OSISA - Regional overview

OSISA Countries

Tue, 09 May 2006 14:30:48 -0400

OSISA works in nine Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries:

Angola and Mozambique;
Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland;
Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

With OSI's support, OSISA is currently developing a portfolio of programming for and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Southern Africa: background information

Sun, 01 May 2005 11:18:07 -0400

Having recently emerged from a period of war, Angola and DRC are still fragile, and their peoples are struggling to rebuild their lives in the context of peace without rights, without food, without water, without sanitation.

The socio-economic situation in OSISA's countries of operation varies. Angola and Mozambique, followed by Malawi, Zambia and Lesotho manifest the worst socio-economic conditions.

Until the year 2000, Zimbabwe was performing well, but is now in crisis. Swaziland, although classified a middle-income country (per capita GDP of US$1 340) now faces serious challenges.

Regional baselines

Thu, 28 Apr 2005 12:31:41 -0400

(Note: South Africa is shown for comparative purposes only. OSISA is not currently engaged in programme work in South Africa)

	Population in millions [WHO 2006]	Population growth p.a. [WHO 2006]	HDI (and rank out of 177) [UN 2005]	Life expectancy at birth [WHO 2006]
Angola	15.5	2.6%	0.445 (160th)	40 years
Botswana	1.8	1.1%	0.565 (131st)	40 years
DRC	55.9	2.5%	0.385 (167th)	44 years
Lesotho	1.8	0.7%	0.497 (149th)	41 years
Malawi	12.6	2.4%	0.404 (165th)	41 years
Mozambique	19.4	2.4%	0.379 (168th)	45 years
Namibia	2.0	2.3%	0.627 (125th)	54 years
South Africa	47.2	1.4%	0.658 (120th)	48 years
Swaziland	1.0	1.0%	0.498 (147th)	37 years
Zambia	11.5	2.1%	0.394 (166th)	40 years
Zimbabwe	12.9	1.1%	0.505 (145th)	36 years
Total/ Averages	181.6 in total	1.78%	0.487	42.4 years

Natural resource revenues should fight poverty

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:06:26 -0400

On the 16th of March 2008, the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) convened a civil society roundtable to discuss the impact of revenue flows from natural resources on poverty eradication in SADC. This followed the critical observation that the proceeds from exploitation of natural resources in general and extractive industries in particular, are not finding their way into poverty eradication programmes in the region. As a result, most of Southern Africa is trapped in the “resource rich- poor countries” dichotomy.

AU commission on union government

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:30:59 -0500

Angola: AU Sets Up Commission to Reflect On Union Government
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
A commission, comprising 10 Heads of State, outgoing and newly-elected chairpersons of the African Union (AU) Commission, was created Friday, here, during the tenth session of the continental body's assembly to reflect on the controversial issue concerning the setting up of a Union Government. It was said by Angola's Foreign Minister, João Bernardo de

OPENSPACE Volume 2, number 1

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:38:17 -0500

International Institutions in Africa (November 2007)

This edition of OPENSPACE grapples with the notion of internationalism, how it has played out at various levels of socio-political organisation across the world and the implications this has had for African development and governance structures.

Internationalism is defined as a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all. Even in its most benign forms, the move towards economic and political cooperation often requires careful balancing, including that issues of particiapation, access to resources, good governance, and respect for human dignity and rights are factored into the grand ideals of the internationalists... it is often as a result of (or in response to) such processes that some societies tend to become either more closed or open, as some of the articles in this edition attest to.

Articles are available in pdf format [approximate file sizes in square brackets].

SADC Artists Against HIV, Aids

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:55:52 -0500

SADC Artists Against HIV, Aids Established
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
Following the inaugural Sadc Artists Aids Festival held in Harare last December, a forum that would address HIV and Aids issues affecting artists - the Sadc Artists Against HIV and Aids - has been established. The birth of SAAAF is the culmination of an HIV declaration made by artists from Lesotho, Swaziland Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe who attended

AGOA hurts Africans, say critics

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:26:34 -0500

US-AFRICA: Trade Soars as Labour Rights Languish
IPS - Italy
WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (IPS) - At a recent forum held here by the progressive Economic Policy Institute, labour and human rights activists criticised what they consider a lack of adequate protections for workers contained in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a unilateral U.S. trade deal aimed at increasing commerce between the United States and Sub-Saharan African countries ... The agreement currently affects trade relations

Southern Africa: Red Cross battles rains

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:20:19 -0500

Southern Africa: Floods DREF Operation No. MDR63001
ReliefWeb (press release) - Geneva,Switzerland
The International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a source of un-earmarked money created by the Federation in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross and Red Crescent response to emergencies. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation's disaster response system and increases the

MDGs in Africa: half way there?

