WORLD: North Should Pay South Reparations for Climate Change

The North should pay reparations to the South for the effects of climate change.

POLITICS-RWANDA: Woman Vies for Top Job

On average women constitute 18.8 percent of representatives in parliaments across the world according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). This gender imbalance has been subject to much feminist criticism and many campaigns for change have been staged to address the status quo. The situation is however different in Rwanda.

DEVELOPMENT: Spain’s New Drive to Extend its Interests in Africa

Spain is breaking new ground in its relations with Africa through an ambitious programme which has seen it increasing its development funding to the continent more than six-fold from 2004 to reach 1,4 billion euros in 2008.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Africa Continues to Draw Inspiration

The same kind of worldwide solidarity that helped bring down apartheid is necessary to free the global South from economic domination.

ZIMBABWE: Economy Crippled By Political Uncertainty

The Zimbabwean government has been working hard to attract international investors to revive the country’s failing economy. Success on this front in 2010 may hinge on the coalition government convincing investors their capital will be secure.

GENDER: Zimbabwe Basket Fund Takes Off

A basket fund aimed at increasing the economic participation of women in Zimbabwe, has been relaunched after a start which faltered due to the delayed appointment of the new government earlier this year.

ZIMBABWE: Far From the City’s Money, Villagers Barter Again

In Chitsa, a village with some 2,000 inhabitants located about 250 km from Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare, it has become difficult to conduct everyday transactions involving money.

AGRICULTURE-ZIMBABWE: "The Rule of Law Just Isn’t There"

Agriculture used to be Zimbabwe’s economic mainstay but it has been on the decline since 2000 when the ZANU-PF government embarked on a so-called land reform programme that resulted in about 4,000 productive white farmers losing their farms, many to members of the politically connected elite.

ZIMBABWE: Warm Words for Investors at Mines Summit

Desperate for investment to lift its moribund economy, the Zimbabwe government welcomed hundreds of prospective mining investors to a conference in Harare this week.

DRC: Electricity Lines Overhead But Never Seen a Light Bulb

"We produce electricity but we manage darkness. We have big energy sources of electricity but only 20 percent of the population has access to electricity because most of the energy is sold to foreign countries."

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Learning From Criticism, U.S. Committed to AIDS Fight

The United States has embarked on a mission to restore Africa's trust in U.S. commitment to global AIDS relief.

ECONOMY: "Africa Is Paying Most for a Crisis Not of its Making"

The global economic crisis has hit the African continent especially hard despite not being involved in its making, civil society organisations gathered in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo heard at the fifth people’s summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Q&A: Cross-Border Links to Boost Women’s Economic Empowerment

The Professional Women, Executives and Businesswomen’s Forum (PROWEB) organised a unique investment conference last week in Zimbabwe’s capital where businesswomen from South Africa and Zimbabwe got the opportunity to not only network but forge what may be a unique African association among businesswomen across national borders.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Zimbabwe Must Abide By SADC Decisions

Condemning Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from a regional tribunal which ruled its state-orchestrated land seizures illegal, civil society groups have said the country should abide by decisions of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or pull out of the regional body entirely.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: "Women Can Be More Than Small-Scale Farmers"

"Government must lead in breaking down the stereotypes of women as tuck-shop owners, candle-makers, peasant farmers, teachers and nurses and create the reality in which they become hoteliers, large-scale commercial farmers, miners and proprietors of retail chains."