Economic Crisis Heightens Africa's Conflict Tensions: OECD.

"The global economic crisis has heightened the risk that 'tensions could explode' in Africa, where growth will be slashed this year because of recession in rich nations, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned Monday. 'There are signs of increasing political tension that cannot be ignored,' said a report by OECD, African Development Bank (AfDB) and UN Economic Commission for Africa which said the continent's growth would be cut to 2.8 percent this year after 5.7 percent in 2008...." [Agence France Press (5/11)/Factiva]

Reuters adds that "...budget deficits across the region will balloon as falling commodity prices and demand from Western countries take their toll, the African Economic Outlook 2009 said, forecasting a budget deficit of 5.5 percent of output, which compares with a surplus of 3.4 percent seen in the previous annual study.... 'Africa has been hit and it has been hit hardest,' AfDB chief economist Louis Kasekende told journalists at the bank's annual meeting, held this year in the Senegalese capital. He called on African governments to resist the temptation to resort to protectionist measures as they attempt to support ailing economies...." [Reuters (5/10)/Factiva]