Africa News Update
Africa News Update offers news, background and feature articles from African sources twice weekly. The newsletter is free of charge and is edited by the Norwegian Council for Africa. Some of the articles may be shortened.
Ethiopia: The Meles Zenawi Show - World Economic Forum on Africa 2012 (analysis)
The World Economic Forum is best known for its annual meeting at Davos in the Swiss Alps where, recently, focus has been on the poor state of the world economy - particularly that of Europe. So, the annual Africa version of the event (held last week in the swanky surroundings of the Sheraton, Addis Ababa) must make a welcome change, as the atmosphere was robustly positive. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
African Arguments, by Magnus Taylor*
Africa: UN hits out at rulers over lack of food
Despite rapid economic growth in some African countries in recent years, no government across the continent can rightfully claim that all its citizens have access to enough affordable, nutritious food to meet their dietary needs. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
AllAfrica.com
Angola: "Not a famine, but an issue of food insecurity"
Johannesburg (South Africa) – Millions of Angola’s poorest families are facing critical food insecurity as a prolonged dry spell across large parts of the country has destroyed harvests and killed off livestock. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Inter Press Servive (IPS)
Egypt: Presidential hopefuls haunted by their past
Cairo (Egypt) - One is a conservative Islamist attempting to reinvent himself as a pragmatic liberal, the other is a secular statesman trying to distance himself from the authoritarian regime he once served. Both aspire to be Egypt’s first civilian president. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Inter Press Servive (IPS)
Uganda: Army captures Kony’s top general in ambush
Kampala (Uganda) - The captured Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) field commander, Caesar Acellam, yesterday said he felt a “free” man leaving rebellion after spending more than two decades fighting on the side of wanted warlord Joseph Kony. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
The Monitor (Uganda)
Nigeria: US never predicted Nigeria's break up by 2015
New York (USA) — The oft-repeated and much-quoted "prediction" by the United States that Nigeria would break up in 2015 is one of the greatest myths ever, THISDAY can report today. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
This Day (Nigeria), by Tokunbo Adedoja
Tanzania: Government signs off huge tracts of land to foreign investors in secret deals
Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) - Tanzania leads East African countries in secretive land investment deals, with the government signing off huge chunks of land to foreign governments and private investors, a new survey shows. And East Africa — a region where land is usually an emotive issue — tops the global charts on dishing out farmlands, edging out Southeast Asia, South America and Central Africa. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
The EastAfrican (Kenya), by Gaaki Kigambo
Kenya: So, do you want to know which tribe rules Kenya?(opinion)
Nairobi (Kenya) - On a visit to Kenya last week, the National Democratic Institute — a Washington based lobby group — pronounced Kenya not ready to hold a democratic and violence-free general election. This was not — as we often claim when criticised — yet another example of Western imperialism; the delegation included respected human-rights advocates such as Martin Luther King III and former Botswana president Quett Masire. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
The East African (Kenya), by Tee Ngugi*
South Africa: Heads roll as racism boils over on Facebook and Twitter
Cape Town (South Africa) - A student has been suspended from a Cape university and a security firm employee faces censure after posting racist remarks on social networks. Read >
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)