Showing posts with label natural resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural resources. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Mali: Der Kampf der Tuareg and the fall of Timbuktu and Gao


This is a brief "heads up" post about the fight of the Tuareg for an independent state (Azawad) in the Sahel.  You may have already read news articles about the takeover of the historic cities of Timbuktu (Tomboctou) and Gao in northern Mali by Tuareg militias.  Just yesterday various news agencies were reporting about the wanton destruction of centuries-old historical mosques, mausoleums and sacred tombs, along with the theft of irreplaceable Medieval Islamic books, scripts, and historical documents by an alarmingly increasing number of radical Islamist militants and thieves who have swept into Timbuktu and Gao in the wake of the security vacum created by the March 22nd coup.  I would hope that some of my fellow blog authors, friends and readers around the blogosphere will stay on top of this catastrophe taking place in what was once one of West Africa's stable democracies.



The above video clip is the German language version of a documentary program ARTE Reportage "Mali: Der Kampf der Tuareg" which aired last week on the French/German cultural TV network ARTE TV. This excellent documentary examines the situation in Timbuktu and across northern Mali just weeks before the rape and pillage of the cities of Timbuktu and Gao.  It features interviews with leaders of the Tuareg militias and the MLNA.  What is also interesting are the various scenes showing how the Salafist network Ansar Dine and AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) is grabbing control of the vast desert region in northern Mali (about the size of Spain) and setting up thier base and training camps.  There is not a sign of Mali government soldiers, ECOWAS military observers, African Union troops, US Army and Marines, or CIA operatives within 500 miles of the place (albeit the CIA is definately in the neighborhood, no doubt about it).

I am posting this information today because the ARTE TV video program will only be available online for a limited time.  The cable/satellite TV program is scheduled to air again on Saturday, July 6th at 10:30 A.M. CET.  Unfortunately for my readers living outside of Europe the ARTE TV programs are available only in France and Germany__ but the program videos and text info on their website may be accessable from abroad.  Nonetheless, it is a don't miss opportunity to learn about another side of this long-running conflict between the nomadic Tuareg and black African tribes (i.e. the Songhai people) who have settled in northern Mali for centuries vs. the government and people living in the south of the country at Bamako.

It's a very different Mali that we see today on our TV and computer screens in comparison to the wonderful and proud country celebrating 50 years of independence depicted in this great interactive video program on the ARTE TV website just two years ago.

More to come after I find the time to compose, edit, and publish what I have on the subject (as usual, I have plenty of info about this subject), including how this story ties in with recent testimony by the commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Washington D.C. last month.

Nice to be back with my fans and readers at Jewels in the Jungle if only briefly after such a long, long break.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Africa: the 'Super Size Me' tour

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has returned to Africa for an 11-day, seven-country tour of the continent. I use the term “returned to Africa” because Hillary Clinton has been to Africa before, most recently accompanying President Obama during his visit to Egypt in May and in her role as the U.S. ‘First Lady’ during former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s administration. Some readers may not remember the 1997 whirlwind tour through Africa by Hillary Clinton together with her daughter Chelsea. They visited a record six African countries___ Uganda, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, and Senegal.

Following is an excerpt from Ebony Magazine’s coverage of the 1997 trip to Africa:
Ebony Magazine – July 1997 issue (source: findarticles.com)

Hillary Clinton's triumphant trip to Africa; historic voyage marks the most extensive visit by a U.S. first lady

In the most extensive African trip ever undertaken by a U.S. first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton visited six African countries and praised the largely untold story of the continent's social, economic and political progress. Donning African gowns and participating in African dances and ceremonies, the first lady, accompanied by daughter Chelsea, was greeted with the enthusiasm usually reserved for heads of state and movie stars.

Among the highlights of the trip were a visit with President Nelson Mandela to Robben Island, a tour of Soweto, and major speeches in South Africa and Uganda. She also visited Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Africa's newest country, Eritrea. Her first stop in Senegal was at Goree Island, where she peered through "The Door of No Return," through which slaves passed on their way to the dreaded Middle Passage of the Slave Trade. When she arrived in Dakar, Senegal, the first lady was greeted by Senegalese who danced and serenaded her with lyrics written especially for the occasion.

The Ebony magazine article went on to say…

As on all of her foreign trips, Clinton participated in roundtable discussions with prominent women and non-governmental organizations that are helping to build a new civil society. Famous all over the world for the African motto she used for the title of her book, It Takes A Village, Clinton visited for the first time some of the African village-models that inspired the motto. She later praised the efforts of villagers who have constructed their own houses and created health clinics and businesses.

The goodwill tour, undertaken at the request of President Clinton and the U.S. Department of State, was designed, according to her aides, "to underscore the United States' commitment to continued active engagement with the continent and to highlight the progress of democracy . . . women's empowerment and social investments in education, health care (including fighting AIDS), and our collective commitment to the survival and well-being of children." The first first lady to make an African trip of this kind, Clinton deliberately highlighted the positive. Although she did not ignore the massive and continuing problems of poverty, refugees and AIDS, she focused on models of hope.

"I want more Americans," she told reporters, "to know more about what is going on in Africa beyond what is often in the headlines, so if my coming here can bring more attention to the continent . . . I hope that will help Americans have a broader understanding of Africa and understand more fully the real stake we can have in a successful, prosperous, stable Africa in the future."

End excerpts from Ebony Magazine. Read the full article using link below.
Hillary Clinton's triumphant trip to Africa; historic voyage marks the most extensive visit by a U.S. first lady


Fast-forward to July 2009 (12 years later)

In a U.S. Department of State press release issued on July 27, 2009 Ian Kelly issued the following brief statement about the Secretary’s upcoming Africa trip:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's Travel to Africa

Ian Kelly
Department Spokesman
Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
July 27, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin a seven-nation trip to Africa on August 5 at the 8th U.S. – Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (known as the AGOA Forum) in Nairobi, Kenya.

This trip will highlight the Obama administration’s commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy. This will be the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the President and the Secretary of State have visited Africa.

While in Kenya, Secretary Clinton will discuss new approaches to development, including an emphasis on investment and broad-based economic growth. The Secretary will be joined in Kenya by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

During the visit to Kenya, the Secretary will deliver a speech at the Ministerial Opening Ceremony for the AGOA Forum, participate in bilateral meetings with Kenya’s senior leaders, discuss global hunger and agricultural issues at a major research institute, and engage with Kenyan citizens. She will also meet with Sheikh Sharif Amed, the President of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.

The Secretary will continue her travel with stops in South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. In each nation, she will emphasize Africa as a place of opportunity, built on an ethic of responsibility. She will underline America’s commitment to partner with governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and private citizens to build societies where each individual can realize their potential.

In her bilateral meetings and other events, she will encourage new solutions to old challenges, harnessing the power of innovation and technology to provide a foundation for future stability, human development, and sustainable economic growth. She will stress the importance of facilitating social and economic entrepreneurship, encouraging a new generation of young African scientists, small business leaders, entrepreneurs and civic leaders who are solving real problems and establishing new models for economic success and social advances, with women as full partners in this progress. And she will discuss ways to foster good regional governance, partnering with regional leaders to band together to prevent conflict and violence, including gender-based violence, democratic erosions, and transnational threats.

