Denmark has commited an inspection ship and special forces to assist ships providing humanitarian assistance to Somalia chartered by the World Food Programme (WFP).

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High stakes for Tanzania as 14 donors put budget support on hold

Tanzania may face cuts in international aid following an audit which concluded that the Bank of Tanzania had made irregular payments of USD 113 million to 22 companies.

Sida channelled over SEK 1.2 billion in aid funds to key Swedish state agencies last year, according to statistics obtained by Development Today.

Following a positive audit report, Sida has now decided to release funds to the Africa NGO Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), which was hit by a corruption scandal in its Angola office last year.

Responding to a personal request from former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Norway is paving the way for Ghana through its popular Oil for Development Programme. At the Mahogany oil field off the coast of Ghana, oil that may be worth USD 70 billion has been discovered. A few years ago, the Norwegian oil firm Norsk Hydro rejected an offer to explore the area.

High-level consultations on Ghana

Last fall Development Minister Erik Solheim phoned former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (himself a Ghanian) to consult him about what Norway could contribute within the oil sector in Ghana.

Sweden will terminate its assistance to Malawi at the end of 2009. Swedish aid funds for Malawi have been managed by Norway, making Norway a significant player in the country. Norway wants to remain a leading donor in Malawi and has plans to scale up its own aid .

During the years following the December 2004 tsunami, the international Red Cross movement collected almost three times more money - an unprecedented USD 3 billion - than it initially claimed it needed to finance its relief operations. Three years after the disaster, the movement is developing guidelines to help it avoid such a funding dilemma ever happening again.

Norwegian Development Minister Erik Solheim tells Development Today that he will raise the issue of the World Bank doing a study on tax havens directly with President Robert B. Zoellick.