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Tuesday, August 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory
TRADE-ZIMBABWE: "Another Operation Murambatsvina to Be Unleashed"
It’s a Thursday morning and the Mbare Musika Market is a hive of activity. Trucks, weighed down with assorted fruits and vegetables, negotiate their way through the congested market. You can get anything here -- from vegetables, mealie-meal and cooking oil to television sets and clothing.AFRICA: Organic Farming Could be Answer to Food Insecurity
Commercial farmers sometimes fail at organic farming because they switch over too quickly, ditching all chemicals, which is as traumatic for the soil as "a drug addict going cold turkey".ECONOMY-AFRICA: The State Is Back, Announces UNCTAD
The state is back; neo-liberal policies have failed; and the liberalisation of trade should be halted. These are some of the findings and recommendations from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for the poorest countries, most of which are in Africa.WORLD-TRADE: "Make Doha Round About Development Again"
The present global economic crisis and the need to reform the international financial architecture should encourage a return to the original focus on development in the international negotiations on agriculture, trade and development, also known as the Doha Round, according to two economists studying the issue.AFRICA: Western Recipient Governments Cling to Dirty Money
In 2007, the French corruption watchdog Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development (known by its French acronym CCFD) issued a first report on the colossal sums stolen by corrupt heads of states and hidden in mostly Western secret bank accounts. Figures are hard to come by, given the secrecy that shrouds such looting of public funds.
ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Government in Two Minds About the Rule of Law
The Zimbabwean government’s international investment conference at the end of last week did little to assuage fears that the country remains far away from re-establishing the rule of law and stopping land invasions.BOTSWANA: Controversy over Government Loan to Fund Privatisation
Controversy has erupted over a decision by Botswana’s government to accept a loan from the African Development Bank, a departure from over two decades of running Africa’s "model economy" without borrowing.AFRICA: FAO Paper On Land Grab Is "Wishy-Washy"
The boom in the acquisition of arable land in Africa by foreign companies and governments has stirred an international debate between international institutions such as the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and non-governmental groups and independent experts.SPAIN-EQUATORIAL GUINEA: More Trade, Little Pressure
Trade between Spain and Equatorial Guinea is flourishing, amidst calls by activists for the government of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to push for democracy in this tiny country on the Atlantic coast of Africa, still under the yoke of dictatorship.WORLD: Trade Cannot Be Relied Upon to Reduce Poverty
Trade is positively linked to economic growth but trade policies alone cannot be relied upon to meet a country’s poverty reduction objectives, admits a review of aid for trade that was compiled for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Q&A: ‘Africa Should Rebuild Domestic Markets to Address Crisis’
Despite the global economic crisis, the world's elites will only "tinker" with the world's markets and financial systems and not bring about the fundamental shifts that are required, says Gyekye Tanoh of the Africa Trade Network.
TRADE: Crisis Pushing Emerging Markets to Move Beyond the Dollar
The global economic crisis is pushing countries in regions with emerging markets, such as Russia and South Africa, to together move beyond the dollar-based economic model. Given their politico-economic similarities, these two countries should build on opportunities to share expertise and technology.ECONOMY: Zimbabwe Can’t Repay Loans; Insisting on "Debt Strategy"
The Zimbabwean coalition government cannot afford to repay debts incurred when President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF was ruling on its own and will not repay those debts.TRADE: Who’s Harming Fish Stocks? Trawlers or Artisanal Fishers?
Red tunas, sharks, rays and cods may soon disappear from our tables. Negotiations are ongoing at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to reduce the subsidies that contribute to this catastrophe. These talks foresee exceptions for developing countries, but small fishers may have to turn to other sources of livelihood.
ECONOMY-UGANDA: Traders Go Down as Prices Go Up
With the world economy in the grip of a credit crunch, traders and consumers in Uganda are struggling with price inflation and the depreciation of the country’s currency, the Ugandan shilling, against the dollar. Especially importers have not been able to bring goods in which were ordered when prices were lower.SOUTH AFRICA: Young, Educated and Unemployed
Unemployment among young South Africans is hovering at 30 percent, shooting up to over 60 percent for youths in their late teens and early twenties. But tertiary education and skills development seem not to be making much of a dent in what is now regarded as a crisis.TRADE: ECOWAS Delay on EPA Allows Ghana to Re-Think
There are conflicting signals about whether west African countries will sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union, as the original deadline of Jun 30 has been postponed and stakeholders hold different views on the new deadline of end Oct. This may still allow Ghana to re-think its interim EPA.
TRADE-MAURITIUS: Paradise Island, Pirates’ Den
Pirated goods - from music and vehicle parts to clothes, perfumes and software - are sold at ridiculously low prices on the streets or in local shops. This is big business in the paradise-like island state of Mauritius.
ECONOMY-AFRICA: Deny Neoliberal Consensus
Africa should ‘‘deny consensus'' at multilateral level to ensure that the region's interests are taken seriously, says Professor Patrick Bond speaking on how Africa should approach this week's high-level United Nations' meeting on the global economic crisis.DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: Investor Absence Fuels Retrenchments
Forty-year-old Thelma Dube was this month told by her long-time employer to stay home. She will be called back to work when business picks up. Her husband got the same instruction, as did hundreds of other workers at the company Textile Mills in Zimbabwe’s second largest city.DEVELOPMENT: Investment in Small Farmers Crucial in Africa
Attempts to alleviate poverty and hunger and boost African economies are futile if the needs and potential of small-scale farmers in the region are ignored and the issue of trade barriers remains unaddressed.« 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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