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Let us briefly then consider what Sudan and South Sudan governments can do individually and jointly in order to achieve peace and prosperity. This is by no means a comprehensive prescription but in my view an important contribution.
For a starter, good economics makes for good politics. And despite the impressive expansion of the Sudanese economy in the last two decades, a majority of Sudanese increasingly feel disenfranchised and impoverished. And as pointed out earlier, high prices and acute shortage of basic commodities are behind recent Sudan’s unrest.
To give credit where it belongs, the expansion in higher education since the 1990s has improved Sudan’s institutional, technical, technological, and administrative and managerial capacity. It also empowered women as demonstrated by the number of female university graduates exceeding that of males by June 2011. The expansion has also immensely increased country’s absorptive capacity for foreign direct investment. Sudan tops China’s investment priority destination in Africa, according to recent reports.
And like it or not, Sudan has attained a significant level of a functional state that includes monopoly on the legitimate use of violence and administrative control of its territory as well as increased diffusion of ICT and communication technologies throughout its economy.
However, the unintended consequences of the new economic structure are that it left a great majority of the Sudanese citizens worst off, especially those working in the public sector. The level of unemployment amongst graduates is staggering although no study has been carried out to know the precise rate of unemployment. This is a ticking bomb, and what we saw past two weeks last week is nothing but a mere taster if nothing is done to avert it.
Areas of economic reforms include, among others: embracing a flexible exchange rate policy, as well as lifting of subsidies on fuel and wheat flour. While these subsidies may give an appearance of benefiting the poor, they are actually subsidising the rich while placing enormous burden on the government, preventing it from funding targeted social policies that can benefit well-defined sectors of the Sudanese society. What’s more, subsidies provide arbitrage opportunities for extortion and self-enrichment by those connected to the system, especially by elements of national security apparatus.
The savings from subsidies can be used to increase public sector pay and improve social such as education and health. This will improve citizens trust and allow the national economy to adjust because consumers will rationally shift to local and cheaper substitutes.
The government also needs to adopt a more progressive tax policy with the aim of fairly redistributing the public cake between the very rich few and the very many poor in such a way as to raise median incomes across the board. In medium to long term, these reforms will move Sudan to middle income country within a decade.
Moreover, Sudan could upgrade its successful Students Support Fund policy to a Student Loan Scheme like one in Kenyan. That means students can contribute to funding their higher education without placing an undue burden on their families.
In addition, Sudan can establish non-discriminatory Enterprise Fund to support young entrepreneurs. It would be an uphill battle changing attitudes towards subsidies. Done transparently and honestly, these reforms can make a huge difference to Sudanese economy.
Finally, Sudan needs to adopt an equal opportunity employment policy in both public and private sectors and must include key strategic government institutions, and get away from current employment policies that are perceived as partisan and sectarian. All Sudanese need to feel that their government is working for them, irrespective of their religion, ethnic background, region, or political affiliation. This will enhance citizens’ trust in the government. This, in short, is a call for a new, just, fair, and more comprehensive social contract in Sudan.
South Sudan is starting from a different baseline, as one may expect, and therefore its priorities are different from those of Sudan and very basic in nature.
And right now, South Sudan priority is to consolidate peace and stabilize its economy through the recently launched 3-year National Development Strategy 2018-2021.
The success and credibility of the strategy is tight to South Sudan’s ability to reform its grossly underperforming civil service through competitive recruitment and training, adoption of a centralized planning regime, improvement in coordination amongst and between different levels of the government, enhancing revenue mobilisation through taxation, investment in human capital formation through education and skills training, and a more aggressive investment in basic infrastructure (electricity, water, communications, and roads).
Like Sudan, there is a need for government to commit itself to floating exchange rate policy as opposed to current ‘managed float’ which is really a reversion to old “fixed exchange” rate policy; as well as adopting inflation-indexed pay structure in public and private sector. South Sudan should avoid following the example of Sudan which has allowed national security personnel to muddle in economic institutions and policies that are the domain of civil servants.
