My Beauty Best Teacher

Jen Brea at Global Voices reports on a "new provision that would reduce taxes for French companies that invest in developing countries, “especially in Africa.”..." not so says "...Musengeshi Katata, who blogs at Le Pangolin, is skeptical. He calls the new measure “an open door” for French companies and African governments to defraud the public..."

Chris Kilbridge in a letter to the FT writes:

It seems that, like mosquitoes seeking stagnant pools of water, recent MBA graduates who cannot find a real job are in exodus to seek employment refuge in that bloated sector, the NGO/non-profit/ not-for-profit sector...These MBAs seeking more meaning in a job (but at entry-level Wall Street salaries) are no Mother Teresa's when it comes to social responsibility. It seems Prof Horton's research shows that working in a not-for-profit job can be, well, quite profitable.

Jen Brea points us to a post covering a lawsuit aimed at francophone kleptocrats
From NextBillion Aneel Karnani writes about "romanticising poverty".
Marguerite Barankitse wins a prize for her work with child victims of ethnic strife via African Loft
Friends of Ethiopia highlights a video on Amharic and Tigrigna. Are they the first written languages of commerce?

Jen Brea reports a quote from a banker in Mozambique:

"In one board meeting for the bank we discussed the vision/mission of the bank. (The NGO side creeping into the bank.) One member of the board was the CD of a large American NGO which has been in Mozambique for years. Folks said 'alleviate poverty' or 'eliminate poverty' and such.
I suggested, 'what about making our clients wealthy?' The reaction was immediate - no. That was not what we do. It was very interesting.
In the end, we thankfully dissuaded them of using the poverty word so that we wouldn't have to tell our clients - in our own mission statement - that they were poor.
Interesting article."

Jen Brea writes:

Governments are only effective and accountable to their people when they are forced to deliver. Introduce external sources for the services and security that a legitimate government is supposed to provide and you give bad or despotic regimes a permanent lifeline.

The TED Blog reports on the recent arrest of Andrew Mwenda:

Reuters Africa is reporting that Andrew Mwenda and two other staffers of the Independent have been arrested by Ugandan officials. Reuters reports:

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan security forces on Saturday raided the offices of a magazine seen as critical of President Yoweri Museveni's government, arresting three journalists and taking computers, a lawyer said.

Read more >>

The story in the Independent has more detailed coverage of this second raid since the launch of the newspaper in October.

In March, Andrew Mwenda was named a Young Global Leader for 2008 by the World Economic Forum. Watch the recent BBC World Debate in which Mwenda participated at this year's TED.

Jen Brea at Global Voices provides us with a litany of excerpts that put the Congolese leader to task:

The Congolese blogosphere had harsh criticism for Congolese president Joseph Kabila's recent interview in The New York Times. In it, Kabila talks about Rwanda, AFRICOM, Chinese investment, and his passion for motorcycles.He also talked about how good help is hard to find; many bloggers have blasted him for it. Kabila blames corruption on Mobutu's legacy and the ineptitude of his own officials, rather than taking responsibility for his government's problems...[continue reading]