Ghana's IG to testify at missing cocaine panel

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong is expected to appear before the Kojo Armah-led committee, tasked to investigate the cocaine substances that were substituted in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) today.
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/200803/14887.asp

Zimbabwe stands 'on a precipice'

Zimbabwe is standing on a "precipice" as official results from Saturday's general election start to trickle in, the opposition has said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7322468.stm

Govt seeks auditor over Bank of Tanzania towers scam

The heat is not over yet for the Bank of Tanzania as another independent investigation has been ordered into the costs incurred in the construction of the central bank’s controversial Twin Towers building.
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news310320089.htm

UN striving to double refugee returns to Southern Sudan

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will step up efforts to return hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudan refugees from camps in neighbouring Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia to enable them participate in the forthcoming census in their country.
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news31032008f1.htm

Somalia’s Government Teeters on Collapse

The trouble started when government soldiers went to the market and, at gunpoint, began to help themselves to sacks of grain last week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/world/africa/29somalia.html?em&ex=1207022400&en=8c90f979a6d2b7b0&ei=5087%0A

Zimbabwe Opposition Says It Has Beaten Mugabe

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party said Sunday that it had won a landslide victory, insisting that unofficial election results showed that the Movement for Democratic Change had unseated President Robert G. Mugabe, the man who has led this nation for 28 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/world/africa/31zimbabwe.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world

EFCC arrests Omoyeni, ex-Wema Bank MD, for stealing

The drama at Wema Bank plc over alleged insider abuse climaxed yesterday with the arrest in Abuja of Adebisi Omoyeni, a former group managing director of the bank by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
http://www.businessdayonline.com/national/6941.html

Renewable energy sources ‘can provide 5% of needs’ in South Africa

RENEWABLE energy has the potential to account for 5% of the electricity demand “in the short to medium term,” an official of the Energy Development Corporation, a division of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) said yesterday.
Electricity shortages have revitalised initiatives to diversify the energy mix — shifting from an over-reliance on coal.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A734575

Shunning ‘big man politics’ can boost economy

Analysts of comparative political development have long established that democratic consolidation can be either unidirectional or take a more circuitous route. In Africa, the 1990s wave of liberalisation and democratisation changed many societies for the better.
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6617&Itemid=5848

Gaddafi should lead by example

No sooner had he landed in Uganda than he started saying things that delighted his supporters and his host, but made his critics cry wolf. While closing a ten-day meeting of African/Arab Youth, he repeated his controversial thesis about revolutionaries not retiring, not needing term limits and democracy being an imposition from the West.
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6648&Itemid=5848

US says corruption hinders Ghana’s fight against drugs

US State Department says corruption and lack of resources are seriously impeding Ghana's efforts to deal with the drug menace. It observed that the 2006 narcotics scandal involving allegations of official complicity in narcotics trafficking complicated "Ghana's efforts to combat the drug trade but served to focus public attention on the growing problem".
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/200803/14783.asp

Africa, India Poised to Adopt Declaration to Enhance Relationship

The African Union said on Sunday Africa and India were geared to adopt a declaration aimed at reinforcing their existing relationship come the Africa-India Forum Summit scheduled to be held next month in India.
The Joint Declaration of the Africa-India Partnership will contain the political commitments of the two sides as well as an Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, the Pan African body said in a statement.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803260354.html

Africa, India Poised to Adopt Declaration to Enhance Relationship

The African Union said on Sunday Africa and India were geared to adopt a declaration aimed at reinforcing their existing relationship come the Africa-India Forum Summit scheduled to be held next month in India.
The Joint Declaration of the Africa-India Partnership will contain the political commitments of the two sides as well as an Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, the Pan African body said in a statement.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803260354.html

Kenya: The diaspora economy

Kenya has for decades been content earning exports by just selling vegetables to Europe, welcoming tourists to its warm sandy beaches and rich games parks, which counts for much of what the country does to earn a living through international trade.
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6665&Itemid=5813

Future impact of global warming on Africa

The 'non-skeptic heretic club' says it would be easier and cheaper to adapt than fight climate change. Critics say the flaw in the theory is that the effects will be unpredictable.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-sci-adapt26mar26,1,3720995,full.story

South Africa could use migrants' skills

South Africa could be making better use of Zimbabwe migrants' skills but current immigration policy makes it difficult, according to a report released by the Centre for Development and Enterprises on Wednesday.
Profiling Zimbabweans in South Africa, researchers found that of 4 654 Zimbabweans surveyed in Johannesburg in 2007, 92% had migrated between 2000 and 2007.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2294386,00.html

