100 posts
Eastern Congo: long-suffering, long neglected
NEW
As the eyes of the world focus on Gaza, eastern Congo plunges yet again into a deadly conflict which threatens the lives and futures of tens of thousands of people. While hopes are rising that a ceasefire in Gaza is only hours away between Israeli fo...
Fighting violence with hope and care
NEW
With joy and relief, today I welcomed to the European Commission Dr Denis Mukwege. Medical Director at the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dr Mukwege has an immensely difficult and important job – to save, heal and return...
Advocates of change – dr. Mukwege and his support for Congolese women
NEW
Number of Views :87I met today with Dr Denis Mukwege, a doctor from the DR Congo who founded a hospital for rape victims and is a fierce advocate for women. Few weeks back I was shocked to learn he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Today, hi...
Swaziland fishery laws outdated
NEW
Experts have observed that Swaziland’s fishery laws are very outdated. The ACP Fish II Southern Africa Regional Manager, Leone Tarabusi, said fisheries in Swaziland were governed by the Protection of Fresh Water Fish Act of 1937 and regulations pro...
Royal Society and DFID launch fund for African research
NEW
A £15.3 million (EUR 19 million) fund to build links between African research laboratories and strengthen their research capacity through mentoring has been launched by the Royal Society (the UK's science academy) and the UK Department for Internati...
EU to inject €158 million into Somali development efforts
NEW
In the next few years, the European Union will focus its aid to Somalia on strengthening the country’s education, judicial and security sectors. This was outlined on 3 November by Michele Cervone d’Urso, the EU’s new special envoy to Soma...
Malawi reconsiders controversial trade agreement EU
NEW
Malawi has opened negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), which have been stalled since 2002. The new round of negotiations could see the administration of President Joyce Banda sign the free trade agree...
Zimbabwe-EU trade to improve
NEW
European Union head of delegation Aldo Dell’Ariccia says the return of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines into Zimbabwe after 13 years will boost trade between the Southern African country and the Western bloc. Dell’Ariccia told guests at a breakfast meeti...
Additional funding for displaced people in CAR
NEW
There are more than 65,000 internally displaced people in the Central African Republic (CAR) in urgent need of life-saving assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The on-going conflicts in the count...
African leaders stress importance of major ACP summit
NEW
Three presidential visits to the Secretariat for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) in Brussels during the week of 15 - 19 October 2012 highlighted the commitment of ACP member states to reviewing the outlook of the Group, and its role in...
Mauritania: Confusion Reigns over “Accidental” Shots that Wounded President Aziz
NEW
“@weddady: The official version on Aziz being “wounded lightly” was completely nonsense. He is seriously injured à la Dadis Camara.. #Mauritania“ Twitter update from Mauritanian activist Nasser Waddady upon hearing official...
Tanzania remains gateway to EAC common market
NEW
The former Minister for East African Cooperation and the current Ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the European Union, Dr Diodorus Kamala, has said that Tanzania remains the Gateway to East African Community Common Market.
EPA issue prompts discussion at the 5th EU-SA Summit
NEW
As we reported earlier this week, leaders at the 5th European Union-South Africa Summit met to discuss a series of key issues such as the global economic situation, climate change, trade, development cooperation, and peace and security issues in Afri...
MDG 5 implementation in Africa gaining ground
NEW
According to an article by the Ghana News Agency, Nicholas Westcott, EEAS Managing Director for Africa, has stressed that poverty is decreasing in Africa and that the implementation of the Millennium Development Goal 5 approaching its targets. Speaki...
On remembering (postscript)
NEW
After living and working in Zambia between 1988 and 1990, I've always been drawn to interesting perspectives on Africa, which was why I first read this book in 1994.And I was reminded - again - this week of the power of, and need for, identity w...
5th EU-SA Summit to strengthen strategic partnership
NEW
As we were informing our readers last week, the 5th European Union-South Africa Summit is to take place in Brussels. This meeting is intended to will provide an opportunity to strengthen the strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa...
Zimbabwe: on its way to recovery
NEW
At the height of Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis in 2002, seven million people were in need of food aid. A decade later, the number of people in need has declined to a million, though it could go up by another 600,000 in 2013. Still, two of the countr...
Sudan: Khartoum Bans YouTube after Protesters Burn German Embassy
NEW
Angered by the trailer of a movie which insults Prophet Mohammed, made by an Egyptian in the US and posted on YouTube, Sudanese protesters burned the German Embassy in Khartoum. Netizens weigh in as Sudanese authorities block access to video sharing...
Funding for regional infrastructural projects: the EAC turns to Europe
NEW
As infrastructural challenges in Eastern Africa have been a major obstacle to the process of integration, the EAC Secretariat appears to be counting on Europe to get funding for regional infrastructural projects. According to an article by All Africa...
Africa-Europe collaboration in establishing new research infrastructures
NEW
The next 'Promoting African – European Research Infrastructure Partnerships' (PAERIP) workshop will be held at the South African House in London’s Trafalgar Square, UK, on October 17, 2012. It will focus on Africa-Europe collaboration in establis...
