THE WORLD – Page 194 – IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2016-04-112023-07-10

Oh China, Please Come Back Ye…

Analysis by Dr Palitha Kohona*

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (IDN) – As Sri Lanka, with an administration now in power for over one year, begins to confront complex domestic and international challenges, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe undertook a visit to Beijing.

Unthinkable just a few months ago with orchestrated anti China rhetoric flooding the media, he joined other world leaders who had already lined up outside the gates of Beijing seeking manna from the Middle Kingdom. At the conclusion of the visit on April 10, he spoke effusively of the potential for cooperation between the two countries.

So what caused the change? The visit was billed as an initiative to reassure the Chinese that Sri Lanka remained a reliable global partner, it is a welcoming destination for Chinese investors and tourists, and it will honour its contractual obligations to Chinese concerns made by the previous administration and it may have achieved at least some of its goals.

Africa2016-04-062023-07-10

Reflecting on the Genocide in Rwanda

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – Candle lighting, a minute of silence, the laying of wreaths and other memorial ceremonies will be held on April 11 when Rwanda recalls the genocide in 1994 that took 800,000 lives.

It is also a time for diplomats and local leaders to talk with communities about the atrocities of genocide and the importance of working towards a peaceful way of life. Student conferences, exhibitions, and other commemorative activities are also held.

The activities officially last a week, but the commemoration continues up to July 4, marking 100 days of genocide.

This year, a cadre of hundreds of social workers trained to help trauma victims are expected to be available to help survivors still struggling with memories from that time.

Africa2016-04-062023-07-10

Liberia Outsourcing Public Education to a U.S. Company

NEW YORK | MONROVIA (IDN | GIN) – In what might be a first in Africa, Liberia will put its entire pre-primary and primary education system in the hands of a U.S. start-up that would bring a charter school model to struggling schools on the continent.

Bridge International Academies already has a presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. Despite a headquarters in Nairobi, a listing for the company shows a San Francisco address.

When Liberian Education Minister George K. Werner announced in January that all pre-primary and primary schools would be outsourced to Bridge to manage, he set off a furor among local and international education experts. The arrangement, they said in an interview with the New Dawn newspaper, would be a “blatant violation of Liberia’s international obligations under the right to education and have no justification under Liberia’s constitution.

Asia-Pacific2016-04-012023-07-10

Nepal Between the Dragon and the Elephant

Analysis by Shastri Ramachandaran

MUMBAI (IDN) – Yet another South Asian country, Nepal, is falling for the charms of China. The language of this new dalliance, regardless of where it may lead, is causing unease in India. Arriving in Beijing on March 20 for a week-long visit, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that his country’s relationship with China was “as high as the Himalayas”, which he said symbolised friendship.

In what could be a red rag to New Delhi, Oli called China an “all-weather friend”, a term loaded with China’s value for Pakistan as a deterrent against India. China-Pakistan friendship, however, has moved to a higher realm — that of “iron brothers forever”, as Chinese President Xi Jinping underscored on his first state visit to Pakistan in April 2015. The parallel with Pakistan does not end there.

Africa2016-03-292023-07-10

South African Leader Protests Corporate Influence

NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG (IDN | GIN) – South Africans are rising up against the outsized influence of corporate entities and wealthy individuals allegedly doling out contracts and jobs within the African National Congress (ANC).

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, at a recent event, rebutted the charge, declaring the ANC was not for sale and anyone who wanted to capture the state should “go next door”.

Speaking to about 1,500 professionals and academics at the ANC event in Sandton on March 23, Ramaphosa declared: “Those who want to capture the ANC and influence it to advance personal or corporate interests, you have come to the wrong address. Try next door. We will not be captured.”

Africa2016-03-292023-07-10

South African Anti-Mining Activist Leaves a Proud Legacy

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – Sikhosiphi ‘Bazooka’ Rhadebe will be remembered as a man of principle who chaired the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) and fought to hold back titanium mining in South Africa’s Xolobeni coastal dunes.

“Our beloved Bazooka made the ultimate sacrifice defending our ancestral land of Amadiba,” the ACC said in a published statement. Rhadebe, who said his name had appeared on hit list, was gunned down on March 22 by two men who approached him dressed as police.

The ACC had successfully blocked efforts by Minerals Commodities Ltd of Australia and its South African subsidiary to get a mining license after the company failed to obtain an environmental impact survey or a social impact plan.

Africa2016-03-292023-07-10

More ‘Tech Hubs’ Expected to Rise in Africa

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – Tech hubs and incubators in Africa are expected to number close to 300 by year-end, and in some surprising locations.

In 2015, Disrupt Africa, which describes itself as a one-stop-shop for news, information and commentary pertaining to the continent’s tech startup – and investment – ecosystem, reported on a new hub and entrepreneurship development centre in Somalia, the first such project to launch there.

The Gambia also saw its first tech hub open, when Jokkolabs expanded to the country launching a space in the capital Banjul.

Also in 2015, Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu threw open the doors for applications to the US$100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), while Paris-based incubator NUMA expanded its operations to Africa, launching in Casablanca, Morocco.

Asia-Pacific2016-03-242023-07-10

China’s Release of Mekong Waters Reflects an Environmental Crisis

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the fifth in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

SINGAPORE (IDN | Lotus News Features) – China would like to project the release of Mekong River waters from its dams in March to “assist” drought-stricken farmers and fisheries further downstream, especially in Vietnam, as a magnanimous gesture from a friendly neighbour. But that action is in fact the reflection of a greater environmental and political crisis that is brewing in the region.

China announced middle of March that in response to a Vietnamese request, it will discharge from March 15 to April 10 water from the Jinghong hydropower station on the Mekong River in Yunnan province to the lower reaches of the Mekong River to alleviate drought in Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Africa2016-03-222023-07-10

Philanthropy with a Pan-African Perspective

NEW YORK (INPS | GIN) – Bill Gates, Bono, the Ford Foundation and the World Bank, among others, are well-known supporters of development projects in Africa. But that’s hardly the full list.

A report on international giving by the Foundation Center found that approximately $255 million to Africa came from U.S. foundations in 2010. Compare that to the $40 billion that Africans in the diaspora sent home in remittances in the same year. This has since grown to $60 billion annually and now exceeds funding from private foundations and bilateral and multilateral aid agencies.

Africa2016-03-222023-07-10

‘Super Sunday’ Polls in Africa

NEW YORK (INPS | GIN) – Voters trooped to the polls in six countries across Africa on March 20, electing presidents and in Senegal approving a constitution with shorter presidential terms.

Among the surprises, the hand-picked successor to the outgoing president of Benin was defeated by a self-made entrepreneur Patrice Talon – “the king of cotton” – who ran as an “authentic Beninese” candidate. During the campaign he repeatedly attacked his opponent’s dual French nationality and the fact that he was living in France until being appointed prime minister by the outgoing former president.

Lionel Zinsou, with light skin, was also attacked as a “yovo” or “white man” during the campaign. He congratulated his opponent even before the official release of voting results was announced.