Speaking to Turkish journalists ahead of a four-day official visit to Turkey, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has highlighted hopes that his trip will result in increased commercial and cultural ties.

The inheritance of the colonial university was the postcolonial state’s most ‘prized possession’, writes John Otim. Fifty years on the colonial mission and principles have disappeared from Africa’s universities: ‘Good’, states Otim, ‘But nothing has been put in its place. In the vacuum, the regime of marks, grades and the final certificate at the end takes centre stage… The university has become big business.’ Otim ends, though, with a quiet assertion: ‘Not all is lost yet on the postcolonial campus. There are pockets of excellence, gifted professors and students of real promise dedicated to the new Africa. There is a battle raging between the good, the bad and the ugly.’

Corruption is not a solitary activity, and the networks that promote corruption are rarely confined to one country or one continent. For corruption in Africa, countries outside the continent enter the picture not only when foreign companies pay bribes for access. They are also a preferred location for stolen wealth.

On 12 February 2010, the world celebrates the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers in commemoration of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

"No disruption to learning" touts a newspaper ad for a new private Zimbabwean school, one of many springing up in living rooms, backyards and plots across Harare.

Nigeria will be struck off the list of 'countries of int erest' by the United States if the African nation can meet four conditions, the local media have reported. The conditions, issued by the US - according to Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe - include that the Nigerian government must make a public condemnation of acts of terrorism wherever they occur in the world and for Nigeria to take urgent steps to address security lapses at its airports.

In this week's roundup of emerging powers news, China wary of ICC genocide ruling against Sudan president, Asia unseats South Africa in gold race, India re-draws strategy in African oil assets, and Brazil accelerates its investment in Africa.

Each year, the May 18 Memorial Foundation announces this award in a spirit of solidarity with those working towards democracy. The award goes to one individual or organization who has contributed to the promotion and advancement of human rights, democracy and peace in their work.

On the ground floor of a squat building in downtown Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, tellers sit inside tiny wooden cabins, counting out money. Welcome to the Indo-Zambia Bank, which came into being after three Indian state banks and the Zambian government joined forces in 1984. Its 57-year-old Managing Director, Satish Shukla, describes it as a “joint venture of four cultures”.

The emergency aid industry has improved but must try harder, according to the broadest ever assessment of its performance. Reviewers from the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in humanitarian action (ALNAP) assessed how well donors, UN agencies, the International Organization for Migration, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and NGOs were meeting humanitarian needs worldwide and coordinating.

IRIN Films is pleased to release a short film about displacement in Haiti as part of our series on internal displacement entitled Forced to Flee. Filmed in late 2009, just weeks before the earthquake struck, this short film tells the extraordinary story of what used to be Haiti's finest hotel, the Simbi Continental.

While the Peoples' Republic of China is building the new headquarters of the AU, which has already cost Beijing more than US$130 million a year until its completion, other powers did not want to miss the grand ball in Addis Ababa by demonstrating their 'solidarity' to the African people, writes Yves Niyiragira.

China increasingly is playing a crucial role in African economies. Two-way trade between China and Africa exceeded US$106 billion in 2008 and Beijing is the leading trading partner with South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, write Chris Alden and Riaan Meyer.

'Society and Governments: debates and alternatives for a post-crisis world' was the name of a Thematic World Social Forum meeting held in the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.

We can learn lessons from India's unique approach to finance, technology and poverty, writes Greg Mills.

Brazil's mining company, Vale, is preparing to start operations in Mozambique as South America's largest economy steps up its involvement in the scramble for Africa's resources. The remote town of Tete in central Mozambique sits on top of some of the world's largest reserves of coal. With migrant workers and contractors flooding in to take advantage of the opportunities created by this multi-billion dollar Brazilian investment, Tete has become a boomtown, its infrastructure creaking under the constant flow of business visitors.

Lucy Corkin reviews ‘China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities’, by C. Fred Bergsten, Charles Freeman, Nicholas R. Lardy and Derek J. Mitchell, an assessment of China’s challenges, both internal and external and how this will affect the world in general and the US in particular. Although written primarily for US policymakers, it is ‘an excellent reference for China watchers from any discipline who seek to further understand the complexities of the Chinese state’, says Corkin.

Scientists have finally discovered the structure of a key enzyme found in HIV and similar viruses, a breakthrough that has crucial implications for HIV treatment.

Net capital flows to developing countries fell to $780 billion in 2008, reversing an upward trend that began in 2003 and peaked at $1,222 billion in 2007, according to a new report from the World Bank. The report states that particularly hard hit were private capital flows, which fell by almost 40 percent, adding that all developing regions were affected, with emerging market economies in Europe and Central Asia experiencing the sharpest downturn.

Preventing Corruption in Humanitarian Operations: A Handbook of Good Practices is a timely, practical guide to help aid organisations deal with corruption in day-to-day operations. When people donate money to aid agencies they expect it to reach people in need.