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Richard Calland

Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town

Richard Calland has for over 20 years been working in the fields of democratic governance and sustainable development in South Africa and beyond. Based at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Calland is also a Fellow of the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), working as a member of faculty on a range of customised leadership and strategy programmes for amongst others the World Bank, PWC, the African Development Bank, Nedbank, Namdeb, Network Rail and Tata. He is also the co-director of the African Climate Finance Hub and the governance advisor to the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), an international initiative directed towards information disclosure in large public infrastructure projects. Amongst other corporate clients, he is a long-time retained consultant to Massmart, Africa’s largest retailer that was acquired by Walmart in 2011, advising on issues of politics, sustainability and governance, as well as providing regular political risk briefings to the investor clients of UBS and Citi Bank, and has recently established a new advisory organisation – The Paternoster Group: African Political Insight. His most recent book, Make of Break: How the next three years will shape South Africa's next three decades, was published in late 2016. He is also the author of Anatomy of South Africa (2006) and The Zuma Years (2013). His political column, Contretemps, has appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper since 2001. Before moving to South Africa in 1994, Calland practiced law for seven years at the London Bar.

Future of Coal Series

Gas isn’t a good alternative to coal – South Africa should focus on solar, wind and green hydrogen

Oct 08, 2024 07:23 am UTC| Economy

South Africa is immersed in a just energy transition from a fossil fuel-based energy system to a cleaner, low-carbon energy system. This new system will be based primarily on renewable energy, such as solar, wind and green...

Ramaphosa left with tricky choices as South Africa bungles Chief Justice appointment

Feb 08, 2022 03:38 am UTC| Politics

After a fraught and fractious week of public interviews that shed heat but little light on the four candidates eligible to become the next Chief Justice, South Africas Judicial Service Commission has recommended that...

The six mega challenges testing leaders at a time of national and global crisis

Mar 26, 2020 16:04 pm UTC| Politics Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic is an extreme crisis that puts government under severe pressure. It puts the political judgement of the president or prime minister under the most intense spotlight. Not since the height of the Cold...

Economy

Global Stocks Mixed as Oil Falls Ahead of US Earnings

Global stock markets traded unevenly on Monday as investors prepared for major corporate earnings and key US inflation data, while oil prices declined amid uncertainty surrounding a proposed Russia-Ukraine energy...

US Dollar Near 18-Month High Ahead of Inflation Data

The US dollar remained close to an 18-month high on Monday as escalating Middle East tensions and expectations surrounding upcoming US inflation data kept investors cautious about the Federal Reserves next interest rate...

IMF, World Bank Meetings Face Global Economic Risks Amid Iran War

Global finance leaders are gathering in Bangkok this week for the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings as the prolonged Iran war, surging energy prices, rising interest rates and mounting debt...

US Stock Futures Rise as Oil Prices Fall Ahead of Q3 Earnings

U.S. stock index futures climbed on Sunday evening as falling oil prices boosted market sentiment following President Donald Trumps announcement of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. However, Wall Street gains...

Gold Prices Rise Above $4,200 as Russia-Ukraine Energy Truce Eases Oil Concerns

Gold prices climbed on Monday as investors weighed U.S. President Donald Trumps announcement of an immediate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine against escalating Middle East tensions and persistent inflation...

Politics

Mahmoud Abbas Postpones Palestinian Elections to September 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed legislative elections scheduled for November 2026 to September 11, 2027, citing Israeli restrictions and deteriorating security conditions in the Palestinian territories. A...

Panama Declares Emergency After 7.7 Earthquake Triggers 200 Aftershocks

Panama has declared a national state of emergency after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday, causing widespread damage to homes, roads, and bridges across the countrys central provinces. Authorities have...

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles as Tensions With South Korea Escalate

North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea off its eastern coast on Monday, October 12, as military tensions with South Korea continued to intensify following a series of weapons tests and border...

Pakistan Declares Emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Suspends Imran Khan’s PTI Government

Pakistan has declared a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, suspending the provincial government controlled by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party amid escalating political...

Djibouti Migrant Boat Capsizes, Killing 139 and Leaving 84 Missing

At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying 305 people capsized off Djibouti while traveling to Yemen, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM)....

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Apple Supplier Luxshare Faces US Patent Probe, Sees Limited Impact

Chinese electronics manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry, a major supplier to Apple, expects minimal disruption to its business from a US patent infringement investigation involving data centre power supply technology....

TSMC Profit Set to Surge 65% as AI Chip Demand Drives Record Earnings

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the worlds leading advanced chipmaker, is expected to report another record quarterly profit as surging artificial intelligence (AI) investments fuel demand for...

Moonshot AI Executives Seek Settlement Ahead of Hong Kong IPO

Executives at Chinese artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI are reportedly negotiating a settlement with Recurrent.ai over allegations of misconduct, as the company prepares for its planned Hong Kong initial public...

Amazon in Talks to Acquire AI Startup Decart for $7 Billion

Amazon is reportedly negotiating a potential $7 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Decart, signaling the technology giants growing ambitions in generative AI, real-time video processing, and advanced...

Yandex Data Center Hit by Drone Strike as Russia-Ukraine Cyber Infrastructure Attacks Escalate

Russian technology giant Yandex has suspended operations at a major data center in the Vladimir region following a drone strike, marking the third attack on its server infrastructure within four days as the Russia-Ukraine...