Atlas Trains 24 New Leaders in Think Tank Management
For two weeks in April, twenty-four enthusiastic leaders in the liberty movement attended Atlas’s intensive Think Tank MBA (TTMBA) course. The advanced program provided hands-on training in effective organizational management and sound business practices to think tank professionals from as far away as Hong Kong, Argentina, Mozambique and Kyrgyzstan. Participants learned how to create a business [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Finding a Seat in the Debate on Aid in Africa
One of the top goals of a free market organization is to gain a seat in the debate on important issues that effect our society, so that the window of possibilities is widened to include our set of freedom loving beliefs. James Shikwati, founder and director of IREN-Kenya, has worked for years to educate the [...]
2009 Africa Resource Bank: Tanzania!
The Inter Region Economic Network (IREN), a Nairobi-based free-market think tank, has just announced that the 7th annual Africa Resource Bank meeting will take place from November 11-14th in Arusha, Tanzania. Launched in 2003 by IREN, the Africa Resource Bank brings together like-minded academics, policy makers, think tank leaders, business leaders and civil society members [...]
Think Tank in Ouagadougou
Yes, this place really exists. It is a city in Burkina Faso. Yes, it is a real country. Burkina Faso is a land locked country in northwest Africa which shares a border with Ghana, Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire. Still not convinced? Check it out on this map. I told you so. Mahamadou [...]
Largest African Trade Zone to be Launched on Saturday
Working toward abolishing intra-African trade barriers to facilitate the free flow of knowledge and goods has been a tireless quest for the think tanks in Atlas’s network, who are committed to advancing free markets in Africa. We are excited to learn that this Saturday, fourteen Southern African countries will formally launch the Free Trade Area [...]
Update on IMANI’s 2nd Annual Summer Seminar
IMANI – Ghana’s award-winning think tank – just hosted a week long seminar for students and young professionals. 40 out of 250 applicants were selected to attend the second annual Students and Young Professionals Leadership Academy. A range of topics were covered by speakers from Africa and the United States. For more information, visit the [...]
Africa Must Confront the Growing Crisis in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the election after a three-month campaign of violence and intimidation perpetrated by President Robert Mugabe and his supporters in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). As a result, the one-man election allowed Mugabe to clinch the presidency despite calls by the international community [...]
Save the Date! 6th African Resource Bank
The 6th African Resource Bank will take place in Nairobi, Kenya November 9-12, 2008. This annual event, which is hosted by IREN-Kenya, brings together freedom minded individuals from across Africa and the world. This year’s theme will be; “Commercializing Africa’s Resources to Promote Prosperity: How Africa can Utilize its Natural Resources to Raise the Living [...]
