West Africa: Last week the top United Nations envoy in Côte d'Ivoire met with the African mediator seeking to end the political crisis threatening the much-delayed elections in the divided West African country.
Ambassador J. Anthony Holmes, Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities to AFRICOM, condemned last week’s Niger coup,
insisting that AFRICOM’s role is to professionalize the various militaries of Africa and assist them to know their roles in the democracies of their countriesAs its promised transition to democratic rule begins, the military junta that overthrew Niger’s president Mamadou Tandja on February 18 has named a former information minister, Mahamadou Danda, as the new prime minister while retaining legislative and executive powers for itself.
Meanwhile West African states are expected to provide a multinational force to help police next month's elections in Togo, where violence during a 2005 vote left at least 400 dead.
Britain on last week threw its weight behind Nigeria's acting president, Good Luck Jonathan after the surprise return from a hospital abroad by ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua sparked fears of a fresh leadership crisis.
Liberia’s Anti-Corruption Commission last week called for the support of Nigeria's anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in its efforts to fight the menace of corruption in Liberia.
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy is expected to travel to Chad this week after the African country called for the withdrawal of the military component of the UN mission that was set up over two years ago after tensions increased along the border with Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
Mauritania has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Mali, angered over the release of four militants from al-Qaeda's North African branch.
South Africa: South Africa told a U.N. Security Council committee last week that it intercepted a North Korean weapon shipment bound for Central Africa, which diplomats said was a violation of a U.N. ban on arms sales by Pyongyang. Meanwhile members of the National Assembly approved a request by Defence Minister Charles Namoloh to send 800 soldiers to Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) for a UN peacekeeping mission.
Meanwhile China announced last week that its embassy in Zimbabwe had thrown a birthday party for President Robert Mugabe, a rare sign of foreign support for a leader reviled by many Zimbabweans and criticized by the United States and Europe.
Pro-democracy groups from several southern African nations gathered last week in South Africa to launch a campaign for democracy in Swaziland, considered one the few remaining absolute monarchies in the world.
Central Africa: A leader of the Mai Mai Kifufua armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo has voiced discontent at his group being excluded from President Joseph Kabila’s latest cabinet reshuffle. In response the Information Minister has stated that they must register their party to enter the political arena.
Meanwhile French Premier Sarkozy visited Rwanda last week for the first time since the 1994 genocide. Previously Rwanda has accused France of aiding the perpetrators of the genocide, in which some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed.
A United Nations war crimes court sentenced a former Rwandan officer to 25 years in prison for crimes related to the 1994 genocide.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: At least 24 people including a number of civilians and one soldier were injured in Cameroon during clashes last week an incident involving members of the BIR Delta (a rapid response unit in charge of security in the region) and civilians. Meanwhile according to officials the Cameroonian security forces have been deployed in the economic capital Douala, to keep the opposition and civil society from holding demonstrations to mark the second anniversary of the February 2008 hunger riots in which forty people were killed
The Committee to Protect Journalists has voiced its concerns regarding ‘politically’ motivated censorship in Ivory Coast after authorities banned international French broadcaster France 24 last week against allegations of unprofessionalism over coverage of political unrest in the West African nation.
Meanwhile several people have been killed in Ivory Coast during clashes between security forces and demonstrators. The violence in the town of Gagnoa is the latest in a series of protests against President Laurent Gbagbo. Last week, Mr Gbagbo dissolved the government and the electoral commission following a row over voter registration. The opposition accuses him of stalling on presidential elections, which have been delayed every year since 2005. However in a latest development Ivory Coast announced the formation of a new electoral commission, a key step towards resolving a political crisis. Opposition leaders in Ivory Coast too have voiced their consent to join a new unity government, ending a standoff that has threatened the country's peace process.
Twenty-six people, mostly women and children, were killed in a crush at the famous Djinguereber mosque in Timbuktu, in a stampede during the festival to mark the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
The United Nations health agency warned last week that more than 7 million people in Niger, which last week saw its Government overthrown in a coup d'état, are facing food insecurity.
