US Partnership with Africa: Economic Growth and Global Development – Rajiv Shah (CGDev Video)

This is another (fairly long) video from the Center for Global Development featuring a high-profile speaker, USAID Director Rajiv Shah. This hour-long dialogue between Shah and Nancy Birdsall, CGDev president, focused on President Obama’s recent trip to Africa and covers a wide range of topics. Obviously, it can be difficult to get government officials – especially high-level ones – to deviate from the official line and get out of bureaucratic-speak, but Birdsall does try to push him a little bit, I think. They also take audience questions during the second half of the video. The first video, of the entire dialogue, is about an hour long; the following videos are clips of the interview focusing on specific topics.



The Center for Global Development was pleased to host USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah for a discussion of the US partnership with Africa. Shah was just back from accompanying President Obama in Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania, where the president outlined a vision for US-Africa relations that puts a premium on economic opportunity, democracy, and African-led approaches to development.

At the event, Shah discussed the administration’s new commitments and USAID’s role in doubling electric power in Africa, working with young African leaders, boosting food security and global health, and attracting trade and investment to the continent.


Short Clip: Trade and the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

Short Clip: Update on Feed the Future

Short Clip: Energy as Constraint to Economic Growth

Short Clip: USAID and the Future of Development

Short Clip: Prospects for Food Aid Reform

MSF Video: HIV/AIDS in Yemen

This video, done by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), focuses on the stigma faced by individuals with HIV/AIDS in Yemen. The HIV prevalence rate in Yemen, and in the Middle East in general, is very low compared with most other regions in the world. However, individuals with HIV face intense stigma and discrimination from family, society, and healthcare providers. In addition to several doctors and project managers, two people with HIV are interview and tell the stories of how they were refused treatment and cast off by their families. It is an interesting look at HIV in a region that typically receives very little attention for it.



HIV is not a major epidemic in Yemen; prevalence is estimated at about 0.2 per cent of the population. However, people living with HIV face stigma and discrimination almost everywhere, even in some health facilities. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is working to provide treatment and help fight the stigma

CGDev Video: More Health for the Money

This video with the Center for Global Development’s Amanda Glassman, announces the release of a new report on how the Global Fund can get the most value for its money. The draft report, titled “More Health for the Money,” has been released and is available on CGDev’s website: http://www.cgdev.org/vfm. Glassman and her colleagues are actively seeking commentary and feedback, so you can contribute your expertise.

CSIS Video: President Joyce Banda’s Story

In this six-minute interview Joyce Banda, the current president of Malawi, talks about how her life and personal experiences have shaped her mission and policy priorities that she has carried throughout her career. She focuses on three main areas: educating girls, combating domestic abuse against women, and improving post-natal care to keep women alive.



Watch Malawi’s first female President, Joyce Banda, talk about the importance of education for girls and the empowerment of women.

China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection

As China is taking an increasingly active role on the world stage, its foreign assistance and development programs in other countries in increasing. However, unlike most Western nations, China does not publish this information. This report is particularly interesting because it tries to get an idea of China’s development financing over the last decade through media reports (press releases and newspaper articles).



How big is China’s aid to Africa? Does it complement or undermine the efforts of traditional donors? China releases little information and outside estimates of the size and nature of Chinese aid vary widely. In an effort to overcome this problem, AidData, based at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, has compiled a database of thousands of media reports on Chinese-backed projects in Africa from 2000-2011. The database includes information on 1,673 projects in 51 African countries, and $75 billion in commitments of official finance.