By Gambian Correspondent – The Government of the Gambia has signed two financing agreements with the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the purchase and leasing of a 20MW power plant under the Brikama II power project and the national ECOWAS-wide Area Network Infrastructure (ECOWAN). The signing of the two agreements, done on behalf of the Gambia Government by the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mambury Njie, was held at the fringes of the 36th annual meeting of the bank. A press release from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs said the Brikama II... Continue Reading
By Kizito Makoye, Dar es Salaam – Tanzania has not been able to tackle widespread poverty despite massive foreign investment attracted in the past 15 years, says a report. Titled The political economy of the investment climate inTanzania, compiled by Brian Cooksey and Tim Kelsall on behalf of Africa Power and Politics Programme, the report dismisses IMF’s views that the country will be among the fastest growing over the next decade. The Report says the current economic policies favour foreign investors – although they have not created an impact upon the economy! -It is worth asking whether Tanzania needs the... Continue Reading
By Gambian Correspondent – Lawyer Lamin Camara representing the former information minister Dr. Amadou Janneh and three others charged with treason, sedition and conspiracy yesterday urged the Special Criminal Court to discharge Janneh and his co-accused until such a time when the prosecution presents substantial charges against the accused persons. This call followed another announcement by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mikailu Abdullah, that investigations into the case are still ongoing, and thus he requested for another two weeks adjournment. The DPP earlier told the court that the charges against the accused persons are holding charges, adding that by next... Continue Reading
JOHANNESBURG, 6 July 2011 (IRIN) – With just weeks to go before a 27-month moratorium on deporting Zimbabweans living illegally in South Africa expires, the authorities are scrambling to complete a documentation process that will still leave hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans lacking the necessary permits to avoid arrest. The number of Zimbabweans who have fled the political and economic crisis in their country and moved to South Africa is unknown but estimates from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) range from 1 to 1.5 million. Before the government introduced the moratorium in April 2009, the authorities were deporting Zimbabweans... Continue Reading
By Shout-Africa Cameroon Correspondent – The fact that developing countries do not have carbon emission caps under the Kyoto Protocol has led to the current interest in high-income countries in border taxes on the “virtual” carbon content of imports. The results present striking evidence on the wide variation in the carbon-intensiveness of trade across countries, with major developing countries being large net exporters of virtual carbon. Tax rates of $50 per ton of virtual carbon could lead to very substantial effective tariff rates on the exports of the most carbon-intensive developing nations. ‘Virtual carbon’ is embedded carbon in goods or... Continue Reading
