Vol 38 No 11 | WORLD BANKAFRICA Hitting the thieves 23rd May 1997 As corruption gets worse, the Bank is planning to clean up its own operations By coincidence, the timing is perfect. As Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko, world leader in the corruption business, steals away to safety and a vast fortune, the World Bank...
Vol 38 No 10 | AFRICABRITAIN Labour intensive 9th May 1997 The election of the Labour government on 1 May, after 18 years in opposition, comes at a time of growing Anglophone influence in Africa (AC Vol 38 No...
Vol 38 No 1 | AFRICA Worlds apart 3rd January 1997 Better economic news in some countries but new conflicts in others means a wider gap between Africa's winners and losers The selection of Ghana's Kofi Annan as Secretary General of the United Nations is a tremendous morale boost for Africa this year. Not only is Annan highly regarded...
Vol 38 No 1 | MALAYSIAAFRICA Kuala Lumpar can do 3rd January 1997 Talking politics and doing business, Malaysians are winning new friends Leave aside the posturing and wishful thinking on both sides, Asia is getting more interested in Africa. Part of it is political and diplomatic: aspiring United Nations Security...
Vol 38 No 1 | UNITED STATESAFRICA Albright's team 3rd January 1997 The nomination of Madeleine Albright as President Bill Clinton's new Secretary of State for African Affairs opens the way for a reshuffle of the Africa department's officials. Most...
Vol 38 No 1 | IRANAFRICA Tehran's ambitions 3rd January 1997 Iran is working to build a presence across Africa as it seeks to overcome efforts by the United States, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to isolate it....
Vol 37 No 25 | FRANCEAFRICA Low key in Ouaga 13th December 1996 The Francophone summit was a pale shadow of times past and it achieved little on Zaïre President Mobutu Sese Seko was detained elsewhere but everybody in Ouagadougou wanted to know what was happening to his country. The Rwandan and Zaïrean delegations had hardly...
Vol 37 No 21 | AFRICADEBT The details left out of the deal 18th October 1996 For the first time the World Bank and the IMF have found a way to reschedule some of Africa's debts World Bank President James Wolfensohn called it a 'lovefest'. True, the rich country finance ministers did reach a rare consensus in Washington on 1-3 October on the outline...
Vol 37 No 21 | ITALYAFRICA Aggiornamento 18th October 1996 Italy is back in the Horn of Africa. The trigger was Romano Prodi's appointment as Prime Minister in May. Driving the revival (of which there are signs elsewhere...
Vol 37 No 21 | FRANCEAFRICA Cashiered 18th October 1996 Paris is cutting its unwieldy, mainly conscript, 500,000-strong army, to form a smaller, well equipped regular force. Defence Minister Charles Millon visited Chad and Gabon on 5-8 October...