Issa Sikiti da Silva

Last month, the Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement set up shadow administrations in key areas it has conquered in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebels are closer to taking full control of the region’s minerals, especially its coltan reserves, which according to UN observers at the end of last year were providing them with $800,000 a month. 

One of the only ways for foreign correspondents to get into Mali now is to rely on the services of human smugglers, as I did a few weeks ago. A former journalist turned fixer told me there were ‘no foreign tourists and journalists, no income for us and, with no development aid from France, most social development projects have come to a standstill’.