Vol 45 No 15 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA Private estate 21st July 2004 An astonishing report by US legislators exposes some of the Obiang government's mass pilfering The scandal enveloping the venerable Washington-based Riggs Bank, which once called itself the 'most important bank in the most important city in the world', has been flung into...
Vol 45 No 15 | CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Coming cleaner 21st July 2004 The IMF has finally persuaded Congo to explain where all the money goes After years of broken promises to the International Monetary Fund, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has finally agreed to reveal how Congo's oil wealth is managed. An audit has been...
Vol 45 No 15 | CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Caught out 21st July 2004 Disclosing your exports is one thing, international monitoring is quite another. A review mission of the Kimberley Process monitoring the international diamond trade, led by the Chairman of...
Vol 45 No 14 | RWANDASOUTH AFRICACONGO-KINSHASAAFRICA Military might 9th July 2004 This week's military agreement between Rwanda and South Africa may be touted as African Union cooperation and regional peace-building. But some in Pretoria fear that if Kigali continues...
Vol 45 No 12 | CONGO-KINSHASA The Kivus jolt Kinshasa, again 11th June 2004 The revolt in remote Bukavu threatens the peace and Kabila's transitional regime The capture of Bukavu by General Laurent Nkunda's rebels on 2 June sent tremors across the country. It was a huge blow to the power-sharing government in Kinshasa...
Vol 45 No 12 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA Liberating the liberator 11th June 2004 President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has thwarted a second mercenary-sponsored coup attempt in three months, government officials claim. Five rebels were killed, others were captured and a security...
Vol 45 No 12 | CONGO-KINSHASA Send for Tintin 11th June 2004 A Belgian judge has issued an international arrest warrant for a senior member of President Joseph Kabila's team, Jean-Charles Okoto. He is in charge of organisation and recruitment...
Vol 45 No 12 | CONGO-KINSHASA Chez Ntemba spreads its wings 11th June 2004 Lubumbashi-born K.W. Kayembe, perhaps Africa's most successful nightclub entrepreneur, is to open a new venue, in Manor House, North London. Kayembe established his first Chez Ntemba ('preferred corner'...
Vol 45 No 11 | CONGO-KINSHASA Yes, guv 28th May 2004 It took three months of negotiation for President Joseph Kabila to nominate the eleven provincial governors. The Mission des Nations Unies en République du Congo (Monuc) approved but...
Vol 45 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASAUNITED KINGDOM Diamond defamation 14th May 2004 Oryx Natural Resources has finally lost the legal battle to clear its name and dropped its libel action against the London daily The Independent, which accused the company...