The Agonist - Africa

Deadly Saudi-Yemen border clashes

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:47:41 -0800

Al Jazeera and agencies | November 07

Al Jazeera -
Seven Saudis and an unknown number of Houthi fighters have been killed as Saudi forces battle Yemen rebels for the fifth straight day, medics have said.

Saudi commanders said troops were shelling suspected Houthi positions on Saturday and plumes of smoke could be seen rising above the Jebel al-Dukhan peak that marks the frontier near the border town of Al-Khubah.

A medical official said seven Saudis, four of them women civilians, had been killed and 126 people wounded since the fighting erupted.

The Houthis claimed that they captured a number of Saudi soldiers on Friday.

Money and Mandarin lessons fuel China's African invasion

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:00:11 -0700

Daniel Howden | Oct 15

The Independent - From Liberia to Ethiopia, Beijing is constructing a 21st century empire thousands of miles from home

This afternoon more than a dozen Liberians are expected at the Samuel Doe sports stadium in the capital, Monrovia. In a makeshift classroom with some plastic chairs and a whiteboard their teacher, Li Peng, is waiting to finish the group's second week of instruction in Mandarin Chinese. Early attendances at the free daily lessons provided by the Chinese embassy have been poor, but officials are blaming heavy rain rather than light interest. The class is still struggling with the basics and few Chinese listeners apart from their teacher would recognise the strange "hellos" and "goodbyes" being called out.

"Learning Chinese may prove difficult," Mr Li admitted. "But if they work hard they will make it."

The West African country set up to settle freed American slaves in 1843 is English-speaking and the going is hard.

"Traditionally, we Liberians are closer to the Americans than we are to the Chinese," he says. "But the irony is that the Chinese are more open to us than the Americans are."

Liberia's government has no Mandarin speakers, and China's ambassador, Zhou Yuxiao, admits that he's uncomfortable that multibillion-dollar accords between the two countries are signed with one side unable to read the documents.

"We feel a little bit guilty at not being able to help Liberians to speak our language," he told the Associated Press.

On the same day last week that the Mandarin lessons were getting under way at the stadium in Monrovia, a much larger crowd was gathering about 300 miles to the northwest at another sports stadium, this time in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. The people had gathered to protest against the military junta and a young army officer, Moussa Dadis Camara, who with wearying predictability has been considering going back on earlier promises to hold free elections.

While Liberian students were grappling with Mandarin vowels more than 150 Guineans were being murdered. Scores of women were then raped. The massacre prompted international outrage, and the African Union meets next week to discuss possible sanctions. But it was revealed this week that China was preparing to throw the regime a lifeline in the form of nearly £4.3bn in oil and minerals deals.

It has left many wondering which is the real face of China in Africa: is it the quest for understanding being led by Mr Li in Monrovia? Or the naked pursuit of raw materials whose sale props up abusive governments like the one in Conakry?

China's engagement in Africa was supposed to have changed, experts say. Beijing's doctrine of "non-interference" in the domestic affairs of other countries was put to one side last year as it helped to nudge Sudan, one of its major oil suppliers, into allowing a beefed-up UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur. Then on a visit earlier this year China's president, Hu Jintao, signalled Beijing's intent to double aid to Africa.

According to Ian Taylor, a senior lecturer in international affairs at the University of St Andrews, the apparent contradiction is the product of a "clueless" approach to Beijing – "a tendency to treat China as if it's 'China Inc'."

Speaking from Beijing, he said: "There is no one Chinese policy towards Africa – it is a mixture of often-competing actors and influences that may or may not gel with official policy."

G20: Leaders Agree on Reforms, Poor Still "Out in the Cold"

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:15:45 -0700

Eli Clifton | Pittsburgh | Sept 27

IPS - World leaders at the two-day G20 Summit in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh agreed to work cooperatively to recover from the global economic crisis and create structural reforms with long-term growth as the goal.

In their end of meeting statement, the heads of the world's biggest economies also vowed to reform banking sectors and raise capital standards, replace the G8 with the G20 as the primary forum for international economic diplomacy, endorse a World Bank-led food security initiative for the world's poorest countries, and commit to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

Catching most observers by surprise was the announcement that the G8 would now be supplanted by the G20, a more representative body of the world's most powerful countries but a far cry from the inclusive global governance called for by the world's poorest countries and development NGOs.

The G8 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, Russia and the United States. The G20 adds Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the European Union.

"The G20 is more representative than the G8 but there is still no seat at the table for the poorest countries," said Oxfam senior policy adviser Max Lawson. "South Africa is the only African country included in this club. That means when the G20 talks about growth and stability, they are leaving the poorest countries in the cold."

