Questions tagged [africa]
Questions relating to the government or politics of the continent of Africa
42
questions
12
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1answer
1k views
Why do some African countries use the CFA franc if it means that they need to pay France money to be able to print money for their economies?
Why do some African countries use the CFA franc if it means that they need to pay France money to be able to print money for their economies?
Strictly speaking, the CFA franc is the name given to two ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
Why was President Troare of Mali 'furious' at the arrest of the Ivoirian Minister of Planning for embezzling funds?
In 1984, Thomas Sankara, a military officer, revolutionary activist and President of Burkina Faso, was elected as the President of CEAO, the Economic Community of West Africa. Under his administration ...
6
votes
1answer
491 views
Are African country borders really straight?
Many African country borders look like perfectly straight lines. This is also the case for the US. In the latter case, however, it's just an illusion, as the state borders contain multiple ...
8
votes
1answer
487 views
Why is Donald Trump positively rated in Africa?
From a report, I gained knowledge that Donald Trump is mostly liked in the African Continent in opposition to other regions like the European Continent! I know under Trump that there is a foreign ...
5
votes
0answers
249 views
What's the African Union's Plan on accomplishing the Agenda 2063 for transforming Africa?
I am aware that the African Union (AU) has plans on sustainable development and I am curious about how the AU plans to fulfill this mind-blowing idea and would help be needed from outside the African ...
3
votes
1answer
521 views
Why is Egypt not able to stop the building of a dam in Ethiopia?
I was watching this video. This video portrays Egypt as a victim of the dam built by Ethiopia.
Egypt is a regional power with arguably the strongest military in Africa. It is also well-connected to ...
4
votes
2answers
234 views
Why did the life expectancy in northern Africa rise much faster than in the south of Africa
I stumbled on a Wikipedia page with the following graphic
What I find interesting is that the life expectancy of the countries in the north of Africa rose so much faster compared to the countries in ...
4
votes
1answer
139 views
Why isn't Malawi part of the East African Federation?
The East African Federation is a proposed political/economic union of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan. These countries form a physically contiguous block, speak similar/...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
What kind of government abuse is “sell game”? [closed]
I tried searching google but can't find anything that isn't related to gaming. Actually, is this even the right forum?
Anyway, the mention is from here.
"As for the government soldiers, Amy Smythe ...
5
votes
1answer
451 views
Why have so many countries withdrawn recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic?
The international recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a partially recognized de facto sovereign state located in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of ...
-6
votes
1answer
410 views
Does France deny the support of genocide in African countries and mass-massacre of Algerian people? [closed]
Does France deny the genocide against Algerian people during their occupation of Algeria? Did France ever apologize to any African country for these incidents?
Here some articles about French actions ...
2
votes
0answers
94 views
Why did Ethiopia not fight for the coastline of Eritrea when giving them independence? [closed]
It is kind of crazy to me that Ethiopia wouldn't just take that slither of Eritrea that connects them to the coast. They were bigger and could easily have done it when giving them independence.
Just ...
4
votes
0answers
97 views
How much influence does Saudi Arabia have over Nigeria?
I read this article that says that the country of Saudi Arabia has some influence over Nigeria to the point where Nigeria may be on their side in the current Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflict. How much ...
5
votes
3answers
506 views
Why does the U.S. keep pushing “the debt trap” narrative in Africa when China is not the major source of debt distress in Africa?
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5652847de4b033f56d2bdc29/t/5c467754898583fc9a99131f/1548121941093/Briefing+Paper+1+-+August+2018+-+Final.pdf
We find that Chinese loans are not currently a ...
3
votes
1answer
312 views
Why are African countries willing to accept Chinese loans when they are not seen as sustainable?
Why are African countries willing to accept Chinese loans when they are not seen as sustainable?
Many Chinese loans have higher extended interest rates and short
maturities, with heavy collateral ...
-3
votes
1answer
409 views
What can France do to prevent West African countries from ditching the CFA Franc?
What can France do to prevent West African countries from ditching the CFA Franc?
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/african-currency-eco-replace-cfa-franc-190711162229142.html
Leaders from eight ...
7
votes
2answers
441 views
Is the success of Chinese economic model in Africa a threat to Western interests?
Rwanda's economic development has been fantastic in the last couple of years allowing Rwanda to become a model of development success. Is this success a good thing considering that its model of ...
12
votes
4answers
2k views
Why does the US seem to have a rather low economic interest in Africa?
This question shows us the increasing economic interest of China in the African continent. Indeed this document confirms that China's trade in goods with African countries is half of the EU's:
...
0
votes
0answers
60 views
Is it true that South Africa has the most protests per capita in the world?
While the numbers seem to vary widely (depending on who is speaking), it seems that there are roughly 3 public protests per day, on average, in South Africa (which can include events as diverse as ...
4
votes
1answer
384 views
Why is China trying to develop Africa?
Kishore Mahbubani, a scholar on government policy, claimed (YouTube link) that China is trying to develop Africa more than any other country. What benefits would China gain by developing Africa ...
4
votes
1answer
155 views
What are the incentives for CFA countries to remain under France's financial umbrella?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42_-ALNwpUo
It seems that France benefits a lot from having its former colonies rely on France's financial system, but the former colonies don't really seem to derive ...
