New African articles from March 2003

New African archives from March 2003

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Is Mugabe right? I was interested to read the article in your magazine saying that Mugabe was right. I understand that the author wrote this after a personal visit to Zimbabwe and that he has some knowledge of the situation first hand....

We must stop them! (Baffour's Beefs).
March 1, 2003... "If we were truly realistic... we would not permit any foreign power with which we are not firmly allied, and in which we do not have absolute confidence, to make or possess nuclear weapons"--the American general, Leslie Groves, head of the...

African Footballer of the Year 2002: El Hadji Diouf, the Senegalese playing for Liverpool, is likely to retain the title he won last year. But watch out for surprises. (The Gallery).
March 1, 2003... On 1 April, Africa will finally know who has won the "African Footballer of the Year Award" for 2002. The three-man shortlist has been known since the end of December, but the actual winner will be kept secret until announced at the...

Iraq: Courageous Mandela speaks for the world! (For the Record).(Nelson Mandela)
March 1, 2003... On Thursday 28 January, former President Nelson Mandela talked for billions of people around the world when he strongly criticised US and British policy toward Iraq in a speech delivered to the International Women's Forum meeting in Sandton,...

Mrs Kinnock writes to New African. (Right of Reply).
March 1, 2003... The co-president of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the British MEP Mrs Glenys Kinnock, wife of the former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, takes issue with our January story on the ACP-EU wrangle over two Zimbabwean ministers. ...

Francois responds; Francois Misser: "Mrs Kinnock does not comment on the fact that the EU Council Common Position concerning the travel ban, provides an exemption". (Right of Reply).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... I am glad to note that Mrs Kinnock whose anti-Mugabe campaign is common knowledge, says that she did not lobby the European Parliament to ban the Zimbabwean delegates from attending the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) meeting, and...

The generals' election. (Cover Story: Nigeria).(Cover Story)
March 1, 2003... On 19 April, Nigeria will go to the polls to chose a president from a parade of retired generals. Leading the pack is the incumbent, President (General) Olusegun Obasanjo. His major challenger is Major-General Muhammadu Buhari. Who will win?...

"The system will correct itself". (Cover Story: Nigeria).(Cover Story)
March 1, 2003... Anyim Pius Anyim, the president of Nigeria's Senate, (pictured in the red cap) spoke to our correspondent, Pini Jason, on the troubles between parliament and the presidency. Pini: What has it been like, after a prolonged military rule, to...

Why 'soldier go, soldier come': Osasu Obayiuwana on why "militics"--instead of politics--has become the order of the day in Nigeria. (Cover Story: Nigeria).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... An enduring -- and very frightening -- consequence of the Nigerian military's 29-year involvement in national politics is the undue influence they will wield in the 19 April elections. With four retired generals (including President Obasanjo...

Africa's relations with the West. (Lest we Forget).
March 1, 2003... The first joint summit to be held by the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) is scheduled to take place in Lisbon on 3 April (see NA Sept 2002). It is now in jeopardy because of politics over Zimbabwe. The Greek foreign minister,...

"This is an economic war": Pascal D. Kokora, Cote d'Ivoire's ambassador in Washington, blames France for his country's recent woes. (Around Africa: Cote d'Ivoire).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Once considered West Africa's most prosperous nation -- "a paradise by the sea that drew investors and tourists by the thousands," in the words of Ambassador Pascal D. Kokora -- Cote d'Ivoire is now being torn apart by a civil war that has...

MDC supporters abandon leader in treason trial. (Around Africa: Zimbabwe).(Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The treason trial of opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, and two of his top men opened in Harare on 3 February, but where are the MDC supporters? The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, party secretary general...

The rand's amazing run: South Africa's currency is back where it belongs. (Around Africa: South Africa).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... In what has been described as the great comeback, the South African currency, the rand, has fought its way out of the trenches of decline and has given credence to the soundness of the government's economic policies. In a gritty performance,...

Uprooting the natives: The government's relocation of the natives of the Central Kalahari Desert has run into all sorts of problems with Survival International. (Around Africa: Botswana).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... It is not quite a battle royal, but the fight between Survival International, the London-based NGO that supports threatened tribal peoples worldwide, is giving the Bostwana government a lot of sleepless nights. The exchanges have become so...

The presidential challenger: Faustin Twagiramungu has announced his intention to run for president in the July polls. President Kagame now has a worthy challenger. (Around Africa: Rwanda).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The road to democratisation in Rwanda is strewn with two major handicaps: the lack of press freedom and a spate of intimidation from the ruling Tutsidominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which brands its Hutu critics as "genocidaires". Like...

Battle for the beaches: The "smiling coast" of African tourism is riding itself of the "bad boys" image. (Around Africa: The Gambia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The Gambian tourism industry has been labelled "the back bone of the country's economy". But now a phenomenon known as "the Beach Boys" syndrome is threatening this pivotal sector and the country's image as the "smiling coast" destination for...

America, EU and food aid to Africa: The Americans want Zambia sanctioned for rejecting US-supplied GM food aid. But the EU is not too interested. (Around Africa: Zambia).(genetically modified foods)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Tony Hall, the US ambassador to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), takes no prisoners, judging by his recent furious attack in Brussels on the Zambian president, Levy Mwanawasa. Addressing a press conference in the Belgian capital on...

