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Vol. 13 Issue 22…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…May 30, 2010

Bit of History

China in Africa (FOCAC)

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is a relatively new phenomenon, which began with the first ministerial conference held in Beijing (10/10-12/00); for many, it marked the beginning of a "golden age" in Africa-China relations. Although historically very little is said about this relationship, it is an ancient one. Chinese porcelain from the Tang Dynasty has been found in North Africa along the coast of Egypt. Chinese coins, dating back to the 9th century have been discovered in Kenya, Zanzibar and Somalia. The Song Dynasty established maritime trade in East Africa in the mid-12th century, today Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The Yuan Dynasty's Zhu Siben made the first known Chinese voyage along the Atlantic coast, while a fleet of more than 300 ships commanded by admiral Zheng of the Ming Dynasty made seven separate voyages around the Indian Ocean, landing on the Eastern coast of Africa.

Today's Africa-China rapprochement has been a long process driven by historical events outside both Africa and China but nurtured by the need for development within both. Beginning in the 1400s, the Age of Discovery, slavery and the Industrial Revolution impacted both China and Africa negatively, as European powers searched for cheap labor, raw materials and export markets. China became a Western colonial possession, while Africa was carved up like a steak and consumed by European Kings. Tens of thousands of Chinese Coolies, like African slaves, were sent overseas to work in mines, on railroads, and plantations for the colonial powers.

The sleeping dragon awoke in 1949 with the revolutionary victory of the Communists, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was born. This era renewed the "Sino-African friendship." Cognizant that the PRC, like African nations, was victimized by European colonialism, the 1950s saw China supporting African struggles for independence. Demands for an end to imperialism by Europe, Japan and the United States became the resolve of the Bandung Conference (1955), when China stepped forward as the leader of the "Third World."

Zhou Enlai made an extensive tour of Africa between 1963 and 1964 to strengthen the Sino-African relationship. This trip laid groundwork for the PRC's move to replace Taiwan on the UN Security Council. The passage of General Assembly Resolution 2758 allowed the PRC to take its rightful place among world powers (1971). China's support of African liberation movements across the continent put it in direct opposition to Western powers most notably in places like Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa (Apartheid). The death of Mao Tse-Tung and Zhou Enlai changed the dynamics in China and the character of the relationship with the rise to power of the pragmatic Deng Xiaoping.

Much like the "Great Leap" of Mao Tse-Tung, Deng Xiaoping's internal reforms (1980), the garnering of foreign investments and China's huge work force began another amazing growth period. And, as in the 1970s, China turned once more toward Africa. Representing what China needed most to sustain industrial momentum, Africa's abundant natural resources - oil, timber, cotton, diamonds, gold, silver, uranium, cobalt, copper, nickel, coal, platinum/palladium, manganese, bauxite, chromite, to name a few - were the key to the future for China and Africa.

Having supported many of Africa's revolutionary movements in their fight for independence and without any history of colonial domination in Africa, China's African UN peace-keeping roles (1990s) -- Liberia, Western Sahara, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo, were more than symbolic. The PRC now has military alliances with 6 African states, 4 of which are major oil suppliers: Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt.

The amazing 1860 km long Tanzam railroad, which 50,000 Chinese workers completed in 1976 made Angola the model for what China's development could do for Africa. China advanced Angola a $5 billion loan which was to be repaid in oil, thereby eliminating long term interest payments. Also, China sent technicians to fix a large part of Angola's electrical system. Angola is benefiting from Chinese-built roads, hospitals, schools, hotels, football stadiums, shopping centers and telecommunications projects.

Chinese bids were heavily supported by China's government, local embassies, and the government-owned Eximbank, which provided low rate financing. Such agreements may seem costly for countries such as Angola, having mortgaged future oil production or other valuable resource to pay for construction and development, but it and other African nations need this infrastructure now and China is providing what no one else will. Thus Angola, as many other African nations, is now one of China's leading resource suppliers.

Trying to make their "great leap" many African nations see the FOCAC as a godsend. It has held four summits to date, with the most recent meeting taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (11/8-9/09). Previous summits were held in Beijing (2000 and 2006) and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2003). The fifth ministerial meeting of the FOCAC will be held in 2012 in Beijing. FOCAC has pursued a decidedly different course than the Western nations of Europe and the United States in helping Africa. Most financial assistance is not debt based. For instance, China gave Africa $5 billion worth of concessionary loans at the 2006 summit.