South Africa: According to a new report by a United Nations independent expert Botswana’s Government must step up efforts to tackle the challenges faced by many indigenous communities, such as land rights.
Meanwhile Human Rights Watch demanded last week that the Angolan government should promptly release three human rights defenders who were arrested on apparently political grounds following the January 8, 2010 attack on Togolese footballers.
Meanwhile according to reports on 23 February 2010 the High Court of Swaziland ruled that some married women will be allowed to register property in their own name.
Last week a South African High Court confirmed a ruling made by a Southern African Development Community Tribunal that the farm seizures of white farmers were illegal. The decision came with efforts of a South African civil rights group, AFRIFORUM.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: In Nigeria a meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, environment and Water Resources, comprising Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Livestock, Health and Trade of ECOWAS Member States was held last week to validated three draft Regulations and one Directive on plants and animal health safety as well as the management of veterinary drugs.
Meanwhile the 2009 AIDS Update has reconfirmed Africa as the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS global epidemic. The continent represents 10 percent of the global population but accounts for 67 percent of all individuals living with HIV/AIDS, 68 percent of all new adult infections in 2008 and 91 percent of all childhood HIV infections.
Ghana has been selected to host the second working group meeting on World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in April this year.
The Nigerian Federal Government has announced intentions to establish experimental medicinal plant farms in the six geo-political zones to provide raw materials for the research and production of traditional medicine.
South Africa: In Malawi unofficial figures estimate that due to the drought, over 30,000 hectares of crop fields have been affected and that up to 120,000 families (an average of 720,000 people) could need food assistance in the region. Government has now allocated 76 million dollars in the annual budget for food relief.
Central Africa: According to a recently published study by United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Sub-standard ant malarial medicines are still sold widely in Madagascar, Senegal, and Uganda.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: The African Development Bank (ADB) has received applications from regional financial institutions for about 1bn of trade finance since launching its new facility a year ago to stimulate African trade flows after the global financial crisis.
Ghana’s Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu has announced that the Economic and Organized Crime bill is currently before Parliament awaiting approval to be passed into law. The bill, when passed, will lead to the establishment of the Economic and Organized Crime Centre to fight organized crimes and other business-related crimes in the country.
The university Students Association of Ghana (USAG) has called on the government and other institutions related to the country's oil find, to come out and explain to the people of Ghana, how much revenue, in percentage terms, will accrue to the state. Meanwhile a consortium, LUKOIL Overseas, (56.66%), US Vanco (28.34%) and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GNPC (15%), has discovered a significant hydrocarbon accumulation in the Dzata structure of the Cape Three Points Deep Water Block in the Gulf of Guinea offshore the Republic of Ghana, Lukoil said in a press release.
Meanwhile in Nigeria the Federal Government disclosed last week part of the sweeping reforms it plans in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to make it a viable business concern.
Also according to company officials Victoria Oil and Gas has signed offtake agreements with 14 Cameroonian firms for gas from its Logbaba project, due to begin production later this year.
South Africa: South African trade unions are threatening strikes after the country's government allowed state-owned power firm Eskom to raise prices by 24.8%.
According to an official statement The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week restored voting rights to Zimbabwe; however any new loans for the cash-strapped country will only be considered once its arrears of about US$140 million to the Poverty Reduction & Growth Trust (PRGT) are paid.
Central Africa: The Paris Club of creditor nations has agreed to restructure the external debt of the Democratic Republic of Congo amounting to nearly $7 Billion.
Meanwhile the Governments of Rwanda and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) signed an agreement last week to cooperate in the Energy sector at the ministry of infrastructure. According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Rwanda's trade balance widened by over 20 percent in 2009 and more than tripled in the last five years, increasing aid dependency. §
Twenty-six people, mostly women and children, were killed in a crush at the famous Djinguereber mosque in Timbuktu, in a stampede during the festival to mark the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
The United Nations health agency warned last week that more than 7 million people in Niger, which last week saw its Government overthrown in a coup d'état, are facing food insecurity.
