This was in the FT yesterday:
The US Treasury should consider issuing a dollar-denominated Islamic bond or sukuk - an act that would signal respect for Islamic law and people and implicitly acknowledge the limitations of military and political strategies. A sukuk issued as a way to fund US assistance in rebuilding Lebanon, for example, might be the way to start.
Today, a consideration of African infrastructure:
The case for a “big push” in infrastructure is that it will help kick-start the kind of growth poor African countries need to become self-reliant. More than $500bn has gone into aid to post-colonial Africa to date, but the benefits in terms of development are questionable. At best, aid has treated the symptoms of underdevelopment, not the underlying malady. Health and education programmes remain priorities. But arguably the biggest improvement to health would be if people could obtain clean water or get to clinics.
Jordan - #
