3 d. ago The Guardian view on Zambia’s Trumpian predicament: US aid cuts are dwarfed by a far bigger heist | Editorial

As the US decries corruption, a paper suggests the real scandal is multinationals legally extracting billions from Africa’s resource-rich nationDonald Trump’s decision to cut $50m a year in aid to Zambia – one of the world’s poorest nations – is dreadful, and the reason given, corruption, rings hollow. There is evidence of large-scale looting, but the real scandal is that the theft appears legal, systemic and driven by foreign interests. In a paper presented to the Association for Heterodox Economics conference in London later this month, Andrew Fischer of Erasmus University Rotterdam argues that Zambia’s economy is not being plundered by domestic actors but rather by transnational corporate practices enabled by opaque accounting. His findings point to a staggering extraction of wealth that dwarfs the value of the aid intended to help.Zambia is blessed – or perhaps cursed – with mineral wealth. It is Africa’s second-largest copper producer. The metal, key to the green...

Politics

4 d. ago Massive slum introduces Bitcoin where workers paid and vegetables bought with crypto

Around 200 people use bitcoin in Soweto West, a neighborhood of the Kibera slum in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. It's part of an initiative to extend financial services to one of the country's poorest and most under-banked areas

Politics

4 d. ago Bitcoin is introduced into Africa's largest slum, with risks and rewards

A Kenyan company has introduced bitcoin into what is widely considered Africa’s largest urban slum

Events

7 d. ago Death, violence and endless delay: Inside Africa’s most troubled energy project

Africa’s largest natural gas project was expected to drive Mozambique’s economy to new heights. The reality has been far different, writes Nick Ferris

Events

2 w. ago Reform UK to accept donations via bitcoin, Nigel Farage says

Party leader says he wants UK to be a ‘crypto powerhouse’ during speech at Las Vegas conferenceReform UK will accept donations through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Nigel Farage has announced.During an appearance at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, where he was introduced as a “UK presidential candidate”, Farage said: “As of now, provided you are an eligible UK donor we are the first political party in Britain that can accept donations in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Mysterious 'UFO base' on mountain in US known for missing people is new alien hotspot

The CIA has never confirmed the alien base, however, the declassified documents allege that there are 'alien bases' in Alaska, Africa, or South America, and on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

Events

3 w. ago Why a plantation house fire ignited a heated debate over slavery’s legacy

A fire that engulfed a mansion at Louisiana’s Nottoway Plantation, destroying one of the largest remaining pre-Civil War houses where scores of enslaved Africans labored, has sparked joy and anger online

Society