Questions and Answers on Boko Haram

Introductory note: The following is an email interview I gave a reporter with the Pengpai News Agency and the Shanghai Morning Post, in Shanghai China, on the subject of Boko Haram. The interview and stories derived from it will be published in the Chinese language Pengpai. The questions are in bold typeface and my responses … Continue reading →

“Mahama-OO!” President John Mahama’s Woes

Two and four year olds play games amongst themselves called, “lights off-lights on.” “Lights off-lights on” is a local term used to describe the situation when the electrical power goes off and on. Accordingly, while the children play a game that requires electricity, one will suddenly shout, “lights off!” Immediately, all of them will simultaneously shout, “Mahama-oo!” After a few minutes of inactivity, obviously due to the lack of power, another shouts, “lights on,” and they all begin to laugh and continue where they left. Even when individuals cannot sleep well at night, they exclaim, “Mahama-oo!” Continue reading →

Multinational Banking and Somali Remittance Flows: Exactly Who Should be Regulated?

Somali remittances, which are sent through money transfer operations (MTOs), have been the subject of much scrutiny since 9/11. Members of the Somali diaspora rely on MTOs to send money (thought to total $1.2 billion a year) to their families and extended kin in Somalia, which, until recently, had no central monetary authority. These operations, in turn, rely on the banking facilities of large international banks. Yet MTOs have faced closures due to accusations they they serve as vehicles for laundering money and financing terrorism. Largely absent from debates over Somali remittance flows, however, is the issue of corruption within some of the world’s most powerful multinational banks and international financial institutions. Continue reading →