SEATTLE — Credit access can be defined as the availability of financial institutions in a country and the capacity of individuals to obtain or utilize these essential services. The availability of credit is a major indicator of a country’s poverty level. It is essential to alleviating deeply entrenched issues like rural poverty in particular. Ethiopia, a developing country with one of the highest poverty rates in the world, currently standing at 30 percent, is steadily working towards maximizing its credit access. Microfinance or microcredit is an important source of credit access for many countries. They are often in the form…
Author: Shivani Ekkanath
Shivani Ekkanath
Shivani is an Indian writer for The Borgen Project living in Singapore. Her hobbies are music, dance and writing. She loves reading about current affairs, political relations and other social issues.
SEATTLE — The Uyghur Muslims are a minority group with ethnic Turkic ancestry, residing in the autonomous 22-million strong region of Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) in China. Since China gained independence in the year 1949, the Uyghur Muslims have been persecuted by other majority groups in the region. The Han migrant influx has also caused insurmountable pressure on the region in recent years. The lack of social security nets have also aggravated poverty for this group over the years. The estimated population of Uyghur Muslims globally is 35 million, and a majority of the population continues to live in the Xinjiang…
SEATTLE — The Russian economy has suffered shocks from decreases in oil prices and a recent deal with OPEC nations. As a middle-income nation with a rural poverty rate of 42 percent, most of Russia’s economic potential lies in its investment and growth capacity. In 2016, Russia’s growth was projected at -0.6 percent, while in 2017 it improved to 1.8 percent. More investments in development projects can hopefully bring the economy out of its persistent recession. Russian infrastructure, in particular, makes up a large proportion of its foreign direct investment. The Russian Investment Forum is becoming a successful platform that…
SEATTLE — In another feat of revolutionary muckraking, a cache of over 13.4 million documents containing confidential data of over 120,000 individuals and entities from offshore Bermuda law firm Appleby has been leaked to the international community. The documents were acquired by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, following which the information was made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. A large proportion of the Paradise Papers disclose the number of tax havens, offshore accounts and dealings that financial and political elite entities have across the globe. Moreover, there were shocking reveals about U.S- Russian connections, Apple’s dealings, Canadian government…
SEATTLE — Libya, an oil-rich nation in North Africa with a vulnerable population of over 6.4 million, has been embroiled in a civil war since 2011 following the assassination of leader Muammar Gadaffi after a 42-year rule. The National Transitional Council has struggled to restore order and deal with rebels. The de facto U.N-backed government in Libya, the Government of National Accord, is currently tasked with ending the strife between the various fringe militia groups in the country. The country is lacking in access to primary healthcare, security, sanitation and water. Over 20 percent of the public healthcare system is…
SEATTLE — Africa is bustling with investment, economic and business potential. Chinese investment in Africa, in particular, has been growing: trade between China and African countries rose by a fifth in the first quarter of 2017. Chinese investment in Africa has the potential to encompass poverty reduction, developing health infrastructure, generating employment, boosting business opportunities and ensuring sustainable industrialization. Chinese investment is financing many billion-dollar projects in the country. A significant amount of China’s Outward Direct Investment (ODI) in sub-Saharan Africa is linked to trade, and according to a recent report by McKinsey and Company, there are more than 10,000 Chinese business…
With a poverty rate of 64.9 percent and one of the lowest Human Development Indexes (HDI) in the world, Burundi is currently embroiled in a civil war and a serious refugee and migration crisis. Since 2015, over 400,000 refugees have fled due to fear of persecution and poverty in Burundi and traveled to neighboring countries in the region. Poverty in Burundi stems from the recently escalating political crisis, beginning in October 2015. The country experienced unrest after President Pierre Nkurunziza’s successful re-election, despite it being in violation of the constitution. As a result, extrajudicial arrests, summary executions and arbitrary assets…
SEATTLE — As a country that has been plagued by war since the 1970s, trade in Afghanistan has been impacted by the socio, political and economic instability in the country. With the GDP showing a great decline in the past 20 years, tapping into the country’s trade potential can go a long way in sustainably alleviating poverty in the future and attracting foreign direct investment to the country. Afghanistan is one of the MENAP countries (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan) being impacted by the low global oil prices, with the growth in oil exports only averaging about 1.7…
MYANMAR — The Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Myanmar has snowballed for the past few years. Since October 2016, nearly 66,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh, and the recent surge in violence and displacement only fuels the intensity of the Exodus and impacts various concerned stakeholder groups. In recent weeks, the recent clashes between the majority Buddhists and minority militant Rohingya groups like the Arakan Tohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) have rocked the capital of Rakine. The Rohinya: Who are they? The Rohinya are a Muslim minority group residing in a concentrated portion of Western Myanmar. Since 1990, Rohingya Muslims have been…
NEW DELHI — The recent deluge of flooding in India is imperiling the lives of over 24 million individuals in the country. The monsoon rains in 2017 have been especially torrential. The Northern Indian states of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam have been especially impacted. The death toll across India, Nepal and Bangladesh currently stands at 800, and 253 in the State of Bihar alone. The recent flooding in India is also known to have catalyzed mudslides in many areas. This has wreaked even more havoc and destruction in flood-prone areas. An estimated over 500,000 homes have been ravaged by…