New African articles from April 2008

New African archives from April 2008

Secret societies--the way forward.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I was seriously touched by your cover story "Secret Societies: The way forward for Africa" (NA, Feb). Your piece took a good look at the secret societies that have played significant roles in the development of America, Europe and other parts...

We don't need secret societies.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Your February issue cover story suggests that secret societies are "the way forward for Africa." Baffour Ankomah, the magazine's editor, in a wide-ranging peace, then proceeds to argue that it is about time Africa joined in the fest. In...

Secret societies: Round Table response.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Further to your article on "Secret Socities", I would like to point out that the Round Table is not "defunct", as you suggested, but alive and well and will be celebrating its centenary in 2010. It was founded in 1910 and not 1891 [as the...

Elaborate on secret societies.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I refer to your February cover story, "Secret societies" As an African, I share your sentimental wish for the development and success of this continent and I must applaud you for bringing out the positive side of the secret societies ruling the...

All we need is patriotism.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Baffour Ankomah's admonishment that if Africa engages in secret societies things will be better is fundamentally flawed. Secret societies exist in Africa, especially those left behind by the colonial powers. Why operate in secret if your...

Bush in Africa.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... The world media were flooded with George and Laura Bush bestowing mosquito nets on hundreds of ecstatic, jubilant, dancing Africans. History repeating itself? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Great white fathers...

Thank you for Zimbabwe report.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I write to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone dedicated to seeking and reporting the truth at your magazine. This is in particular reference to the Zimbabwe special issue (Winter 2007/08 for the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon) which traced...

Fantastic read.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I am a reader from Kenya who has to travel about 10km to the library to get a chance to read your wonderful, wonderful magazine. You guys are great with a capital G (if there was a Kikuyu word for it, I would use it!). I can't believe that...

China, why the west is worried?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I only came across New African for the first time recently. I enjoyed and shared your thinking on the cover story "China-Africa, Why the West is Worried" (NA, March). To me, two lines stand out: (1) "In economy as in state relations, there...

Correction.(Correction notice)
April 1, 2008... Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter, has sent us the following letter: "PRM-46 published in the article 'Divide and Rule' in the February 2008 issue of New African is a complete forgery....

Explain that to us, Mr Brown!(Baffour's Beefs)(Gordon Brown)
April 1, 2008... "There is something so terrible in watching a black man trying at all points to be the dark ghost of a European"--Ayi Kwei Armah in his 1968 book, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. It was the Mexican-American comedian, Paul...

Castro of Africa: ... his life and work are a challenge to the continent.
April 1, 2008... In the 1970s and 80s, Fidel Castro sent 350,000 Cuban soldiers, civilians and doctors to support the African liberation struggle, especially in Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome & Principe. The Cuban effort...

'This is not my farewell to you'.
April 1, 2008... "My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to contribute experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era in which I lived... Therefore, it would be a...

Fidel Castro, the verdict ... How the west reacted to his resignation: it was amazing watching Western media reaction to the news of Fidel Castro's resignation. They were as fascinating on the big TV networks as they were in the British newspapers. Baffour Ankomah has been going over some of them.
April 1, 2008... Fidel Castro (born Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz on 13 August 1926) says his enemies think of him as "the great devil". And that was exactly what happened on 19 February when the news broke that he was stepping down as president of Cuba after 49...

Thank you Cuba.(Namibia's president Sam Nujoma's interview)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... "Without your support, we, in Namibia, would probably still be struggling to attain our freedom and independence, from under the yoke of the apartheid regime," says Namibia's founding president, Sam Nujoma, in this exclusive interview with New...

Castro, a personal tribute.(Fidel Castro)
April 1, 2008... I am a product of the Cuban Revolution. Namibians are eternally indebted to Cuba for being a caring nation with firm principles and a true friend of Namibia. Cubans shed their precious blood for Namibia's freedom and independence. Those of us...

