Vol 54 No 9 | SOMALIABRITAIN Progress but... 26th April 2013 The follow-up to the 2012 London Conference on Somalia should be ‘a substantial conference with substantial outcomes’, said a senior British diplomat of the second London gatheri...
Vol 54 No 4 | SUDANBRITAIN British military aid for Sudan 15th February 2013 The latest round of British military cooperation with Sudan under the aegis of its Defence Minister, General Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, who is wanted by the International Crimina...
Vol 53 No 23 | SUDANCHINABRITAIN Sanctions bypass 16th November 2012 China has quietly joined countries implementing sanctions against Khartoum, we hear. This may not reduce Beijing’s substantial arms exports to Khartoum but it is making life diffic...
Vol 53 No 18 | SOMALIABRITAIN Monitoring on hold 7th September 2012 Britain’s Department for International Development has taken no step towards setting up the Joint Financial Management Board promised at February’s London Conference on Somalia, Af...
Vol 53 No 12 | SIERRA LEONEBRITAIN Faultlines in the foundations 8th June 2012 As Western governments cut aid to Africa, private foundations run by politicians and business people take on an increasingly politicised role Private foundations such as those run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and financier George Soros can marshal funds in Africa to rival the aid budgets of agencies such as the United...
Vol 53 No 7 | NIGERIABRITAIN Ibori goes to Southwark 30th March 2012 Having pleaded guilty to ten money-laundering charges and obtaining a money transfer by deception and fraud, James Onanefe Ibori, the former Governor of Delta State, will be sent...
Vol 53 No 7 | TANZANIABRITAIN Taking bribes seriously 30th March 2012 The outgoing head of Britain’s Serious Fraud Office, Richard Alderman, has spoken out about the shortcomings of the British criminal justice system in relation to corporate crime...
Vol 53 No 6 | AFRICABRITAIN Getting out of the bush 16th March 2012 Accountants and managers at the BBC are calling time on the African service and cutting British influence on the continent The British Broadcasting Corporation’s decision to eviscerate its highly successful African Service looks counterproductive. It is all the more surprising given that Africa is bein...
Vol 53 No 5 | SOMALIABRITAIN Martial music plays in London 2nd March 2012 Whispers of possible negotiations with Al Shabaab were drowned out by the drums of war The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) may have been hosting the London Conference on Somalia but there was no doubting that Downing Street was in the driving seat.
Vol 53 No 4 | SOMALIABRITAIN No great expectations 17th February 2012 British Prime Minister David Cameron’s grand conference will bring together many parties but no one is forecasting a breakthrough After two decades of political mayhem, Somalis and more perspicacious foreign diplomats are intensely sceptical about high-level conferences. Many approach the London Conference on...