Africa News archive

30.06.2005 G8 leaders are urged to give top priority to the needs of African consumers - and that means practical support and fair trade for farmers, not technological fixes.

29.06.2005 U.S. aid to Africa has increased 56 percent since 2000, rather than tripling as Bush has insisted, a new study reveals.

27.06.2005 Gross human rights abusers will continue to get their hands on weapons as G8 foreign ministers fail to commit to negiotiate a tough Arms Trade Treaty. G8 countries together export more than 80% of the world’s arms.

24.06.2005 A new Christian Aid report concludes that so-called free trade rules imposed on African countries have been a massive failure. The cost to national economies over the last 20 years has effectively wiped out the value of aid.

24.06.2005 As an unprecedented coalition of civil society organisations appeals to the UN to investigate recent events in Zimbabwe, the outspoken Archbishop of Bulawayo has won an international humanitarian award. As well as criticising Robert Mugabe, Archbishop Pius Ncube has called on the British government to be more tolerant of asylum-seekers from Zimbabwe.

22.06.2005 The Young People's Commission for Africa was established by 2 UK charities to give children a chance to input to the G8 summit. 52 schools in Africa and the UK took part. Education and protection from violence head the list of priorities.

21.06.2005 It's a beautiful day for a trip on the London Eye and ticket-holders this evening will find professional entertainers in every capsule. The 30 minute journey will celebrate African culture in parallel with Christian Aid's campaign for trade justice.

20.06.2005 White bands appearing on major buildings in Europe during coming weeks are symbols not of surrender of the doomed European Constitution but of high profile support for the Make Poverty History campaign. The first one appeared at the European Commission HQ last week.

17.06.2005 Speaking recently as Chair of the African Union, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria had plenty of advice for G8 leaders on aid, debt and trade issues. And he made a plea that the right to "decent work" should be included in the Millennium Development Goals.

16.06.2005 Tony Blair is slammed for ignoring the genocide in Darfur, while lecturing world leaders on helping Africa. A report published today by pressure group Waging Peace, criticises the prime minister for a “policy of appeasement” towards the Sudanese regime.

16.06.2005 The argument that "there is a tsunami every day in Africa" has influenced The Hunter Foundation to redirect £1 million earmarked for tsunami relief to a project to help women and children in a camp for displaced persons in northern Uganda.

15.06.2005 Sudan has responded to the attentions of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by setting up its own national court to investigate war crimes. Such a court could have no credibility whatsoever, argues Amnesty International.

12.06.2005 It's not clear how Gordon Brown's session with G7 finance ministers succeeded where Tony Blair's meeting with President Bush had failed - but IMF debts are now included in the proposed package of debt cancellation to be announced at the July summit. Nevertheless, campaigners say that much more needs to be done.

12.06.2005 Ethiopia is one of the 18 countries that will qualify for debt cancellation under the proposed G8 agreement. But its recent election has been a shambles as apparent gains for the opposition party are being suppressed. Amnesty is concerned about the fate of students arrested during demonstrations.

12.06.2005 The Sahel region of West Africa provides further evidence of post-tsunami donor fatigue. UN appeals for humanitarian relief for regions devastated by locusts and drought are falling on deaf ears.

10.06.2005 A South African think tank has produced a controversial report which concludes that black South Africans are more concerned about employment and wider inequalities than inducements to farming, an unprofitable industry which traditional white farmers are deserting.

10.06.2005 The Bush/Blair deal for debt relief so far lacks the transparency that they demand of African governance. The Jubilee Debt Campaign sets out the key areas where the detail will determine whether the eventual package has any substance.

09.06.2005 African trade ministers meet this week as the temperature rises to find a breakthrough in the Doha round of trade negotiations. A united position will be critical to hopes that trade can contribute to real poverty reduction.

09.06.2005 There is concern that the Bush/Blair deal for debt relief will reward only those countries whose credit ratings in international markets are improving anyway. This approach denies the basic financial principle that lenders should accept the downside of irresponsible loans.

09.06.2005 Sir Bob Geldof shows no signs of altering the Live8 line-up in response to criticism that his contacts book appears to contain no black performers. African musicians say that their absence reinforces stereotypes of Africans who have nothing to offer except poverty.