Vol 48 No 24 | COMMONWEALTHANALYSIS Friendly in Kampala 30th November 2007 The form and content of the Commonwealth are changing. The growing interest in the economic role of an organisation whose members include some of the most dynamic economies in Asia and Africa coincides with the election of a Secretary General from Asia's second biggest economy, India. Commonwealth ties will be important next year when India organises its 'Year of Africa'. The Commonwealth, as always, tried to present a new face at its Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala on 23-25 November, hosted by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. The...
Vol 48 No 23 | NIGERIAANALYSIS All come to the aid of the party – and fight it out 16th November 2007 All the rival factions in the governing People’s Democratic Party hope to benefit from the postponement of its critical national convention, which has been rescheduled to January. Who wins out at the convention will determine the shape of the government for the next four years. The key issues are control of senior positions within the PDP hierarchy and the party’s support for political reform. Power-brokers on all sides in Abuja seem encouraged by the surprise announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission on 8 November that the People's Democratic Party c...
Vol 48 No 21 | SOUTH AFRICAANALYSIS Zuma, Buthelezi and the Zulu nation 19th October 2007 The exit of Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi from politics and the rise and rise of Jacob Zuma as a national leader with an unassailable base in KwaZulu-Natal is a moment of truth for South Africa’s Zulus. The Inkatha Freedom Party, so long dominant in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), is losing its grip and risks disintegration. Its leader, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, told its national conferenc...
Vol 48 No 20 | CONGO-KINSHASAANALYSIS Le scandale géologique 5th October 2007 Under-resourced and under fire - and under investigation again The government Commission reviewing up to 60 of Congo's mining contracts has quickly come under fire. Politicians, lobbyists and companies question its claims of objectivity, rigou...
Vol 48 No 18 | COMMONWEALTHANALYSIS Africa moves up the agenda 7th September 2007 Choosing a new secretary general, acting on Zimbabwe, admitting extra members and the probable appearance of several fresh leaders will keep the commentators busy at November's Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting President Robert Mugabe, leader of an already suspended Zimbabwe, walked out of the Commonwealth club at the end of the Abuja summit in 2003 and since then, the venerable body has ...
Vol 48 No 15 | SOUTH AFRICAANALYSIS A Communist manifestation - the return of the left 20th July 2007 Leftist critics of President Thabo Mbeki have regrouped in the South African Communist Party, hoping to take control of the African National Congress It was a great revivalist meeting for South Africa's resurgent left-wing activists. Some 1,300 SACP delegates gathered in Port Elizabeth on 11-14 July to hear speaker after speaker...
Vol 48 No 13 | WEST AFRICAANALYSIS Post-war hopes hit trouble 22nd June 2007 A trip along the West African seaboard today might persuade an averagely optimistic traveller that life is getting better Several countries have seen political progress with freer elections and freer newspapers. Many of the conflicts along the arc of crisis, which ran westwards from Abidjan towards Se...