Britain stalls on new deal to rescue Africa

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 05:40:15 -0700

Jane Merrick | Sept 20

The Independent - Chancellor claims fund-raising charge on all global banking transactions is not workable

Britain was last night accused of stalling on a deal to use banks' multibillion-pound profits to help the world's poorest nations as new figures show that the global recession has opened up a $70bn (£43bn) black hole in the budgets of sub-Saharan Africa.

Chancellor Alistair Darling is accused of blocking plans for a tax on worldwide currency transactions that could raise up to £30bn for developing countries.

But the plan which is being pushed by the German and French governments at a meeting of G20 leaders in Pittsburgh this week, has the sympathetic ear of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.

The need for a lifeboat for poor nations was given added urgency last night when research by Oxfam revealed that sub-Saharan African countries face a £30bn deficit this year – on top of £12bn debts from last year, leaving a total black hole of £43bn – because of the economic crisis.

African governments are increasingly unable to protect their citizens from falling trade, investment and remittances, and from hunger and the impact of climate change, Oxfam said.

Africa: Children Being Locked Up in UK Over Asylum Appeals

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:16:19 -0700

Paul Redfern | Nairobi | Sept 9

The East African. - Hundreds of young African children, many of whom are under five years old, are being locked up by the British government because of legal battles over whether or not their parents should be allowed political asylum in the UK.

Some of the young children, several of whom are from Uganda, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo became so traumatised by the experience that they have needed prolonged counselling afterwards.

Britain's Home Office has been extraordinarily cagey about how many minors it keeps in the UK's detention centres while political asylum appeals are being dealt with but last week (August 31), it was revealed that on one day alone in June, more than 470 minors were being detained with their families.

One such victim who was tracked down by the Guardian newspaper is four-year old Ibrahim Ssentongo, a Ugandan child who was held along with his father Stephen in the notorious detention centre Yarl's Wood.

He is now so traumatised by the incident that even seven months after his detention he does not like going out.

"When he sees people in uniforms or white shirts and black trousers, like bus drivers or security guards in shopping centres, he stops," his father told the UK paper.

Many however are too scared to speak out about their ordeal even though Sheila Melzak, a consultant child psychotherapist working with families who have been detained, said Ibrahim's trauma was far from unusual.

Africa: Money Will Not End Famine

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:58:41 -0700

James Shikwati | Sept 2

Nairobi's Business Daily - One of the reasons Africans go hungry is that indigenous foods have been replaced on their menus by wheat and beef, writes economist James Shikwati in Nairobi's Business Daily.

Disfiguring Disease Linked to Right to Food

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:58:27 -0700

Gustavo Capdevila | Geneva | Aug 7

IPS - Noma, an ulcerous disease whose name comes from a Greek word that means "to devour" because it literally eats away at malnourished children's faces in just a few months, is found in the developing world, mainly in Africa.

It attacks small children among the poorest of the poor. And although it can be easily treated by common antibiotics if caught in the early stages, 70 to 90 percent of its victims die. The disease is closely linked to malnourishment.

"The mere existence of this disease demonstrates that the right to food of the most vulnerable is being violated," said Jean Ziegler, vice-chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, a group of experts created a year ago that held its third session in Geneva Aug. 2-7.

Ziegler told IPS that "noma is absolutely dreadful…Families in Africa are ashamed by it, and hide away their sick children" because of the stigma attached to the disease.

Noma or "cancrum oris" is an infective gangrene that generally starts as gingivitis or another kind of ulcer in the mouth. If treatment is delayed, it rapidly destroys the hard and soft tissues of the mouth and often the face, leaving its victims – mainly children between the ages of one and five – "horribly disfigured," the expert said.

In his report to the Advisory Committee, Ziegler states that there are some 30,000 cases a year of noma worldwide.

Good governance key to Africa's progress, says Clinton

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:05:47 -0700

Nairobi | Aug 5

AFP - Africa's economic progress will depend on good governance, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a meeting of African trade partners on Wednesday in Nairobi.

"Progress will depend on good governance and adherence to the rule of law – that is critical to creating positive, predictable investment climates and inclusive economic growth," she said.

Clinton was addressing the eighth annual forum on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a US law giving preferential access to the world's biggest market to African states with open markets and democratic governments.

"True economic progress in Africa will depend on responsible governments that reject corruption, enforce the rule of law, and deliver results for their people," said Clinton, who arrived in the Kenyan capital on Tuesday.

Phone call sparked Operation Neath

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:19:10 -0700

Melbourne | August 4th

Australian.com.au - IT was a single phone call that sparked the second-largest terror investigation in Australian history, known as Operation Neath. A plot by Islamic extremists in Melbourne to launch a suicide attack on an Australian Army base has been uncovered by national security agencies.

