African continent ranked at the bottom with the unhappiest countries

The 2021 annual report published by the World Happiness Report is out. Without surprise, the top happiest countries as of 2022 remain the same, as those in the 2020 annual report published in 2021.  At the same time, the list of the most unhappiest countries has slightly changed.  The lists are widely reliable as The World Happiness Report uses rigourous statistical methods on Gallup polling data to come up with the results. The top 5 happiest countries are:  Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, and Netherlands. The three worst,  unhappiest countries are Afganistan, Zimbabwe and Rwanda. These three countries were the worst even in 2020 report. The question now is: what is unique among the top happiest and in the worst unhappiest countries. 

US -Africa Summit convened by US President Barack Obama, 2014

The 2021 Summit for Democracy will be virtually held by US President Joe Biden on Thursday and Friday,  December 9 and 10, 2021. The virtual event will focus on  President Joe Biden's campaign pledge of  “renewing democracy in the United States and around the world”.  The invited guests are presidents of countries considered to  having built solid democratic foundations or leaders of countries cleary on the path to solidifying democratic institutions.  Among the uninvited leaders are the known brutal dictators in Africa. The questions now are about what will be the implicatiions of the Summit on the countries not invited,  now considered to be led by dictatorships.

Africa Continent: 2008

This week has been marked by major developments around the World. The developments include critical events in Africa, the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. However, probably the events in Africa and the United States have captured  most of the attention. The events include humanitarian situation, democracy related actions, and geopolitical considerations..

G20 Summit in Italy, Rome, October 30, 2021

The 2021 G20 summit was held in Rome, Italy, on 30–31 October 2021. It was the sixteenth meeting of G20. For the meeting, some heads of state were invited based on their role at a more global level. Among the invited guests were Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, as the President 2021 Chairperson of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat from Chad as President of the African Commission, and Rwanda President Paul Kagame, as the 2021 Chairperson of Africa Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA - NEPAD), an economic development program of the African Union.  During the meeting, a drama involving the Rwandan dictator General Paul Kagame  unfolded, leading to unanswered questions and speculations about his waning relevance  as a political leader and power struggles in Rwanda.

Rwandan activists protesting against Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Montreal, Canada in April 2006

Over the weekend of July 16-18, 2021, an international consortium of news outlets reported that several authoritarian governments and dictatorships used a spyware developed by an Israeli based company, NSO Group to spy on activists and other perceived critics of their governments.

According to the reports, the intelligence services of those governments, including Rwandan Government, used the NSO delivered Pegasus spyware to hack into the phones of thousands of vocal critics, including journalists, activists, politicians, opposition groups, and business executives.

J Peter Pham, as Atlantic Council Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives and Director of the Africa Center

Rainbow Rare Earths is a mining company operating two countries in Africa through two initiatives: the Phalaborwa Project in South Africa and the high-grade Gakara Project in Burundi.  The company stock is traded on the London Stock Exchange, under RBW. According to information received by AfroAmerica Network sources in Burundi,  Dr J. Peter Pham, the former US Envoy to the Great Lakes of Africa under  President Donald Trump, between 2018-2020. was recently appointed to the Board of Directors, as a Non-Executive Director. He is expected to visit the Gakara Rare Earth mining site in Burundi  this week.