AFRICAN REVOLUTION OF VALUE ADDED AGRIBUSINESS?

The first private equity fund investing solely in agriculture-related businesses has recently been unveiled in South Africa. Agri-Vie has made clear its intention to focus on firms/entrepreneurs that are in the agribusiness value chain. For close to five decades, the returns from agricultural in African countries has stagnated and in many cases dropped. Exporters too have not been spared as the goods they bring to the world markets are mostly unprocessed and hence are priced in bulk (substantially lower than the final retail price). Could this be the turning point for agriculture on the continent?

POWER SHARING BAD FOR AFRICA?

Recent violent elections in Zimbabwe and Kenya, talk of potential crisis in upcoming elections in Ghana and Burundi, political infighting in Sudan and contested elections in Nigerian courts all paint a dire picture of the evolution of democracy on the continent. Yesterday, an historic deal was signed in Harare bringing the MDC and ZANU-PF together in a power-sharing government of national unity. Johann Kriegler, a retired South African judge in charge of a commission of inquiry into the causes of the recent election violence in Kenya says that coalition governments are not the solution as it violates the very principal of democracy and competition in politics at the expense of stability. What way forward for African democracy?

Problems with the Nile treaty?

According to a recent article in the East African, a row is simmering between the Ugandan and Tanzanian governments about a supposed secret agreement between Cairo and Kampala on the diversion and use of additional water from the Nile river for domestic activities. The Nile Treaty (1929) gives Egypt rights to more than 70% of the Nile water and has been severely disputed by East African countries from which the Nile originates. Can a solution be found? What sharing scheme would be fairest for all the countries through which the Nile flows?