WORLD BANK | INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Rich countries have made grand promises at no fewer than three summit meetings this year – in Monterrey, Kananaskis and Johannesburg. However, their African counterparts did not expect anything dramatic from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington on 28-29 September. The global economic downturn and war-drums on Iraq preoccupied the rich-country delegates. All the same, United States attempts to win support for the 'war on terrorism' have concentrated minds in Washington.
COTTON | AFRICA
Encouraged by Brazil, African cotton producers are opposing the subsidy proposals in United States President George W. Bush's Farm Bill. Several West and Central African countries, reeling from another year of depressed cotton prices, may join Brazil's formal case against the US subsidies, brought before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 27 September and designed to enlist support from other countries.