The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
In the republic of Swaziland in southern Africa, cattle are regarded as cultural icons. So when the government announced a new cow-branding law in the southern Shiselweni region, the Swazis were but naturally chagrined. The law will go nationwide following an education campaign to introduce farmers to their new responsibilities. …
In the West African republic of Cote d'Ivoire everyone except ordinary citizens prefer war to peace. Government figures, rebels, businessmen and members of the security forces are some of the groups cashing in on the crisis. That's what the International Crisis Group (icg) claims in its report entitled
In a historic move, Bushmen sued the Botswana government for forcing them off their ancestral land, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (ckgr). Lending a new twist to things, a Botswana government spokesman has gone so far as to suggest amending the constitution should it lost the case. The Bushmen are …
function table() { var popurl="html/20040815_negotiation.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=500,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } On August 15 last year, the eu and the us put forward a proposal as the basis for negotiations on agriculture at Cancun. It did not accommodate developing country concerns. So Brazil and India got together to work out an alternative one. Argentina …
mixed signals emanated from the xv International aids Conference 2004, held recently in Bangkok, Thailand's capital. While the meet proceeded in the desired direction by recognising the link between development and the battle with aids, it also witnessed the industrialised countries' indifference towards the less privileged sufferers of the disease. …
Yellow fever is a dreaded disease in the Americas and Africa. It was an even-more feared malady in the 19th and early 20th century when cures were not readily available. In 1878, some passengers from a ship that left Havana, Cuba carried the fever and spread it in New Orleans, …
The third round of negotiations among the 10 African riparian states of the Nile to establish an institutional and legal framework on the sharing of the river's waters was held in Kampala, Uganda, from May 31 to June 4. In the parleys on the issue, countries are continuing to put …
How is the world faring in terms of water and sanitation? As per figures, Asia is not doing badly. The real crisis is in Africa and in rural Latin America. According to statistics, developing countries such as India are also doing well. But we should never forget that there is …
function chart() { var popurl="files/images/20040630/28-illus.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=650,height=350,scrollbars=yes") } Over the ages, human civilisations have excelled and fallen depending on the availability and use of limited resources. Fossil fuels, minerals, land, freshwater and food are often the measuring sticks of relative wealth. These limited resources determine just how long exploitation can continue …
Swarms of locusts in North Africa could be on the verge of threatening crops further south. If a plague were to break out, maize, sorghum, millet and wheat worth us $2 billion could be destroyed. There is a possibility that winds might sweep the breeding pests in Morocco, Algeria, Libya …
function loop() { var popurl="image/20040630/32-illus.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=430,height=375,scrollbars=yes") } In nature, nitrogen remains constant. The Earth's atmosphere has 78 per cent nitrogen, but very little of this vital nutrient can be absorbed by plants. A chain of chemical reactions deposits atmospheric nitrogen in rain and then takes it to the soil. Nitrogen-fixing …
When deliberations began on May 13, 2004 the world's forest policy-makers thought that all was well at the fourth UN Forum on Forest meet (UNFF-4). But by midnight everything had collapsed: two resolutions were dropped and another significantly watered down. By next afternoon, the delegates were on their way home, …
The government of African country Mali has stepped up efforts to eradicate guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) from the country. It appears that Niagassadiou, a village in the Mopti region of south central Mali, is the source of the infection that has spread all over west Africa. When these villagers migrate …
FOR a company that takes its public relations quite seriously, Monsanto is going through a particularly bad patch. From the 50 per cent cutback in sales of its genetically modified (GM) bovine growth hormone in late February (the company had violated sterility standards) to the court hearing in Chicago over …
This article shows that despite increasing catches by foreign fishing fleets, the economic growth and social benefits from marine resources have not been met for many western African countries that host these fleets. A meta-analysis of changes in catches, market values, exports, imports, employment, access, and domestic supplies in western …
The African countries that fall within the Nile river basin have lately adopted a synchronised approach the like of which has never been witnessed before. The 10-member group is working closely to ensure that each nation develops in a sustainable manner through the equitable utilisation of the Nile's water resources. …
Tuberculosis (tb) kills two million people worldwide, one-third of the world's population is currently infected, of them roughly eight million develop active tb each year. But at the Stop tb Partnership Summit held in New Delhi on 24-26 March 2004, moods were buoyant. The World Health Organization's (who), The 2004 …
