THE INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER # 968 - 20/10/2001

INDIAN OCEAN Indian Ocean: The Routes of Conflict Although it is a co-founder and a 36% shareholder in Air Austral, France's national airline is nonetheless preparing a project to compete with the Réunion Island airline proposal of a Mayotte-Paris air route due to be inaugurated before the end of 2002. (...). [Total : 669 Words]. (8,2USD) 4

UGANDA Hope for Détente with Rwanda The tension that has reigned these past few weeks between Uganda and Rwanda and which has been fed by the concentration of Ugandan troops on the Rwandan border (ION 963) is expected to drop somewhat. (...). [Total : 220 Words]. (4,7USD) 2 EAST AFRICA World Bank's Selective Visits A sweep through East Africa that the World Bank’s chief economist will make between October 12 and 22 provides a strong illustration of the institution’s relations with countries in the region. (...). [Total : 343 Words]. (4,7USD) DJIBOUTI New Head for Frenchmen Abroad In a letter sent to the French foreign ministry on October 15, Djibouti's delegate to the Conseil Supérieur des Français à l'Etranger (CSFE) announced his resignation. (...). [Total : 291 Words]. (4,7USD)

ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE Large Contract in Réunion Added to ADIT Depending on both the foreign and research ministries in Paris, a French public industrial and commercial agency has carried off one of the most important public bids in France in the area of monitoring and economic intelligence. (...). [Total : 181 Words]. (4,7USD) DOMESTIC GAS STC Yields Mauritius Contract to Escol A sudden new development has occurred in the trial of strength between the State Trading Corporation (STC) and the private Energy Storage Company Ltd (Escol) in the matter of furnishing Mauritius with domestic gas. (...). [Total : 228 Words]. (4,7USD) OIL Dreaming of a Black Gold Future Since he has become Kenya's energy minister, Raila Odinga dreams of turning his country into an oil-producing nation, but for the moment he must content himself with issuing exploration licenses to foreign companies. (...). [Total : 136 Words]. (4,7USD)

AIR AUSTRAL Competition Flares in Indian Ocean Competition is striking from every quarter for Air Austral in the Indian Ocean. (...). [Total : 141 Words]. (1,5USD) SOREDIM Sirama Problems on Madagascar The French firm Hermes Commodities (ION 966) is not the only entity to have financial problems with Siramamy Malagasy SA (Sirama). (...). [Total : 95 Words]. (1,5USD) 2 STANBIC Winner of Bid for Uganda's UCBL On October 16, the board of the central Bank of Uganda (BOU) approved the sale of 80% of the Uganda Commercial Bank Ltd (UCBL) to South Africa's Standard Bank Investment Corporation (Stanbic). (...). [Total : 147 Words]. (1,5USD)

COMOROS ISLANDS Under Siege, FADC Is Closed Down On October 16, Suzanne Shorste left South Africa, where she is based as task manager for the Fonds d'Appui au Développement Communautaire (FADC), for Moroni to hold talks with local authorities concerning the forced shutdown of the World Bank project implementation organization in the Comoro Islands. (...). [Total : 391 Words]. (4,7USD) REUNION ISLAND Lobby of Common Fishermen Unhappy with the distribution of French state subsidies which they deem too favorable to the ships outfitted with the most modern fishing equipment, Réunion Island's common fishermen are resolutely expecting to meet Christian Paul during the visit of the state secretary for French territories overseas to Saint Denis next week. (...). [Total : 272 Words]. (4,7USD) MOZAMBIQUE The Rocky Ride of Banco Austral The Banco Austral recovery package that was presented to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by finance minister Luisa Diogo in early September (ION 965) was the scene of several disagreements within the Maputo government during its earlier elaboration. (...). [Total : 368 Words]. (4,7USD) 1 ZIMBABWE The Veep Prepares for Retirement The government of President Robert Mugabe has ordered the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to accelerate the rural electrification program in Gutu, the native region of vice-president Simon Muzenda. (...). [Total : 217 Words]. (4,7USD) 1 TANZANIA Sukita's Assets on Auction In order to pay back its 14 billion shillings ($1 = 820 shillings) in debts, the Sukita company, which is the commercial arm of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), may see its assets auctioned off. (...). [Total : 288 Words]. (4,7USD)