Nigerian officers in Somalia ahead of troop deployment

Ten Nigerian army officers arrived here Thursday to assess conditions ahead of a troop deployment to bolster an undermanned African Union peacekeeping force, an official said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080320/wl_africa_afp/somaliaunrestaunigeriaforce;_ylt=AkmaHf83vEShCvCO1W1V_OtvaA8F

Nigeria: What to Do with the Police

If the Police Reform Commission had organised a forum to harvest ideas for its work, it, probably, could not have had it better than what happened in Lagos yesterday. The occasion that turned out to be a lively and illuminating debate on how to make the police deliver their services efficiently to the nation was the inaugural of the lecture series in honour of the memory of Alhaji Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu who passed on five years ago.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=106290%20(in%20current%20window)

Science and technological innovation critical for Africa's economic growth

The scale of the challenge facing Africa in the area of science and technology is huge but it can be overcome with vision, commitment and unwavering determination,” said UN Under-Secretary General and ECA's Executive Secretary Mr. Abdoulie Janneh at the opening of the Science with Africa Conference, organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the African Union (AU).
http://www.uneca.org/eca_programmes/it_for_development/default.htm

13 African leaders to attend India/Africa summit

http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/africa-news/78-africa-news/466-13-african-leaders-for-the-africaindia-summit-in-april.html

Mugabe opponents face violent attacks ahead of elections

President Robert Mugabe's supporters have used violence to intimidate opponents before next week's election in Zimbabwe, the rights group Human Rights Watch has said.
However, the head of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission said it believed the political environment was conducive to a free election.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mugabe-opponents-face-violent-attacks-ahead-of-elections-798411.html

Nigeria: Police imposters kidnap politician's wife

Gunmen posing as police officers kidnapped the wife of a Nigerian politician from a busy street in the country's troubled oil-rich south, a state police spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Irejua Barasua from Rivers state said the gunmen initially pretended to arrest Dorothy Otele, wife of Bayelsa state legislator Franklin Otele, and then fired gunshots in the air to cover their escape when their identity was challenged. Otele has received a demand for ransom, the spokeswoman said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-19-nigeria-kidnapping_N.htm

Gaddafi urges Africans to reject Western conditional aid

LIBYAN leader, Muammar Gaddafi has urged African governments to reject Western aid that came with conditions, saying world powers were trying to dictate democratic standards on the world's poorest continent.
"They colonised us and now they're coming with their aid, you should reject it. Any aid with conditions should be rejected," he told cheering crowds through an interpreter.
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/africa/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=190308&ptitle=Gaddafi%20urges%20Africans%20to%20reject%20Western%20conditional%20aid

Nigeria: The People’s Parliament

Nigerians are like the Americans. We are very passionate about our nation.. We love Nigeria so much that we are ready to do battles with outsiders who attempt to pass snide remarks about us. We all grumble about our patent incompetence and yet see Nigeria as the best country on earth. We are blessed with abundant human and material and natural resources. But, we are also cursed with some of the most callous, shameless, and visionless leaders on earth.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=105913

War built on lies has cost America $3-trillion

AS TOMORROW marks the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, it’s time to take stock of what has happened. In our new book, The Three Trillion Dollar War, Harvard’s Linda Bilmes and I conservatively estimate the economic cost of the war to the US to be $3-trillion, and the costs to the rest of the world to be another $3-trillion — far higher than the Bush administration’s estimates before the war.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A730015

MTN boosts profit on 53% subscriber jump

MTN boosted last year’s adjusted headline earnings per share to 682 cents from 585 cents thanks to a 53% jump in subscribers to 61,4 million.
The company said in a statement today earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 42% to R31,8bn and sales rose 42% to R73,1bn.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A730243

What lies behind quality journalism

It's not pure science, but it stands to reason that -- exceptions granted -- many journalists owe their performance to the quality of the education they received.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=335032&area=/insight/insight__columnists/

Zimbabwean govt accused of intimidation

President Robert Mugabe's supporters have used violence to intimidate opponents in the run-up to next week's Zimbabwe election, undermining chances of a fair poll, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=335056&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

Nigeria Mobile Phones

CNN's Femi Oke tries out a clever device in Lagos, Nigeria that's rapidly spreading cell phone usage.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2008/03/12/inside.africa.nigeria.mobile.phones.cnn

U.S. backs Egyptian effort to mediate Israel-Hamas cease-fire

After ruling out talks with Hamas, the militant Islamist group, the Bush administration is using Egypt as an intermediary to open a channel between Israel and representatives of the group, in what some diplomats say could be a softening of the U.S. stance.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/19/mideast/strategy.php

Integrating modern technology into health care delivery in Nigeria

One of the tragedies of the last forty seven years of Nigeria's independence is the way successive civilian and military administrations have played lip service to their promises of providing basic health care to all. Almost two decades ago, commercials such as 'health for all by the year 2000', 'affordable medicare for the old by the year 2000' was common in most national radio and television stations in the country.
http://www.businessdayonline.com/analysis/features/6447.html

African Union; Crackdown in Tibet; Lessons learned?