In addition, the government of South Sudan should manage its oil revenues in a more transparent manner and eliminate fuel subsidies. It should also review and estimate the cost of medical treatment and officials travels abroad for purpose of regulating and redirecting the savings to better state-building goals.
The government of the two countries should collaborate to resolve outstanding issues in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that include Abyei, and conflicts in South Kordofan, South Blue Nile, in addition to Darfur and Eastern Sudan.
Sudan must also end its self-imposed trade embargo on South Sudan and that the two countries should negotiate fair terms of trade for their mutual benefit.
All in all, there is room for much improvements in the economies and governance of the two countries.
NEW YORK (AP) — While most WNBA teams are battling for playoff spots in one of the league’s most competitive postseason races, New York, Indiana, Chicago and Las Vegas are jockeying for the draft lottery position.
The league changed the lottery system in 2015 to include teams’ record over a two-year span to avoid teams tanking to get the top draft pick.
Indiana has the best odds to get No. 1 with a 14-48 mark over the past two seasons. Las Vegas, which is still in the playoff hunt, currently has the second-best chance, two games ahead of Chicago in the two-year standings. The Aces put more distance with Chicago on Tuesday when the league ruled their game against Washington last Friday would be a forfeit after the Las Vegas players decided not to play because of health and safety after traveling for 26 hours to get to D.C.
New York, which finished with the third-best record last season, has assured itself the worst chance to get the No. 1 pick this year.
The Las Vegas franchise has had the top pick the last two years.
While there was no doubt that A’ja Wilson was the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, no leading candidate has emerged yet for next year’s pick. There are a lot of talented college seniors in the draft, including guard Asia Durr of Louisville, forward Katie Lou Samuelson of UConn and centers Kalani Brown of Baylor and Teaira McCowan of Mississippi State.
Who goes No. 1 might come down to the need of the team that gets the top pick.
1. Seattle (22-7): With a playoff berth locked up, the Storm are now trying to secure the No. 1 seed and a bye to the semifinals.
2. Atlanta (18-10): A huge win in Minnesota has moved the Dream closer to clinching a playoff spot. While catching Seattle will be tough, the two seed is definitely within Atlanta’s grasp.
3. Los Angeles (17-11): Finally healthy and playing solid defense has helped the Sparks turn things around.
4. Phoenix (16-13): Mercury are still struggling to find consistency and a replacement for Sancho Lyttle, who suffered a season-ending injury a few weeks ago.
5. Connecticut (16-12): Sun have seen a reemergence of Jonquel Jones lately and that’s helped buoy the team’s four straight wins.
6. Washington (17-11): Kristi Toliver scored final eight points to help Mystics beat Dallas in a pivotal game. Mystics are in the mix for at least a first-round playoff bye.
7. Minnesota (15-13): Had a chance to gain ground with games against the top three teams in the league and went 0-3.
8. Dallas (14-14): Wings have dropped five straight games and are fortunate they have a cushion over ninth place Las Vegas.
9. Las Vegas (12-16): Just can’t get any kind of momentum to make a playoff push.
10. Chicago (10-18): Dug a big hole early in the season because of injuries and have been trying to climb out ever since.
12. Indiana (5-23): Won consecutive games for the first time in over a year and are trending in the right direction.
A single glance at the CV of Milutin Sredojevic is enough to prove that those questioning whether the Serbian is really the supremo in the Pirates technical team know not what they speak of.
The tactician, affectionately known as Micho, has left an indelible mark everywhere he has coached and it is long overdue that he bags his maiden title at Pirates.
He has won three league titles with SC Villa Kampala in Uganda and five league crowns with Saint-George of Ethiopia.
Sredojevic has meticulously built a formidable team that is a far-cry from the one that had teething problems at this time last year.
During his first stint in 2006 at Pirates, he took the team to the CAF Champions League semifinals, where they lost to SC Sfaxien. It has been a long time coming but now it's Micho's time to bring home his first title in SA with the TKO.
