We previously visited 19 African nations, Algeria through Ghana. Tonight we continue alphabetically beginning with Guinea. First, though, one story from Equatorial Guinea.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Reuters
Equatorial Guinea maps out election timetable
Bernadino Ndze Biyoa
Reuters - Saturday, March 1 03:02 pm
MALABO (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has announced a timetable for elections culminating in presidential polls which will test the stability of sub-Saharan Africa's third-biggest oil producer.
Obiang dissolved parliament in a decree published late on Friday and said municipal and legislative elections would be held in the central African country on May 4, and a presidential vote in 2010.
The polls will test the stability of a nation long seen as one of the most authoritarian in Africa, with hardly any opposition politicians in parliament.
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{The elections} are likely to be closely watched by oil investors from Europe and the United States, particularly given that Washington -- which has in the past described Obiang as a "good friend" -- wants the region to supply a quarter of its oil imports by 2015.
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Massive offshore discoveries over the past decade have boosted oil production from virtually nothing to some 380,000 barrels per day, ranking it behind only Nigeria and Angola among African producers.
But despite having one of the world's fastest growing economies in recent years, the oil bonanza has yet to reach the people, and the country languishes in the lower ranks of U.N. development indices.
GUINEA
Voice of America
Protecting Nature in Guinea Collides with Human Needs
By Kari Barber
Mt. Nimba, Guinea
29 February 2008
Where the West African nation of Guinea meets Liberia and Ivory Coast stands Mt. Nimba, the highest point in the region. The mountain range is home to rare plant and animal species. Because it is on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of areas in danger, it is illegal for the thousands of villagers who live in the area to farm the land. Kari Barber reports from the Guinea border village Serengbara about this clash between protecting the environment and the population's need to survive.
The article is the transcript of a 2-minute 24-second Windows Media clip, which you may stream or download.
Press Release
U Mining Resources Inc. Provides Updates on Agreement With the Republic of Guinea
Mining Concession Will Include a State Guarantee of at Least 3 Billion Tons of Iron Ore Reserves
NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Feb 28, 2008 -- U Mining Resources Inc. today provided updates on the BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) Agreement between its majority-owned subsidiary Comitrag S.A. and the Republic of Guinea.
As per the terms of the Agreement, the Government of Guinea will grant Comitrag a Mining Concession for the exploration, development and production of a world-class iron ore resource located in Guinea. Significant portions of this world-class iron ore resource are currently being developed by a major mining and extraction company, under the terms of a previously issued agreement by the Republic of Guinea. Revenues generated from the production and sale of iron-ore under this additional and markedly smaller concession, are earmarked by the government to fund the initial stages of its planned infrastructure upgrade. This upgrade will include the construction and redevelopment of a major railroad line and mineral seaport. Under the terms of the Agreement, Comitrag -- a majority-owned subsidiary of U Mining Resources -- will be responsible for the management and operation of these scheduled infrastructure projects (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Project").
GUINEA-BISSAU
IRIN
GUINEA-BISSAU: How to avoid a food crisis again this year
BISSAU, 29 February 2008 (IRIN) - According to the government’s current estimates, donors will need to provide 20,000 tonnes of food aid to compensate for expected production shortfalls in 2008.
Aid experts in Bissau, however, said that if the government had better policies, and if the rains came at the right time, the country should be able to feed itself with current levels of international assistance.
"The government has to act quickly before it’s too late," UN World Food Programme (WFP) head of programmes Jean-Martin Bauer told IRIN. "With smart policies the problems of previous years can be avoided," he said.
The article is long but worth reading, I think. We can’t expect the smart policies to be implemented, I suppose, but I learned quite a bit from the article.
Daily Observer via allAfrica.com
Gambia: VP Opens Joint Commission
Banjul, 29 February 2008
The vice-president, Dr Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy, yesterday formally opened the third Guinea Bissau-Gambia Joint Inter-ministerial Commission at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul, describing the two countries as "indivisible" owing to the strong historical, cultural and ethnic affinities they share.
Vice-President Njie Saidy reminded delegates of the two sides that the peoples of the two countries are descendants of the Kaabu and Fulladou Kingdoms, as well as the Mali Empire.
