possibilities implicit in African entrepreneurship (which, again, Kagame has been stressing for some time). But overall the speech diverged little from previous U.S. policy statements on Africa, no less so given Obama's insistence on continuing Bush's terrible idea of Africa Command. As Bill Easterly aptly notes in today's post, "[...] goodwill for U.S. military is nonexistent after a long history of Cold War Africa interventions, post-Cold War fumbles, reinforced by the more recent fiascos of Iraq and Afghanistan. Africans will never see US military (or any other Western force) as a neutral and benevolent force." *Sigh* When will we learn?
Of course the speech was inspirational - as may of President Obama's speeches are - and quite empowering for many Africans (and, apparently, for the UK Times' Libby Purves who sees a fantastic "new start" where those who understand African history and politics see none). Yet it pales in comparison to the speech Obama gave in Cairo when he addressed the Islamic world, and fails to represent much in the way of a novel shift in U.S. policy towards Africa and its people. Yes, Africans must pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they are to make anything of themselves, but didn't we (and they) know that already?
The most environmentally friendly transport you will (likely ever) find
Bamboo bicycles! Yes, you read correctly: bamboo bicycles.
Established by two Californians and two Zambians, the company Zambikes has taken to producing bamboo-made bicycles in Lusaka and then selling them in the United States. These bamboo bikes are sold for around $475 (£290) for road or mountain bike frames, and more than $900 (£550) for a finished cycle - fitted with wheels, pedals, handlebars and brakes.
Zambikes' mission is to "provide high quality bicycles and educational training to unprivileged and service based Zambians." The company produces sturdy cargo bikes, a bike trailer and a bike-drawn "zambulance," now used in 10 clinics around Lusaka. Zambikes also provides technical skills training, business coaching and discretionary loans to its employees. Says Mwewa Chikamba, one of the company's founders: "It was never just about bikes. We wanted to give our workers practical skills and reward their dedication. We want to change lives."
With environmentally friendly bicycles, job creation, job training and useful products, I'd say Zambikes is en route (pun entirely intended) to success.
photo credit: www.bbc.co.uk
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
Business Action for Africa recently released a new report on what businesses can do to sustain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) in Africa. The report brings together insights from various business leaders and NGOs, as well as from the likes of Paul Collier, Kofi Annan and Lord Malloch-Brown, among others. Many of the contributions seemingly follow the standard protocol of touting transparency, governance, business environment reforms, effective public-private partnerships, investments in the private sector, and other well-known policy prescriptions. As Richard Laing, Chief Executive of CDC aptly notes:
Much has already been said about the impact of the global downturn on Africa, but a great deal of the talk about solutions has been empty rhetoric full of generalisms that regard Africa as one homogenous place. Any simple prognosis for the continent’s economic future ignores the fact that there are 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with differing economies and at varying stages of development. It is action, not talk, that is required.
That said, there is one particularly worthwhile analysis, written by Dr. Peter Eigen, Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Eigen writes:
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. When it comes to knowing how the global financial crisis will affect Africa we are all living in the land of the blind. Usually we can rely on the IMF to be the one-eyed man, but the IMF’s growth predictions for 2009 give such a mixture of signals that it is impossible to form a clear overall picture. We do know, however, that 2009 will see a series of difficult social and political changes in Africa: elections, strikes, civil unrest, rising fuel and food prices, and a more challenging environment for exports. Because of Africa’s unique finance and liquidity circumstances, and due to volatile exchange rates and commodities prices, it is safe to assume that the financial crisis will be felt differently in Africa than elsewhere.
Eigen's acknowledgment of the uncertain is quite refreshing; for as much as we think we may know about Africa's future trajectory and development needs, there is indeed that much more than we don't. Eigen is also particularly prudent in his discussions of EITI - the very organization of which he is Chairman: "The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has long been held up as a shining example of how multi-stakeholder initiatives can address these kinds of challenges. But much of this praise has been premature. The initiative is still young." Such rhetoric comes in stark contrast to others in the development field who proclaim with overwhelming conclusiveness the merits of their formulaic approaches to poverty alleviation/aid/whatever, embryonic though these approaches may still be. Every now and again it's nice to be reminded that there are people in the field who are guided not by grandiose visions but by practical, thought-out solutions to given problems. Thank you, Mr. Eigen
In any event, do read the report; it will surely be worth your while.