South Africa: According to a new report by a United Nations independent expert Botswana’s Government must step up efforts to tackle the challenges faced by many indigenous communities, such as land rights.
Meanwhile Human Rights Watch demanded last week that the Angolan government should promptly release three human rights defenders who were arrested on apparently political grounds following the January 8, 2010 attack on Togolese footballers.
Meanwhile according to reports on 23 February 2010 the High Court of Swaziland ruled that some married women will be allowed to register property in their own name.
Last week a South African High Court confirmed a ruling made by a Southern African Development Community Tribunal that the farm seizures of white farmers were illegal. The decision came with efforts of a South African civil rights group, AFRIFORUM.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: In Nigeria a meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, environment and Water Resources, comprising Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Livestock, Health and Trade of ECOWAS Member States was held last week to validated three draft Regulations and one Directive on plants and animal health safety as well as the management of veterinary drugs.
Meanwhile the 2009 AIDS Update has reconfirmed Africa as the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS global epidemic. The continent represents 10 percent of the global population but accounts for 67 percent of all individuals living with HIV/AIDS, 68 percent of all new adult infections in 2008 and 91 percent of all childhood HIV infections.
Ghana has been selected to host the second working group meeting on World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in April this year.
The Nigerian Federal Government has announced intentions to establish experimental medicinal plant farms in the six geo-political zones to provide raw materials for the research and production of traditional medicine.
South Africa: In Malawi unofficial figures estimate that due to the drought, over 30,000 hectares of crop fields have been affected and that up to 120,000 families (an average of 720,000 people) could need food assistance in the region. Government has now allocated 76 million dollars in the annual budget for food relief.
Central Africa: According to a recently published study by United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Sub-standard ant malarial medicines are still sold widely in Madagascar, Senegal, and Uganda.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: The African Development Bank (ADB) has received applications from regional financial institutions for about 1bn of trade finance since launching its new facility a year ago to stimulate African trade flows after the global financial crisis.
Ghana’s Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu has announced that the Economic and Organized Crime bill is currently before Parliament awaiting approval to be passed into law. The bill, when passed, will lead to the establishment of the Economic and Organized Crime Centre to fight organized crimes and other business-related crimes in the country.
The university Students Association of Ghana (USAG) has called on the government and other institutions related to the country's oil find, to come out and explain to the people of Ghana, how much revenue, in percentage terms, will accrue to the state. Meanwhile a consortium, LUKOIL Overseas, (56.66%), US Vanco (28.34%) and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GNPC (15%), has discovered a significant hydrocarbon accumulation in the Dzata structure of the Cape Three Points Deep Water Block in the Gulf of Guinea offshore the Republic of Ghana, Lukoil said in a press release.
Meanwhile in Nigeria the Federal Government disclosed last week part of the sweeping reforms it plans in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to make it a viable business concern.
Also according to company officials Victoria Oil and Gas has signed offtake agreements with 14 Cameroonian firms for gas from its Logbaba project, due to begin production later this year.
South Africa: South African trade unions are threatening strikes after the country's government allowed state-owned power firm Eskom to raise prices by 24.8%.
According to an official statement The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week restored voting rights to Zimbabwe; however any new loans for the cash-strapped country will only be considered once its arrears of about US$140 million to the Poverty Reduction & Growth Trust (PRGT) are paid.
Central Africa: The Paris Club of creditor nations has agreed to restructure the external debt of the Democratic Republic of Congo amounting to nearly $7 Billion.
Meanwhile the Governments of Rwanda and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) signed an agreement last week to cooperate in the Energy sector at the ministry of infrastructure. According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Rwanda's trade balance widened by over 20 percent in 2009 and more than tripled in the last five years, increasing aid dependency. §
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Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and jointly developed by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
Please Preview your comments before posting.
Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and jointly developed by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
Please Preview your comments before posting.
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