An average of about 45 elephants per day were illegally killed in 2011 in every two of five protected sites holding elephant populations in Africa, thanks to the growing illegal trade in ivory, which continues to threaten the survival of elephants on the continent. A joint report by four international conservation organizations says that 17,000 elephants were killed in 2011 alone and the amount of ivory seized has tripled over the last decade. “Organized criminal networks are cashing in on the elephant poaching crisis, trafficking ivory in unprecedented volumes and operating with relative impunity and with little fear of prosecution,”…
Author: ARO-News
In the summer of 2005, South Africa–based entrepreneur Marilyn Cooper decided to give her neighbors in a suburb of the capital, Pretoria, a barbecue treat. Alluding to the inscription on her drinking glasses, “Soweto Beer Festival,” she asked her guests, “Why can’t we have a Soweto wine festival?” The economic situation was just right for such a celebration, she felt, as many residents of Soweto, a predominantly black township in Johannesburg, were already showing flashes of middle class life: buying new cars, modern electronics, mobile phones, designer dresses and houses. And they appeared to love a good wine. Within a…
Charles Dhewa loved to write about agriculture, especially soil and crops. In early 2000 he decided to turn his words into action by becoming a cattle and horticulture farmer in Zimbabwe. He bought a small farm in Marondera, a town about an hour’s drive from the capital, Harare. His experience as a farmer enriched his writing, as he articulated issues in agriculture in ways that appealed to smallholder farmers. He soon became the communications expert for the Zimbabwe Farmers Union. But Mr. Dhewa later changed jobs when he was hired as a local consultant for the British-funded Crop Post Harvest…
Last July, US President Barack Obama set the spark for his Power Africa programme that will help sub-Saharan African countries build power production and transmission projects and double their electricity access. President Obama announced in Cape Town, South Africa, his plan to mobilize $16 billion for investments that will generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity. With Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist Tony Elumelu pledging $2.5 billion towards that amount, it appears that Obama’s turn towards Africa is energizing the continent’s new philanthropic elites who can play a critical role in social enterprise, build capacity and pilot new technologies. Before accompanying President Obama…
Last year the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa inaugurated the 10-member High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki to look into the problem. Africa Renewal sat down with one of the panel’s members, Ambassador Segun Apata of Nigeria, who was in New York for a round table discussion of the problem. These are excerpts from the interview. First of all, how serious is the problem of illicit financial outflows from Africa? Segun Apata: The estimate on record is that between 1970 and 2008, illicit financial flows were over $800 billion…
The figures are staggering: between $1.2 trillion and $1.4 trillion has left Africa in illicit financial flows between 1980 and 2009—roughly equal to Africa’s current gross domestic product, and surpassing by far the money it received from outside over the same period. Illicit financial flows are money earned illegally and transferred for use elsewhere. The money is usually generated from criminal activities, corruption, tax evasion, bribes and transactions from cross-border smuggling. The numbers tell only part of the story. It is a story that exposes how highly complex and deeply entrenched practices have flourished over the past decades with devastating…
For many people, the phrase maritime piracy evokes images of a one-eyed sailor drinking rum and singing obscene songs. For some younger people, piracy may bring to mind the picture of Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, wearing a headband in a scene from the film Pirates of the Caribbean. But maritime piracy is not just an action movie. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as “illegal acts of violence or detention” committed on the high seas against ships or aircraft. Piracy is a serious problem and it poses a real threat not only to the safety…