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Analysis & Opinions - Quartz Africa

Let's Reinvent and Diversify Africa's Universities to Make Them Centers of Innovation

| August 25, 2016

"Creating innovation universities can be pursued through three practical stages. The first is to formulate a policy framework under which such universities operate. The second state is to translate the policy into specific legislative reforms to support the new university species. The third stage is to experiment by upgrading a few research institutes that have strong foundations and potential to commercialize products and services."

Skyline of Boat Quay in Singapore, June 3, 2011. The cluster of skyscrapers in the right half of the photograph constitutes the Central Business District of Singapore.

Wikimedia CC 4.0

Analysis & Opinions - The Daily Nation

Africa Can Still Learn Important Lessons from Lee Kuan Yew's Work in Singapore

| March 24, 2015

"Lacking natural resources, the country was forced from the outset to adopt a long-term view that involved investing in human capital and imparting a strong work ethic. These are critical sources of economic transformation that continue to elude African countries. Their inability to focus attention on entrepreneurship, innovation, and management is partly a result of the excessive policy attention to the role of natural resources."

Dr. Mo Ibrahim at the Chatham House program, "Combating Global Corruption: Shared Standards and Common Practice?," 3 February 2014.

Wikimedia CC 2.0

Analysis & Opinions - The Daily Nation

Africa Needs More, Not Fewer, Governance Prizes

| March 5, 2015

"Mo Ibrahim has put a price tag on the quality of Africa's public leadership. The intensity of the debate shows that one prize is not enough. The time has come for Africans entrepreneurs to create more prizes to recognise, celebrate and inspire excellence in public leadership. That would be a more appropriate response to Mo Ibrahim's challenge."

Analysis & Opinions - Global Food For Thought

Biotechnology and Africa's Strategic Interests

| December 3, 2012

"Biotechnology offers Africa a wider range of economic opportunities than the Green Revolution did. It is already being used to improve food production and establish or revive cotton production. Its economic impact is therefore likely to go well beyond the farm sector to include industrial development."

Analysis & Opinions - Forbes

Africa And Obama: What The Continent Should Do In His Second Term

| November 9, 2012

"Africa's national diversity is becoming a burden for diplomatic interaction. It is more efficient for the United States to work with regional groups in Africa than with individual states. This means that efforts to foster regional integration by creating larger markets, simplifying trading rules, reducing corruption, and investing in regional infrastructure to promote movement of goods will go a long way toward strengthening US-Africa relations."

Analysis & Opinions - Forbes

Africa's Leadership Fails Billionaire Mo Ibrahim's Test, But Technocrats Rise

| October 15, 2012

"The main challenge is the lack of alignment between infrastructure strategies and the need to expand engineering training. As a result, there are very few engineering programs in African universities. There is also a perception that engineering is associated with large projects that tend to be linked to high costs, corruption and ecological degradation."

Protesters gather at Gani Fawehinmi Park as a national strike over fuel prices and government corruption entered its 2nd day in Lagos, Nigeria, Jan. 10, 2012. Angry youths erected a burning roadblock outside luxury enclaves in Nigeria's commercial capital

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Guardian

Roads and Rail in Nigeria Could Be at the Centre of Job Creation

| January 24, 2012

"...[N]ew jobs can be directly created in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure projects. However, such job creation is unlikely to happen unless there are deliberate policy guidelines. This is mainly because construction projects tend to focus primarily on immediate cost-effectiveness and less on indirect benefits such as youth employment."

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Juma Lauded for Role in First Innovation Advisory Council

    Author:
  • Dominic Contreras
| Winter 2011-2012

Calestous Juma, director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Globalization Project, played a central role in creation of the Lagos Innovation Advisory Council, the first of its kind in Africa.

Southern Sudanese people are seen through a Southern Sudanese flag lining up to vote in Juba, Southern Sudan, Jan. 9, 2011. About 4 million Southern Sudanese voters began casting their ballots on Jan. 9 in a weeklong referendum on independence.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Guardian

Southern Sudan Has Many Lessons to Learn from Juba University

| July 5, 2011

"Critics of the role of universities in economic transformation argue that higher education takes too long to show results and that its focus is usually too academic. However, the evidence suggests that practically oriented universities offer the fastest and most durable ways to incubate new states. With the right vision, universities can confer their attributes to a new state."