Vol 53 No 9 | ZIMBABWE From the Stasi to State House 27th April 2012 The Independence Day theme was ‘Indigenisation and Empowerment’. The Movement for Democratic Change objects that this will probably be the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front slogan whenever elections...
Vol 53 No 9 | MOZAMBIQUE Energy bonanza promises real financial independence 27th April 2012 Mozambique is on the threshold of a multi-billion dollar energy boom destined to transform a country that, less than 20 years ago, was counted by the World Bank as the world’s poorest, with per capita gross domestic product of US$80. It is still a weak state that lacks capacity to manage such a large range of investment projects and there is concern that resource wealth will facilitate corruption and poor governance. State revenue from these riches promises eventually to deliver something else – revenue independence. This would be a big change for a country highly dependent on foreign aid: grants and concessional loans currently contribute 41% of the national budget Energy resources lie at the heart of foreign direct investment commitments worth $28 billion. This is more than double 2011’s total gross domestic product of $12 bn. and...
Vol 53 No 9 | MOZAMBIQUE Stakes and taxes 27th April 2012 The government has announced that it will tax mergers and acquisitions in the resource sector. The first is Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed purchase of Britain’s Cove Energy, holder...
Vol 53 No 8 | MALAWI New leader, new broom 13th April 2012 Africa’s second female president faces a fickle parliament and a desperate economy Joyce Banda, accepting promotion from Vice-President to President on the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, inaugurated her rule on 9 April by sacking the police chief, Peter Mukhito....
Vol 53 No 8 | MALAWI How Mutharika went wrong 13th April 2012 Bingu wa Mutharika was Malawi’s third President, after Hastings Kamuzu Banda and Bakili Muluzi. Born in 1934 in the Thyolo district of southern Malawi, he was educated...
Vol 53 No 8 | ANGOLA Hope of peace for Cabinda 13th April 2012 The threat of armed rebellion may fade after rebels offer to talk After four decades of the struggle for independence in the oil-rich Cabinda enclave, the last fighting faction has launched an offer of peace talks. The octogenarian, exiled leader...
Vol 53 No 8 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma battles Juju 13th April 2012 President Jacob Zuma is struggling to carry fellow leaders of the African National Congress with him in his campaign against dissident ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema. On...
Vol 53 No 7 | ZAMBIA Sata stumbles 30th March 2012 The promise of a clean sweep of corruption is unfulfilled and the commitment to open politics undermined Six months after their sweeping election victory, President Michael Chilufya Sata and his Patriotic Front (PF) are struggling to live up to their promises. They are in danger...
Vol 53 No 7 | ZAMBIA Soothing the investors 30th March 2012 Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda and President Michael Sata spent the first two months of 2012 meeting key shareholders in foreign-owned mining companies to reassure them that the government...
Vol 53 No 7 | ZIMBABWE Where’s the indigenous cash? 30th March 2012 Impala Platinum will let 51% of Zimplats go to public ownership but it looks as though the government has not got the cash Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere’s campaign to compel foreign-owned companies to sell majority stakes to Zimbabweans has stalled amid questions about how the government and local...