An Africanist Perspective

Dear readers, I am blogging again! This time on Substack. Go over and subscribe to receive new posts every week! Thank you for reading this blog over the years and looking forward to reconnecting...

https://kenopalo.com/2023/02/07/the-africanist-perspective-has-moved/

The battle over the waters of the Blue Nile, pitting Ethiopia against Egypt and Sudan, has been all over the news lately. Notably, the debate has focused on the Blue Nile and largely ignored the ...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/09/14/the-other-nile-river/

This is from Isma’il Kushkush writing in the Smithsonian Magazine: If you drive north from Khartoum along a narrow desert road toward the ancient city of Meroe, a breathtaking view emerges from...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/08/24/in-the-land-of-kush/

Here’s a description: The ISIS Files provide a unique cross-sectional snapshot of life in Mosul under the Islamic State, spanning doctrinal guidance from its command to the paperwork of its bur...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/06/29/the-isis-files-are-now-available-online/

Politics. Development Economics. Political Economy. General Social Science.

https://kenopalo.com/2020/06/14/muchelemba-interviews-wantchekon/

In the 1970s, prominent critics of Kenya’s capitalist economy often characterized the country as a land of 10 millionaires and 10 million beggars. Many also (implicitly) compared Kenya to Tanza...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/06/02/is-tanzania-more-unequal-than-kenya/

China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom and Vast Corruption The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap The Political Life of an Epidemic: Cholera, Crisis and Citizenship...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/06/01/some-books-currently-on-my-reading-list/

This is from a CGD paper by Scott Morris, Brad Parks, and Alysha Gardner: The World Bank’s portfolio is more concessional than China’s portfolio in every region of the world, and sometimes dr...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/05/30/africa-china-loans-facts/

This is the abstract of Olsson, Baaz, and Martinsson in the JDE: In many post-conflict states with a weak fiscal capacity, illicit domestic levies on trade remain a serious obstacle to economic d...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/05/29/taxation-on-the-congo-river/

This is from the Sentry Project, which documents the web of corruption and profiteering among South Sudan’s political/military elite: There are approximately 700 military figures with the rank ...

https://kenopalo.com/2020/05/27/tracking-the-wealth-of-south-sudans-political-military-elites/