Global warning has already hit the danger point that international attempts to curb it are designed to avoid, according to the world's top climate watchdog. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told an international conference attended by 114 governments in Mauritius this month that he personally believes that the world has "already reached the level of dangerous concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere" and called for immediate and "very deep" cuts in the pollution if humanity is to "survive".

AITEC has been invited by the Act ICT Industry Alliance of Mauritius to hold the sixth annual ACT Summit in Mauritius due to the attendance it will attract from ICT professionals and managers from throughout Africa, as well as other international participation, thus promoting the country's position as a supplier of ICT services and expertise.

Since the Chagos Islanders won the right to return to their homeland, following 30 years of exile, by historic Judgment of the High Court in November 2000, the Government has been claiming to know what to do about it. The same day as the Judgment, Robin Cook passed a new immigration law permitting those born on the islands and their children to return to all islands of the Archipelago except to Diego Garica where the US airbase is. But in June the Islanders' solicitor, Richard Gifford, was told, in a shock announcement without prior consultation, that the Government had now passed a new law totally banning all Chagossians from even stepping foot on their beloved homeland. Moreover the ban applied to all 65 islands.

The ICT Stakeholder Forum is aimed at bringing stakeholders together to examine concrete projects proposals and models that will help integrate least developed countries into the global economy through the effective deployment of information communication technologies.

Mauritian sugar cane farmers breathed a sigh of relief as a severe tropical storm passed over the Indian Ocean island without incident. The country's weather services had previously issued a "cyclone warning, class one" and urged residents to stock up on adequate emergency supplies.

In mid-December, in the midst of the controversy over racist remarks by Senator Trent Lott, Bush administration officials intimated that a presidential trip to Africa in January would demonstrate the U.S. president's sensitivity to African American concerns. If President George W. Bush had followed through on his plan to visit five African countries, Africans would have posed hard questions. Is your policy "just another trip"? Or are you willing to commit real resources to responding to the deadly threat of AIDS, and to other urgent African priorities?

An answer of a sort came just before Christmas, when a White  House press release curtly announced that the trip was postponed.  Later Secretary of State Colin Powell also called off plans to fill in for President Bush at the U.S. -Africa consultation being  held in Mauritius this week. Heading the U.S. delegation instead  would be U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, who will tout  the benefits to Africa of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act  (which mandated this second consultation), and pitch other U.S.  policies for promoting free trade.

Both the reduced U.S. presence in Mauritius and the exclusive focus on trade accurately reflect the realities of U.S. Africa policy. Washington policymakers are offering band-aids for the continent's gaping wounds, while pushing policies that add to the damage and deprive Africans of resources to fight back. This is evident in the U.S. willingness to use Africa as a military staging ground for war in the Middle East, while ignoring Africans' concerns for their own human security.

It shows up as well in the stingy U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, amounting to only a tiny fraction of the $ 3.5 billion a year that would be the fair U.S. contribution, Meanwhile, the administration proposes handing over some $36 billion a year to rich investors by abolishing the tax on dividends. Last week U.N. Special Representative Stephen Lewis called rich countries' failure to respond to the AIDS pandemic "mass murder by complacency."

The administration brushes off findings that current "debt relief" programs leave desperately poor countries paying more to foreign creditors than they spend on the health needs of their people. And Bush refuses to act positively on global issues from women's reproductive rights to global warming, on which the penalty for failure falls most heavily on Africa.

Bush's balance sheet is also deeply in the red even in the realm for which the U.S. claims most credit: trade policy. It is true that AGOA has opened some additional opportunities for textile exports from African countries. But the benefits from this are estimated at only about $100 million to $140 million a year, and only go to a few countries. An International Monetary Fund study estimates that these benefits could have been five times greater if the U.S. had not imposed extremely restrictive rules of origin for the materials used in exported textiles. Meanwhile, African exports to the U.S. continue to be dominated by oil.

In December Washington stood alone to block a World Trade Organisation agreement to allow export of generic medicines from one developing country to another. African and other developing countries were outraged. The New York Times commented that Washington's position was "so obviously influenced by the drug companies that America is alienating nations whose support it needs on other trade issues."

As African countries face the combined impact of famine and AIDS, they also see their agriculture devastated by another killer: agricultural trade subsidies in the U.S. and Europe. Last year's U.S. farm bill, for example, added some $83 billion in new subsidies for rich U.S. farmers, whose exports already undercut developing country farmers who produce rice, maize, and other food crops. Such subsidies also undercut African exports. In a  report last fall, for example, Oxfam calculated that U.S. cotton  farmers received subsidies of $3.9 billion. Oxfam estimated the  damage to African cotton producers from these subsidies at about  $300 million a year.

Most official speeches in Mauritius will undoubtedly extol the potential mutual benefits of expanded U.S. -African trade. But that potential stands little chance of being realized with the current business-as-usual policy. When and if President Bush does visit Africa, he may seek to avoid answering the question of whether he values African lives. Two years into his administration, the policy record leaves little doubt that the answer is "no".

* William Minter is a senior research fellow at Africa Action, the oldest U.S.-based advocacy group on African affairs. This commentary was originally published in Le Mauricien (http://lemauricien.com), January 15, 2003.
* Send your comments for publication in the Letters and Comments section of Pambazuka News to

The role of women as an engine for trade and development in Southern Africa needs better recognition, Mauritian Minister for Women's Rights Arianne Navarre-Marie told NGOs on Monday meeting to discuss US-African trade cooperation.

A specially equipped bus is travelling around Mauritius, offering people in remoter areas an opportunity to experience the benefits of cyberspace.

Citizens of the island nation of Mauritius are hoping to develop new skills and participate in online communities thanks to innovative government efforts. The country seeks to benefit from a fiber optic cable that runs through Mauritius, primarily established to connect Europe and southern India.

Given that there has not been any democratic debate and given that NEPAD contains serious threats to our people, we call on the Mauritian government not to go ahead with the presentation of NEPAD in the coming G8 meeting and its launch in July 2002.

Mauritius has become the latest country to jump on to the information technology bandwagon. Experts say that if the island-nation's daring plan is to end in cheers and not tears, the government must give its full backing. (Source: TAD Information Update May 2002 No. 5)

The Mauritius Institute of Health is pleased to announce its Training of Trainers courses for Reproductive Health with emphasis on Family Planning.

Mauritius is aiming to ensure that women's equality is reflected in the national budget and economic policies, a UNDP press release announced on Wednesday.

Despite all the hype surrounding the recent initiatives for making Mauritius a "cyber-island", the reality of the situation is actually very different. This week's correspondent remains anonymous in order to describe the Island's dilemma with complete frankness.

A conference will be held in Mauritius on the 26th and 27th of November 2001 to launch a network on violence against women and girls within the SADC countries, including Madagascar and the Seychelles. It will take place during the 16 days of activism Against Gender Violence Campaign. On 25th of November, a radio talk will also be made concerning the history and aims of the 16 days of activism against gender violence.