Saturday, June 27, 2015

Belt & Road - Africa

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24-8-23 [What Are Xina and Ruscia Doing in Africa?] || Peter Zeihan > .23-12-2 Xina’s Real Impact on Africa - Attempted Thought > .23-3-8 Xina Vying For Zimbabwe’s Lithium Industry - CNBC > .
22-12-28 Too many people? Challenges of demographic change | DW > .
22-3-18 "Myth" of the Xinese Debt Trap in Africa - Bloomberg > .

Xiocolonialism ..

[Wage slavery is moving to Africa, as European corporations export European jobs.] 

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) -- not to be confused with African Free Trade Zone -- is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of 1 January 2021. It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade OrganizationAccra, Ghana serves as the Secretariat of AfCFTA and was commissioned and handed over to the AU by the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on August 17, 2020 in Accra.

The agreement was brokered by the African Union (AU) and was signed on by 44 of its 55 member states in Kigali, Rwanda on March 21, 2018. The agreement initially requires members to remove tariffs from 90% of goods, allowing free access to commodities, goods, and services across the continent. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the agreement will boost intra-African trade by 52 percent by 2022. The proposal was set to come into force 30 days after ratification by 22 of the signatory states. On April 2, 2019, The Gambia became the 22nd state to ratify the agreement, and on April 29 the Saharawi Republic made the 22nd deposit of instruments of ratification; the agreement went into force on May 30 and entered its operational phase following a summit on July 7, 2019.

The general objectives of the agreement are to:
  • create a single market, deepening the economic integration of the continent
  • establish a liberalised market through multiple rounds of negotiations
  • aid the movement of capital and people, facilitating investment
  • move towards the establishment of a future continental customs union
  • achieve sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development, gender equality and structural transformations within member states
  • enhance competitiveness of member states within Africa and in the global market
  • encourage industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, agricultural development and food security
  • resolve challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

EAF - East Africa Federation Proposal

[Monetary union of cooperative crooked warlords?]


The East African Federation (Swahili: Shirikisho la Afrika Mashariki) is a proposed political union of the six sovereign states of the East African CommunityBurundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – as a single federated sovereign state. In September 2018, a committee was formed to begin the process of drafting a regional constitution, and a draft constitution for the confederation is set to be written by the end of 2021, with its implementation by 2023.

At 2,467,202 km2 (952,592 sq mi), the East African Federation (EAF) would be the largest country in Africa and 10th-largest in the world. With a population of 183,625,246 as of 2019, it would also be the second most populous nation in Africa (after Nigeria) and eighth in the world. Its population would be greater than that of Russia, Japan and Mexico, and roughly half that of the United States.

Swahili has been proposed as an official lingua francaDar es Salaam would be the most populous city in the proposed federation, by city limits, and Nairobi would have the most populous metropolitan area. The proposed capital is Arusha, a city in Tanzania close to the Kenyan border, which is also the current headquarters of the East African Community.

The union's proposed currency would be the East African shilling, which according to a 2013 published report is slated to become the common currency of five of the six member countries by 2023. The GDP (PPP) estimate would be US602.584 billion and be the 34th largest in the world and the fourth largest in Africa, following Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. The GDP (PPP) per capita estimate is 3,286 USD, putting the East African Federation at 156th in the world.

Egyptian Geoeconomics

2021 Egyptian Geography, Agriculture, Economics - Zeihan - geopop > .

Egyptian Nile - 1925


Modern Egypt is a country of nearly one hundred million people, who live in densely populated cities like Cairo as well as towns and villages. A century ago, when this film was made, the population was much smaller, and to Western visitors the way of life along the Nile River appeared to resemble that of Pharaonic Egypt. Certain agricultural practices, and some festival traditions, seemed connected to the ancient past, echoing scenes decorating tombs from 3,500 years before.

Ethiopia - Tigray Conflict

24-1-12 Ethiopia could trigger Africa's deadliest conflict - Caspian > .
24-1-12 Somaliland | A Crucial Breakthrough? - Prof J K-L > .
23-12-14 Is Abiy Ahmed the Most Dangerous Man in Africa? - Waro > .The Tigray conflict which started as a so-called policing operation has devolved into a violent ethnically based civil war, with some commentators making comparisons to the Yugoslav wars and predicting the breakup of Ethiopia. How did Ethiopia polarise along ethnic lines? Could it lead to the same kind of ethnic cleansing and violent state collapse that we saw during the breakup of Yugoslavia? And what approach can unite Ethiopia to prevent the collapse?
00:00 Intro
00:42 Ethnic Polarisation
05:48 The Road to Civil War
11:17 Yugoslavia 2.0?
18:11 Medemer

  
How Geography DOOMED Africa - AtPr > .
African Conflicts - PrTe >> .

In Ethiopia, the political calamity between the federal government in Addis Ababa and the regional government in Tigray has turned violent.

21-6-29 Ethiopia Tigray conflict: Rebels build on recapture of capital BBC

Rebel fighters in the Tigray region of Ethiopia are continuing to gain ground after recapturing the regional capital Mekelle from government forces. The rebels have now entered the town of Shire, about 140km (90 miles) to the north-west, according to UN officials. Eritrean troops backing the Ethiopian army had earlier abandoned the city. The government has declared a ceasefire in the eight-month conflict, but the rebels have vowed to drive their "enemies" from Tigray.

The fighting between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and government forces has left thousands of people dead. More than two million have been displaced and 350,000 pushed towards famine. The fighting began in November, when rebels rejected political reforms and captured army bases. Government forces captured Mekelle later that month.

21-6-23 Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Heavy casualties reported after air strikeA medical doctor at Mekelle's main Aider hospital told the BBC that at least 60 people were killed and more than 40 were injured. There are fears the numbers will increase further.


sī vīs pācem, parā bellum

igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum    therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...