Full Coverage: West Africa

30.08.2004 Metsät katoavat afrikkalaisesta Malista sellaista vauhtia, että maan hallitus on julistanut elävät puut loppuvuodeksi hakkuukieltoon. Koska menossa on sadekausi, kielto tuntuu polttopuun ja puuhiilen hinnoissa. Aloitteen hakkuukiellosta tekivät pienviljelijät, joita huolestuttaa erityisesti vauhti, jolla viljelykelpoinen maa muuttuu aavikoksi suojaavien metsien puuttuessa.

26.08.2004 The Togolese parliament has softened the West African country's harsh press laws which previously imposed jail terms of up to five years on journalists found guilty of insulting the government of President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest serving head of state.

26.08.2004 The Togolese parliament has softened the country's harsh press laws which previously imposed jail terms of up to five years on journalists found guilty of insulting the government. This is one of the measures aimed to meet EU conditions for resumption of aid.

25.08.2004 The Nigerian Senate yesterday unanimously directed Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to commence the payment of the sum of $1.5 billion to the Ijaws Aborigines of Bayelsa State as compensation. The money was for the severe health hazards, economic hardship, injurious affection, avoidable deaths and sundry maladies which the people have suffered as a direct or indirect consequence of multiple spillages occurring in SPDC's facilities across the eight local government areas of the state since the company commenced operations in 1956.

24.08.2004 Simple water lettuce is the engine of a wastewater treatment process that's providing "liquid manna" for urban farmers on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. The Canadian-supported experimental project promises affordable solutions for poor and water-poor neighbourhoods.

24.08.2004 Simple water lettuce is the engine of a wastewater treatment process that's providing "liquid manna" for urban farmers on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. The Canadian-supported experimental project promises affordable solutions for poor and water-poor neighbourhoods.

24.08.2004 Claiming growth of over 10% in 2003, the Nigerian government attributes the performance to its restructuring programmes and prudent economic policies, in addition to the impact of increased oil prices. In contrast to the over-borrowing of the previous 5 years, fiscal discipline now underpins budgets.

24.08.2004 The decision has been made by the Swiss Ministry of Justice to hand over most of the funds from the ex-dictator's frozen account, now determined to have originated from criminal sources, to the Nigerian government. For its part, Nigeria has agreed to use the assets to finance development projects under Swiss supervision.

23.08.2004 When he took office in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo vowed to end corruption involving state officials, but only Bangladesh ranks lower in the latest annual assessment of corrupt countries by Transparency International. After 4 years, the government appointed anti-corruption body has yet to secure a significant conviction.

23.08.2004 This summary of the work of Christian Aid in Nigeria outlines an HIV/AIDS project in partnership with the Church of Nigeria. With the possibility that 10-15 million people will be living with HIV in Nigeria by 2010, the UK charity has prioritised this area of work along with peace-building, democratisation and good governance.

23.08.2004 A new plant to manufacture anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for people living
with AIDS has opened in Nigeria, thanks to an initiative by Nigerian health professionals working in the United States whose new company aims to provide affordable treatment with generics. Government programmes distributing subsidised drugs have so far proved inefficient.

23.08.2004 The government of Kano state in northern Nigeria has resumed polio vaccinations after a 10-month ban which led to the disease spreading back
to neighbouring countries. Following concern of Islamic clerics that the vaccine was unsafe, a committee of scientists and medical experts appointed by the state government has formally approved the use of a vaccine manufactured in Indonesia.

19.08.2004 If the Harmonised Telecommunications Action Plan recently adopted in Lome by the ministers of the West Africa is enacted, citizens will soon be able to connect through their mobile phones across these 15 countries of Africa.

19.08.2004 Lack of supportive communication infrastructure could be a major deterrant for any e-commerce initiative, opined experts in a workshop here in Lagos, the Nigerian capital.

12.08.2004 A new report has indicated that West Africa’s telecommunications regulators are open to legalising VoIP telephony. The launch of several legal VoIP calling services in Mauritius in 2004 – the first by any African country – is being seen as a major step that other countries may follow.

11.08.2004 North African neighbours Chad and Niger are appealing for international aid to battle an infestation of desert locusts, warning their already compromised populations could suffer food shortages if the swarms remain unchecked.

05.08.2004 Senegal's farmers are still picking up the pieces after a disastrous attempt to privatize part of the groundnut sector in 2002, which left thousands of rural families on the brink of starvation. But despite this, the government is already under pressure from the IMF and World Bank to further privatise in order to qualify for debt relief.

05.08.2004 Senegal's farmers are still picking up the pieces after a disastrous attempt to privatize part of the groundnut sector in 2002, which left thousands of rural families on the brink of starvation. But despite this, the government is already under pressure from the IMF and World Bank to further privatise in order to qualify for debt relief.

04.08.2004 Dopo la firma davanti alla comunità internazionale del nuovo accordo di pace per la Costa d’Avorio, il presidente ivoriano Laurent Gbagbo questa volta dovrà mantenere le promesse. L’accordo di pace giunge all’indomani del ritrovamento di tre fosse comuni a Korhogo risalenti agli scontri dello scorso giugno. Il governo di unità nazionale riprenderà i lavori dopo quattro mesi di stallo, dovuto all’abbandono di 26 ministri dell’opposizione in protesta contro la feroce repressione di una manifestazione che secondo un rapporto della commissione d'inchiesta dell'Onu è stata voluta dalle più alte autorità dello stato.

04.08.2004 Salametsästys hävitti elefantteja Burkina Fasosta hälyttävää vauhtia 1980-luvulla. Hallitus julisti tuolloin elefantit uhanalaiseksi lajiksi, ja niiden metsästyksestä tuli laitonta. Parissakymmenessä vuodessa norsukanta onkin kasvanut nopeasti. Elefantteja oli 1980-luvulla jäljellä enää 350, mutta nykyään kanta on kasvanut jo noin 5 000 yksilöön.