It also adopted a declaration and an action plan for 2010-2012 to chart the path for further China-Africa cooperation at Sharm el-Sheikh by announcing a $10 billion low cost loan. A billion dollar special loan for small and medium-sized African businesses was established. China also announced eight new policy measures aimed at strengthening relations with Africa which were "more focused on improving people's livelihoods."

China will write off the debt of some of the poorest African nations. Also, it will construct 100 new clean-energy projects on the continent covering solar power, bio-gas and small hydro-power and gradually lower customs duties on 95 percent of products from African states with which it has diplomatic ties. Furthermore, China will undertake 100 joint demonstration projects on scientific and technological research, select 100 African postdoctoral fellows to conduct scientific research in China and assist them in going back and serving their home countries. The FOCAC agreement calls for 20 agricultural technology demonstration centers to be built by China in Africa. Fifty agricultural technology teams will be sent to Africa and 2,000 agricultural technology personnel will be trained for Africa, in order to help strengthen Africa's ability to ensure food security. China is leaving a big footprint in Africa. (Sources: www.cfr.org, www.timeslive.co.za, www.fastcompany.com, www.foreignaffairs.com and www.focac.org)

What's Up with Africa and China?

By John Burl Smith

Most scholars of Africa-China relations point to the travels to Africa of Admiral Zheng He of Yunnan during the Ming dynasty (1400s) or the Bandung Conference of 1955 as the historical backdrop of recent Africa-China relations. The new relationship is taking place at the highest levels with Chinese leaders traveling to African capitals and high level African leaders going to Beijing. However, the most significant event for the whole of Africa has been the establishment of the Forums on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which offers Africans a positive perspective on the future.

Just over a decade ago, a future outside of the colonial relationships that have raped Africa since the 1400s was not a realistic possibility. Those relationships left African nations buried under mountains of debt heaped upon them by their colonial lords, which they had to accept as a condition of independence. China, through the FOCAC, offers Africa a new model of economic possibilities based on China's rise from the depths of colonial despair.

Skeptics would say the Chinese are only setting Africans up to replace Western robber barons with "slant-eyed" ones from the East; a scenario that may well become a reality. However, if one examines what is known about how Europeans came into Africa and what they did once they arrived, several words jump out at you - slavery, forced subjection, exploitation, disease and poverty are just a few. Conversely, China, after fighting imperialism - the Opium War, the Boxer Rebellion and the deception following WWII, achieved independence under the Mao Tse-Tung-led revolution and identified with African nations' struggles against colonial powers. Therefore, China did not enter Africa as a conqueror but as a partner in development.

Nevertheless, skeptics are asking hard questions. Are there equal benefits or is the relationship skewed in an asymmetrical fashion to benefit the Chinese? Why has this relationship suddenly gained such momentum? What are the major issues involved and who is driving the relationship? Although relevant, such questions should be viewed through the lens of need which magnifies the problems facing Africa's people.

First this relationship is being driven from the top. President Hu Jintao has visited Africa three times since coming to power and many state ministers have followed suit. Second, trade has increased to such an extent that China is now the second largest trading partner with Africa after the United States (US), beating out colonial powers like Britain and France. Chinese government's investments and businesses in Africa have almost tripled in value since 2000. Third, there are lots of interactions between not just governments but ordinary Africans and Chinese, indicated by the rapid establishment of African and Chinese migrant communities on both continents.

Then, there are the very practical facts that China's fast developing economy needs lots of raw materials such as oil, gold, diamond, minerals, textiles and export markets which Africa has in vast reserves. Africa, on the other hand, needs new partnerships for development beyond the Western economies that have put it so deeply in debt. African countries are thus badly in need of Chinese investments to kick-start their struggling economies.

The question of symmetry or who is getting the better deal again must be seen through the context of need. No other continent can offer the Chinese so much of what they need at this time as cheaply as Africa. If Africa is to ever gain full independence from its colonial masters, it must free itself of debt. A half a loaf of something is better than a whole loaf of undeveloped potential. Retrospectively, Africa's future has been defined in terms of its colonial lord's interest. China now holds out the hope that each African country can begin to define itself in terms of its needs and what it has to offer the world.

