Africa News blog
African business, politics and lifestyle
Rape, corruption in camps blight lives of Somali
By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Jan 26 (AlertNet) – Nurto Isak’s food rations are feeding her, her three children, and — she suspects — the militiamen guarding the camp in Mogadishu where she and other uprooted Somalis have taken refuge.
The city is host to more than 180,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who, like Isak, have fled a killer combination of conflict, drought and hunger back home.
Many risk long, difficult journeys to reach the capital, their sights set on the numerous aid agencies that have set up relief operations to hand out food and treat malnutrition there.
Yet many people at various IDP settlements in the war-torn city complain that food aid is not reaching them and accuse local aid workers working for international and Somali NGOs of taking it to line their own pockets.
“Half of the rations intended for our camp is given to the warlord whose militia are said to be guarding us,” Isak told AlertNet (www.trust.org/alertnet), a humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Angola broadens its reach
Nigerian, Kenyan and South African banks have been making forays into the rest of the continent in search of growth so it was interesting to see Angola’s biggest bank opening an office in Johannesburg this month. Banco Africano de Investimentos, Angola’s biggest bank by deposits, sees the office as a launchpad for ventures further afield in the southern African region as well as in business between Angola and South Africa.
Angola’s banking sector has enjoyed huge growth since the country emerged from a three-decade long civil war in 2002 as one of the world’s fastest growing economies thanks to booming oil production and high oil prices.
And as Angola’s economy has grown, so has the OPEC member’s influence as a power within southern Africa, within Africa’s other former Portuguese colonies and within the Gulf of Guinea region that produces most of Africa’s oil.
The interest in BAI’s opening in Johannesburg was itself a sign of how keen companies are to seek deals and investments and establish a presence there.
“You wouldn’t have this sort of crowd if it was a bank from elsewhere in Africa opening up,” commented one foreign financier at the event.
But while Angola expands abroad, it isn’t always as easy for those trying to get a share of Angola’s growth.
Investors complain of frustrating officialdom, corruption, a lack of transparency and astronomical operating costs as well as the difficulties of finding businesses or instruments to invest in despite the money flowing to Angola as a result of the oil.
Sudan’s elections brinkmanship – can the opposition unite?
In a shock unilateral announcement, the leading south Sudanese party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), withdrew its presidential candidate, Yasir Arman, and said it would also boycott elections on all levels in Darfur.
It paved the way for incumbent President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to win the April 11-18 polls. Arman was viewed as his main challenger, with much of south Sudan’s support – about 25 percent of the 16-million strong electorate.
Some in the opposition initially reacted with anger or surprise, because the SPLM had agreed to form a joint position on a likely full boycott of elections in the north with them a day later. But as the decision sank in, the realization is that the ball is now firmly in their court.
The credibility of the elections is hanging in the balance.
But the big question on everyone’s lips is: Will the opposition be able to unite on a joint position ahead of the polls, which are due to begin in just 10 days?
Many Sudanese complain the weak and divided opposition offer little alternative to Bashir’s party.
What can Nigeria expect now?
The return of Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua three months after he left for a Saudi hospital might normally have beeen seen as a sign that a long spell of debilitating uncertainty was over.
But this was no ordinary return for a long absent president with an army band and a red carpet.
Yar’Adua was moved under cover of darkness from a plane to an ambulance and then driven to the Aso Rock presidential villa in Abuja. No pictures. No comment.
In fact, nobody outside his immediate circle has had a chance to see him and that apparently includes Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who two weeks ago assumed executive powers with the support of parliament to end a power vacuum.
A statement from Yar’Adua’s spokesman thanked Jonathan for his help and said he would continue running affairs of state while the president convalesces. Before seeing the president, he was due to meet his wife, Turai.
Yar’Adua’s return was welcomed by many in the country of more than 140 million although there were widespread doubts about whether he would return to office and questions over what would be the role of his aides and powerful wife.
