APP press releases & news

11 May 2013 While natural resources may have fuelled a decade of rapid economic growth, most Africans have still not seen the benefits, report says CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 10 – Africa is standing on the edge of enormous opportunity, this year’s Africa Progress Report finds, and African policy makers have critical choices to make. They can either invest their natural resource revenue in people to generate jobs and opportunities for...

05 Apr 2013 This article originally appeared on CNN's Global Public Square.   5 Apr 2013 Editor’s note: Bob Geldof is a member of the Africa Progress Panel, chaired by Kofi Annan, and a musician, businessman and campaigner against poverty. The views expressed are his own. With the U.K. becoming the first G-8 country to spend 0.7 percent of its gross national income on overseas aid, the government’s recent budget was...

09 Mar 2013 Five days ago, on 4 March 2013, Kenyans went to the polls with optimism and an overriding desire to exercise their democratic right to vote, and to do so peacefully. Voters, in their millions, stood in long lines and waited patiently to cast their ballots and select their leaders. The fortitude and dignified behaviour of the Kenyan electorate have been widely acknowledged, and have rightfully won the praise of domestic and international...

04 Mar 2013 Although gender-based violence remains a significant challenge, Africa continues its progress on gender. We’ve had female presidents and parliamentarians, Nobel peace prize winners, and successful entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the continent’s scandalously high levels of maternal mortality are slowly coming down, even if too slowly. But – this International Women’s Month – spare a thought for Africa’s women...

04 Mar 2013 “When citizens go to the polls and cast their votes, they aspire not only to elect their leaders, but to choose a direction for their nation.” Kofi Annan warns that while elections with integrity can bolster democracy, flawed elections can undermine it. In this blog, he discusses the importance of electoral integrity and how it can be strengthened at local, transnational and international levels ...