Africa & Coffee Articles III

Latest installment of articles relevant to our lives in Africa:

• Rwanda New Times: School Girls Held Over Marijuana (9/9/10) - This hard hitting news in the Rwandan national newspaper is too good to pass up: "In a bizarre turn of events, Salim Sintukamazina, a man Police had always suspected of dealing in the drug was shot dead after Police stormed his house following a tip off from an informer on Tuesday night."  Umm...not sure how bizarre it is?

• WSJ: New Malaria Drug Candidate Holds Promise (9/3/10) - Malaria is bad.  We are now taking malaria medication everyday.
• NYTimes: In Somali Civil War, Both Sides Embrace Pirates (9/1/10) - Just up the coast from us, pirates and al Shabab join forces to leverage each others talents.
• NYTimes: Rwanda Threatens to Pull Peacekeepers From Darfur (8/31/10) - The Rwandan government doesn't like being implicated in the violence in Congo.  Perhaps things in Rwanda aren't as rosy as it appears from the outside?
• WSJ: Sudan's President Stirs Rift in Kenya (8/28/10) - African leaders stand united in the signing of Kenya's new constitution, even though some have outstanding warrants from the International Criminal Court. Sundanese President Omar al-Bashir did not attend Paul Kagame's inauguration on Monday with Rick Warren, who apparently is Rwandan now.
• NYTimes: U.N. Congo Report Offers New View on Genocide (8/27/10) - Obviously there have been and continue to be a lot of bad things going on in Congo, but is the Rwandan government involved?  Friends in Kigali seem to have mixed feelings, given that the research may not be top notch.
• WSJ: Germany Charges Ex-Rwanda Mayor With Genocide (8/18/10) - These types of situations have been coming up with more and more frequency as Rwanda gets more global attention for progress.  Odd how the estimates on the number of people killed in the genocide very so.  This one says "At least 500,000" and most would put it at twice that.
• WSJ: Kagame Wins Rwandan Election in Landslide (8/10/10): Kagame carried 90% of the vote with no competition.
• WSJ: Naomi Campbell and the 'Blood Diamond' Hoax (8/10/10) - Interesting opinion piece on the reality of blood diamonds.
• NYTimes: Doubts Rise in Rwanda as Election Is Held (8/8/10): Benevolent dictator?  All of these articles on the Rwandan election have excellent background on the country as a whole.
• WSJ: Opposition Parties Cowed in Rwandan Election (8/7/10) - With the main opposition being disqualified from the election or jailed, Paul Kagame  is likely to be re-elected President.
• NYTimes: Kenyans Approve New Constitution (8/5/10) - A new Kenyan constitution passed with 67% of the votes following traditional tribal lines.
• WSJ: Kenayans to Vote on Controversial Constitution (8/2/10) - With quite a bit of U.S. influence, Kenya put a reworked constitution to vote.
• WSJ: A Journey Through the Jungle (7/24/10) - Jane Goodall reflects on the last 50 years that she has studied and lived with chimps in western Tanzania.
• NYTimes: Obama's Overdue AIDS Bill (7/20/10) - Desmond Tutu puts the onus on the U.S. to keep increasing its funding to treat those in Africa with AIDS.
• NYTimes: Rwanda Opposition Figure Found Dead (7/14/10) - With the Presidential election coming on August 9, more and more stories like this one are coming out where opposition voices have been killed or jailed.
• Washington Post: Rwanda's Ex-U.N. Ambassador, Who Vanished After Genocide Resurfaces in Alabama (4/4/10) - Just found this really interesting article on Rwanda's representative to the U.N. Security Council during the genocide.

Coffee:

• WSJ: Is It Time to Start Hoarding Coffee Beans? (9/8/10) - I regularly read the ROI column in the WSJ anyway and this weeks happens to be on the soaring price of green coffee.  Probably not a real investment opportunity for the casual investor (and most of the upside has likely been missed), but the volatility in coffee prices is just another factor that has to be dealt with by the Coffee Initiative.
• WSJ: Coffee Futures Are Near a 13-Year High (8/30/10) - I think in the last few days this high has been blown away.  High prices are sometimes good and sometimes bad for the Coffee Initiatives cooperatives.
• WSJ: Nestle Plans Ground Attack Over Coffee Beans (8/26/10) - Roasters (like Starbucks and Nestle) are doing more and more to solidify their coffee supply chain, especially as prices continue to skyrocket.  Some of the concepts described in this article are similar to what the TechnoServe Coffee Initiative does in East Africa.
• NYTimes: A Coffee Conundrum (8/3/10) - Green Mountain Coffee generates more than 80% of its revenue from its single-use K-Cups (it has a virtual global monopoly).  It is exploring how to make these K-Cups more eco-friendly.

This is ripe coffee cherry at a TNS cooperative in southwestern Rwanda right before it goes into the wet mill (aka "pulper").