New Evidence of the World Bank’s Systematic Looting of Africa

A new World Bank report offers evidence of how much poorer Africa is becoming thanks to rampant minerals, oil and gas extraction, and – in large part – to the World Bank’s own policies.

Patrick Bond
By Patrick Bond
Zambian workers construct a $300 million copper smelter in Chingola, Zambia, Dec. 13, 2006. (AP/Joseph Schatz, File)

A brand new World Bank report, The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018, offers evidence of how much poorer Africa is becoming thanks to rampant minerals, oil and gas extraction. Yet Bank policies and practices remain oriented to enforcing foreign loan repayments and transnational corporate (TNC) profit repatriation, thus maintaining the

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Tired of US “Aid” (Exploitation), Africa and Global South Look to China

How much can Raytheon, Mastercard, Nokia, Monsanto and the like be trusted to invest in long-term outcomes in the global South? When you see the actors behind U.S. ‘aid and development’ in Africa, is it any wonder that African leaders would look for any other partner to work with?

James Carey
By James Carey
Chinese women stand in front of a billboard which promotes the China-Africa summit meeting, outside a hotel in Beijing. (AP/Greg Baker)

BEIJING -- There has been a growing focus on the economic development underway in Africa. There is a reason behind this seemingly new interest of Western powers in events happening in Africa, and the reason is simple: China is a new power dominating business on the continent and has clearly caught the West's attention. China now has partner

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Zimbabwe: Domestic Rivalries, US-China Competition Underlie Political Crisis

The political turmoil in Zimbabwe is a product of both domestic factional rivalries and broader international political intrigue. Don’t let the corporate media impose its usual superficial narrative on the events in Zimbabwe; as with all things Africa, there’s so much more than meets the eye.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
An election poster from the 2008 Zanu Pf election campaign on the wall of a dilapidated old building in the Mbara suburb of Harare, Friday Nov. 17, 2017. Zimbabwe's military says it is making "significant progress" in talks with President Robert Mugabe for his departure while it pursues and arrests some allies of the leader and his wife. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (Analysis) -- On November 14, 2017 military forces in Zimbabwe took control of the streets, sequestered President Robert Mugabe in his residence, and publicly announced that the kinda sorta but not really coup was merely a clean-up operation intended to “target criminals.” While the claim does have some merit – Zimbabwe’s government, like

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Trump’s New Targeting Rules Pave the Way for Escalating the US War in Somalia 

The rate of US drone strikes in Somalia have doubled since Trump enacted new rules reversing targeting procedures introduced by Obama in response to concerns about civilian casualties.

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed seen here with commander US Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser earlier this year via Africom

Last week's US air operation in Somalia took the total number of strikes carried out in 2017 to a record 29, raising the possibility of an expansion in military operations outside of conventional battlefields under President Donald Trump. Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had already escalated strikes in Somalia to 14 a year, reflecting the

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A U.S. Soldier Died In Niger. What On Earth Are We Doing There?

When our soldiers kill and die in wars we don’t know about and can’t end, we’re not a democracy anymore.

Peter Certo
By Peter Certo
These images provided by the U.S. Army show, from left, Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; Sgt. La David Johnson of Miami Gardens, Fla.; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga. A senior U.S. defense official says the military suspects that American special forces were ambushed in Niger after someone in the village they visited told enemy fighters they were in the area. The Army Green Berets and about 30 Niger forces stopped in a village for an hour or two to get food and water after conducting an overnight reconnaissance mission. All four were killed in Niger, when a joint patrol of American and Niger forces was ambushed by militants believed linked to the Islamic State group. (U.S. Army via AP)

Opinion -- In our military-revering culture, it’s a strange thing for a president to start a war of words with the grieving families of slain soldiers. Strange, yes. But from Donald Trump’s campaign season feud with the parents of Humayun Khan, who died protecting fellow soldiers in Iraq, to his recent feud with the mourning widow of La David

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Pentagon Uses Niger Ambush To Bolster AFRICOM Military Budget

Few questions have been asked about why the US is in Niger in the first place, instead, officials are focusing on a “solution” that will end in more military spending.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
Chadian troops and Nigerian special forces participate in the Flintlock exercises with the U.S. military and its Western partners in Mao, Chad. (AP/Jerome Delay)

The October 4 ambush in Niger that killed four US Special Forces members forced the Pentagon to admit that they had been routinely carrying out ground patrols inside Niger, but African command (AFRICOM) may be cashing in on the incident. With the revelation that there are US military operations ongoing in Niger and countless other countries,

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