Noteworthy….
"The continent must not be like a beautiful fruit tree by the wayside. Every passer-by plucks a share and the fruit tree seems to forget that it could one day grow old.." Words of caution to Africans as both Russian and American leaders make trips to the continent
African leaders have denounced the ICC and refuse to extradite Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir, while others attempt to decipher what, exactly, this means
Niall Ferguson and James Fallows discuss the influence of China on the U.S. economy at the Aspen Ideas Festival
Win in China: a great documentary on the rise of entrepreneurship in China
Kenya's jua kali and Chinese businesses - and a shameless plug
Yours truly has a paper published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Eastern African Studies on the nature of Chinese business networks in Kenya. The paper can be found here (subscription required).
More on contemporary land grabs: the case of the DRC
While it is true that the vast majority of farmland investments in Africa are those of foreign entities, this is not always the case as an interesting piece in the WSJ makes clear:
[South African farmers] are scrambling to get on board an ambitious venture to reclaim farmland in Congo's interior and help relieve that country of a reliance on food imports. Already some 70 farmers have booked a Congo tour and more than 3,000 have expressed interest, said Agri-SA, the South African farming group organizing the venture.... According to a draft memorandum of understanding, Congo is willing to sign long-term leases and provide tax breaks and waivers on duties of imported supplies for approved projects. The South Africans in turn would build infrastructure, employ locals and instruct them in modern farming techniques. People familiar with the matter say the initial focus will be on restarting state-owned farms abandoned in 1992.... South African commercial farmers, mostly the descendants of Dutch and French pioneers who began settling the continent's southern tip centuries ago, are renowned for their ability to coax food out of African soil. Eager for their expertise and capital, African countries from Ghana to Nigeria have offered them incentives to set up shop. South African farmers have turned Mozambique into a banana powerhouse. Zambia became self-sufficient in maize after welcoming farmers from Zimbabwe and from South Africa.
As with foreign (i.e. non African) land investments/grabs, such programs are equally controversial, as they raise the very same issues of land tenure, colonialism, and eviction as do those by China, the United States, Saudi Arabia or any other countries. According to the contract governing the investment, South African farmers will enjoy a five-year holiday on corporate tax and the dismantling of taxes on the import of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizer and machines. The farmers will be allowed to take all their profits out of the country and are under no obligation to sell their output on the domestic market. Oh dear.
Dear Africa, We would like to invest. Sincerely, the U.S.A. (P.S. Just fix some things, first...)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today launched the Africa Business Initiative (ABI) intended to help bridge the investment gap between the United States and Africa. Together with Baird's Communications Management Consultants, ABI today also released a report entitled The Conversation Behind the Boardroom: How Corporate America Really Views Africa. Driving the study is the ever-perplexing question of why Africa has not attracted more attention from the U.S. business community.
The answer, it seems, is that Africa is attracting the attention of U.S. businessmen - particularly in the technology sectors, and particularly now more than ever - but the costs of investment (political instability, a general lack of a business-conducive framework, and a poorly defined rule of law, among others) continue to outweigh the potential profits to be reaped.
What would it take for corporate America to fully take the African plunge? In short: a stable political environment; an educated (African) workforce; a fair business environment; and improved infrastructure. Goodness! If this is, indeed, the wish list then any such investment may be a lonnng way off! Given that the Chinese seem to have little trouble with the continent's current state of affairs, too, many African states now have little incentive to reform so as to accommodate U.S. desires. If nothing else, such U.S. demands may well result in more African leaders 'looking East,' much to the disadvantage of American corporations.
Regardless, the report itself is quite interesting and forms the first part of a two-party study. Part two, The Public Sector Conversation, will be conducted over the next several months and will focus on African government responses to the corporate American responses put forward in the currently available study. This may be quite telling, indeed!
The easiest, most obvious way to help poor people
Give them money.
No, seriously, give them money.
