China has vastly increased its involvement in Africa in the last few years. China is emerging as a major economic and political player on the African continent. What are the implications of the accelerating trade and investment relations, the strong Chinese focus on African oil, the increase in Chinese aid, and the growing Chinese involvement in peacebuilding? Is Chinese aid emerging as an alternative to Western aid?

During my fieldwork in Ilam district, Eastern Nepal, I had the chance to visit many different homes, and to experience parts of the everyday life of Nepali families. So far, in every single stay, I was impressed by the children’s motivation for doing homework until late in the evening, and their great ability to speak English. One of them, a 4,5-years old was copying mathematical rules and letters several times, “just for fun, as he is doing it every evening”, as his older brother told me.

High environmental risks and questionable development outcomes characterise the mining industry. A myriad of small companies operate in competitive, high-risk, high-reward settings with weak institutions that fail to enforce regulations. Such conditions are highly conducive to corruption, violence, and environmental destruction.

Peace, Bread and Land. Agricultural Investments in Ethiopia and the Sudans

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Many African states could raise substantial tax revenues. Instead they race to offer foreign investors the most favorable tax treatment.

Name: Merima Ali Research interests: Micro- and small-scale enterprises, cluster development and informal networks Geographical areas: Ethiopia ...

Corruption poses a serious threat to sustainable development and security. Donors spend large sums in support of interventions to reduce corruption and ensure that their funds are used for the intended purposes. Yet, despite these investments, the causes of corruption are better understood than how to most effectively reduce corruption.

This year, Professor Philippe Bourgois from the University of Pennsylvania was invited speaker at the Bergen Summer Research School (20-22 June), co-hosted by the CMI. During his visit, he was interviewed on his long-term research among drug-addicts in inner-city US ghettos. His research will be linked to a new program on urbanization and urbanity at CMI (Nefissa naguib and Are Knudsen).

How is Angola transforming growth into development? How to balance benefits to Angola's citizens and foreign investors?

A thwarted industrial policy, poor economic governance and external tensions have brought Iran's industrial class to the brink of extinction. They are trapped in between the revolutionary rhetoric of the Islamic republic and unfulfilled attempts of economic pragmatism.

The current situation in Afghanistan is the subject of two opposing narratives: one is a success story about international support and involvement since 2001; the other is a story where much has gone wrong and everything can only get worse. Agreeing on a narrative that is closer to the truth is crucial when deciding what form Norwegian support and involvement should take in the future, write Arne Strand and Liv Kjølseth.

COGENT represents an inter-disciplinary approach to improving household food security and nutrition-related health outcomes among women and ...

SUGAR in Uganda DFID has initiated a new programme, called Strengthening Uganda’s Anti-Corruption and Accountability Regime (SUGAR). ...

Norwegian energy companies abroad. Expanding the anthropological understanding of corporate social responsibility. When Norwegian energy companies ...

Results-based financing has been launched as a strategy to increase the use and improve the quality of health services in low- and middle-income ...

The Taxation, Institutions and Participation (TIP) project investigates the effects of tax havens on the domestic revenue system, institutions ...

In the past decade much has been written on China’s increasing importance and growing influence in Africa. So far most of the research ...

The project investigated any negative effects of having many children. The methodological challenge was causality. We know that poor people ...

Norad has been engaged in capacity building and provision of technical support to the Afghan Ministry of Mines since 2007. A part of this engagement ...