New African articles from June 2008

New African archives from June 2008

Bravo New African.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... Your April cover story, "Fidel Castro: Africa's Great Friend", was one of the best editions I have ever read. I was so happy that you managed to dedicate space to this great son of the Cuban people. Your story reminded me of the many good...

Voice of the voiceless.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... I write to congratulate you on your extensive piece on Cuba's Fidel Castro (NA April). I must say that your article enriched the little knowledge I had on Castro and the good people of Cuba. I am now more educated on Cuba, all because of your...

Shouldn't Angola reimburse the Cubans?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... It was refreshing to come across your April issue. The contents certainly did not disappoint: no starving picanninies (black children) being restored to health and vigour by solicitous aid workers, no shamelessly grinning Nigerian email...

Writing African history.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... Having read with interest Carina Ray's "Racial Politics of writing African History" (NA May), I feel compelled to pen a few lines in response. I think she should read the works of scholars such as George G. M. James and Ben Jochannan with just...

Stella in the firing line.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... I have been an avid reader of New African for many years and find your articles insightful. However, as a white African, every time I read Stella Orakwue's articles I have to take a moment to convince myself that the vast majority of black...

Biased about China.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... I was puzzled by your biased analysis of China's role in Africa (NA March). It is undisputable that Beijing's presence in Africa has brought some economic and political development, but this has come at a cost to the continent. The...

The heart of the matter.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... I cannot help but shed tears when I think about the state of affairs in southern Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular. I am privileged to have travelled to that part of the world and see for myself the situation the people have to live in. In the...

What has Tsvangirai got to offer?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2008... The political situation in Zimbabwe after the March elections has raised many questions which need to be answered by Tsvangirai's MDC-T party. For example, what will an MDC government do about the land issue, knowing very well that he who...

Reporting Africa: how many times, as an African, have you watched a Western TV report about your country, shaken your head in disgust and exclaimed: "But my country is definitely more than that, it's not just slums!
June 1, 2008... Why can't they show the positive side as well?" How many times have you had the same feeling after reading about your country in a Western newspaper or magazine? Well, there are many reasons explaining why the Western media chose to report...

Beware the propaganda: the Western media serves as the propaganda arm of their governments. If you think this is not true, compare the number of services the BBC used to run when the Cold War was at its height, to the number of services it currently runs now that the Cold War has been "won" by the West, argues Cameron Duodu, one of Africa's veteran journalists.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 1968, I was in New York City staying with friends when I found I couldn't sleep because my body clock had not adjusted to the time-change between Ghana and the USA. So I got up and went downstairs. To my surprise,...

Whose reality are we living in? Sir Tony O'Reilly, the baron of independent news and media, once profoundly said: "Media is language and the location is basically indifferent." So, what is the reality of the media's language today? Or rather whose reality are we living in? Khadija Sharife finds out.(Reporting Africa)
June 1, 2008... Nothing has served as a greater conduit of colonising identities than the media which deconstruct and extinguish the narrative of the colonised through lack of accurate presentation. Several weeks ago, I finally got around to reading the famed...

Who will define Africa? The time has come that we, as Africans, take responsibility for how our continent is portrayed, writes Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa.
June 1, 2008... Everyday the African and global media publish articles about Africa, based on events that have taken place on our continent. In time, these stories begin to define who and what we are. In due course, as we come to believe the resultant image of...

'Bad reporting on fertile soil'.(Reporting Africa)(Viewpoint essay)
June 1, 2008... Despite all the assets and communications of the modern world, Africans and Europeans do not interact enough, understand each other enough, and in the case of the latter they still do not empathise enough to "feel" that what happens in Africa...

Kenya spare us the agony and bias: Kenya's post-election troubles have taught the people why their media should not imitate the "yellow journalism" of the West, reports.
June 1, 2008... "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." These words by one of America's pioneer newspaper moguls, Randolph Hearst, have remained iconic to this day, more than a century since he wrote them. The words went on to inspire the great...

