Global Voices » Rakotomalala

Impartial Justice Wanted in Côte d'Ivoire

Rakotomalala — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:09:57 +0000

Human Rights Watch reports that there is still work to do to achieve impartial justice in the post-2010-11 elections crisis in Côte d'Ivoire:

The ICC’s one-sided approach has legitimized the same approach by Ivorian judicial authorities and undermined perceptions of the ICC’s impartiality.

Surprise Candidates for Madagascar Elections

Rakotomalala — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:56:04 +0000

Update: Here is the full list of the 49 candidates [fr] for the presidential elections. It does not include the current president of the transition.

As the deadline to submit candidacies for the Malagasy presidential elections ends today (28/04), a few surprising candidates have allegedly come forth. While the earlier candidates were relatively new to the general public, a few prominent political players from the past are expected to contest: former president Didier Ratsiraka, current president of the transition Andry Rajoelina [fr] and the spouse of former president Ravalomanana, Lalao Ravalomanana.

Mapping Tool to Track Insecticide-Resistant Mosquitoes

Rakotomalala — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:23:36 +0000

Cameroonian blogger Edouard Tamba posted on twitter about the first online mapping tool to tool to track insecticide resistance in mosquitoes that cause malaria : IR Mapper.

Interactive map that consolidates reports of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors onto filterable maps via irmapper.com

Car Explosion at the French Embassy in Libya

Rakotomalala — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:20:04 +0000

Explosion at the French embassy in Libya via @Eh4b10 on Twitter

Twitter user @Eh4b10 has posted several photos on twitter of a car explosion near the French Embassy today around 6:50 am local time in Tripoli, Libya.

Attempted Coup d'Etat in Comoros

Rakotomalala — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:24:19 +0000

Comoros police forces state that they have arrested Congolese and Chadian mercenaries in an attempted coup over the week-end. Linfo.re adds that [fr]:

Army commanders did not want to engage in an open conflict with the mercenaries. They believe that “any Comoran casualties over protecting an elite cast is itself a act of betrayal towards Comoros”.

Madagascar's Economy Falling Behind Africa's

Rakotomalala — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:45:21 +0000

Madagascar's GDP compared to ssAfrica's GDP via Lalatiana Pitchboule

While sub-Saharan Africa's economic growth is projected to “outpace the global average“, a study by M. Razafindrakoto et al. from IRD (The Institute of Research on Development) published earlier this month unpacks the causes of Madagascar's economy lagging behind its African counterparts [fr] (Via Madagoravox).

Madagascar's Presidential Candidates

Rakotomalala — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:52:50 +0000

The presidential elections are set for July 24, 2013 in Madagascar. According to Ben from mada-tribune.com, the first candidates to have submitted their dossiers [fr] to the special electoral court are:

Hajo Andrianainarivelo, Jean Lahiniriko et Roland Ratsiraka are the first to have filed their candidacies.

Dr. Jean-Louis Robinson, Pierrot Rajaonarivelo, Edgard Razafindravahy, and Vahombey are also candidates for the presidency. Other political parties are expected to announce their selections shortly. Update: Lalao Ravalomanana, spouse of former president Ravalomanana was selected [fr] to represent his political party TIM.

In Global Downturn, Sustainable Development Begins at Home

Rakotomalala — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:48:10 +0000

Global Voices bloggers have been commissioned to liveblog the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris on April 4-5, 2013. Leading up to the meeting, our team is submitting posts about development issues that help serve as weekly online discussion topics on their website (#OECDgfd)

Preparing a new thatched roof in Mali. Photo by Jean-Marc Desfilhes on flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

As Western economies struggle with rising debt and unemployment, their approach to development and cooperation with low-income countries and emerging markets has taken a twist. It is becoming more clear that sustainable development should not be based on external wealth or redistribution, but must instead be generated at home.

Foreign investment and remittances have long been identified as a crucial source of revenue for poor populations in countries like Mali or Cape Verde. Entire villages have been built out of remittances in Mali, for instance, mainly from immigrants to France. However, this does not mean that these countries are being helped to develop sustainably.

For most African countries, the positive ability to attract capital is often negated by lenient fiscal policies towards foreign investors that strip countries of public revenues to build up their economies. This trend seems was still on the rise worldwide in 2007 according to an OECD report “Tax Effects on Foreign Direct Investments”.

A report by Matthew Martin and Nils Bhinda from Development Finance International shows that in Tanzania, for instance, the influx of private capital from global mining companies increased the volume of gold and diamonds sales. However, this failed to produce the expected social benefits, such as increased government revenues or public investment in social infrastructure. In fact, various tax exemptions and fiscal incentives ended up costing Tanzania $140 million USD from 2005-2008.

Remittances: Money at what cost?

A growing number of poor households worldwide are subsisting on remittances, according to the World Bank. Still the question remains: can these seemingly successful flows of migrants and money secure sustainable development and reduce poverty in the most affected countries?

Remittances from abroad to Mali amounted %3.7 of the countries GDP for the year 2005-2006, and according to some estimates remittances significantly decreased the number of poor in Mali and also reduced inequality. Cape Verde is another nation that has seemingly benefited from emigration as the country with the highest per capita remittances of any African country. With remittances amounting to 8% of the country's GDP, it has even overcome the challenge of establishing banking institutions for the poor on its many islands thanks to financial capital from migrants in Portugal, Brazil and the USA.

Because of such statistics, many international development institutions have attempted to design development policies based on remittance flows, by trying to convert this “subsistence” money into capital for infrastructure. There are some caveats to consider though.

