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On 12 January, the London-based private equity group Helios Investment Partners announced that it had exceeded the $1 billion target that it had set for Helios Investors III, L.P., or “Helios III”, thus making it the first $1 billion-plus private equity fund for African investments.  Founded in 2007 by Nigerian-born
Continue Reading Helios Raises $1.1 Billion Fund for African Investments

President Obama recently announced that approximately 3,000 U.S. troops will deploy to West Africa in an effort to combat the Ebola epidemic, which has struck more than 4,985 people and resulted in over 2,461 deaths.  The U.S. Africa Command will establish its Joint Force Command headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia to coordinate regional assistance to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.  The additional health facilities, medical expertise, equipment, and supplies that the U.S. will provide are desperately needed, yet the mission’s effectiveness will depend in part on the United States’ ability to adequately address the underlying governance challenges and social dynamics that are propelling this debilitating virus.

On September 18, the international non-profit IREX sponsored a Washington, D.C. event entitled Ebola in Liberia: The Challenges of Preserving Peace in a Public Crisis.  Panelists in the field of healthcare, media and civil society development, and justice sector reform offered useful observations concerning Liberia’s governance obstacles and their effect on the Ebola outbreak.  The experts highlighted the social realities that have hindered the fight against Ebola and identified potential opportunities for the upcoming U.S. mission to maximize its impact in Liberia.Continue Reading Governance Challenges, Social Barriers, and the Upcoming U.S. Mission to Fight Ebola

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, two out of three sub-Saharan Africans, approximately 600 million people, do not have access to electricity, instead relying on costly, environmentally unfriendly, and unhealthy forms of energy such as diesel generators and kerosene lamps and stoves.  With many sub-Saharan African countries
Continue Reading Solar Investment Booms in Sub-Saharan Africa

            On August 1, 2014, Uganda’s Constitutional Court overturned the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) on procedural grounds, holding that the Act’s passing was unconstitutional because the necessary quorum of lawmakers was not present in parliament to vote on the bill.  This controversial legislation, which was passed on February 24, 2014, imposed a
Continue Reading Uganda Nullifies the Anti-Homosexuality Act and Backs Away from the Pursuit of Similar Legislation