{jcomments on}Omar,AGNEWS, BXL,19/02/2010 ––The African Union has condemned a coup in Niger, where soldiers have captured President Mamadou Tandja and suspended the constitution after a gun battle. AU chief Jean Ping said he was watching developments “with concern”.  West African bloc Ecowas said it “roundly condemned” the takeover and had dispatched a mission to make its position clear to the coup plotters. 

BURUNDI :

RWANDA

Rwanda hosts World Environment Day
Blog post by Perry Beeman • pbeeman@dmreg.com •/ blogs.desmoinesregister.com/ February 19, 2010

The United Nations Environment Programme has chosen the African nation of Rwanda as global host of World Environment Day, June 5. The U.N. said Rwanda’s green-economy efforts deserve recognition.

I spent five weeks in Rwanda last fall on a grant from the International Reporting Project. I covered Rwanda’s eco-friendly resurgence. Read my series here. The project includes dozens of photos and several videos that explain the project.

I went in part because Great Ape Trust, based in Des Moines, co-founded a partnership that runs an ambitious reforestation, chimpanzee research and community development project in the Gishwati Forest area in northern Rwanda. The U.N.’s announcement mentioned the expansion of Gishwati partly to save an isolated population of chimps. The work also will help fight climate change and provide nonfarm jobs, backers say.

The day encourages nations to put a human face on environmental issues and to promote sustainable development.

More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a 1994 genocide by Hutu government forces that left Rwanda largely in ruins. The country, one-fifth the size of Iowa but with three times as many people, has been working hard to expand an economy that has been dominated by subsistence agriculture.

The man whose rebel Army overthrew the Hutu majority, Paul Kagame, now is president of Rwanda and leading the push for a environmentally friendly new economy.

The nation has suffered widespread soil erosion and deforestation, leaving polluted water supplies and decreased agricultural production.

AI slams opposition intimidation
BY AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE/Feb 19

NAIROBI, Feb 19 – Amnesty International condemned Thursday what it called a worrying attack on a Rwandan opposition group in the run up to presidential elections in August.

The rights group said it had written to President Paul Kagame to urge him to “use the elections as an opportunity to show the government’s commitment to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly”.

“Past elections have been marred by intimidation, however this year’s vote gives Rwanda the chance to promote rights not repression,” Amnesty’s Africa Programme deputy director Tawanda Hondora said in the letter.

The letter was prompted by an attack on two members of the FDU opposition party and the harassment of a new group, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Amnesty said in a statement.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, an opposition leader who returned from exile last month to stand in the poll, and her assistant Joseph Ntawangundi were attacked this month while collecting documents needed to register the FDU party.

Ntawangundi, who was badly beaten in the attack, was subsequently jailed after having been sentenced in absentia in 2007 to 19 years in jail by a tribunals set up to try perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.

About 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis, were killed in the genocide.

Green Party president Frank Habineza has also reported being threatened by a man he suspects to be a security agent, according to rights groups.

“Amnesty International is concerned that these recent incidents are part of a wider pattern of intimidation and harassment to discourage and discredit opposition groups,” said Hondora.

Ingabire has been denounced in media close to the government for her calls since her return for the prosecution of war crimes against Hutus.

“Rwanda has an obligation to prohibit speech that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence,” Hondora said.

“But Rwanda’s laws on genocide ideology too often conflate legitimate political dissent with such incitement.”

Kagame, who has been in power since the end of the genocide, has been accused of muzzling the opposition and is widely expected to seek and secure re-election in August.

UGANDA

Ugandan Churchgoers Exposed To Gay Porn
By On Top Magazine Staff /Published: February 19, 2010

A Ugandan pastor is exposing churchgoers to gay porn in an effort to shore up support for an anti-gay bill, the BBC reported.

Martin Ssempa, a leading proponent of the bill that prescribes death for repeat offenders of gay sex and those who are HIV-positive, showed gay pornography to about 100 adults during a church service Wednesday.

He said he downloaded the films from the Internet and showed them to parishioners to educate them on gay sex. 

“We are in the process of legislation and we have to educate ourselves about what homosexuals do,” Ssempa told the BBC.

The bill slips a tight noose around the necks of gay men, lesbians and their allies. The measure would impose the death penalty for people guilty of “aggravated homosexuality,” which it defines as someone who is HIV-positive, has sex with a minor or is a serial offender. Under the bill it is unlawful to have gay sex, therefore having multiple sexual relationships would put a gay or lesbian Ugandan at risk of being put to death. But the bill also calls for the death of people who never had gay sex. One of the definitions of the “offense of homosexuality” is the touching of another person “with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.” 

In America, a similar measure is called an importuning law, which makes it illegal to hit on someone of the same sex. The Supreme Court has ruled such laws unconstitutional.

Ssempa also said he plans on showing the videos to legislators who’ll vote on the law.

Gay rights activists questioned Ssempa’s sanity.

“You cannot screen pornographic material to your followers and then want to argue that you are upholding society’s morals,” Monica Mbaru, from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told the news service.

“I think we are dealing with someone who needs medical help,” she added.

President Obama recently joined the chorus of international leaders who have condemned the law. Obama called the measure “odious.”

TANZANIA:

Gul calls on Turkish businessmen to invest in Tanzania
Gul hosted a dinner in honor of Tanzania’s President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in Cankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara.
Friday, 19 February 2010 /www.worldbulletin.net
Turkish President Abdullah Gul hosted a dinner in honor of Tanzania’s President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in Cankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara on Thursday. 

Delivering a speech in the dinner, Gul said Turkey has been continuing friendly relations with African countries and their peoples for centuries. 

Gul said, “both Turkey and also Tanzania have political will and determination to boost friendly ties and cooperation.” 

President Gul said, “I attach a great importance to economic relations between Turkey and Tanzania. I encourage Turkish businessmen and industrialists to invest in Tanzania.” 

In his part, Kikwete said that he was paying this visit to have closer cooperation with Turkey. 

Kikwete said he expected more investments from Turkey and there were several areas in Tanzania especially textile in which Turkish businessmen could invest. 

Tanzania would do what it can to enhance ties with Turkey, he said. 

Turkish government has been actively working to find solutions to crises in the Middle East and Turkey was a great actor on the international platform, he added.

Barrick set for African spin-off
By Matthew Kennard in London /www.ft.com/Published: February 19 2010

Barrick Gold of Canada, the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, is set to spin off its African mines and list them on the London Stock Exchange.

The company said it would retain a 75 per cent majority stake in the vehicle, African Barrick Gold (ABG), but would make the remaining equity available to institutional investors.

ABG’s assets comprise four mines in north-west Tanzania, representing 9.6 per cent of Barrick’s total gold production.

Barrick has a market capitalisation of about $37bn, and if a similar valuation is applied to ABG its market capitalisation could be as much as $3.7bn, making it a potential entrant to the FTSE 100.

“The key thing for Barrick has been looking at the way it can get its assets optimised,” said Greg Hawkins, ABG chief executive.

“With the African assets sometimes it’s been difficult to grow because there are so many other huge Barrick projects around the world, and Africa is often a bit smaller and hard to get on the radar.”

Barrick has been operating in Tanzania for a decade and produced 716,000 ounces of gold there in 2009.

This would make it the largest UK-listed gold producer at flotation and the fourth-largest working in Africa. ABG hopes to raise annual production to 1m ounces within four years.

If the listing is successful, ABG said it expected to have about £280m ($435m) of cash on its balance sheet.

“One overarching thing about this is that companies the size of Barrick and Newmont are now so large that it becomes very hard to grow. If you make an acquisition or expand, that makes very little difference in overall size and can go unnoticed,” said Richard Morgan, an analyst at Mirabaud. “There comes a point when it’s insignificant. In a sense you could argue that splitting a company up is inevitable when you get to an ex-growth position.”

In 2008, Industrias Peñoles, a Mexican mining company, successfully spun off its silver assets into a new London-listed vehicle, Fresnillo, which has since seen its share price soar.

Analysts said the spin-off might be an attempt by Barrick to reduce the risk of its portfolio. “For me Tanzania is fine,” said Joe Lunn, analyst at FinCapp. “But I’m not your average person living in Montana, who might not have a passport and think: ‘Barrick has African assets, well they aren’t worth anything.’ “

Barrick’s primary listing is on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but London-based investors are seen as more favourable toward African assets.

“Our understanding is that Africa is more attractive for the investor base in Europe and London,” said Mr Hawkins. “There’s a variety of reasons for this: London’s neatly in the time zone, there’s the history. We think this is a real opportunity to take advantage of that.”

CONGO RDC   :

Congo-Kinshasa: Lubanga Defense Heads To Congo for ‘Critical Research’
Wairagala Wakabi/ allafrica.com/Lubanga Trial Website (The Hague) /19 February 2010

The Thomas Lubanga trial today took a break to allow his attorneys to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to conduct what Judge Adrian Fulford referred to as “critical research”.

As a result, there will be no hearings until Wednesday March 3, 2010, Judge Fulford announced today, just after the fifth witness called by the defense had completed giving evidence. This witness, and the one before him, testified in closed session hence it was not possible to know what their testimony was about. Both of them testified with extensive protective measures.

Today, Judge Fulford directed the defense team and representatives of the Victims and Witnesses Unit (VWU) to meet and resolve an outstanding issue which he said related to research which the defense wished to carry out during their visit to the DRC next week.

