Where the People and Friends of Africa Mingle

Should Nigeria Privatize NNPC? [podcast]

The Nigerian government wants to restructure the state oil and gas sector. The move would most likely break up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
The Nigerian government wants to restructure the state oil and gas sector. The move would most likely break up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Should the NNPC be privatized?

Why Ghana Telecom Must not be Sold (1)


Whether the sale and purchase agreement of 70% of the state-owned Ghana Telecom is ratified by Parliament or not, the agitation around it will remain in the minds of Ghanaians for years to come. It will remain a test-case of how not to sell a strategic public asset without consultation of the people.

South Africa: Jacob Zuma Docked on Corruption Charges

Mr Zuma faces a lengthy jail term if the trial goes ahead and he is convicted of the 18 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering relating to a government arms deal.
The case has stirred up a political storm in South Africa, where Mr Zuma is the favourite to succeed President Thabo Mbeki in elections 2009.
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A Muzungu’s Take on a Recovering Kenya


A ‘Canadian-Africanist’, the Muzungu, returns to Kenya after five years…and quickly discover a lot has changed. Photo: Mombassa at night. The second largest city in Kenya, off the Indian Ocean.

Nigeria: Wole Soyinka and Ed Kashi on Niger Delta [video]

Awash in oil, yet its people, for the most part, are destitute. Nigeria discovered \"liquid gold\" half a century ago and today is the world\'s eighth largest oil exporter. But the country is plagued by corruption, inefficiency, underdevelopment and an uprising in its Niger Delta

Nigerian Nobel Laurette Wole Soyinka and American photo-journalist and author of “Curse of the Black Gold” discusses oil-rich Niger Delta of Nigeria.

AFRICOM: Military Spending Instead of Development Aid? Follow the money.

MONROVIA, Liberia Command Sergeant Major Mark Ripka assists with the in-processing of nearly 500 newly enlisted members of the Armed Forces of Liberia May 23, 2008. Photo by Lieutenant Colonel Terry VandenDolder, U.S. Africa Command

The American government is spending far more on military activity in Africa than it is on civil development assistance creating a civil-military imbalance. Over the past several years this imbalance has grown enormously. Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Terry VandenDolder, U.S. Africa Command

Leadership by Example: Cote d’Ivoire’s Ministers Slash their Wages to End Strike

Government slashes ministers\' wages to pay for gasoline (petrol) subsidy and end strike in Ivory Coast.
The government, which has been subsidising fuel prices for the past three years, removed these subsidies on 6 July because it could no longer afford to keep them in place. As a result the price of a litre of fuel rose by 29 percent in 24 hours, and the price of diesel by 44 percent.