The Commonwealth: punching below weight
3 December 2007
We punch above our weight, claimed Commonwealth leaders who held their biennial heads-of-government summit (CHOGM) in the Ugandan capital Kampala on 23-25 November 2007. Who did they think they were fooling?
Dizzy worms in Zimbabwe
19 March 2007
Take all predictions about the end of Robert Mugabe's regime with a pinch of salt. No one has a clue as to how the man will go; or when; or who will succeed him. Indeed, I doubt that President Mugabe himself can provide the answers to these questions
Trees for Africa
16 December 2006
Imagine a timber investment bond that can help an African country resolve its growing fuel crisis, which can offset the global warming impact of your holiday flight, and which indirectly assists a fledgling eco-tourism scheme.
Africa: celebrity and salvation
22 October 2006
More than twenty years ago Bob Geldof and I shared what turned out to be a case of wishful thinking. We believed that the millions of pounds raised by Band Aid in a response to the famine that was wracking Ethiopia would go towards ensuring that never again would we look at our television screens and see emaciated figures, the consequence of famine, dying.
Welcome to the aid business!
26 June 2005
Behind the politicians and pop stars on display at the Gleneagles summit of the Group of Eight (G8) on 6-8 July, look out for another contingent of professionals: non-government organisations (NGOs).