Against this new backdrop, Western powers are attempting to dissuade African nations from dealing with China by raising issues of human rights violations and labeling some African nations as "rogue states." The United States and Europe unconditionally supports Israel, which continues to violate the human rights of the Palestinian people. Consequently, US claims of Chinese human rights violations are like "the pot calling the kettle black." Precisely in regard to human rights, US descendants of African slaves have filed a petition with the UN Human Rights Council charging the US government with violating their human rights.

US slave descendants are seeking an opportunity to expose the US as a fraud in its support for human rights and its condemnation of such nations as China, Angola, Iran and Zimbabwe. Slave descendants base their claim on the US Supreme Court's "reverse discrimination" ruling which upholds the 3/5 Compromise of Article I Section II of the US Constitution, which made slave descendants less than human. Victims of the same Western slave master/colonial mind-set, Chinese, Africans and slave descendants must stand together against neo-imperialism.

Although the US continues to charge that China's government is guilty of human rights violations, an entourage of over 100 American diplomats, politicians and businessmen has just concluded a trip to China. Hat-in-hand, they went seeking the same considerations from China that Africa is now receiving. Presently, China buys more US debt than any nation, and if China does not continue to hold US debt, its present economic crisis will become a depression. No one is asking why America deals with the Chinese, according to them a "human rights violator" or whether the relationship is asymmetrical. No one cares because the relationship benefits the US. It is only when there is a chance something will benefit Africa or the African Diaspora that questions are raised. Now that's what's up! (Sources: www.pambazuka.org and www.foreignaffairs.com)

Venue for an Artist

You Don't Read Africa

By David Munene wa Kimberly

Never have you ever sat

Or beneath African Suns lay flat

You insist on rumours fat

Liken to a rainy day's door mat

To judge where you haven't testified

And judge what ain't justified

You don't read Africa

You heard it is Hell's replica

With an oasis of virtual bliss

Where on semi-humans and snakes hiss

You watched him report

On a continent he hasn't rapport!

Why do you believe:

That which you perceive?

As Gospel-truth lies you receive?

Those that only your mind deceive?

Making you think 'Africa' is synonym to 'grieve'?

You don't read Africa

You only read about Africa

The cradle of mankind

You believe is to mankind unkind

You help in protests

Against nothing on your list of detests

You call it charity when you commission inquests!

Can a reader read a book here

When he is only there

There where he doesn't know where,

Where he feels and thinks is nowhere?

Read Africa from your heart

Not just when Africans hurt

You cannot read Africa miles apart

You read of Africa

You read about Africa

You have read about Africa

You Don't Read Africa

About Me: Born in Kalimoni Hospital in the Thika District (formerly Kiambu District) in Kenya, David Munene wa Kimberly currently works as an End-User Training Instructor with Institute of Advanced Technology in Nairobi. For him, poetry is a passion and not a profession.

Intuit's Vibe

Francafrique and the Global Econ Crisis

By Pa Njakri

As we read of the current crisis in Greece and the emergency bailout of the European Union of the Euro, it may seem a little unclear as to the effect this will have in Africa. However, Africa, and francophone Africa in particular, is likely to be hit hard by the falling Euro and the diversion of national reserves in Europe to the propping up of the Eurozone.

This bailout starts off with an initial pot of one trillion Euros from which Greece can borrow to pay off its debts. The hope is that similar debt crises in Portugal, Spain and Italy can be averted by a show of strength in the Greek crisis.

This agreement was not reached in an amicable discussion among the wealthier European states. The Germans, who provide the bulk of the cash, were bludgeoned into agreement by Sarkozy of France who twice threatened to pull France out of the Eurozone if the Germans wouldn't go along with the plan. This is very important as France is not playing only with its own money. To a large degree it is cushioned by the reserves it holds from francophone Africa as part of the integration of the CFA francs into the Eurozone. Colonies françaises d'Afrique ("French colonies of Africa")

There are actually two separate CFA francs in circulation. The first is that of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) which comprises eight West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The second is that of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) which comprises six Central African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon), This division corresponds to the pre-colonial AOF (Afrique Occidentale Française) and the AEF (Afrique Équatoriale Française), with the exception that Guinea-Bissau was formerly Portuguese and Equatorial Guinea Spanish).

The WAEMU CFA franc is issued by the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest and the Bank of the Central African States (BEAC) controls the CEMAC CFA franc. These currencies were originally pegged at 100 CFA for each French franc, but after France joined the European Community's Euro zone at a fixed rate of 6.65957 French francs to one Euro, the CFA rate to the Euro was fixed at CFA 665,957 to each Euro, maintaining the 100 to 1 ratio. It is important to note that it is the responsibility of the French Treasury to guarantee the convertibility of the CFA to the Euro.

