Templeton Book Forum Featuring James Tooley
The John Templeton Foundation recently hosted a “Templeton Book Forum” featuring a conversation between James Tooley, of the E.G. West Centre and Clive Crook of Atlantic Monthly, on the topic of West’s new book, The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World’s Poorest people are Educating Themselves. In the book forum Tooley discusses [...]
World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader Award
Franklin Cudjoe, 2010 Young Global Leader Award, World Economic Forum The IMANI Center for Policy & Education was founded in the capital city of Accra, Ghana six years ago. Franklin Cudjoe, a young libertarian student was inspired by the ideas of freedom and liberty, and sought to put those ideas into action in his home [...]
U.S. Terror List: Will It Impede Nigeria’s Economic Development?
On Wednesday, February 17, the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (Nigeria) and AfricaRoundtable.com will host a luncheon in Lagos on the topic, “US Terror List: Will it impede Nigeria’s Economic Development?” – moderated by Thompson Ayodele, director of IPPA and featuring Martin Oluba, economics professor at the Swiss Management Centre, and Olajide Daramola of the [...]
Just Asking that Aid Benefit the Poor
The Development Research Institute (DRI) at New York University has received the BBVA Foundation’s Frontiers of Knowledge Award for its weblog project, Aid Watch for “its contribution to the analysis of foreign aid provision, and its challenge to the conventional wisdom in development assistance.” The year-old blog is principally written by economist William Easterly, author [...]
Atlas Announces Winner of the 2010 Freda Utley Prize for Advancing Liberty
Atlas is pleased to announce that it has selected the Free Market Foundation of South Africa as the recipient of the 2010 Freda Utley Prize for Advancing Liberty. From the Press Release: FMF was established at a time when South Africa’s Prime Minister John Vorster was steadily increasing intervention in the economy in preparation for [...]
Top Ten Pro-Liberty Books of the Decade
As 2009 draws to a close we (gladly) wave goodbye to a decade of government decadence where respect for the principles of liberty, free exchange, and limited government was scarce. For those who hold Adam Smith’s maxim of “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice” dear to their hearts, the 2000s could not [...]
Tearing Down the Walls in Namibia
While all eyes were on the celebrations surrounding the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, another 20th anniversary was almost completely eclipsed in the news last week. In Africa’s last colony, Namibia, the first free and fair elections were held on November 7th, 1989, two days before the Wall dividing East and [...]
Event Report:Freedom Dinner & Templeton Freedom Award Conference 2009
Thank you to all who joined us at this year’s Freedom Dinner and Templeton Freedom Award Conference. Below, you will find presentations from many of our speakers-audio and video of the talks will be available over the course of the week as well, be sure to check this page often. Freedom Dinner 2009 photos. ( [...]
A Noble Move
On the heels of Barak Obama winning the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, it seems to be unusual that the most valuable individual annual award in the world is not being given this year. The Mo Ibrahim Prize consists of US$5million over 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. It is the largest annually awarded [...]
South Africa: The Fight against Unemployment
The Free Market Foundation of South Africa is recognized by the Templeton Freedom Awards 2009 for their book “Jobs for the Jobless” denouncing the high legal restrictions on job security that has led to massive unemployment.
Risk to Watch in Africa: Violence in Kenyan Elections
Last week Ed Cropley, African Investment Correspondent for REUTERS listed five risks to watch for in Africa. Not surprisingly, threat of violence and corruption in Kenyan elections made the list. Last year’s post-election violence has not yet been brought to justice, and there is strong evidence that tribal and ethnic groups are arming themselves for [...]
How does Africa rank? Good and Poor Governance Report Reveals
Cape Town — Southern Africa is the continent’s best-governed and Central Africa its worst-governed region, according to a new ranking of Africa’s quality of governance published on October 5, 2009. If you are an African who ranks health, education and freedom from poverty as your top priority, you are best off in the Seychelles, and [...]
