Over the last 18 months, most governments have intervened in their economy more heavily than at any other time in the previous generation. Huge government spending, quantitative easing, trade restrictions, an inflated welfare bill, closed borders, and increasing calls for national self-sufficiency became the norm all over the world. Regardless of one’s opinion on whether […]
In May 1963, leaders from 32 newly independent African states gathered in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to create the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), an intergovernmental initiative dedicated to furthering “African Socialism”. Kwame Nkrumah, the first leader of Ghana and the driving force behind the OAU, had a simple message: a “united socialist Africa” was […]
In late March, most African countries copied the approach taken elsewhere and implemented a mass lockdown that saw schools close, curfews put in place and people largely confined to their homes. While this approach makes sense and has been, for the most part, feasible in other parts of the world, in Sub-Saharan Africa—the world’s poorest […]
Back in 2000, The Economist described Africa as the “hopeless continent,” adding that the “new millennium has brought more disaster than hope to Africa”. Thankfully, in the 20 years since The Economist’s sombre diagnosis, much has changed. In fact, over the last 20 years, GDP in sub-Saharan Africa has tripled, and average per capita incomes, adjusted for inflation and purchasing power, […]
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Vladimir Putin boldly declared that “liberalism is obsolete.” Indeed, the Russian president claimed that liberal ideas have “come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population,” as opposed to boosting prosperity and human welfare. As the number of European populist parties swells, it appears […]
Writing in the Daily Telegraph two weeks ago, Donald Trump Jr. made the bold claim that “Brexit and my father’s election are one and the same”. This a common narrative: the media often portrays Trump’s election and the Brexit referendum as identical phenomena, while Trump himself enjoys comparing the two. As a Brexiteer living in the United States, […]
It looks likely that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be implemented in the next few weeks. Only 22 African nations need to ratify the AfCFTA before it can be enacted, and thus far, 19 countries have done so. Last week experts from the United Nations Economic Commision for Africa met to discuss […]
Civil unrest in Venezuela has dominated headlines over the last few weeks. The Venezuelan people are protesting against the continued autocratic rule of President Nicolas Maduro. Following his sham re-election last May, during which he prevented leading opposition parties from fairly competing, most Western governments have refused to recognise Maduro’s legitimacy. But as Maduro ignores these protests […]
Tomorrow the South African Parliament will find out if constitutional changes allowing for the expropriation of privately-owned farmland without compensation will move forward. The Joint Constitutional Review Committee will deliver their verdict to the National Assembly, and if the Committee decides the nation should continue to pursue expropriation, the proposition will proceed to parliament for […]
The one thing that stood out in Theresa May’s recent Conservative conference speech was her praise of free markets. In a hall erupting with applause, the Prime Minister noted “free markets are the greatest agent of collective human progress ever devised… We should defend free markets because it is ordinary working people who benefit.” May noted […]
This morning, the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, published the 22nd edition of its annual Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) report. For a long time, we’ve known that, on average, freer economies are richer, grow faster and have longer life expectancies. But the 2018 edition of the EFW gives us more insight than ever […]
Today marks the 9th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest heroes mankind has ever known. Few have heard the name Norman Borlaug, but his actions truly changed the entire fate of humanity. This sentiment should not be taken as hyperbole, for Borlaug’s work saved the lives of approximately one billion people. Borlaug was […]
Britain’s blistering heatwave has created a record-breaking demand for the treat that, over the course of the last century, has become a summer favourite the world over: ice cream. Sales have increased 100 per cent year on year, and London is even hosting an ice-cream themed pop-up exhibition, fittingly titled ‘Scoop’. Just 350 years ago, ice cream […]
In recent months, African nations have been in the process of creating, signing and ratifying the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The agreement is one of the largest trade liberalisation efforts since the founding of the World Trade Organization in 1995. Last Sunday, at the 31st African Union (AU) Summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania; the total number of […]
