How Much Is Sierra Leone’s “Peace Diamond” Worth, and Who Will Buy It in December in New York? A 706-carat diamond is pictured on March 16, 2017 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. (R-L) Chief Saquee, Bayratay and Momoh The Government of Sierra Leone in partnership with a diamond auction company, Rappaport, is set…
DetailsOur cities need fewer cars, not cleaner cars Electric cars won’t eradicate gridlocks and air pollution, but carbon footprints could be cut by favouring pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit The average Los Angeles commuter wastes almost 5.5 days each year in gridlock … adding roads and highways only encourages people to use private…
DetailsPlay Disable your screen reader before downloading. Playback starts immediately after pressing play. Use space bar to pause or play, and up and down arrows to control volume. Use left arrow to rewind and right arrow to fast forward. 2:16 Unregulated deforestation around mines a threat to Amazon rainforest ( ABC News )…
DetailsUS Regulators and Rio Tinto: Is the Mozambique Fraud Charges a Signal of More to Come? Rio Tinto and its former chief executive and chief financial officer have been charged with fraud by US authorities for allegedly attempting to cover up multi-billion-dollar losses on an African coal investment. Key points: US Securities and…
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Comment: On 5 July 2017, the Competition Commission of South Africa has announced its conditional approval of The Dow Chemical Co. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours Co.’s $130 billion merger. The decision follows similar conditional approvals from global antitrust authorities in Canada and Mexico last week and from the U.S. Department of Justice on June 15, 2017. Dow…
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The ‘World’s Most Useless Airport’ Finally Opens; But Will Tourists Come? As the inaugural plane from Johannesburg touched down, the travel and history buffs on board clapped and cheered. A water truck sprays water to celebrate the first inaugural commercial plane from Johannesburg after it landed at the newly built Saint Helena Airport…
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Jacob Zuma Cavorts With “State Capture” Soulmate, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Nigeria; Gets Statue and Fake Chieftaincy Title Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State in South-Eastern Nigeria, erected a statue in honor of President Jacob Zuma – Many Nigerians criticized the gesture of the governor. They pointed out that Nigerians were being…
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International and Regional Dimensions of the Raging Civil War in South Sudan Few places in the world have taken a beating like South Sudan. How did it come to this? At the end of May, the fourth ceasefire in as many years was declared in the South Sudanese civil war. President Salva Kiir, head of the…
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Which Countries Does China Favor With Its Foreign “Aid”? China gives aid mainly to Africa, but commercial interests are more geographically dispersed Top 10 Recipients of Chinese ODA: Cuba ($6.7 billion) Cote d’Ivoire ($4.0 billion) Ethiopia ($3.7 billion) Zimbabwe ($3.6 billion) Cameroon ($3.4 billion) Nigeria ($3.1 billion) Tanzania ($3.0 billion) Cambodia ($3.0 billion) Sri Lanka…
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Why Is Uber Ride-Sharing Model Failing in Nigeria? Uber’s 4-year anniversary: Not much to celebrate, as world’s largest ride-hailer struggles to scale in Nigeria’s perilous taxi market Leading ride sharing app, Uber celebrated four years of operating in Africa last week. It also announced that it had created about 29,000 jobs or economic opportunities as it will…
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