Commentary

You know what else is never boring? Ken Opalo’s substack. Of course, he’s helped by a fascinating subject: the various function and dysfunction of African politics and economics. This week is decidedly about the dysfunction: the civil war in Sudan and what we know about the role of external powers i...

Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body for the new Pandemic Agreement, joins Javier to reflect on the negotiations process and what must change for this round of negotiations to be successful.

Advocates are being asked to deliver trillions each year for development—a historically unprecedented amount. It's a historically unprecedented time to be sure, but not one that appears amenable to massive increases in development finance. If advocacy works well when it seeks billions to achieve a g...

The World Bank’s recently released 2024-2030 Gender Strategy offers an unequivocal commitment to expanding jobs and advancing women’s participation in decision-making. Yet how well does the World Bank uphold these principles in its own organizational hiring, promotion, and managerial practices? Per...

Gyude speaks with Antonio Pedro of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, about the links between the sustainable development goals, climate adaptive technology, and accelerating infrastructural development on the continent.

Over the last twenty plus years, global health has benefited from the emergence of new financing models and “global health initiatives” (GHIs), including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. These innovative GHIs were created to provide rapid reduc...

Substantial investments are needed in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and address the climate crisis. Most of these resources will need to be mobilized domestically. We argue that prospects to boost domestic revenue in SSA countries are grim, and future t...