Think Bigg

I love it when I get to report good news, especially where Africa is concerned.

According to the BBC News, a recent World Bank study found that the economic boom revolutionizing the economies of India and China is also benefitting Africa.

The study found that, led by China and India, Asia now gets 27% of Africa’s exports, triple the amount in 1990.

At the same time, Asian exports to Africa are now growing 18% per year, faster than any other global region.

While the World Bank study recommends continuing trade reforms on both sides, the trend bodes well for the African economy as a whole.

In other news, a report by CARE International revealed that emergency aid to Africa has more than tripled in recent years, but more than 120 million people still live “on the edge of emergency” because of a lack of long-term solutions. An eye-opening example:

An early response to the 2005 Niger famine would have cost $1 a day per child to prevent malnutrition, while instead by the peak of the crisis it was costing $80 to save a child’s life.

The moral of the story? Of course we should celebrate the victories, but we can never lose sight of the goal. For a refresher on what the goals actually are, check out the UN Millenium Development Goals!

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The text of this speech blew me away.

Delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 2006 to an audience that included the President, the First Lady, King Abdullah and other dignitaries, Bono delivered his version of the Gettysburg Address: a call to action on aid to Africa.

…whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill… I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff… maybe, maybe not… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

For the full text of the speech, click the link. If you are a person of faith, it will remind you of why.

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As part of Clinton’s Global Initiative conference, Richard Branson is pledging $3 billion to fight climate change.

CNN reports,

British business mogul Richard Branson said Thursday he would invest about $3 billion to combat global warming over the next decade.

Branson, the billionaire behind the multi-platform Virgin brand, said the money would come from 100 percent of the profits generated by his transportation and airline sectors.

It will then be invested in efforts to find renewable, sustainable energy sources in an effort to wean the world off of oil and coal.

Branson’s pledge comes on the heels of other large philanthropic commitments from

George Soros — $50M donated to the Millenium Villages Project in Africa,

Bill Gates — $5Bn donated to the Gates Foundation,

Warren Buffet — $37Bn donated to the Gates Foundation and

Google — $1Bn allocated to a variety of for-profit philanthropic causes.

Thanks to all of these entrepreneurs for doing their part to leave the planet a better place than they found it.

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There is a Biblical saying that “to whom much is given, much is required.” Certainly, we, as the citizens of wealthy Western nations, have a responsibility to give back the blessings we enjoy.

Watch Bono’s call to action prior to the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

The main topics of the G8 summit concerned Africa and global climate change. You can read a summary of the Gleneagles commitments here.

As of July 2006, the British Department for International Development estimates the achievement of the following ten significant milestones by the end of 2006.

For more on what you can do to help, check out Bono’s ONE Campaign website.

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How much do you think the United States spends on foreign aid to Africa? Are you, like many people, under the impression that after billions of dollars “down the drain,” the world still has nothing to show for its investment in southern Africa?

Consider this. According to data supplied by economist Jeffrey Sachs, in 2002, the U.S. gave just $3 per sub-Saharan African. But after substracting the money spent on U.S. consultants, food and other emergency aid, administrative costs and debt relief, the actual aid per African came to a grand total of six cents.

Six cents per person per year to pull the poorest of the poor out of the trap of extreme poverty. If indeed money has gone down the drain, it doesn’t seem to be going down an African one.

For more information on improving the lives of the African people, please check out the United Nations Millenium Development Goals, eight imperative goals which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015.

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