[Mideast + Africa] Getting rid of Bongo- but at what Brice?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Mideast + Africa] Getting rid of Bongo- but at what Brice?

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Best Friends: Nov 4, 2011

fits my needs posted:

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1629654983619518465?s=20

flossing inside hegra (leglessly). three legless minders look on enthusiastically.

Best Friends has issued a correction as of 17:46 on Feb 26, 2023

# ? Feb 26, 2023 17:39

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 06:45

Punkin Spunkin: Jan 1, 2010

fits my needs posted:

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1629654983619518465?s=20

Have you ever been there you ignorant idiot?

# ? Feb 26, 2023 17:49

Mister Bates: Aug 4, 2010

in Oklahoma the way they do road maintenance is mostly by slapping the thinnest possible layer of new asphalt on top of it without doing any kind of preparatory work at all so it starts to sag and crack again within weeks

lately they have even been doing that to roads that were originally concrete instead of asphalt so there's just this hosed up cracked uneven concrete road with like three inches of asphalt smeared on top of it like frosting on a cake

# ? Feb 26, 2023 18:01

skipmyseashells: Nov 14, 2020

a lineup of Oklahoman kids won�t sing songs to me so I don�t care

# ? Feb 26, 2023 18:03

Jazerus: May 24, 2011

Mister Bates posted:

in Oklahoma the way they do road maintenance is mostly by slapping the thinnest possible layer of new asphalt on top of it without doing any kind of preparatory work at all so it starts to sag and crack again within weeks

lately they have even been doing that to roads that were originally concrete instead of asphalt so there's just this hosed up cracked uneven concrete road with like three inches of asphalt smeared on top of it like frosting on a cake

sounds like china needs to expand the belt & road initiative

# ? Feb 26, 2023 19:42

PawParole: Nov 16, 2019

Oglethorpe posted:

wait

engineers can make roads that last longer than 10 years?

Locals rebuild it occasionally but it takes thousands of tons of traffic a year.

# ? Feb 26, 2023 21:08

Some Guy TT: Aug 30, 2011

https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1629941388090417156

# ? Feb 26, 2023 23:20

Stairmaster: Jun 8, 2012

https://twitter.com/EstherSolomon/status/1629949773825335296?s=20

# ? Feb 27, 2023 00:12

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

chaos in nigeria in the last few hours. major parties and politicians are calling out massive fraud in the elections and for all results to be annulled. i've followed the last three presidential elections and while they're messy and contentious i don't think i've seen this before

# ? Feb 27, 2023 22:35

Weka: May 5, 2019; That child totally had it coming. Nobody should be able to be out at dusk except cars.

i say swears online posted:

hell yeah new falz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ4CCTgsdcU

This rules thank you.

crepeface posted:

https://twitter.com/PowerUSAID/status/1628429207763304448?s=20

what happened to the greyzone thread

Moderated by AiT presumably.

Fozzy The Bear posted:

a video of a fat goon visiting a few Zambian schools and buying lunch for everyone

If you do have photos of these messed up roads I would be genuinely interested in seeing them.

# ? Feb 27, 2023 22:39

AnimeIsTrash: Jun 30, 2018

crepeface posted:

https://twitter.com/PowerUSAID/status/1628429207763304448?s=20

what happened to the greyzone thread

it got closed because max has a r word brain now

# ? Feb 27, 2023 22:42

AnimeIsTrash: Jun 30, 2018

That being said I think a generic anti-imperialist thread with some reading and stuff could be a good idea....

# ? Feb 27, 2023 22:43

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

https://mobile.twitter.com/AfamDeluxo/status/1630316896326131713

# ? Feb 27, 2023 22:46

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

the head of the independent national electoral commission is named Yakub, makes u think

# ? Feb 27, 2023 23:45

Throatwarbler: Nov 17, 2008; by vyelkin

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1630209837693906950?t=7oA8qlzNLsIm94Bkp4VGFA

# ? Feb 28, 2023 01:19

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

https://twitter.com/MXD_ONTHIS/status/1630364227465560064

# ? Feb 28, 2023 01:47

Weka: May 5, 2019; That child totally had it coming. Nobody should be able to be out at dusk except cars.