The monetary policy governing such a diverse aggregation of countries is uncomplicated because it is, in fact, operated by the French Treasury, without reference to the central fiscal authorities of any of the WAEMU states. Under the terms of the agreement which set up these banks and the CFA, the Central Bank of each African country is obliged to keep at least 65% of its foreign exchange reserves in an "operations account" held at the French Treasury, as well as another 20% to cover financial liabilities.

The CFA central banks also impose a cap on credit extended to each member country equivalent to 20% of that country's public revenue in the preceding year. Even though the BCEAO and the BEAC have an overdraft facility with the French Treasury, the drawdowns on that overdraft facility are subject to the consent of the French Treasury. The final say is that of the French Treasury which has invested the foreign reserves of the African countries in its own name on the Paris Bourse.

The central banks of these 2 zones - the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) for WAEMU and the Bank of the Central African States (BEAC) for CEMAC - have supranational status. For each zone, the reserves of member states are pooled; members have no independent monetary policy and no possibility of undermining the central bank's independence or monetising public deficits.

This fixed exchange rate regime draws its credibility from monetary agreements with France that, via the Treasury. In short, more than 80% of the foreign reserves of these African countries are deposited in the "operations accounts" controlled by the French Treasury. The two CFA banks are African in name, but have no monetary policies of their own. The countries themselves do not know, nor are they told, how much of the pool of foreign reserves held by the French Treasury belongs to them as a group or individually.

The earnings of the investment of these funds in the French Treasury pool are supposed to be added to the pool but no accounting is given to either the banks or the countries of the details of any such changes. The limited group of high officials in the French Treasury who have knowledge of the amounts in the "operations accounts," where these funds are invested, whether there is a profit on these investments, are prohibited from disclosing any of this information to the CFA banks or the central banks of the African states.

As put most elegantly and clearly in the Frontier Telegraph. "Imagine that one spends all season working hard on the farm: tilling the soil, planting, weeding, praying for rain and sunshine in appropriate quantities, cultivating the crops and then finally harvesting them.

One week to market day, the well-tended tuberous cassava roots, for example, are harvested, peeled and prepared; they are well ground; the best garri in the world is crafted; the garri looks nice and smells even better--the yellowish one fried with palm oil, and the white one too; the type of garri that will go down even without sugar well, well.

On market day, the journey is made to the market; the garri is sold for say 10,000CFA francs. Now one begins to consider what can be done with that money: buy bread and eggs for breakfast, pay for school uniforms and fees, purchase medicines etc. One can even imagine relaxing with some nice palm wine at night. Honest work, honest money earned.

But wait! On the way out of the market, a strange person standing at the gate of the market decides to extort significant concessions from your hard work and enterprise. This strange person demands that you give 6,500CFA francs of the 10,000CFA francs for him to keep in a bank account controlled by him alone. Then asks that you give him another, 2,000CFA francs as liability for the njangi or any other business venture you may want to use your money for. That is 8,500CFA francs of your 10,000CFA francs.

The person then takes that 8,500 CFA francs and go play his own njangis , invest in other businesses, manufacture arms and train others, including some of your own brothers and sisters to make sure that each time he meets you at the gate of the market you will offer no resistance to his demands. If and when he feels like it, he gives you 50CFA francs called "l'aide au dévelopment" and tells you how lazy and stupid (he may have a point here) you are. But he also tells you and the world that he is your best friend and protector."

The key to all this was the agreement signed between France and its newly-liberated African colonies which locked these colonies into the economic and military embrace of France after colonialism was officially ended. This Colonial Pact not only created the institution of the CFA franc, it created a legal mechanism under which France obtained a special place in the political and economic life of its colonies.

Some of the consequences for the Africa countries of the continuation of a policy of dependence are obvious - lack of competitive options; dependence on the French economy; dependence on the French military; and the open-door policy for French private enterprise. The creation and maintenance of the French domination of the francophone African economies is the product of a long period of French colonialism and the learned dependence of the African states. For most of francophone Africa there are only limited powers allocated to their central banks. These are economies whose vulnerability to an increasingly globalised economy expands daily. There can be no trade policy without reference to currency; there can be no investment without reference to reserves. The African politicians and parties elected to promote growth, reform, changes in trade and fiscal policies are made irrelevant except with the consent of the French Treasury which rations their funds.

