Vol 52 No 2 | BRAZILAFRICA Rumbas in the jungle 21st January 2011 Brazil’s new President, Dilma Rousseff, does not have the enthusiasm for Africa of her predecessor, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, but the ties will remain President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, who worked closely with successive South African Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma on diplomatic issues, also presided over a sharp boost...
Vol 52 No 2 | BRAZILAFRICA Brazil’s natural allies 21st January 2011 Brazil’s political involvement in Portuguese-speaking Africa goes back to the independence struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. In July 1974, the military junta which then ruled Brazil recognised...
Vol 52 No 1 | AFRICA Elections on trial 7th January 2011 In a crowded year of elections, the standoff in Abidjan offers a serious challenge to democracy promoters At the start of one of Africa’s busiest political seasons – more than 17 elections are due this year – the deepening crisis in Côte d’Ivoire sends a...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 12 | CHINAAUSTRALIAAFRICA Insider trading 5th October 2011 Australian financial authorities are investigating the trading activities of resource company executives in two lucrative takeover deals The latest attempt by a Chinese company to secure African mining assets from Australian companies has hit the skids over concerns about insider trading by Hanlong Mining. Several suspicious deals...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 12 | ANGOLACHINASINGAPOREAFRICA China Sonangol is open for business 5th October 2011 Transparency has not been a major feature of China Sonangol’s and China International Fund’s activities in Africa, but one of the investment vehicles is now embarking on a human-resources drive...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 10 | CHINAAFRICATELECOMS Uganda to miss digital deadline 31st August 2011 As Huawei Technologies hits trouble in Uganda, Chinese communications projects encounter legal problems from East Africa down to Southern Africa Uganda may miss the East African Community’s deadline of December 2012 for all member states to switch from analogue to digital television. In early August, Uganda’s communications regulator sounded the...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 10 | CHINAAFRICA Build a better arms regime 31st August 2011 Countries are calling for a new arms treaty which incorporates human-rights provisions, but China is wary Cracks are appearing in China’s solidarity with its African allies at the United Nations’ arms trade treaty (ATT) talks. At a UN Preparatory Committee in New York City on 11-15 July,...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 10 | CHINAAFRICA Arms trade treaty timetable 31st August 2011 December 2006: Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan and Kenya author Resolution 61/89, ‘Toward an arms trade treaty: establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms’. The...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 10 | AFRICAASIA Towering trade 31st August 2011 As Africa’s trade with China continues to top its trade with the United States and former colonial powers, African bankers are calling for a united African front. Standard Bank’s Jeremy Stevens predicts that China-Africa...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 10 | TAIWANAFRICA Ready, able and unlikely 31st August 2011 Officials at Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) are playing down reports that the government is mulling a naval escort for its ships facing the threat of piracy in the...