The Tyranny of Unity in Zimbabwe
Robert I. Rotberg

More than a year into a supposed unity government between President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe continues to stagnate. There has been little unity, even less partnership, a wholesale denial of basic political and human rights, and only marginal economic improvement

The Challenge of Reconciliation in Kenya
John Githongo

For many in the West, Kenya, with its Anglicized urban population, modern cities, and relatively well-developed infrastructure, epitomized everything positive about Africa. A highly successful tourism industry in a land of breathtaking beauty and world-class athletes had served to consolidate the image of Kenya as somehow different.

Africa

Africa - Wild Fruits of Africa Potent Weapon Against Malnutrition
Charlie Pye-Smith

If you'd come here 10 years ago, says Thaddeus Salah as he shows us around his tree nursery in northwest Cameroon, you would have seen real hunger and poverty. Salah's fortunes changed in 2000 when he and his neighbors learned how to identify the best wild fruit trees and propagate them in a nursery. Thaddeus Salah's approach could prove a potent weapon against malnutrition in Africa

Yemen's Problems Are Ours, Too
Clarence Page

Yemen has become a top priority for the Obama administration since Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner on Christmas Day. Yemen is where he told authorities he received his training and the bomb that famously fizzled in his underwear.

Fight Against Terrorism Could Shift to Yemen
Joshua Kucera

In the wake of the airplane bombing attempt over Detroit on Christmas, President Obama vowed to take an aggressive stance against those who were behind the plot. 'The United States will do more than simply strengthen our defenses,' he said. 'We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us.'

Why International Aid Does Not Alleviate Poverty
Jagdish Bhagwati

The African silence has been broken by Dambisa Moyo, a young Zambian-born economist with impeccable credentials. Educated at Harvard and Oxford and employed by Goldman Sachs and the World Bank, Moyo has written an impassioned attack on aid that has won praise from leaders as diverse as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Africa's Women Turn 50
Fifty years into African independence, African women still face a much more challenging existence than men, with significant political, social and economic changes needed for gender equality.

Preventing Maternal Deaths in West Africa
Dr. Fredanna M'Cormack and her Bele Uman Project are working in Sierra Leone to save the lives of pregnant mothers and their babies.

Interview with Kumi Naidoo
The Greenpeace executive director talks about connections between the environment, poverty, peace, and how the interconnectedness of these issues can drive civil society.

World Cup Crime in South Africa
While South Africa boasts understandable pride and excitement to be hosting the World Cup, its citizens are fearful. An already disordered country will see crime escalate substantially when the crowds arrive.

Conflict Minerals: the New Blood Diamonds
Hundreds of millions of dollars flow into resource-rich areas such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, but that money goes to corrupt rebel forces who abuse and exploit their own people.

Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody
After its civil war, Sierra Leone was able to get the brutality of its diamond trade under control. The rest of Africa, for the most part, has not shared its success.

Somalia's Last Chance
The state of affairs in Somalia, though still volatile and deeply troubled, is showing signs of improved political inclusion, and the country could benefit from more engaged foreign involvement.

Re: Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody
We are seeing a steadily growing tide of discontent with the Kimberley Process.

Re: Conflict Minerals: the New Blood Diamonds
I believe that the senators dont know the real issues on the ground and their well-intended legislation will be useless without knowledge of the actual situation.

Re: Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody
Zimbabwean diamonds mined with complete disregard for basic human rights are currently being sold in jewelry stores with

Re: Public Schools in Sierra Leone Gasping for Life Support
Despite war, we are doing our best to cope.

Re: Public Schools in Sierra Leone Gasping for Life Support
Our children are taught right from wrong when growing up.

Public Schools in Sierra Leone Gasping for Life Support
Sierra Leone has diverse tribal and cutural practices that works against the education of the nation's children.

The Rocky Road to Independence for Southern Sudan
The efficacy of Sudan's elections will be an indicator of the country's future, which will prove especially important for the ravaged, disadvantaged south.

Revolution in African Agriculture Gathering Momentum
As one major meeting on agriculture ends, another begins: farming is truly back on Africa's agenda.

Uganda Could Become Regional Rice Exporter say Researchers
In a small garden at the Entebbe Botanical garden, about 40 kilometres from Kampala, a few yellowish plants are trying to adapt to their new environment.

Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case
The number of women raped by rebel groups during last month's raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has risen to over 240, U.N. officials told reporters here today.

