Africa

SADC Stands by Zimbabwe Report

The full summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Sandton last weekend was a setback for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party. They had lobbied hard for the summit to rescind a highly critical report of the SADC’s security organ troika in Livingstone, Zambia on March 31. The Livingstone communiqué, squarely [...]

UN Evaluates Tunisia’s Human Rights and Anti-Terrorism Efforts

UN officials made a special visit to Tunisia to determine the progress of it’s recommendations involving human rights and counter-terrorism in the country. According to a report from the UN News Centre, Martin Scheinin visited the country for the first time since last January to see what human rights efforts still needs to be accomplished in [...]

Nigeria, Africa’s Political Giant of Corruption

As AllAfrica reports, to run a democratic government in Nigeria is very expensive but the people that run the government determine the political system. In the recent past, the Federal Government has been bedeviled with high- profile corruption which emanated from the military interregnum but has continued under the civilian government. Yet, corruption undermines everything the [...]

Zimbabwe Journalists Mark Press Freedom Day With Push for Open Airwaves

Zimbabwean journalists marking World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday in Harare told Information Minister Webster Shamu the country must open up its airwaves and repeal repressive laws under which Zimbabwe remains a difficult working environment. VOA reports that journalists attending the event organized by the new Zimbabwe Media Commission said that while there has been some [...]

Zimbabwe Rising: With Great Opportunity Comes Great Responsibility

We as an international community have a duty in newfound opportunity: we must pay close attention to the booms in present-day Zimbabwe in order for them to respectively blossom in to sustainable pillars of development. We must also accept and address certain realities hindering our ‘getting on-board’. The Zimbabwean mining sector is expected to grow [...]

Zimbabwe Diamonds Cleared for Export by Kimberley Process

In a bold yet controversial move, Kimberley Process Chairman Mathieu Yamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has authorized Zimbabwe to resume exports of its rough diamonds, including back stock, IDEX Online reports. In a recent letter to Kimberley Process members, Yamba said that all unresolved issues surrounding Zimbabwe’s diamonds (which unfortunately are many) [...]

Toppling Dictators with a Lethal Dose of Technology and Nonviolent Action

Stephanie Rudat issues a stern mandate to Dictators everywhere: Beware –Strategic use of nonviolent action combined with technology is a lethal formula empowering global citizens seeking your demise. 18 days of tumultuous freedom fighting and a dictator is shamefully evicted. Seems straightforward, doesn’t it? It’s not. In the Huffington Post, she writes that Egyptians have been [...]

Uganda’s Planned Investment Doubles in February

In a surprise to many international political activists, Uganda’s planned investment more than double in February compared to the previous month, helped by the passage of a presidential election that many believe was held fairly, the state-run Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) recently stated. The east African country, which discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits in its west [...]

South Africa – Union Says State Must Take Charge of Mineral Wealth

The South African mining sector could be in for a seismic shift. Executive leadership of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has issued a call for mines nationalised and cooperatives established as a way of dealing with poverty After a meeting of its national executive committee (NEC) last Sunday, Numsa said that nationalising [...]

Nigerian Oil Exploration at 10-Year Low Before Law

Despite a drop-off of instability in the Delta today, oil exploration in Nigeria has slumped to the lowest in a decade after producers including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA backed away from investment until the country’s petroleum law is finally passed. Just one exploration well was drilled in Nigeria over the past two [...]