Tropentag Conference: Bonn, Germany – October 2011: left-to right standing: Ishtiag, Amro, Prof. Mubarak, Mutaz, Dr. Awadallah. Sitting: Dr. Abdelkarim, Sahar, Khalid.

Tropentag Conference: Bonn, Germany – October 2011: left-to right: Dr. Awadallah, Dr. Abdelkarim, Prof. Mubarak, Dr. Elamin, Khalid, Mutaz, Amro, and Sahar.

Here I was highlighting some points from the plenary keynote address of Mr. Haus J. Preuss of the GIZ, Germany in the closing session of the Tropentag 2011 conference, Bonn, Germany. His talk was under the title: Africa: a continent on the margin or a lion ready to pounce? He was highlighting the positive issues in African context including: (1) the fast economic growth, (2) population growth and urbanization, (3) agricultural potential, and  (4) the abundant resources.

He tried also to stress the recent changes in the way Africa is presented by the international media from being the home of poverty, conflict, disease, and corruption to an economic partner who could have his say in the world political sphere and contribute to the world economy. In my intervention, I tried to let him draw the connections between: (1) economic growth and inequality, (2) urbanization and internal migration, and (3) using mineral resources to enhance agriculture instead of replacing agriculture by them.

Project meeting, Brown University, USA (January 16 – 22, 2012)

Project meeting, Brown University, USA (January 16 – 22, 2012)