international library for a responsable world of solidarity ritimo

Le portail rinoceros d’informations sur les initiatives citoyennes pour la construction d’un autre monde a été intégré au nouveau site Ritimo pour une recherche simplifiée et élargie.

Ce site (http://www.rinoceros.org/) constitue une archive des articles publiés avant 2008 qui n'ont pas été transférés.

Le projet rinoceros n’a pas disparu, il continue de vivre pour valoriser les points de vue des acteurs associatifs dans le monde dans le site Ritimo.

Country index  >  Africa  > article

Fatal transactions

Fatal Transactions criticizes: European strategy to secure access to raw materials will harm Africa

Press Release, 26 January 2011 Today, the European Commission was to publish a new Communication entitled The Raw Materials Initiative – Putting the Strategy into Practice addressing challenges of future access to minerals and raw materials for its industry. The publication of the communication was surprisingly held back due to still ongoing negotiations among EU member states. The international campaign Fatal Transactions appeals to the European Commission to develop a strategy that will (...) read

date of on-line publication : 4 February 2011

Inter Press Service (IPS)

Africa: Civil Society to AU: Investment Must Address Marginalisation

> By Diletta Varlese, Terna Gyuse and Joyce Mulama

No gathering hosted by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is ever dull, and the Thirteenth Ordinary Session of the African Union, concluding in Sirte, Libya today has not disappointed. A surprise invitation to Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is facing down massive popular protest over his disputed re-election as president, briefly threatened to overshadow the meeting, but he did not in the end attend. The other source of drama was the renewed challenge to the International Criminal Court, on (...) read

date of on-line publication : 16 July 2009

Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net)

African universities agree to support ’homegrown’ research solutions

> Zablon Odhiambo

African universities have rallied behind a scheme to integrate community-guided environmental initiatives into their teaching and research agendas. The African Association of Universities (AAU), a confederation of 212 universities, stated its support for the Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities (MESA) Partnership during the 1st MESA International Conference held at the UN Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, last week (24–28 November). Read (...) read

date of on-line publication : 9 December 2008

DEPELCHIN Jacques

The routes and possibilities of a South - South subversive globalization: Africa and Brazil

> Pambazuka News

Jacques Depelchin reflects on the growing economic, political and cultural relationship between Brazil and the Africa and urges for a solidarity from below that is cognizant of black revolutionary history. Almost everyone knows about Brazilian football, especially Pelé; but, it is a fair bet that a very tiny percentage of the same people will know about one of the foremost intellectuals of Brazil in the 20th century: Milton Santos (MS), winner in 1994 of the Vautrin Lud prize given to the (...) read

date of on-line publication : 19 December 2007

Fifteen years of conflicts have cost Africa around $300bn

The cost of conflict on African development was approximately $300bn between 1990 and 2005, according to new research by Oxfam International, IANSA and Saferworld. This is equal to the amount of money received in international aid during the same period. The study “Africa’s Missing Billions” is the first time analysts have calculated the overall effects of conflict on GDP and comes as diplomats from around the world arrive at the United Nations to discuss an Arms Trade Treaty. It shows that (...) read

date of on-line publication : 14 November 2007

Pambazuka

The wider historical context of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade

Trade in African slaves underpinned the British economy in the 18th century: the rich and powerful, the monarchy and the Church. So why was an enterprise that was so economically important ended so abruptly in the first decade of the 19th century? Hakim Adi explains... In March 2007 large-scale commemorative events were organised to mark the bi-centenary of the parliamentary act to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This unprecedented commemoration of a historical event, in which the (...) read

date of on-line publication : 26 June 2007

Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)

Ministers give EASSy another go

ICT ministers from about 20 African countries have been invited to Malawi for a special meeting that is expected to iron out controversies surrounding the ratification of the NEPAD ICT broadband network (NIBN) project. The project includes the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and Central Corridor Trade and Transport Facilitation Project. Rwandan state minister for energy and communications Albert Butare told HANA that ministers are expected to meet in Lilongwe, the capital of (...) read

date of on-line publication : 26 June 2007

Center for Reproductive Rights

The Protocol on the rights of women in Africa

> Center for Reproductive Rights, June 2005, 25 p, (pdf)