Following her visit to Cape Verde, the Secretary will return to Washington, DC.
End PRN: 2009/782

Note: The errors appearing in the official State Department press release above (dates, spelling) are not mine. The links to external websites have been added to the original document in order to provide bios of respective U.S. government officials.

The fact that Secretary Clinton will be traveling to the continent so shortly after President Obama’s visit to Ghana gives her an opportunity to further promote and clarify U.S. strategies and policies toward key sub-Saharan African countries during the Obama Administration and beyond (long term). This trip should also give the Secretary an opportunity to counter some of the criticism expressed by some African journalists, bloggers and news commentators over President Obama’s keynote speech to Africans delivered in Accra, Ghana on July 11th.

I believe that it is good that Hillary Clinton is finally coming out from under the pervasive shadow of President Obama’s huge popularity abroad (especially in Africa) and ‘struts her own stuff’ to America’s friends and allies in Africa. Let’s face it, Hillary is no pushover and she is also no greenhorn when it comes to foreign affairs and international (and domestic) crises and challenges.

Some contributors to Foreign Policy Magazine (i.e. David Rothkopf) have been giving the secretary a pretty hard time lately re: her life in the shadow of President Obama. To be fair much of the criticism one reads in the press about Hillary’s leadership style at the State Department is unfair. However, the fact that her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, is visiting North Korea and has met with the reclusive leader Kim Jong Il on the same day that Secretary Clinton is to deliver an opening address at the 8th AGOA Forum in Nairobi is yet another PR blunder by planners at the White House and the State Department, similar to the President’s alleged upstaging of Clinton’s major foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this month.

Madam Secretary – an obsessive FP blog about Hillary Clinton
Clinton is going to Africa next week 07/28/09
Clinton: New reality demands different 'global architecture' 07/15/09
Excerpts from Secretary Clinton’s major foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations

The Cabe by Laura Rozen – reporting inside the foreign policy machine
Clinton to Africa 07/27/09
Holbrooke trumpets Clinton leadership after address 07/15/09
Excerpts from Clinton's foreign-policy speech (at the Council on Foreign Relations) 07/15/09
With foreign-policy speech, Clinton plans to raise her profile 07/09/09

David Rothkopf
Ker-plunk: why Clinton’s big speech didn’t make a big splash 07/16/09

It will be interesting to hear what Hillary has to say to African leaders and especially to the all of the people of Africa while on tour on the continent. As with the President’s visit to Ghana, ‘digital diplomacy’ via the use of social media, blogs, YouTube, and other forms of interactive online tools may play a large role in the success or failure of the Secretary’s trip.

CNN International - CNN Video
Clinton’s Digital Diplomacy at the U.S. State Department 08/03/09

PBS MediaShift with Mark Glaser
Public Diplomacy in the Digital Age, Part 1 by Mark Hannah 02/23/09

TED Blog – official blog of the Technology, Entertainment, and Design Conferences
http://blog.ted.com/2009/06/tedstate_today.php 06/03/09
A first-of-its-kind conference between the U.S. Department of State and leading thinkers and speakers at TEDTalks

The American Prospect
The Next Diplomatic Cable by Nancy Scola 07/27/09

Diplopundit
The State Department’s Digital Diplomacy Footprint 06/05/09

DipNote – the U.S. Department of State official blog
Secretary Clinton launches virtual student foreign service initiative 05/13/09

MSNBC.com (Associated Press)
Hillary Clinton: E-diplomat 03/23/09

Which reminds me: Just the other day a staff member of the U.S. State Department’s new media team left a comment to my previous post about President Obama’s visit to Ghana and reactions to his foreign policy speech to Africans. The global feedback to President Obama’s speech has been substantial and it is still continuing. There is absolutely no shortage of dialogue, opinions, and viewpoints from people about how to improve U.S.-Africa policy and relations. Here are just a few of the many articles, editorials, and online forums surrounding President Obama’s Ghana visit and speech that I feel may be of interest to my readers:

America.gov
Live Chat While Watching President Obama’s Speech in Ghana 07/11/09
Transcript of global webchat on President Obama’s speech in Accra, Ghana
Note: Thanks to Mark, the CO-NX webchat moderator for the U.S. Department of State and the Whitehouse during the President’s visit to Africa, for providing us with this information.

Foreign Policy Magazine
The Best Worst Country in Africa
Why Obama is going to Ghana, and why he should push for more progress when he arrives by E. Gyimah-Boadi 07/10/09
E. Gyimah-Boadi is the Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development

Photo Essay: The Obamans Abroad by James Downie 07/24/09
A focus on the recent overseas travel of Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

FP Column – Argument
Obama’s Trash Talk
Why Obama gets it wrong on Africa by Andrew M. Mwenda 07/15/09
Andrew M. Mwenda is Editor-Chief of The Independent newsmagazine (Kampala, Uganda)

Our reply to Obama by O. Natty B. Davis 07/16/09
Liberian government minister responds to Obama’s Ghana address to Africa

Nigeria, a Violent Window of Opportunity by Mark Schneider and Nnamdi Obasi 07/17/09

FP Column: Interview
Aiding the Future: Does U.S. foreign assistance really work? by Michael Wilkerson 07/20/09 – the FP/Oxfam America panel discussion on aid effectiveness

FP Column: Letters
What’s Ailing Africa? by Chanda Chisala 06/22/09
A countrywoman of Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo reflects upon the ill effects of foreign aid to Africa. See related article The Next Big Thing: Africa by Dambisa Moyo, May/June 2009

NPR – National Public Radio (USA)
Foreign Policy: He's Not Our Savior by Andrew Mwenda

C-SPAN (Washington DC, USA)
Washington Journal program, July 11, 2009: President Obama Travels to Africa
Interview with economist George Ayittey (American University, Washington DC) and Q&A with C-Span viewers (video, approximately 30 minutes with Professor George Ayittey – ‘Hat Tip’ to Shay over at Booker Rising for the lead on the Ayittey video)

Newsweek – Newsweek Voices with Fareed Zakaria
Africa's New Path 07/18/09
Interview with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Rwanda’s successes 15 years after the 1994 genocide and his views on President Obama’s speech in Ghana

The Root (TheRoot.com)
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka on Obama in Africa: Obama's Choice 07/14/09
The Nigerian author and Nobel laureate dissects Obama’s trip to Ghana and the message it should send to the corrupt and failing states of Africa


Kenya and the AGOA Forum

The visit to Kenya by senior U.S. government officials including the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, the U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and U.S. Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack along with an entourage of more than 250 American business leaders and government officials from the Department of Commerce, Transportation, and others is unprecedented in the history of U.S.-Kenya relations. This will be Hillary Clinton’s first (official) visit to Kenya and to the capital Nairobi, which is the location of the 8th AGOA Forum and the Kenyan Private Sector Forum.

