Daily Champion: Nigeria: A Climate Smart Future (Editorial, Robert Zoellick)
World Bank President Robert Zoellick writes in the Nigerian newspaper the Daily Champion about the dire need for increased action on climate change in order to protect Africa from further challenges before it is too late. Zoellick emphasizes that the world’s poor will bear the brunt of the impact of global climate change, with extreme events such as droughts, floods, and forest fires become more frequent. He writes, “If we act now, act together, and act differently, there are real opportunities to shape our climate future for a safe, inclusive, and sustainable globalization.”

CNN.com: Africa’s new apartheid
Economist Glenn Hubbard says the shift by African governments to open themselves up to foreign business after years of state controlled economies is laying the ground for exploitation, which Hubbard is labeling “Africa’s new apartheid.” Hubbard focuses specifically on China, highlighting that while China is now the top trading partner in many African countries such as Angola, they are completely shutting out local business in their new development. Writes Hubbard, “This restriction makes for a new kind of apartheid: the business community of Angola is European and Asian, not African. That might not be the intent, but it certainly is the result.”

Public Agenda (Ghana): Feminized Poverty, a Gender Challenge (Op-Ed, Damian Avevor)
Journalist Damien Avevor argues that gender inequality remains one of the central challenges of the 21st century in spite of all the progress the world had made in fighting for women’s rights. Avevor calls upon both African governments and women to work together to remove the social, economic and legal constraints facing women. He writes, “It is critically important for policy makers to listen to and work with women to improve their positions and thereby accelerate Africa’s development.”

The Telegraph: Middle East and Africa bear untold riches for exporters
With its confluence of “peak oil” and scarce metals, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says Africa has the potential to become an “agricultural superblock,” if it can unlock the wealth of the savannahs by allowing farmers to use their land as collateral for credit. Journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard emphasized that free-market reforms and a shift from top-down development doctrines have begun to unleash pent-up energies, indicating that Rwanda, Egypt, and Liberia are among the World Bank’s top 10 reformers.

Foxnews.com: Bush Deserves Praise for Commitment to Africa (Op-Ed)
Journalist Jeffrey Scott Shapiro argues that former President George Bush deserves heightened praise for his dedication to Africa, emphasizing that “during his time in office President Bush did more to help Africa and more to combat the AIDS virus globally than any other president in history.” Scott highlights the president’s support in the battle against AIDS, including his choice to renew PREFAR and passing the “Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, which actually tripled the original act’s funds to $48 billion.

Financial Times: Human rights are the wrong basis for healthcare (Op-Ed, William Easterly)
William Easterly discusses the moral argument that politicians are raising for healthcare reform in the U.S., emphasizing that the push for healthcare as a human right has made access to healthcare worldwide seem unequal in comparison. Writes Easterly, “We should learn from the international experience that this ‘right’ skews public resources towards the most politically effective advocates, who will seldom be the neediest.”

Boston Globe: World’s poorest farmers now offered insurance
Oxfam America is offering an innovative insurance program that will cover hundreds of farmers in a northern province of Ethiopia, whose crops have been ruined due to severe drought in the region. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, Oxfam America has made drought insurance available for the first time to about 200 households, 38 percent of them headed by women.