Mr. Lubanga is being tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the war crimes of enlisting, conscripting and using child soldiers in armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo during 2002 and 2003.

He has denied the charges, and his defense has said it will prove to court that prosecution witnesses were coached, and that those who testified as former child soldiers actually never were. The ICC alleges that Mr. Lubanga headed the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and was commander-in-chief of UPC’s armed wing which used child soldiers.

Since the defense case started on January 27, 2010, five witnesses have been called. The first three witnesses testified that intermediaries of the Office of The Prosecutor (ICC) bribed and duped some boys and their parents or guardians into joining the alleged scheme to fabricate evidence.

KENYA :

Adviser to Kenyan president calls on Zardari
Friday, February 19, 2010/  www.dailytimes.com.pk
ISLAMABAD: Joe Kaman, an Adviser to the president of Kenya, called on President Asif Ali Zardari at the Presidency on Thursday. The two sides discussed bilateral relations during the meeting, a press release said. Zardari appreciated the Kenyan government for providing Pakistanis the facility of visa on entry, an increase in the import duty on Pakistani rice, and the award of the Kenyan passport project to NADRA.

Zardari said the government was keen to explore new avenues for strengthening economic and trade relations between the two countries, and for bilateral relations.Kaman thanked Zardari after the meeting, and conveyed best wishes of the Kenyan government and the people of Kenya for the people of Pakistan. staff report

The illegal camps that threaten to destroy Kenya’s Masai Mara

Explosion of unlicensed accommodation edges park’s black rhino population closer to brink 

By Daniel Howden in Nairobi/ www.independent.co.uk/Friday, 19 February 2010

The riverine forest on the banks of the Olkeju Ronkai, close to where it meets the waters of its sister river the Mara, has long been a sanctuary for critically endangered black rhinos. Two-thirds of Kenya’s remaining population of these shy leviathans were until recently living among the fever trees in what was the largest intact forest of its kind in the Masai Mara wildlife reserve.

Today, the rhino sanctuary has been transformed into a building site, the tranquillity has been shattered and trucks deliver concrete into what is becoming one of the largest lodges in the Mara. 

An alliance of conservationists, park wardens and eco-tourism experts are fighting stop the construction of the Olkeju Ronkai lodge which has already displaced the rhinos from their natural habitat. The development is being financed by a British family, the Sofats who trade in the UK as Somak Holidays, registered in Harrow, Middlesex.

“Black rhinos are extremely shy and sensitive, and they need the shade and seclusion of riverine forest to calve,” said Samson Lenjirr, an experienced warden and former head of the Masai Mara’s rhino programme. “Where this camp is situated is the single largest such forested area in the reserve. These rhinos can’t put up with permanent human settlement there, with generators running all day, tourist vans coming and going.”

The last-ditch battle to stop the new lodge is emblematic of the wider struggle to save Kenya’s best-known tourist attraction which, scientists warn, is in danger of ecological collapse thanks to runaway development.

An unpublished Kenyan government audit, seen by The Independent, reveals that the Greater Mara ecosystem is now weighed down by 108 camps and lodges, with more than 4,000 beds. Most of these units are flouting the law, failing to compensate local communities and not paying tax, the confidential report concludes. Nearly eight out of 10 of the camps surveyed have not carried out the required Environmental Impact Assessment while only 29 per cent of the camps are operating legally.

The apparent free-for-all in the Mara has worried the influential International Federation of Tour Operators (IFTO) sufficiently that the UK office wrote to the Kenyan government two weeks ago demanding a list of the illegal camps.

“You will appreciate this matter has caused our members concern,” Nikki White from the UK federation of tour operators wrote to Kenya’s tourism ministry. “They need information to be able to anticipate any potential business implications.”

So far there has been no response.

The exploitation of the Mara has already been felt by the spectacular mega-fauna. Populations of wild grazing animals – including giraffes, hartebeest, impala, and warthogs – have “decreased substantially” in only 15 years as they compete for survival with a growing concentration of human settlements, according to a study last year in the British Journal of Zoology.

Unlike many of Kenya’s reserves, the Masai Mara is not a national park, the area has been divided between two regional councils – Narok and the Trans-Mara. In 2001, the Trans-Mara handed over the running of its section to a private management company, the Mara Conservancy. Since then, the reserve has developed a split personality with one side becoming a model for eco-system management while the Narok side has degenerated into a destructive race to cash in on tourism. 

The Olkeju Ronkai development, which will become a fenced lodge covering 13.5 hectares of riverine forest, is set to accelerate this process dangerously, experts warn. Jonathan Scott, presenter of the BBC’s Big Cat Diary has joined the campaign to stop the project: “A company of this standing should be prepared to play its part in halting the rash of development threatening the Masai Mara.”

There are less than 40 surviving black rhinos in the Mara – down from 150 in the 1960s – and wardens estimate that as many as 22 have already been driven out of the area of the lodge, many over the border into Tanzania’s Serengeti.

The lodge is leased to Ashnil Hotels Ltd, which is owned by two of Somak Holiday’s directors, Suresh Sofat and his wife. No-one at the company was available for comment yesterday. 

Construction of the lodge was approved in 2006 despite its location but serious questions have now been raised over the chief warden’s report in favour of the building. The Environmental Impact Assessment Report was found to have been an exact copy of the report submitted by Ashnil Hotels for their Samburu property in Northern Kenya. The name of the reserve had been changed but the rest remained the same, including the names of animal species that do not even exist in the Mara.

“At the end of the day if you have enough money you can do what you want,” said an experienced Mara warden, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Samson Lenjirr who as the longest serving rhino warden in the reserve had personally named and tagged many of the animals who have been driven away said “short term greed” was in danger of destroying the backbone of Kenya’s tourism industry.

ANGOLA :

Task force: Iran poses risk to global financial system

International body blacklists several countries after meeting in Abu Dhabi 

Reuters /Published: 02.19.10

Israel Business 

The international body fighting money laundering and terrorist financing on Thursday blacklisted Iran, Angola, North Korea, Ecuador and Ethiopia as posing risks to the international financial system. 

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), comprising governments and regional organizations named the countries after a meeting in The United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi. 

Publication of the blacklist follows promises by the Group of 20 major economies last year to crack down on the problem, calling on the FATF to identify “uncooperative jurisdictions.”

Iran has been named as a jurisdiction where risks emanate due to the ongoing and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing, the FATF said in a statement, urging member countries to apply counter measures against Iran to protect the international financial system. 

“The FATF remains particularly concerned about Iran’s failure to address the risk of terrorist financing and the serious threat this poses to the integrity of the international financial system,” the statement said.

Angola’s Oil Exports Will Drop in April, Loading Schedule Shows
February 19, 2010/By Yee Kai Pin and Christian Schmollinger/Bloomberg

(See LOAD for a database of loading programs.) Feb. 19 — Angola, vying with Nigeria to be Africa’s biggest oil producer, plans to ship 3.5 percent fewer crude cargoes in April than in the previous month. Companies including BP Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, will load 55 cargoes comprising 13 grades, according to a shipping program from state-owned Sonangol SA. That’s fewer than the 57 cargoes the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries member is scheduled to load in March. Luanda-based Sonangol will load 29 of the 55 cargoes in April, six of them Kissanje grade, the program showed. Among non-state companies, BP and Total SA will each load six cargoes and U.S. producers Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. will each load four. A further six cargoes will be shipped by four other companies. Angola became Africa’s biggest oil producer last year as Nigerian output fell after militants sabotaged its infrastructure and technical problems caused fields to shut. Nigeria regained its lead in November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. –Editors: Clyde Russell, John Viljoen.

No go for Togo as appeal fails

www.thesun.co.uk/19022010

TOGO will not be in the draw for the next African Nations Cup after they failed to appeal their ban. 
The West Africans – whose star player is Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor – pulled out of the tournament earlier this year when gunmen ambushed their team bus ahead of their campaign in Angola. 

They were surprisingly suspended from the following two competitions as punishment for the decision. 

But the Football Federation of Togo had hoped to be included in the draw for the 2012 Cup by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

However, CAS has dismissed their bid but say Togo could be included in a new draw if their appeal against the two-tournament suspension is successful.

SOUTH AFRICA:

S. African Union Threatens an October Strike, Business Day Says

By Nicky Smith/Bloomberg/Feb. 19

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — The Congress of South African Trade Unions may call a general strike in October to protest against the practice of labor broking and South Africa’s unemployment rate, Business Day reported, citing the labor federation’s General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi. 

Cosatu wants Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to review his decision to maintain an inflation targeting band of between 3 percent and 6 percent, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said, citing Vavi. Gordhan On Feb. 17 said the range would remain and the mandate of the central bank would not be changed.

Analysis: South Africa’s continuing luck with finance ministers

www.thedailymaverick.co.za/2010-02-19

South Africa doesn’t have the president that the country deserves. But it may have the best possible finance minister it can get.
Get past the numbers and the ratios; any national budget is necessarily an act of personal revelation. Finance ministers don’t have the luxury of hiding behind plans and programmes. Budgets are precisely, numerically quantifiable. If presented honestly, they reveal with brutal truth the nation’s fiscal state.

Finance ministers can’t duck the stuff which splashes off the fan; you have to take it and try to move on.

Wednesday’s budget constituted the first opportunity to really see our new finance minister without the normal screen of verbiage and personnel that typically cocoon the various administrators of the arms of state.

