Major Topic Areas

Health Go to full list on this topic
January 23, 2023  Update from Editor on Future Plans http://www.africafocus.org/docs23/af-230123.php
    When President Barack Obama hosted his US-Africa Summit in August 2014, my roundups in AfricaFocus Bulletin featured critical analysis of the likely outcome and the issues that were likely to be ignored, as well as alternate viewpoints by civil society groups.

Peace and Security Go to full list on this topic
January 23, 2023  Update from Editor on Future Plans http://www.africafocus.org/docs23/af-230123.php
    When President Barack Obama hosted his US-Africa Summit in August 2014, my roundups in AfricaFocus Bulletin featured critical analysis of the likely outcome and the issues that were likely to be ignored, as well as alternate viewpoints by civil society groups.

Politcs and Human Rights Go to full list on this topic
January 23, 2023  Update from Editor on Future Plans http://www.africafocus.org/docs23/af-230123.php
    When President Barack Obama hosted his US-Africa Summit in August 2014, my roundups in AfricaFocus Bulletin featured critical analysis of the likely outcome and the issues that were likely to be ignored, as well as alternate viewpoints by civil society groups.

Special Topics

Aid, Poverty & Public Investment Go to full list on this topic
January 29, 2018  Africa/Global: Humanitarian Attention Deficits http://www.africafocus.org/docs18/hum1801.php
    The international system of response to humanitarian crises is flawed. And the often-repeated call to focus on addressing causes of crises and structural flaws in the system, instead of only providing short-term relief, is undeniably justified. But current trends, paralleling austerity programs and cuts in services at domestic levels in the United States and around the world, are not moving in the direction of fundamental reform. Instead, they are further diminishing the already inadequate resources devoted to saving lives.

Culture & the Media Go to full list on this topic
May 3, 2021  Africa/Global: African-Language Literature in Global Scholarship http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/aflit2105.php
    “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

Debt Go to full list on this topic
July 20, 2022  Africa/Global: Oligarchs of All Nations http://www.africafocus.org/docs22/books2207.php
    "Biden Concedes Defeat on Climate Bill as Manchin and Inflation Upend Agenda" - New York Times, July 16, 2022

Education Go to full list on this topic
August 8, 2017  Africa: Bridge to Education, or to Nowhere? http://www.africafocus.org/docs17/educ1708.php
    "When Liberia's Minister of Education, George Werner, announced last spring that he was inviting foreign education companies and non-profits to run our public schools, our country came under the international spotlight, both in Western media and for education activists. ... Quickly, Liberia was turned into a battlefield between those who see for-profit 'charter' schools as the solution to the problems that plague public education across the world, and those of us who point to underinvestment and poor management as the true culprits." - Mary Mulbah, president, National Teachers' Association of Liberia

Environment & Climate Change Go to full list on this topic
November 15, 2022  Africa/Global: "Daughter of Africa" Steps Up to Lead on Global Crises http://www.africafocus.org/docs22/af-221115.php
    At the climate summit in Egypt last week, President Biden pledged that the United States would take the lead on the climate crisis. But his speech was eclipsed the same day by a powerful call to action by Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados.

Information & Communication Technology Go to full list on this topic
January 30, 2017  Kenya: State of the Internet http://www.africafocus.org/docs17/ken1701.php
    Kenya has long been a global technology leader for innovation in mobile and internet technology, including the use of mobile phones for uses as diverse as cash transfers and crowdsourcing of reports on election violence (in 2008). Kenya also features an active press and civil society accustomed to speaking out about national issues including corruption and human rights violations. With national general elections scheduled for August this year, these assets can play important roles in sustaining peace and democracy. But they may also be threatened by government restrictions or by use of social media for propaganda and incitement to violence.

Migration Go to full list on this topic
March 9, 2020  USA/Africa: Transnational Lives in Kentucky http://www.africafocus.org/docs20/ken2003.php
    Some arrived as refugees, as part of the refugee resettlement process managed by non-profit agencies for the federal government. Some came to Kentucky from Africa for education, for a job, or to join other family members. And some moved to Kentucky from other locations in the United States, in search of smaller communities or better opportunities. Their experiences were diverse, like immigrants from any other places around the world in any other time in history. In the 21^st century, however, new levels of transnational connections have made possible ongoing ties enriching the societies of both their new and their old homes.

Trade Go to full list on this topic
September 14, 2020  India/Africa: Common Threads of Kanga and Vitenge http://www.africafocus.org/docs20/fabr2009.php
    The new book Common Threads (along with an accompanying video, both open access), explores the ties that bind India and Africa through the material medium of cloth, from antiquity to the present. Cloth made in India has been sold across African markets for millennia, by Indian, African, and European traders. ... Most significantly, it highlights the role of African consumers in defining the evolution of these genres of fabric, and the centrality of people-to-people connections in sustaining the continued cosmopolitanism of these transoceanic connectivities.