Vol 3 (AAC) No 7 | SOUTH AFRICAJAPAN Slow to let go of Hitachi 20th May 2010 Faced with popular outcry about profiteering from electricity shortages and opaque ties between political parties and businesses, South Africa’s governing African National Congress is being forced to abandon its stake in...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 7 | ZIMBABWE Stan Mudenge 20th May 2010 Higher Education Minister, Zimbabwe Isaak Stanislaus Gorerazvo Mudenge’s role as Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s Secretary for External Affairs keeps him in the foreign policy loop and he took part in Zimbabwe’s...
Vol 51 No 10 | ANGOLA Boom-bust all over again 14th May 2010 China is offering another mega-loan and oil prices are rising again but Luanda’s short-term finances are fraught Market reports that negotiations have stalled between the government and Goldman Sachs over a complex, US$250 million, dual currency (United States dollar and Angolan kwanza) loan facility point...
Vol 51 No 10 | ANGOLA The IMF makes up with Luanda 14th May 2010 Prior to the global financial crisis in 2008, many were questioning the International Monetary Fund’s relevance, especially in African countries which were increasingly turning to the international financial...
Vol 51 No 10 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma’s economic tightrope 14th May 2010 The President has endorsed Trevor Manuel’s pro-market policy plans and is struggling to keep the left on side More than a quarter of all South Africans seeking work in the formal economy cannot find it. The urgency to get the new National Planning Commission up and...
Vol 51 No 10 | SOUTH AFRICA The Patel alternative 14th May 2010 The battle for control of economic development planning continues and the National Planning Commission’s mandate has not yet been agreed. President Jacob Zuma blundered when, in his address...
Vol 51 No 10 | ZIMBABWE Diamond disputes 14th May 2010 Quarrels over diamond concessions preoccupy politicians of all stripes and some adventurous foreign capitalists There are not many ways to get rich in Zimbabwe just now and the best is diamond mining. The business is dominated by the ruling clique in the...
Vol 51 No 9 | ZAMBIA The battle around Banda 30th April 2010 Even his own party cannot agree on whether to back the President for the coming election campaign Rupiah Bwezani Banda came to office by accident in November 2008, on the death of President Levy Mwanawasa. He hopes to win another election next year and has...
Vol 51 No 9 | ZAMBIA Tax and spend 30th April 2010 The IMF advises the government to raise taxes to finance public investment; the mining companies beg to differ The big mining houses are predictably grumbling about the Zambian government’s plans for a 25% windfall tax on copper and cobalt production. President Rupiah Banda is standing firm,...
Vol 51 No 9 | MAURITIUSSENEGALBRITAIN CDC goes offshore 30th April 2010 A mining company in which the British government is the biggest shareholder is using Mauritius-registered front companies to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes on its mineral...