Never write off any team in a cup final.
I understand why many would pick Pirates to beat Baroka in the Telkom Knockout final tomorrow.
Bucs have been rather impressive this term, so they look like a safe bet.
I've also heard a lot about Bucs wanting it more, because they are in their fifth season without silverware.
But I'm saying don't get ahead of yourself, even if the odds are stacked against Baroka.
Who in their right minds would write off a team that knocked out Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinals stage?
Have we also suddenly forgotten that Bidvest Wits, the defending champions, exited at the semifinals stage, thanks to Baroka?
Pirates are clear favourites, but I also know Bakgaga have not conceded a goal in this tournament.
The pressure is on Pirates.
NEW YORK (AP) — It took just days for the brightly colored Mandarin duck that appeared suddenly in a Central Park pond to turn both New Yorkers and visitors into a new gaggle: the quackarazzi.
A horde of photographers has been gathering daily in the park off Fifth Avenue for well over a month, hoping to catch a glimpse of the exotic bird with pink, purple, orange and emerald green plumage and markings that admirer Joe Amato compares to "a living box of crayons."
"So many people are drawn to this bird because its vibrant, vivid colors are associated with sunsets and rainbows," said Amato, who comes almost daily from his Queens home with his expensive camera equipment in tow.
Bird lovers and sightseers have dutifully documented the bird's every move through social media postings and videos that have noted its gentle glides across the water, its sniping at the ordinary mallards and even a vacation, of sorts, to a lake in nearby New Jersey.
This week, New York's latest rising star didn't disappoint — with the feathery showboat preening its wings in the shadow of the historic Plaza Hotel as people on shore jostled for a better look.
Leesa Beckmann commuted two and a half hours from her home in Vernon Township, New Jersey, to see the duck that her 90-year-old mother has been talking about since its arrival.
"I've got to see this magnificent duck," Beckmann said to her mother.
She plans to shoot and frame photos for her mother to hang on the wall.
Ornithologist Paul Sweet, however, who heads a vast collection of bird specimens at the New York-based American Museum of Natural History, isn't as throttled as others are about the duck.
Sweet says there's nothing special about a Mandarin duck in Central Park. Not only is there another one (albeit captive) a short walk away at the Central Park Zoo, but such ducks are often imported from Asia for use on private property. From time to time, they escape into the wild.
"This bird is clearly not a vagrant," said Sweet, adding that there are no records of actual wild Mandarin ducks in North America. If that actually happened in New York, of all places, "birders would be very excited." For now, he says, they're not.
"A lot of non-birders tend to see gaudy birds as more beautiful," Sweet said. "But to me it's no more beautiful than, say, a sparrow."
In this case, expertise is not the point: Beauty is in the eyes of the New York beholders — humans for whom the carefree creature that has made Central Park its home offers some kind of balm in a troubled, chaotic world.
REPORTING FROM NEW DELHI -- A roadside bomb killed 11 paramilitary officers and wounded 29 Tuesday as they traveled in a minibus in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Although no group took immediate responsibility, authorities blamed insurgent Maoists.
Video footage showed the mangled remains of the upended white bus in a ditch, its front wheels blown off and windows shattered, with more than a dozen ambulances ringing the area. Officials said the death toll could rise because several of wounded were in serious condition.
Two helicopters were rushed to the scene to retrieve the dead and wounded as security was called in to search the adjoining jungle. Local media said at least 60 people had been detained for questioning from surrounding villages by late afternoon.
Maoists vowed revenge last November after security forces killed one of their top leaders, known by the revolutionary name Kishenji, in West Bengal state. Maharashtra Gov. K. Sankaranarayanan called Tuesday's bombing "the height of cruelty."
The attack follows the kidnapping earlier this month of two Italians, a tourist and a local tour operator, as well as a local assemblyman by Maoists in eastern Orissa state. The Italian tourist was released Sunday, but the other two remain in captivity. The Maoists have issued 13 demands for their return, including the release of their jailed comrades.
