vendredi 28 mars 2003

All in a day's work One bizarre story from Africa was the sudden demise of the Saudi ambassador in Ivory Coast, found naked this morning in a pool of blood in the stairwell of his apartment block. The Saudi Arabian government has stated that it understands he died of "natural causes", but I see the BBC's version of the tale omits this detail. Could it be that they're not convinced either? The building lies in a district where many expatriates and indeed journalists live, with its fair share of odd and colourful characters. To be pursued, I'd imagine... zzz War, famine, AIDS, Ebola, corruption and dictatorship. When you're in Africa, people sometimes ask you why you don't report all the rest. The simplest answer is that many journalists do write up the good news as frequently as they can, but when the stories go out into cyberspace for client newspapers and broadcasting media, the editors on the receiving end often don't use them. We all know that's how it is. Even so, some less happy tidings receive all the publicity they can get, such as one of several thoughtful warnings issued of late about the impact of the Gulf war on aid programmes, especially now that the "coalition" is admitting it might all take a bit longer than first thought. George Monbiot, a London-based writer and academic currently in South Africa, wrote 'Left Behind to Starve' for the Guardian, but I have the allafrica.com pick-up to thank for it. zzz There's one place they are rejoicing in regime change today. The ouster of that particular madman took all of a weekend and the party won't make tomorrow's headlines. More than 100,000 noisy residents poured into the streets of Bangui this morning to applaud General François Bozizé for that coup in CAR I reported on the 16th. The man he's asked to form a government, Abel Goumba, is at 76 one of the most respected politicians left in the country, known for his honesty. I hope it works out. That's one celebration I'd like to have seen for myself. 8:21:58 PM  link   your views? [] A visa for the highlife? Good luck, Béatrice! One vivacious colleague needs it if she's finally going to get her visa for Nigeria today, to help cover next month's elections in "Africa's-most-populous-nation". These come on top of serious trouble in the oil-rich but dirt-poor Delta region, which has sufficiently slashed production now by ChevronTexaco, Shell and TotalElfFina to frighten the markets. (This unrest is deep-rooted, complex and in part the doing of the oil majors themselves, some more than others, but that's another tale...) I dare not report what Lagos bureau chief Dave threatened to write (in jest I'm sure), should his efforts to push through the visa requests for reinforcements end in failure. It would only provoke his predecessor Peter to remind us yet again of the time he had ensuring that simple things like working telephones were installed. And that was the least of it; I'm sure it will all be in his book... Ah, who'd be a bureau chief? If you're good at it, you have to be an enlightened employer, a gifted salesperson, a talented teacher, a fine diplomat and patient negotiator, and an expert in fitting 36 hours into 24 should you plan to find time for all the news as well! The last time Dave and Béatrice worked together was in Kosovo. Could that have been where Dave learned to dance? The first and only time I saw him do so was in a packed Dakar night club last March, when another of AFP's Africa editors, Michèle, shooed a bunch of us into those wonderful scrap-metal yellow taxis for a memorable Youssou N'Dour concert. It was clear from that evening that Dave and Nigeria would be made for each other: I doubt even the home of Afrobeat has ever seen the like. His eyes closed like a Geordie dervish in trance, he had even Senegal's hip leaving a respectful space around him. Go on, Béa, ask him -- and do bring back a photo. Bring back lots of photos, lass... I'd like to see one of Ade on his home ground, too. The day he turned up on the English desk in his princely regalia, I wasn't even there, but others still tell me of it in awed tones. And come the time, I've got plans for this weblog and some snapshots of Africa that a whole bunch of people might enjoy. 9:27:46 AM  link   your views? []

nick b. 2007 do share, don't steal, please credit under artistic licence terms; contributing friends (pix, other work) retain their rights.