2
votes
2answers
493 views
Why isn't Somalia a part of the East African Federation?
The East African Federation is a proposed nation state that's made up of 6 unified east African states: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
This doesn't include Somalia, a ...
2
votes
1answer
101 views
What benefits does the African trade bloc bring to the African Union's member states?
What benefits does the African trade bloc bring to the AU's member states and what changes does this deal bring?
3
votes
0answers
170 views
Why did South African soldiers choose EO over UNITA?
This is a question concerning Executive Outcomes and UNITA. I concede this question is slightly Tom Clancy-esque, but I think now that these events have been largely declassified all these decades ...
4
votes
1answer
135 views
Why are there protests when Abdelaziz Bouteflika was announced as candidate to presidential elections in Algeria?
Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced (or actually - it was announced on his behalf) that he will be running for the next presidential elections in Algeria.
This led to massive protests against a senile ...
10
votes
1answer
339 views
Why didn't the United Nation send Peacekeepers to Rwanda?
In just 100 days in 1994, some 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda.
Canadian General Romeo Dallaire was the overseer of the peacekeeping mission there. He had a small garrison of peacekeepers.
...
0
votes
1answer
1k views
What's the highest level of official recognition that an African country gave to their “brothers” in the US?
I'm guessing that some African countries might have given their "brothers" (see further below a discussion what this could possibly mean) over the Atlantic, meaning African Americans, some kind of ...
1
vote
1answer
98 views
MONUSCO: Member state reaction to UN offensive in the Congo
Last week in the DROC the UN suffered its greatest loss of peacekeeper life since the Battle of Mogadishu, with at least 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers being killed by the insurgent group Allied Democratic ...
1
vote
2answers
429 views
What pressure was President Clinton under when he refused to call the Rwandan Genocide by its name?
In 1994, between 500,000 and a million Rwandans were slaughtered by their country-men ... the international community stood by in quiet horror and watched. Most notably amongst them the United States ...
-1
votes
1answer
476 views
What did Trump mean by “Nambia”? [closed]
The pronunciation suggests he meant either the Gambia, Namibia or Zambia. Which is most plausible, given his praising of the healthcare services in "Nambia"?
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Have states/companies placed a military/private security presence on oil platforms in the Gulf of Guinea to ensure security against piracy?
States with a coastline on the Gulf of Guinea have to deal with the tremendous problem of maritime piracy.
There are some regional cooperation programs as well as a EU special program to improve ...
5
votes
1answer
388 views
What were the effects of non-nationally divided states in Africa?
Many people today attribute the cause of the numerous conflicts especially in central Africa to be the division of the land to non-national states. And indeed, today the armed conflicts mostly consist ...
9
votes
1answer
236 views
Why has the African Union readmitted Morocco?
As of a few days ago, Morocco has readmitted been to the African Union after 33 years. According to Newsweek, Morocco left the predecessor organization after a majority of the members voted to ...
1
vote
3answers
629 views
Is Africa the only continent where chattel slavery still exists?
The only two places on earth I can find that still have chattel slavery are Sudan and Mauritania. I have read reports that it still occurs in the Sahel region in general but I can't find any concrete ...
6
votes
1answer
104 views
What did the Nigerien opposition coalition hope to gain by boycotting the 2016 runoff election?
I see on Wikipedia that in Niger's 2016 general elections, the incumbent president Issoufou won a plurality in the first round but failed to win a majority needed to actually win the election. A run-...
1
vote
1answer
321 views
Why hasn't Robert Mugabe ordered the death of all remaining European-descended Zimbabweans?
Robert Mugabe has basically become a pariah dictator in his country of Zimbabwe. There is now distrust, hostility, and complete separation between him and Europe.
His actions over the past decade ...
8
votes
5answers
420 views
Migrant from Africa to Europe by sea from North Africa
What policy could the European Union adopt to save the large numbers of migrants dying trying to gain access to the EU from northern Africa by sea, without opening the door to a flood on new migrant?
27
votes
4answers
4k views
Why is redrawing the artificial borders not a viable solution to conflicted states?
Multiple states in Middle East and Africa seem to be stuck in violent conflicts that seem to be reoccurring and nearly inevitable because of the unstable internal power balance of various ethnic or ...
8
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is the Sahel region important to western nations?
Recent news has shown that certain Western nations, especially within the EU, are attempting to step up their developmental and military aid in the Sahel region.
Why are they interested in the Sahel?...
3
votes
0answers
95 views
What interests do Haiti and the AU have in Haitian associate membership?
According to the Wikipedia page on African Union, Haiti is currently a member observer of the AU and current pending full Associate Member status due at the AU summit in July 2012 (sic). Haiti is in ...
12
votes
3answers
902 views
Why is France involved in Mali?
This month France has sent ground troops to and bombed northern Mali. This feels like the first time in a while that a country besides the US has stuck its neck out to fight violent Islamist groups ...
16
votes
1answer
3k views
Why did Somalia fail as a state, and what keeps it from coming back?
When considering a list of "failed" states, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somalia are usually considered the textbook examples (see Fragile States Index, 2012).
Yemen seems to have crawled back on its ...
