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Saturday, May 23, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory
East Africa Wants to Trade Beyond the EU
The East African Community (EAC) and European Union head back to negotiations on Monday to resolve the controversy over the delay in signing an economic partnership agreement between the two trading blocs.
TRADE: Southern Africa Has its Work Cut Out
Southern Africa has moved forward with regional economic integration, but challenges remain, say trade experts.
TRADE: Africa Still the Odd One Out
While globally trade agreements are more and more about linking production chains between countries and continents, Africa remains locked in a struggle to overcome the colonial legacy of fragmentation, trade experts say.
TRADE: Free Trade in Africa, For Better or Worse?
It is not certain that an African free trade area will further regional integration or deepen the existing inequality between countries.
TRADE-NAMIBIA: No Progress on Access to European Markets
Weariness surrounds the negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) regulating trade access between Southern Africa and the European Union (EU).
KENYA: Poor Struggle as Inflation Soars
As Kenya's inflation rate reached 15.53 percent, compared to 3.18 percent in October 2010, the country's poor have been struggling to afford the most basic of essentials. In some areas families can no longer rely on regular meals and have reduced them to one a day, others mostly eat potatoes to get by, and in one Rift Valley slum, poor families now buy toothpaste by the drop.
SOUTH SUDAN: Inter-Ethnic Clashes Become More Frequent and Deadly
Thousands of women and children are being abducted and over 1,000 people have died this year as communities in oil-rich South Sudan war over a precious commodity – cattle.
MALAWI: Giving Up on Tobacco
Malawi is reducing the production of tobacco following huge losses by smallholder tobacco farmers and commercial estates trading the crop on the country’s only official tobacco markets, the auction floors.
AFRICA: Emerging Trend Towards Establishing Offshore Tax Havens
As several African governments examine the possibility of setting up their own "offshore" financial centres, the trade name for tax havens, campaigners are calling for transparency and fair tax regimes.New Caricom Head Takes Over Bloc in Disarray
As he basks in the congratulatory messages coming from countries near and far, Irwin LaRocque knows the next three years will not be easy for him and the Caribbean regional integration movement.
ZIMBABWE: Bleak Future for Second-Hand Clothes Traders
It is becoming increasingly difficult for second-hand clothes traders like Susanne Jabavu to do business because of rising costs to import bales of clothing from neighbouring countries.Colombia Asks Caribbean to Look South
The 15-member Caribbean Community's annual summit, which concluded here Monday, reflected here broader trends of south- south cooperation and integration, both within and beyond the region itself.
Women Keen to Ease Greenhouse Effect on Their Ability to Provide
A successful entrepreneurial programme in the north of Namibia that infuses farming practices with gender-responsive environmentalism may serve as a model for other countries on the African continent.TRADE: Brazil and Africa Ready to Do the Samba
African trade with India and China flourished over the past decade but, with unemployment rising and industrialisation failing to take hold, cracks are appearing in Africa’s much-vaunted "Look East" doctrine. Meanwhile, from across the Atlantic, Brazil is making inroads into the continent.
ZAMBIA: “Every Year Flooding Makes This Place a Little Hell”
During the rainy season, and many weeks afterwards, home is never the best place to be for Miriam Banda. Until the end of 2008, she enjoyed living at her house in Kanyama, a high-density settlement bordering the central business district in Lusaka, Zambia's capital.DEVELOPMENT: Partners, Not Donors Needed For Africa
On an unusually hot Belgian afternoon, Thoko Kaime, leans back in his chair and explains how ‘township’ actually means ‘slum’ in his home country of Malawi.CARIBBEAN: Regional Bloc Struggles to Implement Agenda
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, including the new Haitian President Michel Martelly, will gather here Friday for their annual summit as impatience grows with an array of stalled regional integration initiatives.
Q&A: “Africa Can Provide More Than Minerals in South-South Trade”
South-South co-operation is firmly on Africa’s agenda. Leading the way is South Africa, which has recently joined up with Brazil, Russia, India and China’s BRIC formation to form a new global grouping of emerging markets, known as BRICS.Africa-Wide Trade Zone Could Boost South-South Cooperation
The plan to create a new 26-nation liberalised trade zone for Africa, spanning the length of the continent from Cape to Cairo, could open up more possibilities for South-South cooperation that would benefit Africans.
“Microfinance Can Help Rural Communities Adapt to Climate Change”
Projects to fight climate change are being designed all around the world. But only five percent of them can be financed with the current international funds available, which means resources have to be used more wisely. Microfinance could be one solution.
Gender Indicators for Global Climate Funds Still an Afterthought
Of the millions of dollars spent on climate change projects in developing countries, little has been allocated in a way that will benefit women. Yet, in Africa, it is women who will be most affected by climate change.« 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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