* Police swoop on Melbourne homes after Somali Islamists' terror plot exposed
* Terror suspect to face prolonged grilling
* Out of Africa, a new terrorism threat dawns

In January, at the height of Melbourne's parched summer, an Australian-Lebanese man in his 30s telephoned a Somalian in the city's western suburbs and made a disturbing request. He wanted assistance for himself and some of his friends to travel to the war-torn African state of Somalia.

The men wanted to become Islamic warriors with al-Shabaab, an extremist group in that country with close links to al-Qa'ida, and which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US. The fledgling Somalian terror group, barely three years old, had become the new face of Islamic resistance in Africa and was actively recruiting foreign fighters to help it overthrow the US-backed government in Somalia.

Investigators were monitoring the Lebanese man's calls after he came to their attention late last year for espousing extremist views at his local mosque in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

What unfolded over the next few months would confirm the worst fears of the nation's counter-terrorism chiefs and provide a grim reminder that Australians remain vulnerable to the threat posed by a handful of Islamic extremists, living in our suburbs, who are seduced by the dark side.

Australia's security agencies had suspected for several years there were illegal links between small pockets of the nation's 16,000-strong Somali community and the extremists in their war-torn homeland.

But the AFP and ASIO had never been able to prove the links, and an AFP investigation called Operation Rochester in 2007 petered out after no illegal connections were identified.

How a "solar suitcase" is saving women's lives in Nigeria

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:29:21 -0700

Adele Waugaman | June 2 | Reuters

When obstetrician Laura Stachel arrived in rural Nigeria to collect data about maternal care, she was shocked to discover that women were dying in childbirth because clinics had no reliable power supply.

After taking a course on solar electricity, she created what she calls the "solar suitcase" - which is now proving a life-saver in one of the hospitals she visited.

Laura's "solar suitcase", a kit of solar panels and rechargeable batteries, can light operating and delivery rooms, run a blood bank refrigerator and power two-way radios so that staff can call in off-duty doctors for emergency surgery.

WE CARE Solar

€400bn energy plan to harness African sun

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:08:29 -0700

Tony Paterson | Berlin | July 12

The Independent -

It's decision day on a chain of solar generators across the desert that could supply a quarter of Europe's power

Concentrating solar thermal plants use an array of mirrors to capture and focus sunlight, which can then heat water and power turbines

The world's most ambitious green energy project is about to take shape. It is a plan for a chain of mammoth sun-powered energy plants in the deserts of North Africa to supply power to Europe's homes and factories by the end of the next decade.

In a few days' time a consortium of 20 German firms will meet in Munich to hammer out plans for funding the giant €400bn (£343bn) project, named Desertec. The scheme is being backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and several German industry household names including Siemens, Deutsche Bank, and the energy companies RWE and E.ON. The Munich meeting will also involve Italian and Spanish energy concerns, as well as representatives from the Arab League and the Club of Rome think-tank.

Obama-fever in Africa - will he cry for victims of slavery?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:37:52 -0700

Eva Krafczyk | Nairobi/Accra | July 9

DPA - Technically, it is only a short two-day visit, following the G8 summit. But across the continent of Africa, the arrival of US President Barack Obama will be a home-coming of epic proportions.

The trip to Ghana will be Obama's first trip to the continent of his Kenyan-born father as president.

Obama will arrive in Accra, and the decision to come to Ghana is widely regarded to be symbolic.

The former British colony was the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence in 1957. Centuries before it had been one of the main centres of the slave trade.

During their trip to the Cape Coast Barack and Michelle Obama will visit one of the slave forts where tens of thousands spent their last days in Africa before being forced onto the slaveships.

'Will he cry?' African bloggers are wondering about the emotional impact on the US president at this significant place for the victims and descendants of slavery. His wife is the direct descendent of slaves. Others wonder if he will comment on the compensation claims for the descendants of slaves.

The decision to visit Ghana is also seen as a nod towards one of the more stable democracies in Africa, a country with peaceful shifts of power and without the 'big man syndrome' found in so many countries of the continent, where long-ruling presidents cling to power by any means necessary.

Ghana is widely regarded as a country that takes political and economic reforms seriously, fighting both corruption and nepotism. And the fact that Obama has skipped Kenya, the home of his late father, is regarded as a sign of US dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reforms in that East African country.

'The president and Mrs Obama look forward to strengthening the US relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and to highlighting the critical role that sound governance and civil society play in promoting lasting development,' the White House said in a statement ahead of the visit.

The return of blood diamonds

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:16:49 -0700

Daniel Howden | June 25

The Independent - Six years ago, the world came together to stop a trade in gems that was fuelling civil war in Africa. Now the architect of the deal has quit, warning that jewels 'have blood all over them' again

The leading architect of the international system to stop the trade in blood diamonds has warned that the safety net is close to collapse with governments and the industry failing to act against gross violations.

