Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of a United Africa is crumbling as African countries expel residents from other African countries. Botswana is arresting, charging and deporting Zimbabweans who it labels “illegal immigrants.” Zimbabwe, on the other hand, is accusing Botswana of ill treating its citizens. Tanzania is not left out of this fray.  The country is increasingly becoming hostile to non Tanzanian Africans on its soil. Kenya too is being watched for harassing a leading KTN News anchor for  being non Kenyan. “We are shooting ourselves in the leg by preaching African integration while we practice disintegration,” says an EAC official based in Arusha.

Celtel Founder to Fight Africa Graft

In a continent riddled with top level financial scandals, African heads of state have been given an opportunity to earn a whooping US$5 million if they stop graft. The Mo Ibrahim Prize for achievement to be issued every year under New Jersey based Mo Ibrahim Foundation, is aimed at promoting good governance in Africa. It is however not clear why a good governance index developed at Harvard University will be used to identify leaders. “Does it mean that Africans are not able to develop a good governance index?” Laments a University a don. 

Kenya Unveils Vision 2030 

Kenya officially launched its vision 2030 strategy meant to propel the country to new heights of growth by addressing such challenges as rapid urbanization, income inequalities, low savings and unemployment. “The song used to be: By the year 2000, all villages shall have piped water, electricity and health facilities. Come that year, the vision had not been achieved even a quarter way,” says Okello Jonathan. Most Kenyans are disappointed that the country has neat visions on paper that never actualize.

Safaricom: The Most Profitable Company in Kenya 

Safaricom has reported Kshs. 12.2 billion pre-tax profits making it the most profitable company in Kenya. The six year old mobile phone operator took over the title from East Africa Breweries. The growth is attributed to a significant increase in network rollout in rural areas and the introduction of the ‘Bamba 50’ airtime scratch card.

East Africa Stock Exchange 

Companies in East Africa will enjoy cross-border listing on the three stock exchanges come 2008. East Africa will have a single stock exchange, the East Africa Stock Exchange, with companies from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania having their stocks listed in the Nairobi, Uganda and Dar-es-salaam Stock Exchanges.  

AU and ECA to Prepare a Master Plan 

Africa Union and Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) joint team will prepare a master plan for an integrated transport infrastructure for Africa. The team will work with the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAEA) on maritime and ports matters. The master plan will be an integrator and tool for management, planning, decision making, funding, co-ordination and optimization of transport infrastructure development in Africa.  

African Countries on Course to Meet MDGs

According to a World Bank report African Devolopment Indicators (ADI) 2006, many African countries, including Senegal, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana and Cape Verde, have lifted significant percentages of their citizens above the poverty line. The countries might be on course to meeting the income poverty Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving poverty by 2010. The full spectrum of achievers and laggards stretches from Zimbabwe, which recorded a negative growth rate of 2.4 percent - the only country with a negative growth rate in 2004 on the continent - to Equatorial Guinea, which recorded a 20.9 percent growth rate.