Throatwarbler posted:

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1630209837693906950?t=7oA8qlzNLsIm94Bkp4VGFA

Our collective action in blockading half the country has made a tremendous difference by causing a famine.

# ? Feb 28, 2023 01:54

Fozzy The Bear: Dec 11, 1999; Nothing much, watching the game, drinking a bud

Weka posted:

If you do have photos of these messed up roads I would be genuinely interested in seeing them.

I was there on vacation, so all of my pictures are food or animals, but I have this one video. This is the road from Lusaka to Ndola (T2 on google maps), one of the major roads for big trucks carrying shipments through the country. The cities are about 200 miles apart, but it takes 6-8+ hours because you have to go 30mph the whole time to avoid pot holes.
Its hard to hear in the video, but my driver is explaining that the heavy trucks wheels have pressed down on the road, and in between the wheel tracks the road has risen up and it scraps the "metal crossmembers" under your car.

I was told the road is about 2 years old. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T2_road_(Zambia) has some more information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGPdfJKwF1Q

e: disclaimer, the background music was the driver's choice

Fozzy The Bear has issued a correction as of 02:50 on Feb 28, 2023

# ? Feb 28, 2023 02:48

Spergin Morlock: Aug 8, 2009

Throatwarbler posted:

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1630209837693906950?t=7oA8qlzNLsIm94Bkp4VGFA

Reporter: Would you consider not selling weapons and providing logistical support to the country attacking them?

Blinken: No

# ? Feb 28, 2023 06:49

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

Don't worry, Zambia is apparently shifting away from borrowing money from China to pay for roads and other infrastructure projects. They are now borrowing money from the IMF to pay for day to day government operations.

quote:

The last two months have been busy for Situmbeko Musokotwane, Zambia�s finance minister. He has finally secured a zero-interest loan of $1.3 billion with a grace period of five-and-a-half years, and a final maturity of 10 years, from the IMF. The loan was buttressed by a series of prior discussions by Zambia�s creditors that for the first time included China, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of Zambia�s debt � similar to (non-Chinese) private creditors.

But is this really a good deal? And what does the IMF deal portend for other low- and middle-income countries classified as facing �debt distress,� including with regards to finance from China?

Looking at the details of the IMF report released to set out the terms and conditions of the deal, as well as recent announcements by Zambia�s Ministry of Finance and National Planning, there are two key aspects of Zambia�s agreement with the IMF to understand.

First, Zambia will shift its spending priorities from investment in public infrastructure � typically financed by Chinese stakeholders � to recurrent expenditures.

Specifically, Zambia has announced it will totally cancel 12 planned projects, half of which were due to be financed by China EXIM Bank, alongside one by ICBC for a university and another by Jiangxi Corporation for a dual highway from the capital. The government has also cancelled 20 undistributed loan balances � some of which were for the new projects but others for existing projects. While such cancellations are not unusual on Zambia�s part (similar announcements were made in 2018, for instance), Chinese partners account for the main bulk of these loans. Ten of the cancelled loans are from China EXIM Bank, saving Zambia $1.1 billion over the next few years, alongside three other Chinese loans cancelled from ICBC ($303 million) and one from Jiangxi Bank ($157 million). The remaining six undistributed loan balances come predominately from commercial lenders, equating to $483 million.

While some of these cancellations may have been initiated by Chinese lenders themselves, especially those in arrears, Zambia may not have needed to cancel so many projects. Since 2000, China has cancelled more of Zambia�s bilateral debt than any sovereign creditor, standing at $259 million to date.

Nevertheless, the IMF team justified the shift because they � and presumably Zambia�s government � believe that spending on public infrastructure in Zambia has not returned sufficient economic growth or fiscal revenues. However, no evidence is presented for this in the IMF�s report, and in general the evidence for such a statement is thin.

Indeed, there is significant academic literature on how infrastructure investment can contribute to economic growth directly, and indirectly by increasing productivity through scale and network effects, and at the micro level by improving access to markets, cutting operating costs, and so on. Recent analysis from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank also explained how better infrastructure is associated with lower trade deficits.

The fact is, 77 percent of Zambia�s population do not have access to clean drinking water, 60 percent do not have access to electricity, and 46 percent do not have access to the internet. Road infrastructure in the country would have to improve by 234 percent just to reach the same levels as China. The negative impact of (at best) postponing investments in these gaps cannot be understated.

