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The China Option, the China Problem, The China Fear
December 7, 2010 2 min. read

It might be one of the most dramatic changes in Africa in the last decade or so, and it’s crept in so quickly that it is hard to identify when it all happened. Go to Gabarone or Lusaka or Windhoek and you see a new construction project. Look closely. The odds are pretty good that […]

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Facing Namibia’s History: Vision, Agony and Hope
December 3, 2010 9 min. read

At the international stage, the Southern African country of Namibia is known as the rare success story of the UN.  Lost in this UN Namibian success narrative is the story of people detained by the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), the current ruling party and one-time national liberation movement in Namibia, during the war […]

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Nattering Nabobs or Pragmatic Prognosticators?
December 2, 2010 1 min. read

Well, this does not qualify as good news: Kenya is likely to witness worsening food security, significant disease outbreaks, and further pockets of conflict in 2011, as well as a continuing flow of refugees from Somalia, say aid officials. Of course 2011 will help provide the context for Kenya’s scheduled 2012 elections, which will be […]

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WikiLeaks on Zimbabwe
December 1, 2010 3 min. read

Zimbabwe features among the confidential documents released online by WikiLeaks, a whistle blower website, on Sunday.  In a 2007 confidential diplomatic cable on Zimbabwe, the then-outgoing American ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, penned about the US policy on Zimbabwe as follows: “Having said my piece repeatedly over the last three years, I won’t offer a […]

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Badvocacy, Solipsism, and World AIDS Day
November 30, 2010 2 min. read

My apologies for the unexpected little break. Between the end of the turn and the American Thanksgiving holiday and family being in town things got a little hectic. Expect things to pick up here soon. Texas in Africa has a great post about the solipsism of some self-professed advocates as World AIDS Day approaches. When […]

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Cameroon, Mauritania, Mali, and Zambia Defrauded the Global Fund
November 21, 2010 1 min. read

The Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General has found that Cameroon, Mauritania, Mali, and Zambia misappropriated about US$25 million in grants meant for fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on the continent. No surprise there! In response Sweden is reported to withholding its pledge to the Global Fund. While Sweden (which has contributed US$85 million […]

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Friday News Roundup
November 19, 2010 2 min. read

Before you go off to your weekend shenanigans here is a blast of news stories from Africa that has been accumulating on my desktop, as always, with commentary as apt: After the see-saw of the last few days Guinea is once again calm. For now. Please don’t buy into the simplistic narrative that this is […]

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Namibia Airport Terror Scare Only Security Test
November 19, 2010 1 min. read

The incident came as Germany was  already on high security alert in response to intelligence tips that  the country may be the target for terror attacks in the near future. Thanks to the Namibia police, it seems that the Namibian airport security system is working because they detected the bag before the departure of the […]

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Suspicious device triggers Airport Security Scare in Namibia
November 19, 2010 3 min. read

Namibians and the world today woke up to media reports and news that suspicious baggage,  with a detonator and a ticking clock destined to be loaded on a German-bound plane was intercepted Wednesday at the Hosea Kutako International airport in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital city. This is still a developing story, but I can’t fathom the thought […]

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Ending the Storm in Guinea
November 18, 2010 1 min. read

After a brief calm in which it looked as if modest post-election violence might abate Guinea has experienced the storm. Opposition leader Alpha Conde has been declared the winner. Resultant violence has led to the imposition of a state of emergency. Now the key is stanching the violence. What is done is done. And a […]

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A Victory to Crow About
November 18, 2010 1 min. read

Speaking of football results, I was remiss this weekend in pointing out that Lubumbashi-based DRC club TP Mazembe won this year’s CAF Champions League, completing a repeat of last year’s win, a feat Les Corbeaux also accomplished in 1967 and 1968. They won the continent’s crown jewel for professional clubs by drawing Esperance 1-1 after […]

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Southern Africa Briefs
November 18, 2010 1 min. read

Zambian police arrested and charged Emmanuel Mwamba, former Zambian president Fredrick Chiluba’s Public Relations aide, for allegedly authoring and publishing contemptuous articles on the online publication Zambia Watchdog. More: http://www.africanews.com/site/Expresident_Chilubas_aide_arrested/list_messages/36106Ex-president. Also see: http://www.zambianwatchdog.com/2010/11/17/police-to-arrest-emmanuel-mwamba-today/ Charles Andrianasoavina, a colonel with the Madagascan military, announced on Wednesday that he and a group of dissident top-ranking officers have taken […]

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