Africa faces an unprecedented opportunity to transform itself, says the World Bank. Its new strategy for the continent aims to leverage growing South-South investment to ensure more inclusive development, while identifying five poor states as 'Growth Poles'. The Bank says its new plan will prioritise employment and competitiveness, while also addressing the problems that make African countries particularly vulnerable to disaster, disease and climate change.

International Women's Day 2011 will be remembered in Cameroon for more technological reasons. Bouba Kaele, a marketing manager at the South African MTN telecom company in Cameroon, announced on social network Twitter that the Cameroonian Government banned access to twitter via SMS for MTN customers. This news caused anger among the Cameroonian online community.

The centenary year theme for International Women’s Day, ‘Equal access to Education, Training and Science and Technology: Pathway to decent work for Women’, could not have come at a better time, says FEMNET, as ‘limited access to quality education and training opportunities continues to hinder women’s equal participation in decision making, leadership and in the economy.’

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has threatened to sue a local newspaper, NEXT, over its report on Sunday that he voted four times during the 2007 general elections, when he was a state governor and a vice presidential candidate under the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Accusing the newspaper of waging a 'malicious campaign of falsehood and calumny' against him, the President also demanded a retraction of the story, which the paper credited to whistleblower website Wikileaks. NEXT, quoting Wikileaks, said the disclosure that Jonathan, then the governor of oil-producing Bayelsa, voted several times was made by the Governor of southern Edo state and former labour leader Adams Oshiomhole to US Political Officers (poloffs), who visited him shortly after the court victory in his election petition.

When violent unrest erupted in Libya recently, Ahmed al-Agouz, 25, was doing casual work in the Libyan city of Sabha. Realizing he had to flee, he managed to reach the Tunisian border, where he eventually boarded a plane to Cairo. But returning to his home village in the Egyptian Nile Delta Governorate of Sharqia, north of Cairo, has made one thing abundantly clear to al-Agouz and tens of thousands of other returnees: There simply are no jobs back home.

The Israeli government is employing Eritrean asylum seekers to help build a border fence designed to keep out other migrants seeking to enter the country from Africa via the Sinai Peninsula. A man who gave his name as August, one of four Eritreans working for a contractor along the fence route, said he had sought work for a long time before he was told a construction job was available near Eilat.

cc Beginning by praising the work of Rod Hill & Tony Myatt and Ha-Joon Chang, Samir Amin highlights the complete absence of adequate critical reflection across contemporary economics. ‘The true aim of the “science” of conventional economics’, he writes, ‘is simply to divest it of its political aspect and pretend it is something “neutral”, hence “objective”. The result is the annihilation of the capacity for critical thinking and reducing the citizen to being a mere spectator of history.’

‘The slow US support for the uprising in Egypt, the cautious tone with Bahrain and Yemen, and the strident language against Libya are of a piece: The US is not driven by the popular upsurge but by its desire to control the events in north Africa and the Gulf to accord with the three pillars of its foreign policy in the Arab world, writes Vijay Prashad.

Six socialist activists in Zimbabwe face the death penalty for watching a video about the revolt in Egypt. Munyaradzi Gwisai, Hopewell Gumbo, Antonater Choto, Welcome Zimuto, Eddson Chakuma and Tatenda Mombeyarara are charged with treason. Treason is punishable by death.

Please join the protest outside the Zimbabwean embassy this Friday 11 March, 12 noon – 1.30pm, Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, WC2R 0JR.

Life expectancy is just 33.5 years for Zimbabwean women – the lowest in the world; at least 18 per cent of the population lives with HIV and AIDS and of the 1,6-million Zimbabweans with HIV, 55 per cent are women. This is according to activist group Sokwanele, although no source was provided with the information.

The Nyeleni Newsletter is now available online in three languages: English, Spanish and French. This edition of the newsletter has a special on factory farming. The newsletter is published every two months on the website. Each newsletter comes with an additional document - a list of reports and more references that can be downloaded from the same website.

An attempt to organise a mass protest against the government in Angola’s capital Luanda may have fallen flat, but there is no doubt that a fuse has been lit among people who for so many years have not dared to challenge authority. In the days leading up to the protest, the planned action was the main topic of conversation across all tiers of society, from the top floors of skyscraper office blocks to the mud-level slums on the peripheries of the cities.

In response to a pelting critique from academics, economists and grassroots organisers worldwide, the 2011 'State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report' plans to address the controversies surrounding a development scheme that many believe to have failed. A tempest of questions, censures and confusions has battered at the doors of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), whose small-scale loans many are calling 'micro band-aids' on the wound of inequality that the world is currently nursing.

