Vol 55 No 1 | ZIMBABWE Ruling party conference ignores crisis 18th December 2013 ZANU-PF ducked the succession issue at its conference but the drift is damaging the confidence of businesses and people alike The Mashonaland West provincial capital, Chinoyi, got all dressed up for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front conference on 13-14 December but the deliberations produced no breakthroughs –...
Vol 54 No 25 | SOUTH AFRICA When the clouds cried 12th December 2013 The nation’s grief at the loss of its founding father was brusquely interrupted by the next struggle for power It was a day of the sharpest political contrasts when South Africans and the wider world celebrated the life of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on 10 December at the... READ FOR FREE
Vol 54 No 25 | MOZAMBIQUE Obrigado Graça 12th December 2013 Calls are growing for Graça Machel to stand for president. To many of her fellow Mozambicans, the idea is both appealing and logical. Her husband, Nelson Mandela, has...
Vol 54 No 25 | SOUTH AFRICA The time of Mandela 6th December 2013 People are together on the streets as they were in the 1994 liberation elections but this time, to celebrate the life of their globally venerated leader Nelson Mandela's face appeared magisterially on a tableau draped over the front of the Elysée Palace as African leaders and European bureaucrats walked across the courtyard for the...
Vol 54 No 25 | ZIMBABWE Arms-for-minerals trades exposed 4th December 2013 Zimbabwe has parcelled out choice mining concessions to Russia and China in exchange for arms – but they may have sold them too cheaply Deals to trade mining concessions for arms from Russia and China were arranged privately during the period of the coalition government by Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front leaders,...
Vol 7 (AAC) No 2 | SOUTH AFRICA Mamphela Ramphele 30th November 2013 Leader, Agang South Africa According the party’s website, ‘Agang, which means “build” in Sesotho, stands for clean government to restore the promise of freedom to all South Africans: equality, dignity and hope...
Vol 7 (AAC) No 2 | ZAMBIA Mixed messages 29th November 2013 President Michael Sata laid the first stone for the expansion and upgrading of Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka on 7 November. The China-financed US$360 million project is...
Vol 54 No 24 | ANGOLAPORTUGAL Luanda cows Lisbon 28th November 2013 Portugal appears to have succumbed to Angolan pressure to drop more investigations of top officials in Luanda. Last week, the Portuguese Central Investigation and Criminal Prosecution Department, the...
Vol 54 No 24 | NAMIBIA Katti goes for gold 28th November 2013 Knowledge Katti, the oil exploration millionaire and close associate of Prime Minister Hage Geingob, appears to be on the verge of another business coup. Katti represents one of...
Vol 54 No 24 | ZIMBABWE Mugabe's farm in sanctions row 27th November 2013 The President and his wife run a dairy business. A German firm has been supplying them for four years, even though the couple are under EU sanctions The German firm Wilhelm Guth Ventiltechnik has been supplying components to Robert and Grace Mugabe's dairy in defiance of international sanctions. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Guth South Africa, has...