(February 15, 2006) New international anti-bribery guidelines for export credit agencies were due to be agreed in principle early next month. Opposition from Berlin and Tokyo, plus several smaller countries, means the decision will now be delayed by months, if not years, according to officials close to the negotiations, which are taking place in the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Export bribery rules challenged
(February 15, 2006) Tough new guidelinesGermany and Japan have challenged new draft global anti-corruption guidelines for exporting companies, according to documents seen by the BBC. The countries say that rules aimed at improving the transparency of export credit agencies are too bureaucratic.
CAG finds lapses in deal with SNC Lavalin
(February 14, 2006) The KSEB signed an MoU with Lavalin in August 1995. Under the provisions of the MoU, the funds for the renovation were to be arranged by SNC Lavalin from the Export Development Corporation (EDC), Canada, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The Board did
so, ignoring the CEA’s recommendation that immediate replacement of the generating units at the allivasal power station was not called for as the plant was in fairly good condition.
CAG report finds major lapses in deal with SNC Lavalin
(February 13, 2006) The supply of goods and services were actually made by other firms at much higher costs leading to ‘extra avoidable payments.’ Quality of renovation work executed by the contractor in the absence of technology transfer and training could not be ensured.
Kenya corruption charges rattle relations
(February 13, 2006) A former Kenyan anti-corruption czar responsible for distributing a tape that implicates his government in corruption is facing allegations he was a spy for Britain.
Top Lesotho water boss charged
(February 12, 2006) The former top Lesotho official on the Highlands Water Commission, now an influential adviser on water matters with The New Partnership for Africa’s Development, has been charged with bribery involving over R1-million.
GAP releases internal World Bank whistleblower analysis
(February 10, 2006) Report from renowned expert outlining improvements made public by GAP.
Debt repudiation possible
(February 10, 2006) Norway plays a key role in efforts to cancel odious debt," says Christian Aid’s Jonathan Glennie. The government and opposition are both open to supporting poor countries repudiate their debt.
Why foreign aid to Haiti failed
(February 1, 2006) Although it proudly lays claim as the second oldest republic in the Hemisphere, and the only nation whose slave population defeated a colonial power to become free,Haiti is, and has been, among the worst governed and most undemocratic states. Few places in the world, and no places in the Western Hemisphere, are poorer than Haiti.This paper2 explains why, after consuming billions in foreign aid over three decades, and hundreds of millions specifically for governance and democratization programs, not to mention billions for other programs, Haiti remains politically dysfunctional and impoverished.
Declaration on debt from the World Social Forum
(January 24, 2007) A Declaration on Debt drafted by participants at this year’s World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, last month calls on governments and lenders in the global North to examine loans they have extended to countries in the South and take responsibility for illegitimate debts.
Time to cancel Kenya’s crippling debts
(January 23, 2006) That Kenya’s external debt needs to be cancelled is long overdue. As noted recently by Cabinet ministers and Prof Jeffery Sachs of the United Nations, this debt is crippling the country to the point that Kenya’s ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is not just difficult, but it is virtually impossible.
Time to call for debt relief one year after the tsunami
(January 23, 2006) Much of the Indonesia’s debt could actually be classified as odious or illegitimate. The majority of the country’s debt was accumulated during Soeharto’s 32-year regime.
Groups protest Blair’s decision to drop top fraud probe
(January 17, 2007) Earlier this week, 140 international charities, churches and NGOs sent a written petition to British Prime Minister Tony Blair demanding that he reopen a corruption probe into a controversial arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
Nu news could be bad news
(January 11, 2006) Secrecy continues to surround the controversial plan to build a series of big dams on the Nu River in Yunnan province. Now, Chinese media reports suggest the project is set to be rammed through without environmental-impact documents being made public or open hearings held, as required by law.
US legislators oppose debt deal
(January 9, 2006) Some members of the United States Congress have welcomed the debt deal between Nigeria and the Paris Club of creditors whereby Nigeria pays $12.4 billion in return for an $18 billion debt cancellation, but strongly urged the US not to collect its share of the debt from Nigeria.
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