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Blog for sharing ideas on Africa's development online
launched
Accra, Sept. 25, Ghanadot/GNA - The World
Bank Africa Region has announced the launching of a new blog
from its Chief Economist Shanta Devarajan. The blog,
AfricaCan.org, will serve as an online forum for the sharing
of ideas about Africa's development, a release from the
Accra office of the Bank said.
The objective of the AfricaCan blog is to create a platform
for conversation around the issues of sustainable growth and
development in Africa, and serve as outreach to help to
promote analysis and evidence about what is working and what
isn't on the Continent.
The blog would include guest commentary from Devarajan's
colleagues at the World Bank and would feature posts in
English and French.
"There is no shortage of economics blogs out there, but this
is one of the very few you will have to turn to if you are
interested in a serious debate on African development," said
Dani Rodrik, the Rafik Hariri Professor of International
Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University.
Rodrik's own popular weblog features "unconventional
thoughts on economic development and globalization."
Devarajan invites comments from students, academics, fellow
economists and bloggers, members of government and civil
society, and anyone interested in ending poverty in Africa.
Journalists are encouraged to quote
Devarajan directly from the blog.
"Africa Can is a place for all those who care about Africa's
economic development to gather and comment. The debate on
Africa's economic growth and poverty reduction should not
just be held in boardrooms and parliament halls but in
classrooms, tea shops, and village meetings, where the
people, who are most affected, can contribute," Devarajan
said.
Devarajan joined the World Bank's Africa Region as Chief
Economist in January 2008 after five years in the Bank's
South Asia Region. While in South Asia, he launched End
Poverty in South Asia, a blog aimed at creating a
conversation around how South Asia could end poverty in a
generation.
"The End Poverty in South Asia blog was a great success for
the region. It drew together many voices on South Asia's
development, voices not just of assent but also of discord
and debate. It livened up the discussion and drew a whole
new audience for the Bank," said Praful Patel, Former World
Bank Vice-President for the South Asia Region.
GNA
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