It’s just a personal opinion, but watching Gordhan in action, and notwithstanding his defence of our errant president, I have to say I wondered whether I wasn’t listening to the president that should have been.

Gordhan’s easy intelligence, his erudition, his precise and yet vaulting conceptualisation of the national state and the state of the nation, his focus on the issues at hand, were such a wonderful antidote to Zuma’s flailing and stumbling.

Consider this contrast:

President Zuma’s opening of parliament speech: “These moments in our history (Mandela’s release) demonstrate our ability to come together, even under the most difficult of circumstances, and to put the country’s interests first above all other interests.”

Here is Gordhan making more or less the same point, but doing so with real verve. “As South Africans, we have learnt over the past 20 years that our shared humanity, our generosity, our resilience and our capacity to deal honestly with each other present a formidable capacity to fight adversity, to find common ground and to move forward. In an important sense this is our most precious national asset – our social capital in the making.”

Suddenly we are dealing with a new concept – “social capital” – not just a tribute to an inspirational person. Zuma wants us to follow Mandela’s example; Gordhan wants so much more: honesty, shared humanity, resilience and forward momentum.

Zuma’s conciliatory approach is welcome and unimpeachable, but it’s also a bit obvious. Gordhan’s approach is conciliatory too, but is multidimensional and contains a nice chunk of added vooma.

Yet for all that, Gordhan’s budget was a cautious affair. The truth is that he didn’t really grab any of the available bulls by the horns, perhaps coming up short of his own ringing exhortations.

He doffed his hat to Zuma saying the president had encouraged members of government to “do things differently”. Actually Zuma didn’t really do that. He mentioned, in passing, the fact that the presidential hotline represents “our determination to do things differently in government”.

Gordhan, on the other hand, mentioned doing things differently no less than five times, saying at one point, “we will also have the courage and humility to do things differently”.

But then he didn’t. No measures to stabilise the rand, no shifting the inflation target, no real tax changes of any great import. There was some indication of increased focus on youth unemployment, but in all honesty, you have to say this budget was a holding operation.

Yet, caution is not necessarily a weakness in a finance minister, and the fact is that the worst global recession in 70 years and the first recession of the new government does tend to crimp one’s style a bit.

You have to look into the details of the budget to see where “doing things differently” may not be happening now, but may happen in the future.

In Gordhan’s context, differently necessarily means doing things differently from his predecessor, Trevor Manuel, and this is perhaps the most interesting contrast, because in many ways they are so alike.

Both have a bit of steel in their approach to public finance; a determination to hold the line against the clamours for “more money, more money” that always ring in the ears of finance ministers. It was revealing that Gordhan took time out to mention the arrest of people in KZN for defrauding the social grant system.

Just as Manuel would have no compunction about rapping the knuckles of banks for not paying their taxes during his budget presentations, Gordhan has taken over this tradition.

Yet, Gordhan does seem to be more comfortable with a higher level of debt than his ultra-cautious predecessor, holding off on tax hikes to allow the level of national debt to inflate a bit. Would Manuel have done the same? Probably, but perhaps not quite to the same extent.

The big difference, at least for now, between Manuel and Gordhan is that Gordhan seems to be a bit more of a conciliator and a team builder. Manuel’s eventual career-limiting move, if you can call it that, was setting himself up as a kind of one-person barrier between Cosatu and fiscal policy, possibly egged on by his boss.

Gordhan’s instinct is to be more inclusive, no doubt egged on by his boss. Who knows where that will end up, but you can’t fault him for trying. He’s just started on his journey as a finance minister, a journey that almost always ends in tears. Being finance minister is almost by definition a political lacuna, because you are the person who says “no” all the time to all your colleagues.

Yet Gordhan exudes a sense of calm and purpose; he inherits such a stable ship, and he is such a natural diplomat, you have to rate his chances. No one can tell the future, but right now it seems South Africans may have been unlucky with the person fate has bestowed on us as President – but enormously lucky with the person fate has bestowed on us as finance minister.

By Tim Cohen

Anglo American, Kagiso, Simmers: South African Equity Preview
February 19, 2010/By Nicky Smith/Bloomberg

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose for a fourth day, gaining 88, or 0.3 percent, to 27,280.58.

Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ): The mining company reports earnings for the year ended Dec. 31. Anglo American added 1.02 rand, or 0.3 percent, 296.90 rand.

Kagiso Media Ltd. (KGM SJ): The owner of Kaya FM and Jacaranda radio stations said earnings per share, excluding one- time items, fell 5 percent to 75.7 cents in the six months through December. Kagiso shares lost 1 cent, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14.65 rand.

Pioneer Foods Ltd. (PFG SJ): The food company that makes Weet-Bix cereal and Ceres fruit juices holds its annual general meeting. Pioneer added 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, or 39.05 rand.

Simmer & Jack Mines Ltd. (SIM SJ): The South African gold miner reports earnings. The stock fell 3 cents, or 2.3 percent, to 1.29 rand.

Tiger Brands Ltd. (TBS SJ): South Africa’s largest food maker holds an investors’ day. The shares retreated 1.5 rand, or 0.9 percent, to 174.50 rand.

Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:

Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) gained 2.6 percent to $19.74. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) lost 2.8 percent to $37.30. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) gained 1.4 percent to $63.22. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) fell 1.3 percent to $6.29. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) rose 0.8 percent to $12.15. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) declined 0.5 percent to $9.34. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) gained 0.8 percent to $26. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) gained 0.7 percent to $4.14. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) rose 2 percent to $37.24.

–Editors: Alastair Reed, Antony Sguazzin.

Africa: At Last, Signs of Progress on Aids
Michael Fleshman/ Africa Renewal (United Nations) / allafrica.com/19 February 2010

It was long years and hundreds of thousands of deaths in coming. But on 1 December, South African President Jacob Zuma stood before a cheering throng in the capital city, Pretoria, and marked World AIDS Day with a pledge “to deploy every effort, mobilize every resource and utilise every skill that our nation possesses” to turn back the advance of the disease.

There comes a time in the life of all nations when the only choice is to submit to the enemy or fight, the former anti-apartheid leader told the crowd. “That time has now come in our struggle to overcome AIDS…. We shall not submit.”

It was the second major speech on AIDS in as many months for Mr. Zuma. In the view of most observers it represented a final, welcome break with the controversial policies and pronouncements of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. Mr. Mbeki’s public doubts about the cause of the disease, and his suspicions about the safety of the lifesaving anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs that target the HIV virus that causes AIDS, were thought by many to have contributed to South Africa’s grim distinction as the country with the largest number of infected people in the world.

Mr. Zuma has had his own difficulties with the issue. His 2006 comments about showering after unprotected sex with a woman living with HIV to prevent infection were widely ridiculed and caused outrage among activists. But he added substance to his World AIDS Day speech with the announcement that, beginning in April 2010, the public health service would expand ARV treatment programmes to include all infants testing positive for the virus, a change expected to save thousands of newborns every year. He also announced that treatment to prevent the transmission of the virus from mother to child at birth would begin earlier, as would treatment for those with both HIV and tuberculosis, in line with new recommendations from the UN’s World Health Organization.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé: New infections and AIDS-related deaths are declining in sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to prevention policies and the wider availability of anti-retroviral medicines.

The new commitments follow those made a few weeks earlier to cut South Africa’s rate of new HIV infections in half and provide ARV treatment to at least 80 per cent of those in need. He called on all citizens to be tested for the virus and promised to lead a “massive campaign” to raise public awareness, encourage safer sex and promote other prevention practices, as well as combat the stigma and discrimination that still surround the illness. The changes in substance and tone over the seven months Mr. Zuma has been in office “mark a fundamental break from the past,” Michel Sidibé, executive director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told the crowd in Pretoria.

Standing alongside the South African leader, the senior UN official, a Malian and the first African to head the agency, said Mr. Zuma had “shattered years of official ambivalence, rallying citizens to take responsibility for learning their [HIV] status, reducing their risk and seeking treatment.” In a sign of how welcome the dramatic shift in South African government policy is internationally, Mr. Sidibé declared him “the architect of ending this epidemic” and described the mood among HIV/AIDS experts and activists as one of “euphoria.”

Good news at last

The changes are very good news for the 5.7 million South Africans now living with the disease, and for a continent that has already lost perhaps 20 million people to AIDS, seen hard-won development gains wiped out and now accounts for two of every three infections globally.

But the good news is not confined within South Africa’s borders. According to an update released by UNAIDS in late November, the number of new infections in all of sub-Saharan Africa has declined by 25 per cent since the mid-1990s, amidst signs that the global pandemic may have peaked in 1996.

The main cause for the drop, UNAIDS asserts, is the success of prevention and education programmes that have finally begun to change the behaviour of people at high risk, including men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers, intravenous drug users and, particularly in Africa, young women.

In South Africa, for example, condom use during the first sexual encounter more than doubled to 64.8 per cent between 2002 and 2008. Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania, among the countries hit hardest by the disease, all reported sustained declines in new infection rates. In Zimbabwe’s case the rates have been in decline for a decade, as education and prevention programmes have persuaded sexually active adults to practice safer sex and reduce the number of their partners.

Treatment to prevent HIV-positive mothers from infecting their babies at birth has also made a difference. Between 2004 and 2008, UNAIDS reports, the percentage of women receiving such treatment increased fivefold to 45 per cent, producing a sharp drop in the number of babies born with HIV. Globally, UNAIDS estimates, over 400,000 new infections were prevented in 2008 alone.