Funding Begins Flowing for African Agriculture
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has received a major boost as several countries have begun drawing on funds from a $22 billion pledge made by the G8.

BOTSWANA: HIV-positive Mothers Not Convinced to Exclusively Breastfeed
"An HIV-positive woman must never be encouraged to breastfeed because regardless of what the doctors or researchers say - it is too dangerous for the baby," says Koziba Kelatlhe an HIV-positive mother who was advised by health workers not to breastfeed her child.

SOUTH AFRICA: "Xenophobia Simmering Just Below Boiling Point"
"Xenophobia is part of life. We do not live easy here. We only survive," says Somali shopkeeper, Abdinasir Shaikh Aden, looking tense.

Fisheries Can Play Key Role in Africa
Fisheries contribute at least $10 billion dollars to African economies every year. In countries such as Angola, Egypt and Namibia, fisheries are vital economic drivers.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Growing Seed Security
Farmer Obed Dlamini, like many of his colleagues from Swaziland, finds it difficult to find quality maize seeds each planting season. Not only are the seeds expensive but they are often not available.

RWANDA: Genocide Ideology and Sectarianism Laws Silencing Critics?
Among its unstable and conflict-ridden neighbours, Rwanda stands out. It has been pegged as a model of development and one of Africa's success stories: Since the 1990's, when a civil war ravaged the country, average incomes have doubled, its people have become healthier and less hungry and it has the highest proportion of women parliamentarians worldwide. Yet, maintaining this stability is a government accused of muzzling its opponents and committing human rights abuses.

AFRICA: ‘Welcome to My Taxi – Let's Do Business with My Cell Phone'
In cities across Africa, being an entrepreneur requires no office, business card or investors. All it takes is a cell phone, according to Adele Botha, a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA: ‘Tea Bag' Filter Provides Safe Drinking Water
Though it may look like a tea bag, straining water through this recently developed filter could provide a cheap, easily replenished source of water for those who need it most.

EAST AFRICA: Protecting Lake Victoria's Top Predator
Coordinated conservation measures to arrest the steep decline of stocks of Nile perch in Lake Victoria are showing encouraging results - for fish, if not for fishing communities around the lake.

Outrage Grows Over Failure to Protect DRC Civilians
As details emerged this week of the U.N.'s knowledge of rebel activity in the villages where nearly 200 women were systematically gang raped by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) late last month, human rights groups are demanding an investigation into the U.N.'s failure to prevent the raid from occurring.

Sudan's President and Criminal Court in Cat-and-Mouse Game
Sudan's elusive President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and the unrelenting Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo are playing a political cat- and-mouse game.

AFRICA: Outrage Over Claim that Anti-GM Campaign "Causes Hunger"
Civil society organisations have reacted with outrage to claims that the international campaign against genetically modified (GM) crops is partly responsible for food shortages and food insecurity in Africa.

South Africa: Nation-Wide Strike Hits Public Services Hard
Over a million teachers, nurses and other government workers have downed tools across South Africa, suspending public education and healthcare while their demands for better pay go head-to-head with government's reluctance to accede.

Uganda: Nation Could Become Regional Rice Exporter say Researchers
In a small garden at the Entebbe Botanical garden, about 40 kilometres from Kampala, a few yellowish plants are trying to adapt to their new environment.

Africa: Leaders Launch Green Revolution Forum
African heads of state, private sector leaders and agricultural experts are meeting in Accra, Ghana today to inaugurate the African Green Revolution Forum.

East Africa: Maize Disease Threatens Food Security, Livelihoods
A new maize disease, not previously reported in Africa, will threaten food security and the livelihoods of millions of people on the continent, scientists have said.

Kenya: Firms See Opportunity, Risk in Rapid Urbanisation
Producers of consumer goods were on Wednesday scouring the just released census results for new market opportunities or major shifts in demand for specific goods and services with the changing demographics.

Nigeria: 'Nation Needs 25 Million Jobs By 2030 to Check Unemployment'
Nigeria needs to create about 25 million jobs over the next 10 years if it is to offer work to new entrants and cut halve the current unemployment rate in the country, according to a report presented yesterday.

Africa: Revolution in Agriculture Gathering Momentum
As one major meeting on agriculture ends, another begins: farming is truly back on Africa's agenda.

Uganda: Ezra Flashes $3 Million At Journalists
It was a somewhat tense atmosphere at Emin Pasha Hotel. Journalists had to be frisked by private bodyguards and asked which media house they represented before making their way to the hotel in the upscale Kololo neighbourhood of Kampala.

South Africa: Mutual Allegations Fly in Sishen Mineral Rights Case
THE Sishen Iron Ore mineral rights case is set to become an angry, drawn-out affair, with Imperial Crown Trading yesterday countering allegations that it had fraudulently copied Kumba 's applications.

South Africa: Unions Face Tough Battle to Sell State Wage Offer
BEHIND-the-scenes negotiations yesterday failed to end the public service strike as trade unions conferred with each other in an effort to work on a unified position against the government.

Mozambique: Matola - Demonstration Leaves Trail of Vandalism And Destruction
The city of Matola on Wednesday was hit by destruction and vandalism following mass demonstrations in protest at the high cost of living.

Mozambique: Unrest in Maputo And Matola
The cities of Maputo and Matola on Wednesday morning saw unrest with streets being obstructed with rubbish and large obstacles such as electricity poles and burning tyres. Passing vehicles were stoned. The protests were triggered by the rising prices of water, energy, bread and other consumer goods.

Ghana: Country Deserves B+ Rating - IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has credited the basis upon which Standard and Poor (S&P) downgraded the country's credit worthiness from B+ to B.

South Africa: Photovoltaic Firm Opens its First Power Facility
CONCENTRATED photovoltaic firm Concentrix Solar has begun preparations to build a 50MW solar plant in the Western Cape, CEO Hansjorg Lerchenmuller said yesterday.

Africa: Pharmaceutical Giants to Expand Deal
Adcock Ingram, SA's second-biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, has expanded its five-year co-promotion and distribution agreement with the world's second-biggest drug firm US-based Merck & Co (MSD) beyond SA's borders to include six other African countries, it announced yesterday.

South Africa: Govt Calls for an End to Strike
Government has once again called on negotiators in the public sector strike to find a "win win" solution to end the mass action that has halted schooling and hospital services across the country.

Africa: Huge Potential in Africa's Fisheries And Aquaculture Sectors
Booming business out of aquaculture is happening elsewhere in the world, compared to Africa where the sector is still at its infancy. But there is a wind of change blowing on the continent as African governments implement policies that are opening lucrative investment opportunities in the sector.

South Africa: Poor, Unemployed 'Have No Friends'
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's warning last week that we need to achieve a sustained 7% growth rate for the next 20 to 30 years if we are to meet the social and economic needs of this county should come as a reality shock to all South Africans.

Rwanda: Over 30 Firms Blacklisted From Public Tenders
The government's procurement agency, Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) has suspended 33 companies from bidding for public tenders for periods ranging from one year to three years.

Rwanda: Civil Servants Should Live Up to Their Vows
The new initiative by government to have all civil servants in public institutions take oath should not be taken lightly.

Nigeria: Fake Products - FG Yet to Sign MOU With China
Nigeria is delaying the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China on the elimination of substandard products because details of the MoU did not take into consideration the aspect of quality assurance of Chinese goods coming into Nigeria.

East Africa: Safaricom-Zain War Should Spread Through Out Region
The other day, I tested to find out if it was true I could send out a text message to a Safaricom number at the cost of Ksh1. It went through. When I checked my balance, I found I still had Ksh2.20 in my Zain account worth two more texts!

Sierra Leone: National UN Staff Threaten Strike Action
Over three hundred staff currently employed by the United Nations in Sierra Leone have in a meeting held at the YWCA old hall in Freetown on Friday August 27th 2010 unanimously agreed to go on strike next week.

Uganda: Trinidad to Train People in Oil Industry Skills
Trinidad and Tobago is to train 10 Ugandans in the oil and gas industry, its high commissioner to Uganda has said.

Uganda: Report Cheating Telecoms - UCC
Telecom firms, which provide poor services or use deceptive adverts, should be reported for disciplinary measures, Fred Otunnu, the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) public affairs manager, has said.

Uganda: Two Powder Milk Plants Due
Uganda has signed a $50m (about sh110b) deal with Kenyan company, Capital Funds, where the firm will fund the country's dairy sector development programmes.

East Africa: Region Moves on Cargo
Plans are underway to step up security measures to ensure that cargo movement across the East African region is not interrupted.

Rwanda: KCB Starts Online Pay System
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has launched an online payment service to enable electronic tourism take hold, as most bookings and payments are made on the internet.

