This Week: Oil Roundtable

It's official. Uganda has oil.

But how much and what kind? What does it mean for Uganda's future? Who is calling the shots? Will it boost development, or will the oil curse strike again?

For answers to these questions and more, please attend a groundbreaking roundtable on Uganda's oil sector, sponsored by Kampala-based think tank Fanaka Kwa Wote and the U.S. Embassy Kampala.

What: Oil Roundtable
When: Thursday, March 19th, 9:30am to 12:00pm
Where: Protea Hotel, Acacia Road, Kampala
Who: Panel of experts and interested parties, including:

Professor Jacqueline Lang Weaver, University of Houston
Mr. Stephen Birahwa, MP Buliisa and Member of the Committee on Natural Resources
Mr. Brian Glover, Managing Director of Tullow Oil
National Environmental Management Authority
Uganda Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development
Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

Moderated by Managing Editor of The Independent, Andrew Mwenda.

Don't mess with... Equatorial Guinea

Simon Mann was today sentenced to 34 years, 4 months in prison for his role in a failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2004. Mann says that Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was also involved in the plot to overthrow Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea. Matthew Green, author of Wizard of the Nile (his account of trying to track down Lord's Resistance Army leader, Joseph Kony), has an article on Mann in the Financial Times today. Equatorial Guinea is a major oil producer in Africa, which has led to massive inflows of money into that country, albeit inequitably.