John Vandaele

CONAKRY / RABAT - Thanks to Chinese investments, the West African nation of Guinea is on track for annual economic growth of 10 percent. But Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah does not want the country to become too dependent on China and is also inviting Europe to invest. Morocco, too, is undergoing rapid transformation. New jobs are being created, but the old inequalities remain.

KINSHASA - Following on from the first part of the dossier on why and how Congo's forests became the world's first lung, John Vandaele explores whether the country can effectively be the 'solution country' it claims to want to be.

KINSHASA - Although the Amazon forest is significantly larger, the tropical forests in the Congo Basin, in the heart of Africa, are taking more CO2 out of the air today. This seems like good news, but these forests are also disappearing at a rapid pace.

KINSHASA - Congolese-Australian journalist Eric Mwamba went on a search to find the secret behind the riches of the Congolese elite. Many of his witnesses prefered staying anonymous for fear of their lives – which looks like a kind of Congolese omerta. John Vandaele selected Mwamba’s strongest observations and added some personal touches.

BEIJING / NEW DELHI - ‘Economic globalisation has made many countries, particularly in Asia, richer. However, income inequality has also increased in most countries. Companies are constantly looking for the cheapest and least protected labour. Moreover, the internet has given them access to a virtual global factory floor. They can now break work down into small tasks and outsource them through their global agency network more easily than ever before. Consequently, the proportion of wages in the economy is falling almost everywhere, putting workers under pressure in all sorts of ways. Can things be improved?