Rwanda: Transit Cargo At Mombasa Port On the Rise
Rwanda bound cargo handled by the Mombasa Port is registering positive growth this year, after dropping by 14 percent last year, a top official at Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has said.

Uganda: Lack of Flights Put Off Asian Investors
Lack of direct flights between Uganda and Asia and a well-documented investment opportunity programme from the trade ministry are discouraging Asian investors from coming to Uganda, a diplomat has said.

Africa’s Green Revolution Forum starts
International leaders expressed their commitment to transforming agriculture in Africa while opening the inaugural African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Accra, Ghana. The AGRF, chaired by former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, is being held for the first time in Africa. With more than 800 delegates it is one of the continent’s major gatherings…

SA ends special deal for Zimbabwe migrants
South Africa will stop at the end of the year a special deal granted to thousands of Zimbabweans, who were allowed to enter Africa's largest economy without documents, a cabinet spokesman said. The special dispensation was introduced in April last year during political instability in Zimbabwe, where hundreds of thousands flee to SA. "After…

Poultry industry in Ghana threatened
Interest groups in poultry and livestock business are looking up to a more rationalized national economic policy that favours indigenous Ghanaian farmers. They are worried the influx of imported poultry products threatens food security and employment generation for the youth. Poultry farmers in the Ashanti region have been attending a seminar on “Guides…

Malawi: Three die in religious ritual
In a horrific Hollywood style horror movie enactment, three members of the same family died when they threw themselves in a raging fire - one after another. Five children from one family were allegedly misled by a pastor beyond their physical and emotional control. The scenario also had great depictions of a Nigerian Nollywood witchcraft spoof. Beamed…

EU supports AU mission in Somalia
The EU said supporting the AU Mission in Somalia is "crucial" to prevent the security situation from deteriorating. The European Commission was contributing nearly $60 million to assist AMISOM's peacekeeping force in the country. Catherine Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, said supporting AMISOM was vital for the…

SA public sector strike set to continue
South Africa's public sector strike set to continue SA's public sector strike is set to continue after the main trade union federation rejected an improved wage offer from the government. The Cosatu federation said the majority of its affiliated unions had voted against the proposal. The strike - now into its third week - has seen many schools…

Religious leaders meet for peace in Casamance
Religious leaders have postponed a meeting in Casamance, Senegal to discuss the way forward to bring lasting peace in the war turn Senegalese Southern Region. An initial talks led by Sheikh Papa Ndiaye a spiritual leader was characterized by prayers with recitation from the Quran in his spiritual worship place in Pachala Village situated six kilometres…

FEMNET expresses solidarity with Malawi women
The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) has express solidarity with women politicians in Malawi where the future of women's political representation is under serious threat following the country's ruling Democratic People's Party (DPP) campaigns launched against its own member, the Honorable Vice President…

Kenya's population hits 38.6 million
Kenyan government on Tuesday announced its population increase of around 10 million since the last census in 1999 making 38.6 million people after a national census conducted last year. Kenya’s Planning Minister, Wycliffe Oparanya, said the increase of about one million people per year puts pressure on resources and he urged for more investment…

Police clash with protesters in Mozambique
Police fired rubber bullets and teargas as they clashed with demonstrators who burned tyres and blocked roads in protests against rising prices in the capital of impoverished Mozambique, witnesses said. Riots spread throughout Maputo and there were reports of shops being vandalised, the witnesses said. Residents of the southern African state say they…

Somalia: Nine die in roadside bomb attack
At least nine civilians were killed and thirty others wounded in a roadside bomb that hit a minibus in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. The explosion ripped through the bus as it plied the only road connecting the divided city which is also used by the Somali force and AU peacekeepers. The roadside bomb exploded near the former compound of Jale Siad…

Somali Islamists tell president to resign
Islamist rebel militias asked Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to step down as he had failed establishing order in the country. "President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed ought to leave. He has nothing for the people except a call for more foreign troops that massacre Somalis," Hassan Dahir Aweys, leader of Hisbul Islam, told reporters. The leader…

US aid worker freed in Darfur
American aid worker has been freed in the Sudanese war-torn region of Darfur, the Foreign Ministry said. Flavia Wagner, 35, who was working for U.S. charity Samaritan's Purse in Darfur, arrived in Khartoum on Monday. Armed men had held Wagner since May for ransom in Sudan's west. The armed men kidnapped the woman and two Sudanese working…