Thousands who fled the conflict in Darfur for safe refuge in Chad are crossing the borders into Cameroon, Nigeria and even back into Sudan to escape unstable conditions in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, after an attempted overthrow of the government last month. These developments have put the spotlight on the African Union's inability to protect civilians and quell violence as it erupts.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/18/opinion/edlet.php

Environment: Is MDG Target Possible in Nigeria?

Water is life and sanitation is dignity’’ is a common phrase. It aptly expresses what life could be like if man were to live in a world without water and toilet. The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes basic sanitation ‘’as being connected to a public sewer or septic tank system, a pour-flush latrine, a simple pit latrine or ventilated improved pit latrine’’. Perhaps, it was because of this definitions that the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 highlighted the lack of sanitation.
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/product_info.php?products_id=24238&osCsid=73b5c7d1e2a9d85ebc5c43ffb8dd326f

Ghana: Fishermen a threat to oil drilling?

The activities of fishermen along the coast of the Western Region are posing a serious threat to the oil exploration activities currently taking place off the coast of Cape Three Points.
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/200803/14571.asp

Panel alleges Nigeria corruption

The government of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo paid $50m (£25m) to non-existent companies, a parliamentary panel alleges.
The investigative committee said the money was paid as the administration said it was trying to improve the poorly performing power industry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7304028.stm

Ghana to expel female protesters

A group of Liberian women refugees who were accused by a minister of holding naked protests by the roadside are to be deported from Ghana.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7302243.stm

South Africa's power exports to Botswana will shrink by 60% over next two years

South African power parastatal Eskom will be reducing its power supply to neighbouring Botswana from the current 410 MW to 250 MW in 2009, and 150 MW in 2010 and 2011, as it struggled to keep up with demand, a top Botswana government official, Akolang Tombale, said on Tuesday.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=129465

SA to spend more than R30bn on 2010 World Cup

The South African government will spend "upwards" of R30-billion on the 2010 soccer World Cup a report released on Tuesday showed.Some R20-billion has so far been allocated as direct investment in infrastructure.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=129452

How long can Paul Biya rule Cameroun?

Having ruled for 25 years, President Paul Biya wants to go on ruling until 2018, when he will be 85.
The constitution decrees that he cannot stand for a further seven-year term in the 2011 elections.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7300784.stm

Aide testifies Taylor ordered soldiers to eat victims

Grim tales of cannibalism highlighting the brutality of West Africa's civil wars emerged in testimony Thursday at the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/03/13/warcrimes.taylor.ap/index.html

Buying Presidential Jet is a priority – Ghanaian minister

Defence Minister Albert Kan Dapaah says the government is acquiring two executive jets, not one, as has been suggested in ongoing public debate over plans to re-equip the Ghana Armed Forces and said the acquisition is not only necessary but also a state priority.
http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/200803/14541.asp

LIBERIA: Maternal health worsened since war ended

New statistics showing an increase in maternal mortality since the end of Liberia’s civil war in 2003 have created alarm among health workers who say the country’s almost non-existent healthcare system is to blame.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77196

Preventing Another Genocide in Africa

The world’s failure to end the killing in Darfur may soon be compounded by renewed fighting in southern Sudan. Another genocide cannot be allowed to happen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/opinion/14fri2.html?ref=opinion

SIERRA LEONE: WFP warning on food price increases

The World Food Programme (WFP) says that food prices have increased sharply in Sierra Leone and warns that any further rise could “badly impact [on] the majority of the population” in what the UN has judged to be the world’s least developed country.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77325

Deadly clashes in the Comoros

Soldiers from the Comoros islands have clashed with forces on the island of Anjouan loyal to a renegade leader.
The fighting came ahead of a planned AU-led intervention in support of the Comoros president to oust Anjouan's self-declared president, Mohamed Bacar.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7302002.stm