“New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are declining in sub-Saharan Africa,” Mr. Sidibé confirmed to Africa Renewal in a written interview. “The drop in infections is a result of the positive impact of ‘combination’ HIV prevention,” an approach that combines public education, access to condoms and other prevention technologies. It also results from a reduction in discrimination and bias against those with HIV and those at high risk of infection, along with policies that have promoted more responsible sexual behaviour.

Treatment access saves lives

“With increased access to anti-retroviral therapy in developing countries, we are seeing a drop in AIDS-related deaths” compared to the number of people with the disease, Mr. Sidibé says. “By the end of 2008, an estimated 4 million people in low- and middle-income countries were on anti-retroviral treatment.”

Although that figure represents only about 44 per cent of all Africans who need the drugs, it nevertheless reflects a remarkable increase in access to treatment. In 2003, the update notes, only 2 per cent of Africans in need had access to the medicines. ARVs are administered to patients in later stages of the illness and have become widely available in Africa only in the past few years as high costs dropped and disputes over patent rights and international trade rules were resolved (see Africa Renewal, April 2005).

The availability of the drugs through such programmes as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and, in the US, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) kept the number of deaths in Africa stable at 1.4 million in 2008. The drugs also contributed to an increase in the number of Africans able to live with the disease, which rose by 2.7 million.

Despite the progress, Mr. Sidibé cautions, infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa remain five times higher than in any other region. “The AIDS epidemic continues to evolve. Much more is needed to turn back the epidemic. Countries need to adopt a prevention approach that focuses on those most at risk of infection.”

The new UNAIDS report underlines the point. Despite the drop in infections, Africa still accounts for most of the people living with the virus globally, as well as 36 of the 50 countries with HIV rates exceeding 1 per cent of the total population. All nine countries with HIV rates above 10 per cent are African, as are over 90 per cent of babies born with the disease. With new infections far exceeding the number of people able to ge
t ARV treatment, UNAIDS notes, treatment and prevention programmes still lag behind the need.

Empowering women is key

Mr. Sidibé notes that reducing infection rates among women, who make up 60 per cent of Africans living with HIV, will be key to Africa’s long-term success. “Gender inequalities, sexual abuse, violence, conflict and poverty often increase women’s vulnerability to HIV. Protecting women from becoming infected with HIV and treating women living with HIV can turn back the epidemic. Stopping women from becoming infected and increasing their access to treatment also contribute to reducing the number of orphans and the number of children born with HIV.”

Entrenched economic and social inequalities and cultural attitudes towards women, however, make overcoming gender aspects of the pandemic particularly challenging. For this reason Mr. Sidibé welcomed the announcement last September of the creation of a new UN women’s “super agency” that would consolidate the UN’s scattered gender-related activities under one roof and make them more effective. “We are hopeful that the creation of a new UN agency on women will help address the issue of gender inequality and advance the rights of women and girls, particularly in Africa. UNAIDS will work closely with the new agency to promote women’s access to health and development [and] deliver critical maternal and child health services to women and girls at the grassroots level.”

Challenges ahead

Building on these modest signs of progress in the battle against AIDS will be vital if the continent is to make strides towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which include achieving universal access to treatment by the end of 2010 and halting and beginning to reverse the spread of the virus by 2015.

But the challenges are still formidable, Mr. Sidibé observes, including:

•unaffordable medicines
•insufficient and unpredictable funding
•weak health systems
•the failure to tailor HIV prevention and treatment programmes to local conditions, and
•stigma and discrimination against vulnerable populations
Mr. Sidibé affirms that prejudice against homosexuals is a particular concern in Africa, noting that “men who have sex with men are often denied access to HIV prevention and treatment programmes. UNAIDS believes the criminalization of any group of people at risk of HIV increases stigma and discrimination. Experience has shown us that effective responses to HIV are those grounded in human rights, tolerance and unimpeded access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.”

He goes on to say, “Reports of arbitrary arrest, violence and other forms of discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation have occurred in many countries. In the case of Senegal, international groups – including UNAIDS – assisted in the release of nine gay men who were imprisoned since December 2008.”

Human rights and health advocates have also raised concerns about legislation under consideration in Uganda. If enacted, the bill would impose the death penalty on sexually active HIV-positive homosexuals under some circumstances and require family, friends and employers to report homosexuals to authorities under penalty of imprisonment.

Financing is another obstacle. “Although funding for the global AIDS response has grown over the years, there is still a funding gap,” the UNAIDS head explains. “In 2008, $15.6 bn was estimated to be available from all sources for HIV, leaving a funding gap of $6.5 billion.” For 2010, he says, the global need will rise to $25 bn – half of which will be in Africa.

Funding under fire

The prospects for raising that amount, he admits, are not good: “Even though we do not yet know what the full impact of the economic crisis will be on HIV programmes, we are already seeing adverse effects of the crisis on national and local AIDS responses, such as declines in household incomes, increases in poverty levels and reductions in national government spending on HIV, as well as reductions in HIV funding from multilateral and bilateral donors.” The effect of the crisis on exchange rates has also made imported HIV medicines and equipment more expensive, he notes.

HIV and AIDS funding is also coming under criticism from some doctors and medical researchers. They assert that large-scale financing for the fight against AIDS comes at the expense of other vital health needs. HIV/AIDS advocates respond that the campaign against AIDS has generated billions of additional dollars for health care in African and other developing countries and has saved millions of lives with prevention and treatment programmes.

The critics may also have a hard time convincing President Zuma. AIDS, he declared, “is not merely a health challenge. It is a challenge with profound social, cultural and economic consequences. It is an epidemic that affects entire nations…. We have done much to tackle HIV and AIDS, but it is not enough. Much more needs to be done.”

South Africa air traffic control prepares for thousands of flights a day

By Wolfgang H. Thome, eTN ambassador/www.eturbonews.com /Feb 19, 2010 
As the FIFA World Cup draws nearer and the host football association, local transportation, and hotels and resorts are gearing up towards the biggest challenge of their lives, the country’s air traffic controllers, airports, and ground-handling companies are also practicing dry runs ahead of what might be the busiest period for air traffic ever seen in the South African skies. 

The country’s main international hubs, Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo along with Cape Town and Durban, are expected to see unprecedented numbers of flights coming in and leaving during the world cup, as the teams and the masses of their fans move from venue to venue, but then so will all the airports of the venue cities across the country. 

Even in comparison, according to a well-informed aviation source in Pretoria, the All Africa Games or the Cricket World Cup, which were hosted over the past decade and a half in South Africa, have not come near, even if combined, to the expected influx of visitors over such a short period of time, and all hands will be needed on deck, so to speak, when the time comes in June.

It is also understood that parking areas on airports presently reserved for military purposes may be opened for the duration of the tournament to provide added parking space for aircraft, while a last-minute race is also on to complete expansions of apron, taxiway, and runway facilities.

A source from South African Airways, the host and home carrier for the games – although Emirates is the main airline sponsor for FIFA – has also confirmed that the airline will be operating an enhanced and expanded 24/7 schedule to make most use of planes ordinarily parked overnight to move the anticipated large number of footballing and tourist visitors across the vast country. 

Other privately-owned airlines registered in South Africa have also made final preparations to increase their own capacities through short-term “wet leases” aimed at boosting the available seat numbers, although SAA was not to be drawn into this issue if they would seek assistance from their alliance partners to enter into short-term leases also. There are some indications, however, from such airlines as Lufthansa that their planes, normally arriving in the morning and returning to Europe in the evening, may operate some flights for SAA instead of just standing there idle, making money for both in the process. 

Meanwhile, sources in the UAE have given the clearest indication yet that Emirates will be using their A 380s to fly their regular daily flights into South Africa to also offer more seats, which in any case will be at an absolute premium in the run up to, during, and immediately after the event, when progressively the eliminated teams and their supporters begin their journey home, while the knock-out stage goes underway and the losers make an early exit from South Africa.

In a related development, several countries in Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean have also geared up their promotion towards “twin center” holidays, trying to attract tourists going to the World Cup to stop over at their own shores either before or after the tournament.

South Africa’s Environment and Human Rights–the next revolution

www.huffingtonpost.com/19022010
From afar, South Africa remains a fascinating country that managed to avoid a bloody civil war through an extraordinary reconciliation process. South Africa today looks a lot more like a rainbow than it did twenty years ago when it freed Nelson Mandela and thousands of other political prisoners. Whites, blacks and coloreds–the term for the original bushmen who settled the land– share buses, beaches and swimming pools. 

Three decades ago, policemen could enter homes in the middle of the night, arrest couples of different races found to be in bed together and take away any light-skinned children from a black mother fathered by a white father. Now Robben Island–once infamous as the place where thousands of political activists were imprisoned and drugged into submission–is a museum–a monument to the past. Some of the most popular daytime soap operas feature romances between people of different skin tone and advertisements include strikingly handsome people whose race cannot easily be determined. 

There’s a softer and different revolution underway in South Africa that has not yet garnered headlines. This rapidly developing nation–one of the basic four committed to reducing greenhouse gases with China, India and Brazil– is prepared to take another path regarding one of industrial societies’ biggest health problems–that of cancer. When Mandela was freed, 1 in 20 South Africans developed cancer. Today the rate has increased to 1 in 4. Around the world, cancer this year affects 1 in 3. By 2020 1 in 2 will develop the disease. Finding and treating cancer receives most of the billions of dollars spent each year on the disease in industrial nations–some $100 billion in the U.S. alone. 

