Year in Review: Africa in 2008
A decade ago, the Atlas network barely touched Africa. The Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa and the IEA Ghana were our only partners. We are delighted that this number has grown in recent years, and that there is increasing interest in free-market ideas and the role of think tanks. But sometimes, we face reminders [...]
Africa’s Economic Outlook for 2009
As 2008 comes to a close, it is fitting to reflect on the events of the past year and consider how they will shape Africa and its economy in 2009. In a recent article, Bright Simons of the IMANI Center for Policy and Education, a market-oriented think tank in Ghana, paints a realistic picture of [...]
Abuses to Zimbabwean Farmers Uncovered
Implemented in 2000, Zimbabwe’s “Fast Track Land Reform Programme” evicted some 4,000 white commercial farmers and their families from their lands. More than 1.3 million farm workers were subjected to 8 long years of political violence, intimidation and torture. The Coalition for Liberal and Market Studies, a Harare-based free market policy-dialogue think tank, just launched [...]
Atlas Podcast: Network News with Regional Managers
This week Atlas’s regional managers, Colleen Dyble (Africa & North America), Yiqiao Xu (Asia), Allegra Hewell (Latin America) and Cindy Cerquitella (Europe) share network news from around the world. Join us as we discuss new think tanks in China and Mongolia, the terror attacks in Mumbai, updates in the Montreal Economic Institute, riots in Greece, [...]
Zimbabwean Activists Take to the Streets!
Are you frustrated by the growing humanitarian crisis and increasing human rights abuses in Zimbabwe? Make your voice heard. On Friday, December 19th, there will be a demonstration against this humanitarian crisis at the Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington, DC. The event will take place from 2-5pm at 1608 New Hampshire Ave NW. For more information, [...]
Rejoice Ngwenya: Promoting Liberty Amidst Chaos
In 2007, Rejoice Ngwenya established COMALISO, a think tank that promotes free market ideas in Zimbabwe.
A World AIDS Day Policy Recommendation
Today is World AIDS Day. Individuals and organizations across the globe are working together to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of the HIV infection. In a recent Wall Street Journal Europe article, Thompson Ayodele of the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis takes a moment to reflect on the disease and [...]
Entrepreneurship’s Role in Poverty Alleviation
After Atlas’s Templeton Freedom Awards program on the morning of November 13th, Atlas joined with the Independent Institute to host an afternoon program on Lessons from the Poor: The Power of Entrepreneurship. The speakers examined real-world examples of entrepreneurship and suggested that governments should free the people of developing countries to create new wealth, instead [...]
FEE Launches a New Blog
The Foundation for Economic Education, which has taught young people about the principles of freedom and Austrian Economics for decades has recently launched a new blog, in order to reach an even wider audiance. The blog is called, Anything Peaceful, and features posts by Sheldon Richman and others. The blog features insight and opinions on [...]
Absence of Institutions Impede Utilization of African Natural Resources
“The absence of strong institutions and a clear framework has impeded a healthy and profitable exploitation of African resources by both indigenous and foreign investors,” according to James Shikwati, director of the Inter Region Economic Network and organizer of the 6th Annual African Resource Bank meeting. After three days of presentations and group discussions, participants [...]
Atlas Economic Magazine Published in Burkina Faso
Le Centre des Affaires Humaines (CEDAH) just published the first volume of the Atlas Economic Magazine, a journal on entrepreneurship and economic freedom. The inaugural edition of this journal includes a commentary about Burkina Faso’s ranking in the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World Report as well as select articles by Dr. Emmanuel Martin [...]
Atlas Podcast: Network News with Regional Managers
This week Atlas´s Regional Managers, Colleen Dyble (North America & Africa), Allegra Hewel (Latin America), Yiqiao Xu (Asia) and Cindy Cerquitella (Europe) share free market news from around the world. The Atlas Podcast series appears each Friday with a new theme each week of the month: Week 1: Network News with Regional Officers Week 2: [...]
