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Tuesday, August 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory
AFRICA: "Boost Development Through Labour-Intensive Farming"
Development in Africa should be boosted through labour-intensive production on small to medium-sized farms. To advance food security in Africa, governments should assist small farmers with credit lines and infrastructure while buffering them against fluctuations in world food prices.ENVIRONMENT: GM Should Not Just be Dismissed, Nor Just Accepted
After a protracted court battle of seven years, a small South African environmental organisation won a major legal victory against the multinational agri-chemical and seed giant Monsanto.
Q&A: Regional Integration in Southern Africa Takes Another Step
Zimbabwe has just hosted the 13th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit where a customs union among some of the region’s countries was launched. But will it improve regional trade and assist passage across borders for the member countries’ numerous women traders?ECONOMY-AFRICA: One of These States Is Not Like the Others…
African economic experts at the World Economic Forum on Africa have called for a regional approach to the global financial crisis, but South Africa - the continent’s strongest economy - does not want to play ball.
DEVELOPMENT: Africa ‘Not Badly Hit’ Despite 16 Million More Poor
Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan believes that Africa has not been affected as ‘‘profoundly’’ by the global economic crisis compared to other regions in the world - despite the number of Africans living in poverty having increased by 16 million in the last year and annual growth dropping from six to one percent.DEVELOPMENT: ‘‘19th WEF on Africa Just About Elite Agendas’’
The 19th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, which kicks off tomorrow, is a space ‘‘for the rich and powerful elites who control the global economy and who seek to further open Africa’s economy in collaboration with a tiny minority of corrupt elites in Africa.TRADE: EPA Signing Threatens Southern African Customs Union
Fears that accession to an economic partnership agreement (EPA) in Southern Africa will destroy regional integration seem to be coming true after Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (BLS) ignored a key provision of the Southern African Customs Union when they initialled their trade deal with the European Union last week.
SOUTH AFRICA: Visa Waiver ‘‘Encumbering’’ Zimbabwean Trade
The South African government’s removal of visa requirements for Zimbabweans in April was aimed at easing entry for people still reeling from the crisis in Zimbabwe. But, for Alice Kakwindi, Grace Chimhosva and other cross-border traders, entering South Africa has subsequently turned into a nightmare.
TOURISM: ‘‘Uganda Not Just About Idi Amin, Civil War and AIDS’’
Ugandans are unhappy with their tourism authority as they believe that their country’s warm climate and exceptional species, such as the mountain gorilla, should attract as many tourists as neighbouring Kenya. To compound matters, the global economic crisis has shrunk tourist arrivals from Europe.
ZAMBIA: Controversial Chinese Firm Given Another Copper Mine
The desperate need to find an alternative investor for the closed Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) in Zambia’s Copperbelt has not prevented some Zambians from fiercely opposing the government’s decision to let Chinese-owned Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Company (NFCA) run the mine.ENERGY: South African Government Edging Towards Renewable Sources
South Africa is slowly moving towards exploring renewable energy sources, having set itself a target of three percent of energy being generated from renewable sources by 2013.TRADE: ‘‘You Can’t Smoke Cigars in Brussels and Bulldoze Us’’
Namibia will sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) when the outstanding contentious issues have been resolved through new wording in the texts of the interim EPA, says the country’s trade and industry minister Hage Geingob.ECONOMY: 'Africa Should Seize Control over its Development'
Colonisation can be blamed for Africa's underdevelopment but today Africans must take their fate in their own hands and become ambitious. The continent badly needs industrialisation but it has fallen back into the trap of merely exporting commodities because of booming prices.
TRADE: COMESA on Track with Establishing Customs Union
Zimbabwe will finally host the 13th Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA) summit in the resort town of Victoria Falls in June where the regional grouping is expected to launch its customs union.AFRICA: ‘‘Invest in Job Creation to Buffer Global Crisis’’
African governments should invest in creating jobs, providing social services and building food security to shield people against the effects of the global economic and financial crisis. They should also develop micro-credit facilities to make money available to small businesspeople and boost economies.TRADE: Southern Africa Still Kicking Against Controversial EPA
High-level talks at a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) meeting in Gaborone last week failed to produce an agreement on the signing of the interim economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union.RIGHTS: More Calls to Ban Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds
Amid allegations of human rights abuses and government corruption, international calls are growing to ban or restrict the trade in diamonds from politically unstable Zimbabwe.
ECONOMY: China in Africa – South-South Exploitation?
It is a Sunday around five o’ clock in the afternoon when carpenter Thomas Haimbodi knocks off work. He is waiting for the lorry that will take him and his colleagues from the building site – the office building for the new ministry of lands and resettlement in Windhoek – to Katutura, the township on the outskirts of the Namibian capital.
Q&A: Global Crisis Is an Opportunity for Economic Renewal
The global economic crisis may spell the end of the Washington Consensus and the structural adjustment programmes imposed on the South and lead to the emergence of new economic powers, the so-called ‘‘Next 11'', of which some will be in Africa.
SOUTH AFRICA: Finally Owning the Land That They Have Been Tilling
Bathed in sunlight on a crisp autumn morning, the Welgemeen farm in the Ceres district in the Western Cape province is a shining example in the otherwise patchy track record of land reform in South Africa.
TRADE-RUSSIA: ‘‘Africa Should Shake off Mineral Dependency’’
A group of Russian executives from industry, investment banks and commercial enterprises are seeking Russian government support for a five billion dollar investment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) under the auspices of the Russia-South Africa Business Council.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Trade has historically been a geopolitical tool, creating significant economic imbalances in developing countries. However, many countries in East Asia and Latin America have been able to alleviate poverty due to increasing trade. Tackling poverty has proven to be much harder in low income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, and their dismal trade performance is one important reason for that. They remain at the margins of world trade and indeed of the world economy. These articles are aimed at informing readers about the complexities of trade and its varying effects on development, with a special focus on the consequences of the global economic crisis, the potential of fair trade and the gender implications of trade policies.
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