Most Recent Ten Issues http://www.africafocus.org/ http://www.africafocus.org/images/aflogo.gif http://www.africafocus.org en-us http://www.africafocus.org/docs12/hf1202.php 3, Feb 012 Feb 3, 2012 - "Simply put, if we allow the fund to fail, many people will die, and we will forfeit the chance at the "AIDS-free generation" that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for in November. This is no time to step back." - Paul Farmer http://www.africafocus.org/docs12/sud1201.php 30 Jan 2012 Jan 30, 2012 - Sudan and South Sudan seem to have entered a "lose-lose" scenario, precipitated by failure to agree on payments for transport of oil from fields in South Sudan through the pipeline in the north to the Red Sea. Despite African Union mediation and pressure for compromise not only from Africa but also from the United Nations, China, and the United States, South Sudan has closed the oil fields, with likely disastrous economic and humanitarian consequences for both countries. http://www.africafocus.org/docs12/ken1201b.php 23 Jan 2012 Jan 23, 2012 - "The promulgation of the constitution on 27 August 2010, was a historic moment in our country. The constitution was a culmination of the work of a lifetime for most people in this gathering and many other Kenyans not at this meeting. It may also stand out in history as the singular achievement of Kenyans in this time. ... Yet, my concern is that there appears not to have been a proper appreciation of the essence of this constitution after its promulgation. ... I have come to the inescapable conclusion that there are Kenyans at all levels who are yet to make the mental shift to the national and individual conduct that the constitution heralds." - Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, December 2011 http://www.africafocus.org/docs12/ken1201a.php 23 Jan 2012 Jan 23, 2012 - "Public support for the ICC remains high. A majority of the respondents - 64 per cent - are happy that the ICC is pursuing the six suspects. ... the perception that the government is unlikely to conduct genuine investigations, or prosecute powerful individuals, has sustained high support for the ICC as the justice mechanism of last resort." - Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR) Monitoring Project, January 2012 http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/rev2011.php 30 Dec 2011 Dec 30, 2011 - As regular readers know, AfricaFocus averages between 6 and 7 issues a month (a total of 77 this year). So there is no way that it can cover the full range of issues and countries around the continent. Nor am I inclined to venture into the popular attempt to name "the top ten issues" of the year. But I am confident you will agree that AfricaFocus has provided you and other readers with a wide range of useful analyses this year. http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/drc1112.php 21 Dec 2011 Dec 21, 2011 - Joseph Kabila was inaugurated for his second term as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 20, with representation from Western countries limited to ambassadorial level. African countries, including Congo's neighbors, were represented at prime minister or foreign minister level, with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe the only foreign head of state in attendance. But despite unresolved doubts about massive fraud in the election, the "international community" (both African and non-African) is unlikely to mobilize any significant pressure to reexamine the results. http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/iff1112.php 17 Dec 2011 Dec 17, 2011 - This week Global Financial Integrity released its latest report on illicit financial flows from developing countries, including data for 2009. The result: despite a drop in 2009 due to the recession, developing countries lost between US$723 billion and US$844 billion per annum on average through illicit flows over the decade ending 2009. In current dollar terms, the flows increased in current dollar terms by 15.19% per annum from US$386 billion at the start of the decade to US$903 billion in 2009. http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/cap1112.php 17 Dec 2011 Dec 17, 2011 - "The magnitude of African capital flight is staggering both in absolute monetary values and relative to GDP. For the thirty-three sub-Saharan African countries for which we have data, we find that more than $700 billion fled the continent between 1970 and 2008. If this capital was invested abroad and earned interest at the going market rates, the accumulated capital loss for these countries over the thirty-nine-year period was $944 billion. By comparison, total GDP for all of sub-Saharan Africa in 2008 stood at $997 billion." - L. Ndikumana and J. Boyce, in their new book "Africa's Odious Debts" http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/books1112.php 12 Dec 2011 Dec 12, 2011 - It's past time for one of our too infrequent book issues. I've organized this one into three groups of new books I've come across this year: three books on current priority issues that I recommend to readers as "must reads," new and notable books by AfricaFocus subscribers, and other new and notable books on a variety of topics. http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/clim1112b.php 7, Dec 011 Dec 7, 2011 - "Africa's share has remained at about two per cent of CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects officially registered with the UN's climate change secretariat. If South Africa and countries in North Africa are taken out of the aggregate, all the other African countries currently account for just 0.6 per cent of registered CDM projects." But even in carbon markets in Africa were expanded, argues this new comprehensive study from the Institute for Strategic Studies, carbon offsets at best bring only deceptive benefits to developing countries, while allowing rich countries to evade their responsibilities for reducing carbon emissions.