Publications

October 2009 Download PDF Tanzania and Senegal have long records of political stability. Both made peaceful transitions from single-party ‘African socialism’ to multiparty democracy, becoming favourites with foreign donors and development agencies. Recent elections were declared...

Few tests of the new methods of e-learning can be more exacting than to improve standards of clinical care by hard-pressed nurses in Kenya’s busy hospitals and clinics. But such is the ambition which drives the country’s first nationwide e-learning programme for...

In this Policy Voice, former British Ambassador to Madagascar Brian Donaldson argues that Britain should increase existing funding for small grants in developing countries, and commit to supporting independent small grants schemes in countries where it does not have a diplomatic...

In this Policy Voice, Chidara Muchineripi, a management consultant from Harare, argues that indigenous crops should play a more important role in African agriculture. Chidara, who is next in line for the chieftainship of the semi-arid district of Gutu, built a consensus amongst...

East Africa’s most populous nation has been a beacon of political stability in a troubled region. Yet for most of Tanzania’s post-independence history, ethnic and religious tolerance has been underpinned by the dominant governing party Chama Cha Mapinduzi. An...

The resignation of former president Thabo Mbeki can be seen as the ending of a “First Republic” in democratic South Africa. The liberal left tradition of the governing African National Congress is fading, and the “Second Republic” will be shaped by more...

Kenya is effectively partitioned by criminal and ethnic violence, triggered by the December 27th presidential ballot. The unrest threatens Kenya’s cohesion as a nation state, with sever consequences for its landlocked neighbours and the East African region. Evidence of...

Malawi is the most densely populated country in southern Africa. Without affordable fertiliser and other inputs, small farmers have struggled to grow enough food from over-cultivated soils. But after successive food crises, the government of Malawi acted against the advice of...

This briefing note compares economic and social policy in South Africa with Brazil. It argues that South Africa has followed a trajectory similar in many respects to Brazil, the dominant economy in South America. But the comparison highlights weaknesses in Pretoria and the ANC....

This briefing note highlights the role of fertiliser subsidies in Malawi, the world’s fifth poorest country. Malawi has suffered recurrent poor harvests, with disastrous consequences for food security since the early 1990s. Yields have improved significantly in the past two...