CONTENTS NEWSFLASH 5 Newsflash 6 Agenda 7 Psst. . .

FEATURES 8 L e t t e r f r o m Lagos: T h e F o rs y th s a ga 9 U n c ta d ’s c o m m o d i ty p r o g ra m m e : D re am t u rn e d n i g h tm a re

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11 A rm s : T h e c o s t ly b u s in e s s o f a rm in g A f r ic a

16 S u d a n : H u n g r y s e n t h o m e t o s t a rv e 19 Is i t w o r th d a m m in g t h e S en e g a l?

21 S A D C C ’s in d u s t r ia l p la n s

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COUNTRY BRIEFINGS 23 S w a z i la n d : Trade links with SA 2 4 Iv o r y C o a s t : World Bank reforms 2 5 Z am b ia : “ Economic crusade ’85"

2 6 G h ana : Donors still convinced

2 7 B u rk in a : Fading away 29 U g a n d a : Costliest ever Christmas 3 0 T a n z a n ia : Zanzibar routs for foreign trade 3 4 M a d a g a s c a r : Private sector encouraged 3 5 N ig e r ia : Austerity and yet more austerity

1 4 This gun for sale. . . and Africans are 1 buying plenty. We probe the buyers and sellers in the deadliest market of all.

MINING 3 6 Malawi's coal reserves; Mauritanian iron

MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY 3 7 New rubber process comes in; Malawi textiles growth; Uganda's beer output up; Tanzania steel

BANKING & FINANCE 41 Islamic banking in Sudan; Financing Tanzanian infrastructure

AGRICULTURE 4 3 Pesticide restrictions; Mauritius expands tea effort

CONSTRUCTION 4 5 Tanzania paper project; Ghana builds with rice & rubbish

ENERGY 4 6 Benin invites oil bids

TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS 4 7 Ghana’s Black Star Line; Sudan Airways; Kenya-Zanzibar link

MARKET NETWORK 4 9 Boycott hits SA clothes; Ghana timber; Kenya strawberries

________________ LABOUR________________ 50 Trimming the manpower fat?; Ghana's doubles wage minimum; Stopping the health-care gap; Zambian unions under pressure

OIL & PETROCHEMICALS SURVEY

5 7 O v e rv ie w : any room downstream? 5 9 N ig e r ia : the great petrochemicals gamble 61 Iv o r y C o a s t : drought determines policy; Kenyan fuel security

BOOKS 6 2 Promoting “ technology pull”

4 Around Omdurman refugees from

I U drought-devastated central Sudan are being trucked home although there is no way of feeding them there, our correspondent reveals.

j r Agriculture may w w have received a big injection o f capital, but the Nigerian budget held no real surprises. Basically, it’s going to be another year o f belt-tightening all round, with no concessions to the poor. Our own correspondent in Lagos goes through the details.