Africa Yearbook
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AFRICA YEARBOOK Volume 9 Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2012 EDITED BY ANDREAS MEHLER HENNING MELBER KLAAS VAN WALRAVEN SUB-EDITOR ROLF HOFMEIER LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-25599-9 Contents i. Preface ........................................................................................................... vii ii. List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................... ix iii. Factual Overview ........................................................................................... xiii I. Sub-Saharan Africa (Andreas Mehler, Henning Melber & Klaas van Walraven) ...................................................................................................... 1 II. United Nations and Sub-Saharan Africa (Valerio Bosco) .............................. 17 III. African-European Relations (Mark Furness) ................................................ 31 IV. West Africa (Klaas van Walraven) ................................................................ 47 Benin (Eric Komlavi Hahonou) ..................................................................... 59 Burkina Faso (Alexander Stroh) .................................................................... 67 Cape Verde (Gerhard Seibert) ....................................................................... 75 Côte d’Ivoire (Bruno Losch) .......................................................................... 81 Gambia (Alice Bellagamba) ........................................................................... 91 Ghana (Kwesi Aning & Nancy Annan) ........................................................... 97 Guinea (Anita Schroven) ................................................................................ 107 Guinea-Bissau (Christoph Kohl) .................................................................... 115 Liberia (Lansana Gberie) .............................................................................. 123 Mali (Martin van Vliet) .................................................................................. 131 Mauritania (Claes Olsson & Helena Olsson) ................................................. 139 Niger (Klaas van Walraven) .......................................................................... 147 Nigeria (Heinrich Bergstresser) .................................................................... 157 Senegal (Vincent Foucher) ............................................................................ 175 Sierra Leone (Krijn Peters) ............................................................................ 187 Togo (Dirk Kohnert) ...................................................................................... 195 V. Central Africa (Andreas Mehler) ................................................................... 203 Cameroon (Fanny Pigeaud) ........................................................................... 211 Central African Republic (Andreas Mehler) .................................................. 219 Chad (Han van Dijk) ...................................................................................... 227 © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-25599-9 vi • Contents Congo (Brett L. Carter) ................................................................................ 235 Democratic Republic of the Congo (Claudia Simons) .................................. 241 Equatorial Guinea (Alicia Campos) .............................................................. 255 Gabon (Douglas A. Yates) ............................................................................ 261 São Tomé and Príncipe (Gerhard Seibert) ................................................... 269 VI. Eastern Africa (Rolf Hofmeier) ..................................................................... 275 Burundi (Stef Vandeginste) ........................................................................... 291 Comoros (Rolf Hofmeier) ............................................................................. 301 Djibouti (Rolf Hofmeier) ............................................................................... 309 Eritrea (Nicole Hirt) ...................................................................................... 315 Ethiopia (Jon Abbink) ................................................................................... 325 Kenya (Nic Cheeseman) ............................................................................... 337 Rwanda (Susan Thomson) ............................................................................ 351 Seychelles (Rolf Hofmeier) ........................................................................... 363 Somalia (Jon Abbink) ................................................................................... 369 South Sudan (Peter Woodward) ................................................................... 381 Sudan (Peter Woodward) ............................................................................. 389 Tanzania (Kurt Hirschler & Rolf Hofmeier) ................................................. 401 Uganda (Volker Weyel) ................................................................................. 415 VII. Southern Africa (Henning Melber) ............................................................... 427 Angola (Jon Schubert) .................................................................................. 439 Botswana (David Sebudubudu & Maitseo Bolaane) .................................... 451 Lesotho (Roger Southall) .............................................................................. 459 Madagascar (Richard R. Marcus) ................................................................. 465 Malawi (Tiyesere Mercy Chikapa-Jamali & Lewis B. Dzimbiri) ................. 473 Mauritius (Klaus-Peter Treydte) ................................................................... 481 Mozambique (Joseph Hanlon) ..................................................................... 487 Namibia (Henning Melber) ........................................................................... 497 South Africa (Sanusha Naidu) ...................................................................... 507 Swaziland (John Daniel & Marisha Ramdeen) ............................................ 521 Zambia (Henning Melber) ............................................................................ 527 Zimbabwe (Amin Y. Kamete) ........................................................................ 537 List of Authors ...................................................................................................... 549 © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-25599-9 Congo The year in Congo was marked by a combination of tragedy and political intrigue. In March, a munitions depot exploded in the heart of Brazzaville, killing hundreds of Congo- lese citizens and displacing at least 15,000. The government pressed forward with parlia- mentary elections scheduled for July, which President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s ‘Parti Congolais du Travail’ (PCT) won overwhelmingly: of the National Assembly’s 139 seats, the political opposition now held less than 20. Sassou Nguesso reshuffled his government in September, and the appointments reflected both the intrigue surrounding the March explosions and the July election results. Congo’s foreign policy was marked by increas- ingly warm relations with China and Russia, reducing the regime’s vulnerability to West- ern diplomatic pressure. Dominant at home, Sassou Nguesso fashioned himself as an elder statesman of Central Africa, mediating in diplomatic crises throughout the sub- region. The Congolese economy continued to grow rapidly, buoyed by persistently high global crude prices. Yet these gains did little to improve the living standards of most Con- golese citizens, who remain among the world’s poorest. © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-25599-9 236 • Central Africa Domestic Politics On Sunday morning, March 4, a series of explosions at a centrally located munitions depot rocked Brazzaville, destroying large swathes of the Mpila, Ouenzé, and Talangai neighbourhoods. Although the government put the official death toll at 282, many observ- ers suspected the true count was closer to 2,000. At least 15,000 refugees sought shelter in a handful of tent cities throughout Brazzaville. Despite support from the Red Cross, West- ern governments, and Congo’s other foreign allies, refugees lived in often appalling con- ditions. Inadequate sanitation facilities and water shortages contributed to a cholera outbreak, causing several deaths. And although the government promised indemnities to affected citizens, distribution was politically motivated. The area’s affluent – and politi- cally powerful – residents were well compensated, while the impoverished were often neglected. The explosions destroyed the armoured military regiment adjacent to Sassou Nguesso’s private compound and coincided with his weekly retreat from Brazzaville’s presidential palace. Consequently, most observers regarded the explosions as the opening salvo in an aborted coup d’état. Notwithstanding its official denials, the regime apparently had sim- ilar feelings. Suspicion quickly settled on Colonel Marcel Ntsourou, National Security Council second in command and an ethnic Téké from Lekana, Plateaux. Ntsourou was incarcerated in late March and was still being held, without trial, at the end of the year; in one court submission, his lawyer, Hervé Ambroise Malonga alleged that Ntsourou had been tortured