EAST AFRICA French CFCE's Coming Seminar in Paris On November 15, the French center for foreign trade is organizing a one-morning seminar on the subject of east Africa. (...). [Total : 106 Words]. (1,5USD) 1 SUDAN The Ties of Salah Idris to Surveillance Equipment The questions raised in the House of Lords by two MPs who have defended human rights in Sudan have underlined the interests in the UK held by the businessman whose pharmaceutical factory in Sudan was bombed by the United States in 1998. (...). [Total : 115 Words]. (1,5USD) 5

ETHIOPIA Ethiopia: New Cabinet Benefits ANDM The new government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has seen fit to reinforce the position of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the member of the ruling EPRDF coalition that has been least touched by internal dissent these past months. (...). [Total : 317 Words]. (4,7USD) 1 3 KENYA More Obstacles for Nyachae No success yet in Simeon Nyachae's attempt to take over the opposition Ford People party in order for the former finance minister to have a political party with which to run in the presidential elections of late 2002. (...). [Total : 271 Words]. (4,7USD) SEYCHELLES Mancham Plays the Good Samaritan The leader of the opposition Seychelles National Party (SNP) has rejected the suggestion by former president James Mancham that he withdraw his complaint to the constitutional court in which he challenges the results of the presidential election last month. (...). [Total : 347 Words]. (4,7USD) MADAGASCAR Ravalomanana Casts a Wide Net As the main rival of outgoing President Didier Ratsiraka in the presidential elections of December 16, Marc Ravalomanana is seeking support from every horizon. (...). [Total : 323 Words]. (4,7USD) 8 MADAGASCAR Zafy Wanted to Bump Off Rival The son of late French president François Mitterrand has just published an autobiography in which he describes a rather startling encounter with presidential contender Albert Zafy. (...). [Total : 283 Words]. (4,7USD) 2

MADAGASCAR Some Yanks Keep Away, Others Move In Following the September 11 attacks on America, the Reverend Graham Smith of St David's Episcopal Church has canceled his trip to Madagascar for safety reasons. (...). [Total : 170 Words]. (1,5USD) ERITREA Rallying Behind Mark Warner in Virginia A group of Americans of Eritrean origin has rallied behind Mark Warner in the race for governor of Virginia in early November. (...). [Total : 98 Words]. (1,5USD)

KENYA James Orengo After the departure of Charity Ngilu from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a very active member of parliament took over the chairmanship of that opposition group last week. (...). [Total : 240 Words]. (4,7USD) SOUTH AFRICA/UNITED KINGDOM Lindiwe Mabuza A poet doubling as a diplomat is to replace Cheryl Carolus as South Africa's high commissioner to the UK. When Lindiwe Mabuza, the child of a truck-driver and a housekeeper, said that she wanted to go to university, only her grand-mother refrained from laughing, and yet it was she who turned out to be right. (...). [Total : 277 Words]. (4,7USD) ETHIOPIA Harka Hareyo Ethiopia's new justice minister is a former rebel and a recent arrival to the régime of the ruling Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). (...). [Total : 201 Words]. (4,7USD) 1 KENYA/WORLD BANK Makthar Diop The successor of Harold Wackman as the World Bank's director in Nairobi is a former Senegalese finance minister who will be in charge of Eritrea and Somalia as well as Kenya. (...). [Total : 213 Words]. (4,7USD)

UNITED STATES/AFRICA CONSTANCE BERRY NEWMAN A former member of the elder George Bush administration has been named to replace Vivian Lowery Derrick, who resigned as head of USAID's Africa bureau at the beginning of the year. (...). [Total : 74 Words]. (1,5USD) IRELAND/UGANDA MARY MCALEESE The President of the Republic of Ireland is to pay a working visit to Uganda from October 21 to 27. (...). [Total : 41 Words]. (FREE!)