The limits of this focus on treatment and detection are already apparent. Many countries face tremendous shortages in oncology nursing and medicine and lack the resources to treat all patients now. Around the world, screening programs to find breast and cervix cancer are not always tied with followup and treatment to those who need it, especially lower-income people in areas that lack basic health services.

Convinced that South Africa cannot afford to take the western path against cancer, the respected eighty-year old Cancer Association of South Africa–the largest nongovernmental agency in the health sector–is setting its sights on a vitally important tactic–making prevention the cure for cancer. To its credit, the government has acted to ban smoking in public and the mining and use of asbestos. Visitors are surprised at how clean the air is in restaurants. It is not widely known that the U.S. has not yet acted on either of these two fronts. And in some U.S. states, like Wyoming and Pennsylvania, tobacco lobbyists– with appallingly close personal ties to Democratic governors– have effectively bollixed efforts to reign in smoking. In those states, teenager smoking and the use of chew tobacco are increasing. 

While South Africa gets credit for tackling these two important cancer causes, there are other serious problems where the nation has yet to act. Why does the country manufacture or import and use pesticides like lindane that are banned in many developing countries? Why is it legal for an airplane to fly over homes and schoolyards and spray banned pesticides on children? Johann Minaar is a general practice physician in Groblersdal, Limpopo. Through detective work involving careful monitoring of enzymes in his blood, he figured out that his disabling neurological symptoms were being triggered by his neighborhood vineyard’s patterns of aerial pesticide spraying. He also linked a range of health problems in neighboring children, including breast growth in a five year old girl and severely disabling neurological symptoms in others, to use of dangerous pesticides. 

The local wine grower’s response to these serious health problems? “What I’m doing is perfectly legal.” 

Indeed, some things–like apartheid and slavery–can be both legal and immoral. The pesticides that the airplanes are spraying have been registered by the South African government, because that government lacks experts on the matter. The future of South Africa depends on its ability to produce healthy children who can participate fully in building civil society. So long as banned pesticides are regularly used, the nation’s capacity to protect its children remains endangered. 

Scientists explain that only about 25% of all spray lands directly under the path of the airplane, leaving the bulk of the pesticide to drift up to 3 kilometers. By what logic can a nation that prides itself on protecting its youth condone such exposures in the modern world today? Certainly the spraying of humans with compounds intended to kill insects that are banned in many countries is a violation of basic human rights–one that no nation can tolerate if it wants to create a safer and more equitable world for all its citizens. The Cancer Society’s campaigns signal an important shift in public policy–reducing known and suspected causes of cancer is essential to promoting better public health.

Putting out ‘fire next time’
DAVID KATERERE/www.mg.co.za/Feb 19 2010

To address South Africa’s problem with xenophobia, especially directed against Zimbabweans, the government needs to seek a clean political solution up north 

Towards the end of last year I was invited to participate in a discussion on migration in South Africa. There were representatives from civil society, the presidency, academics and church organisations and discussions were honest, open and uncensored.

The most interesting aspect of the discussions for me was how we ended up focusing on xenophobia — the causes of it, its various manifestations and the spectre of future attacks — rather than the broader issue of migration. And in all these discussions Zimbabwe seemed to be the elephant in the room.

An academic from Wits University’s Forced Migration Studies Programme presented data supporting anecdotal evidence that immigrants, even at “the bottom of the heap”, help to create employment opportunities for South Africans rather than taking away their jobs.

This is partly because many African immigrants to South Africa had better education opportunities (for historical reasons) than locals and so possess post-matric and tertiary qualifications; many have engaged in some entrepreneurial venture before arriving here.

The statistics show that up to 30% of immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) possess tertiary qualifications and the number might be higher among Zimbabweans. The story of the Congolese car-guard-turned-doctor featured recently in the Sunday Times is probably not so surprising, given these statistics.

But this is irrelevant to an ordinary South African who has to live with the sense of being invaded and the reality of poverty and joblessness. An 18-year-old South African, who participated in the recent eviction of Zimbabweans from De Doorns in the Western Cape, expressed the standard sentiment: “They must go back to their countries. They do not belong in South Africa.”

One delegate at the migration discussion half jokingly told the story of how rabbits on Robben Island, once tolerable and cute, had turned into a menace and irritation when they proliferated and threatened to take over the island.

If you replace rabbits with “black foreigners” it becomes easy to understand the sentiments voiced by one participant in the 2008 attacks on foreigners.

She said: “My worry is that my children are going to be slaves because they won’t have anything. These foreign people come to South Africa with nothing, but tomorrow he has cash, third day he owns a shop and fourth day he has a car. Where do these foreign people get this money?”

Further, once the foreigner has settled here, he (or she) has the temerity to disrespect the locals; not speak their language; take their women; and “change the culture” of the local people.

These are the perceptions and, for many locals, this is their reality. It sounds pretty surreal and even ridiculous to most of us, but for someone who has emerged from apartheid expecting a better life and now appears to be losing it “because the foreigners are taking away opportunities”, this makes perfect sense. Perhaps.

It is not surprising then that these sentiments will break out into violent attacks of foreigners or people of a darker hue (including South Africans). In the 2008 xenophobic attacks, which resulted in at least 60 deaths, a third of those killed were South African citizens.

There seems to be a gathering storm again — witness the recent killings of Zimbabweans in Diepsloot in October 2009, the xenophobic driving out of Zimbabwean seasonal farmworkers in the Cape and reported attacks in Polo kwane in November 2009.

This is coupled with apparent inertia on the part of the authorities and, in some instances, tacit approval from local political party structures. In De Doorns, for instance, a town councillor was fingered for being behind the initial attacks.

In fact, as things stand, as one Zimbabwean immigrant, who lived in Imizamo Yethu informal settlement in Cape Town, intimated to the meeting, he hears rumours of “fire next time” — a concerted and locally coordinated effort to drive out all black foreigners after the Fifa Soccer World Cup.

Whether this is true or not is difficult to establish, especially given the fact that the attacks of May 2008, though not centrally organised, spawned copycat attacks countrywide and the state stood by helplessly while people were being driven from their homes.

The person who sounded this warning is Anthony Muteti, who escaped harm from Zimbabwe intelligence agents because of his involvement with the opposition party in rural Zimbabwe in 2002 and was chased, in his words, “like a dog” from Imizamo Yethu in November 2009, a few weeks after sounding this warning at the meeting.

The worrying thing about migration in South Africa is that there is no real debate going on in the country giving direction to government policy — if in fact there is a lucid and comprehensive policy. 

Under the Mbeki administration, migration from Africa was swept under the carpet and any attacks on foreigners were denied or dismissed as the work of criminal elements. The present administration is clutching at straws and does not seem too interested in upholding international law, which calls for the protection of asylum seekers and immigrants, whatever their legal status.

What, then, is the solution?

The meeting went into some detail and there will be a position paper that hopefully will inform both government and civil society. I remain convinced that a major part of the solution to South Africa’s social instability lies elsewhere, up north, and until we deal with the upstream leak, the push factors across the border in Zimbabwe, turmoil will continue here.

It is an established fact that every major town in South Africa has had to deal with an unprecedented influx of Zimbabweans running away from the collapse of that country since 2000.

The 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, which destroyed many small businesses and wiped out many urban people’s livelihoods, accelerated the forced migration of people who previously engaged in cross-border trade. That was the first big wave of the past decade. 

The second wave followed the pre- and post-election violence of 2008, immediately followed by the most recent arrival of people fleeing the cholera outbreak, which resulted in 3 000 deaths and marked the complete collapse of the public health system in Zimbabwe.

South Africa’s poor have had to bear the brunt of being reluctant hosts while their government has dithered and negotiated the setting up of a fragile, unstable and schizophrenic inclusive government that is paralysed by intrigue and in-fighting.

It is time for the South African government to do the selfish thing and push for a clean political solution in Zimbabwe.

This is the only way out. The migration issues in South Africa at the moment are tied closely to the Zimbabwe question, so to reduce social friction and further xenophobic violence, dealing decisively with the Zimbabwean crisis should be paramount.

In one fell swoop a large number of Zimbabwean immigrants — the underemployed teachers working as waitrons, the housewives working on the farms, the men at your local filling station — will probably begin to look homeward.

Tied to finding a solution to the push factors in Zimbabwe, the South African government needs to show commitment to international law and protect migrants from constant harassment and attacks.

Law enforcement authorities must be diligent in arresting attackers of foreigners and the courts must mete out exemplary punishment. For South Africa’s reputation on the continent and internationally, it must be that simple.

Dr David Katerere lives and works in Cape Town. He is a past convener of the Zimbabwe Community Forum and a board member of People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty, a refugee rights NGO

AFRICA / AU :

Zain’s Africa asset sale is strategic move: report
Fri Feb 19, 2010/Reuters
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwaiti telecom group Zain’s (ZAIN.KW) decision to sell its African assets is a strategic move and not due to financial pressures, a newspaper report said on Friday, citing one of the firm’s main shareholders.

Deals

“We sold because we wanted to concentrate on the Middle East and Bharti wanted to get into Africa,” Nasser al-Kharafi, head of the Kharafi Group, told the Financial Times. “It’s a fair price and opportunity for both of us.”