On Defensive, Obama Plans Talk on Race

Faced with what his advisers acknowledged was a major test to his candidacy, Senator Barack Obama sought on Monday to contain the damage from incendiary comments made by his pastor and prepared to address the issue of race more directly than at any other moment of his presidential campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18wright.html?hp

Ghana to deport naked Liberian protesters

A group of Liberian women refugees who have held naked protests by the roadside are to be deported from Ghana, a minister has told the BBC.
Hundreds of the women were arrested on Monday and taken away from a refugee camp in 10 buses, witnesses say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7302243.stm

Western Sahara rivals at UN talks

The two sides wanting control of Western Sahara are to hold fresh talks brokered by the UN in New York.
Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975, but the Algerian-based Polisario Front wants independence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7299572.stm

Nigeria Belongs to the Elite, Period

Good news: Nigeria has made so much money from that oil boom that has continued unabated in the last six to seven years. Bad news: the money is only in a few pockets. Lack of reliable statistics will always hamper an argument of this nature, but I think somebody was quoted recently as saying 5 per cent of Nigerians control 85 per cent of the available resources. Now we can debate that back and forth, but with what I can see with my eyes, that figure cannot be far from the truth.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=106003

Sahara wind brings a chill in northern Nigeria

For a few weeks each year, the shifting winds roil southward out of the Sahara Desert, drying West Africa's air and darkening its skies with sandy grit. The wind grounds planes, coats palm trees in yellow dust and sends inhabitants accustomed to blustery equatorial weather huddling together against an uncommon nighttime chill.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-dust16mar16,1,4827003.story

Energy saving devices duty suspended in Zambia

GOVERNMENT has resolved to suspend duty on some energy-saving appliances to reduce on power consumption and outages.
President Mwanawasa said yesterday that the Government, Zesco and power consumers could collectively help in the mitigation of power supply deficit in the country, if they worked together.
http://www.times.co.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=2&id=1205826311

ZIMBABWE: Engulfed by sewage

To get to Sinikiwe MaKhumalo's doorstep in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, visitors have to step on a thin plank perched precariously over a trench that prevents sewage from flowing into her house.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77288

Sgt. Rogers: I Killed for the State

A former member of the deadly Strike Force set up by the late head of state, General Sani Abacha, Sgt. Barnabas Jabila alias “Sgt Rogers”, yesterday told a Lagos High Court that he was working for the state when he shot and killed Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of late acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=106224

Obama rids himself of troublesome firebrand priest

Trinity Church on Chicago's south side was overflowing for the Palm Sunday services, but the church's most famous parishioner, Barack Obama, was nowhere to be seen on one of the most important days in the religious calendar.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obama-tries-to-rid-himself-of-troublesome-firebrand-priest-797145.html

Kenya: Bio-Diesel project to help country save Sh3bn a year

Kenya is set to roll out a bio-diesel master plan it hopes will help it cut its kerosene consumption by half and significantly reduce its diesel usage in the next three years.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/green_News_Biofuels.aspx?infoId=17261

Determination is key to excellence in business

All great people are ordinary people with extra-ordinary determination. What sets them apart is not their birth - very few are of noble birth. It is not their education either - there are many educated and hopeless souls.
It is not where they live - many people living in the most despicable of places have become legends.
http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4023&Itemid=59

Liberalisation Eroding Poor Countries’ Advantage

The trade liberalisation of the past couple of decades is eroding the advantage that least developed countries (LDCs) enjoy in export markets as duty and quota free access has become less valuable.
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=41614

Ethanol craze raises concerns

Corn-derived biofuel already has dramatically altered the economic reality of the American heartland and promises boom times for Ontario farmers. But how can we possibly keep up with demand? And what about the spiralling cost of food?
http://www.checkbiotech.org/green_News_Biofuels.aspx?infoId=17264

UN Scribe Optimistic At Finalising The Bakassi Affair

The new Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, General Lamine Cisse, has expressed optimism that the completion process of the withdrawal and transfer of authority commenced in 2006 would be finalised this year.
http://www.postnewsline.com/2008/03/un-scribe-optim.html

'China Is No Villain in Africa'

Instead of indulging in China bashing, major western industrial nations should listen to China and its partners in Africa and elsewhere, says Eckhard Deutscher, the new head of the influential Development Assistance Committee (DAC).
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41617

SA: Govt gives environmental green light for new power station

South Africa’s Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Scalkwyk, on Monday dismissed appeals lodged against the construction of Eskom’s new Witbank coal-fired power station, Project Bravo.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=129312

