TRADE: EPAs May Stifle Uganda&#39s Struggling Flower Industry

Uganda's flower industry needs government incentives and preferential European Union (EU) access to succeed, say members of the east African nation's floricultural sector.

POLITICS-SUDAN: A Call for the Upcoming Darfur Talks to Be Inclusive

Representatives of Sudan's government and rebel groups will meet in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha next month in a bid to hammer out a deal to end four years of conflict in Darfur.

TRADE-KENYA: ”Creating Designs for Chinese Traders to Copy”

‘‘We are crying,’’ laments Millicent Otok, as I take a seat next to her at her stall. ‘‘Why are you crying?’’ I enquire. ‘‘They come and copy our items,’’ she says, in reference to Chinese traders in the Kenyan market.

TRADE-SENEGAL: Africa &#39&#39Will Not Be the Winner&#39&#39 of the EPAs

''I do not know if a winner will emerge from the signing of the economic partnership agreement under the current conditions but I know for sure that Africa cannot be the winner,'' says Amadou Ba, who heads the international negotiations division at Senegal’s ministry of commerce.

AFRICA: Child Bride Symbolises Reasons Why MDGs Will be Missed

The woes of the child bride in many ways illustrate the conditions underlying the failure of African countries to achieve many of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

DEVELOPMENT-WEST AFRICA: History Just Waiting to Repeat Itself

Two years ago, several West African states found themselves in the grip of severe food shortages - with some three million people affected in Niger alone. Children died, aid officials wrung their hands, people marched in Niger's capital, Niamey, to demand food...But were lessons learned - really learned - to ensure that the crisis does not recur?

DEATH PENALTY-KENYA: Call for Abolition As Thousands Await Execution

Politicians from leading parties and prominent human rights activists all seem to agree that the time has come for Kenya to abolish capital punishment. But as they continue to talk, courts continue to pass down death sentences, swelling the numbers on death row.

ENERGY-SOUTH AFRICA: Putting Sunshine in Your Taps

Solar water heaters offer people the chance to save money, increase the security of the local and national energy supply - and cut down on greenhouse emissions said to cause climate change. Yet, roofs throughout South Africa are noticeably bare.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Slowly Does It

A gradual approach to pan-African government has won the day at the annual African Union (AU) summit that ended Tuesday in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, where a stormy debate on this issue continued into the night.

POLITICS: Conflicts In the Spotlight at African Union Summit

The conflicts in Somalia and Darfur have come under discussion at the African Union (AU) summit underway in Accra.

POLITICS: "Take The Bull By the Horns And Move Towards a New Country – Africa"

Positions are being staked out concerning the establishment of a pan-African government, this at the annual summit of the African Union (AU), underway in Accra. Heads of state and government from around the continent began meeting in the Ghanaian capital Sunday; they will wrap up talks Tuesday.

AFRICA: Regional Integration No Path to Continental Government, Says Gaddafi

The final leg of the 2007 African Union (AU) summit kicked off in the Ghanaian capital of Accra Sunday, with a three-day gathering of the AU Assembly - comprising heads of state and government.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: An MDG Temperature Check Gives Mixed Results

Only about 30 percent of Mozambicans think that their quality of life has improved since 2000, the year when the international community agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while about 42 percent believe life has not changed.

AFRICA: Food for 12 Billion. So Why Did 854 Million Go Without?

"As you are suffering from over-consumption, I am suffering from under-consumption. We need to strike a balance," said Mary Wahu Kaara from the Kenya Debt Relief Network with reference to the North and the South.

TRADE-AFRICA: Kenya and South Africa Growing Their Links

Strolling through the aisles of one of the shops of the biggest supermarket chain in Kenya, it is easy for a South African to spot familiar brands. There are boxes and bottles full of cereal, instant coffee, fruit, soup, toiletries and other products imported from South Africa. And then there are the well-known clothing retailers.

DEVELOPMENT: Chances of Achieving MDGs “Slim” Without Civil Society

Global civil society leaders called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Thursday to use both international channels and their muscle on the ground for applying pressure on governments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

RWANDA: A Difficult Trade-Off to Protect Lake Kivu

Sylvestre Munyalibanje has been accustomed to farming in the Rwandan district of Rutsiro, on the shores of Lake Kivu. But now, he's facing the end of an era.

DEVELOPMENT: “If Anything Goes Wrong, Africa Is Blamed” – Sachs

Development plans like the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are "just words" if financing is not made available to implement the plans, says Jeffrey Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at New York's Columbia University.

Q&A: “Too Few African Governments Have Had the Guts to Say ‘No'”

While Kofi Annan was the United Nations' secretary-general, he handpicked Eveline Herfkens to be the executive coordinator of the Millennium Campaign, a body which mobilises support for the achievement of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Herfkens had previously worked as the Dutch minister of international development and as an executive director at the World Bank.

TRADE-AFRICA: Libya to Supply Kenya with Cheaper Oil

Kenya is set to receive oil from Libya at preferential rates according to a bilateral agreement signed earlier this month between the leaders of the two countries.

AFRICA: “If You Want More Development, Include Women in Decision-making”

The '8th Triennial Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting' (8WAMM) has closed with an acknowledgement that gender equality is central to democracy, peace and economic growth; ministers also called for greater efforts to achieve parity between men and women.