Not all Nestle is Sweet
AfriForum, a South African civil rights initiative, on Wednesday launched an international campaign called Stop Nestle imploring people to boycott all Nestlé products, until the company stops buying ‘blood milk’ from Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace. An outcry erupted early this week when it was revealed that the Mugabe’s own 12 farms between them and that [...]
The Economist Features mPedigree
The impact of mobile phones and mobile applications on emerging markets This week’s Economist has an excellent set of special reports focused on the impact that mobile phones and mobile applications are having on emerging markets. The reports also cover how mobile applications are being used to provide financial services to millions around the world [...]
Poverty, Inequality and Growth in Namibia
The Institute for Public Policy Research, located in the capital city Windhoek in Namibia recently released a policy paper which provides an overview of poverty, inequality and growth in post-Independence Namibia. The main findings of the paper entitled “Poverty, Inequality and Growth Linkages: National and Sectoral Evidence from Post-Independence Namibia” are: • Inequality remained at [...]
Orchestrating Radio Drama: Effective Communication Strategy from Africa
If you were one of the millions listening to Joy FM on Monday morning, then you witnessed Ghana Presidential spokesperson, Mr. Mahama Ayariga venomously react to a harmless suggestion of ministerial reshuffle by Mr. Kofi Bentil, IMANI’s senior fellow. Ayariga’s reaction settled any doubt that truly, a review of the President’s cabinet is long overdue. [...]
Updated: Atlas and Sagamore Institute to Co-Sponsor a Conference in Indianapolis, October 23, 2009
Please join us for a half-day conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis on October 23, 2009, just before the start of The Philadelphia Society’s regional meeting. Our co-sponsor, The Sagamore Institute for Policy Research , which is based in Indianapolis, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank engaged in “applied research,” that is, it puts [...]
One Nation, Under “Afro”: Currency Lessons from the European Union
Today’s installment of the African Executive, the market leader in opinion and analysis on Africa’s socio-political and economic development, features a great research-backed article by Thorvaldur Gylfason on the nature of economic development in Africa under a post-colonial national currency model in comparison with the European Union single currency model. The African Executive is a [...]
Africa Fighting Malaria: Case study of Uganda’s Quality Chemicals
“Many Africans lack access to essential medicines. There are myriad reasons for this: poverty, lack of awareness about the need for treatment, confusion over which drugs to take, technical and logistical challenges in procurement and distribution combined with a general lack of local healthcare staff and infrastructure, among other cultural and political factors. One additional [...]
IMANI Center’s Bright Simons on BBC World Service
What is the future for Africa on the world stage? With American President Barak Obama’s recent visit to Ghana, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s eleven day, seven nation tour of Africa, many were quick to claim America’s clear superiority in African diplomatic sway. But America has competition on this front. Sino-African trade tops $107 [...]
When Good Intentions Bring Bad Results
If you thought that American farmers was the only group powerful enough to hold a firm grip on policy makers, you haven’t met the “Landing Beach Committees” of Ghana’s fishing sector. It’s a rare phenomenon, but it’s been known to happen, some subsidies aimed at helping the poor end up benefiting the rich, particularly in [...]
Guomin Liyi Summer School Wrap-Up
Thanks in large part to the tireless effort of Atlas’s Zhang Diqing, the Guomin Liyi summer school, which ended last Friday, was a complete success. Not only did we have a fantastic turnout (70 students) and a phenomenal faculty from China’s best universities, but we even escaped with zero injuries and little to no damage [...]
IMANI Conference Featured on TV AFRICA
The closing ceremony of SYPALA 2009, a project of IMANI Center for Policy & Education (Ghana) and AfricanLiberty.org was featured on TVAfrica. SYPALA is one of IMANI/AfricanLiberty.org’s many channels for stimulating public discussion on the importance of economic prosperity, the rule of law, open and unconditional trade, free speech, and decentralization of power and resources. Television Africa [...]
AGOA-Again
<!– The African Growth and Opportunity Act was designed to put African goods on shelves alongside those from China and Taiwan. But for many, the trade deal isn’t living up to its promise. James Shikwati of IREN-Kenya comments… Round eight begins as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday for the [...]
