East Africa Economic Report

DO ECONOMIC SANCTIONS WORK? Evidence suggests that victims of sanctions, who were in first place recalcitrant, emerge from their ordeal stronger, more- self-reliant and stubborn. Consequently, those who impose sanctions create independent and stubborn nations. Take the example of Zimbabwe. Sanctions have not brought Mugabe down. In Kenya during the Moi era, Sanctions simply created a nation of self-reliant and independent thinkers. For decade between 1993 and 2003, donor funding in Kenya declined to almost nil. The country learned to get up by its own bootstraps and to day, she funds more 90 per cent of her US$ 14 billion budget from taxes.  In a similar manner, the west has just made China a world Power. In fact the west’s habit of imposing sanctions on anyone they differ with has sent them to China’s waiting hands. Sanctions are imposed on the assumption that one is the only source of something someone else needs. But where there are competing sources of the same, sancti...

AFRICA IS RAPIDLY becoming a battleground for both the West and China. Both are seeking to exert their influence in the region. However, the bungling Western governments and NGOs look like observers rather than contestants. Even then, the Western private sector deserves credit for reading the signs of the time and getting on with it. owever, credit goes to the private sector in the West for being decisive Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister once pronounced a truth that the West had better take note of. He said; “Africans have realized that whenever they ask China for help, the Chinese show up the next day with a digger. The West, on the other hand, loads Africa with sheaves of paper and plenty of lectures on human rights." Propaganda or Genuine concern? That realization is the major driver of Africa’s shift to the east. And China has not disappointed Africa despite the noise from the West and its fans in Africa. Due to years of dependence on the...

Addis-Adama Expressway Ethiopia funded by the Chinese   CHINESE PREMIER Li Keqiang has pledged that aid to Africa will have no political strings attached. unveiled extra aid for Africa totaling at least $12 billion on Monday, and offered to share advanced technology with the continent to help with development of high-speed rail and telecommunications. China will increase credit lines to Africa by $10 billion and will boost the China-Africa Development Fund by a further $2 billion, bringing it to a total of $5 billion. Li "depicted a dream that all African capitals are connected with high-speed rail, so as to boost pan-African communication and development," the report said. As China has advanced technologies in this area, Li said China was ready to work with Africa "to make this dream come true". Equitorial Bridge : A Potential beneficiary Africans broadly see China as...