RIGHTS: Child Slave Rings Rife in Southern Africa

Trade in children, literally slave trading in infants to teenagers, has been a problem that African law enforcement officials thought was mostly confined to the western part of the continent.

DEVELOPMENT-SWAZILAND: Gov’t, Critics Use Summit to Highlight Their Case

A growing reform movement, abetted by radical labour unions, is being heard louder than ever this week at the commencement of a British Commonwealth summit being held in Swaziland from Aug. 12 to Aug. 16.

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Sex Workers Join Efforts to Contain Spread of AIDS

Commercial sex workers are not responsible for the rise in AIDS cases regionally, but their activities do contribute, and efforts to contain the spread of HIV now include members of the world's oldest profession.

LABOUR-SWAZILAND: Protest Marches to Coincide with Heads of State Summit

Former South African President Nelson Mandela will lead a global contingent of present and past heads of state at the British Commonwealth SMART Partnership Summit, or Global 2003, which will be held in Swaziland on Aug. 13.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Farmers Find Marijuana the Most Lucrative Cash Crop

Drug interdiction efforts through the coordinated programmes of police forces of the region are having mixed results against small-landholder farmers who find marijuana cultivation yields by far their most lucrative cash crop.

TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: Poverty an Impediment to Internet Growth

Africa's editors are communicating more and more through the Internet, forming members-only chat-rooms to exchange thoughts on the issues that confront the continent, and to share solutions when these appear.

DEVELOPMENT-BOTSWANA: Tourism May Save the San from Cultural Extinction

The government of Botswana's decision to permit the San, or the Bush People, to have a say in how their lands are developed by tourism industry, is an indication of the changing nature of tourism development in the region.

TECHNOLOGY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: A Tall Order for IT to Fill

Southern African nations are entering the modern information age by hammering out polices to coordinate the growth of information and communications technologies (ICT) in their countries.

CULTURE-SWAZILAND: Seeking Equality From Gender Biased Ancestral Spirits

An early dusk falls on wintry Swaziland, the time for the head of the traditional homestead to lead the family in prayer to the ancestral spirits. The household head kneels at the umsamo, the sacred spot on the far wall directly opposite the door of a hut designated for this purpose. The other family members kneel in a semi-circle on either side. "Emadloti (ancestral spirits), we greet you, we hail you, we welcome you . . ."

ENVIRONMENT: Alien Plant Species Invade Southern Africa

Environmentalists are calling it "the invasion of the invasives." Non-indigenous plant species brought to Southern Africa are alarming conservationists by the way they are taking over the habitats of native plants and, in some cases, causing indigenous species to become endangered.

ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: A Struggle for Survival, as Man Engages Hungry Animals

A battle is raging throughout the African sub-continent between subsistence farmers, usually the poorest villagers of the region, and game parks over crop destruction wrought by hungry wild animals.

POLITICS: African Union Seeks to Shed the Image of Mere ‘Talk Shop’

A year into its mandate to replace the old Organisation of African Unity, the African Union is seeking substantive acts to counter criticism that it is a mere "talk shop" for travel-loving ministers.

ECONOMY-AFRICA: Scramble for Tourists Spurs Competition for New Airports

The new Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport boasts of having "the world's largest thatched roof".

TRANSPORT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Opportunities for New Breed of Entrepreneurs

As the highways, bridges, customs offices and the rest of Southern Africa's road transportation infrastructure expands, new opportunities for small business people to enter the freight business are emerging, offering a literal route out of poverty.

TRADE-AFRICA: Small Firms Seek Foreign Markets to Break the Circle of Poverty

Impoverished local economies may limit the growth potential of ambitious small Southern Africa businesses, but the entrepreneurs who run these start-up firms are seeking foreign markets to achieve their profits.

TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: High Tech No Longer Restricted to Rich Nations

Satellite imagery and other high tech innovations are no longer restricted to rich developed countries, but are finding applications throughout Africa.

TECHNOLOGY: UN Pledges to Set the African Virtual Library in Motion

Every computer equipped to play C-Roms or with access to the Internet is a "virtual library," where the world's knowledge can be downloaded for enquiring users.

ECONOMY: Southern African Countries Seek to Trade as a Bloc

Southern African economies and the lives of the people will be elevated when the "Made In SADC" label, designating goods produced in the 14-member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), becomes a worldwide recognised assurance of unique quality merchandise, industry and government trade representatives were projecting at a meeting to boost regional exports.

MEDIA: Africa Has More “Press Predators" than Any Other Continent

African journalists marked this week's Press Freedom Day with sombre observations about the dangers of information gathering on the continent, and in some cases memorials to colleagues killed while doing their jobs.

DEVELOPMENT: Think-Tanks Redefine the Scourge of Chronic Poverty in Africa

The scourge of chronic poverty in Africa is being redefined in new surveys and more sophisticated analyses that will help policymakers understand the root causes for constantly impoverished people, and plan effective remedies.

ENVIRONMENT-SWAZILAND: A Fierce Battle over Construction of New Road

Only a week after the Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA) flexed newly-found muscle and put one of the country's largest manufacturers on notice that it must stop polluting a central river or face closure, the environmental watchdog is embroiled in a fierce territorial battle with the government-owned park system over the construction of a new road.