Africa News archive

27.05.2005 Zimbabwe has no funds to buy food for its starving population and President Mugabe refuses to accept food aid. Even if he relented, the World Food Programme has already fully allocated its resources for southern Africa.

26.05.2005 The Kalahari Bushmen have taken the Botswana government to court over their eviction from their tribal lands. A key witness for the government is giving contradictory evidence which may strengthen the Bushmen's case for being allowed to return.

26.05.2005 The eradication of polio in Africa is the potential success story for health and development agencies which always seems to lie just around the corner. Problems in Nigeria led to a serious reversal of progress last year but now a major campaign is under way to vaccinate 77 million children.

25.05.2005 Uganda is in some financial difficulty as donor countries threaten to follow the lead taken by the UK in withholding aid funds in response to insufficient progress towards true democracy - something of a change from the unpopular conditions of privatisation and free trade.

25.05.2005 All countries need health workers and you can't blame nurses and doctors for taking advantage of migration opportunities. But should rich countries poach staff without compensating the African country that financed the professional training?

24.05.2005 EU development ministers meeting today know that Tony Blair stands little chance of extracting aid promises from US and Canada unless European G8 members set a clear example. Unfortunately, key countries such as Germany and Italy are in no shape politically to make long term commitments.

23.05.2005 Major development NGOs in the UK wrote to Tony Blair in March asking him to oppose the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz as President of the World Bank. The eventual reply from Downing Street makes no mention of the recommendations in the Commission for Africa report for the appointment process to be overhauled.

23.05.2005 There may be a chink in the armour of Robert Mugabe's programme of farm seizures. If a dispossessed farmer is a national of a country which has signed formal investment agreements with Zimbabwe, international arbitration procedures could be available.

20.05.2005 There are ominous signs that the Blair/Brown vision for Africa is falling on stony ground. The Bush administration appears in no mood to return the favours on Iraq and now the mandarins of Europe are ganging up to stave off concessions on trade.

19.05.2005 Tanzania was forced to privatise the water supply in Dar es Salaam by the IMF and other development agencies. The result has been a deterioration in service. The government has had enough and has revoked the contract with UK company Biwater.

19.05.2005 A senior official from the International Food Policy Research Institute argues strongly that African countries which do not facilitate the introduction of GM crops are failing the urgent needs of their people.

19.05.2005 As the second poorest nation in the world, Niger has enough problems without the terrible misfortune of losing almost all its crops last year to an invasion of locusts. The serious consequences for food security and malnutrition are only now becoming apparent.

18.05.2005 Efforts to abolish slavery in Niger must contend with deep-rooted traditions of local culture. Now the government has created new obstacles by imprisoning leaders of Timidria, Niger's leading anti-slavery organisation.

16.05.2005 A new report published to coincide with Christian Aid Week offers only grudging approval of the government's change in policy on aid conditionality. Too many developing country programmes are already committed to the doctrine of liberalisation and the UK itself is too committed to the values of the IMF and World Bank.

16.05.2005 Time is running out for Gordon Brown to persuade G7 governments to deliver a real breakthrough for world poverty at the summit in July. World Debt Day today provides a reminder of the gap that exists between rhetoric and action.

16.05.2005 With all its advantages, Europe has failed to protect its citizens against contaminated Syngenta maize. Zambia is not only determined to maintain its controversial policy to keep out genetically modified (GM) food, but is building a laboratory to monitor imports.

13.05.2005 Tony Blair has promised to listen more to what people are saying during his third term of office. The Make Poverty History campaign takes an early opportunity to draw attention to the weight of expectation for action for Africa.

12.05.2005 Oxfam continues its seemingly lone campaign to persuade governments and the UN Security Council to wake up to the conflict between Ugandan forces and the Lord's Resistance Army. Current UN policy presumes that peaceful resolution is imminent, apparently unaware of the increase in military action over recent months.

11.05.2005 The Roll Back Malaria initiative is the central world programme to fight the disease. There is criticism that targets are not being met and that too many African children are dying unnecessarily.

09.05.2005 The advent of free primary school education in Kenya has enabled Kimani Nganga Maruge to enrol, almost 80 years too late. The 85 year-old grandfather sends a message to G8 countries that no more generations should be denied the right of education.