Sub-Saharan Africa

Land

News

Bank fingered in Malawi famine

According to Action Aid, famine in Malawi has been compounded by World Bank-guided food policies.

8 May 2002

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.

25 March 2002

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.

25 March 2002

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.

25 March 2002

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”.

25 March 2002

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.

17 January 2002

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.

17 January 2002

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.

17 January 2002

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.

1 January 2002

Infrastructure

News

Ugandan dam approved

In late December the World Bank approved the Bujagali dam, Uganda.

1 January 2002

Conditionality

News

Malawian PRSP concerns

The Malawian Economic Justice Network released a statement in early September.

2 November 2001

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.

2 November 2001