The Kharafi group, one of Kuwait’s largest family businesses, owns 11.47 percent of Zain through one of its units.

India’s Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) is in exclusive talks to buy most of Zain’s African business, the Indian firm’s third attempt at gaining a foothold in a continent that offers a last opportunity for major subscriber growth.

Under the exclusivity period, the companies have until March 25 to seal the $10.7 billion deal, which would be the second largest in the industry this year after Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim’s move to consolidate his telecoms empire.

Kharafi told the paper while the family firm was affected by the crisis, it was still making operational profits.

“And things are improving every day,” he added.

Zain pulled back from an expansion spree last year, rejecting an offer from France’s Vivendi (VIV.PA) for its African assets.

(Reporting by Tamara Walid; editing by Karen Foster)

SABMiller Africa head wants more Coke
Fri Feb 19, 2010 /Reuters

* Wants to expand soft drink bottling operations 

* Doesn’t think Coke will buy African bottlers 

BOCA RATON, Fla, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Brewer SABMiller PLC (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research), which also distributes Coca-Cola Co (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) drinks in Africa, does not expect the world’s largest soft drink maker to try to acquire any bottlers there, a senior executive said on Thursday. 

“I think in Africa it will be quite difficult for Coke to do that,” said Mark Bowman, managing director of SABMiller Africa. “You have small markets, so for them to acquire their bottlers, I think the economies of it are not great. The markets are too small.” 

In contrast, Bowman said the major opportunity for his company, which sells beer, soft drinks and even spirits in some African markets, is to expand its relationship with Coca-Cola. 

“We’d like to have more bottlers in Africa that for us make sense … we believe in the beer and Coke model,” Bowman said. 

“I don’t see any major change,” he said. 

A spokesman for Coca-Cola declined to comment on its intentions for bottler acquisitions in Africa. 

(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Leslie Gevirtz) 

African Union condemns Niger military coup
Friday, 19 February 2010/news.bbc.co.uk

The African Union has condemned a coup in Niger, where soldiers have captured President Mamadou Tandja and suspended the constitution after a gun battle.

AU chief Jean Ping said he was watching developments “with concern”. 

West African bloc Ecowas said it “roundly condemned” the takeover and had dispatched a mission to make its position clear to the coup plotters. 

But one opposition activist told the BBC the soldiers were “honest patriots” who were fighting tyranny. 

Curfew imposed

Mr Tandja provoked a political crisis last August when he changed the constitution of the uranium-rich country to allow him to remain in power indefinitely. 

The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), which suspended Niger after Mr Tandja’s actions, said it had “zero tolerance” for any unconstitutional changes of government. 

“We condemn the coup d’etat just as we condemn the constitutional coup d’etat by Tandja,” Ecowas official Abdel Fatau Musa told the BBC’s Network Africa programme. 

He said the group had already sent a team to Niger and would maintain sanctions “until constitutional order is restored”. 

The BBC’s Idy Baraou in the capital, Niamey, said on the morning after the coup, people in the city were going to mosques and shops as normal. 

He said there was not an obvious military presence on the streets, but heavy artillery had been deployed around the presidential palace. 

In a televised address on Thursday evening, a spokesman for the plotters announced that the constitution had been suspended and all state institutions dissolved. 

The junta, which has called itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, imposed a curfew and closed the country’s borders. 

Freedom fighters?

The plotters said their aim was to restore democracy and save the population from “poverty, deception and corruption”. 

The move came after gunfights around the presidential palace. 

Soldiers captured Mr Tandja while he was chairing his weekly cabinet meeting, a government source told the BBC. 

One of the coup leaders, Col Djibrilla Hima Hamadou, was also behind the last military takeover in 1999. 

The president was assassinated during that coup, but civilian rule was restored within a year. 

One opposition activist, Mahamadou Karijo, whose Party for Democracy and Socialism has been bitterly opposed to Mr Tandja’s rule, praised the soldiers for fighting tyranny. 

“They behave like they say – they are not interested in political leadership, they will fight to save the Nigerien people from any kind of tyranny,” he told Network Africa. 

The government and opposition had been holding on-off talks since December to try to resolve the country’s political crisis. 

Mr Tandja, a former army officer, was first voted into office in 1999 and was returned to power in an election in 2004. 

Niger has experienced long periods of military rule since independence from France in 1960. 

It is one of the world’s poorest countries, but Mr Tandja’s supporters argue that his decade in power has brought a measure of economic stability. 

Under his tenure, the French energy firm Areva has begun work on the world’s second-biggest uranium mine – ploughing an estimated $1.5bn into the project. 

China National Petroleum Corporation signed a $5bn deal in 2008 to pump oil within three years.

UN /ONU :

No regrets, says UN climate chief after resignation
By Richard Ingham, Agence France-Presse/February 19, 2010

paris — UN climate chief Yvo de Boer defended his record on Thursday after suddenly announcing his resignation and argued that the much-criticized format for tackling global warming had a good future.

In a phone interview with AFP from Germany, de Boer denied that any political pressure lay behind his decision to quit as executive secretary of the 194-nation UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Appointed to the job in September 2006, de Boer is to resign from July 1, three months ahead of schedule. He is to take up a career as a climate adviser in the private sector and also work with universities, the UNFCCC announced in Bonn.

“If you look back through my CV, I have a history of trying to do something different every three or five years or so,” de Boer, 55, said.

“This job has been absolutely fantastic . . . but it’s also been very taxing for me personally and for my family, and I’m ready for a new challenge.”

The announcement came barely two months after a near-fiasco at the UNFCCC’s summit in Copenhagen, the high point of a two-year effort to craft a post-2012 treaty on climate change. The meet was salvaged at the last minute by a core group of major carbon-emitting countries, whose leaders stitched together a deal for limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

But the accord failed to get the seal of approval at a plenary session, after a number of countries from Latin America and Africa railed at its unambitious scope and at being excluded from the haggle.

“At the end, people were exhausted, people were frustrated,” said de Boer.

“I think if we had had a moment of rest to reflect on the Copenhagen Accord and its political significance, we could perhaps have had a stronger result in legal terms.”

Backers of the Copenhagen Accord say it is the first time that rich and poor nations are being asked to make pledges for curbing emissions of greenhouse gases. It also details 30 billion dollars in help for poor countries by 2012, with a possibility of hundreds of billions more by the end of next decade.

Critics, though, have decried it as a poor fudge, with no details for achieving the 2C goal and whose pledges are only voluntary.

“Copenhagen was disappointing in that it didn’t deliver a formal, legally-binding agreement,” said de Boer.

But, he added, “the presence of 120 heads of state and government and the fact that countries accounting for 80 per cent of energy-related CO2 emissions have now submitted targets and plans is an indication that the world has decided to move on this topic in a global way.”

Some of the political fallout from Copenhagen has been directed at de Boer, accused from the sidelines of having over-stoked expectations or promoted issues favouring developing countries.

Bulgarian, Belgian police team caught up in Niger after coup
Fri, Feb 19 2010 /byPetar Kostadinov /www.sofiaecho.com

Kiril Dimov, head of Bulgaria’s elite anti-terrorist police unit and nine other members of the unit have been stuck in Niger following a coup there on February 18 2010 against Niger’s president Mamadou Tandja.

Official information confirmed that 10 Bulgarian citizens had been stranded in Niger’s capital city, Niamey, after soldiers in the West African country seized power.

The Foreign Ministry in Sofia said that according to information from Bulgarian representatives in Niamey, the Bulgarians were police officers who had been carrying out a joint operation with a Belgian team, repatriating people from European Union territory.

The Bulgarian consul in Nigeria, the closest consular office to Niger, was monitoring the case and was in constant contact with their Belgian colleagues.

The Bulgarians were in Niger as part of Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry’s joint project with Belgium authorities for escorting Niger’s citizens as part of a plan against illegal immigration in the region. The Bulgarians had arrived in Niger on a Belgian military aircraft.

All of the Bulgarians were in good condition, Darik Radio quoted Interior Ministry chief secretary Kalin Georgiev as saying. “I spoke to them, they are fine, they have enough food and water,” he said.

They were at a Belgian military base in Niger together with three Belgian military officers who were trying to negotiate a transport corridor for the plane to leave Niger, Georgiev said. 

Coup leaders have announced a 6pm to 6am curfew and have closed all land and air borders.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “closely following” developments in Niger, where the whereabouts of the West African nation’s leader remained unclear.

Ban’s spokesperson stated that the Secretary-General is receiving regular updates on the situation from his Special Representative for West Africa, Said Djinnit.

“It would be recalled that the Secretary-General has called on the stakeholders in Niger to swiftly revert to constitutional order in the settlement of the political crisis that developed in that country last year,” the statement added, according to the UN News Service.

The Voice of America said that in a nationwide radio and television broadcast, a spokesman for the mutinous soldiers said they had suspended the constitution and dissolved the government that Tandja established following a controversial referendum last August.

Coup spokesman Colonel Abdoul Karim Goukoye Karimou said Niger’s defence and security forces had decided to take their responsibility to end the country’s tense political situation.

He said that Niger was now being led by a “Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy” which was calling on people to remain calm, stay united, and make their country an example of democracy, good governance, and stability.

