Vol 51 No 15 | ZIMBABWE What mattered was the football 23rd July 2010 World Cup fever overshadowed both a spectacular political row and preparations for a new constitution Robert Mugabe has earned a reputation as one of the globe's leading gatecrashers but his poise, self-confidence and chutzpah have not rubbed off on his travelling entourage. Offici...
Vol 51 No 15 | ZIMBABWE Restless spirits 23rd July 2010 The Ndebele can't agree on a living leader and many still take their inspiration from the late Joshua Nkomo Sibangilizwe Nkomo, the sole surviving son of Joshua Nkomo (1917-99), is campaigning to exhume his father's remains from the 'foreign' soil of Heroes' Acre in Harare and transfer t...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 9 | MALAWICHINATAIWANBRIEFING Changing sides with profit 20th July 2010 Malawi has profitably switched its allegiance to China from Taiwan with a price tag of over US$350 million. In the past two years, China has taken over road and building projects...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 9 | ANGOLATANZANIACHINABRIEFING Choose your poison 20th July 2010 The shadowy joint venture between Angola's state-owned oil company and the nebulous China International Fund has reached a new stumbling block in its three-year-old pursuit of a ...
Vol 51 No 14 | SOUTH AFRICACONGO-KINSHASA Secret oil deal 9th July 2010 The emergence of Khulubuse Zuma, the nephew of South African President Jacob Zuma, as a leading player in Congo-Kinshasa’s oil industry has provoked curiosity and anger in almost e...
Vol 51 No 13 | ZIMBABWE Diplomacy by other means 25th June 2010 Harare’s foreign policy is splitting at the seams – and so is the awkward ZANU-PF-MDC coalition South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma is beginning to tire of the political impasse in Harare. We hear that Zuma’s office has just sent a stern note to the three principals of 2008’s...
Vol 51 No 13 | ZIMBABWE Newsdays and the old days 25th June 2010 The new Media Commission is finally operational and is issuing licences to publish newspapers. After a year’s foot-dragging, during which the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patrio...
Vol 51 No 13 | BOTSWANA In a spin 25th June 2010 The governing Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) faces a serious threat after its Barata-Phati (‘those who love the party’) faction walked out and launched the Botswana Movement for D...
Vol 51 No 13 | RWANDASOUTH AFRICA World cup shooting 25th June 2010 The would-be killers who bungled an attack on dissident Rwandan General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa seem to have thought that the World Cup would divert police attention from their op...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 8 | MAURITIUSINDIA Taxing times 17th June 2010 Port Louis suspends six forex companies as talks resume on the tax treaty that allows Indian companies to launder illicit funds India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is sending a team of senior officials to resume the difficult negotiations with Mauritius to resolve the lingering stand-off over the 19...