Articles
AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
A Support System for Growth
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa will mark its fiftieth anniversary in 2008. It has just seen the appointment of a new Executive Secretary. Both of these put the spotlight on what, Kaye Whiteman observes, is one of Africa's best kept secrets.
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AFRICAN UNION - More People - Friendly?
 The formation of the African Union (AU) in July 2002 has made a significant contribution to Africa's image, both within and without the continent. It was very much part of the African Renaissance concept of South African Presidents Mandela and Mbeki, and was seen as a chance for Africa to make a fresh start after the troubled history of the early post-independence years.
The election of Alpha Oumar Konaré, former President of Mali and a committed democrat, as President of the new AU Commission in 2003, was a confirmation of the new prestige attached to the Union. The OAU, in all its forty years, had never attracted a former head of state to run its administration.
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AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK - How the New President Emerged
 On July 21, 2005, in Tunis, in a straight election between two candidates, the Rwandan Donald Kaberuka was elected President of the African Development Bank (ADB). He obtained a decisive total of 78.2 per cent of the votes (55 out of 77 countries, both African and non-African), which included 68.20 per cent of the African votes, while his opponent, Olabisi Ogunjobi, received only a little over 20 per cent of the total votes and 31 per cent of the African votes. It was the most sweeping victory of any ADB presidential election.
The vote was over in two hours, when it had been expected to take two days. It was convened because the main election, held at the Bank's annual assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, from May 16 to 18, 2005, had been deadlocked between regionals (Africans) and non-regionals, after five rounds of voting. This was the second time there had been such an eventuality when choosing the leadership of Africa's premier financial institution.
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