Manufacturing output declines, industry may cut jobs in South Africa

The general business conditions in the manufacturing sector deteriorated significantly in the first quarter of 2008, with the Bureau for Economic Research’s (BER’s) latest survey showing that this sector’s business confidence had plummeted, and it reported a contraction in production volumes.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=129333

MTN ups stake in Rwanda

The MTN Group has announced that it has concluded an agreement to purchase a further interest in MTN Rwanda, increasing its shareholding from 40% to 55%.
http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4980&Itemid=33

Africa’s greatest challenge is to reduce fertility

R educing high population growth was at the top of the international development agenda in the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, successful population programmes were implemented in Asia and Latin America and population growth fell from about 2.5 per cent per year in the 1960s to 1.2 per cent today. By contrast, benign neglect from African leaders and elites translated into late, weak and ineffective programmes and the population growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa has remained about 2.5 per cent per year over the past half century, except in southern Africa.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a8800bfe-f11b-11dc-a91a-0000779fd2ac.html

Across West Africa, democracy reborn

Ama Maysiema danced down the main drag of this seaside town in sweaty exultation. Rumors had spread that opposition leader John Atta Mills had died. But there he was, standing up through the sunroof of a Toyota Land Cruiser, waving to supporters as they drummed, sang and cheered their support.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004281591_ghana14.html

Are we suffering from ‘irrational pessimism’?

Many will no doubt remember the term ‘irrational exuberance’, which was used back in December 1996 by the then chairperson of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan.
The phrase actually arose out of a rhetorical question posed by Greenspan some 14 pages into a speech delivered at the American Enterprise Institute. But its effect was far reaching, with it eventually being interpreted by the then dotcom-crazed financial community as a warning that the high-flying market was overvalued.
http://www.polity.org.za/page.php?rep_id=605

Obama's lead impresses super-delegates

Barack Obama made important gains in his bid to secure the Democratic nomination at the weekend, taking more delegates amid warnings from party grandees that it would be disastrous to overturn the will of rank-and-file members who have given him a narrow lead over Hillary Clinton.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obamas-lead-impresses-superdelegates-796799.html

African leaders realise they can' t end poverty, so they build palaces

Last week, it looked like President Yoweri Museveni was about to be given the refurbished domestic terminal at Entebbe Airport for his exclusive use.
The outrage at the idea was widespread, but the surprise is not the excess of the presidential perk, but that so many people should be shocked at it.
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Opinion/op170320081.htm

Nigeria targets $20bn investment in gas

Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigerian president, wants to raise $20-billion (N2.32-trillion) from energy companies to invest in harnessing gas reserves to solve the country’s chronic power crisis.
http://www.businessdayonline.com/energy/6328.html

How Niger Delta governors spent the region's billions

Going by the margins of the revenue allocation that accrued to the region under the eight-year tenure of the Obasanjo administration, the governors of the oil-rich Niger Delta were undoubtedly in an exclusive club. In this report by IGNATIUS CHUKWU, Business Day x-rays what the governors did with the hundreds of billions of naira they collected on behalf of the people of the region.
http://www.businessdayonline.com/analysis/features/6315.html

Tackle poverty but remember the environment too

WE ARE living in environmentally challenging times compounded by poverty.
As things stand, any attempt to address poverty will amount to nought if it is not matched by steps to sort out the environment.
With the change in climate, much has followed. Rain patterns have changed, some species of birds have disappeared, springs have dried up and many other alarming changes have taken place.
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Opinion/oplts2170320086.htm

Eskom starts load shedding as four large units fail

Unscheduled load shedding by the State-owned power utility Eskom resumed on Monday morning, owing to unplanned outages of four large generating units over the weekend, resulting in a loss of some 2 400 MW.
Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger explained that the utility hoped to have two of the four units back on line by the end of the day, but the situation would remain tight throughout the week.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=129292

Kenya sets $3bn Safaricom IPO price

Kenya is to offer 25 percent of mobile phone operator Safaricom at 5 shillings per share, valuing it at about $3,06-billion, in a key test of investor confidence in east Africa's biggest economy after a damaging post-election crisis.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=129263

Power cuts hit South African mine output hard

While prices are at record highs for many commodities, South Africa's mining output dropped by 10,7% during January, compared with the figure for the same month in 2007, official data showed on Thursday.
This took the country to mine output levels last seen in early 2003.
http://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=129114