Tandja was meeting with cabinet ministers at the presidential palace when the coup took place. Soldiers were now reportedly holding him at a military barracks outside the capital.

Tandja has grown increasingly unpopular since he used the August referendum to change the constitution to expand his powers and give him another three years in office.

When Niger’s constitutional court and parliament said that the referendum was illegal, Tandja dismissed them. The Economic Community of West African States suspended Niger because of what it called president Tandja’s unconstitutional rule.

The regional alliance has been trying to negotiate a transitional power-sharing agreement that would have allowed Tandja to remain in office while an interim government organised new elections.

Announcing the coup, Colonel Karimou was joined by two men who played big parts in Niger’s 1999 coup – Dijibrilla Hima Mamidou and Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna. That take-over lasted less than a year before the military held elections that were won by Tandja.

In a February 19 statement, a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that Ashton was closely following the political crisis in Niger.

“The EU shares AU and ECOWAS deep concern on the latest developments and supports their mediating efforts,” Ashton’s office said.

Ashton condemned the seizure of the power by a military coup d´état in Niger “and calls upon all actors involved to engage immediately in a democratic process allowing for rapid establishment of the constitutional order in the country.”

African Union head Jean Ping said he was watching developments “with concern”, according to a report by the BBC.

The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), which suspended Niger after Tandja’s actions, said it had “zero tolerance” for any unconstitutional changes of government.

“We condemn the coup d’etat just as we condemn the constitutional coup d’etat by Tandja,” Ecowas official Abdel Fatau Musa told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.

Chad, home to Sudanese refugees, wants UN to leave

www.huffingtonpost.com/February 19, 2010

UNITED NATIONS – It is rare, although not unheard of, that a country wants UN peacekeepers to take a hike. Chad, a precarious home to more than 350,000 people displaced by the Darfur conflict, has done just that and no one is quite sure why. Often nations want the UN to hang around longer.

The Chadian government of President Idriss Déby, which together with the Zaghawa military clan has monopolized power since 1990, said the UN mission should leave the country’s eastern region within a few months. UN officials are engaged in talks with Chad but the troops can only stay with government consent.

The region has an estimated 220,000 refugees from neighboring Darfur in Sudan and at least 160,000 Chadians driven out of their villages in border areas because of the warfare. Since the Sudanese and Chadian governments have spent years supporting each other’s rebel insurgencies, the camps have often turned into fodder for militia recruiting and forcing men and boys to their ranks. Criminal gangs have sprung up, often comprised of young men who have never known anything but warfare.

Into this barren sandy moonscape-like area, UN troops last March substituted for European peacekeepers and both missions were relatively small. The UN Security Council authorized 300 police officers and 5,200 troops. But the operation, known by its French acronym of MINURCAT has only been able to raise 2,489 troops, 24 military observers and 264 police officers plus at least 400 civilian personnel and aid groups. Some of the personnel are in the bordering Central African Republic to help guard refugees there.

Peace deal with Sudan

The reasons Chad gave for wanting UN troops out are none too clear. In a news conference this week, Chad’s UN ambassador, Ahmad Allam-mi, said the latest peace deal with Sudan and a beefed up national police made it possible to protect vulnerable people. Déby made a rare visit to Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum earlier this month that resulted in another agreement to end the proxy wars proxy wars. 

As a result, the ambassador said “Chad is able to guarantee security in the east of Chad in order to take over from (the UN’s) military component and that is why we are calling for its withdrawal.” He said he was willing for international civilian staff to remain but UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who is expected to visit Chad shortly, said that was not an option. Allam-mi, however, said he had no objection to the larger UN complement of troops in Darfur, on the Sudan side of the border.

After Security Council consultations, John Holmes, the UN humanitarian coordinator, told reporters the mission was “important for the safety and security of the people in the camps, the civilians in general and for the humanitarian operation, so we really fear the consequences if the force were withdrawn.” He said Council members agreed.

Human Rights Watch, which has reported on Chad for a decade, said it also feared the consequences of a withdrawal, saying the UN operation, despite its small size, had improved security for refugees and appeared to have prevented a resumption of mass killings. The mission also helps with police training, which has not yet been completed. 

Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for the organization, in a letter to the Security Council, wrote:

Human Rights Watch has found that although widespread attacks on civilians have subsided since 2005-2007, civilians in eastern Chad remain vulnerable to persistent insecurity from a variety of armed groups including the Chadian army and Chadian and Sudanese rebel groups, and loosely organized criminal gangs. In the most severe battle between government and rebel forces in recent months, Chadian soldiers used indiscriminate force in and around Am Dam in May 2009, killing at least 15 civilians, raping women and girls, and looting civilian property including medical supplies. Local authorities and displaced communities have reported to humanitarian organizations that the UN forces have improved the security situation in recent months, and many are concerned that without the peacekeepers, insecurity will increase again.

So why Chad wants the peacekeepers out is a mystery. Some diplomats speculate the country, a former French colony, wants money for the roads the peacekeepers allegedly ruined. Others say Chad anticipates that the latest peace deal with Sudan might fall apart again and wants a free hand for its military on the border regions – and any possible rights abuses unmonitored. But convincing answers were not forthcoming. Stay tuned.

USA :

Soldiers Oust President in Coup in Uranium-Rich Niger

FEBRUARY 19, 2010/online.wsj.com/By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD And DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS 
Soldiers who seized power of the uranium-rich West African nation of Niger in a coup Thursday named a squadron chief as their leader, hours after announcing they had suspended the constitution after seizing President Mamadou Tandja amid a barrage of gunfire.

In a statement Friday, the junta named itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and said it was being led by Salou Djibo.

Hours earlier, a spokesman for a group, dressed in military uniform, appeared on Niger’s Tele Sahel sometime after 10 p.m. local time, surrounded by fellow members of the armed forces.

Without mentioning Mr. Tandja, the spokesman, Col. Abdul Karim Goukoye Karimou, read from a statement saying the constitution and all institutions were suspended in the group’s move to take responsibility and ease political tension in the country. We want Niger “to be an example of democracy and good governance,” the colonel said, calling for an end to “lies” and “corruption.” The coup leaders said they had ordered the country’s borders closed and had imposed a curfew. 

Adrienne Diop, spokeswoman for the Economic Community of West African States, said that insurgents were holding the president with other ministers and people close to him, and that Mr. Tandja is apparently uninjured. His whereabouts remained unknown Friday.

“This didn’t come as a surprise,” Dr. Diop said. “There has been a crisis for the past six or seven months. We were hoping that there would be a peaceful settlement to dialogue between the opposition and the government, but the community couldn’t bring the parties together through mediation.” The community, a regional economic organization of 15 African states, said it condemned the coup.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Mr. Tandja may have invited his own fate by “trying to extend his mandate in office.” Both the U.S. and Ecowas have expressed our concerns about that, and it may well have been an act on his behalf that precipitated the coup, Mr. Crowley said, adding that the U.S. doesn’t defend the violent takeover. 

The African Union’s top executive, Jean Ping, condemned the coup and said the AU “demands a quick return to constitutional order.”

Mr. Tandja had been in power since 1999, when his election ended a period of coups and rebellions. He was re-elected in 2004 to a second five-year term that was to end in December. But protests arose last year as he moved to extend his grip on power, invoking extraordinary powers to rule by decree after dissolving parliament and the constitutional court, which opposed his plan for a referendum removing term limits.

International efforts to stabilize the situation, with the European Union suspending nonhumanitarian aid, failed to halt the deterioration.

Niger is one of Africa’s poorest countries, with frequent famines, but it has one highly prized export commodity: uranium. Through French state-controlled nuclear-energy company Areva SA, France has a de facto monopoly on Niger’s uranium output. In recent years, however, Niger has tried to open up its uranium-mining industry to other foreign partners, granting mining concessions to companies from China, for example.

Reached by telephone, several government officials said the attack occurred earlier Thursday while Mr. Tandja was presiding over a cabinet meeting with ministers of his administration.

Residents of the capital, Niamey, said after enduring some hours without any local news reports that they knew change had occurred when a military anthem took over the evening radio airwaves. “That’s a sign that the military has taken power,” 43-year-old Abdoulaye Sounaye said by telephone.

France’s foreign ministry posted a note on its Web site recommending that French citizens living in Niger stay home. The ministry also urged travelers to avoid Niger even for transit, “because of events under way in Niamey.”

Niamey resident Mohammad Karimoune said he heard gunshots Thursday afternoon. Markets closed and offices were shuttered amid a disruption lasting more than an hour, he said by telephone, adding that he continued to hear shots into the late afternoon.

Airline accidents decline last year

www.montrealgazette.com/By FRANCOIS SHALOM, The Gazette/February 19, 2010

Africa is worst: Rate down 36% from decade ago

Airlines may be in the doldrums, but one statistic is at least cause for rejoicing: accidents were down globally last year to the second-lowest level in aviation history.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said yesterday the 2009 rate for accidents – defined as serious enough to write off the aircraft – was 0.71. This means that for every million flights, the accident rate was 0.71, or one accident per 1.4 million flights worldwide.

“This is a significant improvement of the 0.81 rate recorded in 2008 (one accident for 1.2 million flights),” IATA said. “The 2009 rate was the second-lowest in aviation history, just above the 2006 rate of 0.65. Compared with 10 years ago, the accident rate has been cut 36 per cent from the rate recorded in 2000.”