The Zimbabwe treatment: the negative reporting of Zimbabwe reached a frightening crescendo after the 29 March elections. Nothing could have prepared anyone for the almost feral nature of the onslaught. Mabasa Sasa reports from Harare.(Reporting Africa)
June 1, 2008... Malcolm X once remarked that "if you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing". To a great extent, it seems as if this is the tragedy that...

And now ... positive Africa: as explored in the preceding pages, the endemic Western media stereotyping of Africa has reinforced and crystallised an image of the continent so pervasive and profound that Westerners just believe Africa has intractable problems. In concluding this special extended cover story, our deputy editor, Regina Jere-Malanda, points to where the Western media fails to look-positive Africa.
June 1, 2008... In the words of Vaclav Havel, the playwright and former president of the Czech Republic, the media not only has a great deal of accountability for humanity's common fate, it also "carries great responsibility for what we come to know and what...

At the crossroads.(Cameroon)
June 1, 2008... In two years time, Cameroon will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence. Those with long memories will recall that Cameroon became a nation in January 1960 amid a great deal of uncertainty--under new leadership in the capital...

The case for the opposition: the fallouts from last year's elections in Nigeria still rumble on, keeping busy both the election tribunals and candidates in disputed governorship polls. Lindsay Barrett has been following three such cases and their impact on democracy itself in the country.(Nigeria)(Report)
June 1, 2008... The consistency with which Nigeria's election tribunals and appeal courts have used the rule of law to call the political class to order has been hailed as a positive sign for the growth of democracy in the country, even though some of the...

Sir, listen up! leaders can be better communicators turning the art of verbal exchange into an awesome weapon of influence if they can do one more thing: listen well. A lot of leaders are bad listeners; because they listen with bias, impatience, inattention and a closed mind.(Nuggets in a Nutshell)
June 1, 2008... Cutting-edge communication drives the wheel of leadership. The business of leading thrives on words. Leaders have to talk or write to people and receive their responses to get things done. Leadership "talk" isn't just a talk in which words are...

The changing face of globalisation: despite its detractors condemning it as yet another costly international conference of speeches that has little relevance to the general public, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) held in Ghana scored some notable successes. Stephen Williams was there and he reports on what was on the agenda for Africa.(Unctad)(Conference notes)
June 1, 2008... When heads of state and government ministers from Unctad's 193 member countries met in Accra in April, it was hailed as the first major UN summit to be hosted in West Africa. Dubbed Unctad XII, the conference's agenda was to focus on the...

Presidential tie-breaker awaits: the much-awaited run-off in Zimbabwe's presidential election has been fixed for Friday 27 June. It is now Mugabe vs Tsvangirai in a straight fight for the crown. Mabasa Sasa reports from Harare.(Zimbabwe)(Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe)
June 1, 2008... Zimbabweans will return to the polls in late June to elect a president in a run-off after none of the four presidential candidates in the 29 March poll received the mandatory 51% in the first round. Official results released after a five-week...

At the threshold of a renaissance: Ethiopia celebrates its third millennium against a backdrop of a rejuvenated economy, with an average growth rate of 11.9% in the last five successive years. All indicators show that the country, with a proud history going back 3,000 years, is on the cusp of a profound economic and social transformation.(ETHIOPIA)(Country overview)
June 1, 2008... Ethiopia entered its third millennium on its New Year's Day, 1 Meskerem 2000 (or 12 September 2007 in the Gregorian calendar). Ethiopia's calendar year begins in September, comprising of 12 months of 30 days and one additional month of five or...

Britain should give credit where credit is due: over 374,000 Africans fought (and died) for the British Empire in the Second World War. One of them even rose to the rank of a major--Major Seth Anthony who helped the British by teaching them about jungle warfare. But have you ever heard of Major Seth Anthony? Even a high military medal recommended for him never materialised. Why?(Under the Neem Tree)
June 1, 2008... Sunday 11 November 2007 was "Remembrance Day". And if you want to see the British at their best, you should have seen them parade in London: men and women, many quite old, a few sitting in wheel chairs and others dragging along frail limbs,...

