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Tag Archives: economy
Selling Amway in the Congo
This is a story about some encounters I had nearly 20 years ago in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, while researching my dissertation on transnational migrants from the western Sahel. It was in Brazzaville that I got to know a Malian named Malik, who one day asked if I’d heard of Amway, the U.S. network marketing company. He invited me to attend one of its sales pitch meetings at a local home. Malik had recently signed on to sell Amway products, and he wanted me to hear about them from the fellow who had recruited him. What follows is a tale of desperation and hope, capitalism and power. Continue reading
Who’s getting Mali’s gold?
For the past few years, Mali’s industrial gold production (as reported by the Malian government in various press outlets) has been trending upward: This is surely good news: add rising production levels to the climbing value of gold on world … Continue reading
How to get filthy rich in sinking Africa
When a government gets serious about fighting corruption, certain effects quickly become visible. As a New York Times article showed last week in the case of Nigeria, once President Buhari’s crackdown got underway a few months ago, the people who’d … Continue reading
90 days of disaster
Several weeks ago I had an e-mail exchange with an acquaintance about events in Mali. I was uneasy about the way the military had suspended the country’s existing political institutions. I wrote, “the junta’s repeated attempts to ‘push the reset … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged amadou sanogo, Amadou Toumani Toure, bamako, coup, economy, politics
18 Comments
Bamako, 1997 to 2012: What’s changed?
Fifteen years ago this month, I came to Bamako for the very first time. In those days I was a fresh-faced Peace Corps trainee, more eager to get out to my rural post than to experience the city. On the … Continue reading
Bridges from Bamako 