The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, (adopted by the African Union in July 2003) provides broad protection for women’s human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights. This briefing paper outlines the significations of this treaty and the way advocates can use it to pressure governments to address issues which threaten women’s health and rights in Africa. Furthermore, “it provides detailed information that can help African women use the protocol to exercise their (...) read

date of on-line publication : 7 March 2007

ABDUL-RAHEEM Tajudeen

Panafricanism or recolonisation

> Pan African Movement

This brief history of the Pan African Conferences underlines how modern Pan Africanism arose in the middle 20th century. But what happened to the great hopes about African Unity after the initial success of the nationalist movement, asks the author ? Today, it is no longer a debate whether Pan Africanism is desirable but how it could be achieved. If it was contained yesterday by colonialism, it grapples today with neocolonialism (i.e. political independence without economic independence). (...) read

date of on-line publication : 7 March 2007

Annual World Bank and IMF Meetings Close Under Heavy Criticism

> International Financial Institutions Under Fire with Regard to Developing Country Voting Rights and Civil Society Repression

http://www.liberationafrique.org/spi (...)

As the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings closed under heavy fire, both from within and from civil society activists, Africa Action today condemned the undemocratic nature and harmful policies of these institutions. The organization underscored that the countries most affected by World Bank and IMF policies, particularly the debt-burdened countries of Africa, must have a greater say within the international financial institutions.
This week, the IMF re-organized the system of voting rights, increasing the voting power of China, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey, and the World Bank indicated that it would also be willing to consider a similar shift. But Africa Action notes that while developing country finance ministers and civil society from around the world have pushed for a more representative voting structure, these latest minor changes still leave power disproportionately concentrated in the hands of the wealthiest nations.
Ann-Louise Colgan, Acting Co-Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, "The World Bank and IMF persist in ignoring the priorities of the developing world, and African countries continue to pay the price. The decisions made by these institutions have long-lasting effects on African countries, and yet there is little opportunity to hold them accountable. As a result, Africa’s illegitimate debt burden remains at overwhelming levels, and the World Bank and IMF continue to impose unfair conditions on Africa’s economies."  read

date of on-line publication : 13 October 2006

The economic impact of telecommunications on rural livelihoods and poverty reduction

> TelAfrica.org

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/info (...)

Aimed at a policy audience, a study looks at the use of various communications technologies in villages in Gujarat, Mozambique and Tanzania. It reveals that in all three research countries telephones are the preferred means of communications for emergencies and family networking; mass media are the preferred ICTs for general information such as news and weather and face-to-face communications is overwhelmingly the main method of communications for specific information in all three countries, including information about education, farming, business and government services

 read

date of on-line publication : 27 September 2006

The role of Small Arms in African Civil Wars

> Pambazuka News

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category (...)

It is not an over-statement to say that small arms in Africa have played the major role in every political conflict, from South, East and West Africa. Baffour Dokyi Amoa writes that “Conservative estimates indicate that there are about eight million small arms and light weapons in West Africa alone. Of the 640 million small arms circulating in the world, it is estimated that 100 million are found in Africa.”  read

date of on-line publication : 26 September 2006

DIEYE Cheikh Tidiane Dièye

The hopes and illusions of world trade liberalisation for women in Africa

> Pambazuka News

http://www.awid.org/eng/Issues-and-A (...)

Africa has faced ten years of unfettered liberalisation that, argues Cheikh Tidiane Dièye, has left the continent on its knees. Women, more than any other group, suffer the weight of the constraints of poverty largely brought about by the world trade system. It is women that must play a crucial role in winning the struggle for a better trading system.
Even though over the last twenty years many African nations have adopted sometimes draconian economic reforms, the benefits of trade liberalisation that were promised have not materialised. On the other hand, developed nations have enjoyed 70% of the wealth generated by trade liberalisation. In some respects, world trade regulations, defined for the most part by industrialised countries during the Uruguay Round agreements between 1986 and 1994, have only increased Africa’s economic problems.
Before an “ambiguous consensus”1 was reached at Doha, which was at the heart of the launch of the round of multilateral negotiations that tool place at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the “battle of Seattle” or “Seattle showdown”2 revealed to the world the growing dissatisfaction of developing countries with regard to the WTO, whose way of working did not appear to respond to their profound desire for economic progress and development.  read

date of on-line publication : 22 September 2006

ABDUL-RAHEEM Tajudeen

An African Perspective on Globalization

> Pan African Movement

http://www.panafricanmovement.org/Gl (...)