What will the new arrangement mean for chances of addressing problems such as unrest in the Niger Delta, power shortages, ensuring fair elections and corruption? What will it mean for the political intrigues ahead of an election due within just over a year?
crap statement by the speaker on march 19th, the person must be daft and myopic. In the uncertainty that surrounds the 6th world largest oil wealth it is really shameful that 67.4% of the population is living below $1 a day,this is because of the crude and greedy approach used in politics and governance. Yar ‘Adua is incapacitated and even when he was ok he was almost next to useless, no common sense, no innovation , it is sad, the nation is hanging on the last life line and some is still saying the sick president should still govern , I feel this person is sick as well and not in touch with reality. Nigeria will keep crawling forever if things continues like this . Please go to Asia and see what they are up too. It is really sad sometimes I wish Nigeria never had the oil because it sounds like a stigma and jinx because we can’t think of something else but oil. It is a real shame.it is really a sad story.
Bongo, the son, out to make his mark
Omar Bongo’s name was on an impressive collection of public buildings — the senate, a university and a stadium, to name just a few — by the time he died in June after over 40 years as Gabon’s president.
His son Ali Bongo Ondimba is now keen to make his own mark after winning a disputed election in August.
Bongo has started with a flurry of ambitious promises to deliver both continuity and change after his father’s rule left Gabon peaceful but mired in corruption, inefficiency and still very much dependent on oil as reserves are coming to an end.
Creating an “Emerging Gabon” has become the catch phrase and officials faithfully reiterate government priorities of diversifying the oil-driven economy into one where funds will also be generated by green business, service industries and increasing local manufacturing to create jobs and boost the economy.
Bongo’s cost-cutting measures have seen some top officials lose perks and take pay cuts while the cabinet has been slashed in size. Government employees are scrambling to their desks to make sure they are included in an audit of a bloated civil service, which was long used to divvy up jobs amongst the country’s ethnic groups, thereby undermining potential rivals.
Detractors say the new president had no choice. Thousands of people took to the streets to take part in violent demonstrations against his victory in the August poll so he is under pressure to deliver. Strikes and rolling power cuts are adding to the pressure. None of these ideas are new, they add, citing numerous speeches by his father on needs to revitalize the ailing country. Questions have also been asked about how the new team will pay for everything it has promised.
Supporters hit back, saying that Bongo — who was once known as “Ben Bongo” but dropped it as part of efforts to ensure he is not just seen as his father’s son – has already proved that he will deliver. There will be more, they add, saying the new Bongo represents Gabon’s next generation, not least in his readiness to lead Gabon out of its notoriously cozy relationship with French government and business.
Hard to put the fate of Gabon only on Ali’s shoulders. He has made some smart moves in his early days in office but needs to be carefully watched that he doesn’t cozy up too much to the Chinese resource vultures. Like to see Ali attempt to introduce the right policies to help repatriate much of the extensive Gabonese talent that have exited Gabon for France, US and other shores.
Where will Nigerian bank crisis lead?
The list published by Nigeria’s central bank of those who owe money to the banks it has just bailed out makes clear that the situation has already gone well beyond just being a banking crisis.
The list cuts across the business elite and Nigeria’s regions and also includes many politically powerful figures. (And it doesn’t even appear that all those who could have been named as directors of the debtor companies have been identified).
It raises a question as to whether so many of the great and good are simply unable to pay their debts and if so what that means for business in Nigeria as a whole? If they could pay up, then why haven’t they?
It also raises a question as to how those ‘named and shamed’ will react, particularly those with major political sway, in a country where behind the scenes manipulation is a way of life.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has set a deadline for the debtors to start coming up with money or face arrest, but its efforts to prosecute former state governors in the past were sometimes stymied and its former boss Nuhu Ribadu driven from office.
What will be the fate of Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi (left), only recently picked for the post by President Umaru Yar’Adua?
How well do you think the crisis is being handled? Please take your chance to vote below. We welcome your comments too.
The will to expose the bad guys is welcomed but it may require a lot of advocacy to avoid lack of confidence and a run on the banks.
Is Obama Snubbing Kenya on Africa trip?
President Barack Obama’s choice of Ghana for his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office has stirred debate in his father’s homeland Kenya.
Some Kenyans believe Obama ought to have come “home” first. Others, especially among critics of President Mwai Kibaki’s government, say he has deliberately shunned the country to show U.S. disapproval of rampant corruption and nepotism in political circles here.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who comes from the Luo ethnic group like Obama’s father, said it was wrong to read too much into Obama’s itinerary, given that neither was he visiting other influential nations in the region like South Africa and Nigeria.