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She informed the gathering that the joint commission presents an opportunity to bring together policy makers and experts of the two countries to discuss important issues, including agriculture, trade, customs, tourism, fisheries, transport, social security, justice and other development related issues.
"These must be placed at the centre of our respective development and joint cooperation agenda, if we are to realise the goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by target date of 2015 set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," the vice-president said.
The meeting is ambitious, but hearteningly optimistic.
Banjul is the capital of The Gambia.
Rochester Post-Bulletin
Church raises funds for West Africa
2/29/2008 2:35:53 PM
Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester recently raised $115,000 to help build the Compassion Evangelical Hospital in Guinea, West Africa.
The money will be used to build two wards and a nurses' station at the hospital, which is partially completed but whose clinic is up and running.
The church's ties to Guinea go back to 1990, when the congregation adopted the Maninka people, one of the largest tribes in the country. Since then, Autumn Ridge has supported a team of missionaries who have been doing healthcare and church planting.
KENYA
One of my cousins is a cultural anthropologist, who works in Africa and Southeast Asia. He has lived in Kenya for decades, but he was in the U.S. for the winter holidays. We talked at length on December 25. He was excited and optimistic about the impending election, which was held on December 27, with the unfortunate results of which we are now aware.
AP
UN role mulled after Kenya election
By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
Sat Mar 1, 4:01 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS - Kofi Annan used all his negotiating skills to work out a power-sharing deal over Kenya's contested presidential election. If the former U.N. secretary-general hadn't stepped in, African Union and U.N. officials acknowledge, they wouldn't have known what to do next.
A spokesman for the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, told The Associated Press the lack of a U.N. backup plan highlights a need to give nations more and earlier election assistance.
AFP
Annan to leave Kenya after clinching deal
Sat Mar 1, 1:51 PM ET
NAIROBI (AFP) - Kofi Annan will leave Kenya on Sunday after mediating a power-sharing deal between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition chief Raila Odinga to end a bloody political crisis, a statement said.
The former UN chief will travel to Kampala in neighbouring Uganda before heading to Geneva, but said negotiations after the agreement signed Thursday showed it was "clear that there is a fresh commitment to this process."
"But I will never be far away and can return on short notice if I'm needed," he said in a statement on Saturday. "I will be looking in on the talks from time to time."
Good on ya, Mister Annan.
Reuters-Christian Science Monitor
Text of Kenya power-sharing deal Reuters
Fri Feb 29, 3:00 AM ET
Acting Together for Kenya: Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government
The text is short, only a few hundred words.
IPP
The Kenya agreement could be an example for Zanzibar.
Emulate Kenya on CCM, CUF talks, opposition tells Kikwete
2008-03-01 09:16:55
By Felister Peter
Major opposition parties in the country have advised President Jakaya Kikwete to emulate the example of rival parties in neighbouring Kenya in breaking the deadlock in the ongoing reconciliation talks between the Civic United Front (CUF) and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Following successful signing of a power-sharing deal to end Kenya`s two-month post-election crisis, leaders of CUF and Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) believe Kikwete can use the experience to fast-track the stalled muafaka talks.
LESOTHO
Business Day via allAfrica.com
South Africa: Ministers to Thrash Out Trade Standings
Johannesburg, 26 February 2008
TRADE ministers from the 50-strong group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) meet in Maseru, Lesotho, this week to thrash out key issues about the position of those states in multilateral trade talks.
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The meeting would centre on LDCs' position in the Doha development round, especially on issues such as market access, agriculture and special and differential treatment available to LDCs under WTO rules, the Lesotho trade ministry said yesterday...
LDCs lament they have been consistently "marginalised" from the multilateral trading system and their interests ignored, despite the fact that the Doha negotiations have been widely punted as a development round.
However, there are also concerns that the preferences these countries enjoyed because of their least developed status could unintentionally be eroded by a multilateral trade pact.
The objective of the Maseru meeting is to discuss these issues with a view to strengthening least developed countries' position in the global trading system. The WTO membership has committed to placing the needs and interests of those countries at the heart of the Doha development agenda negotiations.
LIBERIA
Gallup via allAfrica.com
Note that this article is from February 21.