Many of the goods produced in the CFA zone are priced in CFA francs. As the Euro slides down to parity with the dollar the decline in the purchasing power of the CFA declines along with it as it is pegged to the Euro. However, many products like oil and fuels are priced in dollars. African countries will get fewer dollars for their sales of their commodities at the same time as having to pay even more for their dollar-priced goods. Even if they sold their goods for dollars they would have to deposit 85% of these earnings in the French Treasury. Their reserves are propping up the French economy and they have no recourse to them as individual nations. Still less do they know how much of these reserves are theirs. It is a trap in which they are caught. This is economic slavery and the francophone African leaders (with the exception of Wade in Senegaland Mamadou Koulibaly in the Ivory Coast) don't seem too disturbed about it. Personally the African presidents and their families do quite well under this arrangement despite the fact that their countries suffer.

These francophone states are part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The ECOWAS has had as a cornerstone of its policy the creation of its own, region-wide currency. They were to have introduced their common currency by the end of 2009. They have created their own grouping, the West African Monetary Zone -WAMZ. These states (Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Liberia) hoped to introduce a new common currency, the ECO, to rival the CFA franc and, eventually, to merge the ECO and the CFA franc into a single monetary unit for the region. The pace of these developments was very slow. Perhaps the Greek crisis and the fundamental undermining of the Euro will push the francophone states to abandon the CFA franc, take charge of their own economies and join with their African brothers in the ECOWAS in a common currency, the ECO.

Politics Y2K10

Washington and African Democracy

By Kevin Funk and Steven Fake

After five days of voting, the withdrawal of virtually all of the opposition presidential candidates and countless accusations of ballot tampering, voter intimidation and worse, Sudan's flawed elections drew to an unceremonial conclusion last month, while doing little to advance democracy in Africa. Indicted war criminal Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir has maintained his grip on the presidency with 68 per cent of the national vote, and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement will do the same in the south after obtaining 93 per cent of votes in that region.

For their part, despite pro forma criticisms of electoral irregularities, outside powers appear largely content to play along. In his 28 April Los Angeles Times op-ed article, former president Jimmy Carter hailed Sudan's election as, despite flaws, an important step to peace for the country. Glib comments such as US Special Envoy Scott Gration's eyebrow-raising assertion that Sudan's elections would be 'as free and fair as possible' raise an important and oft-obscured question: What is Washington actually looking to accomplish in Africa's largest nation?

Tellingly, relations between the US and Sudan have typically been less bitter than frequently reported. Even as the Darfur conflict peaked, Washington was actively collaborating with Sudanese officials and groups directly implicated in the violence and developed a close intelligence-sharing relationship with Sudan's notorious security agency. Then-Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Abdallah Gosh - against whom the UN recommended instituting sanctions - was flown to Washington for meetings with US government officials on a CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) jet in 2005.

However, since Khartoum's defiant tendencies and China's well-cemented position in Sudan's booming oil industry make a full Washington-Khartoum rapprochement unlikely, the US has turned to cultivating its budding alliance with oil-rich and increasingly oppressive south Sudan, expected to be an independent nation after a 2011 referendum on its status.

And while the dust settles on post-election Sudan, several regional US allies are gearing up for their own supposed exercises in democracy.

On Sudan's eastern border, US stalwart Ethiopia has been preparing for late May elections by 'waging a coordinated and sustained attack on political opponents, journalists and rights activists', in the un-minced words of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

As documented, the ruling party has been using its 'near-total control' of the state apparatus to 'systematically punish … opposition supporters' and 'severely restrict the activities of civil society and the media'.

As HRW comments with some understatement, 'Ethiopia is heavily dependent on foreign assistance, which accounts for approximately one-third of all government expenditures.' However, 'The country's principal foreign donors -- the World Bank, United States, United Kingdom and European Union -- have been very timid in their criticisms of Ethiopia's deteriorating human rights situation.'

One could also mention Ethiopia's past service to the US in invading Somalia to decimate a nascent, relatively functional government in 2006 as part of the ever-invoked 'war on terror', thus ensuring the latter country's continued descent into chaos.

Elsewhere, in central Africa, the US-allied government of Paul Kagame in Rwanda is gearing up for its own elections by 'doing everything it can to silence independent voices', according to HRW.