Despite the growth of remittance flows, one should keep in mind that the very concept of remittances originates from a major outcome of global poverty: economic migration. Those who choose to leave their country are often exposed to risks and dangers during the transition (illegal border transfer, human traffickers, social and cultural isolation).

Moreover, remittances from migrants are highly dependent on the economic growth of the host countries. When unemployment in host countries rises, it frequently affects the type of labor available to most immigrants, putting both them and families back home at further risk of precariousness.

Finally, the peer-to-peer nature of remittances is both a blessing and a curse. As Hein de Haas writes in an article for Third World Quarterly in 2005:

The much-celebrated micro-level at which remittances are transferred is not only their strength, but also their main weakness, since this also implies that individual migrants are generally not able to remove general development constraints.

Because of the lack of incentives for locally-produced added value, it appears that remittances based on value created abroad can never be the sole base of a sustainable development strategy for low income countries.

Good measures for sustainable development

There are some measures that can be implemented to support foreign direct investment and remittances towards a more sustainable world.

First, transparency and accountability. With respect to foreign investments, governments should offer proper projections of the benefits for public finance, or projects should not be allowed to take place. Financial policies should encourage a permanent check and balance system for both private and public flows with an obligation of transparency for the source of the revenues and their further use. Transparency, in the form of regular and mandatory publications to civil society should be mandatory.

Low income countries often resort to the setting up Industrial Free Zones (IZF) to spur industrialization and create jobs in strategic locations with mineral resources. The creation of these zones have often led to economic and social instability through a constant race to lower costs, geographical mobility and low-quality production. Therefore if a government chooses to implement an IZF, it should also plan for a rapid conversion of labor and production capacity to evolve with markets.

This concept is all the more important because so far there has been no concerted effort to integrate local products of low income countries and services in global trade. Inter-regional trade should remain the main goal because it provides geographical proximity and reduces vulnerability to the whims of highly mobile multinational companies.

With respect to migration and remittances, a drawback of global inequality is the tendency of qualified students from low income countries to remain in richer countries to pursue careers, a phenomenon also known as the “brain drain“. As the recession takes its toll on employment in Western countries, a “reverse brain drain” effect has emerged for Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and other countries where there are competitive salaries and working conditions.

It would make sense for policymakers worldwide to start to embrace a simple idiom to ensure sustainable development: the creation of wealth through added value and redistribution must start at home. Policies based on short term incentives, social inequities or external wealth injection might spur growth temporarily, but it is doubtful that they will sustain poverty reduction in the long run.

Film Exposes Madagascar's Child Sex Trade

Rakotomalala — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:09:43 +0000

The journeyman.tv published on March 25 a detailed investigation using undercover filming to expose the booming child sex trade in Madagascar:
One mother in the film testifies:

My daughter was at school, I had no money and no job so she decided to become a prostitute. I finally decided not to stop her

24 hours in the Life of a French Newsroom

Rakotomalala — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:39:13 +0000

The Journalism School of Lille [fr], in partnership with Canal France International (CFI), set up a website for online resources on journalism: 24 hours in the life of a newsroom. The objective of the site is that anyone who so wishes can learn through the experience of media professionals. The site unpacks the work of a newsroom in 24 steps for four media categories : print, television, radio and web. It is available in five languages, including Arabic and Swahili.

Central African Republic's Self-Declared President

Rakotomalala — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:24:39 +0000

Following the taking of the presidential palace in Bangui by the Sékéla rebellion, their leader Michel Djotodia has declared that he is now the new president [fr] of the Central African Republic:

I do not wish for a witch hunt [..] For now, a curfew is declared in Bangui.

Michel Djotodia on twitter via @saloumpassy

African Presidents Active on Social Media

Rakotomalala — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:51:06 +0000

Dapa Arnaud gives a list of the 10 most active african presidents [fr] on social media. At the top of the list is president Paul Kagame in Rwanda:

In place since 2003, the president of Rwanda is the most active on the internet. According to the Ecofin agency, Paul Kagame interacts with many users on Twitter through his account @PaulKagame. His personal website named “The Journey Continues, Dukomeze Imihigo” is also one of the most visited websites in the country. His presence is also quite strong on other social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, Flickr or YouTube.

US Rape Case Resonates in France

Rakotomalala — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:48:32 +0000

The ramification of the Steubeunville rape case has had an impact beyond the US borders. Following the sentencing of the perpetrators for rape of a minor, CrêpeGeorgette [fr] tries to unpack the rape culture [fr] that has sneaked in in today's society.

The fact is that we are living in societies that find excuses, normalize and tolerate rape.

Rebels Attack in Central African Republic

Rakotomalala — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:38:08 +0000

RJDH -RCA reports that [fr]:

According to multiple NGOs in the region, the cities of Mobaye and Bangassou are under attack by dissident rebels of the Sekela coalition in the Central African Republic. No confirmation has been given yet by the government. Bangassou's phone network is currently cut off.

Violence Holding Youth Hostage in Guinea

Rakotomalala — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 19:22:18 +0000

Diallo Thierno Sadou [fr] analyzes the political situation in Guinea where violence erupted between police forces and the opposition since February, 27. The fightings has led to multiple casualties and lootings in the capital city Conakry. The current governor of the city, officer Sékou Resco Camara [fr], was charged in October 2010 with commiting “Acts of torture”. Diallo writes about the current administration [fr]:

They must take notice that their biggest problem now is the unemployed, destitute youth without a hope for a better tomorrow. This youth has nothing to lose anymore and is ready to fight for better governance, an independent justice system, free and transparent elections and paying jobs.