270,000 at risk as floods threaten Ethiopia
More than a quarter of a million Ethiopians are at risk from heavy floods which are expected next month, according to a forecast issued by the United Nations. "Some 270,000 people could be affected by flooding in the Amhara region," The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement. The office also…

Locusts attack Guinea Bissua
Massive swarms of crop-destroying locusts have invaded more than 40 villages in eastern Guinea-Bissau and are heading north towards neighbouring West African country Senegal, a local government official, Queba Balde said. "Heavy rains over the past days have not discouraged them, they are continuing to move towards the province of Farim, further…

Libya frees 38 radical Islamists prisoners
The Libyan government has announced the release of 38 more members of a radical Islamist group who were jailed for plotting to overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi and they are expected to leave prison by the close of the day, the country's attorney general Abderhmane al Abbar has said. The authorities have taken the decision to release…

SA: Gov’t increases wage offer for workers
The South African government has increased its wage offer of 7.5% to more than a million striking public sector workers. President Jacob Zuma had called for fresh attempts at reconciliation as the two-week long strike has seen many schools and hospitals grind to a halt. The unions have been demanding 8.6% and are expected to vote on Tuesday night on…

Somalia: Four AU peacekeepers killed
Four African Union peacekeepers were killed when a mortar hit Somalia's presidential palace, officials say. It is not clear if any Somalis were hit by the shells, fired as Islamist insurgents continue to battle government forces. Those killed were from Uganda, one of just two countries to have sent troops to Somalia to help the government. Last…

Gaddafi causes upset in Italy
Gaddafi causes upset in Italy Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attempt to convert dozens of young women to Islam during a visit to Italy led to an angry reaction from Italian media. Gaddafi invited a large group of young women hired by a hostessing agency to an event at a Libyan cultural centre in Rome on Sunday and tried to convert them to Islam.…

Niger floods leave 200,000 homeless
Despite severe food crisis which Niger is already going through, about 200,000 people have been left homeless by heavy floods, The United Nations has said. Almost 30,000 homes have been lost in the flooding which has struck the sub-Saharan nation since the beginning of the month. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. All of…

UN report on human rights violations in DR Congo to be released next month
The report documenting the most serious human rights violations committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1993 and 2003 will be made public on 1 October, the United Nations announced today.

UN political chief encourages Somali Government to do more for its citizens
The United Nations political chief has voiced his solidarity with the people of Somalia during a one-day visit to the Horn of Africa nation, and encouraged its leaders to focus on governing the country.

Darfur: UN-AU envoy meets with World Bank officials
The head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur today called for World Bank assistance to ensure that the "dividends of peace are made evident" to promote a sustainable peace in the war-ravaged Sudanese region.

UN urges finalization of voters list in Côte d'Ivoire
The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) today called for the finalization of the voters' list to ensure that electoral process was proceeding according to schedule, as the West African country heads towards presidential polls on 31 October.

DR Congo: UN peacekeeping official visits the east after rape of civilians
A senior United Nations peacekeeping official, who is visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the recent mass rape of civilians by members of illegal armed groups, has travelled to the eastern region of the country where the crimes were committed, a UN spokesperson said today.

Female candidates in upcoming Tanzanian polls to receive UN election training
The United Nations is seeking to empower women candidates ahead of Tanzania's general elections in October, including by improving their skills in public speaking, media engagement, campaign planning, presentations, community mobilization, advocacy and lobbying.

UNICEF welcomes Sudanese measure to end use of child soldiers
The United Nations agency charged with protecting the rights of children today welcomed the launch of a programme by the Sudanese Government to end the use of child soldiers by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

UN urges proper treatment of migrants after reported deaths in Saudi Arabia
The reported deaths of five Ethiopian migrants in a deportation facility in Saudi Arabia has refocused attention on the way asylum-seekers are treated, with the United Nations refugees agency recalling its appeal last month for the kingdom's authorities to stop sending people back strife-torn to Somalia.

In wake of mass rapes in DR Congo, UN official calls for end to impunity
The recent savage mass rapes of civilians by armed groups in the volatile far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) underscores the need for an end to impunity for perpetrators of such crimes, a senior United Nations official said today.

UN agency hails move to protect African folklore and traditional knowledge
The United Nations agency charged with protecting intellectual property worldwide has welcomed the adoption by a number of African States of a new legal instrument that seeks to protect the continent's traditional knowledge and folklore.