South Africa finally won the battle for the AU Commission chair, amid high hopes for reform and more effective interventions
Security crises in five countries and pressing economic problems confront the new Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Although she has three months...
Just hours before voting began for the new chairperson of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa on 15 July, veteran diplomats were predicting a repeat of the deadlock that ha...
For foreign oil companies, getting hitched to local partners is increasingly causing trouble at home
Angola’s habit of compelling foreign oil companies to work with secretive local companies that belong to top government officials is attracting increasing criticism – and complianc...
Turning to the US dollar was not enough: politics underlies the country’s economic problems
Growth forecasts of 9.4% for this year have been halved. Thishighlights the policy limitations of abolishing the Zimbabwean dollar.It was replaced in 2009 by a range of solid curre...
Vol 53 No 15 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The authorities have tried to hush up a break-in that took place at South Africa’s largest nuclear research centre, the Pelindaba facility near Pretoria, on 28 April. The Departmen...
Vol 53 No 14 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Arguments over personalities rather than ideas dominate the ANC’s policy conference in the Free State
Policies were not changed nor presidents toppled when the African National Congress met last week. Yet everyone – supporters of President Jacob Zuma and of his two main rivals, Dep...
The confusion is far from over. The United Nations proposes that Madagascar hold presidential and parliamentary elections in May or June 2013 but Andry Rajoelina is holding out. The army installed him as national leader after its coup in March 2009 threw out his elected predecessor, Marc Ravalomanana. He now heads the Haute Autorité de la Transition (HAT) that was installed in November 2011, following a ‘road map’ signed the previous month by most political leaders (AC Vol 53 No 5, Who's the democrat now?).
There is logic behind the timetable suggested by the UN experts who, chaired by Akinyemi Adegbola, visited the island in April-May. Time is needed to establish a credible electoral...
Vol 53 No 14 |
- MADAGASCAR
• Andry Rajoelina, 38, Chairman of the Haute autorité de la transition (HAT), is a former Mayor of Antananarivo and leads the Tanora MalaGasy Vonona (TGV) party.
Vol 53 No 14 |
- MADAGASCAR
In public, diplomats in Antananarivo talk up the chances of a settlement of the political crisis. In private, though, they confess to doubting the value of the sanctions imposed si...
The battle of the oligarchs in London’s High Court ended on 29 June. Arkady Gaydamak and Lev Leviev fought over millions of dollars in Angolan diamond sales.