Africa’s separatist movements The continent has a unique history of separatist movements, but how likely are any of them to win independence? Southern Sudanese swapped the battlefield for the ballot box two-and-a-half years ago. They voted overwhelmingly to sever their ties with Sudan. On July 9th 2011, jubilant street parties in the capital city of Juba marked the creation of the world’s newest sovereign nation. But beyond South Sudan’s freshly drawn borders, some members of the international community were worried. The secession, they said, could spur on the dozens of other separatist movements in Africa. They feared that it set…
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Madagascar, languishing since the 2009 coup, may hold elections in May 2013. Or maybe not. by Annelie Rozeboom Monday afternoon in downtown Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital, and about 100 people are waving their fists in the air. They are standing in a parking lot littered with rocks and debris from looting three years ago. The Malagasy national anthem shrieks through loudspeakers in the ruins of a shop once owned by deposed president Marc Ravalomanana. “You should come on a Saturday, that’s when this place is full,” says leader Henri François Randrianjatovo. Ever since rival Andry Rajoelina forced Mr Ravalomanana into exile…
In 2000 Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, began seizing the country’s white- owned commercial farms. He promised to give them to the landless. Instead he gave much of this land to his wealthy cronies, wrecking the country’s largest industry. by Tony Hawkins The story of Zimbabwe’s land resettlement began in 2000 when Robert Mugabe released his dogs of war to evict white commercial farmers from their land. That year the country’s farmlands yielded some 4.2m tonnes of agricultural produce, according to the Commercial Farmers Union (see chart below). But by the end of this country’s “lost decade”, 1998 to 2008, agricultural…
The introduction of a property tax in Sierra Leone sees local governments gaining discretionary revenue In sub-Saharan Africa, property tax is rarely seen as a source of significant local revenue. As tax expert Charles Mou noted in a 1996 study of property tax in eastern and southern Africa, property taxation is “one of the most lucrative…yet least tapped sources of revenue to support urban government in Africa”. One reason often cited for the lack of such taxes in low-income countries is the high cost of administration. In 1991, William Dillinger, a noted commentator on tax reform stated: “In part… low…
Across the continent, a wave of mining policy adjustments is impacting Africa’s investment attractiveness
West Africa: the Tuareg Are the links between the Tuareg and the jihadists real, or part of a self-fulfilling prophecy created by outside forces? by Jeremy H. Keenan The future of the Tuareg in Mali has never seemed more uncertain. Their latest rebellion, which began in January 2012, led to a French-led invasion of the country a year later. This insurrection, and the on-going crisis in northern Mali,has drawn world attention to the strain of separatism that exists among these desert people, and the deep roots they have in this region, which covers about 2m square kilometres of diverse desert…
Central Africa: Lord’s Resistance Army Attacks by the violent and mystical group may be diminishing, but fear of its resurgence remains high There has never been a better time for the world to tackle the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Attacks by Joseph Kony’s feared rebel group have dwindled significantly in the past two years, and deserters tell of low morale among his fighters – which could present the greatest opportunity yet for regional actors to quash the 27-year-old movement. But Mr Kony has a terrible penchant for survival, and many fear that unless regional and international actors honour their commitments…
Zambia: renewed calls for Barotseland to secede President Sata broke his 2011 campaign promise to restore the kingdom’s autonomy By Victoria Kelly In August, in a small, badly-lit room in a house in Mongu, the impoverished capital of Zambia’s Western Province, a late middle-aged man with a receding hairline called Afumba Mombotwa was filmed taking oath as administrator general of a “new state”, Barotseland. Wearing a dark suit and tie, and standing erect in front of a grey curtain, his right hand raised in the air, Mr Mombotwa, 58, swore to protect, defend and uphold the constitution of Barotseland, which…
Wave of illegal and overfishing hits Mozambique by Megan Izen Adelino Francisco Huo spent most of his teenage years rising before dawn and climbing aboard a dhow, a small wooden boat with triangular sails. Mr Huo and a small group of boys and men would set sail along Mozambique’s Indian Ocean coastline and cast out their wide nets. Not much later, their arms would bulge as they hauled in hundreds of flapping fish, shrimp and crab. Ten years later and Mr Huo, 23, sleeps longer hours and no longer sails out to sea. He is now working on land at…
With the ruling African National Congress in crisis, the Democratic Alliance has emerged as the multi-racial alternative. Can it keep its liberal core while its racial composition changes? by RW Johnson The Democratic Alliance (DA) is a unique opposition party in Africa: white- led, multi-racial and steadily gaining. From a base of 1.7% in the 1994 parliamentary election, it improved its position to 16.7% in 2009, and in 2011’s local elections took nearly a quarter of the vote. In 2006, the DA won the city of Cape Town, and it has controlled the Western Cape since 2009. Under its governance,…
