Why Africa Talks So Much About Infrastructure

A study by the Infrastructure Consortium of Africa shows that poor infrastructure—roads, railways, harbors, etc.—adds 30-40% to the costs of goods traded among African countries.

For many years, the “grand bargain” in our development assistance for Africa is that we would work as true partners with African leaders to help countries there move from being aid recipients to partners to, one day, fellow donors. As I put it in my days as USAID Administrator, we would walk side by side with countries on their “journey to self-reliance.” At the heart of that approach was helping partner countries to become candidates for trade and private investment.

Latin America Loves Russia Today Publication

Russia Today’s highest readership outside of Russia comes from its Spanish-language publications.

Recently, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland made an impassioned call for countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to fight against the “powerful role of post-Soviet propaganda” and “fake news” surrounding the ongoing war in Ukraine. Indeed, there’s little dispute that the world’s “airwaves”—conventional media and social media both—have been chock full of disinformation emanating from Moscow regarding the war, its causes, and progress.

Population Growth in Low vs. High Income Countries

Approximately 240 babies are born each and every minute in lower income countries, compared to 25 per minute in those with higher incomes. Overall, the world’s population growth has been declining in recent years.

A report published by the Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative suggests that overall birth rate declines are the product of a number of factors, including increased access to contraception and reproductive healthcare, an increase in women seeking higher education, women’s empowerment in the workforce, lower rates of child mortality globally, increased cost of raising children, and overall gender equality.