One of the most successful campaigns in the year 2000 led to debt relief for 37 of the world’s poorest countries. 20 years later, Africa is once again in a debt crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic. This new debt crisis has become a burning political issue. How did the crisis come about? How to deal…

Mozambique has returned to the news of the international media due to the humanitarian catastrophe ravaging the north of the country. Since the conflict broke out in 2017, violence in the region has caused a humanitarian crisis with almost 700,000 displaced people and more than 2,000 dead, according to UN agencies. The escalation of violence…

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international treaty that came into force in the last decade of the last century. The ECT is a multilateral investment agreement signed by more than 50 countries and its main objective is to ensure the protection of investors in the energy sector, especially transnational companies operating in coal,…

Without a doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic represents the most severe developmental setback in recent history. But while the virus is still ravaging across the Global South, it’s not the only pandemic currently engulfing developing countries. In fact, a debt pandemic threatens to prevent them from achieving a meaningful- let alone sustainable – recovery. Between 2010…

Nigeria is full of energy, enterprise and dynamism.  Like most big states it struggles to create national unity from a plethora of cultures and languages. With a total population of 206 million – rising fast – it will soon have the third largest population of English speakers and Christians in the world.  At 100 million,…

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is one of the most polluted areas in the world. In the 1950s, important oil reserves were discovered in the area and since then the region has been a battle ground of environmental conflicts between international oil companies (Shell, Chevron, ENI and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) and the…

The European Green Deal is the European Union’s (EU) strategic plan to take the lead on climate change and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The European Green Deal was presented by the President of the European Commission at the beginning of her term of office (December, 2019) and sets out concrete measures…

The coronavirus pandemic has taught us how vulnerable and interdependent we are. The pandemic is global; so, must be the solution! Scientists have responded to this challenge by developing in record time vaccines that can help us overcome the pandemic. They were able to achieve this result thanks to the billions of dollars of public…

Morocco has decided to officially recognise the state of Israel. To date, the Moroccan monarchy is the sixth Arab country to recognise de facto Israel as a diplomatic partner. The first to do so was Egypt in 1980, then Jordan in 1994 and then the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in the second half…

There are different contending stories about the 2020 US Presidential election. The comforting one is that Joseph Biden, with his black running mate Kamala Harris, won a popular mandate by seven million votes. The disturbing one is that Donald Trump increased his popular vote by over eleven million. It is estimated that 93% of those…

In recent years, the region has become a base for violent extremists. Several extremist groups make their home in the Sahel. Many of those have morphed and merged with others, aligning themselves with larger, global terrorist groups. The most prominent — past and present — are listed below. Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM) – Formed…

Crossroads of the world crude oil market, the Persian Gulf has a central role in the international energy market. China, India and Japan are the new drivers of demand while USA dependency diminishes, with important results for regional equilibrium. According to the estimates of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2019 27% of global…