Here’s your Daily Brief for August 4th: Investment Into Rwanda to Rise 10% in 2009 (via Reuters) – Hat tip to @whitakergroup for this gem: A more positive outlook than the NYT piece; This Reuters article reports a 10% increase in investment to Rwanda. The growth is attributed to an honest and disciplined government, though [...]

Here’s your Daily Brief for August 3rd: US Africa Trade on Exhibition at 8th Annual AGOA Forum (via Africa Business Source) – A nice overview of this weeks AGOA forum. Makes the good point that the issue needing MOST focus is no longer market access, but rather building up the competitiveness of African Countries by [...]

The year 2009 has ushered in a new executive administration in the United States, and with it a rejuvenation of all administrative bodies of government at the federal level. Such a rejuvenation is exactly what the US foreign assistance system needs. There are a lot of important questions to be answered about the future of how the US manages its foreign aid, among them:

• What role will the Department of Defense play in foreign assistance in the years to come? Particularly, how will AFRICOM evolve?
• Will we see greater centralization of foreign assistance programs (e.g. rolling MCC and PEPFAR into USAID)?
• What will happen to State/f? Will it be strengthened? Or will USAID regain its autonomy as the ultimate agency of foreign aid?
• And most importantly, what priority will the Obama Administration give to foreign assistance? Can we expect sweeping reforms? A cabinet-level position?

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