Of course senior U.S. government officials have been attending opening ceremonies at AGOA forums since the first AGOA Forum opened in Washington D.C. back in October 2001. That’s correct, the first AGOA Forum was NOT hastily cancelled after the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, a fact that some people conveniently overlook. Former U.S. President George W. Bush along with key members of his cabinet was in attendance. President Bush delivered the opening address at that first AGOA conference.

Note: Read more about the U.S. Government’s AGOA program including speeches, remarks, and economic and trade data from previous AGOA conferences by following the links provided in Additional Resources at the end of this post. Pay particular attention the articles and resources at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the AGOA website, and the AGOA Info website.


Back to the future: Has U.S.-Africa policy really changed?

When you compare the June 1997 article from Ebony Magazine to the State Department press release of July 27, 2009 it is evident that Secretary Clinton will be dealing with many of the same issues and themes that she championed 12 years ago. This is interesting when you consider how much has changed on the African continent and around the world since the year 1997. Something that I will be looking for in Secretary Clinton’s statements and speeches will be signs of continuity and consistency in U.S. foreign policy toward African countries in comparison to the policies of previous U.S. administrations.

The Wall Street Journal
Eliot Cohen: What’s Different About the Obama Foreign Policy?
Editorial from Eliot Cohen (John Hopkins University) on the striking continuities between the Bush and Obama administrations on U.S. foreign policy

The Economist
Barack Obama and Africa: How different is his policy? 07/16/09

History News Network
The Moderometer: Charting Obama’s Zig-Zag ... Step Left Domestically, Gesture Left Globally, but Keep Your Foreign Policies Somewhat Centered by Gil Troy 08/03/09

TIME.com
Barack Obama's Foreign Policy: The Five Pillars 07/13/09

I shall also be watching for a major policy statement regarding security concerns in the Horn of Africa and in East African countries, especially how the U.S. government plans to work with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the leaders of the autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. As Clinton speaks with the Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Nairobi, I do hope that she will also be meeting with African Union leaders regarding the struggling AMISOM mission in order to help counter the growing threat by Islamic extremists and militias in Somalia (BBC News: Meeting Somalia’s Al-Shabab).

Security worries and the growing Somali refugee crisis should be a major concern in Kenya while in other East African countries like Tanzania and Uganda everything is (relatively) peaceful. Which makes you wonder, why was Nairobi selected as the venue for this year’s AGOA Forum in the first place? Why didn’t they choose a much safer East African city like Arusha or Dar es Saalam (Tanzania) or Uganda’s capital city (Kampala)?

It is also interesting to note that five countries (Eritrea, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Senegal) previously visited by ‘First Lady’ Hillary Clinton in 1997 have been left off the itinerary of Secretary Clinton’s 2009 Africa tour. Only one African country apparently deserved a repeat visit (Clinton will make three stops in South Africa). Perhaps one shouldn’t read too much into that little factoid, but nonetheless, I wonder why she is returning to South Africa and not visiting Rwanda or Botswana, both countries are good examples of how democracy is taking hold and working in Africa.

Here is some recommended reading material for Madam Secretary Clinton while she is country-hopping around the African continent this week:

The New York Times
Radical Islamists Slip Easily Into Kenya by Jeffrey Gettleman 07/21/09
Al Shabab and Al Qaeda may be crossing the border from Somalia into Kenya

Fears in the West about Al Qaeda Affiliate’s Boldness in Africa 07/09/09
The U.S. military (AFRICOM) is helping train West and North African soldiers to fight against the rise in terrorist activity and attacks by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Letter from China - U.S. Finding Its Voice in Africa Again by Howard French 07/17/09
Howard French was a former bureau chief (Shanghai, West Africa) for the New York Times. He now teaches at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Op-Ed Contributor (Kofi Annan) - Africa and the International Court 06/29/09
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the ‘responsibility to protect’ and the responsibility of African leaders to support the International Criminal Court in bringing to trial leaders charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity

An Interview with Joseph Kabila by Jeffrey Gettleman 04/03/09
A rare interview with the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Washington Post
Clinton to meet Somali president in Africa trip 07/27/09
Corruption Cop: A Conversation with Nigerian Anti-Corruption Crusader Nuhu Ribadu 05/24/09

PBS Frontline World
FRONTLINE/WORLD: The Business of Bribes: Lowell Bergman Investigates – Part 5
Former Nigerian anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu talks to Frontline World about corruption in Africa 05/15/09

Global Post
Worldview: Africa's moment? by Mort Rosenblum 07/07/09
Opinion: hints of light in a not so dark continent
Interview: Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga by Mark Scheffler 07/21/09 (Updated)
An interview with the Kenyan PM during his U.S. visit in May 2009

(The East African)
Kenya: U.S. Embassy Boosts Anti-Graft Book As Smug Kenya Government Looks On 07/27/09
The explosive exposé ‘It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower’ about the life of former Kenyan anti-corruption chief John Kithongo and how corruption works at the highest levels of Kenyan politics and business.

The Daily Nation (Kenya)
Secrets of book about John Kithongo ‘It’s Our Turn to Eat’ 02/15/09
The groundbreaking book about the life of former Kenyan anti-corruption chief John Githongo and corruption in Kenyan politics and business

Royal African Society (UK)
It’s Our Turn to Eat. The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower
An editorial on the release of the book by the author Michela Wrong

U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs – Public Hearings
New Challenges for International Peacekeeping July 29, 2009
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Susan E. Rice, gives testimony on America’s commitment to international peacekeeping operations and conflict resolution in Africa (Sudan, DR Congo, and Somalia)

Sudan: U.S. Policy and Implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement July 29, 2009
John Prendergast (co-founder of the Enough Project), SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum Okiech, former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Richard S. Williamson

U.S. Department of State YouTube Channel
Video of Ambassador Susan E. Rice’s July 29th testimony on international peacekeeping before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Associated Press (source: Google News)
US warns Eritrea over activity in Somalia 07/29/09

BBC News
Mugabe calls US envoy 'an idiot' 07/06/09
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe insults Obama’s lead diplomat for Africa on the sidelines of the 13th African Union Summit in Sirte, Libya. There have been no apologies to date from the African Union leadership about this embarrassing incident.
Summit takes AU back to its roots 07/01/09
A report about the 13th African Union Summit in Sirte, Libya


Country-hopping around Africa

The list of African nations that Secretary Clinton will be visiting is impressive, especially the selection of Liberia (America’s closest ally in Africa), Nigeria (the giant of Africa), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Yes Lord! Secretary Clinton is scheduled to travel to the eastern DRC to learn what’s been going on with her own eyes and ears). I am assured that Clinton’s visit to Goma in the eastern DR Congo, her talks with the female victims of incredible sexual violence at the hands of the Interahamwe (Hutu militias) and regular Congolese army soldiers, the poverty and hopelessness she will see in the eyes of women and children of the many refugee camps spread across the region, will change her outlook on life___ forever.