Yet, the IMF�s deal encourages and locks Zambia into not just cutting investment spending but replacing it with recurrent spending. Zambia will continue to spend on salaries while cutting fuel and agriculture subsidies, which could mean increased prices for citizens. This type of austerity measure isn�t surprising; it is in line with the Oxfam finding that 13 out of the 15 IMF programs negotiated in 2021 required austerity measures. The IMF simultaneously suggests targeted social spending programs in Zambia will protect the poor. However, with an estimated 60 percent of Zambia�s population under the poverty line, it seems unlikely that social spending programs can be large or efficient enough to reach such a large proportion of the population. Indeed, evidence from China suggests �targeting� through social protection is best introduced at a later (lower) stage of a poverty reduction strategy.
...

https://thediplomat.com/2022/09/zambias-new-imf-deal-shifts-china-to-the-backseat/

The specific highway under discussion was going to be repaired with Chinese financing but the project was cancelled.

quote:

Zambia has cancelled US$1.6 billion in agreed upon but not-disbursed Chinese loans, mostly from China Exim Bank and the Industrial Commercial Bank of China, to help manage its debt woes.

It is a portion of the US$2 billion that Lusaka has cancelled in undisbursed loans from its external creditors, coming shortly before its official bilateral lenders agreed on Saturday to provide debt relief to the Southern African nation.
Lusaka announced that it ceased the construction and rehabilitation of several roads, highways and information and technology projects, most funded by China Exim Bank, after it faced challenges in making loan payments.

�Measures have been taken by the government of the Republic of Zambia to address the current debt challenges � beyond the debt restructuring process. Cabinet, at its sitting on Thursday � took measures to discontinue some loan-financed projects,� Zambia�s Ministry of Finance and National Planning announced on Saturday.

...
The ministry said it had started talks with creditors and contractors to formalise the cancellation of works contracts.

Among the projects cancelled are the rehabilitation of a major highway � the US$1.2 billion Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway funded by China Jiangxi Corporation � which was to link the capital to the country�s Copperbelt Province. Lusaka has engaged China Jiangxi to cancel US$157 million in undisbursed loans.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3187287/zambia-cancels-us16-billion-chinese-loans-and-halts

# ? Feb 28, 2023 19:34

Death By The Blues: Oct 30, 2011

Second front of WW3 is about to open up

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1630629821448372243

# ? Feb 28, 2023 19:52

Fozzy The Bear: Dec 11, 1999; Nothing much, watching the game, drinking a bud

Atrocious Joe posted:

Don't worry, Zambia is apparently shifting away from borrowing money from China to pay for roads and other infrastructure projects. They are now borrowing money from the IMF to pay for day to day government operations.

# ? Feb 28, 2023 19:57

HallelujahLee: May 3, 2009

Iran just needs to finish this and get the weapons already that guarantees (maybe) no potentially insane invasion, why would they waste anymore time with deals with a country that doesnt abide by anything it signs

# ? Feb 28, 2023 19:57

Death By The Blues: Oct 30, 2011

Well there economy is poo poo and the people hate the government. So not sure what the Islamic Republic has planned, they desperately do not want confrontation.

# ? Feb 28, 2023 20:00

Fozzy The Bear: Dec 11, 1999; Nothing much, watching the game, drinking a bud

Atrocious Joe posted:

60 percent do not have access to electricity, and 46 percent do not have access to the internet.

Wait, how is that 14% difference getting their internet if they don't have electricity?

# ? Feb 28, 2023 20:01

HallelujahLee: May 3, 2009

Death By The Blues posted:

Well there economy is poo poo and the people hate the government. So not sure what the Islamic Republic has planned, they desperately do not want confrontation.

i think they just signed something with China that maybe alleviates some of the economic problems anyway

# ? Feb 28, 2023 20:09

Frosted Flake: Sep 13, 2011; Semper Shitpost Ubique

HallelujahLee posted:

Iran just needs to finish this and get the weapons already that guarantees (maybe) no potentially insane invasion, why would they waste anymore time with deals with a country that doesnt abide by anything it signs

# ? Feb 28, 2023 20:38

The Voice of Labor: Apr 8, 2020

HallelujahLee posted:

Iran just needs to finish this and get the weapons already that guarantees (maybe) no potentially insane invasion, why would they waste anymore time with deals with a country that doesnt abide by anything it signs

some guys got the juche and some ain't

# ? Feb 28, 2023 20:43

Death By The Blues: Oct 30, 2011

An update

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1630670680470568961

# ? Feb 28, 2023 22:09

yellowcar: Feb 14, 2010

i hope they do it in 11 days instead

# ? Feb 28, 2023 22:27

Spergin Morlock: Aug 8, 2009

Death By The Blues posted:

An update

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1630670680470568961

Israel gonna drop a MOAB on Fordow

# ? Feb 28, 2023 22:35

Honky Mao: Dec 26, 2012

Death By The Blues posted:

An update

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1630670680470568961

12 days? Watch Joe Biden start another war

# ? Feb 28, 2023 22:44

freeasinbeer: Mar 26, 2015; by Fluffdaddy

Fozzy The Bear posted:

Wait, how is that 14% difference getting their internet if they don't have electricity?

I�d suspect mobile phones.

# ? Feb 28, 2023 22:50

Fozzy The Bear: Dec 11, 1999; Nothing much, watching the game, drinking a bud

freeasinbeer posted:

I�d suspect mobile phones.

How are they charging the phone without access to electricity?

# ? Feb 28, 2023 22:58

mawarannahr: May 21, 2019

Fozzy The Bear posted:

How are they charging the phone without access to electricity?

hand crank?

# ? Feb 28, 2023 23:00

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

it's probably grid electricity, and 1/7th of the country possibly relies on outside connections in some sort of hub, or small consumer solar panels

# ? Feb 28, 2023 23:39

AnimeIsTrash: Jun 30, 2018

freeasinbeer posted:

I�d suspect mobile phones.

dont post here

# ? Mar 1, 2023 00:28

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

AnimeIsTrash posted:

dont post here

lol

freeasinbeer posted:

Cmon There is a thread in cspam right now with the same people who were probated in the GBS thread for calling people Nazis and making GBS threads up the thread celebrating their wins over their posting enemies.

The overlap between the posters here calling it poorly moderated in this thread and the posters in that thread is a flat circle.

For those folks who think I�m going �hard in the paint� I�m only talking about cspam at all because the tone deaf mod said we should go post there, and there is some weird undercurrent that there needs to be a singular forum to post in, when there is a vast gulf between threads/sub forums.

I only brought up the hosed up posting in cspam to point out that it�s the same few assholes concern trolling and that the folks making GBS threads bricks at the ukraine threads are pretty good at ignoring some real loving vile threads in cspam.

Open the GBS thread, Reconstitute the rules banning cross forum posting, probe the poo poo out of people who do it, and ban the saga thread from posting about political threads. It was used by some poo poo stirrers to well poo poo stir.

who must go?

# ? Mar 1, 2023 00:31

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/28/winner-nigerian-election-revote-00084921

quote:

ABUJA, Nigeria � Election officials declared ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu the winner of Nigeria�s presidential election early Wednesday, with the two leading opposition candidates already demanding a revote in Africa�s most populous nation.

The overnight announcement was likely to lead to a court challenge by his main opponents Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Abubakar also finished second in the last vote in 2019, then appealed those results before his lawsuit ultimately was dismissed.

On Tuesday, the two leading opposition parties had demanded a revote, saying that delays in uploading election results had made room for irregularities. The ruling All Progressives Congress party urged the opposition to accept defeat and not cause trouble.

Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, while Abubakar came in second with 6,984,520. Obi, the third place finisher, got 6,101,533 votes, according to the results announced live on television by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

this is mostly what i expected yet there's tons of anecdotal evidence of irregularities. it was always an uphill battle for the non-APC parties, especially obi's

in the electoral system the winning candidate has to get at least 25% of the vote in two thirds of nigeria's states, which frankly i doubt tinubu reached that threshold. him winning with 40% of the vote is very realistic though

# ? Mar 1, 2023 05:20

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 06:45

Oglethorpe: Aug 8, 2005; Avatar blanked by Admin request.

Death By The Blues posted:

An update

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1630670680470568961

oh we're at the yellow cake stage

# ? Mar 1, 2023 05:30

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Mideast + Africa] Getting rid of Bongo- but at what Brice?

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