Rwanda and EU agree to intensify efforts to resolve DRC crisis
NEW
According to recent updates by All Africa, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Rwanda, Louise Mushikiwabo visited Brussels last week and met European Union officials in a series of high-level meetings. Among the issues discussed, the Rwanda-DRC situation...
EU welcomes the ‘beginning of a new democratic era’ in Somalia
NEW
After eight years on from the establishment of Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia, the transition has ended with the election of the President by the new Federal Parliament. The European Union congratulates Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud on h...
Starting a Collecting Society
NEW
Last week, I had the pleasure of witnessing the birth of a collecting society in the Gambia. Contrary to my previously held assumptions, collecting societies aren't delivered by storks or the result of divine intervention. Instead, collec...
Embracing Internet Freedom in Africa
NEW
Internet Freedom is not just a concern just for the West - it’s an essential issue for the entire world. The Freedom Online coalition now counts 18 governments from all over the world, including two in Africa, and, underlining this global reach, th...
New EC aid injection to Horn of Africa
NEW
With the aim of helping the Horn of Africa recover from the destructive drought of 2011, overcome its chronic problems and set out on the path of development, the Commission adds €22 million to its humanitarian aid in the region. This allocation...
The Marikana Mine Workers Massacre – the War on the Poor
NEW
An article by abahlali baseMjondolo: http://abahlali.org/node/9035 Shiraz Socialist is not in a position to judge whether this article is fair and/or accurate, but we publish it in the interest information and debate: After the brutal, heartless an...
Behind the South African strike killings
NEW
Detailed information about the appalling police killings of 34 striking mineworkers in Marikana, South Africa, is hard to come by, especially as it seems to involve in-fighting within the ANC-affiliated COSATU union federation. Shiraz Socialist ca...
South Sudan and Sudan: A looming humanitarian catastrophe?
NEW
The EU boosts humanitarian aid for needs in Sudan and South Sudan by €40 million. Questions: 1. How necessary is the EU humanitarian aid from your point of view? 2. The organization United to End Genocide recently said that a man-made humanitarian...
‘Joint Way Forward Angola – EU’
NEW
The EU and Angola have recently signed a new cooperation agreement, entitled "Joint Way Forward Angola - European Union". This agreement, which was signed by Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-Pr...
Plans for an EAC Renewable Energy Centre in the works
NEW
According to recent updates by All Africa, plans to establish a renewable energy efficiency and conservation centre for the East African Community (EAC) are on track. The deputy Secretary General of EAC in charge of Productive and Social Secto...
EU leads development work in Tanzania
NEW
According to the European Commission, although Tanzania averaged 6-7% GDP growth in the last decade, it remains one of the world's poorest countries in the world, with many people still living below the poverty line of $1.25/day.
Visite en Afrique de l’Est
NEW
Number of View: 53Du 18 au 23 juillet, j’ai accompagné la visite du Président Barroso en Afrique de l’Est. Le Mozambique et la Tanzanie sont deux des pays les plus prometteurs en termes de stabilité politique et de développement. J&...
South Sudan to join the ACP
NEW
The Republic of South Sudan is set to become the 80th member of the ACP Group, as its request (March 2012) to accede to the ACP-EU partnership has been approved at the recent Joint Council of Ministers meeting in Vanuatu. In the meantime, Sou...
Ansar Dine are on the path of destroying mausoleums in Timbuktu
NEW
Mali Islamists armed with pick-axes try to destroy history. 1. As Ansar Dine are on the path of destroying shrines in Timbuktu, I think, it will get a lot of attention. But is it also significant? What does it tell us about Ansar Dine in your opinion...
Europe and Africa: Does the future lie in regional integration?
NEW
Since the 2008 financial crisis and its consequences in Europe, the African continent has been overshadowed by other concerns of European governments. Despite a renewed interest in the Maghreb from the Old Continent aroused by the 2011 Arab revolutio...
Mali and Senegal: Contrasting Democratic Futures?
NEW
Many observers feared an Ivorian-style meltdown in the interregnum between the first and second rounds of Senegal’s presidential elections concluded this weekend. One of Africa’s better established democracies, the evetual successful transfer...
The DRC Elections
NEW
November 28th marked the beginning of the second democratic general election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, since the end of the Congo Wars. Although this large African country is rich in mineral resources its GDP is only $300 per capita a...
EU, Africa and China in the 2000s: Bilateral relations and trilateral failure
NEW
By accident, I’ve come across a very fascinating academic journal article on EU-Africa relations and the role China played in this relationship in the first decade of the 21st century. “The European Union and China’s rise in Africa:...
UK minister warns of emergency developing on Sudan border
NEW
Thousands of Southern Sudanese risk being caught in a humanitarian crisis because the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan have failed to take responsibility for their own people, Minister Stephen O’Brien warned today after visiting a transit ca...
Andris Piebalgs in Uganda to explore innovative financing for agriculture
NEW
European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs this week traveled to Uganda for a two-day visit. Together with government and private sector representatives he explored how to improve access to financing for small and medium enterprises...