Hillary Clinton will also be visiting the nation of Angola, America’s (and China’s) largest African supplier of petroleum. Angola was formerly a self-declared Marxist state and a ‘bitter enemy’ of the United States during the Cold War years. Angola (historically called the Kingdom of Kongo – 15th century) was also a major source of black African slaves to the New World during the transatlantic slave trade. The first African slaves to arrive at a permanent settlement in Colonial America (Jamestown ca.1619-20) were from Angola. Today, Angola is America’s newest partner in sub-Saharan Africa for private capital investments. The Cape Verde Islands (cool those aching, tired feet of yours Hillary in the beautiful sand and surf of this West African paradise) will be the last stop on Madame Secretary’s 2009 Africa tour.

According to the State Department Secretary Clinton plans to meet not only with senior government officials and business leaders in the countries she will be visiting, she will also meet with African community leaders and activists, young entrepreneurs and students, and ordinary ‘working class’ folks. I believe that Secretary Clinton will hold a series of public town hall-style meetings, debates and forums. If this is true, exactly who has been invited to these events and how were they selected? I’m fairly certain that Secretary Clinton’s staff at the State Department along with staff from respective U.S. embassies have helped to select the attendees for these planned forums and roundtable discussions.

However, in case the invitation lists have not been finalized, here are a few of my tips for State Department staffers who are involved with the selection process. These are people that I feel Clinton should invite and listen to during her visit to Africa, people who have earned and enjoy respect and admiration not only from various online communities of bloggers and social networks, but who also deserve to be bathed in the spotlight of the international news media that will be following Secretary Clinton’s every word and move on this journey to Africa.

Kenya
Ory Okolloh (Harvard educated lawyer, activist, and author of Kenyan Pundit)
TED Global Africa Conference June 2007

TEDTalks video: Ory Okolloh on becoming an activist
Ushaidi – a crisis mapping and online communication networking platform ‘Made in Kenya’

Daudi Were (Nairobi, Kenya) profile at Generation Kenya
Mentalacrobatics (the popular blog authored by Daudi Were)
Kenya Unlimited – an award-winning network of more than 600 Kenyan bloggers founded by Daudi Were that operated from 2005 thru 2007

Transcript of webchat with US Ambassador to Kenya 01/21/09
On the eve of President Obama’s inauguration, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger hosted a webchat with citizens of Kenya on U.S.-Kenya relations

Kelele.org – Kelele 2009 Pan-African Blogger Conference
Kelele: First African Bloggers' Conference Scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya 07/22/09

James Shikwati (IREN, The African Executive)
Kenyan economist and publisher of The African Executive business magazine

Wangari Maathai
Founder of the Green Belt Movement and 2004 Nobel laureate

Angola, South Africa
Ana F. Santana (Angolan-born economic historian and educator, a graduate of the London School of Economics, and author of the K Faktor blog)

Ana on the growing economic and political relationship between Angola and China
REVISITING ANGOLA AT A TIME OF ECONOMIC CHANGE 07/28/09

Ana on the July 2009 speech by President Obama delivered in Accra, Ghana
BREVES NOTAS SOBRE O DISCURSO DE OBAMA NO GHANA 07/23/09

Nigeria
Sokari Ekine (London, UK, Nigeria) – Nigerian activist and prolific writer, author/editor of the award-winning Black Looks group blog and online news editor at Pambazuka News (Oxford, UK)
G20 Voice – a citizen media project at the G20 Summit in London April 2009
Meet the G20Voice bloggers: 50 leading blog authors from around the globe

CNBC Africa video (source: VPod)
Live at 2009 G20 Summit in London: Bob Geldof, Daudi Were and Sokari Ekine

Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo
Cédric Kalonji (DR Congo, France) – a former journalist at Radio Okapi and one of the DR Congo’s top blog authors, presently living and studying in France. He was the first of 50 blog authors selected for the G20 Voices project at the 2009 G20 Summit in London. Cédric Kalonji’s personal blog and his work at Congoblog.net

Rosebell Kagumire (Kampala, Uganda) – Rosebell is an investigative journalist working presently at The Independent, a weekly news magazine published by Ugandan journalist/editor Andrew M. Mwenda. Rosebell’s personal blog (Rosebell’s Blog) was one of the winners of the 2008 Waxal Blogging Award for African Journalists. A profile of background can be found at McGill University Law School website for the 2007 Global Conference on the Prevention of Genocide.

Andrew M. Mwenda (publisher of The Independent weekly newsmagazine)

Pan-African Voices on U.S.-Africa Policy
Global Voices Online
Obama in Africa (Ghana) 2009 archives
Africa: Winners of the First African Blog Award for Journalists Announced 03/02/09

2008 Waxal Blogging Awards for African Journalists
A joint project sponsored by The Panos Institute – West Africa, Highway Africa (South Africa), and Global Voices Online (founded at The Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University School of Law)


Related articles, editorials, and additional resources

DipNote – the U.S. Department of State official blog
Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Departs for Africa 08/03/09
A New Era of Engagement 07/15/09
Summary of Secretary Clinton’s foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations (full video and text)
Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) 07/14/09
Secretary Clinton address U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid reform at the USAID
A New Moment of Promise by Shanique Streete (U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana) 07/13/09
President Obama in Ghana 07/12/09
Townhall meeting by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to announce the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review 07/10/09 (text and video)

America.gov – Engaging the World
Briefing on Assistance to Somalia Transitional Federal Government 06/26/09
Opening Statement by Assistant Secretary-Designate Johnnie Carson 04/29/09
Testimony (confirmation hearing) by the new Assistant Secretary for African Affairs before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
America.gov – Africa news and features

U.S. Department of State
Briefing on Secretary Clinton's Upcoming Trip to Africa by Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary - Bureau of African Affairs (text, video) 07/30/09
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Travel to Africa 07/27/09

U.S. Department of State – Bureau of African Affairs
“Confronting Drug Trafficking in West Africa” (PDF) 06/23/09
Testimony of Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson (Bureau of African Affairs) before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs

AGOA – African Growth and Opportunity Act (USA)
AGOA Forums: Information, speeches, remarks and videos from the 1st through 8th AGOA Forums
Introduction: the 1st AGOA Forum held in Washington DC October 29-30, 2001
AGOA News and resources
The 8th Annual AGOA Forum official website (Nairobi, Kenya August 4-6, 2009)
AGOA Forum Seeks to Expand U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment (America.gov) 06/30/09
U.S.-African Trade Profile 2009 (PDF)

Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) - Ambassador Ron Kirk
"Toward a New U.S.-African Partnership on Trade and Development" by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk 08/03/09
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Florie Liser Speaks About AGOA Forum (video and text) 08/01/09
"Trade Is Key to Africa’s Economic Growth" (USTR blog) 07/23/09
An interview with Assistant USTR for Africa Florizelle Liser ahead of the 8th AGOA Forum to be held in Nairobi, Kenya
Report Shows AGOA Continues to Grow and Diversify U.S.-Africa Trade (Office of the United States Trade Representative) – May 2008

AGOA Info (a portal operated by the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa)
Envoy hails Clinton’s trip to Africa, focus on hunger, AGOA (America.gov) 08/01/09
Eighth AGOA Forum more critical than ever, says Ambassador Carson (America.gov) 07/29/09
Africa: Enhanced US market access critical (America.gov) 07/24/09
Kenyan farmers reap gloom from American market (Business Daily Africa) 07/23/09

The Corporate Council on Africa (Washington DC)
7th Biennial U.S. - Africa Business Summit Sep 29 – Oct 1, 2009 - Washington DC
CCA 2008 US-Africa Infrastructure Conference

VOA News
Clinton Leaves on a Seven-Nation Africa Visit 08/02/09
Article includes an audio interview with Professor Okey Onyejekwe – UNECA Director of Governance
Supporting The Somali People 08/03/09
An editorial reflecting the views of the US Government
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Visit Africa 07/28/09


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Monday, April 21, 2008

China's 'Freighter of Death' for Zimbabwe: the An Yue Jiang

Updates for April 24th - 18:44 CET

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer has arrived in South Africa and has forcefully stated the following during a press conference :

Tsvangarai won Zimbabwe election, says U.S. official (CNN, AP)

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer was speaking in South Africa at the start of a visit to increase international pressure on Robert Mugabe's government, AP reported.

