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Published 14th May 1999

Vol 40 No 10


Eritrea

Regional collisions

The Eritrea-Ethiopia war is helping the Islamist regime in Khartoum and further destabilising Djibouti and Somalia

The main beneficiary of the Eritrean-Ethiopian war (AC Vol 40 No 4, Pride and prejudice & My enemy's enemy) is Sudan’s National Islamic Front government. A year ago, both Addis Ababa and Asmara were committed to backing the northern and southern Sudanese opposition, grouped in the National Democratic Alliance, which was making increasingly effective attacks on NIF forces. Ethiopia has since reduced its support for the NDA after meetings with the NIF; more surprisingly, Asmara is also cosying up to Khartoum, signing a ‘reconciliation’ agreement in Qatar on 2 May.


Golden parachutes

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Military 'pensions' and mismanagement threaten the incoming civilian government

It's now clear that President Olusegun Obasanjo's incoming civilian government will face a major financial crisis when it takes office on 29 May. The massive drawdown in foreign...


Compulsory coalition

KwaZulu-Natal's political leaders insist that power-sharing will stop the violence

The people of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will cast their votes on 2 June, in national and provincial elections. However they vote, their party leaders have decided that their...


Island initiative

A new agreement promises to end the political paralysis in Zanzibar

After four years of political stalemate, and three years of hard work by the Commonwealth Secretariat, a new agreement - still not formally signed - lays the groundwork...


Uneasy peace

The Zulu people are proud of their reputation as fighters, which is sadly confirmed by the history of their region. Historic Zululand, incorporated wholesale into the white-ruled...


Oil-fired warfare

Luanda is tying new investments in its oil sector to arms procurements

As the government's economic and military position worsens, its leading apparatchiks are finding ever more innovative ways of financing the war effort. The latest strategy, we hear,...



Pointers

Big Wheels

The news that creditor banks met to discuss the future of well connected Zimbabwean entrepreneur Billy Rautenbach's Hyundai Motor Distributors in Botswana raises questions about his continuing operations...


Lightning strike

A series of opposition victories against the National Islamic Front government has prompted Khartoum to delay 'negotiations' in Nairobi under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development....


Publishing pearl

Several heavyweight Nigerian and Ghanaian business consortia are bidding for control of 82 year-old, London-based West Africa magazine, which on 24 March went into compulsory liquidation, following the...