Feature Articles

...a golden opportunity for the rest of the world to show Barack Obama the meaning of meritocracy When economists from the World Bank visit poor countries to dispense cash and advice, they routinely tell governments to reject cronyism…

Financial disclosure systems are attracting increasing attention. Can these systems credibly help to prevent corruption in public office? Can they play a useful role in detecting officials who engage in corrupt behaviors? Could they even…

Travel around Africa these days and you'll feel a sense of expectation, a sense that prosperity is just around the corner. High prices for -- and new discoveries of -- oil, gas and minerals are turning much of the continent into one giant…

A little over a year ago, on February 22, 2011, representatives of donor agencies met at the local office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Dakar, Senegal to discuss progress on common efforts to curb illegal fishing…

SIM registration is not a time-bound exercise as we sometimes make it look like; it is an ongoing unending process.  Everyone who buys a SIM card is still required by law to register using any of the five legally mandated ID cards –…

Africa is breaking records. Its economy is growing at around 6% annually, comparable with many of the new emerging economies. Lack of roads is no longer a barrier to information -- mobile phones are the new drumbeat. Democracy is becoming…

Just like diamonds in Western culture, beads are a Krobo girl’s best friend. Throughout her life, custom requires that a Krobo woman’s waist be adorned with the pretty little gems. But more than that, beads from the area have appealed to…

Ghana joins fellow African countries – Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Nigeria in the use of a Biometric Voters’ Register for its general elections, when from Saturday, March 24, 2012 to May 5, 2012 the country conducts…

At an event at the New America Foundation in DC  and in a recent article in Slate, Sascha Meinrath and Jamie Zimmerman argue that mobile technology in general and mobile money in particular have been overhyped as game-changing tools for the…

As we mark International Women’s Day this week, let’s not be complacent. Over the past century, we have come a long way in increasing women’s voice, participation, and agency in societies around the world. Unfortunately, as the effects of…