Senegal’s 160ft, $27m new monument 3, April 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Random.Tags: Africa, Africa aid, Dakar, Monument of African Renaiassence, Senegal, Senegal statue
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Senegal has proudly unveiled a $27 million, 160 foot statue in the capital Dakar. The ‘Monument of African Renaissance’ is higher than the Statue of Liberty and depicts, its detractors say, ‘un-Islamic scantily clad figures’. Whatever the merits of the design, one can’t help but ask whether this $27 million could have been better spent in a country languishing 168th in the world with a literacy rate of 39%, with nearly 59 infant deaths per 1000 ranking Senegal 185th and with a GDP per capita of $1700 relegating Senegal to 157th in the world according to the CIA world factbook.
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The DRC’s Chinese corridor 16, September 2009
Posted by thegulfblog.com in China.Tags: Africa, China, China in Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo
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I’m always partial to a nice map and this little number here is from Le Monde Diplomatique. It highlights the prevalence of China’s construction firms building thousands upon thousands of miles of rail and road links in the 3rd largest African country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Palin’s problems 7, November 2008
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Random.Tags: Africa, NAFTA, Sarah Palin, stupidity
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America and the world has escaped a tyranny of stupidity by but five and half points. Sarah Palin’s latest anecdotes are the best of the lot. Apparently she was unaware of the countries involved in NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). One would think that with but a tiny, scraping-the-barrel kind of intelligence, one would be able to work out that there is a rather large clue in the title…but alas. However, the best one of the lot is her apparent belief that Africa, you know, the CONTINENT, was actually a country. There’s simply nothing you can say to that. [Incidentally, note that the confirmation of this African gaff comes from Fox News – the Republican’s news station of choice.]
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