Ian Smillie, the "grandfather" of the landmark Kimberley Process, that was agreed in response to appalling civil wars in Africa fuelled by illegal gems, said he had "stomped out" on his scheme as it was no longer working.

"It isn't regulating the rough diamond trade," the Canadian expert said yesterday. "It is in danger of becoming irrelevant and it's letting all manner of crooks off the hook."

The Kimberley safeguards came into effect in 2003 and helped restore consumer confidence in precious stones. Today they regulate 99.98 per cent of the rough diamond trade, but if the process loses credibility, experts say criminals will re-enter the trade with conflict diamonds quickly reappearing in shops in London, Paris and New York.

Mr Smillie was one of the authors of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), the UN-backed agreement credited with breaking the link between the diamond trade and vicious conflicts, mainly in southern and western Africa. His comments came as the 49 members of the Kimberley Process – made up of governments, industry and civil society – met in Namibia with a growing list of concerns.

Top of those is Zimbabwe, where hundreds of diamond miners were massacred by the army as the government effectively militarised a key mining area late last year. Some in the industry have questioned whether Zimbabwe's gems match the definition of conflict diamonds as they are helping to fund a government, not a rebel army, but Mr Smillie rejected this: "They are blood diamonds, they have blood all over them."

Zimbabwe is not alone and a host of other cracks have emerged in the system of safeguards meant to "ensure that diamond purchases were not funding violence". Monitors have pointed to the illegal trade flourishing in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Venezuela and Lebanon.

One-hundred percent of Venezuela's diamonds are being smuggled, according to the UK-based Global Witness; Guinea has reported an unfeasible 500 per cent increase in diamond production year on year; and Lebanon is exporting more rough diamonds than it imports despite having no local deposits. None of those countries have been suspended from the process and while inspection teams have been dispatched and reports commissioned, no action has been taken.

"The Kimberley Process is always the last to wake up and smell the coffee," Mr Smillie complained. It was claimed that he had "retired" from his role as one of the group's chief monitors earlier this year but the Canadian dismissed this report, saying he had "stomped out". "If it was working I would be there in Windhoek arguing with them or celebrating with them... but governments want to pretend that it is working." He said the mantra of KPCS has become "let's not do anything now" and accused them of "fiddling while Rome burns".

The KPCS is under strong pressure to act against Zimbabwe. "Hundreds of miners have been killed by their own government," said Annie Dunnebacke, lead campaigner from Global Witness. "How can that country still be part of the Kimberley Process? What's the point of having a stick if the stick is never used? Zimbabwe should be suspended."

The Namibia meeting which ends today has agreed to send an inspection team to the troubled southern African nation next week but it's unlikely they will be given serious access to the Marange area where the killings occurred. Inspectors have privately admitted that people they want to interview have been arrested or intimidated already.

Qaeda seeks war, not refuge, in Yemen/Somalia

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:19:32 -0700

William Maclean | London | June 19

Reuters - Under pressure in his Pakistan enclaves, Osama bin Laden is facing a familiar quandary: Where to go next? The answer is unlikely to be Yemen or Somalia, despite their new prominence as regional al Qaeda sanctuaries.

U.S. drone attacks and a looming Pakistan army offensive against one of al Qaeda's main allies in a northwestern tribal area have stirred speculation that bin Laden's men are seeking a less risky refuge for their anti-Western campaign.

But simply leaving Pakistan's remote Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) could expose the world's most wanted man and his entourage of planners and bodyguards to satellite detection and the curious gaze of a local population of uncertain loyalty.

AFRICA: What will we eat in the future?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:58:19 -0700

Johannesburg | June 17

IRIN - It will take at least ten years to develop a variety of staple grain that will survive in the climates caused by global warming in most parts of Africa, and the continent has less than two decades in which to do it, warn the authors of a new study.

"The countries have to start developing varieties now, but many of these countries don't have breeding programmes," said Luigi Guarino, one of three authors of a study to be published on 19 June in the US journal, Global Environmental Change. "This study, we hope, at least raises the flag."

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international scientific body, has predicted that food production in Africa could halve by 2020 as global warming pushes temperatures up and droughts become more intense.

The new study by researchers at Stanford University's Program on Food Security and the Environment, in the US, and the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust, noted that "For a majority of Africa's farmers, warming will rapidly take climate not only beyond the range of their personal experience, but also beyond the experience of farmers within their own country."

_{Previously posted articles:

** Africa: The Second Scramble for Africa Starts

** Researchers urge rules to stop 'land-grabbing' worsening hunger

** Foreign land grabs for food could fuel unrest

** China's new export: farmers

** Financial crisis may worsen food crunch it eclipsed

** Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply}