A List of French Authors Who Have Written on Africa

At the blog Conscious Generation, Another Africa blogger HBG publishes (FR) an exhaustive list of French authors who have written on Africa along with names of their works.

DRC: 38,000 still dying every month

Congo Watch reminds us that up to 38,000 people are still dying every month in the Democratic Republic of Congo...”The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains a humanitarian disaster despite the presence of UN troops and the recent approval of a new constitution that paved the way for elections...

Report on Contracts Signed during the D.R. of Congo's Civil War Released

Le Blog du Congolais reports (FR) that a long awaited report on mining contracts signed during the Congolese civil war which ended in June 2003 was finally made available to the country's deputies in the past week or so. The report recommends 1) that several contracts be revoked or renegotiated...

DRC: Humanitarian crisis

Black Star Journal reports on the continuing crisis in the DRC and points to three articles on the country's state of affairs.

DRC: new constitution new flag

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller reports that the DRC constitutional referendum has been approved. Alongside the approved constitution is a new blue and red flag.…..”The blue is to symbolize peace, and the red, in this case, is to commemorate the estimated 4 million Congolese who have lost their lives...

Voices from Zimbabwe and the Great Lakes

Zimbabwe: Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), a civic action group looking out for the welfare of Zimbabwean women, held their third annual valentine's day protest march. This is Zimbabwe blogged that flyers promoting the march brought Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, to a standstill days before the event. This is Zimbabwe's...

DRC: Making change work

Breaking Hearts in the Heart of Darkness uses the Nescafe phenomenon or “who do I have to kill to get a decent cup of coffee” as a metaphor for governments and development in many third world countries. In other words when a system is not working you should replace it...

DRC: UN may withdraw support

Congo Watch reports that The UN has told the Congolese forces that they will not longer provide support unless human rights violations stop.

DRC: photos

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller posts two photos of Kinshasa – one taken prior to independence in 1960 and one more recently.

African women's voices this week

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman comments on the predominance of old men in Kenyan politics and government. She questions how old fashioned men acting out old fashioned politics chose John Githongo to head the anti-corruption drive. Possibly it was because they thought he was so young he would not...

Musengeshi Katata comments (FR) on Amely-James Koh Bela's book on African prostitution in the West at Forum Realisance: “Can one really defend values that are everyday assaulted and eroded by poverty? … Without a battle against poverty including against western exploitation and the depravation of African economies, without a protracted...

DRC soccer federation

Black Star Journal comments on the failure of the The DRC's soccer federation to inform their player LuaLua on the death of his son for over two weeks.

Le Pangolin Advises Africans to Purchase Stock in Companies that Exploit their Resources

In light of Indian company Mittal Steel's recent attempt to acquire Arcelor, a European counterpart, Congolese blogger Mouele Kibaya advises at Le Pangolin that (FR) Africans purchase stock in companies that exploit African raw materials. He continues: “Ivory Coast should purchase stock in leading cocoa companies. Congo should use its...

Congolese Blogger Ben-Clet Decries Swearing Politician

Over at the group effort Le Blog du Congolais, Congolese blogger Ben-Clet deplores the ethics of Congolese Vice-President Abdoulaye Yerodia who recenty insulted two political rivals (Pierre Pay Pay and Etienne Tshisekedi ) during a live television broadcast: “Arming yourself with Lingala, one of 4 national languages, you tried to...

Voices From Zimbabwe and the Great Lakes

Zimbabwe: Inflation continues to rule the day in Zimbabwe where they recently introduced a 50,000 dollar note in a bid to help hauling the country's porous currency around. Ironically, said new note is not enough to buy a loaf bread a mundane necessity so This is Zimbabwe asks, “Can anyone...

DRC: myth v reality

Adventures of a retired arm chair traveller provides some real facts about the DRC….”Um. No, 92 out of every 100 babies do not die. This is why sports columnists should not write about health statistics, at least not without asking, So what does that mean? Think about it — If...