1 in 5

M & G has a pretty interesting article on 'the billionth African' to be born sometime this year (or maybe he/she has already been born). I guess this might seem like a daunting number--having economic and infrastructure growth match this population growth is a huge challenge. But I think it's something exciting. One in five people in the world will be African. With such enormous populations, the continent's potential for investment and overall importance in the World will be tough to ignore.

Population statistics like this get me excited because they suggest a fundamental change in the world's workings. As China's population falls by 2050, and India's population growth slows to a trickle, the African continent will likely be booming.

Links for Lack of Longer Thoughts

World Cup 2010 hosts, South Africa, fired their head football coach, Joel Santana this past Monday. This is big news for the Bafana. I'd think South Africans are more worried about their head coaching situation then on anything else (crime, capacity, etc) regarding the upcoming World Cup. Mail & Guardian predicts that the Bafana will replace one Brazilian head coach with another.

Robert Mugabe held a cabinet meeting this morning despite Tsvangirai's absence. Tsvangirai had boycotted the meeting because of frustration that major details of the power-sharing agreement had been unmet. Specifically, Mugabe's arrest and pending prosecution of MDC member, Roy Bennett, whom Tsvangirai nominated for the post of Deputy Minister of Agriculture have exacerbated tensions. In short, Mugabe continues to balk at actually implementing a unity government. His initial concessions to graciously share power in an election he fraudulently won seem to have been a way to buy time and international aid as he co-opts his rivals--much like he once did with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU party.

This is just the start of a growing habit of linking and reading more news topics on the African continent...

Nobel Peace Prize Alternatives

In reading the announcement this morning that Barack Obama had been given the Nobel Prize for Peace, I (like many others) thought: Afghanistan.

Since receiving McChrystal's recommendation for more troops, Obama has been grappling with what to do in Afghanistan. He's had a couple weeks already, and will likely need a couple more. It's not an easy decision. And the timing of the Peace Prize announcement seems especially awkward considered the monumental decision to be made.

That said, I think there are many other more deserving (and less awkward) to give the award to. I'm no expert on the competitive field of Peace Prize candidates, but I would have given the award to....

Morgan Tsvangirai- formed a unity government with Mugabe--after an election was blatantly stolen from him. Was nearly beaten to death by Mugabe's police a few years ago. If that's not living by a turn-the-other-cheek, Peace-loving worldview, I don't know what is. He avoided falling in to the common pitfall of civl-war African states. What's more he's travelled around the world rallying for aid money, and he's liberalized Zimbabwe's dismal economy. In short, if I were a Zimbabwean, he'd be the only thing to make optimistic about my cholera filled, inflation scarred nation. And I know personal tragedy shouldn't factor in, but his wife died this past year. This guy's had a rough year of it. Plus giving him the award would bring some much needed attention to Zimbabwe and his coalition government at a time when Mugabe is showing he will never live up to the power sharing agreement.

There are countless other figures who I'm sure are much deserving, but I'd go with Tsvangirai.