'It is true that the immediate trigger for Arab uprisings is failed internal governance, but sub-Saharan African regimes have also been spared the extra layer of Middle Eastern geopolitical complications which so discredited Arab regimes widely seen as repressive yet impotent,' argues this article in assessing the extent to which popular protests in North Africa will spread to the rest of Africa. 'More crucially, sub-Saharan states are more ethnically pluralist, lacking in the linguistic and relative ethnic homogeneity that have underpegged mass mobilisation of popular Arab action.'

The latest newsletter from African Peoples Advocacy (APA) contains articles on the plight of migrants in Libya, the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, the Ugandan elections and further information about events and activities.

More than 1,000 illegal immigrants escaping political turmoil in north Africa arrived on the southern Italian island Lampedusa in the Mediterraneanrecently. So far, none of the illegal immigrants were believed to have left from Libya, but Italian officials fear an exodus from its former colony if the situation worsens. The new arrivals on Lampedusa come on top of a previous wave of refugees who flooded the island five days ago, when around 350 migrants from Tunisia arrived by boat overnight.

More than 450,000 people have fled their homes because of the crisis in Ivory Coast, the UN refugee agency says. Some 370,000 people have fled their homes in Abidjan, while a further 77,000 have crossed into neighbouring Liberia, according to the UNHCR. It said the 'unfolding tragedy' in Ivory Coast had been overlooked while international attention has been focused on North Africa.

Niger's presidential run-off election was free and fair and the two candidates should respect its verdict, regional observers said on Sunday. Nigeriens voted on Saturday, a year after soldiers ousted ex-president Mamadou Tandja for outstaying his term in office in the uranium-producing state. Provisional results from the poll, which pits opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou against a Tandja party ally Seyni Oumarou, are due on Monday.

A report recently released by Tax Justice Network-Africa, 'Tax Us If You Can: Why Africa should stand up for tax justice', addresses both domestic and international challenges facing African countries in their efforts to raise domestic resources to finance development. The report emphasises the importance of tax noting that, 'In Africa, tax revenue will be essential for establishing independent states of free citizens, less reliant on foreign aid and the vagaries of external Capital.'

Professor Anyang Nyong'o might have guessed that a trip to the United States for treatment for prostate cancer would provoke a furore: he is the Minister for Medical Services. Health activists are outraged that high-profile politicians are able to access world class facilities, whilst ordinary Kenyans can only dream of accessing such health care. 'We are glad that the minister is back and is exuding good health. But what choices does the ordinary Kenyan have at accessing quality treatment?' asks Nairobi resident, Milka Ondiek.

Reporters Without Borders has carried out a new survey of online freedom of expression for World Day Against Cyber-Censorship, marked on 12 March. 'One in three of the world’s Internet users does not have access to an unrestricted Internet,' Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. 'Around 60 countries censor the Internet to varying degrees and harass netizens. At least 119 people are currently in prison just for using the Internet to express their views freely. These are disturbing figures.'

The presence of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has led to deteriorating security conditions for aid workers and civilians in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo’s two Uelé districts, where 31 attacks took place in January alone – as many as in the last three months of 2010. On 6 March, six World Food Programme (WFP) trucks were ambushed by a group of 30 men a few kilometers south of Banda, on the road to Ango, in Bas Uelé district. The vehicles were part of a 17-strong convoy. The attackers made off with sacks of flour and drivers’ personal effects.

The Social Conflict in Africa Database (SCAD) is a resource for conducting research and analysis on various forms of social and political unrest in Africa. It includes over 6,000 social conflict events across Africa from 1990 to 2009, including riots, strikes, protests, coups, and communal violence.

At the top of a tarred road in this tense Abidjan district, forces loyal to internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara man a roadblock. At the other end, troops backing strongman Laurent Gbagbo stand guard. In between lie two bodies, the latest casualties of a bloody stand-off between the rival camps.

A press freedom watchdog took Egypt and Tunisia off its online censorship blacklist following their recent revolutions and awarded a web media award to Tunisian news bloggers. In Egypt, 'the heavy filtering (of Internet sites) at the height of the revolution has reportedly ended,' said Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in an annual report on the eve of its World Day Against Cyber-Censorship.

Amidst the ongoing debate of the role of social media in revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa lies another question: to what degree does Internet access matter in determining the role of the Internet and social media in these revolts? In Egypt and Tunisia, many attribute an important role to online tools while others debate their worth; most observers fall somewhere in the middle, recognising the value of the Internet but remaining realistic about its limitations. This blog post assesses various aspects of the debate.