Technology changing lives in Africa

Interview with Rosa Donna, co-founder of DataDyne, a nonprofit organization that creates groundbreaking mobile data products to serve healthcare in developing countriesIn the past data was collected with pen and paper that information was generally sent to a capitol and then data entered into a computer. But, none of that information, because it wasn’t accessible, was brought down to the community level.
http://www.unfoundation.org/programs/women_pop/rosa_donna_interview.asp

Liberia's Streets, Spirits Brighten

So brazen were the robbers in parts of Monrovia's Paynesville district that they often sang a terrifying serenade, "I Hear My Blessing Coming," in the moments before they lifted their victims into the air, rifled through their pockets and ran off into the night.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/11/AR2008031102858.html

EGYPT: U.S. Sends Mixed Signals Over Rights

While in Egypt last week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the release of 100 million dollars in suspended financial assistance to Egypt. The monies -- part of an annual U.S. foreign aid package -- were frozen in December following Israeli claims that Cairo had failed to secure its border with the Gaza Strip.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41540

South Africa: Mauritian documents may never be used

The documents the state is seeking to obtain from Mauritius may never be used against African National Congress president Jacob Zuma, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=334571&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

New York's first black governor set to take over

Eyes in a still shell-shocked Albany, the state capital, now turn to the quiet-spoken David Paterson, a former state representative from Harlem. Mr Paterson, who is blind, will be New York's first black governor and only the fourth African American to lead a US state.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/first-black-governor-set-to-take-over-795021.html

It’s Easy, and Expensive, to Forget About Old Equipment

DOES the Panasonic phone that is gathering dust in your basement still work? Where did you store the Dell monitor your brother gave you after he acquired a wide-screen Samsung? Whatever happened to your original computer — the one you used to write the first draft of the Great American Novel?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/business/smallbusiness/13hunt.html?ref=technology

Kenyans ill in 'toxic waste' leak

Hundreds of people near the Kenyan port of Mombasa say they have become ill after a consignment of leaking chemical containers was dumped nearby.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7293657.stm

Past frightens white South Africans

What is it about the past that haunts us? In the small collection of very angry e-mails received in response to my last few columns, one refrain runs throughout: why do you insist on digging up the past?
Almost every single one of those noisy e-mails is from white South African men. Because they do not know me, or what I do, the anger turns very personal, intense and dismissive.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=725736

Sweden to focus on strengthening democracy in Africa

Sweden's centre-right government Wednesday presented a revised Africa policy that was aimed at focusing on strengthening democracy, investments and trade relations. These factors were "key to development" and Swedish development aid was aimed at helping to "create preconditions for democratic development and sustainable economic growth," the government said.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/191888,sweden-democracy-investments-and-poverty-reduction-key-for-africa.html

Confidence at all-time low in South African economy

Business confidence in South Africa plunged to its lowest level in seven years in the first quarter.
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) released the Business Confidence Index for the first quarter of the year, showing the first dip into negative territory since 2000.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=725847

Mugabe promises transparent elections in Zimbabwe

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on Wednesday officially received an election observer mission sent by the Southern African Development Community, reportedly promising that the country's March 29 elections would be "transparent and free."
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2008-03-12-voa50.cfm

Kufuor can't stop fighting in Ghana's Bawku region

The Upper East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabuor says until the people of Bawku decide to respect the law and cooperate with the security agencies, not even the presence of the President can solve the crisis in the municipality. He was reacting to the recent inter-ethnic flare-up in the municipality.
http://www.accra-mail.com/mailnews.asp?id=4190

South Africa: Foreign Affairs to bring nurse home

Arrangements are in place to bring a detained South African nurse back home from Saudi Arabia, says the Department of Foreign Affairs.

http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=08030510451005&coll=buanew08

Mbeki in Mauritius to Celebrate 40th Independence

President Thabo Mbeki is in Mauritius to celebrate the country's 40th Independence Day celebration.
President Mbeki was invited to attend the celebrations in terms of Mauritian custom of inviting one Head of State per year for the annual independence celebrations.
http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=08031210451004&coll=buanew08

Nigeria: PDP Vindicates the Brookings Report

The recent report by the Brookings Institution in the United States on the "critically weak" states should be of interest to those who have the task of strategising for Nigeria's development. In a survey of 141 countries, Nigeria is placed in the 28th position with 4.88 points in a score of 10.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803120221.html

Dictatorships packaged in Pan-Africanism

The Zimbabwean story has been mistold to the world. Many Africans who know Robert Mugabe, know him as the comrade who took land from the white( British and American imperialists) and gave it to children of the soil(poor peasants).
http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/opin/030829iz.asp?sector=OPIN

Pan Africanism and the Zimbabwe crisis

If the name of Africa is being invoked in justification of government policy then Africans must have a position on it. As we sometimes say, you can't call on your people, and not expect your people to call on you.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/43255

Power-sharing in Kenya: conflict or compromise?

