 MAPUTO (Reuters) - African statesman Nelson Mandela said on Wednesday the continent must be allowed to chart its own destiny and former heads of state like himself had a huge role to play in ensuring stability and growth. Mandela told a forum of former heads of state meeting in Mozambique that they were a key resource for conflict resolution and lobbying wealthy nations and international investors to put more cash in the continent to create jobs to fight poverty. The forum was convened by Joaquim Chissano, who retired as Mozambique's president a year ago. Chissano and Mandela, the former South African president, were joined by 14 other former heads of state and government at the meeting in Maputo. Among the notable former presidents at the meeting were Jerry Rawlings for Ghana, Yakubu Gowon of Nigeria, anti-AIDS campaigner Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Pierre Buyoya of Burundi and Bakili Muluzi, who has been embroiled in a bitter power struggle with his successor in Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika. |
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 12 January 2006 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 On the back of record oil prices, Africa's second largest producer, Angola, has one of the continent's fastest growing economies while its people remain among the poorest.
After 27 years of civil war a peace agreement signed with UNITA rebels in 2002 is slowly beginning to translate into a better life for ordinary Angolans, who increasingly blame the government for the delay in turning the oil revenue into much-needed development.
Elections are expected in 2007, the first since 1992. "The government wants to demonstrate the benefits of peace, and with elections coming up there is a now a major incentive to deliver the peace dividend to the people," said Allan Cain, Director of Development Workshop, a pro-poor Angolan NGO. |
|
Read more...
|
|
 ROME (AP) — An estimated 11 million people in the Horn of Africa ``are on the brink of starvation" because of severe drought and war, with some deaths already being reported in Kenya, the United Nations said Friday. People in Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia need food aid, water, new livestock and seeds, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement. "Millions of people are on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa due to recent severe droughts coupled with the effects of past and ongoing conflicts," the agency said. FAO economist Shukri Ahmed said the region's dry season had begun and the rains forecast for March and April are not expected to be significant. |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 January 2006 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 37 - 40 of 44 |
