What do a steel company, urban development projects and golf courses all have in common? They are three of the latest targets of Hugo Chávez’s nationalization drive – and part of his plan for renewed popularity. The background is a severe shortage of decent housing: over 2m homes are needed, by some counts, in a [...]

The shooting at point blank range of another farmer in the Selous district of Zimbabwe again highlights the deteriorating situation currently being faced in the rural farming areas and acts as yet another warning of severe pre-election violence ramping up and hindering the lifting of EU sanctions and returning foreign interest. This is a symptom [...]

European Union supremo Herman Van Rompuy today stated the bloc was ready to take a fresh look at sanctions against Zimbabwe, pending political developments, one of which Zimbabweans speculate to be the reappointment of MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett. Speaking at an EU-South Africa summit, Van Rompuy noted Zimbabwean moves to create a new constitution as part [...]

Two of the world’s biggest operators – Vodafone and China Mobile – announced their financial separation on Wednesday, marking the start of Vodafone’s abandonment of its minority investments. UK-based Vodafone announced the sale of its entire 3.2 per cent interest in China Mobile, for a cash consideration of around £4.3bn before tax and other costs. [...]

Many question the legitimacy of German trepidation regarding the building of an energy terminal in northwest Poland as further proof positive of heavy Russian influence in both Berlin and throughout the European Union. Although at face value, Germany’s concerns centre on the environmental impact, CEC Government Relations Founder Marek Matraszek believes, (as excerpted from Business New [...]

During our last trip to Kenya on the Georges Tadonki trial, I had the opportunity to develop an association with the lawyer Evans Monari of Daly & Figgis Advocates (photo – center), who is one of the best known business and human rights lawyers in East Africa.  Below is an article Evans has contributed for the RobertAmsterdam.com [...]

More than a hundred British Members of Parliament have condemned Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which could equate to the death penalty for those Ugandans who engage in homosexual acts. The 118 MPs have signed what is known as an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the UK Parliament, urging the scrapping of the Bill. The EDM, drafted by east London [...]

Claudio Gatti is an investigative reporter based in New York for the Italian newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore and The International Herald Tribune. Below, he references the ongoing tangle of investigations regarding possible bribes paid by the conglomerate to secure contracts around the world, the ramifications from the responses from the respective judicial systems which processed the [...]

Coal is big business in a growing India. And when it comes to coal, Coal India contributes almost four-fifths of India’s total production. In July, the powerhouse floated a tender seeking joint business initiatives in coal mining in Australia, the U.S., South Africa and Indonesia as it sought to secure fuel supplies for the world’s [...]

The tone of this blog has sometimes veered off its original intent, every so often appearing similar to that of an international human rights watchdog.  Quite frequently however, we refer to the geopolitical and economic ramifications from the actions of an erratic authoritarian, of which there are unfortunately many, and not only the human cost. [...]