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.
Africa: Annan memoir treads cautiously on Rwanda genocide and ICC cases
Nairobi (Kenya) - Kofi Annan has a diplomat’s way of being economical with what he reveals, and a politician’s knack of self-serving storytelling. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
The East African (Kenya), by Gitau Warigi, Special Correspondent
Africa: World Bank hits back at Oxfam report on land grabs
Nairobi (Kenya) - As the scale and pace of large-scale land acquisitions increases globally, evidence is mounting that the land rush is out of control and that the price being paid by affected communities is unacceptably high. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
The East African (Kenya), by Paul Redfern
Africa: The question of wheat - balancing consumer and farmer demands
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - Whether Africa can scale-up wheat production to meet growing demand will depend on governments’ support of local producers. A key test is whether they are willing to take on wheat import subsidies, which keep bread prices low and urban consumers happy, said experts at a recent five-day conference on African wheat production. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Africa: China wants role in peace and security issues on continent
Bishoftu (Ethiopia) - China could soon expand its involvement in peace and security issues in Africa, according to government officials, researchers and academics from both the Asian giant and resource-rich continent who met at the second China-Africa Think Tanks Forum in Ethiopia from Oct. 12 to 13. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
Inter Press Service (IPS), by Blain Biset
Swaziland: The King faces people power
Mbabane (Swaziland) - Swaziland’s King Mswati III is under immense pressure following the constitutional crisis that has resulted from his cabinet’s refusal to resign after the House of Assembly passed a vote of no confidence. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
Inter Press Service (IPS), by Mantoe Phakathi
Sierra Leone: Women, debt and detention
Freetown (Sierra Leone) - Many Sierra Leonean women who are unable to repay small debts end up in prison for want of decent legal representation after their creditors report them to the police, meaning that civil disputes turn into criminal cases. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Africa: Continent ripe for better Internet system
Nairobi (Kenya) - Africa is increasingly developing local data exchange points and centres to accommodate the growing Internet traffic and eliminating the need for routing it via London, Paris or New York. Read >
Monday, 15 October 2012
The East African (Kenya), by Russell Southwood*
South Africa: Political Murder, Inc. (analysis)
Johannesburg (South Africa) - The number of politicians murdered in the past five years has escalated, especially between 2010 and 2012. Read >
Thursday, 11 October 2012
Daily Maverick (South Africa), by Greg Nicolson
Africa: We want wheat - Africa's growing cereal demand
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - Bread, pies, pasta and pastries - changing African diets, the result of urbanization, are driving a demand for wheat that is pushing up import bills and complicating food security. Read >
Thursday, 11 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)