DEVELOPMENT: Women Demand Access to Water and Energy

"Women in LDCs bear the brunt of economic and social hardships," said Wubitu Hailu, managing director of an Ethiopian NGO, the Kulich Youth Reproductive Health and Development Organisation. The failure to provide access to basic services like clean water and electricity is a major factor preventing women from realising their full potential.

AFRICA: Investment Growth Benefiting Only Some Poor States

While foreign direct investment in least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa has risen sharply over the past decade, most of it went to resource-rich economies and had little impact on employment creation.

Privatisation Aided Egypt Revolt, Army Says

Anger at Egypt’s privatisation programme, involving the transfer of billions of dollars worth of public assets to private hands, aided the Egyptian revolution that elbowed the Western-backed Hosni Mubarak out of office in February, a top army general said.

INDIA: Court Challenges Dubious Environmental Impact Reports

India’s Supreme Court has questioned clearances to industries on the basis of environment impact assessments (EIAs) carried out by private consultants in the pay of project proponents.

Egypt Takes a Step Back From IMF Ways

Egypt could soon be looking for a new economic model – one that will be different from the traditional system that has been promoted for years by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), under the reign of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

ZIMBABWE: Activists Seek WSF Solidarity Against Privatisation

Zimbabwean activists will raise the issue of privatisation at the World Social Forum, taking place Feb 6-11 in Dakar, Senegal, and seek solidarity from other activists to resist a renewed government attempt at selling Zimbabwe’s state- owned enterprises.

ZAMBIA: Unsolved Riddle of Sustaining Water Utilities

Sebastian Chilekwa’s job title at the Luapula Water and Sewerage Company is "Managing Director of Dilemma". Or it should be.

Slovenia Goes Slow on Privatisation, and Succeeds

Twenty years ago when the Berlin wall fell, radical privatisation was promoted as a solution to the ills of Eastern European economies. The one country that ignored the West’s recipe– Slovenia – seems to be faring far better.

ECONOMY: Namibia Embarks on Nuclear Policy

Namibia is set to develop its rich uranium resources and intends to pursue uranium enrichment locally. It also plans to build its own nuclear electricity plant.

ECONOMY-BOLIVIA: Private Sector Gives Way Under Government’s Public Push

The decline in foreign direct investment and the increase in efforts to reverse privatisation processes are feeding debate in Bolivia about President Evo Morales's economic policies, which include the creation of more government- run enterprises.

ROMANIA: Austerity Deals Mortal Blow to Health System

Five newborns died last week in a fire caused by an airconditioning fault at a Bucharest maternity. Insufficient, overworked staff and deficient maintenance -- results of inadequate funding of the health system - -were listed among the causes.

DEVELOPMENT: Africa Centre Dismissals Challenged

A European Union (EU) aid programme tasked with nurturing the private sector in Africa has become the focus of high-level diplomatic discussions after almost half of its staff were abruptly dismissed.

EUROPE: Privatised Services Back in Public Hands

After the wave of de-privatisation of water services facilities that started across the world two years ago, municipalities in Europe are now buying back the electricity utilities they sold to private investors in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

EGYPT: Economists Blame ‘Neo-liberalism’ for Region’s Woes

Egypt embarked on "neo-liberal" economics more than three decades ago reorienting its socialist-oriented policies towards those of the "free market." Now, however, many critics call the strategy a failure and blame it for the country's rampant poverty and unemployment.

UGANDA: Railway Revival Planned

The collapse of the Uganda Railway Corporation 15 years ago opened up lucrative opportunities for privately-owned road transporters. But the high cost of maintaining the highways carrying heavy truck and bus traffic is leading government to take a fresh look at the rails.

BALKANS: Serbs Bank on EU Laws to Regain Seized Property

Prominent theatre actor Tanasije Uzunovic loves to take long walks in the large Kalemegdan Fortress Park but generally avoids the Dedinje neighbourhood, a more popular green zone in the Serbian capital.

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."

BALKANS: Strike Wave Sweeps Serbia

A very hot summer of workers' discontent has taken over Serbia. Some 33,000 people go on strike daily in 40 to 45 firms, according to union statistics. They are mostly employees of privatised companies who have not been paid salaries or social and health security benefits for months now.

Q&A: EPAs Will Provide Africa With "Better Export Opportunities"

The European Union has pressurised Ghana to sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) despite civil society concerns being raised about the detrimental effects further trade liberalisation will have on development in the West African country.

DEVELOPMENT: Social Enterprise in the Swazi Highveld

In 2006, faith-based charity organisation Bulembu Ministries Swaziland took over management of an all-but abandoned mining town, situated on a 1,700 hectares in northwestern Swaziland.

SWAZILAND: Resurrecting Bulembu

In 2005, Bulembu was a ghost town. The once-prosperous mining town's population had fallen from 10,000 to just 100. The beautiful houses that used to accommodate company staff and their families, schools that had been among the best performers in the Kingdom, shops, clinics - all fell quickly into disrepair when the asbestos mine closed.