Winners (increased % of budget): Works and Transport, Energy, Public Administration
Losers (decreased total spending): Tourism, Trade and Industry, ICT, Social Development (what is that?), Education
Background to the Budget 2013-2014 available here.
Looks like we are focusing on physical capital at the expense of human capital. Will it pay off?
This and much more available at aiddatachina.org, AidData‘s new source for data on Africa-China relations. It’s brilliant.
The African continent in missions and Islamic trade routes.
Data on missions comes from Roome (1924), via Nathan Nunn. Trade routes digitized from An Historical Atlas of Islam, Brice (1981).
This year’s annual conference of the Stanford Forum for African Studies will be held October 26-27, 2012 at the Stanford Humanities Center. All are invited to attend. Guest speakers include Francis Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town) and Senegalese writer Boubacar Boris Diop, best known for his book, Murambi.
The full conference program can be found on the SFAS website.
I’m off to Busia, Kenya, for the weekend to visit great friend who is working at IPA this summer. Updates to come! I’m hoping to get some insight into how the common market is working so far at that busy border post. 
Melina Raquel Platas 