Dear leader, share the burden: successful leaders aren't soloists. All great leaders I know are good team players. For, no leader can do the job of leading alone and yet steer his organisation onto the shores of growth and wealth.(Nuggets in a Nutshell)
April 1, 2008... I admit that you may manage to bring a positive shaping to your organisation and even notch up some fickle strings of success though you hold and practise a monopolistic view of leadership. But it's certain you can't birth a flourishing...

South Africa: echoes of apartheid; It is supposed to be the New South Africa, the "rainbow nation". But the colours of the rainbow still have racism written all over them and while apartheid has been legally done away with, its hangover is everywhere. Pusch Commey reports from Johannesburg.(Feature)(Viewpoint essay)
April 1, 2008... The myth of South Africa as "the rainbow nation" came face to face with reality in March this year. A sickening video depicting the degradation of elderly blacks by a group of young white students was leaked to the world. [ILLUSTRATION...

South Africa: sorry, no white journalists allowed; Were racial sensibilities responsible for black journalists barring white journalists from the re-launch ceremony of their association?, asks Simphiwe Sesanti, reporting from Johannesburg.(Feature)
April 1, 2008... The notion that black journalists in South Africa can only organise, assemble and associate when their white counterparts are present, smacks of "paternalistic arrogance" and undermines their ability to determine their redress options on the...

Ghana: 'we want oil to be a blessing for all'; Ghana will join the club of global oil producers in either late 2009 or early 2010 when production starts in the Tano Basin of the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of the Western Region where "significant" oil deposits were discovered last year, reports Tom Mbakwe.(Feature)
April 1, 2008... Collins Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, a member of the board of directors of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) who doubles as the chairman of the finance committee of the ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP), has told New African that...

Zambia: Chiluba's tribulations.(Feature)(Frederick Chiluba)
April 1, 2008... According to state prosecutors, the former Zambian president, Frederick Chiluba, has a case to answer over his use of state coffers during the 10 years he was in power. Chiluba denies the charge and rather points accusing fingers at the former...

Somaliland: no recognition yet; After 17 years of relentlessly pursuing international recognition, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland does not seem to be in much luck as it prepares for presidential elections in August this year. As Farhiya Ali Ahmed reports, recent bids for recognition have brought no hope either.(Feature)
April 1, 2008... The self-declared Republic of Somaliland, which lies to the northwestern corner of Somalia, broke away from the rest of the country in 1991 when the country descended into a civil war after the fall of the then president Mohammed Siad Barre....

Need for African languages on the internet: the glaring absence of African languages in cyberspace is of crucial concern, and as Bamuturaki Musinguzi reports, if Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is to help promote development in Africa, indigenous languages should be vital ingredients.(Feature)
April 1, 2008... Many ICT experts acknowledge that linguistic and cultural diversity are realities of development and, therefore, ensuring that internet content and user interfaces are available in African languages, and adapted to cultural preferences and...

Mali: the wonders of Dogon astronomy.(Feature)
April 1, 2008... The intriguing knowledge of astronomy by the Dogon people of Mali was first brought to the attention of the Western world in 1977 by Robert Temple, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain, in his book The Sirius Mystery. But...

Do some blacks have a problem with Obama? Those blacks who still cling to the notion that they should stand in the way of a historic decision by America to elect a black president after 222 years, will be relegated to the rubbish heap of history, and will eminently deserve to be there.(Under the Neem Tree)
April 1, 2008... Despite the fact that Senator Barack Obama has built a following among all races and genders--especially among the young people of America who are so dedicated to him that he is being likened to a "cult leader"--would you believe that some...

Yar'Adua's new order: when he was elected last April, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was seen by many as an Obasanjo recruit. One year on, the quiet man has proved everybody wrong by establishing a new order all of his own. He has even trimmed Obasanjo's influence over the ruling party. Lindsay Barrett reports.(Nigeria Special)
April 1, 2008... In late February, the Presidential Elections Tribunal strengthened the hand of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua when it threw out a case brought by the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, and General Muhammadu Buhari, challenging last year's...

