Sudan: The Neglected Crisis

While the international community focuses on Israel’s war with Hamas and now Hezbollah, the Ukraine-Russia conflict and speculates about a possible struggle involving China and Taiwan, the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis is happening in Africa. Many observers are calling Sudan the world’s “forgotten war.” As the humanitarian situation deteriorates, sorely needed aid is not arriving, […]

Chinese critical minerals monopoly challenged

As the international community moves toward an energy future featuring renewable energy, the source of critical minerals and the location of their processing become increasingly important. Some time ago, I wrote an article on the domination of these minerals by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), especially their processing, labeling the Asian giant “the mineral […]

Angola: An African partner to the US

When President Joe Biden promised during the December 2022 African Leaders Summit to visit Africa before his term ended, many observers probably thought he meant to South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria or some other country that has a well-known link to the United States. However, the southern African nation of Angola has proven its value to […]

African Elections Matter in 2023

­For more than two decades now, Americans have held polarized views about the integrity and accuracy of votes in our national elections. As someone who once taught African election observers and African political parties, this was embarrassing early on. I recall hosting a Nigerian delegation in Florida in 2002 where participants asked to see the […]

What the Diaspora Needs to Do in 2023

Now that the New Year is upon us, we in the African Diaspora need to plan for joint action to better ensure that emerging markets under Diaspora control really are under the control of the indigenous people and not complain about others using neocolonial methods to maintain their dominance. That happens because we let it […]

Cryptocurrency and Emerging Markets

Being left out of industrialization for so long has been an obstacle for emerging markets in Africa and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC). However, Japan and Germany had their infrastructures destroyed in World War II, allowing them to adopt newer technology in the reconstruction. Japan today the world’s second largest steel exporter due to […]

U.S. Summit Competition Disadvantage

For two decades, the United States has held a trio of conferences that used to be considered summits: the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Ministerial, Private Sector Forum and Civil Society Forum. They have comprised the American part of the international competition to win the hearts and minds of Africans. The US-Africa Leaders’ Summit […]

Africa Can and Should Feed Itself

I have worked on analyzing Africa issues for more than 40 years, and during that time, I have constantly heard appeals for humanitarian food assistance to African countries lest their citizens starve. No reasonable person would want that, and in cases of war, civil strife, or sudden natural disasters, such humanitarian assistance is certainly warranted. […]

Can Wakanda Become a Real Place in Africa?

When the Marvel Studios film Black Panther hit theaters in 2018, it created a couple of sensations. The first, of course, was that a major movie featured not only a mostly black cast but credited that cast for portraying an innovative, futuristic African society based on their natural blessing of vibranium, a mineral that fell […]