AfCFTA: An Opportunity for Meaningful Reform on Corruption Toward Further Attracting American Investments to the Continent by Guest Writers

June 25, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the African continent has seen challenges like other parts of the world that are affecting trade. This includes a moving effective date for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which slid from July 1 to possibly January 1, 2021, to avoid distracting African leaders as they respond to the pandemic. Nevertheless, there is a push to have the continent move forward with implementation of the AfCFTA, to spur further collaboration and intra-Africa trade, which in turn could help the continent better weather economic downturns related to the global pandemic. The AfCFTA, once implemented, will create…

The Future is not what it used to be- Africa and Education of Tomorrow by Guest Writer

June 25, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Why the US got it right Every three years the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) carries out the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This assessment measures what more than 600,000, 15-year-old students have learned in math, reading and science. Similar to many years, in 2019 US scored below average in mathematics. The US student’s scores were similar to those of Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom in at least two subjects. On receiving this latest report, the US Secretary for Education, Betsy DeVos said, “The bottom line is there has not been a single…

World against COVID-19 – Impact on Education by Guest Writer

April 30, 2020     / / / / /

What is the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of online higher education services in the United States of America and how can we turn any challenges into opportunities? Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online distance learning and teaching existed in higher education. Val Okaru-Bisant, the author of this article, taught online and face-to-face teaching for several years. The global education technology sector, including online learning, was growing at a fast pace of 15.4% a year with heavy investments from many companies like Google and Microsoft1. However, only 3% of all educational expenditure is spent on digital programs2 and proponents…

Africa’s COVID-19 solution lies in information and not isolation-A look at Hubei vs New York

March 31, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

The black death pandemic is estimated to have killed up to 60% of Europe which was an estimate of 450 million people in the 14th century. Today a virus can travel first class on KLM to Africa and infect millions In Taiwan, when an infected person leaves their home or turns the phone off the police and local authority will be alerted and the person will be visited within 15 minutes The Co-100 app shares when the person tested positive, their nationality, gender and age. Africa’s Advantage in the war with COVID-19 Interesting to note how the richer nations have been first…

Africa Needs to Brand: Not just another consultant?

March 12, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

In this global economy and current political climate, when approximately 25 African countries have been identified as emerging markets and 25+ countries have ratified to be one region under the AfCFTA, it is pivotal for African countries to focus on managing their image and narrative to regain the lost dignity and pride, increase Foreign Direct Investment for sturdier infrastructure development, and engage proactively the Diaspora which already contributes in the shift towards globalization. When African countries undertake branding, it is imperative to accept the impact of history and the cultural shift it is making in 21st century- as it intertwines with the Western and…

Remittances are NOT Diaspora Investment by Guest Writer

March 10, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

My favorite Diaspora definition is the one by G. Scheffer: “Modern Diasporas are ethnic minority groups of migrant origins residing and acting in host countries but maintaining strong sentimental and material links with their countries of origin—their homelands.” The term Diaspora comes from the Greek words “to sow” and “over”, as in the scattering of seed, and for them it meant the “seeding” of Greek colonies in distant lands. Remittances are funds sent by immigrants to their home countries for various uses including paying school fees for relative, covering healthcare costs for family as well as activities such as building…

Branding Time: Cultural Construct

January 16, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

I hope you made the transition into this New Year exactly as you needed it to be… among family, friends and loved ones…. sufficient food and drinks to keep everyone around the table savoring the exchange…. with love and candor…. in laughter, joy and harmony…. Closing 2019 and entering a new decade 2020… another memorable 525600 minutes of happiness, sadness, successes, failures and many emotions stemming from life experiences that we can now call a thing of the past and we work to envision 31536000 seconds (31622400 on leap year) of what is to come. As an Ethiopian born North…

Branding the English Language

January 14, 2020     / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

In human history, the first means of communication known to human beings are drums and horns while the oldest written records found are Sumerian and Egyptian. It is reported that language is at least 50,000 years old therefore, language is a means of communication that allows us to interact with one another, exchange information in order to understand each other and convey knowledge to have a collective and individual impact. With various ways of communicating, including but not limited to, non-verbal and verbal communication methods, language is a cultural trait that is often disregarded from the branding equation. Acknowledging the…