The government of the ousted Egyptian strongman, Hosni Mubarak, at one time considered the use of force if upstream countries threatened its historical rights to the use of the Nile waters. The administration was incensed by riparian states insistence on using the Nile for irrigation and other water consuming projects. According to confidential cables, sent to Washington, by American diplomats based in Cairo, the Mubarak administration viewed access to its quota of Nile waters as a national security issue, 'and a creation of a system that threatens this quota will be seen as an existential threat'.

Italy, which did more than any other country to legitimise Libya and its mercurial leader, is going through a foreign policy nightmare as civil strife in its former colony threatens its energy supplies, international image and the stability of some of its blue chip companies. Italy imports about 80 per cent of its energy needs. About 32 per cent of Libya's oil output goes to Italy - making up about 25 per cent of Italy's imports - and about 12 per cent of Italy's gas comes from Libya.

TWAS Fellowships: 2011 Call for Applications
Postgraduate, postdoctoral, visiting scholar and advanced research fellowships available to scientists from developing countries

TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world, is now accepting applications for its postgraduate, postdoctoral, visiting scholars and advanced research fellowship programmes.
The fellowships are offered to scientists from developing countries and are tenable at centres of excellence in various countries in the South, including Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan and Thailand.

Eligible fields include: agricultural and biological sciences, medical and health sciences, chemistry, engineering, astronomy, space and earth sciences, mathematics and physics.

Please see > Programmes > Exchange > Fellowships (http://twas.ictp.it/prog/exchange/fells/fells-overview) for the latest information regarding all these programmes, including eligibility criteria, deadlines, etc, and to download the application forms and guidelines.

Women scientists are especially encouraged to apply.

The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) has rapped Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel over the knuckles for his open letter criticising government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi for his remarks on coloureds.Manuel wrote an open letter to Manyi following comments the government spokesperson made in a TV interview a year ago that coloureds were 'over-concentrated' in the Western Cape.

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has called on President Jacob Zuma to take 'stern action' against national police chief Bheki Cele and Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde over the controversial R500 million lease for new SAPS headquarters. Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report described as unlawful actions by both departments in procuring the Sanlam Middestad building in Pretoria.

The Open Society Foundations invite photographers to submit a body of work for consideration in the Moving Walls 19 group exhibition. Application deadline is April 1, 2011.

Anti-government protesters, who have taken to the streets of Khartoum and other Sudanese cities over recent weeks, run the risk of sexual assault, torture and detention, say human rights workers and demonstrators. 'We confirmed five cases of women who were sexually assaulted during or after the protests,' said Rania Rajji, Amnesty International’s Sudan researcher, adding that there had also been cases of torture, and injured people being denied medical care while in detention. According to Amnesty, some 60 people who took part in protests are in the custody of security forces.

Lindiwe Zono is a member of the Phadima Agricultural Association in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo province, in northwestern South Africa. The association has started a seed bank to preserve and increase their supply of traditional food plants, reports Farm Radio Weekly. Zono says that seed saving was once an almost sacred duty among the Pedi, the largest ethnic group in the province. The seed bank builds on this tradition. It aims to make use of and promote traditional crops such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas, maize, and pumpkin. It began in 2000 and covers seven villages.

An exiled Eritrean opposition force has called for Egypt and Libya-type mass protests to end the rule of the east African nation’s government, which is led by president Isaias Afeworki. The Eritrean leader has been in power since 1991, following 30 years of armed struggle that led to the country’s independence.

The Arab revolt fever could be spreading across the southern African region with Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Swaziland reportedly on the edge over a possible mass protests. And the leaders of those countries are not taking chances. They have openly warned against any kind of revolt.

Zimbabwe’s government recently announced that the country had run out of the critical painkiller morphine. It was just the latest development in a debilitating health care crisis that has seen hospitals turn away patients because of drug shortages. In the absence of even a basic drug such as paracetamol, desperate patients like 44-year-old asthma sufferer Susan Pamire have turned to traditional herbs.

Fears of Prime Minister Raila Odinga ascending to the presidency after the 2007 general election by close confidantes of President Kibaki have been revealed in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, reports the Daily Nation. A Cabinet minister warned a US embassy official that Mr Odinga was likely to turn into a dictator if he won the hotly disputed general election.

The government’s generous tax exemption regime could be robbing the region’s second biggest economy of millions of dollars, a new survey has revealed. The findings by Hivos/Twaweza East Africa corroborate recent comments by several donor partners on Tanzania’s unwarranted tax exemptions. The report says that while the Tanzanian parliament carefully scrutinizes the government’s budget, tax exemptions, on the other hand, do not receive the same attention, thus making them hidden expenditures.