Development Diaries

MOROCCO, 1960s. The four-year-old US Agency for International Development is aggressively promoting a chicken improvement project in central Morocco.

Lamy’s Tapestry Will be Complex

After a series of secretive consultations France’s Pascal Lamy, former EU trade commissioner, has emerged to succeed Supachai Panitchpakdi as World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general from September.

No-Stress Diet for African Forum

The mixed results achieved at the close of the Pan African Parliament’s third sitting provide food for thought. While it commendably resolved to send peace missions to Côte d’Ivoire and Congo, and made cogent recommendations on the Darfur conflict, it missed opportunities to exercise a crucial function of parliaments: that of oversight.

Uganda War Crimes: Road to Hell Paved With Good Intentions?

Walking in the eerie darkness engulfing Noah’s Ark, a centre that children in northern Uganda escape to for fear of being kidnapped by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, it is easy to see why so many in the region are eager for peace.

Zim Elections Expose Africa to Ridicule

The upshot is that the South African government and SADC have seriously compromised their credibility in global eyes by rubber-stamping a process that even domestic observers within Zimbabwe have disputed.

The Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire

The path back to peace requires barring all current political rivals, establishing an interim government and holding internationally conducted elections.

What Opportunities for South African Traders?

Much has been written about the Commission for Africa Report released on 11 March 2005 and there has been vigorous criticism of the various recommendations, specifically the aid component.