Aid Watch's Laura Freschi has a brilliant post on the innovative (though arguably really, truly obvious) aid approach taken by Oxfam GB and Concern WorldWide after the horrible flash floods that swept through the Western Province of Zambia in 2007. People lost their homes, livestock, and crops - in short, their livelihoods. Yet where USAID sent $280,000 worth of seeds and fertilizer, training for farmers, and emergency supplies, Oxfam and Concern Worldwide gave every affected family from $20 to $50 monthly, with absolutely no conditions:
An evaluation found that common fears about cash transfers—that the cash infusion will cause inflation in the market, that the money will be squandered, or that men will take control of the money—were unrealized.
What did people buy with the money? The list includes maize, beans, salt, cooking oil, meat, vegetables, clothes and blankets, paraffin, transport, soap and body lotion, and lots of other mundane household items. They also loaned it to friends, used it to pay back debts, purchased health care, education and transport, and rebuilt their homes. Only a very small fraction of the money (less than .5%) was spent on “unproductive” items, like liquor for the men.
Huh, go figure: poor people are capable of determining the depth and breadth of their particular needs! Shock horror! Who would have thought? And why didn't anyone discover this sooner?! *sigh*
Of course such cash transfers remain laden with concerns as those noted above and others, among them targeting the right people and equipping individuals with the knowledge to truly capitalize on the funds given to them. Regardless, such cash transfer programs appear to be the logical way to help people who have lost their livelihoods regain control once again. As Freschi writes:
With the cash transfers, the people can decide for themselves how to meet their most urgent needs. This gives people who have lost their livelihoods, belongings or loved ones a new feeling of control over their lives, builds money-management skills, and restores to them their power to make economic decisions. If you were in their shoes, which would you prefer?
Rwanda: mHealth pioneer?
Rwanda has been in the news quite a bit lately, and appears to in many ways be emerging as a model for African development (ironic, isn't it?). Indeed, Kagame's mantra of entrepreneurship over aid has seemingly lead to a significant upturn in the country's development, and Rwanda appears to be rising.
Writing in the UN-Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership blog (the Foundation is the leader in the mHealth field), Claire Thwaites reports that Rwanda is on the leading edge of the mHealth frontier:
Supported by the Rwandan Ministry of Health, Voxiva, and the Treatment Research and AIDS Centre (TRAC), TRACnet is an electronic records system that can be uploaded to mobile phones. In Masaka it is being used to track and record the distribution of anti-retroviral medications, ensure drug adherence, electronically create and submit patient reports, and access the most up-to-date information about HIV/AIDS care and treatment.[...] In Masaka, I was guided through the health clinic by the local program manager, Hareuhana Diaedonne. During the tour, Hareuhana spoke at length about the simple but significant benefits that have been brought about by the introduction of mobile phones to the local healthcare system. Using TRACnet, he reported, data entry that used to take months to record and aggregate now can be collected in just 5 minutes.
A booming mHealth industry may not only be the ticket for improved public healthcare in Rwanda, but may also be the perfect opportunity to attract more investments into the country, in turn continuing to fuel Rwanda's rise.
Chinatown, Angola
A superb video from Current TV examining the growing presence of Chinese in Angola. While the video's focus remains largely on China's infrastructure projects across the country, it nevertheless does a great job touching upon the variety of sectors in which the Chinese have become quite active. The video itself is somewhat lengthy, but certainly worth a viewing for those seeking to gain a better sense of 'China in Africa' (or Angola, as the case may be):
Nigeria's booming entertainment industry
I confess to be just as surprised as the next person (sadly my knowledge of African pop culture doesn't quite measure up to what I know of the continent's politics): Nigeria's music and film industries are booming. So much so, in fact, that the country's film industry (known as Nollywood) has surpassed Hollywood (!) to become the world's second largest after Bollywood:
According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) survey, Bollywood – as the Mumbai-based film industry is known – produced 1,091 feature-length films in 2006. In comparison, Nigeria’s moviemakers, commonly known as Nollywood, came out with 872 productions – all in video format – while the United States produced 485 major films.“Film and video production are shining examples of how cultural industries, as vehicles of identity, values and meanings, can open the door to dialogue and understanding between peoples, but also to economic growth and development,” said UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura.
