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Four things the Paradise Papers tell us about global business and political elites and what needs to change COMMENT | RONEN PALAN | The so-called Paradise Papers may sound familiar – leaked documents from a law firm that specialises in offshore services reveal how the global elite avoids paying taxes. Even …

How it handles conflict of interest will enhance or sink corporate governance in capital markets COMMENT | SILVER KAYONDO | A few weeks ago, the Uganda Stock Exchange (USE) confirmed it had received formal approval from the regulatory body, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to operate a demutualised stock exchange. This …

 How it reveals impact of the state undermining workers’ organisations and unions COMMENT | MORRIS KOMAKECH | Ugandan doctors opted to strike over poor remunerations, which they say compromise their work ethic. The doctors’ plight is understandable. Doctors in public facilities earn, on average, about US$300 per month. This level of …

Governments issue orders to cut off Internet but telecoms reserve ability to hit the `kill switch’ COMMENT | KIZITO BYENKYA & ALEX HUMPHREY | Much to the dismay of the government in Addis Ababa, “Zone 9” has become a household name in Ethiopia. Since 2012, this small group of journalists-turned-online activists …

By ignoring poor people’s needs, financial institutions are overlooking a massive potential market COMMENT | REETA ROY | In a sea of gloomy news, one bright headline appears on the horizon. The World Bank’s latest figures on individuals’ bank accounts, to be released early next year, are expected to show that …

Centrist politicians must engage in behavior so costly that a conventional politician would never emulate it COMMENT | DANI RODRIK | At a recent conference I attended, I was seated next to a prominent American trade policy expert. We began to talk about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which …

TODAY NOVEMBER 19, IN UGANDA HISTORY: FDC presidential candidate for life, Kizza Besigye, first declared his intention to run for president for the first time on October 28, 2000. On November 19, only three weeks later, ANDREW MWENDA wrote this article for The Monitor.  Kampala, November 19, 2000 | Daily …

COMMENT: Lessons for Museveni from Mugabe, and for Uganda, from Zimbabwe COMMENT | Andrew Mwenda | The fall of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has been welcomed by many Ugandans with excitement. For many people tired of President Yoweri Museveni’s long rule, Mugabe’s fall gives hope that their nightmare is …

Planning buzzwords like `smart cities’mean little if the theories behind them benefit only a few COMMENT| CHRISTINE AUCLAIR & MAHMOUD AL BURAI | Cities, the American-Canadian author Jane Jacobs once observed, are engines for national prosperity and economic growth. But in their current form, modern cities are also catalysts of inequality and environmental …

The continent’s pension funds could lead institutional investors in committing funds to local infrastructure COMMENT | IBRAHIM ASSANE MAYAKI | As the US Federal Reserve embarks on the “great unwinding” of the stimulus program it began nearly a decade ago, emerging economies are growing anxious that a stronger dollar will adversely …