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Tag Archives: Burkina Faso

‘Africans Don’t Need us to Bring Anything…We’re Just the Catalyst’: Bureau of African Affairs Head Speaks at Nigerian Embassy

27 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by africaindc in DC Corridors of Power, Events, Uncategorized

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Ade Adefuye, Africa Society, Bernadette Paolo, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Embassy of Nigeria in US, Goodluck Jonathan, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Nigeria, Peter Tosh, Power Africa, South Sudan, Trade Africa, US - Africa Summit, YALI

2014-02-26 19.25.07

Yesterday, the Africa Society hosted Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, at the Embassy of Nigeria.  The event was originally slated for December, but postponed when the Secretary traveled to the Central African Republic to deal with the crisis there. Although I was fatigued from a new job and illness I ventured out in the evening after work to hear if there would be any interesting observations given the recent suspension of Nigeria’s highly suspected Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, state criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria, and the appearance of increasing autocracy from Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

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Antoinette Sayeh, IMF Africa Head at SAIS: ‘The Region is Catching Up’

05 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by africaindc in Events, Uncategorized

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African agriculture, African governance, Antoinette Sayeh, Burkina Faso, Deborah Brautigam, IMF, Infrastructure in Africa, Liberia, SAIS, Shanta Devarajan, Uganda, World Bank

2013-12-04 12.29.06

The last time I heard the head of the Africa division of a global financial institution speak on Massachusetts Avenue (Shanta Devarajan of the World Bank at Brookings), I was thoroughly displeased.  Yesterday, I heard Antoinette Sayeh, former Finance Minister of Liberia and currently the Director of the Africa Department at the IMF speak on “Drivers of Growth in Middle and Low-income sub-Saharan Africa.”  Although one can almost always find a bone to pick (keep reading for what it was this time), on the whole, I found her macro-economically focused remarks to hit most of the notes I would like to hear.

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DC’s Annual Thomas Sanakara Conference this Weekend

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by africaindc in Events, Uncategorized

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Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Revival of Pan-Africanism Forum, Sankara birthday, Thomas Sankara

I will unfortunately not be able to attend the Thomas Sankara Conference, to be held this Saturday in Columbia Heights (Sankara family members to be present).  I attended a MLK Conference several months back convened by many of the same organizers.  It had quite a different vibe from the staid gatherings convened by places like the Brookings Institution and the Wilson Center.  I certainly wish that more individuals amongst these disparate crowds would mingle.

I’ve frequently railed against Sankara’s successor as Burkina Faso’s head of state and I’m very uncomfortable with the leadership role that the government of Blaise Compaore has been granted in the region, so am very sorry to miss this conference that commemorates one of Africa’s more intriguing and inspiring leaders.

The Chair of the AU and the Presidents of Burkina Faso and Somalia at the CBC’s Africa Braintrust

20 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by africaindc in DC Corridors of Power, Events, Reviews

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Africa Braintrust, African Union, Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Congressional Black Caucus, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, Joseph Huggins, Karen Bass, Nii Akuetteh, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Somalia

2013-09-20 09.51.30

I skipped work today to attend the 2013 Africa Braintrust (this was my second time in three years of DC residence). The Braintrust takes place each year during the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus and convenes a large crowd.

I entered at the end of Panel I, ‘Looking Back at 50 Years of African Independence’, but I’ll focus my summary here on the individuals cited in the subject of this post. Continue reading →

A Chat with a Recent GMU Graduate & Miss Burkina Faso USA

10 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by africaindc in entertainment, Uncategorized

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Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Carol Zigani, George Mason University, jollof rice, Leopold Senghor, Miss Africa USA, Ouagadougou, Peace Corps, Thomas Sankara, USAID

carol top

I recently raved about the great night of entertainment that was Miss Africa USA in Silver Spring.  While most of the contestants represented a wide range of African nations and a large swathe of American geography, a few, such as Carol Zigani, were local.  Carol, who is based in Manassas, represented Burkina Faso and answered some of my questions on African politics, culture, and Africa in DC issues via e-mail. Continue reading →

Why AGOA Helps the US More than Africa and Promotes Strong Men Over Strong Institutions

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by africaindc in Uncategorized

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African Development, AGOA, Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Steve McDonald, Thomas Sankara, Wilson Center

I recently wrote about the pat on the back that Congress gave itself for good work done with the African Growth and Opportunity Act.  One of the speakers at the Library of Congress event was Steve McDonald, who is the head of the Africa program at the Wilson Center.

McDonald was apparently inspired by his presentation at the event to pen a piece on the Program’s blog that calls for an ‘enhanced AGOA’.  McDonald expresses concern that US corporate interests are losing ground in Africa.  While I will vigorously promote the disclaimer that I’m not an economics expert, I am generally concerned by what I suspect is the underlying assumption behind McDonald’s writing.  Lowering barriers to trade that makes cheap African labor more attractive to Western/US interests is not particularly helpful for Africa.  Rather, it makes the African policy elites in DC more relevant and strengthens their voice as capital increasingly flows to Africa.  As I mentioned in my earlier post on the event, my most intimate experience with AGOA involved a tour of an apparel factory that had been established in Namibia to take advantage of its provisions.  The owners of that factory were Korean, not African.

While I’m not a fan of Ronald Reagan, I won’t argue with those who may say that AGOA will bring some trickle-down benefits to Africans.  But in response, I’ll ask why should the US invest so much in a policy with only incremental benefits?  Why focus on enhancement of AGOA and not look at other policy approaches?

While my location precludes me from being able to attend many events of the Center’s Africa Program, I have recently been to functions the Program hosted with prominent officials from the DRC and Burkina Faso.  These are both autocratic states governed by warlords turned politicians who have managed to garner a strong veneer of legitimacy and enjoy strong support from the US.

If the Wilson Center focused its efforts on advocating for a shift in US policy, instead of praising Burkina Faso, which played a prominent role in instigating the civil wars in Liberia and the Ivory Coast, as a “stabilizing influence in West Africa”, perhaps more factories opened as a result of AGOA would be owned by Africans and not Asians.

The previous administration in Burkina Faso achieved almost complete food self-sufficiency in a few years, now it is governed by a regime that presides over one of the least developed countries in the world and is primarily (and incorrectly) celebrated for its role as a mediator in regional conflicts.

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