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:05:12 -0500

Africa: How Far Has the Continent Gone On MDGs?
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA

Tajudeen Abdul: For the past six weeks I have been traveling in the western, eastern and southern parts of Africa to assess situations on the ground with regards to the implementation and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (this being the mid year in the 15-year period set to achieve the goals) and to see preparations being made by various partners of the UN Millennium Campaign for this year's Guinness Challenge to beat the record set last year for Standing Up against Poverty. Led by the UN Millennium Campaign's Global Director, Salil Shetty, the mission involved meeting with various UN country teams, government officials, National Coalitions for the Global Call Against Poverty (GCAP), MDG campaigners, local and international NGOs, other CSOs, media and other opinion molders among others. So far, we have been in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. There have been a number of activities reports and media focus during July (the exact mid-point of the MDGs being July 7 2007) in many countries, indicating slow progress on a number of the goals. But there is a general pessimistic consensus that at current pace most of our countries may not achieve the goals by 2015. A disproportionate focus on what has not been achieved may actually make one lose sight of the progress being made and what more could be done ... Malawi today is only second to Peru globally in the most dramatic reduction of infant mortality ... As a football supporter, and a life long Liverpool one at that, the analogy I can draw is that of the European finals of 2005. At half time, Liverpool was trailing AC Milan 3:0 ... Liverpool's manager was furious and he read out the riot act to his players. On resumption we saw a changed team who had leveled the scores by full time and refused to concede any even during extra time. Finally in the shoot-out Liverpool won. We should use the same tactics for our governments ...

Interview with Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:28:48 -0500

Africa: 'A Threat to One Is a Threat to All'
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
The past year has marked the half-way point for realisation of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ... The U.N. Millennium Campaign was launched in 2002 to help citizens lobby their governments to achieve the goals. The campaign's deputy director for Africa, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, spoke to IPS writer Joyce Mulama in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, about Africa's prospects concerning

Namibia's trade policy options

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:33:09 -0400

Namibia: Trade Policy Options
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA

South Africa is expected to dominate the African continent in welfare gains by 2015 resulting from Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), according to a recent study. A book titled, South Africa's Way Ahead: Trade Policy Options, that was launched on Monday depicts a series of policy scenarios for South Africa and its Southern African Customs Union (SACU) trade partners and the welfare consequences of preferential trading arrangements ... Assuming a 100 percent reduction in merchandise tariffs between South Africa/SACU and the individual "spoke" (bilateral) partners, South Africa's gains are a massive US$3348 million (2.42 percent of GDP at 2015) ... Botswana's increase in annual welfare at the assessed end point of 2015 would be modest gains of US$29 million, while the rest of SACU (Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland put together) make major gains of US$631 million, some 2.99 percent of GDP ... The gains to both Botswana and the rest of SACU are mostly from unfettered access to the EU (access that may be granted in any case under the proposed Economic Partnership Agreements) ... "South Africa's exports to other SADC countries are predominantly manufactured goods, while South Africa's exports to the world are predominantly commodity based." ...

Kenyan Professor warns on EPAs

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:09:10 -0400

Zambia: Don Counsels on EPAS
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
A professor in trade law has advised African governments to ensure that the issue of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that the European Union (EU) wants to impose on them by the end of this year is subjected to parliamentary scrutiny before implementation. Kenyan Professor James Gathii, who is based in New York, where he lectures in international trade law, said under the EPAs, the EU wanted African,

Southern African Power Pool meets

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:26:14 -0400

Power Shortages to Dominate SAPP Meeting
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA

The 29th Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) management committee meets to discuss imminent power shortages in the region in Swakopmund today. The agenda of the meeting would be dominated by the electricity supply industry and how to address looming power shortages in the entire SADC region ... Paulinus Shilamba, NamPower Managing Director, said the meeting is of significance to regional power supply given the challenge of power shortages. "Through this forum, SAPP member utilities will interact and exchange ideas on power planning, system operation and environmental issues affecting the electricity supply industry in the SADC region," he said. He added that "thinning" power capacity in the region calls for urgent attention on generation and transmission projects, in addition to rehabilitation and refurbishment of power stations ... In 2000, Namibia and Angola signed a bilateral cooperation agreement in the energy sector. The agreement entails that NamPower with Angola's Empresa National de Electricidade (ENE), study the Baynes Site in the lower Kunene River to see if the site can be developed as a mid-merit peaking power station. In the same way Namibia and Botswana's electricity utilities also agreed to build a cross-border transmission line at a cost of US$7.7 million. The 132 kilovolts transmission line at Omaere was commissioned in April 2006. The high voltage line stretches from Omaere substation, situated about 50 km from Gobabis, to Charles Hill in Botswana and runs to Ghanzi, in northwest Botswana. Another project aimed at addressing the power deficit in future is the ongoing development of the Caprivi Link. The Caprivi Link Interconnector Project will be a 400 MW bipolar scheme, upgradeable to 600 MW and will comprise of a 970 km High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) bipolar line with earth return which will connect the new converter stations at Zambezi Transmission Station located near Katima Mulilo, with Gerus Transmission Station located between Otjiwarongo and Outjo. The operating voltage of this bipolar line will be ±350 kV DC. In conjunction with this line, the 400 kV AC transmission system in Namibia will be extended from Auas Transmission Station to Gerus Transmission Station by constructing a 285 km 400 kV AC transmission line and associated transmission station extensions at Auas, Gerus and Zambezi transmission stations. The line will connect the electricity networks of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and South Africa ...

Constitutional Review and Reform

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 06:07:06 -0400

Constitutional Review and Reform: and the Adherence to Democratic Principles in Constitutions in Southern African Countries

(by Louise Olivier, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-620-38911-2)

Constitutionalism requires that a democratic and accountable government has constitutional limits that check its power, and that create the framework for governing a democracy. A country's constitution defines, at least theoretically, its commitment to constitutionalism. Constitutions define the polity, establish the rules and limitations of the relationship between the state and its citizens and they fix and reflect a social contract that underpins the functioning of organised society. Constitution-building has become an essential component of the road maps to peace and democracy in conflict, post-conflict, and transitional settings.