A Tribute

This week death has visited some iconic figures in my social circles and immediate community.  My thoughts are best summarised by words put together by the folks at Apple (below).  A marketing gimmick perhaps, but still incredibly true.
R.I.P. _______________, and _______________, and also _______________.  (Feel free to fill in the blanks with your own icons [...]

A Quick Poll on Zim’

Events surrounding Zimbabwe have certainly not gone unnoticed in the news lately. A few examples can be found here, here, and here. Not forgetting Petina Gappah’s rant here, and Michael Trapido’s sentiments here.
I am keen to gauge the mood pertaining to Zimbabwe based on the traffic passing through this blog.  Kindly spare a moment to [...]

Now, That’s Funny!

OK, so in a matter of weeks we have become accustomed to multi-billion dollar bailouts in the US, banks disappearing off the face of the earth in Iceland, and thousands of jobs on the line in the UK.  What is our best response?  According to a BBC report, “as the credit crunch continues to spread [...]

Missing Ingredients

Yesterday my drive through central Manchester took me past the defunct Jowata African Restaurant (pictured).  Black wooden boards covered the windows and entrance to the premises – certainly not a heartwarming sight.  The Jowata was closed to the public well over eight months ago for reasons beyond my knowledge.  While the restaurant never really had [...]

África, Pecado de Europa

África, Pecado de Europa is a book written in Spanish, translated to mean Africa, Sin of Europe in English. It is the work of Luís de Sebastián Carazo, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Economics at the ESADE Business School. In the video clip below he takes a few minutes to talk about what the book entails.  I get the [...]

Men’s What?

The November edition of Men’s Health magazine came through my postbox this past Wednesday.  Images of impossibly fit bodybuilders have become a fixture on the magazine’s cover each month.  Bearing this in mind, it was surprising to find a glum Barack Obama staring out of the latest edition (pictured).
November’s Men’s Health magazine is dubbed “The [...]

Q&A – Margaret Sengwaketse

Margaret Sengwaketse is a Research Fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA).  She is currently undertaking research towards a Ph.D. degree at the University of Manchester.  Margaret’s thesis explores three possible explanations to manufacturing growth in Botswana; mineral abundance, the trade policy environment, and the general macroeconomic environment.  Margaret was [...]