As South Sudan continues with its referendum, Alemayehu G. Mariam considers what will happen following the south’s probable independence, the longer-term consequences for Sudan and the wider significance for Africa’s direction in the 21st century.

The statistics are too far gone to claim: us
Me and the girls that carry my anguish
Sometimes I want to find someone to blame
Someone to imprison with guilt or at the every least point a finger at…

With President Bingu wa Mutharika turning on his Vice-President Joyce Banda, is Malawi on the road to dictatorship?

Why is it that the image of legendary Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba continues be so important to Africa? Chambi Chachage explores.

Basel Saleh

Bernard Founou Tchuiguoua

Salim Ahmed Salim

The autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia has announced that it will break with the federal government based in the embattled capital, Mogadishu. After a special meeting of Abdirahman Mohammed Farole's presidential cabinet, the government issued a statement saying that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) 'does not represent Puntland in international forums' and that the United Nations Political Office for Somalia should 'reconsider its position and support for the TFG at the expense of other Somali stakeholders'.

The Arab Commission for Human Rights, SHERPA and Transparence International France (TI France) has filed a complaint with the French public prosecutor (Procureur de la République) against several members of Ben Ali and Trabelsi families. The objective is the opening of a judiciary inquiry into the assets they own in France, which could have come from the embezzlement of public funds. Corruption inside Ben Ali’s regime has been revealed with the recent revelation by Wikileaks of a diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Tunis.

The five states making up the East African Community (EAC) are in a hurry to prepare for their common currency, which according to plans is to be introduced already next year. Experts now see how they can fast-track the process. Experts from the five EAC states on 17 January embarked on a four-day meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, that sets the stage for negotiations for the East African Monetary Union.

Africa's economy isn’t growing fast enough to meet targets to reduce poverty in the world’s poorest continent, the United Nations said. Per-capita income will probably expand 2.7 per cent in 2011 and 2.8 per cent in 2012, lower than the 3 per cent 'minimum rate of growth to make a substantial dent in poverty', the UN said in a statement released in Johannesburg. Rising commodity prices, better harvests and investments in rail and energy projects will help lift growth to 5 per cent in 2011 and 5.1 per cent in 2012, from 4.7 per cent last year, the UN said.

Egypt is at a stage in its demographic transition with a marked 'youth bulge', a period in which the proportion of youth in the population increases significantly compared to other age groups. Owing to the dearth of data on youth, the Population Council has recently conducted a comprehensive situation analysis of adolescents and youth in Egypt: 'The Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE)'. The report updates knowledge on issues of health, education, employment, family formation, and civic participation.

President Jacob Zuma told party leaders this week to implement the government's new growth plan immediately, insisting it could be refined as they went along. With unemployment officially above 25 per cent of those actively looking for work, South Africa lost more than a million jobs in the recent global downturn. School-leavers and unskilled young men and women are the hardest hit by joblessness.

Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party has nominated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate after fending off a primary challenge in the country's mainly Muslim north. Jonathan's nomination on Friday allows him to stand in the April presidential elections, which are viewed as one of the most important in the history of Africa's most populous country.

Tunisia is trying to restore order following the 'Jasmine Revolution' that led former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country on Friday. Until new presidential elections are held within the next two months, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Foued Mebazza will be Tunisia's president. Ben Ali is now in Jeddah, the Saudi Royal Palace confirmed Saturday.

A jobless man who set himself on fire in a northeast Algerian town bordering strife-torn Tunisia to protest the mayor's refusal to meet him over jobs and housing died of his injuries on Sunday, his family said. It was the one of four attempted public suicides in Algeria this past week in apparent copycat replays of last month's self-immolation of a 26-year-old graduate in Tunisia which triggered a popular revolt that led to the ouster of that country's ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The African Union's mediator in Ivory Coast's deadly leadership standoff is to return to Abidjan this week for his latest bid to bridge the yawning gap between two increasingly entrenched presidents. AU mediator and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga flew to Abuja on Sunday to meet the head of west African regional bloc ECOWAS, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, after which he will head to crisis-stricken Abijdan.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick, or at least his press team, responded promptly to last week’s concerns on a new food price spike with a comment piece in the Financial Times. It’s fascinating as much for what is missing as for what is in there, says this Oxfam blog. On the plus side, Zoellick gives due priority to food as ‘the essence of life’ and argues that the G20 needs to show leadership. But the whole piece seems to suffer from a straitjacket of free market ideology. Whatever the problem, the answer can’t go beyond liberalising trade and investment, voluntary codes of conduct, access to information, and improved aid and safety nets for those that fall through the cracks.

The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) has assured referendum results will be successfully announced despite insecurity concerns and logistical challenges. The SSRC Chairperson Professor Ibrahim Khalil has said that 84 per cent of the registered voters cast their votes. This is a preliminary statistic carried by the Commission from 9th-14th January 2011.

‘The violence in Congo may seem unintelligible but its roots lie in institutional practices introduced under colonialism, which 50 years of independence have only exacerbated,' writes Mahmood Mamdani.

Prabhat Patnaik explores ‘the third phase’ of modern imperialism, ‘marked by the hegemony of international finance capital’, globalisation, and the pursuit of neo-liberal policies’, and the opportunities opened up by the capitalist crisis for transitions to socialism.

As the stand-off in Côte d’Ivoire continues, Explo Nani-Kofi discusses the country’s broader political history, the involvement of external interests and the wider parallels to be drawn with the experiences of other African states.