Arab Spring
Local heroes

Local heroes

The media: no place to hide Journalism is a high-risk job for African reporters, who are often not only undertrained and underpaid but also face jail, injury, even death A promising young journalist told me of covering...

Tumult in Tunis

Tumult in Tunis

Tunisian police have been cracking down on informal traders. In December 17, 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor aged 26, set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, in the centre of Tunisia. His act was a desperate protest...

EDITORIAL: The lifeboat of informality

EDITORIAL: The lifeboat of informality

African governments and their formal business sectors often hold up the informal sector as the nemesis of formalised growth  and  organised  development  –  yet for many citizens on the continent (and elsewhere),...