To observe or not to observe? Tunisian proud vis-à-vis EU Election Observers
NEW
Teargas and consternation in the Capital’s city centre. This weekend the capital Tunis witnessed its most serious disturbances since months. A group of 250 Salafists tried to evade the offices of TV-station Nessma, because it had broadca...
Elections, Islamists and the role of the EU in Tunisia
NEW
In my first posting I wrote about the sometimes heated discussions in Tunisia’s daily life. This week, two subjects attracted a lot of attention from the public. “Thy shall marry young” Ennahda, the political party which represents...
UK: Retailers targeted by cotton made in Africa
NEW
The Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative, which now reaches 1.6m people in five countries according to a new study, is teaming up with an ethical consultancy to try to boost its uptake by UK retailers. Cotton made in Africa works in five African...
Somalia ranked as world’s most food insecure country
NEW
A new study assessing the availability and stability of food supplies in 196 countries has rated the food security of Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the lowest in the world, while countries in the drought stricken Horn of Af...
Special Representative to the African Union
NEW
The 3110th Council meeting on Agriculture and Fisheries held in Brussels on 20 September 2011 updated the mandate of Mr Koen Vervaeke, EU Special Representative to the African Union and extended it until 30 June 2012. It set the budget for expen...
Ghana: Civil society organisations intensify fight against EPAs
NEW
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) across the country have intensified their fight against the Economic Partnership Agreements saying they are inimical to the long-term development aspirations of the nation. For the second time in a month, civil so...
L’Afrique du Sud, entre start up et townships
NEW
J’ai ouvert mon site web en février 2010 par une phrase de Nelson Mandela, qui rappelait que la lutte contre la pauvreté ne passait pas par la charité mais par l’accès à la liberté. J’en ai fait l’une des mes priorités...
How can the EU best support the development challenges of South Sudan?
NEW
“Independence in South Sudan has come as the result of a long struggle. The country is now free, but destroyed. War has devastated the south, and nothing has been developed – everything must be built from scratch.” A strong message delivered by...
Humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa, Sudan and South Sudan
NEW
The 3109th Council meeting on General Affairs held in Brussels on 12 September 2011 approved an extra EUR 60 million for humanitarian and food aid in the Horn of Africa and EUR 40 million for Sudan and South Sudan. For the Horn of Africa (the c...
Free Dawit Isaak
NEW
Last Sunday we commemorated the ten years since 9.11 2001. It was in the shadow of these events, when all eyes were on the burning towers in New York, that the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak was arrested and imprisoned in Eritrea. Still ther...
"Investment Decisions for Resource-Rich Countries" by Paul Collier
NEW
Part I: The Role of Central Banks Many poor countries face their best opportunity for a generation: high prices and discoveries are generating substantial revenues from natural resource extraction....
Lesotho: Commissioner Piebalgs to to announce €15 million aid for water access
NEW
European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will arrive for a two-day visit in Lesotho on 12 September. The visit takes place in the context of the country's preparations for local and parliamentary elections while dealing with the effects o...
Africa’s biggest market lies within
NEW
Global demand for African oil and precious metals has fuelled a continental surge in exports, helping some of the world’s poorest countries rebound from the 2009 economic shock. African countries also stand to benefit from trade deals with donor...
Sarkozy’s line for Africa is “neither interference nor indifference”
NEW
President Nicolas Sarkozy, having suddenly engaged France in shooting wars in Libya and Ivory Coast, seems to be harking back to the old days of French African policy, sometimes known as Françafrique, when Paris and its army dictated politics in...
Left- and Right-Wing French Diplomats Spar in Press
NEW
The HatfieldsIt's like the Hatfields and McCoys -- family feuds, strong words and provocations -- only this time, the families are French diplomatic chiefs who skirmish not with weapons but a pair of caustic collective letters published (anonymo...
UK Government ramps up trading in Africa
NEW
The UK is to launch a new initiative to boost African trade through reduced bureaucracy, improved transport infrastructure and more efficient border crossings Andrew Mitchell said today. The African Free Trade initiative (AFTi) will see Britain...
The EU’s Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Role in Sudan – Call for Evidence
NEW
The House of Lords’ EU Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Policy is conducting an inquiry into the European Union’s Conflict Prevention Role in Sudan, focusing on the conflict between the north and south and the implementat...
Commissioner Piebalgs at the African Union Summit
NEW
EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs attended the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 30/31 January. Leaders met to discuss the theme of the summit - "Greater Unity and Integration through Shared Values". The European Union is working i...
Sudan referendum: visit from a European Parliament delegation
NEW
A six-member European Parliament delegation is now in Sudan to observe the southern Sudan independence referendum, with voting taking place between 9 and 15 January. Delegation leader Mariya Nedelcheva (EPP, BG) confirmed that the poll has so far...
EAC EPA experts set to chart negotiating strategy with EU
NEW
East African Community (EAC) experts negotiating the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union are to meet this month, after receiving funds for the work. Ismail Mfinanga, Assistant Director of Regional Integration Programmes in th...