“This new data on film and video production provides yet more proof of the need to rethink the place of culture on the international political agenda,” he added.
To gain a better appreciation of the Nollywood industry, I strongly suggest you watch Franco Sacchi's film, 'This is Nollywood.' 'This is Nollywood' shows not only how the introduction of digital technology has revolutionized (loosely stated) one of the world's poorest (and by some accounts failing) countries, but also speaks to the very theme of culture highlighted in the UNESCO report. Ethan Zuckerman blogged about the film back in 2007 (I'm a bit behind, it would seem).
But there's more: according to CNN, Nigeria's hip hop industry is also growing. Like the film industry, Nigerian hip hop is regarded as a cultural alternative to Western music and in some sense serves as a unifier in what is a most ethnically diverse state:
While no one is so naive as to suggest that the film and hip hop industries are the panacea to Nigeria's problems, their respective success may nevertheless be a small, albeit important, step on the road to economic growth and development. One can only hope and, indeed, enjoy.
On China's shifting strategy in Africa. Finally, somebody gets it right.
Ever since the reality of the economic crisis took hold, international attention has remained squarely focused on the governments in both Washington and Beijing. What are they doing? What will they do? What does all of this mean? With respect to Beijing in particular, myths of China's withdrawal from Africa began to surface around the time the China-Congo deal began to flounder and seemingly haven't seized in their cries of armageddon (see here and here, for instance). Well, stop already. Not only is this annoying, it's horribly misinformed. The Asia Times finally gets it right:
China's engagement with Africa has barely begun. As far as the stock of foreign investment in Africa is concerned, the Asian giant is still dwarfed by the West 10 to 1, but not for long if Beijing has anything to do with it. For China, Africa is a strategic play, requiring the stamina for which its strategists have always been famous.A long-term project, I might add.
It is true that Beijing is hurting badly from the global economic crisis much more than its Ministry of Commerce's massaged statistics will let on, but it would be analytically unsound to treat any perceived change in Sino-African trends as a panic-response dictated by the souring global economy. China is engaged in a deliberate, calculated, and carefully scheduled re-pricing of risk in its African project.
Rwanda rising
In January of this year, Oxford's Paul Collier and Jean-Louis Warnholz published an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled "Now's the Time to Invest in Africa." The title is quite self-explanatory: they argue that over the last several years trends have emerged throughout the continent to present a prime investment climate. This includes political stability, international and economic policies, and business profits and growth.
This is certainly true, and perhaps more surprisingly, is true especially of Rwanda - a country which commemorated 15 years since the genocide a mere week ago. In those fifteen years, however, much has changed and Rwanda is quickly moving towards establishing itself as one of Africa's most investment-friendly havens. Among those placing their faith in Rwanda are the CEOs of Starbucks and Costco, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and former British PM Tony Blair. For them and others, Rwanda is regarded as the most undervalued 'stock' on the continent, and presents a unique opportunity to bring innovation to a nation.
Rwandan president Kagame has been credited with marshaling much of the country's turnaround. Indeed, though problems of civil liberties loom large, the economy is booming. Kagame's strategy is quite a curious one, closely mirroring Chinese strategies, rooted as they are in guanxi networks:
Kagame's strategy relies on wealthy and powerful friends to lure private investment, train a new generation of managers, build a globally competitive economy, and wean the country off foreign aid. Even as troubling questions remain about Kagame's involvement in the region's ongoing conflicts, this unpaid, business-savvy team is marketing the brand called Rwanda.
The spirit behind 'brand Rwanda' is a distinctly entrepreneurial one, and resonates across all industrial sectors. Most prominently, perhaps, is the emphasis being placed on the country's information and communications-technology sector, which is pivotal to Rwanda's ambitious development strategy and has been rocketing young entrepreneurs into the domestic and global marketplace.
Fifteen years on, Rwanda is seemingly moving in the right direction. If the country is any example, it may be time for the West to invest in Africa after all.
[HT: Elizabeth Palchik Allen]