NIGERIA Party pieces 2nd February 2007 Feuding factions in the governing PDP jostle for jobs, and no prosecutions, before the elections Voters are less worried about the upcoming elections than the would-be candidates, now battling for territory before the campaign proper starts later this month. On 29 January, the government gave workers the day off to register; the final deadline for registration was extended to 2 February. Before that, the electoral registers had still numbered 10 million people below the estimated 60 million electorate. Partly this is because of apathy, partly because the computerised registration system has turned away many hopeful electors. New registration machines producing sealed cards with photographs and fingerprints are intended to stop fraud. Stories circulate of a politician who is said to have installed six of the machines in his house. NIGERIA What future for the reform team? 2nd February 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site At the heart of policy-making for much of President Olusegun Obasanjo's two terms, the reform team of Nigerian technocrats is breaking up, raising doubts about the continuity of ec... NIGERIA Buhari's election headlines 2nd February 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Another former military ruler dons a baba riga to run for the presidency and campaign for more accountability As he elegantly stretches out in a rented Mayfair apartment and insists on discussing 'policy issues not personalities', it is easy to forget that General Muhamadu Buhari headed th... BLUE LINES THE INSIDE VIEW As the African Union summiteers sat down in Addis Ababa this week, China’s President Hu Jintao was setting off on a ten day trip to Africa, his third in as many years. The AU and Chinese diplomats inhabit parallel worlds. The AU is passing the hat around for US$50 million to fund a peacekeeping mission to Somalia that just might prevent the country slipping back into warlordism. President Hu left Beijing with a $5 billion fund for African investments and promises of a $10 bn. aid package. He is ... As the African Union summiteers sat down in Addis Ababa this week, China’s President Hu Jintao was setting off on a ten day trip to Africa, his third in as many years. The AU and Chinese diplomats inhabit parallel worlds. The AU is passing the hat around for US$50 million to fund a peacekeeping mission to Somalia that just might prevent the country slipping back into warlordism. President Hu left Beijing with a $5 billion fund for African investments and promises of a $10 bn. aid package. He is accompanied by Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who was in Africa at the beginning of January. Wisely, the Beijing delegation did not stop over at the AU summit in Addis, where their Sudanese ally was barred from the AU chairmanship. Beijing’s Communist government is not much interested in collective bargaining with Africa, it prefers strengthening bilateral relations. No Western leader– George Bush, Tony Blair or even Jacques Chirac – can match Hu’s African air miles. China is winning on trade and starting on aid but what about diplomacy? Hu will be trying to placate critics in South Africa and Zambia, and has promised to pressure President Omer to stop blocking the UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur. Perhaps Hu will leave Khartoum airport waving a little piece of paper in his hand. Read more GUINEA The strike that shook Conté 2nd February 2007 As tensions rise, both the President and his civilian opponents will lose if the military launches a coup d'état Union strikers and opposition demonstrators have secured a tactical victory against President Lansana Conté's regime after three weeks of protests, during which, in January,... DIAMONDS How crooks still exploit the system 2nd February 2007 Gems from war zones are part of a wider illegal diamond trade Blood diamonds, the fruit of wars, are fashionable both in Hollywood and among documentary film-makers, with productions such as 'Blood Diamond' and 'Blood on the Stone'. This worr... STOCK MARKETS Upwards and onwards 2nd February 2007 For years, outside interest in African equities markets has been restricted to specialist investment fund managers and a few eccentric but astute individuals. Now that it changing,... GUINEA Two peas in a pod 2nd February 2007 El Hadj Mamadou Sylla, a businessman, and Fodé Soumah, formerly Deputy Governor of Guinea's Central Bank, vigorously protest their innocence of the corruption charges pendin... AFRICAN UNION The snubbing of Sudan 2nd February 2007 Delegates bar President Omer from the AU Chairmanship but fail to step up pressure for UN peacekeepers in Darfur As a majority of African states faced down the efforts of Sudan, Egypt and the Arab League to win the African Union Chairmanship for Sudan's President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir, ... SOMALIA The Addis to Mogadishu axis 2nd February 2007 AU summiteers have offered half the number of troops required for the peacekeeping force At the end of the AU summit in Addis Ababa on 30 January, its new Chairman, Ghana's President John Kufuor, announced that four countries had pledged troops: Uganda (1,500); Nigeria... GHANAAFRICAN UNION Ghana's gain 2nd February 2007 The election of President John Kufuor to the Chairmanship of the African Union was a personal victory for his Foreign Minister and presidential aspirant, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Add... Pointers MOZAMBIQUE Guebuza and governance 2nd February 2007 As the World Bank proclaims its 'leadership role in the fight against fraud and corruption', it has emerged that it has breached its own good governance rules by facilitating and e... SUDANBRITAIN Minni on the rampage 2nd February 2007 A British project, reportedly costing £100,000 (US$195,000) to help turn Minni Arkou Minnawi's rebels into a political party has been postponed after his men again went on th... LIBERIA Snowe white-out 2nd February 2007 Edwin Melvin Snowe's battle to keep his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives is becoming an embarrassing cause célèbre as he claims the plot against hi... NIGERIA Bond breakthrough 2nd February 2007 Some might consider it risky for a Nigerian bank to issue a US$300 million Eurobond on the international capital markets for the first time - just three months before the country h... SENEGAL No deal for Seck 2nd February 2007 After weeks of negotiations, many expected President Abdoulaye Wade to announce the return of former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck to the governing Parti Démocratique Sé...
