Malagasy company Guanomad has won over the local market with its organic fertilisers made from bat guano (excrements) and expanded its reach to Europe. Next, Africa. Read the full story here. Published in The Africa Report, 14 Mar 2014. Photo ©Guanomad Continue reading Turning excrements into big bucks
Prioritising water and sanitation can be hard for decision-makers in developing countries faced with enormous needs and little resources. But leadership and focus on good management practices can go a long way. Read the full story here. Published on The Guardian’s Development Professionals’ Network, 18 Dec. Continue reading Investing in sustainable water and sanitation
Madagascar’s economy is floundering amidst chronic political uncertainty. Presidential elections must run smoothly to provide businesses the stability they need. Read the full story here. Published in This Is Africa, 25 October 2013. Continue reading Elections key to kickstart Madagascar economy
Arts and crafts play a large role in economies dependent on tourism. Now some governments are waking up to the need to professionalise the industry. Read the full article here. Article published in The Africa Report, April 2013. Continue reading Africa’s village crafts have big ambitions
Though Malagasies are likely to remember 2013 as the year of the long-awaited presidential elections, it will also stay in the annales as the year when the country started producing oil. Read the full story here. Published in The Africa Report, 16 April 2013. Continue reading Madagascar joins the oil producers’ club
Since Madagascar’s leader, Andry Rajoelina, ousted President Marc Ravalomanana in a military coup in March 2009, he has promised—and postponed—elections every year. So when he announced in August 2012 that presidential elections would take place on May 8th 2013, the reaction was one of rather cautious enthusiasm, or even scepticism. Yet Madagascar desperately needs these elections – read the full story here. Published in The … Continue reading Madagascar’s political stalemate
Tour operators used to sell Burkina Faso as a joint trip to Mali. With Mali now off-limits following the north’s takeover by Islamist militants, the bottom has fallen out of regional tourism. Read the full story here. Published on Baobab, The Economist, 19 December 2012. Continue reading Staying Away: How Mali’s crisis killed tourism in Burkina Faso
Domestic visitors used to make up 40% of visitors at Cape Coast Castle, Ghana’s famous slave fort. Now it’s 70%. Domestic tourism, like everything else in Ghana, is booming. Hitting the road is now the thing to do amongst young Ghanaians: find out more about those I recently met during a trip in Ghana in this piece for the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent. You … Continue reading Of crocodiles and slave forts: domestic tourism in Ghana
It’s been a tough couple of years for Malian artisans: since security started deteriorating in the north, tourists and professional buyers have stopped coming. But Burkina Faso’s arts & crafts fair SIAO is providing a lifeline for struggling craftspeople. Read the full story here. Published in Think Africa Press, 12 November 2012. Continue reading SIAO: Crafting a recovery for Mali’s artisans?
With unprecedented investment into the development of Africa’s palm oil industry, governments in the region are trying to avoid past environmental mistakes made in Asia. Read the full story here. Published in This is Africa. Continue reading Can Africa learn from SE Asia’s mistakes with palm oil?