Kenya's parliament is preparing to usher in a power-sharing agreement, brokered to bring to an end to months of ethnic violence sparked by December's disputed election.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7286592.stm

Charles Taylor's arms collaborator sentenced

A Dutch appeals court has acquitted a businessman who had been convicted of selling weapons to former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm

World warned on food price spiral

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said he is deeply concerned about the sharp rise in global food prices.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7288959.stm

Global warming: The poor pays the price

An effective response to global warming and/or the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide would be to cut the world's food consumption by half
http://www.checkbiotech.org/green_News_Biofuels.aspx?infoId=17239

Stop strike or face the law - Ghana tells Liberian refugees

Ghana's Interior Minister has ordered the striking Liberian refugees at the Buduburam camp to call off their strike or face the law.The Interior Minister, Mr. Kwamena Bartels said the strike was illegal and asked the refugees to respect the laws of Ghana.
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/200803/14283.asp

How Mugabe started his career in the classroom

Were it not for an accident of history, Robert Mugabe might now be a retired schoolteacher living out his dotage in peaceful Ghana. In the summer of 1960 when the first African National Congress – the one set up in what was then Rhodesia – was starting to challenge white rule, the young Mugabe was more of an academic than an activist.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/how-the-tyrant-of-harare-also-started-his-career-in-the-classroom-793124.html

Darfur's return to hell

The conflict in Darfur has entered a violent and deadly new phase. Another "scorched earth" policy is being unleashed, reminiscent of the worst waves of government-backed violence that brought the Sudanese region to world attention five years ago and led the US to declare that what was happening there constituted genocide.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/darfurs-return-to-hell-794453.html

An African adventure: Inside story of the wonga coup

In an Equatorial Guinea jail, Simon Mann has finally given his version of the hare-brained plot he led to overthrow the country's leader. And the manacled Old Etonian has named those people – and nations – that he claims backed his dogs of war.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/an-african-adventure-inside-story-of-the-wonga-coup-794470.html

Migrant centre to open in Libya

A centre to help migrants return home is opening in Libya's capital, Tripoli.
Migrants will be given equipment to help them set up small businesses back home, while the centre also provides temporary shelter for 40 people.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7291537.stm

W’Bank: High Oil Price May Worsen Poverty

The prevalent high and volatile oil prices may have devastating consequences for oil-exporting and importing developing countries, the World Bank has warned.Although it was silent on the countries that may be affected, Nigeria is one of the world’s largest producers of oil.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=105675

Jacob Zuma accused of delaying justice

A state lawyer accused African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma in court on Wednesday of trying to delay justice through his attempt to block the use of seized documents at his upcoming corruption trial.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=334481&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

Obasanjo awarded contract to blacklisted firm

The Nigerian lower legislative house on Tuesday gave a shocking revelation of how the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo awarded a N370m contract to a German firm blacklisted by the World Bank.
http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200803121124031

Press teaching politicians democracy

This is the week when Grahamstown's Grocott's Mail newspaper finalises legal papers to protest against an advertising boycott by the local city council.The case concerns the actions of four officials, who will now be diverting scarce municipal resources to defend the impending action.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=333949&area=/insight/insight__converse/

Nigeria may withdraw 100 telecom licences

FOR their inactivity and alleged comatose state long after they were issued licences to operate in Nigeria, 100 firms may be withdrawn by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=120308&ptitle=Govt%20may%20withdraw%20100%20telecom%20licences

Nigerian economy facing ‘systematic deterioration?’

Although, Nigeria's economy is said to have grown by 7.6 percent in the last quarter of 2007, economy watchers have however insisted, they are not afterall, exactly sure about this claim, even as they maintain that they, on the contrary, have noticed how the economy faces, what has been described as “systemic deterioration.”
http://www.businessdayonline.com/economic-watch/6009.html

Mauritius with China: Tying the knot between unequal partners

A few years ago, mention of the increasing role of China in Africa would have been guaranteed a mixed response in Mauritius.
The island has a long-established flourishing Chinese community, so prospecting Chinese business people were unlikely to encounter the resentment and even hostility they have met in some countries on the African mainland in recent years. Mauritius was one of the first states in Africa to recognise China in 1972.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/88c584c6-ef2a-11dc-8a17-0000779fd2ac.html

