According to Action Aid, famine in Malawi has been compounded by World Bank-guided food policies.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Accountability
News
Bujagali dam affected by Enron-fallout
U.S. power company AES Corp. has been forced to delay building the $550 million Bujagali dam, Uganda, because of a financing shortfall.
Social services
News
Ghanaians contest Bank-backed water privatisation
A broad coalition of organisations is challenging the plan to privatise Ghana’s water system. They complain that the World Bank and IMF-promoted scheme will not extend services to poorer people or ensure fair pricing. The deal - which the IMF has just made part of its new conditions for Ghana - reflects the biases of the consultants which drew it up at a cost of $3million.
Accountability
News
Bank downplays Lesotho dam corruption
The World Bank has recently announced that it will not be taking action following allegations of corruption levelled at corporate clients in Peru and Lesotho. The Peru goldmine and Lesotho dam cases lead some Bank-watchers to question the Bank’s high-profile commitment to rooting out corruption.
Conditionality
News
Nigeria sends IMF away
The Nigerian government has cancelled its IMF programme. IMF spokesperson tests Argentinians’ sense of humour by agreeing that mistakes may be made again in the future. He explained: “that is economics. And that is why it is so much fun”.
Environment
News
Arrests of Tanzania mine activists
In late November the Tanzanian authorities took action against an organisation which has been investigating the death and dispersal of artisanal miners at a project backed by the World Bank Group.
Trade
News
WTO rejects Africans’ request for study of SAP effects before more tariff cuts
The proposal by seven African countries that the World Trade Organisation (WTO study the impacts of trade liberalisation measures imposed by structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) before launching another round of tariff-cutting negotiations has been ignored.
Environment
News
Tanzanian authorities attempt to silence activists on Bulyanhulu case
Tanzanian authorities have arrested Rugemeleza Nshala, President of the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT), and raided the house of another LEAT lawyer, Tundu Lissu in connection with their investigations into abuses and irregularities at the World Bank-backed Bulyanhulu gold mine.
Conditionality
News
Link budget to PRSP
The budget in Zambia should be linked to poverty reduction priorities, urged the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCPJ) in a statement submitted to the government in October 2001.
Infrastructure
News
Ugandan dam approved
In late December the World Bank approved the Bujagali dam, Uganda.
IFI governance
News
Tanzanian citizens marginalised in donor meeting
The Consultative Group (CG) meeting held in Tanzania in September was criticized by Tanzanian civil society organizations (CSOs) for failing adequately to involve citizens.
Conditionality
News
Ghana PRS has “potential”
An assessment of Ghana’s Poverty Reduction Strategy process (GPRS) suggests there is much potential for formulating, in a participatory manner, an effective poverty reduction strategy.
