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COMMENT | Jan-Werner Mueller |  More than two months after the decisive victory of pro-democracy parties in Poland’s general election, opposition leader Donald Tusk has finally been sworn in as prime minister. Initially, Mateusz Morawiecki, his predecessor from the right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, had been reappointed by President Andrzej Duda, beholden to PiS, under the …

COMMENT | PEPE JULIAN ONZIEMA | In the 1990s, as a 15-year-old high-school student in Uganda, I was a member of a “writers’ club” that would summarize for our fellow students key articles from the lone copy of the local newspaper our school received each day. One day, I was …

  COMMENT | ANA PALACIO |  It has been an eventful year, to put it mildly. In fact, the world has endured so much war, disruption, tension, and uncertainty that we are left to wonder whether the rules-based global order, which has guided international relations since World War II, will survive …

COMMENT | KAUSHIK BASU | The International Economic Association (IEA) recently concluded its 20th World Congress in Medellín, Colombia. This triennial event brings together scholars from all over the world to share and discuss the latest developments in economic thinking. This year’s edition underscored the urgency of re-evaluating some of the …

COMMENT | DR MARTIN LUKINDU | The World Health Organization’s World Malaria Report 2023, released this month, paints a concerning picture of the global state of malaria in 2022. Despite continued efforts, malaria remains a significant public health challenge, with both malaria incidence and mortality higher now than they were …

  Governments must learn how to enhance productivity and employment in labour-intensive service sectors COMMENT | DANI RODRIK | Conventional economics has always had a blind spot when it comes to jobs. The problem goes back to Adam Smith, who placed consumers, rather than workers, on the throne of economic life. …

Demand for goods and services expected to surge as continent’s middle class spend hits US$2.5 trillion by 2030 COMMENT | MARGARET SOI | The purchasing power of Africa’s middle class is expected to grow significantly in the coming years: the continent’s middle class is expected to spend US$2.1 trillion by …

COMMENT | Samson Tinka |  On 13th December, a passenger who had booked a ticked on Uganda airlines to Dubai missed a flight because he came late. This would be ok because we miss flights for one reason or another. However, he and colleagues filmed a short video and later shared …

COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | The Democratic Republic of Congo’s decision to deny Election Observers from some reputable bodies could have far-reaching consequences, casting a shadow over the transparency and legitimacy of its electoral process. This move not only raises concerns about potential irregularities going unchecked but may also signal a …

Winning the war of tariff affordability and losing the war of sustainability of electricity sub-sector COMMMENT | HARRISON MUTIKANGA | A decade after Andrew Mwenda’s article, “Electricity cost going up 40%: but who benefits most from subsidies to UMEME?” in the Independent (Issue No.196 January 13-19, 2012), the details of electricity …