Tete, Mozambique: Once a ‘Coal Eldorado’
Did the Global Campaign Against Fossil Fuels Weaken Tete’s Potential? A fast-growing ‘boom’ town… I visited the Tete area in the Zambezi valley, central Mozambique several times from 2009 to 2013. The reason? So much was happening there. It was a ‘boom’ period. An Australian junior, Riversdale Mining had confirmed findings of steam or thermal […]
Gabon: A Model for Conservation
Remarkable Achievements in Preserving Wildlife and Natural Rain Forest A sea of green… It was some time in the mid-1980’s, and I was a passenger on a 16-seater aircraft flying from Libreville to Moanda, situated deep in Gabon’s interior. I peered out the window as the plane rose above the outskirts of the Gabonese capital. […]
A Boost to Mozambique’s Ports
New Investments and Favourable Regional Developments Mozambique’s ports… Mozambique has a long coastline along the Indian Ocean of some 2 700 kilometres. It is mainly dotted with numerous bays and inlets which serve as small fishing ports such as Mocimboa da Praia in the far north in Cabo Delgado Province. Some are large enough to serve […]
Kenya Prepares to Become a Global Leader in Geothermal Power Production
The Great Rift Valley of Eastern Africa and its Geothermal Endowment The eastern African rift valley system is about 6 400 kilometres long and averages 60 kilometres in width. It runs along two branches. The western branch comprises Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, southern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, while the eastern branch extends across Djibouti, Ethiopia, […]
Ethiopia Seeks an Alternative Sea Route A Complex Scenario
Ethiopian dependence on Djibouti Major investment in Berbera Port, Somaliland Ethiopia’s sea route options The Berbera ‘sticking point’
Sao Tome and Principe: An Island Paradise Looking for Oil
A scary landing It was December 2003 and I was on a night flight from Libreville, Gabon to the island of Sao Tome. The Twin Otter was small, and my seat just behind the two pilots offered a good view. We began to descend. On our left were the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean […]
ROC: The Key Role of Pointe-Noire Port in the Development of Logistics Operations in Central Africa
When I first heard of Pointe Noire Port I first got to know of Pointe-Noire port in the late 1970s when I was in the diplomatic service and responsible for monitoring developments in central Africa. A construction company involved in a modular housing development project in the Central Africa Republic’s capital city, Bangui, had shipped the components to […]
Nairobi: A Major Centre for Regional Relief Aid
Sound advice from an experienced ‘old hand’ in United Nations relief aid… “Paul, you must tell your clients loud and clear that if we don’t get the right stuff to the right place in the right time, people die! In this business, we can’t play games.” These were the words of a good friend who […]
The Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: What Can be Done to Lessen the Minerals-Fuelled Conflict Situation?
On the border of a conflict region… It was 2018 and I was visiting the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda to fulfil my long-standing, priority ‘bucket list’ aspiration – getting up close to the famed mountain gorillas. Just a few kilometres across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lay the much larger […]
Unlocking the Zambian and DR Congo Copperbelts Major Bilateral Logistics Initiatives
First-hand experience of a major border crossing… The client’s instructions were very clear. My colleague, Duncan and I were to walk through the Zambia–DR Congo border crossing at Kasumbalesa, and report on the problems we encountered. The client wanted an account of the “real” situation. Kasumbalesa is the main border post between the Zambian and […]