It wasn't 'Hall' but 'Hell' (2). (Under the Neem Tree).
March 1, 2003... Hall was getting too hot for some of the Standard Seven boys. Ahyia was one. He suddenly disappeared. Did he have three days of splendid bliss underwater with the beautiful river goddess or just purchased The Sixth and Seventh Books of...

Land ownership at crisis point. (Feature: South Africa).
March 1, 2003... Events in Zimbabwe have put land reform at centre stage in Southern Africa, particularly in South Africa and Namibia. Already land occupations are taking place all over South Africa, and there are indications that they will accelerate this...

Is there an Asante hegemony? (Feature: Ghana).
March 1, 2003... The Asantehene is Ghana's most powerful king. Since January 2000, the president of the country has, for the first time, also been an Asante. Sarah Simpson reports from Accra on the problems of a perceived Asante hegemony. President John...

How the Germans got the land. (Feature: Namibia).
March 1, 2003... Land forever a hot issue in Southern Africa has become even hotter. In this instalment of The Blue Book on Namibia (which was published by the British government in 1918 but destroyed in 1926 because Berlin complained that it was a "great...

The Chinese came before the Europeans. (Feature: Africa).
March 1, 2003... In what has given the lie to the concept of a European "discovery" of Africa, an ancient Chinese map of Africa dating back to 1389 was unveiled in the South African parliament recently. The Da Ming Hun Yi Tu (Amalgamated Map of the Great Ming...

Oil puts Africa on the map. (Spotlight: Oil & Gas).
March 1, 2003... Geopolitical and strategic considerations have moved the African oil and gas sector up the agenda as the US government seeks to reduce its dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf. As a result, attention has increasingly turned recently to the...

The Chad-Cameroon pipeline. (Spotlight: Oil & Gas).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Production from the known one billion barrel reserves is expected to peak at around 250,000 b/d before declining to under 100,000 b/d within a decade. However, oil companies will have an added incentive to explore for new fields once the...

Expansion of the big guns. (Spotlight: Oil & Gas).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Algeria is seeking to develop its plentiful gas reserves in order to make the most of the European Union's (EU) liberalising gas and power markets. And both Nigeria and Angola are expected to double crude oil production within a decade, partly...

Up and coming producers. (Spotlight: Oil & Gas).
March 1, 2003... Central Africa has three countries that are still among the continent's biggest producers, but which are faced with static or falling output. Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville both have output of around 300,000 b/d but both are mature producers in...

More than just hot air. (Spotlight: Oil & Gas).
March 1, 2003... In Africa, Algeria has more of a track record of investing in its gas sector and is now able to make the most of European Union markets for both piped gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. In West Africa, several factors are driving the...

Carving up the cake. (Spotlight: Oil & Gas).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Only seven out of the 33 probable maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Guinea have yet been delimited, so oil companies are loathe to invest in areas which have undetermined sovereignty. However, since President Obasanjo came to power in Nigeria,...

The great betrayal. (Not in Black or White).
March 1, 2003... I don't feel betrayed because Colin Powell has become a hawk. I feel betrayed because a logical, rational, persuasive, sane man has not got a case for war against Iraq, must know he hasn't got a case, and is trying to make us believe he has....

Chavez and the black cause. (Diaspora: Venezuela).(Hugo Chavez)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Venezuela's African-descended people are standing by the man who has given them such hope despite the recent problems. "There's an incredible racism in this society," President Hugo Chavez says. "They call me the monkey or the black, they...

Health vision: "this offer from Pfizer could not have come at a better time. It will not only alleviate suffering, but also transfer much-needed skills to our health professionals". (Diaspora: US-Africa).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The pharmaceutical industry has been forcefully accused of not caring enough about health in Africa. It has been under international pressure to adopt a constructive strategy to help solve health problems in poor countries, and Pfizer, the...

The rise and rise of Bishop fix-it. (Diaspora: UK).(John Sentamu, Bishop of Birmingham)
March 1, 2003... Clayton Goodwin on the life and times of the Ugandan prelate, Dr John Sentamu, who has just been elevated as the Bishop of Birmingham, Britain's second largest city. An extraordinary man, "his career took off (as they say) in the manner of an...

Less talk, more action needed. (Diaspora: Pan Africanism).
March 1, 2003... After years of talking about it, now is the time to translate Pan-Africanism into concrete action. Omowale Clay, a member of the New York-based December 12th Movement, reports on what their Movement has been doing. The concept of...

We've failed to manage the world. (Endtail).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... We still think that might is right, that the strong must dominate and the weak must submit. Frankly, I don't think we have progressed much from the Stone Age. They used clubs, but we have nuclear weapons. Countries around the world are...

The day after. (Kenya).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... President Mwai Kibaki's new government has now come face to face with the realities on the ground. Blamuel Njururi reports. The new National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government in under President Mwai Kibaki is coming to terms with its...

UK Ghana Achievers Awards. (Diaspora).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The London-based Ghana Professional Achievers (GPA) Awards is asking for nominations for 2003. According to Excell Marketing Consultancy that runs the annual awards (now in its third year), this is a unique opportunity to recommend a Ghanaian...