After two decades of having disastrous neoliberal policies (ESAP) stuffed down its throat, and all of its woes blamed on dictators, government incompetence, and corruption, Africa is finally challenging the advanced capitalist world on the ground of its own corruption, mismanagement, and environmental abuses:

African countries are boycotting international talks on greenhouse gas emissions held in Barcelona this week, in protest at what they say is a failure of industrial countries to make adequate cuts.

They claim the wealthy countries are not taking the meeting seriously, deliberately stalling, and refusing to set concrete targets to cut their CO2 emissions.

The protest is headed by Algeria, Ethiopia and Gambia. The head of the European delegation, Artur Runge-Metzer, says he understands the African concerns to a degree, but says nothing will be achieved by a boycott.

The Barcelona talks come prior to the climate summit in Copenhagen later this year, aimed at drawing up a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

As for these dictators that the critics of Africa can't get enough of:

A French appeals court has halted an inquiry into luxury homes and cars owned in France by the presidents of three oil-producing African countries.

The inquiry was prompted by the anti-corruption group Transparency International which wants the justice system to question how the leaders of Gabon, Congo Republic and Equatorial Guinea and their families could afford assets worth tens of millions of dollars.

The appeals court ruled that the organisation's members could not legitimately act as plaintiffs against the foreign heads of state and that the investigation should not proceed.

William Bourdon, a lawyer for Transparency, said: "Those in France and Africa who organise and take advantage of the looting of African public money will be celebrating with champagne."