Vol 2 (AAC) No 1 | CHINAAFRICAEUROPE Uwe Wissenbach 27th November 2008 Coordinator for Africa-China Relations, European Commission Many European Union diplomats believe their continent’s influence is being sidelined as China boosts its investments and profile in Africa. One man in the European Commission is working to channel those...
Vol 49 No 25 | FRANCEAFRICA Jungle justice 12th December 2008 Lingering court cases such as the murder of Judge Bernard Borrel in Djibouti, the Angolagate arms trial and the arrest of Rwanda’s Rose Kabuye cast a shadow over...
Vol 49 No 24 | AFRICADIAMONDS Slowdown hits the sparklers 28th November 2008 New diamond mines no longer seem the prospect they once were The new poor do not buy diamonds, so the big producers hope to keep their profit margins up by cutting production. A conference on 17 November organised by...
Vol 49 No 23 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONS Changes ahead for UN forces 14th November 2008 Africa's crises may prompt radical reform of the mandates and structures of peacekeeping operations United Nations' peacekeeping faces its biggest crisis since it started some 60 years ago in Palestine. This month, over a million lives are at risk in Congo-Kinshasa as...
Vol 49 No 23 | FRANCEAFRICA Espion embarrassant 14th November 2008 The leaked diaries of former French intelligence chief Yves Bertrand have enraged and amused the political establishment in Paris, which is already intrigued by the accusations of high-level...
Vol 49 No 21 | UNITED STATESAFRICA Obama rings the changes 17th October 2008 African citizens enthuse about the prospect of an Obama presidency, but their governments are much more cautious A victory for Barack Obama in the United States Presidential elections on 4 November would be greeted with a roar of approval across Africa and the diaspora. For...
Vol 49 No 21 | UNITED STATESAFRICA Diplomats on the campaign trail 17th October 2008 Barack Obama is taking no chances on foreign policy, seen as one of his weaknesses against Senator John McCain who has been in Congress since 1983. There some 300 foreign policy advisors working on Barack Obama's campaign, about 50 on Africa alone; this compares to about 50 advisors on all foreign policy for McCain’s...
Vol 49 No 21 | WORLD BANKINTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUNDAFRICA Africa and the credit crash 17th October 2008 Africa’s economies growing faster on average than all other regions, except Asia, but how will they fare when the global slowdown bites? Africa’s economies will lose momentum as the effects of the global credit crisis work through the international system – but the damage will be less severe than in...
Vol 49 No 20 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONS Financial and political chaos 3rd October 2008 As equities and corporate fortunes plummeted outside, diplomats discussed aid pledges and peackeeping After a year of the worsening credit crisis, the cost of external finance for African and other states has risen and the availability of credit is shrinking. That...
Vol 49 No 20 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONS The Millennium stops here 3rd October 2008 The Millennium Goals remain elusive and controversial After five days of grand summitry in New York last week, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was able to announce that US$16 billion had been raised in...