"We think in this situation we have a clear victor," she told AP, responding to questions about whether a power-sharing agreement could resolve the election impasse.


"Morgan Tsvangirai won and perhaps outright, at which point you don't need a government of national unity. You have to accept the result.

"There may need to be a political solution, a negotiated solution."


Chinese arms shipment for Zimbabwe being recalled to China

Several news agencies are reporting that the deadly cargo of Chinese-made arms and munitions on board the COSCO freighter 'An Yue Jiang' is being recalled to China ASAP. This is great news (if it can be verified to be really true) and it shows that even the PRC must bow to international pressure when enough pressure is being applied from all corners of the globe.

The New York Times reports that the Zimbabwe-bound ship heads back to China after being refused entry into ports all along the southern Africa coast, while Germany's Spiegel Online (international edition) reports that Germany's federal bank for development aid (KfW) had issued a seizure order against the arms shipment in Durban, South Africa due to the Zimbabwe government's non-payment of an outstanding loan of more than USD $60 million (approx. 40 million Euros). Read the April 22nd article 'Mugabe's Deadly Cargo: German Bank Attempted to Seize Chinese Arms Ship'.

Bloomberg.com reports that representatives from the German development bank KfW Group have since refuted that claim, saying it all was a terrible mistake by one of their 'loose cannon' collection agents based in South Africa. Germany, France, and other EU countries have to be rather careful with the government in Beijing these days according to this report at Speigel Online 'Balancing Tibet and Trade: EU Delegation Faces Difficult Tightrope in China'.

Beijing and PRC Chinese Bloggers Fight Back

China's state-owned news agency Xinhua reports on the An Yue Jiang scandal in the China Daily online 'China arms trade conforms to international laws and international obligations' while Global Voices Online over at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center has a roundup of Chinese bloggers commenting on the shipment of arms to Zimbabwe 'China: Netizens defend Zimbabwe arms sales'. Not much sympathy for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe from that bunch.

That's all the updates for today folks. Thanks to everyone who did their bit to help stop that shipment of arms and munitions to Ol' Bob.


Original post from April 22nd

O.K., I’ve spent enough time over the past few days raising Hell at other people’s blogs about the Chinese arms shipment to Robert Mugabe and now it’s time to get down to business. How can the global blogger community together with concerned citizens of the world help stop a shipment of deadly Chinese arms and munitions to one of Africa’s most deranged and brutal dictators? Answer: by working together to hold high a Torch of Truth and Justice that can drive back the lies, the naked fear, and the darkness.

The Story about a Chinese Freighter of Death: The An Yue Jiang

Surely by now many of you have heard the news about the shipment of Chinese arms for the regime in Zimbabwe. In the wake of last month’s stolen elections in Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe’s “
all-weather Nr. 1 friends in Beijing” decided that they needed to increase protection of their vast financial and political interests in the southern African country. For some reason the government of China feels that bullets instead of bread and other food staples is what the people of Zimbabwe need, a country where millions of people are facing mass starvation and some have been reduced to killing and eating rats.

About one week ago a rust bucket of a Chinese freighter arrived at the South African sea port of Durban, loaded with seventy-seven tons of munitions and arms for the Zimbabwean Ministry of Defence. The name of the ship: the An Yue Jiang. The freighter is owned and operated by COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company, Beijing PRC).
Sky News aerial video of the ship of doom. If you live near a container harbor or have travelled along a highway anywhere in the world you will have seen the name COSCO written on the sides of freight containers from China. COSCO, a state-owned Chinese shipping conglomerate, owns more than 600 ocean merchant vessels operating in over 140 countries around the globe.

The shipment of arms and munitions from the People’s Republic of China would have gone unnoticed as so many arms shipments through South Africa to Zimbabwe have done over the last two decades if it were not for an alert and courageous “concerned citizen” and the investigative follow-up by a local editor at South Africa’s
Noseweek magazine, not to be confused with Newsweek magazine. According to statements made by Noseweek editor Martin Welz who obtained a copy of the ship’s cargo manifest, the consignment for the Government of Zimbabwe included the following:

3 million+ rounds of ammunition for Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles
1500 rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s)
3500 mortar rounds, mortar tubes
Ejection seats and other spare parts for Chinese-made fighter aircraft

Upon leaking the news about the arms shipment to the South African public and SAPA (SA Press Association) all hell broke loose in Durban and in Pretoria. Quick action by civic organizations such as the
Southern Africa Litigation Centre and the head of South Africa’s powerful trade union SATAWU (South African Transport and Allied Worker’s Union) prevented the offloading and transit shipment of arms and munitions to Zimbabwe. In addition, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) together with the Open Society Institute and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and other regional organizations lodged complaints with the South African Government to prohibit the transport of Chinese arms to Zimbabwe.

Last week, while visiting New York for a special meeting of the UN Security Council, South African President Thabo Mbeki
sunk deeper into controversy over his very poor handling of the crisis in Zimbabwe. Mbeki made the following statements when queried by reporters at the UNSC press briefing of April 16th about the Chinese shipment of arms for Mugabe:

Quote of the Week April 13th–19th:
Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa

Question: Mr President, a shipment of weapons from China en-route to Zimbabwe has been found in a Durban harbour?

Answer: Well, ask the Chinese Ambassador. Durban harbour handles goods for many countries on the continent. If you say there are weapons that have arrived from China in the Durban Harbour, I think you should ask the Chinese. There might be a consignment of coal that is being exported to the Congo or something, it is a port, those weapons would have had nothing to do with South Africa. I really don't know what Zimbabwe imports from China or what China imports from Zimbabwe.

PoliticsWeb (South Africa)
Full Transcript of President Thabo Mbeki’s UNSC press conference April 16, 2007

There you have it. The
Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa has the lowdown on all shipments of Chinese goods through South Africa to Zimbabwe. The President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, doesn’t have a clue about what types of goods transit his country enroute to neighboring landlocked countries. This of course is a damn lie. It is almost a bigger lie than the one reported in The Economist’ article “Crisis (in Zimbabwe)? What crisis?” Mbeki’s reputation as a fair and competent 'point man' for international negotiations to settle the political and humanitarian crisis inside Zimbabwe is in the toilet.

