GHANA Who spends, wins 30th November 2007 Free-spending candidates and their business backers dominate the governing New Patriotic Party's choice of a new leader The race to pick the New Patriotic Party's next presidential candidate is turning nasty, as millions of cedis are spent on the primary election campaigns and arguments over party rules. President John Agyekum Kufuor has served his two terms and must go. The two highest-spending candidates to succeed him are ex-Foreign Minister Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and ex-Trade Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen. Activists say that they are in the lead, but there could be surprises when delegates from across the country vote at the NPP Congress on 22 December. Since 18 candidates have paid their US$25,000 nomination fee, no candidate is likely to be elected in the first round of voting.
GHANA The cedi and pesewa vote 30th November 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site For many Ghanaians, the economics of the elections are more important than the politics. Most of the responsibility for these matters falls on the shoulders of the effervescent Fin...
NAMIBIA Breaking up the party 30th November 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The latest attempt to replace the governing party has some impressive leaders but needs voters It could be a new dawn in Namibia. In November, four years of factional fighting within the governing South West African People's Organisation culminated in a breakaway by senior p...
Hyper-optimism about Africa’s economies buzzed around a bankers’ meeting at a 5-star hotel in London last week. Russian-based Renaissance Capital bankrolled the event, which showcased Africa’s new investment opportunities. ‘An amazing economic transformation is underway in sub-Saharan Africa unlike anything the investor community has seen in the region’s 40 year post-colonial history,’ enthused Renaissance Chief Executive Stephen Jennings before embarking on a detailed rubbishing of sceptical a... Hyper-optimism about Africa’s economies buzzed around a bankers’ meeting at a 5-star hotel in London last week. Russian-based Renaissance Capital bankrolled the event, which showcased Africa’s new investment opportunities. ‘An amazing economic transformation is underway in sub-Saharan Africa unlike anything the investor community has seen in the region’s 40 year post-colonial history,’ enthused Renaissance Chief Executive Stephen Jennings before embarking on a detailed rubbishing of sceptical assessments of Africa’s economic prospects. As video screens beamed out a backdrop of impressive corporate results and successive speakers extolled the continent’s virtues, a seasoned financial sceptic remarked that it seemed ‘the Church of Scientology had merged with Bloomberg News’. Yet much of the core economic analysis is right. Demand from Asia’s mega-economies has transformed the market for Africa’s commodities and investment from Asia may solve many of Africa’s infrastructural bottlenecks. Yet there should be some cautionary notes: the boom in the emerging economies will inevitably be slowed by the downward drift in the US and European markets; and these days Africa’s political analysts are much less buoyant than their economic counterparts. As they don’t say in America, it’s the politics stupid! Read more
SOUTH AFRICA Zuming ahead 30th November 2007 The party primaries went against President Mbeki and the hunt for a compromise candidate is speeding up Jacob Zuma has built up such a lead in the race for the African National Congress presidency that his opponents are stepping up efforts to find a new candidate to challenge him. If...
COMMONWEALTHANALYSIS Friendly in Kampala 30th November 2007 The form and content of the Commonwealth are changing. The growing interest in the economic role of an organisation whose members include some of the most dynamic economies in Asia and Africa coincides with the election of a Secretary General from Asia's second biggest economy, India. Commonwealth ties will be important next year when India organises its 'Year of Africa'. The Commonwealth, as always, tried to present a new face at its Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala on 23-25 November, hosted by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. The...
RWANDA Moving on 30th November 2007 Wooing the Commonwealth is only one of Rwanda’s approaches to its region and the wider world After its terrible years of turmoil, Rwanda was reasserting its place in the world well before last week's Commonwealth summit considered its possible membership. In June, it form...
MALAWI The Africa Forum 30th November 2007 Ex-presidents and other ex-leaders came together as the Africa Forum in Livingstone, Zambia, on 21-23 November. The theme of their gathering was 'Ending AIDS - Africa Takes Charge'...
SOUTH AFRICA The third man or possibly - woman 30th November 2007 African National Congress officials hope to find a third way, with President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma stepping out of the leadership race to make room for a compromise candidate....
COMMONWEALTH Mr Secretary Sharma 30th November 2007 The competitors for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General were the dignified Kamalesh Sharma, 67, India's High Commissioner in London, and Malta's Foreign Minister Michael Fre...
RWANDACOMMONWEALTH On the edges of the club 30th November 2007 Rwanda became a virtual member of the Commonwealth at its 23-25 November summit in Kampala, partly due to President Yoweri Museveni's energetic support for visiting President Paul ...
SOMALIA A new man in Mogadishu 30th November 2007 If new Prime Minister Nur Adde can talk to the opposition and clan leaders, he might just help to stop the slaughter Much depends on the new Prime Minister. Nur Hassan Hussein 'Adde' was sworn in on 24 November, after Parliament had endorsed him with only one abstention. With good contacts across...
SOUTH AFRICAZIMBABWE Mbeki to the rescue 30th November 2007 Restarting talks between Mugabe's government and part of the opposition may not be a triumph for quiet diplomacy South African President Thabo Mbeki stopped over in Harare on 22 November and persuaded Zimbabwe's main opposition party to carry on talking to the ruling Zimbabwe African Nationa...
COMMONWEALTH Secretarial duties 30th November 2007 Twenty prime ministers and sixteen presidents were present at the Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala, Uganda, on 23-25 November. Many Commonwealth states have non-execu...
MALAWI Three men in a boat 30th November 2007 Political life languishes as three old adversaries line up their parties for the elections that lie ahead Malawi's politics are dominated by three men. President Bingu wa Mutharika holds several ministerial portfolios and leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). John Tembo leads t...
ETHIOPIA Ethiopia's options 30th November 2007 Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has three options for its Somalia policy, all of them formidably difficult.
KENYASUDAN The wrong report 30th November 2007 Kenya and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are suppressing debate about increasing tension between Khartoum and the Government of Southern Sudan, and the resi...
UGANDACOMMONWEALTH Regal rivalry 30th November 2007 The Commonwealth summit last week provided an unrivalled opportunity for local monarchists to promote their own political agenda through unabashed adoration of Britain's octogenari...
SIERRA LEONE Koroma's Christmas present 30th November 2007 Two months after his election, life for Sierra Leone's new President Ernest Bai Koroma has been full of pageantry and confusion. Three hours late for his own inauguration, he kept ...
SENEGALSOUTH AFRICA Two crocodiles 30th November 2007 Octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade and his 65-year-old South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki seem to disagree about many things, especially the African Union and the New Partner...