Africa and Europe have had a continuous contact of more than 400 years. It has been a relationship of domination, exploitation and oppression. Whatever happens in Europe tends to have ripple effects in Africa. Therefore any idea that has become fashionable in Europe trickles down into intellectual and political discussions/battles in Africa.  read

date of on-line publication : 20 June 2006

Pambazuka

Africa and the WSF: From Bamako 2006 to Nairobi 2007

> Pambazuka, January 26, 2006

http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?i (...)

This Pambazuka "question and answer" provides a general overview of the World Social Forum (WSF), addresses the primary criticisms of the forum. African awareness-raising and mobilization was made possible in 2006 by holding polycentric events, which included Bamako, Mali. African attendance at previous forums had been minimal; therefore it was important that the WSF provide a space for groups from the area hardest hit by the globalization and poverty link to voice their concerns and ideas.  read

date of on-line publication : 9 May 2006

SUSSKIND Yifat

African Women Confront Bush’s AIDS Policy

> Pambazuka, 12 Jan 2006

http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?i (...)

African women are the hardest hit by HIV/Aids in Africa and yet the approach to fighting the epidemic advocated by the Bush administration fails to take account of their specific needs and circumstances. Yifat Susskind examines the "man-made" components of the crisis, including economic austerity measures, US pharmaceutical companies and onerous debt repayments.  read

date of on-line publication : 13 January 2006

BRITO Lydia

Let Africa Into the Carbon Market

> Project Syndicate, Dec 2005

http://www.project-syndicate.org/com (...)

This article calls for a change to the European bias against using credits from forest projects for its own internal carbon market, in order to allow Africa to play a larger role in the emerging international carbon market.

 read

date of on-line publication : 21 December 2005

DOR George

Case studies in alternatives

> Pambazuka, 15 Dec 2005

http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?i (...)

This article tracks the emergence of an “African Peoples’ Consensus”, in opposition to the Washington Consensus, through the rise of the African Peoples Forum and recent debates on economic alternatives. It asks what should we be questioning (use of language, erosion of cultural values), and what concrete process is needed to get closer to these alternatives.  read

date of on-line publication : 20 December 2005

KANOUTE Amadou

Africa’s GM Dilemma

> July 2005, The Globalist

http://www.theglobalist.com/StoryId. (...)

"As Africa continues to struggle with civic wars, poverty - and AIDS - hunger remains the continent’s most critical problem. Promoters of genetic engineering believe that genetically modified organisms are the answer that will eradicate starvation. The other side questions the safety and nutritious value of GM foods, as well as its bend toward dependency. Amadou Kanoute, Africa Regional Director for Consumers International, offers his perspective." The article also continues with what Kanoute believes are the principale causes for hunger in Africa.
article originally appeared in The Nation  read

date of on-line publication : 1 December 2005

OKUMU Wafula

The role of AU/NEPAD in preventing and combating corruption in Africa

>  November 2005, Africafiles

http://www.africafiles.org/atissueez (...)

This article begins by outlining the anti-corruption initiatives of the African Union (AU) and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and analysing their effectiveness. It also explores the phenomenon of corruption in Africa more generally and follows with some recommendations on how to tackle it. The author concludes that the best role the AU and NEPAD can play to combat and prevent corruption in Africa is by complementing and strengthening grassroots and national measures and by promoting regional anti-corruption norms.  read

date of on-line publication : 17 November 2005

© rinoceros - Ritimo in partnership with the Fph via the project dph and the Ile de France region via the project Picri. Site developed using SPIP, hosted by Globenet. Legal mentions - Contact

ritimo