Second Best Quote(s) of the Week April 13th-19th:
Zimbabwe’s Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga (Zimbabwe’s version of comical Ali) responding to queries from Reuters:

Zimbabwe's deputy information minister, Bright Matonga, said on Friday that no party had the right to stop the shipment.

"Every country has got a right to acquire arms. There is nothing wrong with that. If they are for Zimbabwe, they will definitely come to Zimbabwe," he told South Africa's SAFM radio.

"How they are used, when they are going to be used is none of anybody's business."

For its part, China is trying to prevent the controversy from fuelling criticism over its human rights record and rule in Tibet ahead of hosting the Olympics in August. Violent protests have followed the Olympic torch across the globe.

China's Foreign Ministry said in a short faxed statement to Reuters that it had seen the reports about the ship, but "did not understand the actual situation".

"China and Zimbabwe maintain normal trade relations. What we want to stress is China has always had a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms sales, and one of the most important principles is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries," the statement said.

Read more at Reuters India
“Zimbabwe arms ship heads for Angola, Mozambique says” (04/19/08)


If you give a damn about the future of Zimbabwe, speak out forcefully

The Number One Problem at the moment is tracking and locating the position of the COSCO freighter of death, the An Jue Jiang.
The people over at Sokwanele who publish the excellent ‘This is Zimbabwe’ blog have organized a “Stop the An Yue Jiang” global action campaign. Since early this afternoon bloggers and readers from around the world have been leaving comments and advice on how to help stop this deadly arms shipment, including ways to track the freighter as it slinks its way along the southern Africa coastline making sure to stay safely in international waters.

IANSA has begun a petition to collect names and email addresses to do the same, to stop the Chinese freighter An Yue Jiang from delivering weapons to Zimbabwe. Also, as of this morning international trade unions representing dock workers and longshoreman in countries around the globe have begun to join the effort to stop this shipment of bullets for Mugabe, a force of tens-of-thousands of blue collar workers that even the mighty Red Army is afraid to go up against. Longshoreman around the globe teaming up with bloggers? This must be another first in the history of the blogosphere and online social networks.

While the international news media is focused on the Countdown to Beijing and the next stop for the Olympic Farce Relay and worldwide protests against China’s human rights record (and the “I Love China No Matter What” counter- protests), an important and tense drama is playing out on the high seas of the South Atlantic. The regime in Beijing and their partners in African capitals, the bankers and global financial investors and businesspeople, politicians and political partners of the PRC would love for this latest Chinese Arms for Zimbabwe scandal to go away quietly.

Focusing on news about the row over the Olympic Games and the Chinese crackdown on Tibet is fine. Protesting against Beijing’s dubious support for the murderous regime of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan is the correct thing to do. Raising hell about China’s support for the brutal military rulers of Burma re: their crackdowns on innocent monks and civilians in the desperate country is also the right thing to do. Just don’t forget about the people of Zimbabwe who are facing continuing years of misery and brutal, repressive rule by an octogenarian despot who refuses to accept the democratic vote of no confidence delivered by Zimbabwean voters last month under threats and violence.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans are facing death by starvation and state-sanctioned terror and brutality at the hands of Robert Mugabe’s thugs and goons. China’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps in Africa,
its soldiers and military advisors seen patrolling the streets in Mutare and Chinese soldiers based at undisclosed locations within the country, will simply look on while protecting China’s economic and political interests in Zimbabwe. After all, for the regime in Beijing and for too many of the 750,000 Chinese merchants and workers in Africa today, business is business. It’s a win-win situation for everybody, isn’t it?


Related articles and online resources
Bloggers and independent media at the front


This is Zimbabwe – Sokwanele Civic Action Support Group
Action: Stop the An Yue Jiang from delivering Chinese weapons to Mugabe, 04/21/08
We call them guns, Mugabe calls them ‘campaign materials’, 04/18/08
Chinese soldiers seen in Mutare, 04/16/08
Archived updates on the An Yue Jiang

China Digital Times (independent news and editorials about China)
Chinese troops are on the streets of Zimbabwean city, witness says – 04/19/08
China’s small arms sales to Sudan increased as Darfur violence escalated – 03/13/08
EU Parliament disinvests in Petrochina/CNPC over China’s funding of Sudan regime – 03/16/08
If you build it, they will come (Mozambique) – 03/31/08
China Returns to Africa: A Superpower and a Continent Embrace (book review), 04/19/08

My Heart’s in Accra (Ethan Zuckerman)
Watching, Waiting – 04/18/08
Zimbabwe: the endless endgame – 04/17/08

Global Voices Online
Zimbabwe: Chinese troops in Mutare? – 04/20/08

SW Africa Radio (UK) – the independent voice of Zimbabwe on shortwave radio

Now Public
Mugabe: Chinese Military is a Welcome Ally on the Streets of Zimbabwe, 04/19/08

The Zimbabwean Pundit
Politics of change and change of politics: Zim elections ’08 – 04/11/08

The Word Wright (South Africa)
The China-Zimbabwe Arms Deal: a storm in a teacup or the tip of the iceberg? – 04/19/08


The International Mainstream Media & Press

The New York Times
Zimbabwe Arms Shipped by China Spark an Uproar, 04/19/08

The Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
Ship with Arms for Zimbabwe Leaves Durban after Court Ruling, 04/19/08
Zille: Don’t Give Chinese Arms to Zimbabwe, 04/18/08

24.com (South Africa)
Zimbabwe Generals Meet over Arms Shipment, 04/21/08

The Guardian (UK) – Comment is Free
Mugabe’s Gall is Breathtaking by Guguletho Moyo, 04/18/08
Chinese ship carries arms cargo to Mugabe regime, 04/18/08

The International Herald Tribune
South Africa and Zimbabwe: The Silence of Mbeki – 04/17/08

Zimbabwean Journalists (independent journalists based in the UK)
Union in South Africa Refuses to Offload Zimbabwean Arms, 04/17/08
Zimbabwe buys fighter jets from China, 08/22/06

Times Online (UK)
Dockers refuse to unload China arms shipment for Zimbabwe, 04/18/08

BBC News
Zimbabwe arms ship quits South Africa, 04/19/08

Reuters India
Zimbabwe arms ship heads for Angola, Mozambique says – 04/19/08

The Economist (UK)
Zimbabwe: Crisis? What Crisis? – 04/17/08
Zimbabwe: Africa’s Shame – 04/17/08

CNN
Zimbabwe arms ship headed for Angola, 04/19/08
South Africa won’t block Chinese weapons for Zimbabwe, 04/17/08

TIME.com
How Long Will Mugabe Hang On? – 04/03/08


Foundations and organizations and government resources

Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)
Zimbabwe eager to strengthen economic ties with China – 09/28/06

IANSA (International Action Network on Small Arms)
Stop the Zimbabwe Arms Shipment petition
SADC must detain Chinese arms to Zimbabwe, 04/14/08

Open Society Institute –
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
Eyes on Zimbabwe special program, Eyes on Zimbabwe blog

The Jamestown Foundation
Zimbabwe: China’s African Ally, 07/05/05


Archived (older) related news articles

PBS Frontline World
Congo: On the trail of an AK-47, China’s Calling Card in Africa, 08/30/07

SW Africa Radio (UK) – the independent voice of Zimbabwe on shortwave radio
(Zimbabwe’s) Purchase of Chinese Fighter Jets Makes Mockery of UN Humanitarian Appeal, 08/30/06

New Zimbabwean
Mugabe spends $200 million on new fighter jets, 11/03/06

The Times Online (UK)
The sumptuous retirement mansion Mugabe has no intention of using, 03/30/05

Sokwanele (Zimbabwe Civil Support organization)
Mugabe and His Cronies Living Large at Expense of the Masses, 09/14/04

The Telegraph (UK)
Mugabe’s new palace in the land of hunger, 08/26/03


Additional resources about the historical maritime figure Admiral Zheng He

This is a story about the great
Ming Dynasty explorer Admiral Zheng He as described so eloquently by the distinguished Chinese scholar Dr. Jin Wu.

