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/ 17 November 2006

What commodity boom?

The full benefit of the commodities boom now under way is being squandered partly by bureaucratic ineptitude and infrastructural bottlenecks, according to mine experts. The minerals and energy department promises to process mining and prospecting licences in a matter of weeks, but in practice it takes 18 to 24 months.

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/ 17 November 2006

Ugandan peace talks limp along

Emerging from the bush wearing a bright yellow blouse and with a hoe in her hand, Bisatina Ayet explained that she grows food during the day in a garden near her current home, a camp for internally displaced persons in northern Uganda. At night, Ayet returns to sleep at the camp for fear of her safety. Countless communities in the north remain in a state of limbo as the peace negotiations between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Ugandan government continue.

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/ 17 November 2006

Cooldrinks lose their fizz

While the world worries about an oversupply of carbon dioxide, caused by increasing emissions, in South Africa we’ve almost run out of carbon dioxide (CO2) to put into soft drinks. The national CO2 shortage has in the past four weeks affected normal production of Coca-Cola brands, and it is likely to persist right into the new year.

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/ 17 November 2006

Venezuela: Where the rich get richer

Another agreeable lunch ended at the Caracas Country Club with a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, the chef’s famous flan and a round of espressos. From their table in the sun-kissed courtyard the three businessmen could hear only the fountain’s gurgle, the murmur of other diners, the clink of glasses and the swish of waiters.