Circumspecte

Dear Fellow African, The hour is nigh, and the trumpet has sounded. After months of dilly-dallying, the levees have broken and Senegal, as we know it, is at a crossroads. It could also very well be the cradle of an African Re-Awakening. Call it the "Africa Spring", a " Renaissance " or a "Revolution", it is here. I'm not going to use ink and paper describing what led this West African "beacon of democracy" down this path . Unfortunately, we know it all too well. Here it is in under 140 characters: It's ironic that the leader in this case is the very one who spent an estimated $27million on a copper statue which he named "La Monument de La Renaissance Africaine." I doubt Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade ever imagined that those words would be transformed into the energy that is sweeping across Senegal as we speak. The global economic crisis might have wrecked havoc in many-a financial market, but to its cred...

It's day three of the year 2012. Already! First off, I wish each and every one of you a great year ahead. May you have enough of everything you need to achieve your biggest dream and highest potential, and may you never want for the love, support, strength and confidence to get to where you want to be. Second, Youssou Ndour - world renowned Senegalese musician - just announced his candidature for Senegal's presidential election on February 26, 2012! I'll admit, the first person I thought of when I read the news was Wyclef Jean who put in a similar bid for Haiti's presidential seat in 2010. But let's not dwell on that. It's a new year and if the recent past has been any indication, it's that anything is possible. Besides, unlike Jean who didn't even meet the constitutional requirement of having lived in the country for at least five years, Ndour has been very visible on the local scene - mainly through his music - and is also a UN goodwill ambassado...

I just got online after an English discussion session with the Italian kids who's family I'm living with. First thing I see? An unpalatable, bloody image of someone who looks eerily like Libya's ousted dictator  leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Apparently, he's been killed. And in his own hometown of Sirte too! Now, with all the unrest going on across the Arab world, I can't say the news is entirely surprising. Then again, after attending a recent lecture on Libya and finding out that some of the media reports aired/published on Libya's unrest might have been concocted, I don't know what to think anymore. Politics they say is a dirty game. Well international politics might need more than a scrubbing or two. One thing the lecturer, Professor Mezran said that really stood out was this: Until Gaddafi's gone, Libya cannot move forward. As it turns out, that chapter in Libya's history had to be closed and now that it has - or is beginning to? - what...

Salut Tout le Monde, Here are my responses to the "Ask Me Anything: Q&A session" . Interestingly enough, most of the questions and suggestions I got are development based. And frankly, I think it's time I got back on development anyhow. So, keep an eye out for more blogs on development-related issues (corruption, education, investment etc). The question below came from Mash via Facebook. He sent me some very relevant questions, which deserve an entire post each, so instead of a short answer, I'm going to go in depth with each response. I'm interested in seeing what you peeps think about what he asks, whether you agree with me, or disagree and all of that. Do leave your own opinions and thoughts after reading. Q: What in your opinion is the greater impediment to development in Africa? Poor leadership or harsh conditionalities by donor organizations? A: Both poor leadership and harsh conditionalities make navigating the development trail  hard for Afri...