Wall Street Journal (December 9)
President Trump promised “a manufacturing boom. He got one—in China.” Cementing its ”status as the world’s indispensable factory floor…. Chinese industrial production broke records this year as its factories churned out more cars, machinery and chemicals than ever before. Despite the disruptions of tariffs, the country’s trade surplus in goods has set a record, as growing shipments to Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa offset the hit from Trump’s levies on direct sales to the U.S.”
Tags: Africa, Asia, Cars, Chemicals, China, Europe, Factories, Indispensable, Industrial production, Latin America, Machinery, Manufacturing boom, Shipments, Status, Tariffs, Trade surplus, Trump, U.S.
Washington Post (October 28)
“Africa has an even worse problem than the United States with aging politicians who won’t let go.” It may demographically be “the youngest continent,” but Africa “remains dominated by old men who long ago lost touch with popular sentiment. Already the world’s oldest head of state, Biya will be almost 100 if he finishes his eighth term. Togo’s president is 86. Malawi’s is 85. The Ivory Coast’s is 83. This gerontocracy creates a combustible situation that all but assures future conflict.”
Tags: 100, 83, 85, 86, Africa, Aging politicians, Biya, Combustible, Demographically, Dominated, Future conflict, Gerontocracy, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Old men, Popular sentiment, Togo, U.S., Youngest continent
The Economist (April 26)
“Africans need jobs. The rest of the world needs workers. Migration from Africa is a mega-trend that transcends today’s populist surge” and it is already taking place on a colossal scale. Over 20 million emigrants from Africa now “live outside the continent, a three-fold increase since 1990. That is higher than the number of Indian migrants outside India or Chinese migrants outside China—two big diasporas from countries with populations of similar size to the African continent.”
Tags: 1990, 20 million, Africa, China, Diasporas, Emigrants, India, Jobs, Mega-trend, Migrants, Migration, Populations, Populist surge, Workers
South China Morning Post (July 11)
“The Asia-Pacific region has outpaced other regions in terms of wealth growth since 2008,” During the past 15 years, “wealth in the region has grown by nearly 177 per cent…. The Americas came in second at nearly 146 per cent, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) saw the slowest growth at 44 per cent.”
Financial Times (March 27)
“The price of cocoa surged past $10,000 a tonne for the first time on Tuesday, as a dizzying rise in prices caused by poor harvests in Africa accelerates. Cocoa futures traded as high as $10,080 in New York, more than double their price only two months ago, as traders warned a global shortage of cocoa beans would herald higher price tags for chocolate bars.”
Tags: Africa, Chocolate bars, Cocoa, Dizzying, Double, Futures, Higher, New York, Poor harvests, Price, Shortage, Surged, Traders
Institutional Investor (December 22)
“Africa may not be the first continent that comes to mind for investing in emerging markets — but given its vast potential, maybe it should be.” Moreover, “Africa is increasingly becoming a critical player in the race to net zero, thanks to its population, infrastructure, and resources.”
Tags: Africa, Continent, Critical, Emerging markets, Infrastructure, Investing, Net zero, Population, Potential
GCaptain (July 11)
“The hurdles African countries face in transitioning to gas or green energy mean millions of people are burning dirtier fuels such as charcoal instead, breathing in deadly fumes and generating more emissions. The IEA estimates that the number of people in sub-Saharan Africa without access to clean cooking fuel will grow by 6% a year from 2020 to 2030.”
Tags: Access, Africa, Breathing, Burning, Charcoal, Clean, Cooking fuel, Deadly fumes, Dirtier, Emissions, Gas, Green energy, Hurdles, IEA, Transitioning
New York Times (December 21)
The Twenty-Teens have “been fundamentally shaped by the technological creations of the young, in the form of social media and mobile apps; by the mass migrations of the young, from Africa and the Middle East to Europe and from Latin America to the U.S.; by the diseases of the (mostly) young, notably addiction and mental illness; and by the moral convictions of the young, from the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements in the U.S. to mass demonstrations from Cairo to Hong Kong.”
Tags: #MeToo, Addiction, Africa, Apps, Black Lives Matter, Cairo, Demonstrations, Diseases, Europe, Hong Kong, Latin America, Mental illness, Middle East, Migrations, Moral convictions, Movements, Social media, Technology, U.S., Young
The Economist (March 9)
Interest in Africa is booming. “Outsiders have noticed that the continent is important and becoming more so, not least because of its growing share of the global population (by 2025 the UN predicts that there will be more Africans than Chinese people). Governments and businesses from all around the world are rushing to strengthen diplomatic, strategic and commercial ties. This creates vast opportunities. If Africa handles the new scramble wisely, the main winners will be Africans themselves.”
Tags: Africa, Booming, Businesses, China, Diplomatic, Governments, Population, Strategic, UN
Wall Street Journal (January 18)
“The Trump Administration says Islamic State has been defeated, and it is moving ahead with its withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria and reducing America’s antiterror commitments in Africa,” but the “world’s terrorists don’t seem to have received this news that they’ve been defeated, as a spate of recent attacks around the globe shows.”
Tags: Africa, Attacks, Commitments, Defeated, Islamic State, Syria, Terrorists, Trump, U.S. forces, Withdrawal
