Archive for August, 2009

Africa, obscure metals, high technology

By Meredeth Turshen | 24 August 2009

‘Tantalum: It is a soft, grayish-blue metal with a melting point of 5,463 degrees Fahrenheit (higher than all but two other elements) and, more important, an exceptional ability to store electric charge. This property makes tantalum perfect for producing the electricity-storing capacitors ubiquitous in the circuit boards of computers, digital cameras, and cell phones. “Tantalum is used in every electronic device there is,” says Jack Lifton, an independent consultant specializing in technology metals. “We don’t know any other way to make practical devices.” Tantalum is refined from ores such as coltan, a rock composed of the minerals columbite and tantalite. The source: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a major supplier, although you would not know that from the official numbers.’

Cape Verde: Transnational Archipelago

By William Minter | 19 August 2009

As regular readers of AfricaFocus Bulletin know, this publication relies on selected “reposted” material. When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chose Cape Verde as her last stop on her 7-country African tour, I was hoping to find some analysis on-line of the unique history and position of Cape Verde that I could share with readers. Surely someone would be commenting on-line on the long history of Cape Verdean immigration to the United States, or on the significance of Cape Verdean liberation leader Amilcar Cabral for Pan-African thought on both sides of the Atlantic. But apart from brief pro-forma tributes to the country’s multi-party democracy and economic stability, I could find almost nothing in recent on-line reports to pass on to AfricaFocus readers. So I had to dig a bit deeper.

Sexual terrorism in eastern DRC

By ACAS | 12 August 2009

Today Democracy Now! spoke with Christine Schuler Deschryver, who met with US Secretary of State Clinton to discuss sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Angola: Oil & Housing

By William Minter | 10 August 2009

With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visits to Angola on August 9-10 and to Nigeria later this week, the spotlight is on U.S. geo-strategic interest in Africa’s oil and potential rivalries with China in access to the oil. But the dominant theme of oil industry developments is likely to be collaboration, as illustrated by the $1.3 billion deal announced in July, in which the U.S. oil company Marathon sold a 20% stake in offshore Block 32 to Chinese companies Sinopec and CNOOC. Marathon retains a 10% stake. Block 32 is operated by Total SA of France, which owns a 30% stake and acts as the operator. Sonangol E.P., Angola’s state-owned oil company owns 20%, while Exxon Mobil Corp. holds 15% and Galp Energia, a Portuguese company, 5%.