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Council News
Michele Dunne and Amy Hawthorne on US Policy in Middle East (NPR)
Hariri Center Director Michele Dunne and Senior Fellow Amy Hawthorne reflect on US policy toward the Middle East and North Africa in the two years since President Barack Obama promised to make it a top priority to support democracy and human rights in the region.
J. Peter Pham Speaks on Sahel Politics and Security in The Hague
J. Peter Pham, director the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, was one of four experts invited to address a high-level international conference on the crisis in the Sahel region convened today in The Hague.
Rudolph Atallah Testifies before House Panel on Crisis in the Sahel
Rudolph Atallah, senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, testified at a House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on “The Growing Crisis in Africa’s Sahel Region.”
Mihaela Carstei on the US-Canada Keystone Pipeline Project (CTV)
On the heels of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to the United States, Energy & Environment Program Associate Director Mihaela Carstei joins CTV to discuss the Keystone Pipeline project that would transport tar sands oil from Canada and the northern United States to refineries in the Gulf coast of Texas.
Getting Zimbabwe (and Africa) Back on Track
April 19, 2012
The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a discussion with the Right Honourable Tendai Biti, MP, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), on the progress of the country’s economic recovery and moving out of its current political impasse. He also drew out lessons applicable to other African countries “in permanent crisis.”
A lawyer by profession, over the years Biti has been repeatedly jailed for his political activity as well as his work on behalf of human rights organizations and independent labor unions, including during the 2008 election crackdown when he was charged with “treason, communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State, insulting President Mugabe and causing disaffection among the defense forces” and bail was set at one trillion Zimbabwean dollars. Domestic and international pressure, however, forced President Robert Mugabe to accept a power-sharing agreement with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and, in February 2009, Biti was sworn in as Minister of Finance in the country’s “inclusive government.” During his tenure, he tamed Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, which peaked at a monthly rate of an estimated 79.6 billion percent. Currently inflation is about 4 percent per annum and the economy is expected to grow some 9 percent this year.
The minister’s presentation was followed by a discussion moderated by Ansari Center director J. Peter Pham.
TRANSCRIPT (pdf)
AUDIO (.mp3)
VIDEO
MEDIA MENTIONS
- Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Pleads For Outside Help - Nico Colombant, Voice of America
- Biti urges US sanctions re-think - Gilbert Nyambabvu, New Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwe business law seen to benefit black elite - Radio Netherlands
- Empowerment to benefit the elite: Biti - James Mombe, ZimOnline
- Indigenisation law ‘absurd’: Biti - Reuters
- Zimbabwe President Mugabe Too Old to Contest Next Elections: Minister Biti - Gibbs Dube, Voice of America
- UMongameli Mugabe Akusamelanga Ancintise Kukhetho Ngenxa Yokuguga: Biti - Ngu Gibbs Dube, Voice of America
- Loyalists take umbrage on Biti over Mugabe old jibe - The Zimbabwe Mail
- Showdown looms over funding of crucial elections - Jama Majola, Times Live
- U.S. Invites Mpofu to Kimberley Process Meeting - The Herald
- MDC-T denies Biti-Chamisa rift claims - New Zimbabwe
- Africa 2012 When minds meet Erring on the side of capital - Mutumwa Mawere, News Day
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