AfricaFocus Bulletin
Recent Commentaries by AfricaFocus Editor
(New in 2019)
September 18, 2019 Horn of Africa: Interview with Kassahun Checole
For over 36 years, Kassahun Checole has shepherded hundreds of
manuscripts into publication through his twin publishing houses
Africa World Press and Red Sea Press. He is widely respected among
scholars and activists in Africa and around the world as one of the
giants of African and African American publishing. Yet his own keen
insights on Africa´s past and present, particularly on Eritrea and
Ethiopia, are hardly to be found in print or on-line.
September 12, 2019 South Africa: Xenophobia, Deep Roots, Today´s Crisis
“In the early years after I got 'home,' it took me some time to
figure out how to respond to the idea that Africa was a place that
began beyond South Africa's borders. I was surprised to learn that
the countries where I had lived -- the ones that had nurtured my
soul in the long years of exile -- were actually no places at all
in the minds of some of my compatriots. … Though they thought
themselves to be very different, it seemed to me that whites and
blacks in South Africa were disappointingly similar when it came to
their views on 'Africa.' … This warped idea of Africa was at the
heart of the idea of South Africa itself. Just as whiteness means
nothing until it is contrasted with blackness as savagery, South
African-ness relies heavily on the construction of Africa as a
place of dysfunction, chaos and violence in order to define itself
as functional, orderly, efficient and civilised.” - Sisonke Msimang
September 12, 2019 South Africa: Spotlight on Gender-based Violence
“Our nation is in mourning and pain. Over the past few days, our
country has been deeply traumatised by acts of extreme violence
perpetrated by men against women and children. These acts of
violence have made us doubt the very foundation of our democratic
society, our commitment to human rights and human dignity, to
equality, to peace and to justice. … Violence against women has
become more than a national crisis. It is a crime against our
common humanity.” - President Cyril Ramaphosa, September 5, 2019
August 12, 2019 Africa/Global: Tax Avoidance 101
Aircastle Ltd., a Connecticut-based global company specialized in
leasing airplanes, is not alone among large American companies
lowering their taxes through creative accounting, which also
include well-known giants such as Amazon and Apple.
But the recent revelations on Aircastle´s use of Mauritius as a
tax haven provide a helpful window into how such tax dodges can
make use of off-shore companies set up primarily for that purpose.
August 12, 2019 Africa/Global: #MauritiusLeaks Reveals Tax Dodges
“Based on a cache of 200,000 confidential records from the
Mauritius office of the Bermuda-based offshore law firm Conyers
Dill & Pearman, the investigation reveals how a sophisticated
financial system based on the island is designed to divert tax
revenue from poor nations back to the coffers of Western
corporations and African oligarchs, with Mauritius getting a share.
The files date from the early 1990s to 2017.” - International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists
More on:
politics&human rights|peace&security|health|economy|ict
AfricaFocus Archive:
by date | by place | by topic
July 29, 2019
Africa/Global: Agribusiness vs. Agroecology
July 15, 2019
Africa/Global: New Horizon for Off-Grid Solar
July 2, 2019
Kenya/Global: Big Victory for #SaveLamu/#deCOALonize
June 19, 2019
AfricaFocus Updates: Sudan, Ebola, Mozambique
May 27, 2019
Africa/Global: World Bank Ramps Up Attack on Small Farmers
May 13, 2019
Africa/Global: Cutting the Costs on Remittances
April 30, 2019
Africa/Global: Fighting Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance
April 15, 2019
Africa/Global: Ebola Resurgence Tests Global Response
April 9, 2019
South Africa: Politicians Scapegoating Immigrants
April 9, 2019
Africa: Migration within the Continent
March 22, 2019
Southern Africa/Global: Cyclone Idai and Climate Justice
March 11, 2019
Sudan: Just Fall, That is All!
February 26, 2019
USA/Africa: From Wakanda to Reparations, Part 2
February 26, 2019
USA/Africa: From Wakanda to Reparations, Part 1
February 11, 2019
Nigeria: Many Candidates, Few Alternatives
January 30, 2019
USA/Africa: Paradigms of Foreign Intervention
January 30, 2019
USA/Africa: China, Bolton, and Jimmy Carter
January 22, 2019
Zimbabwe: Repression & Dreams Deferred, Again
January 8, 2019
Mozambique/Global: Who Pays for Transnational Corruption?
December 10, 2018
Africa/Global: Green New Deal Could Be Game-Changer
November 12, 2018
Africa: Africa Mining Vision
November 12, 2018
Africa: Why Mining is Hard to Tax
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