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Until the 2000s, Africa seemed completely doomed. But since the beginning of the new century, Africans have tripled their income. Countries like Ethiopia are growing at a 10% growth rate year after year. We are starting to see how African companies are expanding internationally. For example, Ethiopian airlines or M-PESA, a mobile phone payment platform.  Nevertheless Africa is far from being a prosperous region. They need to take the next step. And what is that? Well, that would be industrialization. In this context is where the African Continental Free Trade Area has been signed. This is a free trade area that includes most of the African nations. We’re talking about 52 countries who have signed it. In fact, only Benin, Nigeria and Eritrea have refused to enter the so called AfCFTA or just CFTA. So now the question is… Can this treaty change things… or is it just a bunch of nice words? Can a free trade agreement really improve lives in Africa? And, why doesn’t Nigeria, the country with the largest African economy, want to sign it? Today we are going to answer all of these questions.

Donald Trump thinks Iran is behind the attacks against the oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. There is a real risk for America to start a war with Iran. In fact, if it hasn’t happened yet is because of a last minute decision taken by Donald Trump. Basically, the Strait of Hormuz is the most important enclave in the oil trade worldwide. 1 out of 5 oil barrels that are produced on the planet depart from here. This Strait is shared by three different nations: United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the latest weeks, somebody has been putting limpet mines on some oil tankers. This poses an enormous threat to the World’s economy: if 20% of the oil tankers worldwide cannot sail safely… how are we going to get those barrels from the Middle East? White House blames Iran for this. According to their theory, this might be a retaliation after the nuclear sanctions imposed by Donald Trump. This is why the tensions between America, Saudi Arabia and Iran are at their highest point. The questions now are… does it make sense that Iran is attacking oil tankers in this region? What is happening in Iran? How important the Strait of Hormuz is? And the most important of all… is there a real risk of war against Iran? We will answer to all of these questions on this video.

Have you ever heard of Uzbekistan? Would you know where to place it on a map? Could you name its capital?  If you answered all three questions correctly, congratulations! You’re an expert in international geography. If not, don’t worry, it’s normal, Uzbekistan is as remote as it is unknown.  Lately, however, things are starting to change. Uzbekistan has gone from having one of the most terrifying dictatorships in the world under Islam Karimov to opening its doors to the world. In this video we’ll tell you a story you won’t want to miss.

Alstom and Siemens are two big high-speed train manufacturers that wanted to create a merger in order to form the second largest company on the industry—at an international level. Nevertheless, European Union, led by Margrether Vestager (EU commissioner for competition) have vetoed this merger. Why? This example showcases two antagonist visions for capitalism: German capitalism vs French capitalism. At the first glance, it might seem that these two countries have very similar political and economical systems. Both have free market economies with a generous welfare state. However, their economic doctrines are pretty different from one another. France bets on their national champions and nurtures them in order to expand internationally. Germany, instead, stands for free competition. This is where one of the biggest economic dilemmas of our time comes into play… Should we favour larger companies or should we guarantee free competition? This is the crossroad where Europe was in order to decide what to do with the Alstom-Siemens merger. But… are Germany and France so different? Why do we say Alstom-Siemens story is so paradigmatic? Does Europe really need national behemoths in order to face competition from China? In this video we will answer to all of this questions.

You might Narenda Modi, Indian PM, but he rules the World’s biggest democracy. More than 600 million people have casted their votes in the latest Indian elections: this is twice the total population of America. And who did they voted for? Well, you might be surprised but the country of yoga, non-violence and spirituality is also the country were the far-right wing has won the elections… again.  Narendra Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has a taste for nationalism that makes Donald Trump look like a Hollywood liberal. They combine their anti immigration rhetoric with an extreme religiosity. BJP wants a Hinduist India, and their biggest enemies are the Muslims, who make the largest religious minority in the country. 200 million Indian Muslims are suffering the continuous harassment of fanatic groups, including the cow vigilantes while the government looks the other way. And what does the sacred cows have to do with all of this? Why is India turning far-right? In this video we will answer to all of those questions.

Nuclear power is like a hamburger… you said you wouldn’t have it anymore, but, at the end of the day… you can’t resist the temptation! The same goes for nuclear power. We all use it even if it’s just a little  controversial.   If you’ve been following VisualPolitik for a long time, you already know that China has been building nuclear power plants like there was no tomorrow. Well… in Europe they have the opposite trend.