Escaping The Public Contract Trap While Building African State Capacity: The Examples Of Ghana And Burkina Faso
Two road projects currently underway in West African neighbours Burkina Faso and Ghana have raised an interesting question about how African public infrastructure is built and whether the assumptions behind the popular existing models are wrong.
The received wisdom for decades has been that roads and other public infrastructure projects are packaged into “contracts” or “tenders”, which are then awarded to private business entities in a project that is perennially tainted with waste and corruption.
Burkina Faso’s Ouagadougou - Bobo Dioulasso Expressway and the first phase of Ghana’s Accra - Kumasi Expressway have both achieved impressive levels of delivery after being assigned to the Engineering Corps of the respective militaries of both countries. These projects have proceeded with minimum fuss, maximum output and close to zero waste, which begs an important question: In a developing country still recovering from the economic and societal devastation of colonisation and neocolonialism, why does the military not play a larger role in infrastructure development, and who decided that such an important function should be left to “the market”?
Mayowa Durosinmi examines this question for The Spearhead.
Former CIA Agent: The CIA Doesn’t Give A Hoot About Democracy
Former CIA agent Philip Agee says the quiet part out loud in this clip taken from journalist John Pilger’s 2007 documentary, ‘The War On Democracy’.
Do you agree with this statement from the horse’s mouth?
Abdourahamane Tiani: Three Years On, Niger Is Still Standing
Three years after July 26, 2023, Niger has charted a new path.
President Abdourahamane Tiani highlights how the country has remained resilient despite external pressure.
The past three years have been about defending Niger’s sovereignty, choosing its own strategic partners, and putting the interests of the Nigerien people first.
American Journalist Claims Syrian Diplomat to The US Took Part in Her 2016 Kidnap
Mohammed Qanatari the newly appointed chargé d’affaires of the Syrian embassy in the United States is a known terrorist and former prominent member of the Al-Qaida affiliate group Jabhat al-Nusra.
Like his boss and erstwhile leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Muhammad Al-Julani who has been re-christened as ‘Ahmed al-Sharaa’ in his new role as US-backed Syrian president, his presence and job title tell a clear story about the reality of US foreign policy and the central role it plays in the existence and spread of so-called “Islamic terrorism” around the world.
At a time when the US is making noises about carrying out airstrikes against another Al-Qaida affiliate group in northern Mali, Qatanari’s appointment should make it abundantly clear once and for all that the preeminent danger to Africa and the rest of the world is in fact, the United States of America and its hideously dishonest and violent imperial foreign policy.
Britain’s BATUK To Resume Cancelled Training Exercise In Kenya
Barely a week after withholding its licenses from the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) for its 2026 training program in Kenya amid public backlash, the Kenyan government has reportedly backtracked on its decision, and the training program will now proceed as planned.
Throughout its 60-plus years of “operating” in Kenya, BATUK has left a trail of atrocities in its wake. This latest decision by the Kenyan government is a betrayal of the many victims of BATUK’s crimes, who have been seeking justice for decades.
Yet such a betrayal is sadly to be expected of a Western puppet regime.
African Proverb Of The Week
Africa has not been in control of its own affairs for a very long time. Today, most of the continent’s policies are dictated, and nearly all its systems controlled, by the West – the very same West which has plundered the continent for 500 years.
This East African proverb reminds us that those who do not and have never belonged in Africa have no business dictating African affairs, and if Africa is ever to rise, it must reclaim its destiny from these greedy pigs.
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