Major African Think Tank Networking Meeting Next Week
In three days, think tank leaders, academics, business leaders, and policymakers from Africa and around the world will convene in Mombasa, Kenya for the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN)’s 6th Annual Resource Bank meeting. Taking place from November 9-12, 2008 at the White Sands Beach Resort, the meeting will focus on how Africa can utilize [...]
Tobacco Smuggling in Nigeria Undermines Economic Growth
Tobacco smuggling is not only illegal in Nigeria, but it undermines potential revenue sources for legitimate suppliers, discourages innovation, poses health risks for consumers and increases border security expenses. The Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA), a Lagos-based free market think tank, brought together key stakeholders impacted by this issue to discuss the repercussions of [...]
Students in Burkina Faso Learn How to Defend Free Market Ideas on Campus
Thanks to the support of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and the Cato Institute, Le Centre des Affaires Humaines (CEDAH), was able to organize a workshop at the University of Ouagougou to teach students how to promote free market ideas on campus. The students in attendance were members of CEDAH’s Equipes d’Etudiants Entrepreneurs (3E) club. [...]
Atlas Podcast: Management Tip from Franklin Cudjoe
This week Imani- Ghana’s director, Franklin Cudjoe discusses his suggestions for running a think tank in a difficult environment. This discussion took place at Atlas’s Liberty Forum this past April in Atlanta, Georgia. Franklin offers advice to think tanks operating in Africa, and highlights strategies that have worked well for him. You can hear more [...]
Beyond Bailouts
A new website, Beyond Bailouts was launched this week. This website brings the work that think tanks across the United States are doing to draw attention to the causes and solutions to the financial crisis under one roof, in an effort to ensure that a free market perspective on these issues is heard and taken [...]
Zimbabwean Freedom Advocates Submit Manifesto to Parliament
Rejoice Ngwenya of Harare-based Coalition for Liberal and Market Solutions (COMALISO) facilitated the development of a document that outlines why a free market economy must be a fundamental component of Zimbabwe’s national policy. COMALISO, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and others have invited two hundred members of Parliament and thirty [...]
Financial Crisis: African Think Tank Defends Free Market
“The financial crisis is a pointer to the fact that one cannot cheat the market- not for long!” exclaims James Shikwati, director of the Inter Region Economic Network in Kenya. In a recent African Executive article, Shikwati makes the case for the free market in the midst of the global financial crisis. He writes, “In [...]
Zimbabwean Think Tank Equips Future Leaders
With inflation reaching 231,000,000%, unemployment soaringtoward 80% and power sharing agreements dissolving, it is easy to get discouraged about the future of Zimbabwe. The good news is that there is hope and Rejoice Ngwenya’s Coalition for Market & Liberal Solutions (COMALISO) is at the center of it.
Government Made this Financial Crisis, Let us not Make it Worse
A Joint Statement from the European Free Market Community. On Thursday, October 9th, thank tank members from across Europe joined together in Tbilisi, Georgia at the European Resource Bank Meeting to issue a statement concerning the current global financial crisis, an d the resulting government intervention in financial institutions around the world This statement makes [...]
A New Way to Spur Public Debate
Atlas recently moved our online toolkit to the new Google service, Knol. This service allows you to post articles on any given subject, and others are able to comment on, and edit those articles, much like wikipedia. Other think tanks are using this new tool as well. Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute has launched [...]
Namibian Communities Control Wildlife Management
The Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa has been studying how wildlife management intersects with poverty and property rights since the 1980s. This intersection is also known as community based natural resource management”” or CBNRM. CBNRM shifts the focus of wildlife management from the national/state level down to the local or community level. Karol Boudreaux, [...]
Recap: Risk in A Free Society
A week ago, Atlas conducted a successful event in Dallas, Texas. The event, entitled Risk in a Free Society was co-sponsored with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a long time ally of Atlas which was also created by our founder Antony Fisher. Although a variety of discussions emerged throughout the course of the [...]
