The Learners' Den

Former Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba (Brookings Institute)  A few minutes ago, I read one of the many newsletters I receive from Brookings Institute on Foresight Africa, which discussed and explained how Africans, particularly in the Western region, are tired of their public office holders. This frustration is associated with the recent waves of coups by junta military leaders in countries like Niger, Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Chad.  The author of the article, Ebenezer Obadare, a Senior Fellow at Brookings and a member of the Africa Studies program on Council of Foreign Relations, asserted that for African leaders to regain the trust of their citizens and prevent their overflow abroad to seek better life and working conditions, they must radically change the perception of public office as a center of accumulating public resources without regard for its effect. Additionally, he opined that there is also a need to address the "poverty of physical ...

The BRICS Summit banner in Johannesburg, SA (📸Aljazeera) In addition to what happened in Russia yesterday, the ongoing BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, is another interesting topic that attracted divergent opinions from experts and international relations enthusiasts on the challenges and potential of emerging economies such as China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa. The summit has divided opinions between those who believe that there is an emerging new world order on the rise, and others who believe it's too early to make such a bold assertion. The more than a decade-old bloc has recently attracted the attention of other emerging economies in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. On the face of it, the bloc can tremendously play a big part in high-ranking decision-making bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations (UN), etc. However, when the coalition continues to be...