SOUTH AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG - Suspended former chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) Terror Lekota will not resign from the party he has belonged to for over 30 years. Lekota makes this announcement while participating in a debate on South African politics with representatives of other political parties. Lekota says South Africans have to get used to the idea of being free to listen to all political parties. Responding to a comment made previously by ANC President Jacob Zuma, Lekota says that no party has the right to say 'don't talk to people, they are my voters’. Further, Lekota requests that ANC members should refrain from disrupting the meetings of his breakaway convention. This call comes after scuffles at a meeting in Orange Farm last week. ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte states that action will be taken against ANC members disrupting political gatherings. Reaction to Lekota and other ANC dissidents lobbying for a national convention and possibly a new political party, has led to concerns about political intolerance in the run-up to the 2009 election.
AFRICA & WORLD
ADDIS ABABA - The African Union (AU) indicates that developed countries are planning to cut aid to the continent owing to the global financial crisis. While Africa is relatively protected from the global turmoil as African banks are less exposed to credit risk, analysts believe there could be a reduction of aid inflows, as well as foreign direct investment and remittances. Parts of the continent are in the grip of a drought and Africa is also feeling the effects of high food and fuel prices. As a consequence, more than 100-million people have been pushed deeper into poverty, and the situation will get worse with less aid flowing into Africa. The AU criticises the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) bail-out packages to Hungary and Ukraine, as it believes Africa is competing for the same resources. There is a concern that if an African country experiences a similar difficulty, the IMF will not be in a position to provide the same level of assistance.
KAMPALA - Three African trading blocs agree to create a free trade zone spanning 26 countries, and to establish joint infrastructure and energy projects. It is anticipated that the zone will help streamline access to markets within African regional bodies, which have an estimated gross domestic product of $624-billion. Africa currently has three trading blocs, with many African countries belonging to conflicting and overlapping groups. The lack of common purpose and unity among the existing trading blocs weakens African efforts in securing beneficial trade agreements with trading blocs such as the European Union. Analysts say that the continent has yet to fully exploit intraregional trade as a way to boost growth, a view echoed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who believes that bigger markets should be used as a strategic instrument in liberating people from poverty.
ALGIERS - Algerian opposition parties attack a plan by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to change the constitution as a means to stay in power, but allies say it will boost democracy in Africa's third-biggest economy. Widely credited for helping to stabilise a traumatised society after the 1990s bloodshed, the 71-year-old President is reaching the end of his second and final term of office. Analysts fear that such a move will be a blow to the fragile political climate in the country of 34-million, still searching for stability. Concerns are also being raised over the government’s inability to diversify the oil-dependent economy, significantly reduce unemployment, or quash a lingering Islamic rebellion.
SARAJEVO - Former peace envoys Richard Holbrooke and Paddy Ashdown warn that Bosnia could disintegrate if the international community does not become more involved in this Balkan nation. The Dayton peace treaty, signed some 13 years ago, ended the Bosnian war, and split the country into two autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, that have since coexisted in an uneasy alliance under a weak central government based in Sarajevo. Animosities have deepened since rival leaders came to power in the 2006 parliamentary vote. Holbrooke and Ashdown believe that the disintegration of Bosnia can be avoided through an effective troop presence and by finding ways to untie the country’s constitutional knot.
JOHANNESBURG - Suspended former chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) Terror Lekota will not resign from the party he has belonged to for over 30 years. Lekota makes this announcement while participating in a debate on South African politics with representatives of other political parties. Lekota says South Africans have to get used to the idea of being free to listen to all political parties. Responding to a comment made previously by ANC President Jacob Zuma, Lekota says that no party has the right to say 'don't talk to people, they are my voters’. Further, Lekota requests that ANC members should refrain from disrupting the meetings of his breakaway convention. This call comes after scuffles at a meeting in Orange Farm last week. ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte states that action will be taken against ANC members disrupting political gatherings. Reaction to Lekota and other ANC dissidents lobbying for a national convention and possibly a new political party, has led to concerns about political intolerance in the run-up to the 2009 election.
AFRICA & WORLD
ADDIS ABABA - The African Union (AU) indicates that developed countries are planning to cut aid to the continent owing to the global financial crisis. While Africa is relatively protected from the global turmoil as African banks are less exposed to credit risk, analysts believe there could be a reduction of aid inflows, as well as foreign direct investment and remittances. Parts of the continent are in the grip of a drought and Africa is also feeling the effects of high food and fuel prices. As a consequence, more than 100-million people have been pushed deeper into poverty, and the situation will get worse with less aid flowing into Africa. The AU criticises the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) bail-out packages to Hungary and Ukraine, as it believes Africa is competing for the same resources. There is a concern that if an African country experiences a similar difficulty, the IMF will not be in a position to provide the same level of assistance.
KAMPALA - Three African trading blocs agree to create a free trade zone spanning 26 countries, and to establish joint infrastructure and energy projects. It is anticipated that the zone will help streamline access to markets within African regional bodies, which have an estimated gross domestic product of $624-billion. Africa currently has three trading blocs, with many African countries belonging to conflicting and overlapping groups. The lack of common purpose and unity among the existing trading blocs weakens African efforts in securing beneficial trade agreements with trading blocs such as the European Union. Analysts say that the continent has yet to fully exploit intraregional trade as a way to boost growth, a view echoed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who believes that bigger markets should be used as a strategic instrument in liberating people from poverty.
ALGIERS - Algerian opposition parties attack a plan by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to change the constitution as a means to stay in power, but allies say it will boost democracy in Africa's third-biggest economy. Widely credited for helping to stabilise a traumatised society after the 1990s bloodshed, the 71-year-old President is reaching the end of his second and final term of office. Analysts fear that such a move will be a blow to the fragile political climate in the country of 34-million, still searching for stability. Concerns are also being raised over the government’s inability to diversify the oil-dependent economy, significantly reduce unemployment, or quash a lingering Islamic rebellion.
SARAJEVO - Former peace envoys Richard Holbrooke and Paddy Ashdown warn that Bosnia could disintegrate if the international community does not become more involved in this Balkan nation. The Dayton peace treaty, signed some 13 years ago, ended the Bosnian war, and split the country into two autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, that have since coexisted in an uneasy alliance under a weak central government based in Sarajevo. Animosities have deepened since rival leaders came to power in the 2006 parliamentary vote. Holbrooke and Ashdown believe that the disintegration of Bosnia can be avoided through an effective troop presence and by finding ways to untie the country’s constitutional knot.
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