Land
Affairs and Property
Is
continent's land up for grabs? - 25 November
An apparent surge in the purchase of African land by foreign
companies and governments to grow food and other crops for export
has set alarm bells ringing on and off the continent. The
headlines have been strident : "The Second Scramble for
Africa Starts," "Quest for Food Security Breeds
Neo-Colonists", "Food Security or Economic
Slavery?". - allAfrica
website
Africa
: land grabs : new 'resource curse'? (opinion) - 1 December
The
phenomenon better known as 'land grabbing' - i.e. large-scale
purchase or lease of farmland (often packaged as 'idle',
'under-utilised' and 'uncultivated') in 'land-rich developing'
regions - has catalysed a policy shift from geostrategic control
over food production (institutionalised via structurally unjust
trading mechanisms underpinning bodies such as the World Trade
Organization), to that of sovereignty. Whereas
the US$1 billion per day in protectionist (Northern) subsidies
served to artificially depreciate the price of primary commodities
from developing regions, 'land grabs' are motivated by the intent
of developed governments in 'land-poor' nations and representative
corporate entities - composing over 50 per cent of the world's
largest economies, to secure exclusive rights to the assets used
to produce food. - Article by Khadija Sharife (Pambazuka),
journalist and visiting scholar at the Centre for Civil Society
(CCS) based in South Africa, on the Afrika
website. This paper was presented at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
conference 'The Global Crisis and Africa : Struggles for
Alternatives' in Randburg, South Africa on 19 November 2009
Namibia
Namibia
forms State-owned mining firm - 2 December
The government of Namibia, a major diamond and uranium producer,
has created a State-owned mining company to take part in the
country's exploration and mining drive, a senior official said.
Mining Commissioner Erasmus Shivolo said the company, to be
launched this December, will not limit itself to one mineral.
"The company will be looking at all strategic minerals :
diamonds, uranium, gold and copper . . . a whole range", he
said late on Tuesday. While initial funding will come from the
government, Shivolo said various private and state-owned mining
companies have asked to partner with the new firm. - Creamer
Media's Mining Weekly website
Nigeria
Nigeria
farmers sue Shell over oil spill - 3 December
A group of Nigerian farmers is suing Royal Dutch Shell, claiming
that the oil firm polluted their land in the Niger Delta region.
The four farmers allege that oil spilt from the supply lines of a
subsidiary of Shell contaminated fish ponds and farms, ruining
villagers' livelihoods. They will ask a court in the Netherlands
for compensation and to force Shell to clean up the area. - BBC
News website
Rwanda
Rwanda
banker gets 30-year sentence for war crimes - 2 December
A former Rwandan bank director was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years
in prison by a Belgian court which found him guilty of war crimes
including murder, attempted murder and rape during the 1994
genocide. Ephraim Nkezabera, 57, was not present in court and did
not attend the trial, which started just over three weeks ago,
because of ill health. He is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
The jury followed the prosecutor's advice in giving him the
30-year sentence, rather than a life term. - Eye
Witness News website
Somalia
Somali
sea gangs lure investors at pirate lair - 1 December
In Somalia's main pirate lair of Haradheere, the sea gangs have
set up a cooperative to fund their hijackings offshore, a sort of
stock exchange meets criminal syndicate. - Reuters
website
Zimbabwe
See
also : Zimbabwe
deal [South Africa]