Liberia: Liberians Give High Marks to Their Government
Washington, DC, 21 February 2008
President George W. Bush visits Liberia Thursday, where a Gallup Poll reveals that the percentages of Liberians who express confidence in the national government (74%) and the honesty of elections (68%) are much higher than the regional medians for sub-Saharan Africa.
About a year after Liberians chose to elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to lead them in the aftermath of a long-running civil war, Gallup measured their confidence in their country's social and political institutions. As with most populations surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa, Liberians are more likely to express confidence in religious organizations (91%) than in the other institutions the poll tests. Majorities of Liberians also express confidence in their national government (74%) and the honesty of elections (68%); both scores are considerably higher than the regional medians of 59% and 42%, respectively. Further, Liberians' confidence in the other national institutions such as the healthcare system (56%) and the quality and integrity of the media (62%) are on par with the regional medians.
What was Mr. Bush’s contribution to the discussion?
While addressing high-level officials in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, President Bush said the United States would help "build a new armed forces that will be a source of security for the Liberian people instead of a source of terror."
The News via allAfrica.com
Liberia: Johnson-Sirleaf Aborts Strike Action At Freeport
Monrovia, 29 February 2008
A planned major strike action by the Dock Workers Union of Liberia (DWUL) at the National Port Authority (NPA) was aborted Thursday through the timely intervention of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
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Mrs. Kpaan divulged that predicated upon the President's intervention between NPA Management and DWUL, the matter was resolved.
She said during the meeting, President Johnson-Sirleaf instructed the NPA Management to add US$400 to the benefits of each of the 324 workers who will be downsized.
AFP
Liberia revises and shortens Firestone rubber contract
Fri Feb 29, 3:25 PM ET
MONROVIA (AFP) - Liberia's government on Friday cut by 50 years its contract with US giant Firestone, which runs the world's largest rubber plantation in the west African country.
A revised agreement signed Wednesday by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government and Firestone Liberia tightens up on the terms of a deal cut with an interim post-war government, according to a copy made available to AFP.
Firestone's concession to operate has been cut back until 2041, instead of 2091, and the company has also agreed to maintain the rubber tree plantations, covering 400,000 hectares (1,540 square miles), to enable further production when the concession expires.
The American firm has operated in Liberia for more than 80 years and is the largest private employer in the nation, which became independent in 1847 after after more two decades of colonisation by freed US slaves.
LIBYA
AFP
OPEC unlikely to change output at current price: Libya
Saturday March 1, 04:56 AM
PARIS (AFP) - OPEC is unlikely to change its production level at a meeting next week if the oil price stays at about 100 dollars per barrel, acting Libyan Oil Minister Chukri Ghanem told AFP on Friday.
Ghanem said of Wednesday's OPEC meeting in Vienna that "I think we won't do anything if prices stay at this level."
Ghanem, who is the head of the Libyan national oil company and is acting as oil minister, also told AFP by telephone that he expected the price to remain at about 100 dollars per barrel.
Energy Business Review
PGNiG intensifies E&P efforts in Libya
28th February 2008
Polish state-owned oil and natural gas firm PGNiG is intensifying its exploration and production activities in Libya. The company, over the next six years, will invest at least $108 million in the exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil in Libya.
DeepikaGlobal
Libya, Italy NGOs cooperate on migration
ROME, Mar 1 (Reuters) Non-governmental groups from Libya and Italy have signed an agreement to cooperate on ways to help migrants seeking a better life in Europe, a perennial issue in problem-plagued ties between Africa and the European Union (EU).
Thousands of people cross the Mediterranean from Libya every year, often in overcrowded boats, hoping to reach the shores of the EU in Italy or Malta, and European governments are pressing Tripoli to stem the flow of migrants north from its shores.
Building a fence between Libya and Italy would be hard work, I’m guessing.
Reuters AlertNet
Libya urges Arabs to stop Israeli attacks on Gaza
01 Mar 2008 15:34:20 GMT
TRIPOLI, March 1 (Reuters) - Libya on Saturday called on Arabs to halt what it called an Israeli military campaign aimed at "wiping out the Palestinian people".
Israel killed 36 Palestinians on Saturday in its deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005, stoking fears of a broader conflict that could derail renewed U.S.-backed peace talks.
