Patrick Smith
The tale of secret payments of $50 million payments by Britain’s BAE Systems to a company in the British Virgin Islands which featured on 1 August on the front pages of Africa Confidential and the Financial Times is more than just another ripping corrupti...
Patrick Smith
HARARE: Sunday was a soporific affair on the streets of Harare, except for the government’s Chinese-made Mig jets zig-zagging across the cloudless sky in a show of power. All shops closed; nobody out on a Sunday stroll. Even some of the boisterous evangel...
Patrick Smith
Africa Confidential’s special correspondent reports from Harare as President Robert Mugabe declares victory
Voting was unenthusiastic and turnout low in yesterday's presidential poll, despite Saturday’s bombastic headline in the state-owned Herald claimi...
Stars Foundation
As the international media focuses its attention on the electoral chaos in Zimbabwe, the ethnic cleansing of Darfur by the Sudan government carries on. It is five years since reports first emerged of the Islamist regime’s attacks through its proxy militia...
Patrick Smith
Africa Confidential has been busy investigating the effects of international sanctions on President Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe and has uncovered a lot of hypocrisy and double standards. Although Britain has been at the forefront of diplomatic cond...
Patrick Smith
Pan Pacifico Conference Centre
Yokohama
Japan
Kunichiwa Confidentialers,
The strains of Senegal's star musician Youssou N'dour singing 'Seven Seconds' wafted through the conference centre here yesterday as Japan's grand African jamboree opened. Fellow ...
Patrick Smith
Nigeria's post-election crisis has taken a very different turn from Kenya's. Unlike Kenya's thwarted politicians, Nigeria's opposition leaders are contesting the election results through the courts and this time seem to be confident of success – even if ...
Patrick Smith
Wednesday 16 January 2008
The AC Office
Farringdon Road,
London
Dear Confidentialers,
As you all will have read, the New Year has started badly in Kenya. Breaking with tradition, I am writing this letter and account of the election debacle jointly with a...
Patrick Smith
Tuesday 23 October 2007
United Nations Secretariat
New York City
USA
Dear Confidentialers,
A whirlwind trip through New York and Washington this week shows that Africa has moved up the diplomatic and economic agenda - despite the Iraq-Iran obsessions h...
Patrick Smith
Recently in New York,
11 October 2007
Dear Confidentialers,
In those days when grown hacks used to fight over datelines and the scrupulousness of sub-editors ruled, a favorite dateline would start with the words 'recently in...' followed by some interes...