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.
Swaziland: Swazi democracy movement splits
Gaborone (Botswana) - A rift has opened between the major opposition party in Swaziland and the most vocal of the prodemocracy movement's organisations. PUDEMO - the People's United Democratic Movement - has suspended the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) and thrown it out of its offices. Read >
Friday, 11 May 2012
Swazi Media Commentary (Botswana)
Malawi: Dream fades for inland port project
Nsanje (Malawi)- Visitors arriving in Nsanje, the sleepy capital of Malawi’s southernmost district, are greeted by a large yellowing billboard announcing: “The dream becomes reality. Nsanje Port opens October 2010.” But those who go to the port will find little more than a concrete quay with a couple of dozen mooring posts, and a few fishermen manoeuvring crude dug-out canoes through the murky brown waters of the Shire River. Read >
Friday, 11 May 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Kenya: Solar powered phones recharge nation's conversations
Isiolo (Kenya) — The upcoming Rio+20 conference on sustainable development will try to identify solutions to worsening resource scarcity and climate change, but Habiba Rage may already be holding one in the palm of her hand. Read >
Friday, 11 May 2012
Alert Net, by David Njagi *
Africa: Lavish life of an ICC war criminal inside a Rwandan jail
Kigali (Rwanda)- By all standards, Issa Hassan Sesay, a convicted international war criminal and former leader of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group, is a remarkable man. Read >
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
The East African (Kenya), by Andrew M. Mwenda*
South Africa: Has the nation become a sunny place for shady people? (opinion)
Johannesburg (South Africa) - The last few years has seen a steady procession of various shady characters from around the world paraded across our headlines and through our legal systems. So is South Africa becoming a sunny place for shady people? To be more precise, are our democratic institutions at risk from infiltration by international criminals and crime networks? Crime and corruption are ancient confederates. Read >
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
The South Africa Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS), by Glenn Ashton*
Congo (DRC): Where giving birth is deadly
Kinshasa (Congo DRC) — Her limbs flaccid, her eyes wide with fear and pain, Théthé's cries seem oddly detached from her body, as if part of her isn't lying on a brown vinyl mattress, slick with blood and amniotic fluid, in one of the worst places in the world to be a mother. Read >
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
AllAfrica.com
South Sudan: South Sudan economy on the verge of collapse, World Bank warns
Washington DC (USA) — The newly independent state of South Sudan is quickly headed towards an economic cliff in light of its decision to shut down oil production which went into effect earlier this year, says a confidential report by the World bank. Read >
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Sudan Tribune (Sudan/France)
Algeria: Hope dwindles ahead of elections
Algiers (Algeria) - "Is that your photo on the poster?" a policeman asked a woman standing in front of an electoral campaign board in Algiers. "Why do you ask?" she inquired. "Because only the candidates are interested in these elections," he replied. Read >
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Inter Press Service (IPS)
Africa: Skipping lunch to afford a mobile phone (interview)
Cape Town (South Africa)– On a continent of over one billion people, where half the population have mobile phones, the use of mobile communication and internet technologies is crucial to boost development in Africa. Read >
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Inter Press Service (IPS), by Kristin Palitza