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"What Israel is doing in Gaza confirms that the so-called peace process in the Middle East is a deliberate ploy to cover up a continuing campaign to wipe out the Palestinian people," Libya's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
I’m for it. How, though?
MALAWI
Mail and Guardian
Malawi's tea growers hope to boost prices
Lilongwe, Malawi
28 February 2008 12:06
Low prices continue to haunt Malawian tea on the auction floors, a bitter irony for some producers as the country is regarded as the pioneer of tea-growing in Africa.
Commercial production started way back in the 1880s during the British colonial era. Large tea estates have since then been a feature of the southern region of the country. Tea was planted for the first time in Malawi in 1878.
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The crop is the country’s second biggest foreign-exchange earner, contributing 7.9% of total export earnings, says the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI). Tobacco remains the main foreign-exchange earner.
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Auction-floor prices at the end of last year showed that the local produce was selling at $1.44 per kilogram for the top grades. Kenyan tea, on the other hand, was fetching up to $3.31 per kilogram at the time.
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Lack of competition on the tea auction floors in Malawi is the main factor that is crippling the local tea sector, according to Sangwani Hara, TAML chairperson. He ascribes Kenya’s higher prices to the benefits of competition among a range of buyers. Another factor is that, unlike Kenya, Malawi does not have its own tea brand.
Medical News Today
Malawi Drafts Law To Prevent Claims Of HIV/AIDS Cures
28 Feb 2008 - 9:00 PST
Malawi has drafted a law to prevent traditional healers from claiming that they can cure HIV/AIDS and religious leaders from advising their congregations to give up treatment for prayer, Mary Shawa, principal secretary for nutrition and HIV/AIDS at the president's office, said on Tuesday, Reuters South Africa reports. The draft bill will be presented to Malawi's Parliament on March 4, Shawa said, adding that when the bill "passes into law, all those traditional healers claiming to cure AIDS and religious leaders stopping people from taking" antiretroviral drugs "will be dealt with." She added, "These are desperate times, and we need stern action to deal with these people misleading people." ...
MALI
AfriCast
Mali urges Algeria to tighten border security
ALGERIA, February 26 -- Mali wants neighbouring Algeria to tighten security on their Sahara desert border and help get Tuareg rebels to free 26 hostages, Mali's parliament speaker said in remarks published on Tuesday.
Tuareg fighters took dozens of Malian government soldiers hostage in a violent campaign that began in August 2007 and saw some of its heaviest fighting around the remote Malian garrison at Tin-Zaouatene on the Algerian border.
Malian parliament speaker Dioncounda Traore asked Algerian President Abdleaziz Bouteflika in a meeting this week to "influence" the rebels to free the detainees, top-selling Arabic-language daily El Khabar quoted him as saying in an interview on a visit to Algiers.
What is it about Algeria? The country already has border problems with Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya, and now Mali?
MAURITANIA
Middle East Online
(copyright IRIN)
Returning Mauritanian refugees say fitting in well
Many Mauritanian returnees moved to areas where they already have family networks.
ROSSO, Mauritania - One month has passed since the first 102 Mauritanian refugees officially returned home after some 19 years in exile in Senegal. Before they left many said they feared local Mauritanians would resent them coming but those IRIN has talked with since they arrived said their fears are being allayed as they are being very well treated.
"Our welcome was warm and respectful," said Mamadou Keita, 25 years old returnee who arrived on 29 January. Another returnee Binta Lero Sow, living six kilometres north of the town of Rosso told IRIN, "It is going well. We don’t need anything."
A total of 30,000 Mauritanian refugees are still living in Senegal and Mali. Ethnic clashes in 1989 with Moors living in neighbouring Senegal were behind the expulsion of black Mauritanians by the government of former president Maaoua Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya.
The Star (Malaysia)
Thursday February 28, 2008 MYT 11:31:23 PM
Mauritanian students protest over Mohammad cartoons
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Close to 3,000 students in Mauritania marched through the streets of the capital Nouakchott on Thursday in protest at the reprinting of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad by Danish newspapers this month.