The An Yue Jiang is a far cry from the
technological genius of Admiral Zeng He’s treasure ships (PBS Nova video), but then again, China ruled under the Great Ming emperors was a very different place from the China we know today.

UCLA International Institute
Zheng He’s Voyages of Discovery

National Geographic
China’s Great Armada and Admiral Zeng He (July 2005)

PBS Nova –
Sultan’s Lost Treasure (January 2001)

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Tuesday, December 04, 2007

EU-Africa Summit 2007 in Lisbon: The Pre-Game Show Part I

Update December 5th:
A 'Heads Up' announcement for international journalists covering the EU-Africa Summit and a missing link to the European Commission

Journalist Andrew Ströhlein, the Director of Media and Information for the International Crisis Group, has a sobering message for European news networks, news editors and journalists who will be covering the upcoming summit in Lisbon. Writing for his Reuters AlertNet blog Andy and I are on the same wavelength when it comes to 'Bandit Bob' Mugabe attending the EU-Africa Summit 2007 in Lisbon. Andy says,

EU-Africa Summit: Get Beyond Bob
04 Dec 2007 23:49:00 GMT
Blogged by: Andrew Stroehlein


"Here's a challenge to all European journalists intending to write about this weekend's EU-Africa Summit: deal with real issues that may have an effect on people's lives, not invented ones that politicians use to aggrandise themselves. In short, skip the flap about Robert Mugabe's attendance, and go directly to substance.

Some may say this is hard to do. No doubt editors back home are baying for Bob, so they can cover what they assume people are interested in -- mostly because the competition is working under the same assumptions. Of course, in doing so the media gatekeepers have to consciously ignore their duty to inform the public as well as the opportunity they possess to set the agenda.

There are at least a dozen much more critical issues this EU-Africa Summit raises. I chaired a press conference today, with a number of expert speakers discussing the upcoming international meeting for about an hour, and throughout their speeches the subject of Mugabe's attendance never came up once. There was just too much else to talk about.

My own organisation, the International Crisis Group, highlighted the deteriorating situation in Darfur, now exacerbated by Khartoum blocking deployment of the hybrid AU/UN force, and examined the situation in Chad, where one of the larger rebel groups just declared war on the EU force about to be sent there.”

Andy goes on to say more (read all about it here) but he wraps the post rather nicely with these words of advice to his professional news journalism colleagues:

“…And again, throughout the hour-long press briefing, not one speaker, not even the harsh critic of Mugabe from Zimbabwe, discussed the matter of the leader's attendance at the Summit. In fact, not until a journalist asked about it in the question period did anyone even mention it. All the expert speakers agreed with Arnold Tsunga when he replied that this was a diversion from the real issues the EU and Africa needed to address, particularly about Zimbabwe, but also right across Africa.If you're a journalist, consider following his lead when you write your story. This is the first EU-Africa Summit in seven years. Don't waste your rare column inches and air time on a non-story about pointless political posturing.”

End of excerpt from Reuters Alertnet blog -

The second part of this update has to do with a newly launched website from the European Commission for the EU-Africa Summit 2007 in Lisbon. Check out the new site from the EC DG DEV as it is loaded with information about the upcoming summit and African-EU partnerships and cooperation. Of course the information on the website is available in all languages spoken within the European Union and a few foreign tongues as well.


End of update for December 5th
Original post of December 4th follows:

A few days ago when I began in earnest to research information online about the upcoming EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon, most online international news sites and the blogosphere alike had very little to offer. Little to offer that is if you discount the weeks of media babble about the dreaded attendance of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and the not so subtle revulsion of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown for “Bob the Bandit”, a pre-summit political and media circus that threatens to overshadow any chance for success of this important event. People seem to forget that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair also did not attend the first ever Africa-EU summit held in Cairo, Egypt in 2000 and that the planned follow-on summit for 2003 was cancelled for the same reason: the controversy over Robert Mugabe’s presence at these summits.

Question: So what’s on the menu at Jewels for the coming days and weeks?

Answer: The strategic partnership talks in Lisbon between the leaders of 80+ sovereign states representing 100’s of millions of citizens living in Europe and Africa. We are only days away from the start of the 2nd EU-Africa Summit to be held in Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal from December 7-9, 2007.

That’s right folks, after an absence of more than seven years the Africa-Europe Summit is back in business again. The EU-Africa Summit 2007 is the follow-on summit to the 1st OAU-EU Summit held in Cairo, Egypt in April 2000. The OAU (Organization of African Unity) was disbanded in 2002 with the newly formed African Union rising from its ashes before the flames died down. The EU (European Union) has expanded its membership to 27 countries as of 2007 and much has changed in the world since the first Africa-Europe summit (boy that’s an understatement). The process of building a better economic, political, and cultural relationship between the people of these two continents just might get a “new lease on life” after Lisbon.

This ain’t gonna be anything like the November 2006 China-Africa Summit in Beijing. Loose money from European state coffers feeding fast & shady deals for promises to build new road and rail infrastructure, government palaces, and football stadiums in exchange for lucrative exclusive contracts for oil, gas, and other natural resources that rightly belong to the citizens of resource-rich African countries will not be on the agenda in Lisbon. Or maybe it will be, because news on the street today is that China has been invited by the EU to the Lisbon Summit as an “observer country”.

I thought it would be a good idea to first concentrate on solid background information about the European and African strategic foreign policies that constitute the core of this important summit and to provide useful online resources for my astute readers. After all, the average person on the street whether in a European city or an African city does not have a clue to what this summit is all about and how it will affect their future.

A good starting point for me in researching information about the two Africa-EU summits has been the europafrica.org website and blog. This organization is funded and managed by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) based in Brussels, Belgium. The site is dedicated exclusively to news updates, reports, press releases, and official documentation about the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon and joint African-European political and economic policies. I suggest that you start with europafrica’s Lisbon Summit category and spread out from there. I’ve also listed at the end of this post a small number of online resources about the EU-Africa summits and joint European-African strategic policies and cooperation. This is the first in a short series of posts at Jewels about the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon and more links and cross-posting of relevant blog articles will follow.

