AFRICA: Foreign Investment ‘No Substitute For Aid And Good Policy’

More foreign direct investment is not a cure-all for Africa's socio-economic ills and can not substitute for well-targeted international aid and sound macro-economic policies, argues a leading economist.

AFRICA: ‘Tigers’ Can Live In Africa Too, Say Financial Analysts

Within the next few years sub-Saharan Africa could rank alongside Asia as a major destination for foreign institutional investment, claim fund managers who have bucked the trend and invested heavily in the region.

FOOD: NGO Ability To Tackle Crisis Situations Questioned

Calls to involve NGOs in efforts to increase global food security in the run-up to a major summit in Rome in November come as some analysts are questioning the effectiveness of policies that rely on NGOs to implement them.

BURUNDI: Aid Agencies Will Remain Despite Escalating Violence

Mounting speculation that escalating inter- ethnic violence in Burundi would force international relief agencies working in the country to pull out has been dismissed as "baseless" by London-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

SOUTH AFRICA: Balanced Economic Policies Needed For Development

If South Africa is to reap economic benefit from the global goodwill it has earned from hosting the rugby World Cup, analysts here say the Mandela administration must introduce more investor-friendly macroeconomic policies.

HEALTH: Study Warns of The Neglected Fall-Out From War – Disease

Public health systems in developing countries come under severe strain in countries affected by civil war and need urgent attention, according to a new study compiled by London-based researchers.

ANGOLA: More Action Needed Against UNITA, Say Activists

Urgent international action is needed to prevent the latest crisis in Angola from degenerating into the kind of fighting seen last year in the war-ravaged African state, say London-based campaigners.

An Inter Press Service Feature

Britain's independent Police Complaints Authority has been forced to launch an investigation into the death of a Nigerian man in police custody following concerted pressure from anti-racist campaigners and the dead man's relatives.

SOUTH AFRICA-ECONOMY: Cautious Uptake By Foreign Investors

Foreign investors have responded cautiously rather than enthusiastically to the lifting of anti-apartheid sanctions and South Africa's successful transition to full democracy. But the outlook for future investment is still bright.

ANGOLA: Strident U.S. Republicans Could Hamper Peace Process

Since the Republican Party routed Bill Clinton's democrats and won control of the United States Congress in elections last month there has been virtually no coverage of the likely impact on the Angolan peace process.

HUMAN RIGHTS-MAURITANIA: Slavery Rampant in North African State

As the end of the twentieth century approaches the nineteenth century curse of slavery is very much alive and well in the North African state of Mauritania.

NIGERIA: Soyinka’s Supporters Abroad Welcome His Temporary Flight

The dramatic exit from Nigeria of Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka this week, despite the seizure of his passport by the Lagos authorities, will serve to focus attention on the country's deepening political crisis, say campaigners here.

CHILDREN: Youngsters Targeted in a World at War

When fighting started between the Angolan government and rebel troops in Huambo last year, 12-year-old Maria, orphaned by the two-decade long civil war, was brutally raped by the rebels and became pregnant.

An Inter Press Service Feature

Calls by the Rwanda Government for food aid to the internally-displaced inside Rwanda to be cut in order to pressure people to return to their homes has received a mixed response from international relief agencies here.