In late December the United States followed through on a promise by writing off $280 million in debts owed to it by Zambia.
In all, Western countries and NGOs wrote off over $1 billion in debt owed by Zambia. When all is said and done, according to the BBC, Zambia’s debt is likely to fall […]
Botswana is generally considered one of the more democratic African nations. Now if you’re a generally democratic nation how do you go about demonstrating your devotion to democratic principles? Well, of course you try to deport a college professor critical of your country.
In February, Botswana President Festus Mogae declared University of Botswana lecturer Kenneth Good […]
Its amazing what peace can actually do. In Ethiopia, crop production in 2004 was 24 percent higher than in the 2003, and 21 percent higher than the average of the previous five years according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program.
Ethiopia is not yet food self-sufficient, however, but it […]
In an interview with the BBC, former United Nations Secretary Boutros Boutros Ghali predicted that conflicts would soon arise between countries in the Nile basin over rights to water that flows through the Nile.
Egypt has long been the largest user of water from the Nile, but countries upstream are coming closer to more intensively using […]
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown made waves in January with his announcement that Great Britain would seek large scale debt relief for poverty-stricken African nations. Brown said that ultimately his government hoped to negotiation 100 percent debt relief for such nations.
On a trip to Africa, Brown signed a debt relief deal with Tanzania […]
In January, Burundi imposed a special tax of 8 percent on the salary of ministers and lawmakers and a 2 percent tax on lower-level civil servants in an effort to raise money to forestall famine in northeastern Burundi.
More than 650,000 people faced severe food shortages in the Burundi provinces of Muyinga and Kirundo due to […]
The World Health Organization maintains that it will eradicate polio worldwide, but the disease is beginning to re-emerge in African countries that had previously been polio-free. Will anti-polio campaigners ever manage to eradicate polio?
The current outbreak in Africa is directly traceable to a decision by religious extremists in northern Nigeria to suspended polio vaccinations in […]
A treaty between East African nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda went into effect in January creating a trade bloc that over the next few years will create a free trade zone.
A similar East African free-trade zone was set up in 1967, but collapsed in 1977 as wars devastated the region.
Under the terms of the agreement […]
To mark UN Anti-Corruption Day in December, Transparency International released the results of its 2004 Global Corruption Barometer highlighting ongoing corruption, especially in the developing world. The survey found that worldwide, 1 in 10 people said they or a member of their household had paid a bribe in the previous year.
The survey polled more […]
Speaking at a conference in Ethiopia, United Nations investment analyst stated the obvious — investors don’t want to put their money into Africa when they see genocide in Sudan, civil war in Ivory Coast, and the sort of endemic corruption in countries like Zimbabwe.
According to the BBC, Africa as a whole only sees about $15 […]