The europafrica.org website has a link to the original Cairo Plan of Action from the 2000 Africa-EU Summit in Cairo. It would be interesting to compare the main points of that joint declaration by European and African heads of state to the EU-Africa Joint Strategy for 2007 to be agreed upon (or not) at the Lisbon Summit. I have created an outline of the main sections from the Cairo Plan of Action with selected excerpts:


CAIRO PLAN of ACTION: AFRICA-EUROPE SUMMIT UNDER the AEGIS of the OAU and the EU
Cairo, 3-4 April 2000

I. INTRODUCTION


We, the Heads of State and Government of African States and of the European Union as well as the President of the European Commission, have met in the First Africa - Europe Summit under the Aegis of the OAU and EU, in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt, at the kind invitation of His Excellency Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, under the Co-Presidency of the President of Algeria, His Excellency Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in his capacity as

Chairman of the OAU, and the Prime Minister of Portugal, His Excellency Antonio Guterres, in his capacity as President of the European Council.

The Secretary General of the OAU, and the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy also participated in the Summit. A representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations attended the Summit.

We solemnly declare that:

Over the centuries, ties have existed between Africa and Europe, which have led to many areas of co-operation, covering political, economic, social, as well as cultural and linguistic domains. These have developed on the basis of shared values of strengthening representative and participatory democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, good governance, pluralism, international peace and security, political stability and confidence among nations. In the light of the current rapid globalisation trend, We are determined to strengthen this co-operation in our mutual interest and make it more beneficial to the two regions.

In order to give a new strategic dimension to the global partnership between Africa and Europe for the Twenty First Century, in a spirit of equality, respect, alliance and co-operation between our regions, We are committed to the basic objective of strengthening the already existing links of political, economic and cultural understanding through the creation of an environment and an effective framework for promoting a constructive dialogue on economic, political, social and development issues.

I. REGIONAL ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND INTEGRATION

We stress the importance of regional economic co-operation and integration as an efficient strategy for the orderly and co-ordinated development of the African continent. We recognise the important interrelation between political stability, peace and security on one hand and regional integration on the other. We commend the leaders of the African continent for adopting a number of declarations, plans and programmes, as well as treaties which constitute an appropriate framework for the collective promotion of the development of their countries, which include the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos of 1980, and the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community of 1991 (the Abuja Treaty), which came into force in May 1994, and the Sirte Declaration adopted at the OAU Extraordinary Summit, Libya in September 1999, on the African Union.

We note the progress made in regional integration in Europe and in Africa and recognise that regional integration can be an important step towards beneficial participation in the world economy. We welcome the decision taken at the OAU Extraordinary Summit on the African Union in Sirte, Libya in September 1999 to realise the African commitment to regional integration and to consolidate and strengthen the regional economic communities as the building blocks for achieving the objectives of the African Economic Community.

We note the efforts to establish an Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area and, in the framework of the just concluded ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, to create integrated economic areas between the EU and Africa, consistent with the objective of enhancing the economic integration of Africa. In addition, the priorities for action adopted by the Summit will be promoted through the current ministerial discussions between the European Union and the African countries in the framework of the new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement and the Barcelona Process. These discussions will maintain their present format and regularity.

We stress the need to promote close co-operation between the EU and African regional integration institutions, notably the African Economic Community (AEC), in the context of facilitating the sharing of experiences and institutional strengthening of the AEC and the regional economic communities (RECs). In that regard, it is worth recalling the OAU document: Relaunching Africa's Economic and Social Development: The Cairo Agenda for Action of 1995.

I. INTEGRATING AFRICA INTO THE WORLD ECONOMY

Trade

We welcome the progress made in recent years towards more outward-oriented economies by a large number of African countries and we pledge our support to these policies, in such a way as to encourage competitive advantages, economic growth, sustainable development and social stability in Africa.

We recall that Africa and the EU have traditionally been important trade partners and We affirm our commitment to strengthen this partnership by removing progressively barriers to trade between both sides, including non-tariff barriers, and enhancing co-operation in all trade related areas, building on regional integration initiatives existing within Africa and in line with the goals and objectives of the Abuja Treaty with a view to ensuring the further development of Africa's economic and industrial potential. With respect to African Least Developed Countries, We recognise the need for enhanced market access for essentially all their products on a duty-free and quota-free basis.

End excerpt - Read more from the Cairo Plan of Action at the Republic of South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs website.

I. Introduction

II. Regional Economic Co-operation and Integration

III. Integrating Africa into the World Economy
a. Trade
b. Private Sector Development
c. Investment
d. Resources for Development
e. Infrastructural Problems and Industrial Base
f. Research and Technology
g. External Debt
h. International Co-operation

IV. Human Rights, Democratic Principles and Institutions, Good Governance, and the Rule of Law
a. Human Rights
b. Democratic Principles and Institutions
c. Civil Society
d. Migration
e. Xenophobia
f. Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s)

V. Peace-Building, Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution
a. Post-conflict Assistance and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Integration
b. Terrorism
c. Small Arms and Light Weapons
d. Landmines
e. 2000 Review of the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty)
f. Conflicts in Africa

VI. Development Issues
a. Challenges to Sustainable Development in Africa and Poverty Eradication
b. Investment in Human Resources – Education
c. Investment in Human Resources – Health
d. Food Security
e. Environment
f. Drug Abuse and Trafficking
g. Cultural Issues

End of Cairo Action Plan outline


Related articles and additional resources

Presidency of the European Union – Portugal 2007
EU-Africa Summit 2007 in Lisbon official website (see related news)
EU-Africa Business Summit in Lisbon 2007 official website
EU-Africa Business Forum 2007 in Accra, Ghana


European Commission – Directorate Generale for Development
EU-Africa Summit 2007 website

(Note: this site launched on November 17th and is loaded with info)

ECDPM – European Centre for Development Policy Management
Europe Cares

EU SCADPlus – Taking the EU-Africa dialogue forward

African Union official website

African Union Commission (CIDO – African Citizens Directorate)
NEPAD – the New Partnership for African Development


African Union Commission - Conferences
Official AU website for the Africa-EU Summit 2007 in Lisbon
(Note: is it the Africa-EU Summit or the EU-Africa Summit, or both?)

Republic of South Africa – Department of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs Briefing on the European Union – Africa Summit, 12/05/07

Europafrica.org - public consultation toward a joint EU-Africa strategy
Africa-Europe Youth Summit (description and resources)
Voices from the Euro-Africa Civil Society Forum, 11/23/07
(Note: see about the EU-Africa consultation and the Europafrica Bulletin)

Euforic (official blog of Europe’s Forum on International Cooperation)
Creating a true and equal partnership between Europe and Africa?, 11/30/07

(Must-see video and text from a conference sponsored by Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation and WEED – World Economy, Ecology, and Development)
More info about the conference at the WEED website

APO-Source (blog and news database of the African Press Organization)
Africa and Europe: a new departure by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, 12/05/07
Africa’s Security Is Our Security - Its Opportunities are Our Opportunities by Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, 12/04/07
Lisbon Summit to discuss youth policy in Europe-Africa cooperation, 12/04/07
Joint EP-PAP Statement on the joint EU-Africa Strategy to be adopted by EU and African heads of state and government, 10/26/07


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