AfricaFocus Bulletin
May 3, 2021 Africa/Global: African-Language Literature in Global Scholarship
“Broad early modern comparative projects often fail to address Africa
at all. A search of the MLAIB [Modern Language Association
International Bibliography] finds that the number of pieces published
in the last thirty years on the subject of 'globalization' is in the
thousands, and yet only 5 per cent of them address Africa or African
countries. When it comes to eighteenth-century studies, the exclusion
is total: not one of the pieces on globalization addresses Africa or
African countries. Not one. … This is more than unfortunate. No
arena of study can be successful that has Africa as a lacuna. “ —
Wendy Laura Belcher
April 19, 2021 Confronting Global Apartheid Demands Global Solidarity
"The COVID-19 pandemic has both revealed and deepened structural
inequalities around the world. Nearly every country has been hit by
economic downturn, but the impacts are unevenly felt. Within and
across countries, the people who have suffered most are those already
disadvantaged by race, class, gender, or place of birth, reflecting
the harsh inequality that has characterized our world for centuries."
April 6, 2021 Africa/Global: People's Vaccine vs. Vaccine Apartheid
Despite the vast disparity in the pace of vaccinations for Covid-19, currently at over 20% having one dose in North America, 5% in the world, and less in 1% for Africa, the United States, other rich countries, and pharmaceutical companies are still rejecting growing demands to waive patents and transfer technology. See chart below and data by country at https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations.
March 22, 2021 Sahel: Questioning Counterterrorism?
“In the context of complex and protracted conflicts, it is time to
rethink the role of the international community and acknowledge its
limits. Today, success depends first and foremost on the willingness
(much more than on the capacity) of corrupt leaders to reform and
renew their social contract with citizens, especially in rural areas.
International efforts will fail as long as impunity prevails and
local armies can kill civilians and topple governments without
consequence.” - Chatham House Research Paper
March 8, 2021 USA/Global: Taxing the Tech Giants
“How should we determine the corporate tax a big tech company should
pay in each country where they operate? There are many ways that this
could be calculated, but most recommendations suggest looking at
their sales, their assets and the number of employees they have in
each country. In the absence of transparent reporting, collecting
such data is not easy, but we can get a useful estimate through
looking at a proxy indicator: the number of users they have in each
country. For example, in just 20 developing countries there are
nearly 1.5 billion internet users accessing Google, about 900 million
people using Microsoft on their desktops and over 750 million
Facebook users. For these companies, the number of users is a good
indicator of both their sales and their assets.” - ActionAid
More on:
politics&human rights|peace&security|health|economy|ict
AfricaFocus Archive:
by date | by place | by topic
February 22, 2021
Africa/Global: The Inequality Virus
February 8, 2021
Ethiopia: No End to War in Devastated Tigray
January 26, 2021
Africa/Global: Distant Horizon for Vaccine Equity
December 14, 2020
Africa/Global: State of Tax Justice 2020
November 30, 2020
USA/Africa: Build Back Better on Africa Policy
November 30, 2020
USA/Global: On Climate, How Much Will Be New?
November 18, 2020
Ethiopia: Not Too Late to Step Back from War?
October 23, 2020
Nigeria: A New Generation Steps Up
October 13, 2020
Africa/Global: The Future's Not in Plastics
September 28, 2020
USA/Global: Millions Displaced by US Post-9/11 Wars
September 23, 2020
USA/Global: Overhauling U.S. Foreign Policy
September 14, 2020
India/Africa: Common Threads of Kanga and Vitenge
August 24, 2020
USA/Global: Divest from Violent Policing and Endless Wars, Part Two
August 24, 2020
USA/Global: Divest from Violent Policing and Endless Wars, Part One
August 3, 2020
Africa/Global: Preventing the Next Pandemic
July 20, 2020
South Africa: Covid-19 Response Failing; How to Do Better
July 6, 2020
Africa/Global: Not Pessimism or Optimism but Possibilism
June 22, 2020
Africa/Global: Fossil Fuel Viability to Decline Sharply
June 8, 2020
USA/Global: Racial Pandemic and Viral Pandemic
June 8, 2020
Africa/Global: Thinking Post-Covid-19
May 25, 2020
Africa: Remote Learning with African Storybooks
May 12, 2020
USA/Global: Contesting Health and Workers' Rights
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