”We've seen a real crackdown on critics,' according to Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director, including “increasing threats, attacks and harassment” against opposition parties. Tellingly, the Economist noted that while Kagame “vigorously pursues his admirers in Western democracies, he allows less political space and press freedom at home than Robert Mugabe does in Zimbabwe.”

That Kagame also won his second term in office in 2003 with a highly suspicious 95.1 per cent of the vote and has continued a long-standing Rwandan policy of ravaging the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) speaks volumes about Washington's commitment to human rights and democracy.

Finally, in Egypt, Sudan's neighbour to the north and the recipient of more US aid than any country in the world except Israel, president-for-life Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30-year reign continues unabated. Notably, the announcement by the prominent dissident Mohamed El Baradei that he would be willing to contest Mubarak in 2011 in the normally rubber-stamped elections has elicited few smiles in Washington.

Barack Obama is one in a long line of US presidents who have proclaimed their dedication to freedom for the world's people. Yet a simple review of the facts makes it apparent that Sudanese President Bashir's open disdain for democracy in the region is amply matched by Washington's.

Kevin Funk and Steven Fake are the authors of 'The Scramble for Africa: Darfur - Intervention and the USA' (Black Rose Books, 2008). They maintain a website with their commentary at www.scrambleforafrica.org.

News You Use

The Africa They Never Show You

By Dot

Born and reared in the United States (US) and having traveled not very far from its shores, I know little about the vast continent of Africa. Like the vast majority of black Americans, many of which insist on being called African Americans, only skin color connects me to the continent of my ancestors and even that has been diluted.

I would love to know more, even travel there to witness for myself its splendor. In the meantime, the little news and information made available through the US press is always depressing. War, poverty, disease and death are the sole subjects worthy of news coverage. Even with these sad subjects, the information is sparse.

Despite the glorious technology at mainstream media's disposal, the video images are invariably close-up shots of suffering. There are no panoramic views that capture the images of cities, only crude villages and refugee camps with inadequate facilities.

Based solely on the images broadcast by Western media, one would think there is no development on the continent of Africa - it is all dark and backwards. Imagine my delightful surprise on viewing My Love and Pride: The Africa They Never Show You, a YouTube video created and edited by Loreen Nyambok.

The video's runtime is approximately ten minutes; its music and images are well worth every second. According to Nyambok, "The artist in me cannot help but create and express myself. So I decided to combine my passion for ART and MUSIC to express the love, pride and respect that I have for Mama Africa. I hope that everyone who decides to view or share the video will also show love and respect for Africa and its awesome diversity of beautiful people."

After watching this video, I still do not know a great deal about this vast continent, but I now have seen more than the depressing images broadcast by mainstream Western media. See and hear this wonderful video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826tpNNrCF0.

Mailbox: E-Mail, Faxes and Telephone Calls

Email www.cnn.com ...Biden to travel to Africa in June...Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa during the week of June 7, the White House announced Thursday. Among other things, Biden will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak "to discuss a full range of bilateral and regional issues," according to a White House statement. The vice president will also represent the United States during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Biden will be joined by his wife during the trip, the statement noted.

Email http://africansuntimes.com/cms .. US Official Chides Africa...By Chika Onyeani...The number one point man on Africa for the United States State Department, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, has chided Africa for not reaching its potential and accused some countries of drifting back to authoritarianism: "In my view, the continent as a whole has yet to overcome challenges that prevent it from realizing its full potential as was envisioned at independence. Some countries are drifting back towards authoritarianism as the political space becomes more constrained and civil society and opposition groups experience increasing intimidation. Over the past two years, Mauritania, Guinea, Niger, and Madagascar have experienced military coups. Cote d'Ivoire has not had a presidential election since 2000 and continues to postpone the electoral process. The Central African Republic recently suspended planned elections because of lack of preparation. Nigeria, whose elections in 2007 were the most fraudulent and disorganized in the country's history, has not yet implemented the necessary reforms to hold good elections next year. In Zimbabwe, ruling ZANU-PF government officials continue to hinder democracy through harassment of the opposition and civil society and failure to honor their obligations to open the political space as called for in the Global Political Agreement." Mr. Carson was speaking at the African Diplomatic Corp's Celebration of Africa Day, at theRitz Carlton Hotel, Washington, DC, on May 25, 2010.