For immediate release 
"African Future" magazine now open for individual subscriptions

Las Palmas, 7 November 2008 - The monthly development cooperation magazine "African Future", published by afrol News SL media house, from this month is open for individual subscription, editors today announced.

The magazine, in pdf format, has been published by afrol News since November 2007. It is a specialised magazine, targeting the global development cooperation community, those professionally working with Africa's development, humanitarian agencies, solidarity workers and scholars looking into African development issues. Currently, the monthly magazine has an average of 40 pages, filled with richly illustrated breaking news and in-depth analyses.

The current edition of "African Future", released earlier this week, focuses on how the current global recession is already influencing on Africa's development. Effects are indeed already noted, for Africa's formerly booming tourism industry, oil and mineral producers and when it comes to access to loans. But there are already signs that the crisis also will have positive effects, with the possibility of lower food prices as fertilizer and transport costs are sharply falling and grain producers in the US already note far lower output prices. But what about Africa's farmers, the title story asks?

It further asks how donor aid is and will be influenced by the current crisis. Some major donors are indicating that Official Development Assistance (ODA) will not rise as quickly as earlier expected, while an Icelandic Foreign Ministry spokesperson in an interview even indicates that Iceland's ODA may face cuts as the crisis has hit the island nation hard. Even worse, the International Red Cross is facing low donor responses for its emergency aid programmes and fears it will soon have to cut its budgets.

The monthly magazine, as always, presents small and big donors and their current plans and actions in Africa. In this issue, Dubai as a new emerging major donor is discussed, and we look at locally initiated programmes in the SADC region. Other issues covered each month include emergency aid, alerts and new research and publications relevant to Africa's development. This issue, among others, discusses whether or not Ethiopia is heading towards famine and takes a deep look at bird flu in Africa, including new initiatives to halt the disease.

"The magazine 'African Future' during its first year has proven a success among larger institutions and agencies engaged in the development of Africa," says chief editor Rainer Chr Hennig. "Until now, we have not had the capacity to offer subscriptions to private individuals, but now we are," he adds. Later this month, it will become possible to pay for subscriptions online on the websites of afrol News (www.afrol.com) and African Future (www.africanfuture.com), enabling the media house to offer subscriptions to individuals.

"Meanwhile," Mr Hennig says, "I encourage everybody to send us an e-mail and request a free trial issue of the magazine. Have a look at our November issue and let us know whether to activate a subscription for you."

Requests for a free copy of the November issue of "African Future" magazine can be sent to mail@afrol.com. Mark the subject "African Future" and indicate your name, e-mail address and employment. More information, including subscription rates for individuals, can be found on the magazine's website africanfuture.com.

About afrol News:
afrol News is an independent news agency headquartered outside Oslo (Norway), exclusively covering African affairs in English and Spanish language. Editorial offices also exist in Las Palmas (Spain) and Maseru (Lesotho). afrol News works with a network of independent African media. The media house was founded as a private company in April 2000.

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