The Conversation Global fertiliser suppliers have made incredibly high profits in 2022/23 on the back of price spikes attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war. The profits of the world’s top nine producers trebled in 2022 from two years previously. The margins and impacts have been even greater on fertiliser supplies to African farmers. Moreover, the super-high profit margins are being sustained in 2023 in many African countries even while international prices have come down (see figure 1). The harvest season has recently come to an end in most countries in southern Africa with farmer margins and production being squeezed by high input costs.…
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By Agence France-Presse (AFP) China’s top diplomat Wang Yi during a visit to Kenya on Saturday praised the two countries’ economic partnership as a “win-win”, according to a statement from the Chinese authorities. Kenya and China have “become good friends with mutual trust in politics and good partners with win-win economic cooperation”, according to the statement from the Chinese embassy in Kenya. With the most dynamic economy in East Africa, Kenya is considered by the international community as a stable democracy in a troubled region. China is the second-largest donor to Kenya after the World Bank. In Mombasa, on the…
The Conversation Grief is a natural response to losing something you felt a bond with. This loss ranges from death to the end of a relationship. It could also be the loss of an election or of a body part through amputation. Grief is natural and normal. It serves as a psychological way of buffering you against the shock brought on by loss. Experiencing the grief brought on by the death of someone you loved is an emotionally challenging journey. The intensity of your reaction will vary depending on factors like the nature of your loved one’s death, your relationship with them…
The Conversation Kenyan president William Ruto has lifted a six-year ban on logging, despite public objections. Ruto said it would create jobs and boost economic growth. Lisa E. Fuchs has studied the Mau Forest Complex, one of Kenya’s most important – and most threatened – forests. She unpacks the implications of this decision. Why is the lifting of Kenya’s logging ban controversial? A logging ban is a political instrument. Its effectiveness depends mainly on two things. First, who is included and who is not, and why and how these actors will be supported to re-orient themselves sustainably. Second, the political will to implement…
The Conversation On 15 June, the overcrowded fishing trawler Adriana sank on its illicit journey from Libya to Italy, drowning hundreds of men, women and children. In response, states have expressed shock and sadness, and have moved to prosecute smugglers associated with the journey. Greece, under whose watch the tragedy occurred, declared three days of mourning and arrested nine of the survivors, charging them with human trafficking. In Pakistan, where hundreds of the victims originated, 10 suspected traffickers were arrested. Some survivor accounts have turned the spotlight on the actions of the Greek coast guard. At one point, its officers attached a rope to the Adriana, possibly with the intention of…
Has the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) achieved its goal of improving trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa? Created in 2000 and renewed in 2015, AGOA is a U.S. government trade program that gives countries in sub-Saharan Africa preferential access to U.S. markets, allowing them to export products to the United States tariff-free. AGOA has certainly helped boost African exports to the United States, but the trade data raise questions about why some countries are better able to capitalize on the preferential trade rules. I found that policy implementation theory—specifically, the ability to bridge the gap between policy intentions and desired…
The Conversation Her Ladyship Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo took office as the 15th ,chief justice of Ghana on 12 June 2023. She is the third woman to occupy the position, which is the fourth highest in the country after the president, vice-president and speaker of parliament. Ghana’s judiciary is made up of the supreme court, the court of appeal, high court and magistrate (district) court. The chief justice is at the top of the judicial hierarchy and serves as administrator and supervisor. The supreme court has power, as the highest court, to interpret Ghana’s constitution and has final authority…
The Conversation Kiswahili originated in east Africa, spreading around the continent and the globe. It’s been adopted as a working language at the African Union and there’s a push for it to become Africa’s lingua franca or common language. Morgan J. Robinson is a historian of east Africa with a research focus on language who has published a book on Kiswahili called A Language for the World. We asked her how today’s accepted standard version of Kiswahili came into being. Kiswahili is spoken across eastern and central Africa. Mother-tongue speakers are found mainly along the coast, but Kiswahili is spoken as a second or third language…
The Kenya government has suspended its plans to reopen Kenya-Somalia border points following a surge in terrorist attacks in the Northern region. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki announced the delay during a visit to the Dagahaley and Ifo 2 Refugee camps in Garissa’s Dadaab camp on Wednesday this week. The CS said that the government will only consider reopening the borders once they have effectively addressed the issue of cross-border crimes and terrorism that has plagued the area. He pointed out that despite the setback, both governments remain committed to reopening the border to improve cross-border trade and co-operation. “We…
The Conversation The African continent currently leads the world in the number of women chief justices and presidents of constitutional courts. Several countries across the continent have almost equal numbers of women and men at the bar. Some countries, such as Cape Verde, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia and Sierra Leone, have had women as presidents of the bar association or law society. In the legal academy, some countries have recorded success with women as deans of law faculties and heads of departments. And across the continent, the number of women called to the bar is increasing each year. Still, challenges remain, narrowing the opportunity…