“Ghana is symbolic. It was the first African country to gain independence from Britain in 1957. Ghana is very advanced in its transition to democratic form of governance. So it is perfectly logical,” he told Reuters.
“If Obama were to come to Kenya as the first country in Africa, it would send some very wrong signals that he is coming here merely because of some organic relationship that he has with this country. So in fact it is good.”
Obama has been to Kenya several times, most recently as a senator in mid-2006. In a speech then, he took a strong line against corruption, which has plagued East Africa’s largest economy for decades. “If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and promote their common welfare – then all else is lost. That is why the struggle of corruption is one of the great struggles of our time,” he said.
That speech drew a sharp response from the government. Spokesman Alfred Mutua called Obama a young man who was “very poorly informed” and chided him for “lecturing” Kenyans. When Obama took power, however, the Kibaki government was so happy it announced a national holiday in his honour. The U.S. leader is wildly popular among all sectors of Kenyan society.
Clinton did not visit Gabon, though it is on the cusp of the most important election of it\’s historyGoverned by a doggedly autocratic ruler for over four decades, theCentral West African country of Gabon has finally been given a fragileand fleeting opportunity for democratic leadership by the death ofOmar Bongo, 72. However despite international investigations thatturned up evidence of a $200 million plus personal family fortune clearingpointing to gross corruption and substantial embezzlement of thecountry\’s significant oil revenues and questionable foreign investments, the dynastic political manoeuvring of a Bongo into power remains a distinct possibility.Bongo\’s son, Ali-Ben Bongo, is currently poised to assume thePresidential position as the electoral candidate for the powerfulruling party, PDG. Long known for his ability to silence critics andwoo political rivals into the fold, Bongo\’s legacy includes governmentcontrol of all telecoms and media virtually guaranteeing thatthe opposition get no air time or platform. Regardless of thesedifficulties, 8 candidates are participating in the August 30th elections at a moment in history where Gabon desperately needs transparent, independent and regulatedgovernment.Though rich oil and mineral reserves combined with a smallpopulation mean that Gabon is one of the richest nations inSub-Saharan Africa, with a per capita income 4 times the average and aGDP of over $20billion, most of the country languishes in poverty.Away from from the cool air conditioned government buildings and theopulent presidential palaces, at least 30% of the populationsurvive on less than $1 a day and living without food, water,electricity and basic sanitation.One independent nominee looking toalleviate the crippling poverty and harsh life of the Gabonese peopleis Bruno Ben Moubamba. Born the year Omar Bongo first came to power in1967, Moubamba has a powerful vision of a post-Bongo Gabon which he isworking hard to communicate across an information-restricted Gabon byharnessing the power of new technology http://moubamba.com/. Hopefulthat the democratic process will result in a more passionate,inclusive and citizen-centric government, Moubamba is determined todevelop and diversify Gabon\’s economy so that one day it is thepeople, not simply the leaders of this beautiful country, thatbenefit.
Nigeria: Ten years of civilian rule
Nigeria marks its first 10 years of unbroken civilian rule on Friday after emerging from nearly three decades of uninterrupted military dictatorship on May 29, 1999.
The political elite in Africa’s top oil producer are rolling out the drums to celebrate the milestone. And why not?
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler who won elections in 1999, ended Nigeria’s pariah status and brought Africa’s most populous nation back into the international fold, helping secure an $18 billion debt write-off in 2005.
As noted by Bola-Wola Makinde, the independence date for Nigeria was in 1960 and not 1964.
Although, the military rule in Nigeria until 1999 was horrible, I am not sure the civilian rule has brought much welfare to people. The wealth of the country is still as unequally divided as during military rule and not much economic and social development has occurred since then, though civilian rule has managed to keep stability and increase freedom in the country
Holding President Zuma accountable
Making sure South Africans hold their new government accountable is essential if the country is to succeed under Jacob Zuma, believes Mamphela Ramphele, an anti-apartheid activist and prominent South African businesswoman.
“We underestimated what it means to govern a modern democracy,” she told Reuters. “In that context we have made many mistakes. The first mistake was to conflate the leader, the party, the government and the state. That conflation leads to the undermining of state institutions … and abuse of state resources for party political reasons.”
