APP in the media

18 May 2013 This article originally appeared in The Economist. The business climate in Congo “is disgusting”, says an adviser to the government in Kinshasa. Any casual visitor has probably noticed. Traffic police stop cars for no reason, force their way in and refuse to leave until paid off. Tax agents arrive at company offices with seven- and eight-figure demands that—of course—can be negotiated down. Read more ...

18 May 2013 This article originally appeared in the East African. Just how much do the East African Community governments stand to gain from oil and gas exploration and extraction deals with foreign oil majors? Will the governments use the revenue to lift millions of people out of poverty? Will the return on investment on the countries’ natural resources and the huge government spending on infrastructure ease exploration and extraction? Read...

16 May 2013 This article originally appeared in Voice of America. GOMA, DRC — The Africa Progress Panel, a research organization chaired by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, says most Africans are not getting a fair deal out of their countries’ natural resources.  In its annual report, the panel highlights several mining deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo as examples of how, it said, natural resource wealth has...

16 May 2013 This artical originally appeared in The Economist's Baobab blog. LONG before Baobab became a lowly journalist he scraped a living as a lowly academic. “If you’re so clever why aren’t you rich?” was a favourite tease of his less bookish but better-paid peers. The Africa Progress Report, prepared by an expert panel led by Kofi Annan (pictured), a former UN secretary-general, was unveiled last week at the World...

15 May 2013 This article originally appeared in the Mail and Guardian. Combating international tax avoidance and evasion, corruption and weak governance are crucial if Africa's people are to benefit from the continent's vast natural resource wealth, former United Nations secretary general and chair of the African Progress Panel Kofi Annan said on Friday.  According to the panel's 2013 African Progress report at the World...

14 May 2013 This article originally appeared in Business Day Live. The British government could do more to fight corruption in the African mining sector. It could stop secret bank accounts residing in its overseas territories such as the Virgin Islands from being used to transfer illicit monies... Read more ...