Day of the African Child: Are children a priority in National Budgets

June 16 marked the Day of the African child, the day when thousands of innocent children went into the streets to voice their concerns over the inferiority of education provided to black children in South-Africa. While Africa commemorates the day, governments should reflect on how they are progressively moving towards the realisation of Articles 4, [...]

Idasa opposed to Reserve Bank amendments

Idasa has expressed opposition to the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill — and its provisions to limit shareholder power. In submissions to Parliament during public hearings on the bill, Idasa and the University of Western Cape School of Business and Finance argued on principle, rather than from self- interest, that the amendments were ill-advised. [...]

Call for papers – Governance and small scale agriculture in West Africa

African democracy institute Idasa will hold a “Governance and Small-scale Agriculture in West Africa” conference in Nairobi, Kenya from 8th to 10th November 2010 to focus discussions on addressing informational gaps in the sector and open avenues for dialogue and engagement in relevant national and international platforms with stakeholders who have an interest in smallholder [...]

Reforming the IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a special agency of the United Nations with 186 member countries, to which it provides policy and technical assistance and funding. The IMF is a core International Financial Institution (IFI) and an influential funding body which has influence over developing countries’ economic and other policies. IFIs are the largest [...]

Afrobarometer – Democracy in Africa

Read the latest releases from Afrobarometer on the following topics: The Evolution of African Political Regimes in the last 10 years; Poverty Reduction, Economic Growth and Democratisation in Southern Africa; African Media and Telecommunications; and Citizens and Democratisation. See these releases here.

Africa and the International Financial Crisis

How will the current global financial crisis affect Africa? Many African countries economies (and by implication, their stability) rely heavily on commodities, and the recent financial crisis and related commodity fluctuations will have some impact. A recent report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says “Uncertainty and instability in international financial, currency [...]