Maletsunyane Falls and Victoria Falls.
Sorry Please Excuse Me
Africa Poised for Faster Growth in Spite of Volatile Global Economy →
Washington D.C. — Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa remains strong and is poised for lift-off after growing at 4.9 percent in 2011, just shy of the pre-crisis average of 5 percent. Excluding South Africa, which accounts for over a third of the region’s GDP, growth in the rest of region was 5.9 percent, making it one of the fastest growing developing regions, according to a new World Bank report on Africa’s economy.
Over a third of countries in the region attained growth rates of at least 6 percent, with another 40 percent growing between 4 - 6 percent. Among fast- growing economies in 2011 were resource-rich countries such as Ghana, Mozambique, and Nigeria, as well as other economies such as Rwanda and Ethiopia, all posting growth rates of at least 7 percent in 2011.
“In view of the turbulence that has beset the global economy in the last five years, many would be right to think that the prospects for Africa are terrible. But as this issue of Africa’s Pulse shows, African economies continue to show resilience and some of the fastest-growing economies in the world are now in Africa. The urgent agenda remains sustaining the macroeconomic reforms while accelerating the structural reforms that will deliver the right quality of growth that creates jobs and raises incomes on the continent,” says Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, The World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, and a former Nigerian Minister of Mineral Resources.
Tourism slows but private investment up
The latest Africa’s Pulse reports that the weakening global economy in the second half of 2011 affected tourist arrivals. For the year, tourist arrivals in Sub-Saharan Africa were up by 6.2 percent, higher than the global average of 4.4 percent, but lower than the 9.6 percent recorded for the region in 2010, when it benefitted from hosting of the World Cup. Tourism arrivals from Europe saw a decline in major destination markets such as Mauritius.
In a significant development, the World Bank says that overall capital flows to Sub-Saharan Africa rose by $8 billion in 2011 to $48.2 billion. Foreign direct investment, which accounts for about 77 percent of all capital flows to the region, contributed to about 83 percent of the increase.
Recent foreign direct investment to the region has been spurred by increased global competition for natural resources, higher commodity prices, robust economic growth and a fast rising middle class. The region is increasingly being recognized as an investment destination, including from private equity investors.
Nigeria's Christian leader Oritsejafor seeks dialogue →
The head of Nigeria’s Christian Association says he is actively pursuing dialogue with his Muslim counterparts in an attempt to ease religious tensions.
On Tuesday night, eight people were shot dead by gunmen in Yobe state in the mainly Muslim north of the country.
The militant sect, Boko Haram, has released a video defending its recent attacks on Christians, saying they are revenge for killings of Muslims.
Earlier, at least five people died when a mosque and Islamic school were set alight in Benin city, in the mainly Christian south.
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor told the BBC World Service that the Nigerian government, Muslims and Christians had to work together to end the violence.
“We need Muslim leaders to be more proactive. Number two, the government must find ways to empower the security agencies. The third point is the fact that one way or another, there must be room for some dialogue. But that dialogue must begin between myself, probably, and the leader of the Muslims.”
Cheikh Anta Diop historian, anthropologist, physicist,and politician who studied the human race’s origins and pre-colonial African culture. He is regarded as an important figure in the development of the Afrocentric viewpoint, in particular for his controversial theory that the Ancient Egyptians were Black Africans. Cheikh Anta Diop University, in Dakar, Senegal is named after him.
I’m a fan.
View Larger The phenomenal rise of Christians in Africa
Christians in sub-Saharan Africa represent nearly a quarter of the world’s Christians, according to a study by the Pew Forum.
In 1910, only 1.4 percent of the world’s Christian population was African. A century down the line, Africans now make up 23.6 of Christendom.
Published on December 20 by Pew Forum, an American institute, the results of the new study seek to analyse the weight and influence of religion in society.
Its panel of experts alongside an impressive 2400 different sources saw the Pew Forum counting 516.5 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa alone in 2010, up from 9 million a century earlier.
Nigeria (80.5 million Christians), DRC (63.1 million) and Ethiopia (52.6 million), which occupy sixth, eighth and tenth positions, respectively, worldwide, are among the ten countries with most Christian populations.
The first two places are held by the United States (247 million) and Brazil (176 million). The world total stands at around 2.2 billion.
Protestants in sub-Saharan African countries represent 35.9 percent of the continent’s Christians, 21.4 percent for Catholics and 4.9 percent for Orthodox Christians.
In traditionally Catholic countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Côte d’Ivoire and Madagascar, Protestant Christians are now the largest group.
Meanwhile in Ethiopia, the Orthodox Church’s stronghold since the fourth century, the Protestant population has risen sharply since the 1980s, reaching 19.2 percent of the population (43.5 percent for the Orthodox).
Christianity is now stronger outside the confines of its historical birthplace.
While the first churches were born in the Middle East and North Africa, these regions now only account for 0.6 percent of Christendom.
Protestants are twice as many in Nigeria (59.7 million) than in Germany, where Martin Luther began the Protestant Christian movement.
And Catholics in Central Africa (51.4 million) outnumber those in Italy (50.2 million).
In a previous report, the Pew Forum had reported a surge in sub-Saharan African Muslims. According to the institute, Islam had increased from 15 percent in 1910 to 29 percent in 2010.
Whilst monotheism is seemly growing at the expense of traditional religions, these studies do not take the widespread syncretic practices in Africa into account.
Visit interactive map on Pew Forum’s website.
(photo: Anglican church in Ibadan, taken by DynamicAfrica)
Sometimes I want to be a marketing executive, but other times I just want to fix the world.
— MA
(Source: dianachen)
Eritreans Call for End to Human Trafficking of Migrants →
Eritrean migrants fleeing their country are being preyed upon by human traffickers and subjected to organ harvesting in Egypt, say human rights workers in the Eritrean diaspora.
“The problem starts from inside Eritrea because a majority of those victims are Eritreans,” said Tomas Solomon, a spokesperson for Urgent Relief for Eritrean Refugees
“Once they get to Sudan, basically they are told that [the traffickers] can get them to Israel or the West, and they are asked to pay about $2,500, and after paying that they will be taken to Egypt and they are sold,” he added.
According to the EveryOne Group, an Italian non-governmental organization, the migrants are then asked to pay tens of thousands of dollars in ransom by their traffickers. If unable to meet the ransom, the group said, some are told their kidneys will be removed and sold on the black market.
Solomon said that in addition to addressing the human trafficking issue, policymakers should also examine Eritrea’s current human rights situation.
“Eritrea is equated to the North Korea of Africa,” Solomon said. “There is no due process of law…no freedom of press, no freedom of religion.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Eritrea has the second highest number of jailed journalists of any country in the world, with 28 reporters currently behind bars.
Solomon added that despite Israel’s recent announcement that it will build a fence along its border to stem illegal immigration from African countries, he does not think the number of Eritreans seeking to immigrate will decrease.
Should Candidates’ Religion Matter? →
Exploring the role of faith in our voting decisions.
You are the embodiment of altruism
— EH
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
— Galatians 5: 13-15
(Source: newyorker.com)
(Source: mylifemystories)
How Would Jesus Protest? →
“Kind of a sloppy comparison.”
That’s what I commented when I found a picture online of an Occupy Wall Street protest sign depicting Jesus, whips held high, with the inscription “The Original Occupy Wall Street.”
Incredibly sloppy comparison. But this is an interesting question that is worthy of discussion. Especially for Christians who tend to shy away from contested issues. Yes, we are not of this world, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make this world better while we’re here.
