Tag Archives: Economy
Negative impacts of budget cuts for African Studies collections
Ruby Bell-Gam, UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library‘s Collections Coordinator; Area Studies Team Leader, and Librarian for African Studies and International Development Studies has written a thoughtful essay in the Winter 2014 issue of ASA News that clarifies the currently depressed budget environment for many Area Studies collections in the U.S. As she points out: …while the digital revolution has substantially increased […]
Exporting the Chinese urban model to Africa
According to research of the Go West Project (Shanghai-based architect Daan Roggeveen and Amsterdam-based journalist Michiel Hulshof): More and more Chinese-made buildings, infrastructure, and urban districts are sprouting up across Africa, and this development is changing the face of the continent’s cities. Read more in Justin Zhuang’s July 8, 2014 at Metropolis Magazine. With thanks to @ProfCaraJones
Matatu urban transit map of Nairobi
Beautiful map, important research. Researchers and students at the University of Nairobi, the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia University, and the Civic Data Design Lab at MIT produced [an informal “matatu” urban transit] map – and the underlying data behind it – after carrying cell phones and GPS devices along every route in the […]
Map: What if Africa had not been colonized?
With thanks to Rachel Strohm and Savage Minds for bringing our attention to this (speculative, historical thought experiment) “map of African politico-tribal units circa 1844″ by Swedish artist Nikolaj Cyon. From the artist’s blog: the project is…about…historical precolonial African nations, and I have tried to form a map of the most prominent of those that existed between the 15th and […]
Librii: New Model Library in Africa
Librii, a “digitally enhanced, community-based, revenue-generating library on the frontiers of broadband connectivity” in Accra, Ghana was funded by Kickstarter in April 2013. It’s interesting to study the included African Undersea Cables map (with connections planned for 2014, 2015, and another showing those cables active in Nov. 2012) as seen on the project page. […]
Research jobs: livelihoods and land use change in Mozambique
Research jobs ACES is seeking to appoint 3 new team members who will be based mainly in Mozambique: 1) Two Post-Doctoral Research Associates, a) one in the field of tropical land use change; b) another in agriculture and rural development and; 2) One Impact Fellow. ACES is a research project funded by ESPA. It involves […]
Poor numbers: trading mobile time for better data in Africa
Kalan, Jonathan. 2013. “Connecting the ‘last mile’ of market research in Africa.” BBC News: Technology of Business, Nairobi. 31 October (Last updated at 20:14 ET). An informative piece on the dearth of good data on African economies and consumers, along with an introduction to several methods of collecting data in today’s environment (for example trading mobile minutes […]
African concept car: SMATI Turtle 1
From the Set Up Shop site (most content in Dutch) comes an African concept car made from scrap parts in Ghana: The car is ready for export! The final testdrive is to the capital Accra. 250 KM, 12 roadblocks and many dustroads ahead. After nine weeks we develloped an African car from scratch; the SMATI TURTLE […]
Cheetahs and Hippos: George Ayittey on African entrepreneurs
An inspirational presentation from TED and NPR‘s Ted Radio Hour: For years, George Ayittey has been speaking out against the corruption and complacency that he believes are the bedrock problems of many troubled African states. “We call our governments vampire states, which suck the economic vitality out of the people,” he says. He calls on a […]
Do you know where your PhDs are?
US universities produce 60,000 Ph.D.s annually, as reported in the Chronicle last year. In today’s article, Do you know where your PhD’s Are? Professor Dean B. Savage’s pet project to track the careers of CUNY Sociology Ph.D. graduates provides insight into the diversity of many of their careers, many years later. An interactive chart is also provided.
African Studies library 