Tag Archives: Africa

Bono: “Capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid”

Posted on by

“Bono (nee Paul David Hewson) is the lead singer in the rock group U2, one of the most successful rock groups in history. Bono also became a major proponent of greatly expanded U.S. foreign aid and other government programs (including debt cancellation) to alleviate the dire plight in the world of HIV/AIDS, malaria, abject poverty, and other issues.  In a speech at Georgetown University, Bono altered his economic and political views and declared that only capitalism can end poverty. ‘Aid is just a stopgap,’ he said. ‘Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism take more people out of poverty than aid. We need Africa to become an economic powerhouse.'”

http://blog.independent.org/2013/08/12/bono-capitalism-takes-more-people-out-of-poverty-than-aid/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Doctors Without Borders closes all operations in Somalia after 22 years

Posted on by

“Somalia’s embattled government, selected in November in a UN-backed process, was hailed at the time by the international community as offering the best chance for peace in Somalia since the collapse of central government in 1991. A 17,700-strong African Union force fighting alongside the national army has forced Shebab fighters from a string of towns in the past two years. But Somalia’s often rag-tag security forces, incorporating multiple militia forces into its ranks, has also been repeatedly accused by rights groups of a string of abuses.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/14/doctors-without-borders-closes-all-operations-in-somalia-after-22-years/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Banks desert Somalia

Posted on by

“Jim Boulden reports on why banks are suspending the accounts of dozens of money transfer services.”

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Targeted booze strikes: Aerial drone drops beer at South Africa music festival

Posted on by

“Revellers at a South African outdoor rock festival no longer need to queue to slake their thirst — a flying robot will drop them beer by parachute. After clients place an order using a smartphone app, a drone zooms 15 metres (50 feet) above the heads of the festival-goers to make the delivery. Carel Hoffmann, director of the Oppikoppi festival held on a dusty farm in the country’s northern Limpopo province, said the app registers the position of users using the GPS satellite chips on their phones. ‘The delivery guys have a calibrated delivery drone. They send it to the GPS position and drops it with a parachute,’ he explained.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/08/targeted-booze-strikes-aerial-drone-drops-beer-at-south-africa-music-festival/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

What Egypt Tells Us About U.S. Foreign Aid

Posted on by

“What do Angola, Cambodia, Chad, Haiti, Laos, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Yemen and Zimbabwe have in common? They all receive U.S. foreign aid and, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, boast some of the most corrupt governments in the world—strong-arm governments in most cases.  If money can’t buy the United States influence, it’s also not buying America a lot love. According to a recent Pew poll, in Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan only 16, 14 and 11 percent of their respective populations have a favorable view of the United States.  Egypt is a clarion call to stop throwing good money after bad.”

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=4686

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Zimbabwe to Seize Mines While Compensating Banks

Posted on by

“The government and black Zimbabweans will take half of the value of assets it has identified in the economy, he said. The state empowerment fund has so far acquired about $1 billion in assets, he said. The government will open a new stock exchange to trade the black-owned stakes in the companies, he said. Trading at the Harare Stock Exchange may start within 100 days of the new government taking office and will only be open to black Zimbabweans, he said. Investments in Zimbabwe will be protected by the government as long as companies do not seek to exploit the country without its people benefiting, Kasukuwere said.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-06/zimbabwe-to-seize-mines-while-compensating-banks-ministe.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

When “Diplomats” Aren’t Suborning Another Country’s Rulers, They’re Killing Its Citizens

Posted on by

google-search-header2

“US diplomat Joshua Walde killed Haji Hassan Ali Lukindo, 43, when his car crashed into the minibus carrying Mr. Lukindo. The deceased leaves his wife of fourteen years, now expecting their fourth child. ‘We have been left destitute since Haji was killed,’ the widow says. ‘I have no means to support our three children, and have to depend entirely on a well wisher for rent, food, school fees and daily living expenses.’ And the diplomat? ‘He has left Kenya…he is a diplomat so had immunity and was free to go,’ a senior police officer said…”

http://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/when-diplomats-arent-suborning-another-countrys-rulers-theyre-killing-its-citizens/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Somalis Face a Snag in Lifelines From Abroad

Posted on by

“Humanitarian groups, politicians and Somalis themselves are now sounding the alarm over plans by the British bank Barclays to suspend the accounts of a number of money transfer companies used to send money to developing countries — rather than risk a run-in with regulators over potentially abetting the financing of terrorists or money laundering. The looming cutoff, expected to occur next Saturday, comes at a time when more and more Somalis have returned from abroad to invest in their home country, build new businesses and jump-start the nation’s economy after years of chaos.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/world/africa/somalis-face-snag-in-lifeline-from-relatives-working-abroad.html?ref=global-home&_r=1&&pagewanted=all

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

The green shoots of recovery? Morocco considers the legalisation of marijuana cultivation

Posted on by

“Mustapha Tahiri, a cannabis farmer in northern Morocco, looks forward to the day he can sell his crop without worrying about being jailed. If politicians in the country’s Islamist-led government have their way, that isn’t too far off.  At least 800,000 Moroccans live off illegal marijuana cultivation, generating annual sales estimated at $10bn, or 10 per cent of the economy, according to the Moroccan Network for the Industrial and Medicinal use of Marijuana, a local charity. Morocco, with a population of 32 million, is Africa’s sixth-largest economy. Legalisation would allow farmers to sell to the government for medicinal and industrial purposes rather than to drug traffickers.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-green-shoots-of-recovery-morocco-considers-the-legalisation-of-marijuana-cultivation-8737155.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

A new, dangerous job in Mogadishu: tax collector

Posted on by

“Militias extorted cash from civilians during much of the last two decades of chaos. Now Mogadishu has a government in place, but shopkeepers view the taxman as the latest in a long line of troublemakers. That makes tax collection one of the riskier jobs in Mogadishu: Five tax collectors have been killed so far this year, following the killings of 10 last year. The idea of paying taxes for social services seems outlandish in a nation where few have seen functioning hospitals or schools. One obstacle tax collectors face is philosophical: If it’s an established fact that government leaders in Somalia steal tax money, why should citizens pay?”

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/22956775/a-new-dangerous-job-in-mogadishu-tax-collector

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet