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Opinion & Comment

The Lack of Transparency of European Companies in Africa.

The EU and its Member States, through the bilateral investment agreements (BIT) and the economic partnership agreements (EPAs), have established a set of arrangements with African countries and regions that offer a legal security to the European companies when they operate in Africa. At the same time, the EU demands from the companies that operate…

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China’s Economic Interest in Africa.

China is present and active in almost all countries of Africa. In 2015 China invested about 35 billion Dollars in Africa and so has surpassed Europe or the US as Africa’s main trading partner. The China-Africa Summit of 2018 further demonstrated the growing importance of China in Africa. During the Summit President Xi Jinping offered…

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Mandela. Above All Humanity.

There are all sorts of reasons for celebrating Nelson Mandela in this centenary year of his birth. We recall the way he worked incessantly to overcome racial domination and achieve freedom for both the oppressed and their oppressors. We marvelled at how he could emerge from 27 years in prison without rancour or bitterness, even…

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Africa/India. A Stronger Partnership.

Continual growth in commercial exchange between the Asian giant and many African countries. Closeness of ties that can be seen also in the diplomatic field with the opening of eighteen new Indian embassies on the continent. Back in 2002, on 26 May, the Indian minister for Commerce and Industry, Murasoli Maran, launched the programme “Focus…

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Beyond the Dark Web: Arms Trafficking in the Digital Age.

In October 2013, the US Justice Department announced the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the founder and operator of ‘Silk Road,’ a massive online marketplace for drugs and other illicit goods. Authorities called it ‘the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet’ and estimated that it had facilitated the transfer of more than a…

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Europe at a Crossroad.

One year ahead of the next European elections, the debate over citizens’ participation heats up: How to bring the institutions closer to the citizens? The best inspiration can be found in an extraordinary meeting that took place exactly 70 years ago. In May 1948 more than 800 persons from all walks of life met in…

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Africa Needs Diversification.

The last 20 years have been progressive for sub-Sahara Africa, according to Jean Claude Bastos de Morais of the Quantum Global Group. The explosion of economic parameters, advancement in the healthcare sector, and improvement in the standard of living of North Africans have driven up social indicators. This has been possible through proper channelling of…

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A Europe For Humans, Not Just For Markets.

The common market has been a core idea of Europe but markets are not automatically beneficial for all human beings. Europe needs to re-establish the “primacy of politics” and push for the democratization of the economy. Europe has always been both a community of values and a pragmatic economic endeavour. In recent years, however, the…

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The Threat Of Cybercrime In Africa.

The rapid development of technology improves lives and enables more efficient operations in the private and public sectors. The challenges that have emerged as a direct consequence, however, can also undermine progress and expose users to illicit activities online. Before 2000, Africa hosted only 4.5 million Internet users. Since then, telecommunications markets have been liberalised…

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Neo Pan-Africanism As An Alternative.

Africa is experiencing an ideological crisis that is expressed by the current adhesion of African governments to either neoliberalism or monetarism that destroy human solidarity, erode the welfare state and increase human suffering. After the failure of imported ideologies, the future of Africa lies in the adoption of a new unifying ideology of development, Neo…

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Europe. The New Interest For Africa?

The German Federal Government did not show much interest in African affairs in the period after World War II and preferred to leave Africa to the French and the English who had much closer connections to their former colonies. One exception was Horst Köhler. As President of the Republic, he frequently travelled to Africa, brought…

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Nicaragua’s Channel Future.

The channel aims to be the most ambitious project in the history of Nicaragua and the largest to be developed in Latin America, after the construction of the Panama Canal. The Chinese telecommunications entrepreneur Wang Jing announced an investment of 40,000 million dollars, almost four times the GDP of Nicaragua. The plan is to build…

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Advocacy

Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari. A Steward of the Marañón…

The river is sacred to the Kukama people, who believe that their ancestors reside on the river floor.  They are ready to protect the Marañón…

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Baobab

A Wise Grandmother.

Like the other farmers, Taro also grew rice, wheat, and vegetables, living in peace and contentment. However, things never remain the same. One time, there was no rainfall,…

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Youth & Mission

Comboni Youth Jubilee. To live is to hope.

From 24 to 27 July, hundreds of young people from the Comboni youth movements across Europe will gather in Milan, Verona, and Florence, Italy, in preparation…

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