Zimbabwe's newspapers are filled with public notices for auctions as many other individuals and companies lose their property to banks and money-lenders after falling behind on loan repayments. The country's financial sector has enjoyed three years of economic growth following the adoption of multiple currencies in early 2009 and an end to a tumultuous trading period characterized by record inflation, bank closures and failures. Buoyed by phenomenal growth in deposits and a steady currency, many banks have introduced personal bank loans to attract new clients.

The Fahamu Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the November 2012 issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter. The issue can be found . Please feel free to share it widely.

Ethiopians would like to continue to be good Samaritans to the hundreds of thousands seeking refuge from drought and conflict in neighbouring Somalia, but massive camps in fragile environments have sparked concern among both the government and the people sharing space with the refugees. 'We have had a million refugees at one time,' said Ayalew Awoke, Ethiopia’s deputy director for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), the government’s refugee agency. Ayalew helped establish ARRA more than two decades ago.

Police in Kenya say 42 officers are now known to have been killed in the deadliest attack on police in the country's history. The officers were chasing suspected cattle rustlers on Saturday when a gun battle broke out in the remote Samburu district. Some police were airlifted to hospitals in Nairobi for treatment but later died from their injuries.

The website's headlines trumpet al-Shabab's imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek, Horn of Africa news site. But the site - sabahionline.com - is run by the US military. The site, and another one like it that centers on northwest Africa, is part of a propaganda effort by the US military's Africa Command aimed at countering extremists in two of Africa's most dangerous regions - Somalia and the Maghreb.

The UN special envoy to Western Sahara says the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front rebels must resolve their dispute before lingering hostilities plunge the entire North Africa into renewed conflict. The Polisario Front fought a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces until 1991, when the United Nations mediated a ceasefire between the two sides with the agreement that a referendum would be held to determine the final status of the territory. However, the plebiscite has never been held.

735 police complaints of sexual harassment were recorded over the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that ended October 29, according to a statement released by the Egyptian government. Sexual harassment continues to hit Egypt with increasing reports of incidents taking place across the country. Yet, Egyptians today acknowledge this long-standing problem exists, and growing social mobilization has brought together men and women in the fight against harassment.

Are the rights of women seriously under threat in post-revolution countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya? There are grounds for concern, but it is too early to tell, activists and experts say. 'There is very little that you can say in terms of rollbacks or undermining of women’s rights ... anything specific,' said Liesl Gernholtz, head of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch. Women organised and led some of the demonstrations that toppled decades-old governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen – and helped the rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

The world's wealthy countries often criticise African nations for corruption - especially that perpetrated by those among the continent's government and business leaders who abuse their positions by looting tens of billions of dollars in national assets or the profits from state-owned enterprises that could otherwise be used to relieve the plight of some of the world's poorest peoples. Yet the West is culpable too in that it often looks the other way when that same dirty money is channelled into bank accounts in Europe and the US. In this excellent investigation shown on Al Jazeera, Zimbabwean journalist Stanley Kwenda takes a journey through the murky world offshore banking.

Lawmakers moved a step closer Tuesday 13 November to approving a bill that would harshly crack down on gay rights, including banning same-sex marriage and public displays of affection between homosexual couples. The bill which has already been approved by the Senate passed a second reading in the House of Representatives with an unanimous vote and will now see a clause-by-clause review in the chamber at an undetermined date.

African civil society organistions are calling for an immediate and complete ban on the growing, importing and exporting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the African continent. 'We call upon the governments of Africa to take the necessary steps to protect the health of their populations by supporting this call and commit to conducting independent and authoritative long-term food safety studies.' A petition can be signed online.

The honeymoon period for new Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has officially ended after 34 opposition parties together called on the government to ensure free and fair elections in regional voting next April. The parties had been invited by the country’s Election Board earlier this month to look at how to schedule the vote and when the groups demanded to know how the board was to deal with potential irregularities in the voting, the meeting was canceled.

The movement to bring greater transparency to the oil, gas and mining industries is facing a crucial time in its development and needs to overcome three significant challenges to continue to be successful, Daniel Kaufmann, head of the international transparency watchdog Revenue Watch Institute told TrustLaw. The transparency movement must become more global, the data produced by the extractive industries must be clear and comparable across countries, and the movement must work to build up expertise within resource-rich countries so that local transparency watchdogs, governments and media can interpret the data, Kaufmann, a former World Bank economist, said.

The number of mobile phone users in sub-Saharan Africa rose by 44 per cent to 475 million, compared to just 12.3 million fixed line connections, representing the highest proportion of mobile versus fixed line connections in the world. Statistics released by GSMA, a global association of mobile survive providers revealed that mobile industry is driving explosive economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

The ANC agreed on Tuesday 13 November to some of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele's hawkish proposals on the Protection of State Information Bill. Cwele notably appeared to have persuaded the ruling party to re-introduce a maximum five-year prison sentence for the disclosure of classified information, and to re-introduce a clause that would have the new law trump any other legislation dealing with such information. Without explicitly naming the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the new official secrets act would therefore trump it – as Cwele has asked for, and commentators have cautioned could render the bill unconstitutional.

Trade justice organisations have published a new report titled, ‘Southern alternatives to EU Trade Policy’, which proposes a diverse set of alternative to the current unjust international trade system.

This article analyzes the impact of agro-industrial policies on women and the key role that peasant women in the Global North and South play in the production and distribution of food. It analyzes how the dominant agricultural model can incorporate a feminist perspective and how the social movements that work towards food sovereignty can incorporate a feminist perspective.

An Ethiopia woman revealed that she was the victim of sex slavery after she attempted to find work as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia. For H, who asked that her identity remain anonymous, her ordeal began after she took a boat to Yemen, where after two months she was able to cross into Saudi Arabia and was hired by what she told Bikyamasr.com was a 'nice couple' for a 'decent salary.' Tens of thousands of Ethiopian migrants and refugees have entered Yemen since the end of July, according to a new report published by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

Iran is making calculated steps to bolster trade in the continent. Due to sanctions, Iran’s economy – heavily dependent on oil revenue - has suffered and inflation has risen. Iran has been trying to use its crude oil as leverage, but trade with the West has gone down.

A 21 October attack in Guinea-Bissau - when soldiers stormed barracks near Bissau's main airport, targeting military figures and leaving six people dead - has provoked more fear than the numerous coups and counter-coups of recent years. The transitional government branded the attack a coup attempt, and accused former colonial power Portugal of backing it in an attempt to propel former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, who is in exile there, back into power. Within days, alleged coup leader Captain Pansau N'Tchama was arrested on the island of Bolama, in the Bijagos archipelago. He is expected to face a military court later in the year.