Word: banking
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...this good cheer, it's worth keeping a sense of proportion. The World Bank says just 3% of global foreign direct investment flowed to sub-Saharan Africa in 2005. And most of the money has gone to only a handful of resource-rich countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Angola. Meanwhile, much of the continent remains desperately underdeveloped: only 22% of African households have access to electricity. That leaves plenty of opportunity for businesses to profit as the continent attempts to catch up. In recent years, for example, the number of mobile-phone subscribers in Africa has soared by over...
...summit were asked to identify the biggest barrier to economic progress, they overwhelmingly chose corruption. An Africa Competitiveness Report released at the forum also spoke of the heavy toll of such practices as "frequent bribes" and "political favors." The report, produced by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the African Development Bank, rates the competitiveness of 29 African countries. Zimbabwe is described as suffering "a complete absence of property rights, high levels of corruption and a lack of evenhandedness [in government] dealings with the public." Nigeria is said to have "deteriorating institutions, including a serious security problem." South...
...temperature is nearing 47 degrees C in Khartoum as a motorcade roars along the bank of the White Nile, sirens wailing. It halts at the city's conference hall. A short, slightly built man bounds out of a dark-tinted limousine and up the steps, heading to a tête-à-tête with Sudan's President, Lieut. General Omar Hassan al-Bashir. To the crowd of Sudanese gawking outside, the visitor needs no introduction. Bernard Kouchner is back on familiar turf...
Back home in Paris a week later, Kouchner paces restlessly around his Quai d'Orsay office - "this golden cage," as he calls it - on the Left Bank, with its crystal chandeliers and priceless tapestries. He circles his desk, bemoaning economic injustices, political paralysis and U.S. missteps in Iraq, and outlining his goals to Time. These include a peaceful transition to independence in Kosovo, multiparty talks in Lebanon, an "honest broker" role for France between the U.S. and Iran, and some relief for Africa's refugees. At the time, he was also preparing for his first big initiative as Foreign Minister...
...maturation elsewhere. I felt like a toddler in the presence of friends and relatives who were my age or just a few years older. Since graduating high school, Israeli youngsters have completed basic training, learned to fire a gun, and some even patrolled the streets of the West Bank. Others fought in a war and seen brothers-in-arms die. Meanwhile, I’ve toted books from my dorm to Lamont and back. Learned material, forgotten it, relearned it during reading period, and promptly forgotten it again. But when my friends asked me how often I see my parents...