Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. — James A Baldwin Poverty and hunger remain a global challenge. However fewer people live in extreme poverty in the 21st century compared to previous generations. According to the World Bank, between 1981 and 2008, the proportion of people […]
Lee-Roy Chetty
Lee-Roy Chetty holds a Master's degree in Media studies from the University of Cape Town and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. A two-time recipient of the National Research Fund Scholarship, he is currently completing his PhD at UCT and is the author of a book titled – Imagining Web 3.0 Follow him on Twitter @leeroy_chetty. He can also be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Filling in the gaps – understanding white space spectrum
Technological innovation and information communication technologies (ICTs) represent a way for developing world nations to foster economic growth and development, improve levels of education and training, as well as address gender issues within society. Put simply, ICTs help reinforce, converge and integrate all three key pillars of sustainable development, and also support and facilitate the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Africa falling short on millennium goals
Despite Africa’s exponential economic growth and development over the past decade and additional support from the international donor community, progress and the realisation of achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been slow in progress. Greater gains have been made over the past 15 years, however Africa’s performance overall continues to lag on health […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Tech
A vision for an African infrastructure agenda
The recognition that the African continent’s infrastructure gap still remains a development challenge has reached consensus among the international development community and African governments alike. Not only is Africa’s level of endowment low, but the continent also faces higher access costs for all infrastructure services compared with other developing regions around the world. When all […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Economic growth set to reduce poverty in Africa
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to reach more than 5% on average between 2013 and 2015 as a result of high commodity prices worldwide and strong consumer spending on the continent, ensuring that the region remains among the fastest growing in the world. In 2012, about 25% of countries on the African continent […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The changing landscape of financial inclusion
Today, there is broad recognition that access to capital is only one of the inputs required for economic development and poverty alleviation. Furthermore, the marginalised — like anyone — require and use a variety of financial services for a variety of purposes. And some of these services work better than others, for reasons we are […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics, Tech
Africa’s mobile revolution in education
For a continent that has historically been largely unconnected via land-based telecommunications, mobile telephony uptake over the last few years has been nothing short of a revolution on the African continent. In 1995 there were an estimated 600 000 mobile phone subscriptions in Africa. A decade later this number rose to 87 million and in 2012 it […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Tech
The importance of technology for education
In a globalised economy with a high degree of competition among countries, the success of a nation depends on the educational level of its workforce. This is true not only for those just entering or already integrated into the labour market but also for the unemployed, who may lack the qualifications required by the growing […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics, Tech
The importance of financial inclusion in the developing world
Financial inclusion poses policy challenges on a scale and with an urgency that is unique for developing countries, which house nearly 90% of the world’s unbanked population. Developing country policymakers have recognised that complex and multi-dimensional factors contribute to financial exclusion and therefore require a comprehensive variety of providers, products and technologies that work within […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Unemployment fuels social unrest
Jobs influence who we are and our relations with others. In most societies, jobs are a fundamental source of self-respect and social identity. Jobs also connect people with others through networks. The workplace can be a place to encounter new ideas and information and to interact with people of different cultures and ethnicities. The distribution […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
SA a key player in regional trade and development
South Africa has succeeded to reinsert its economy back into world trade following a long period of internal political difficulties and international reactions to the apartheid regime. The ratio of trade in goods and services to GDP rose from 41% in 1994 to 53% in 2011, indicating that the international exchange of goods and services […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Beyond symbols, we need substance
“The unexamined life is not worth living” Plato says in line 38a of The Apology. The thoughts of an ancient Greek philosopher personally grappling with self-examination and intellectual exploration. But how do we examine ourselves today? What happens when you critically interrogate yourself? What are the consequences when you and I begin to call in […]