Aspiration with nowhere to fly to

I was in Senegal for a few weeks, and was assisted by an able and creative young man. For a while, I wondered why he did not react to my text messages. His French was good. He dressed well, if rather flashily in my Anglophone view. We had a fight when I asked him for receipts and I realised he could not read.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=334294&area=/insight/insight__columnists/

Africa's good news

In articles about Africa, the usual way of raising awareness is with a barrage of disturbing statistics. The reader might be told that in sub-Saharan African villages like Sauri, nearly one-third of the population is chronically malnourished; that one child dies of malaria every 30 seconds; that 40% of the people live on less than $1 a day.
But I would like to share more positive data. Since 2004, malaria incidence in Sauri has dropped from 55% to 13%, and agricultural production has more than tripled. Elsewhere, in Mwandama, Malawi (pop. 35,000), agricultural production has increased by no less than 1,100%, and three new clinics are planned for completion this year.


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1205162814607&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Chase for the news can take a while in Africa

When rebels entered Chad's capital, Ndjamena, I was told to get there as quickly as possible.Half a week later, at the end of a 2 000km chase across Central Africa by bus, train and taxi, the lofty promises of increased transport investment intoned at countless African summits rang very hollow in my head.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=334394&area=/breaking_news/other_news/

Mugabe awards big pay-hike to civil servants

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has awarded large pay hikes to civil servants, including teachers, ahead of March 29 polls, local news reports said on Wednesday.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=334464&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

Africa: Nigeria 'Critically Weak', Says Brookings Report

A new report by the Brookings Institution ranking 141 countries according to their performance in critical areas says Nigeria is not a failed state but still classified as "critically weak."
The report recently released by the United States-based think-tank, which is one of the oldest and most respected research institutions in the world, placed Nigeria in the 28th position following an assessment of the country's performance in economy, politics, security and social welfare.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200803110007.html

Sudan: Caught Between Peacekeeping And Development

The beleaguered U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sudan, handicapped by lack of troops and helicopters, has come under fire for its unusually high costs.
Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the African Union Commission, says it is "scandalous" to spend 2.0 billion dollars annually on the upkeep of a proposed 26,000-strong joint African Union-U.N. Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), when Africa's urgent needs are elsewhere.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803111047.html

African leaders urged to pursue Nkrumah’s agenda

A senior lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ghana, Dr Kumi Ansah-Koi, has observed that the only finished work of Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, is the Africa decolonization project.

http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/200803/14234.asp

Nairobi Hilton Defers Repairs As Sector Slumps

Hilton Hotels Corporation's major plans to revamp Hilton Nairobi have been postponed.
The current slump in the tourism sector has occasioned the delay.

Hilton Nairobi is meant to be revamped to meet the group's international standards after having gone through a property analysis mid last year.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200803101645.html

Doing business in South Africa

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page66?oid=198263&sn=Detail

World leaders meet on Africa

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/11/content_7761798.htm

Aids in South Africa

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/world/africa/09safrica.html

AISI media awards

http://www.uneca.org/aisi/ma07winners.htm

UNCA

http://cms.unca.com/content/view/11/10/

UNCA

http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2006arch/news/dec/news200612145.php

Toxic waste in Ivory Coast

http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=4804.0;wap2

Africa's message for China

http://www.chinadialogue.net/homepage/show/single/en/933-Africa-s-message-for-China

Nigeria: Road less travelled

http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-africa_democracy/nigeria_democracy_4545.jsp

Nigeria: the road less travelled

The presidential election in Nigeria on 21 April 2007 is a crucial one for democracy on the continent. A fair and successful election in the continent's most populous nation - and the world's fifth largest federation (after India, the United States, Brazil and Russia) - would be a shining example to the region and even the world; a compromised one would damage the reputation of a country already tarnished by violence and corruption.

Siemens Profile Awards 2008

Remarks by Minister of Science and Technology, Mosibudi Mangena, at the Siemens Profile Awards, Park Hyatt Hotel, Rosebank

http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2008/08030311451006.htm

Ghana nuclear aspiration

http://www.businessdayonline.com/analysis/features/5553.html

West Africa common currency

http://www.businessdayonline.com/analysis/features/3366.html

West Africa Power pool

http://www.businessdayonline.com/analysis/features/3893.html

West African gas pipeline

http://www.businessdayonline.com/analysis/features/1995.html

Zimbabwean punished

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7287293.stm

Zimbabwe bans Western observers

http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/200803/14152.asp