Fyi...

Rodney D. Coates
Professor of Sociology and Gerontology
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
 513 - 529 1590


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World Bank Africa Chief Economist Launches New Blog
The World Bank Africa region has announced the launch of a new blog
from its chief economist, Shanta Devarajan. The blog, AfricaCan.org,
will serve as an online forum for the sharing of ideas about the
continent's development.

The objective of the AfricaCan blog is to create a platform for (1)
conversation around the issues of sustainable growth and development
in Africa, and (2) outreach to help promote analysis and evidence
about what is working and what isn't on the continent.

The blog will include guest commentary from Devarajan's colleagues at
the World Bank and will feature posts in English and French.

"There is no shortage of economics blogs out there, but this is one
of the very few you will have to turn to if you are interested in a
serious debate on African development," said Dani Rodrik, the Rafik
Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at the John F.
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Rodrik's own
popular weblog features "unconventional thoughts on economic
development and globalization."

Devarajan invites comments from students, academics, fellow
economists and bloggers, members of government and civil society, and
anyone interested in ending poverty in Africa. Journalists are
encouraged to quote Devarajan directly from the blog.

"Africa Can is a place for all those who care about Africa's economic
development to gather and comment. The debate on Africa's economic
growth and poverty reduction should not just be held in boardrooms
and parliament halls but in classrooms, tea shops, and village
meetings, where the people who are most affected can contribute,"
Devarajan said.

Devarajan joined the World Bank's Africa Region as Chief Economist in
January 2008 after five years in the Bank's South Asia region. While
in South Asia, he launched End Poverty in South Asia, a blog aimed at
creating a conversation around how South Asia can end poverty in a
generation.

"The End Poverty in South Asia blog was a great success for the
region. It drew together many voices on South Asia's development,
voices not just of assent but of discord and debate. It livened up
the discussion and drew a whole new audience for the Bank," said
Praful Patel, former World Bank Vice-President for the South Asia
region.

(Source: Biz-Community)



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