The Maoists tend to follow classic guerrilla strategy as seen in Tuesday's roadside bombing, avoiding direct attacks in favor of softer targets, said B.K. Ponwar, head of the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare Training College in eastern Chhattisgarh state.
Explosives are readily available in many Maoist areas, easily diverted from mining operations, experts said. When combined with a detonator, wire, a container and mixed with other explosive material such as ammonium nitrate commonly found in fertilizer, they become a deadly and easily concealed weapon.
"There's nothing the Maoists like as much a vehicle loaded with security forces," Ponwar said. "And with all the communications now available, informers down the road can report that a military bus of such a color with so many forces is heading your way. Then someone standing 50 or 60 meters away just puts two wires together and detonates it."
Analysts said Tuesday's attack follows a period of relative quiet, although the attack-retreat cycle is part of the Maoists' pattern. Strategy among different regional Maoist groups is relatively well coordinated at upper levels, although implementation is often left to local cells, said Ved Marwah, a former police officer, author and analyst with New Delhi's Center for Policy Research.
"Their main target is the security forces," he said. "Their aim is to take over the country."
India's Maoists, known as Naxalites after the village of Naxalbari in West Bengal state where the movement starting in the 1970s, have a significant presence in a third of India's 28 states and are believed to number around 20,000 armed and 50,000 unarmed members. Government figures indicate that over 10,000 people were killed in Maoist violence between 2005 and mid-2010.
"Hallyu" back: Obama catches the "Korean Wave"
As the DC Comics looks to get over a few high-profile flops and usher in a new era of adaptations, upcoming films like Suicide Squad, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman will be hugely important. Earlier today, Entertainment Weekly released a photo spread showing everyone’s favorite Amazon princess in action and — though it’s far too early to make any predictions about the film itself — Gal Gadot continues to look the part.
You can check out the new snaps below, which showcase the Israeli actress unsheathing a sword, wielding a shield, striking a super-heroine pose, and staring off into the distance while ignoring Chris Pine (Steve Trevor).
With Monster director Patty Jenkins at the helm and a talented cast headlined by Gadot, Pine and Robin Wright, this could and should be good, but Hollywood is littered with the rotten tomatoes of movies that sounded like hits on paper, but didn’t play that way on screen.
For those that missed the first footage from the film, you can check that out here, and in the process, you’ll learn a bit about the origin story of the woman known as Diana Prince. Part of a tribe of powerful warrior women who once protected human kind, but now living in isolation, she yearns to journey to the outside world and fulfill her mission. Needless to say, she eventually does so, which is bad news for the bad guys.
Apart from those mentioned above, Wonder Woman stars Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), David Thewlis (The Theory of Everything), Ewen Bremner (Exodus: Gods and Kings), Saïd Taghmaoui (American Hustle), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In), Connie Nielsen (Gladiator), and Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead).
The film is set to hit theaters June 2, 2017.
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I Worked in a U.S. Embassy. I Saw How the Travel Ban Set the Stage for Family Separation.
Why Is This Progressive Legal Luminary Endorsing Brett Kavanaugh? Because Rich Clients Trump Justice.
With Kennedy Gone, What’s on the Chopping Block?
Trump’s Orders for the Military to Intern Civilians Are Unlawful. James Mattis Should Say No.
Is Anyone Left to Curb Trump’s Most Authoritarian Instincts?
Will John Roberts Now Be the Swing Vote, and What Does He Really Think of Trump?
Suttons International has appointed Graeme Rooney as managing director of its international division.
The logistics company has operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Rooney will oversee all of Suttons’ activities that the U.K.-based group provides to the chemical and petrochemical sectors. He will be based at Suttons’ Asian headquarters in Singapore.
Rooney has senior management experience in the logistics and supply chain industry, most recently as Suttons’ director of Asia and the Middle East.