Expanding the Legacy
Software as a Growth Engine
Tech-savvy governments are few and far between as civil services – usually large molochs that move at a glacial pace – struggle to adapt to the digital environment and display a reluctance to think outside the proverbial box. Addicted to paper forms, rubber stamps, seals, and protocols, civil servants almost...
Returning to Accelerated Growth
Home to half of the world’s fastest-growing economies, most of Africa is already now living its long-promised bright future. After a few lean years brought about by the end of the commodities super cycle, most of the continent’s top performers have pushed through the structural reforms needed to ensure the...
Keys to Lasting Success
Home to some of the world’s largest and most iconic companies, Switzerland is a source of corporate excellence – and has been so for well over a century. Thanks to the country’s much-cherished and long-standing neutrality – which made the Swiss reluctant to join any multi- or supranational organisation, Switzerland...
The End of Cheap Money?
It had to happen and it just did. The untold joys of expansive monetary policy as the engine of growth in lean times are, of course, always of a temporary nature. As the global economy emerges with a vengeance from years of lacklustre growth, the need to keep interest rates...
The Debut of a Hawkish Dove
He spoke only three times publicly in his new job, and three times the markets tanked. More disconcertingly, he also flip-flopped during two key speeches on Capitol Hill, seamlessly moving from monetary hawk to dove within the space of a few days. The new chairman of the US Federal Reserve,...
Minding the Heritage, Shaping the Future
At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Porsche caused more than a ripple of excitement, not with its revamped 911s - a company staple since its debut in 1963 - but with the brand-new and voluptuous Mission E - a fully electric powered sports car that has now left the concept stage and is being readied for prime time. Production of the highly-anticipated vehicle - invariably described in the trade press as Tesla’s worst nightmare - is expected to start next year. With over 600HP, the Mission E barrels from 0-100 km/hr in under 3.5 seconds, approaching to within a whisker the industry benchmark set by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS.
John Magufuli and Hope Forlorn
He earned his nickname – The Bulldozer – as minister of Roads; today the handle applies equally well to his new job as president of Tanzania. John Magufuli is all about flair. He enjoys playing his audience on national television and has a keen sense for opportunity. Perhaps taking a...
Shaping a Multipolar National Debate
A prolific writer, publishing some sixty books over a career spanning four decades, German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk recently celebrated his seventieth birthday. Europe’s leading intellectuals and academics flocked to Mr Sloterdijk’s native Karlsruhe to pay tribute. Chancellor Angela Merkel chipped in with a congratulatory letter praising Germany’s most controversial thinker for his contributions to culture.
Teenager vs. Superpower
At the sharp end of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, student activist Joshua Wong is getting up close and personal with the Chinese powers-that-be who are in no mood to permit or tolerate political dissent. He may be just 21 and baby-faced, but it so happens that Mr Wong is quite headstrong and refuses to give up on his goal - democratic reforms for the former British colony, now a special administrative region of the People’s Republic.
Fighting Jihadists with Music
In Mali, she is the grande dame of the country’s exceptionally rich music scene: Khaira Arby - aka The Nightingale of the North. Mrs Arby is celebrated throughout her country and the world. For many of her fans, she also embodies Mali’s irrepressible spirit. Her haunting rendition of traditional Tuareg songs brings tears of joy to audiences as she plucks at the chords of national remembrance with tales of salt mines and camel caravans to the sound of electric guitars and the ngoni, Mali’s traditional lute.