NIGERIA What future for the reform team? 2nd February 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site At the heart of policy-making for much of President Olusegun Obasanjo's two terms, the reform team of Nigerian technocrats is breaking up, raising doubts about the continuity of ec...
NIGERIA Buhari's election headlines 2nd February 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Another former military ruler dons a baba riga to run for the presidency and campaign for more accountability As he elegantly stretches out in a rented Mayfair apartment and insists on discussing 'policy issues not personalities', it is easy to forget that General Muhamadu Buhari headed th...
As the African Union summiteers sat down in Addis Ababa this week, China’s President Hu Jintao was setting off on a ten day trip to Africa, his third in as many years. The AU and Chinese diplomats inhabit parallel worlds. The AU is passing the hat around for US$50 million to fund a peacekeeping mission to Somalia that just might prevent the country slipping back into warlordism. President Hu left Beijing with a $5 billion fund for African investments and promises of a $10 bn. aid package. He is ... As the African Union summiteers sat down in Addis Ababa this week, China’s President Hu Jintao was setting off on a ten day trip to Africa, his third in as many years. The AU and Chinese diplomats inhabit parallel worlds. The AU is passing the hat around for US$50 million to fund a peacekeeping mission to Somalia that just might prevent the country slipping back into warlordism. President Hu left Beijing with a $5 billion fund for African investments and promises of a $10 bn. aid package. He is accompanied by Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who was in Africa at the beginning of January. Wisely, the Beijing delegation did not stop over at the AU summit in Addis, where their Sudanese ally was barred from the AU chairmanship. Beijing’s Communist government is not much interested in collective bargaining with Africa, it prefers strengthening bilateral relations. No Western leader– George Bush, Tony Blair or even Jacques Chirac – can match Hu’s African air miles. China is winning on trade and starting on aid but what about diplomacy? Hu will be trying to placate critics in South Africa and Zambia, and has promised to pressure President Omer to stop blocking the UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur. Perhaps Hu will leave Khartoum airport waving a little piece of paper in his hand. Read more
GUINEA The strike that shook Conté 2nd February 2007 As tensions rise, both the President and his civilian opponents will lose if the military launches a coup d'état Union strikers and opposition demonstrators have secured a tactical victory against President Lansana Conté's regime after three weeks of protests, during which, in January,...
DIAMONDS How crooks still exploit the system 2nd February 2007 Gems from war zones are part of a wider illegal diamond trade Blood diamonds, the fruit of wars, are fashionable both in Hollywood and among documentary film-makers, with productions such as 'Blood Diamond' and 'Blood on the Stone'. This worr...
STOCK MARKETS Upwards and onwards 2nd February 2007 For years, outside interest in African equities markets has been restricted to specialist investment fund managers and a few eccentric but astute individuals. Now that it changing,...
GUINEA Two peas in a pod 2nd February 2007 El Hadj Mamadou Sylla, a businessman, and Fodé Soumah, formerly Deputy Governor of Guinea's Central Bank, vigorously protest their innocence of the corruption charges pendin...
AFRICAN UNION The snubbing of Sudan 2nd February 2007 Delegates bar President Omer from the AU Chairmanship but fail to step up pressure for UN peacekeepers in Darfur As a majority of African states faced down the efforts of Sudan, Egypt and the Arab League to win the African Union Chairmanship for Sudan's President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir, ...
SOMALIA The Addis to Mogadishu axis 2nd February 2007 AU summiteers have offered half the number of troops required for the peacekeeping force At the end of the AU summit in Addis Ababa on 30 January, its new Chairman, Ghana's President John Kufuor, announced that four countries had pledged troops: Uganda (1,500); Nigeria...
GHANAAFRICAN UNION Ghana's gain 2nd February 2007 The election of President John Kufuor to the Chairmanship of the African Union was a personal victory for his Foreign Minister and presidential aspirant, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Add...
MOZAMBIQUE Guebuza and governance 2nd February 2007 As the World Bank proclaims its 'leadership role in the fight against fraud and corruption', it has emerged that it has breached its own good governance rules by facilitating and e...
SUDANBRITAIN Minni on the rampage 2nd February 2007 A British project, reportedly costing £100,000 (US$195,000) to help turn Minni Arkou Minnawi's rebels into a political party has been postponed after his men again went on th...
LIBERIA Snowe white-out 2nd February 2007 Edwin Melvin Snowe's battle to keep his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives is becoming an embarrassing cause célèbre as he claims the plot against hi...
NIGERIA Bond breakthrough 2nd February 2007 Some might consider it risky for a Nigerian bank to issue a US$300 million Eurobond on the international capital markets for the first time - just three months before the country h...
SENEGAL No deal for Seck 2nd February 2007 After weeks of negotiations, many expected President Abdoulaye Wade to announce the return of former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck to the governing Parti Démocratique Sé...