Tanzania riding high: Tanzania is not only a land of spectacular beauty, the resilience of the economy and the people is remarkable. Regina Jere-Malanda has been looking at how the government is building on its ambitious development vision aimed at turning Tanzania into a middle income country by 2025.(Tanzania)
June 1, 2008... When the Tanzanian government launched its national development programme called Vision 2025 in 1997, critics slammed it as offering nothing new from what was covered in the 1967 Arusha Declaration by founding President Julius Nyerere, in which...

Celtel in pole position: Celtel-Tanzania's managing director, Michael Foley, (below) tells New African how his company is positioning itself in the country in order to increase its market share. Here are excerpts.(Celtel Telecom)(Interview)
June 1, 2008... Q: What challenges are there in investing in Tanzania's growing telecom market? A: Tanzania is a fantastic place to do business. We have a fantastic relationship with the state. The government is pro-investment; it is seeking to develop...

I'm Jamaican; you're 'African': why do some Jamaicans not consider themselves African? Why is it that, for them, "Africa" and "African" are pejorative terms, terms of abuse?(Not in Black or White)
June 1, 2008... By my calculations, they are probably one of the oldest immigrant groups in Europe: the Jamaicans of England. Probably the oldest mass group of black people who have settled in Europe. It is 60 years this month since the lauded (by some) Empire...

High oil price brings good tidings, but ... the economic growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase to 6.5% this year. The major catalyst for this African revival is the surge in oil prices, precipitated by China and India's insatiable appetite for the commodity. But can this positive momentum be sustained over the longer term? Emanuel Misghinna finds out.(Oil and Gas)
June 1, 2008... After reaching 4% in the 1970s, sub-Saharan GDP growth rates fell to around 2% in the 1980s and 1990s. Underlying these statistics were low investment and weak productivity growth rates. However, since early 2000, African growth has bounced...

Afrika Afrika pure genius: Kate Elsheby went to see Afrika Afrika at London's 02 Arena and reports on the dazzling African circus phenomenon that is mesmerising Europe and beyond.(The Arts Dance)(Dance review)
June 1, 2008... Gravity-defying human totem poles thrust high up into the tent; dressed in animal skins, swirls of raffia on their feet and defiantly painted faces, they hitch together to form lofty pyramid structures, balancing confidently one on top of the...

No entry into the promised land: the plight of African refugees condemned to squalid and substandard existence in Israel is making steady headlines internationally. New African sent Akin Ajayi to Tel Aviv to check the situation on the ground.(Diaspora Immigration)
June 1, 2008... As dusk settles on Tel Aviv, commuters stream out of the cavernous Central Bus Station, hurrying home from work. Few pay any attention to the gethering of people in the small park running alongside the main thoroughfare. It is a group of around...

Britain skin colour still matters: racism in Britain is now disguised in language such as diversity, immigration and citizenship, and is thus far more sophisticated, subtle and slippery in identifying. But as Ama Biney finds out, the colour of one's skin still very much matters in Britain today.(Immigration Diaspora)
June 1, 2008... Britain is a place where there is still a reluctance to talk candidly about racism and racial discrimination in mainstream society. In the last five years, the issue of racism has become a latent one, lurking behind media discussions and TV...

Holland blame everything bad on immigrants: Femi Akomolafe reports from Amsterdam on a favourite Dutch pastime--blaming everything bad on immigrants. And a new kid on the block is one Geert Wilders, an MP, who is simply beyond irony.(Immigration Diaspora)
June 1, 2008... Every now and then, an irascible politician appears on the Dutch political scene whose primary goal in life is to vent Dutch anger and racism against the minorities of the low country. A few years ago, we had Jan Blok who believed that black...