Some shouted demands for a boycott of Danish products, while others carried banners with slogans such as "We will protect the Prophet Mohammad and we will sacrifice ourselves for him."
"We are against those Westerners who insult the Islamic world with these cartoons," said one of the demonstrators, 25-year old student Mohamed Ould Abderrahmane.
What, again?
MOROCCO
PRWeb
The High Atlas Foundation Plants 33,000 Fruit Trees in Rural Morocco
Rabat, Morocco (PRWEB) February 28, 2008 -- During the month of February the High Atlas Foundation and its partners planted 33,000 fruit trees (cherry, apple, peach, and quince) with villages in the Imenane and Azzadene Valleys in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains in the Province of Marrakech. Twenty villages, including 3,000 people, will benefit from this project...
The benefits of fruit tree agriculture are deep and enduring. Household incomes nearly double once trees reach maturity and the fruit is sold at local markets. Cherry trees that are just six years old produce an average of 500 MAD ($65 USD) of fruit per season, forty-two times the initial investment of 12 MAD ($1.55 USD) for the two year old sapling. Beyond the tangible economic benefits, fruit tree planting projects further democratic processes and create diverse partnerships, strengthen the environment, diversify rural economies and help to mitigate urban migration, among other things.
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This ongoing partnership provided 17,000 fruit trees last year and 3,400 in 2006 for villages in these valleys, allowing the planting of 53,400 fruit trees during the past three years. In addition, this partnership supports other socio-economic activities in the region including projects in public health, education, and women's development.
Bloomberg
I include this only because I worked for Vivendi when it was a global octopus conglomerate. I’m surprised that a telecom subsidiary in Morocco could produce such a large contribution to profits, though.
Vivendi Fourth-Quarter Profit Rises 16% on Morocco, Pay TV
Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Vivendi SA, owner of the world's largest music company, said fourth-quarter earnings rose 16 percent on subscriber gains at its Moroccan telephone company and lower costs at the Canal Plus pay-television unit.
MOZAMBIQUE
AIM (Maputo) via allAfrica.com
Mozambique: Dutch Prime Minister Pledges Continued Support
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
Amsterdam , 28 February 2008
Dutch Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende on Thursday guaranteed that Holland will continue its development aid to Mozambique.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, after the two men had held a private meeting for two hours, Balkenende said that Holland is willing to explore new areas for cooperation and investment with Mozambique. He mentioned tourism, energy and banking in particular as potential areas for new Dutch interventions, involving both the public and private sectors.
No mention of the size of anticipated investment.
AIM (Maputo) via allAfrica.com
Mozambique: Oil Refinery Project Gets Off the Ground
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
Maputo, 29 February 2008
The project to build an oil refinery at Nacala-a-Velha, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, is taking off with the transport of equipment and machinery to the building site. The first production of refined fuels from this project, budgeted at around five billion US dollars, is expected in 2010.
Eurico Simao, a consultant for the company building the project, told AIM that this initial phase also involves building an Arts and Crafts School, intended to train local people. He said that the success of any project depends on the human factor.
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The Mozambican government approved the refinery project, known as the Ayr Petro-Nacala project, last October. The largest investor, with about 70 per cent, is Ayr Logistics, a company registered in the US state of Texas which describes itself as providing "a broad spectrum of logistics support throughout the world".
The project will produce refined material for export. The school will be a joint venture of the Mozambique and Brazil. Portuguese is the official language of both countries.
NAMIBIA
The Namibian via allAfrica.com
Namibia: New Era of Co-Operation With Finland
Windhoek , 29 February 2008
FINLAND is transforming its development focus for Namibia to that of bilateral commercial relations, with the last bilateral grant project ending in March next year.
"Both countries held negotiations recently to discuss the changed focus and the end of traditional grant funding," a joint statement of the National Planning Commission and the Finnish Embassy said on Monday.
The new Finnish government, which was formed last year, decided on a new development policy with the main objective to concentrate on poverty reduction in least developed countries (LDCs).
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Relations between Namibians and Finnish people date back 140 years to the arrival of the first Finnish missionaries in what today is north-central Namibia, and later support for exiled Namibians during the liberation struggle.
Since Independence in 1990 Finland has extended about N$ 412 million of development aid to Namibia.
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