The Economist: Africa and China: More than minerals — Chinese are coming to Africa in ever greater numbers and finding it a comfortable place to visit, work in and trade. A growing number of Africans are also saying the Chinese create jobs, transfer skills and spend money in local economies. Until recently China concentrated on a few big resource-rich countries, including Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Zambia. But places like Ethiopia and Congo, where minerals are scarce or hard to extract, are now getting more attention, not least as more Chinese businesses branch out into non-resource sectors. Only in Africa’s largest economies has China become less popular, where it is increasingly seen as a competitor.
AllAfrica: World Water Day – Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? – Today we celebrate the fact that almost two-thirds of people on the African continent have gained access to water. Water means far more than what we drink and how we wash. It powers economies; it is the lifeblood of communities; it can bind countries together, it can force them apart. There is more than enough water in Africa. The immediate task is to source it, and the next task is to work better together to use it – not just to meet the basic needs of millions, but to power and empower societies and economies at large. Only by working together have we come this far, and only by working together can we go even further. (Donald Kaberuka).
FT: Opinion: Consign TB tragedy of ‘La bohème’ finally to history — Nearly 9 million people had tuberculosis in 2011, and about 3 million of those were left undiagnosed, without effective treatment. Many countries with growing TB epidemics do not yet recognise the threat. New and potent strains of TB are emerging that are resistant to available antibiotics, which pose a stark challenge to global health practitioners. With the decline in new TB cases globally over the past few years been just 2 per cent per year, it is up to us if we want future generations to view the tragedy of “La bohème” as a quaint throwback to a bygone era, or if it will be a painful reflection on a contemporary predicament. (Mark Dybul and Lucica Ditiu)
Devex: A sneak peek into post-2015 agenda priorities — In the United Nations’ first wave of global consultations, some priorities have emerged as post-2015 development goals. Among the priorities is the need for a universal agenda to address challenges such as environmental degradation, unemployment and violence. The progress on the Millennium Development Goals should also be accelerated and adapted to contemporary challenges, such as growing inequalities within countries and the impact of globalization. A U.N. Development Program press release said U.N. teams in the member states have ensured that groups typically silent in global processes could participate in the consultations and make their voices heard on what they believe are priorities for their communities’ development. (Johanna Morden)
