Author: NLM Correspondent

By Mohamed Sheikh Nor As the year 2020 comes to a close, people across the world are breathing a sigh of relief anticipating a better 2021. But for Somalia, a country transitioning from chaos to statehood, the worst of 2020 seems far from over. Somalia finds itself once again at a crossroad due to the ever-recurring political disagreements over electoral processes. The current contentious issues plaguing the country are: the composition of electoral and dispute resolution commissions and election procedures for Somaliland and Gedo regions, all of which continue to delay each round of elections. There are those who view this…

By Nic Cheeseman As the recent election campaign in Tanzania reached a climax, opposition supporters began to notice something strange. Some of their text messages were not being delivered. They knew that it wasn’t a general issue with the network, because most of their messages were getting through. It was possible to contact your parents, your loved one and your boss – but as soon as you tried to send a message including the name of the main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, the network failed.  This was something more sophisticated than the kinds of blanket Internet shutdowns that have done so much damage…

The biggest problem with BBI is that it is a product of an informal process – there is no provision for it under the country’s Constitution By Dr Westen Shilaho Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative, which seeks sweeping amendments to the 2010 Constitution, is driven by a pact between President Uhuru Kenyatta and a seasoned opposition stalwart turned government ally, Raila Odinga. The proposed amendments target at least 13 of the 18 chapters in the Constitution. The pact, sealed with a handshake in March 2018, followed shortly after yet another acrimonious presidential election which had pitted the two against each other. Previous elite pacts have never enhanced Kenya’s democracy.…

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the need for the African insurance sector to demonstrate its critical role in supporting people and businesses. The pandemic has been the most severe risk event in Africa in years, but many insurers have not delivered on their promise. If the sector is to improve the narrative and rebuild trust, bold changes need to be made. Over the past few months, FSD Africa held discussions with over 80 insurers, reinsurers, regulatory authorities, associations and technical service providers across 27 countries in Africa to assess how the sector has been impacted by and…

Kenya and the UK in December signed a trade agreement that aims to promote regional trade and boost economic development for the two countries. The agreement will ensure all Kenyan exports to the UK will have duty-free access to the UK market. Kenya’s top exports to the UK include tea, coffee, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Once signed and ratified by both sides, Kenyan exporters of flowers and other fresh vegetables will continue accessing the UK market under a duty free, quota-free arrangement, just the way they did when the UK was in the European Union. The trade agreement is important…

With a growing number of Western Countries including the US, UK and the European Union tightening their immigration and visa polices, citizens of African countries are finding it harder to travel abroad. Given the odds, global residence and citizenship advisory firms like Henley & Partners and CS Global Partners are seeing a surge of wealthy Africans interested in acquiring citizenship of a second country in exchange for a sizable financial contribution to the passport host country’s economy in a process termed “citizenship by investment.” In the 12 months to November, Kenya saw a growth in enquiries about citizenship by investment of 116…

By Prof John Harbeson Afrobarometer recently proclaimed that an “overwhelming” majority of Ethiopians support democracy and “seek accountable governance.” The surveys’ findings revealed that 90 percent of Ethiopians preferred democracy over the main alternatives: one-man, one-party, and military rule. They ranked governmental accountability to citizens expressed wishes over a government that might actually “get things done” as well as one that fulfills citizens’ wishes over what their elected officials themselves might prefer. The report (afrobarometer.com) is stunningly important news in a country that has never known democracy in its two millennia history of independence under imperial, authoritarian rule nor in…

At this time great social transformation in the country, we are reminded of how, as a people, we should aspire to the standards of our illustrious peers in the West. We are told that the country would be much better if our politicians practiced ideology politics and if the people voted based information rather than sentiment. Even in our schools, we are wired to prefer justice as applied in the West (in fact, there isn’t a Kenyan definition of justice per se apart from the laws and traditions we inherited from our colonial masters and more progressive peers elsewhere). And…

Many major cities in developing countries, especially in Africa, are failing to reap the economic benefits of urbanization. These cities are not able to drive structural transformation, boost growth, create jobs in tradeable industries, and contribute to national economic growth compared with cities in other countries, such as those in China or most developed countries.. As policymakers, urban planners, and development practitioners try to tackle the issues of rapid urbanization, they face numerous roadblocks and constraints. With Africa’s urban population expected to nearly triple by 2050—adding 800 million people—the urgency of addressing these challenges is paramount. Recent African urbanization analyses…

By Victor Adar As the world celebrated women’s day in October, it emerged that despite all the efforts made to protect women and girls, we still have a long way to go. A survey on online violence by Plan International indicates that one in five girls (19%) have left or significantly reduced use of a social media platform after being harassed, while another one in 10 (12%) have changed the way they express themselves just to stay safe. The report, titled “Free to be online? Girls’ and young women’s experiences of online harassment”, is based on a survey of 14,000…