Ramphele, a doctor and former World Bank official, is among a group of professionals who helped draft three potential scenarios for the country into 2020.
There is a healthy one, of course, in which the government works with business and civil society and is held accountable for its actions and service delivery. After that is one in which the African National Congress government takes a strong role with little opposition – it leads to authoritarian rule. The worst case scenario points to corruption and decay.
Key to success under incoming President Zuma, she believes, is accountability.
“We need to keep the pressure, not pressure to oppose them, but pressure to support, encourage and hold them accountable to deliver on the promises of their election campaigns,” she said.
Although full of complements for Zuma and his abilities, Ramphele also sees positive aspects in the emergence of COPE, the opposition party formed by breakaway ANC members before the election.
Ms Ramphele is absolutely right the key to South Africa’s future is in holding the country’s leaders accountable. SA has definitely done a world better than most other African countries; even then, SA will only get 6 out of 10. President Jacob Zuma, his democratic credentials are nothing compared to those of Mandela, will undermine the country’s democratic institution for his own political gains given half a chance.
Africa: Will Zuma crack the whip?
Dr Sehlare Makgetlaneng is the coordinator of the Africa Institute of South Africa’s South African 2009 Election Observation and Monitoring Team. He writes in his personal capacity.
The Zuma administration’s foreign policy will be determined to a great extent by the struggle to satisfy national needs and demands. These can best be understood if we take into account not only the country’s increasing level of corruption and violent crime, but also high level of expectations from the urban and rural unemployed, the poor and the working class expecting the qualitative improvement in their material conditions. The Zuma administration will commit itself in practice to the value of continuity in South Africa’s foreign policy. Central to this tradition will be popular foreign policy objectives pursued by South Africa since the end of apartheid. They include support for peaceful resolution of conflict on the African continent and beyond, support for the regional and continental organisations and integration as well as multilateralism. It will continue with the country’s practical and theoretical call for continental socio-political and economic renaissance or transformation. South Africa under the leadership of Thabo Mbeki used the African Renaissance to contribute towards the resolution of conflicts in African countries conducive for the operations of its capital and the realisation of the objectives of its socio-economic policy objectives. It regarded its active participation in conflict resolution as key to peace, security and stability in Africa. It viewed continental socio-economic transformation or renaissance as the process to be achieved through peace and stability creation and consolidation, actions against corruption and implementation of socio-economic policies conducive for the operations of foreign investment. The Mbeki administration was reluctant to lead Africa in international relations. It called for a further integration of Africa into the global capitalist system and African solidarity and unity to fight what Mbeki refers to as global apartheid and to contribute towards an equitable world. These two central aspects of South Africa’s foreign policy, focusing firstly on Africa and secondly on developed countries, raised high level of expectations within Africa and the rest of the world and placed its policy on grounds vulnerable to criticism from individuals with different positions and interests in its efforts to serve as a leader of Africa in its transformation and its relations with the rest of the world particularly developed countries. These problems are a dilemma it faced in its attempts to serve as the representative of Africa to the developed countries and the representative of developed countries in Africa. This policy helped to explain why South Africa under Mbeki was unable to substantiate its declared theoretical position on African Renaissance in practice. It impelled it not to antagonise developed countries in its African Renaissance project and to seek support from weak African countries. Under Mbeki, South Africa put itself on the level that Africa expected more than it could deliver in resolving Africa’s problems. It pretended that it could meet requirements of this expectation. It did not substantiate Mbeki’s progressive position that its role in the resolution of the African conflicts should be guided by the struggle to achieve African transformation in the interests of the masses of the people. South Africa remained central to the consolidation of dominance of Africa by developed countries. The Zuma administration will be a substantial and welcome addition to the struggle against Africa’s problems. It will use the country as the regional and continental power to criticise African leaders who are enemies of their people and strive for free, independent exercise of foreign policy. There will be a shift in the direction towards South Africa realising its potential as a centre of independent development on the African continent. It will be under enormous internal progressive pressure to ensure that the country constitutes a strategic continental threat to the internal and external interests inimical to the interests of the continent and its people.