Nigerian banks spread their wings: thanks to far-reaching reforms introduced in 2004 by a far-sighted central bank governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, the Nigerian banking sector is today one of the most vibrant in Africa and beyond. Lindsay Barett reports on a sector in full flight.(Nigeria Special)
April 1, 2008... The banking sector is one element of the national economic profile that has begun to reverse the popular impression that Nigeria is an unsafe place to do business and that Nigerians are generally untrustworthy. In early 2004, the central bank...

Nigeria's economy is still buoyant: the performance of Nigeria's economy is always under intense scrutiny, both within and outside the country. But despite the ups and downs, the economy remains vibrant. Lindsay Barret reports.(Nigeria Special)
April 1, 2008... The distribution of financial resources from the coffers of the federal government is still the key source of recorded internal revenue in Nigeria. Government contracts continue to be the major driving force of the construction and other...

Dangote Group.(Corporate statement)(Company overview)
April 1, 2008... If there is any Nigerian organisation that can lay claim to "providing your basic needs", then it has to be the Dangote Group, a company that has consistently remained a market leader. The Group has over the last three decades enjoyed...

Mixed signals from the Niger Delta: insurgency and criminal activity continue in parts of the Niger Delta, but the new generation leaders in the region are doing their best to encourage peace and progress, and their efforts are likely to bear fruit sooner than expected, reports Lindsay Barrett from Port Harcourt.(Nigeria Special)
April 1, 2008... When the Nigerian government sent David Brigidi, a former student activist and one-time senator, to speak directly with insurgent groups in the Niger Delta late last year, it was seen as a hopeful move. Brigidi was asked to tell them to give...

Darfur and the crisis of governance in Sudan: at the end of February, leading Sudanese scholars, activists and civil society members convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a major conference on Darfur. The event provided a unique platform for Sudanese voices to be heard and reckoned with.(Lest We Forget)
April 1, 2008... The deep extent to which Sudanese, both in Sudan and abroad, have been and continue to be engaged in what is happening in their country, was brought into sharp focus during an international conference: "Darfur and the crisis of governance in...

Tanzania's pure and beautiful hideaways.(Travelogue)
April 1, 2008... "The scene is paradisal; secluded beaches; there is nothing but bright sunlight, a small gathering of thatched roof houses, and the expanse of lake stretching before us; I am in awe." Kate Elsheby reminiscences at the mesmerising, yet little...

Football without spectators? In another 10 years time, the African Nations Cup tournament will be unrecognisable! Europe watch out. Those of you who have not seen it developing--regret it now, because in 10 years time your support for African football will be like supporting Manchester United after their treble.(Not in Black or White)
April 1, 2008... Some thoughts on football and this business called African football. As you all know, the African Cup of Nations was recently held in Ghana, and I am going to write like someone who watched it in Europe without the benefit of internet access or...

Britain: the rise and rise of black business.(Diaspora)
April 1, 2008... Black-owned businesses are a rising economic force in London. Reports by the UK Business & Enterprise department and Barclays Bank, as well as research by the London Development Agency, shows that the majority of new businesses are now started...

Exactly 40 years ago ... This month is exactly 40 years since the British Conservative MP, Enoch Powell, fearing a big black presence in the UK, gave his "rivers of blood" speech. It is also 40 years exactly since the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King in the USA. How has the world changed since then? Clayton Goodwin takes us down memory lane.(Diaspora)
April 1, 2008... Whatever their fear, hope and exhortation, the three prominent politicians who made the above predictions 40 years ago, realised only too well that in April 1968 the Western world had reached a crossroads in race and national identity. Today,...

Africa calling.(Diaspora)
April 1, 2008... Centuries ago Africa was forced to dispel its children to what is now the Caribbean. But some daughters of the soil are returning to find welcoming arms and their place in the sun. Five Caribbean women talk to Lisa-Anne Julien about making...