Steve Lott, spokesperson for IATA North America, said from Washington, D.C., the figures take into account Western-built jets, which account for the vast majority of flights outside of Russia and China.

In those two countries, a fleet of Ilyushin, Tupolev and other non-Western passenger planes still fly many routes. The rate for Eastern-built planes – including turboprops – is significantly higher, although it also dropped last year to 10.08 from 12.11 in 2008.

Lott cautioned that flights on Eastern-built planes account for only 2.2 per cent of the world’s total flights, “so their rate goes up rapidly when there is an accident.”

Not all accidents involve fatalities, he noted. For example, a British Airways Boeing 777 crashed on landing at London Heathrow in 2008, but was close enough to the ground that despite the plane being a total loss, no one died.

Also yesterday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board released the NTSB’s “most wanted list” of six needed improvements to make the aviation industry safer in the U.S. – especially runway incursions.

The other five recommendations are reducing dangers caused by icing conditions, installing crash-proof cameras in cockpits to provide “investigators more information to solve complex accidents,” reducing pilot and crew fatigue, improving crew management (including their schedules) and improving safety for medical evacuation flights.

NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway said from Washington the board met all day yesterday to determine whether to add to the most-wanted list.

Les Dorr, a spokesperson for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, said the NTSB agrees with its actions “88 per cent of the time.”

The highly controversial issue of the FAA’s role was settled in 1996, said Dorr, when the FAA dropped the mission statement sentence that said one of its roles was to promote the airline industry. Critics said that conflicted with its role as regulator.

Lott said 2009 improvements were uneven. Latin America, north Asia, the Caribbean and eastern European countries suffered “zero … losses.”

North America and Europe, which account for nearly 60 per cent of the world’s flights, did much better than the 0.71 average, with a 0.41 in North America and 0.45 in Europe.

Africa was the worst by far, more than 12 times the world average with a rate of 9.94 accidents per million flights. African carriers account for two per cent of flights, but 26 per cent of 2009 aircraft losses.

Runway incursions accounted for 26 per cent of all accidents worldwide last year.

Lott said the perfect score for Latin America and other regions can be attributed to large investments in infrastructure.

By contrast, “many parts of Africa don’t have radar coverage, so it’s up to pilots to self-announce” to ground control whenever they can.

fshalom@thegazette.canwest.com

Rand Weakens as Fed Discount-Rate Increase Damps Carry Trade
February 19, 2010/By Garth Theunissen/Bloomberg

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — The rand weakened after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled the end of monetary-policy easing, increasing speculation borrowing costs will rise and narrowing the interest-rate advantage of emerging-market assets.

The rand appreciated 1 percent to 7.6875 per dollar at 9:40 a.m. in Johannesburg from a close of 7.6120 yesterday. The move pared its weekly advance to 0.1 percent.

The Federal Reserve raised its discount rate for the first time in three years, boosting the dollar and reducing investor appetite for alternative assets such as the rand. The Fed raised the rate it charges banks for direct loans by a quarter point to 0.75 percent.

“There’s a knee-jerk reaction in markets because the rise in the discount rate probably brings forward the expected date of a rise in the fed funds rate,” said Ian Cruickshanks, head of research at Nedbank Treasury in Johannesburg. “If U.S. rates begin to rise from their rock-bottom levels it reduces the incentive to take dollars and place them in emerging markets. The carry trade will come under pressure.”

South Africa’s currency rallied 28 percent last year as near-zero rates in the U.S. boosted the rand’s appeal in so- called carry trades, whereby investors borrow money in currencies of countries with low interest rates to invest in markets with higher returns. South Africa’s benchmark interest rate of 7 percent compares with the 0.25 federal funds rate for overnight borrowing between banks.

Gold and platinum slumped as a stronger dollar reduced the appeal of the precious metals as a store of value. Gold and platinum account for about 22 percent of South Africa’s export earnings according to the Johannesburg-based Chamber of Mines.

Government bonds fell, pushing up the yield on the benchmark 13.5 percent security due September 2015 by 4 basis points to 8.32 percent. The bond’s price retreated 16 cents to 122.75 rand.

–Editors: John Kohut, Vernon Wessels.

Corporate Watch
19022010/online.wsj.com
Record Prices Help 
Miner Post Profit
Barrick Gold Corp. reported strong quarterly results as the gold producer benefited from record gold prices. The miner also said it will create a new company that will hold its African operations and that it will buy a controlling interest in a Chilean gold mine from Kinross Gold Corp. 

Barrick’s realized gold price in the fourth quarter was $1,119 an ounce, from $809 a year earlier. 

The company earned $215 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $468 million. Excluding items, it booked a record adjusted profit of $604 million, from $277 million a year earlier. Sales rose to $2.36 billion from $2.09 billion.

Meanwhile, Barrick said it plans to create African Barrick Gold, a new company that will hold its African operations, which include four mines in Tanzania that produced 210,000 ounces of gold in the latest quarter. The new company will offer about 25% of its equity in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange and Barrick will retain the remaining interest. 

Barrick also said it will buy a 25% stake in the Cerro Casale gold mine in Chile for $475 million from its partner in the project, Kinross Gold. The purchase will give Barrick a controlling stake of 75%. 

—Edward Welsch 
Ninety Sales Jobs Are Cut, 
Other Layoffs Planned
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s U.S. division cut about 90 jobs in its sales division Thursday, including several vice presidents, and plans about 350 other layoffs in the coming months as part of a restructuring, people familiar with the matter said.

The world’s largest beer maker by sales intends to save about $90 million annually through job reductions linked to the reorganization of its sales and marketing departments and company-owned distributorships, said one of the people familiar with Anheuser’s plans.

The maker of Beck’s and Bud Light, based in Leuven, Belgium, said Tuesday that it would restructure its U.S. operations, which are based in St. Louis, but declined to reveal how many jobs it would cut.

Jim Brickey, vice president for people at the company’s U.S. division, said in a statement Thursday that Anheuser had eliminated “a small number of salaried sales employees in St. Louis and other locations.” A company spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on specific numbers of layoffs.

The jobs eliminated Thursday included those of several vice presidents who work closely with large retail customers in the grocery and convenience-store segments, according to one of the people familiar with the restructuring.

—David Kesmodel 
Asthma Drugs to Get 
New ‘Safety Controls’
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it plans to implement new “safety controls” for a class of long-acting asthma drugs, largely by adding tougher warnings about the proper use of the drugs to the product labels. 

The changes affect GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Advair and Serevent, Novartis AG’s Foradil, which is marketed in the U.S. by Merck & Co. and AstraZeneca PLC’s Symbicort. The FDA said the drugs should only be used for the shortest time possible “to achieve control of asthma symptoms and discontinued, if possible, once asthma control is achieved.” Patients should then be maintained on another asthma controller medication, the FDA said. 

The drugs, known as long-acting beta-agonists, or LABAs, are designed to prevent the tightening of muscles around the airway. 

The drugs have been the subject of a continuing FDA safety review for several years, and the drugs’ labels already warn they could “increase the risk of asthma-related death.” 

The FDA said it would require new wording on the drug labels that states that single-agent LABAs should only be used in combination with an asthma controller medication, and that LABAs shouldn’t be used alone. 

About 22 million Americans, including about 6.5 million children, have asthma, a chronic condition marked by narrowing of the airways. 

—Jennifer Corbett Dooren 
Company to Drop Zinc 
From Its Denture Cream
GlaxoSmithKline PLC said it will voluntarily stop making and supplying denture-adhesive products that contain zinc, which it said had been associated with health problems if used excessively over a long period. 

Glaxo’s Super PoliGrip Original, Ultra Fresh and Extra Care products contain zinc. The company plans to reformulate those denture adhesives without zinc.

The Food and Drug Administration didn’t immediately comment on Glaxo’s action. 

A Glaxo spokeswoman said the company isn’t recalling any of its zinc-containing dental adhesives from shelves because “the product is safe to use if taken as directed on the instructions.” 

The drug giant has been producing its ‘poligrip’ products since 1996 and until last year it had received around 400 reports of nonspecific neurological symptoms associated with use of the products. The company said this is out of a total of 8.5 million users world-wide.

In 2009 there were a number of adverse incidents reported in the U.S., which has triggered a number of lawsuits. 

A company spokeswoman said Glaxo was defending the litigation but declined to comment further. 

—Marietta Cauchi 
and Alicia Mundy 
Tire Maker Trims Loss 
On Solid Sales Growth
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reported a fourth-quarter profit and incurred a smaller loss than expected at its North America division thanks in part to higher volume and a price increase in December. 

The tire maker’s North America division posted a loss of $27 million for the quarter, compared to the company’s October forecast for a loss of at least $73 million. 

Earnings in the quarter were $107 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $330 million. Revenue rose 7% to $4.4 billion. Excluding items, the company earned 14 cents a share. 

The North America unit’s sales fell 3% as auto maker and truck orders declined. The unit benefited from lower raw-material costs. Sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa unit rose 11%. 

The Latin America division reported a 25% sales increase, while the Asia Pacific division had a 28% sales increase. 

—Jeff Bennett

U.S. approves settlement for black farmers

By Carrie Johnson/Washington Post Staff Writer /Friday, February 19, 2010

The Obama administration announced a $1.25 billion settlement Thursday to resolve charges by thousands of black farmers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs. 

Cabinet officials exhorted Congress to approve the deal by setting aside money for the farmers, who have fought through three administrations to secure a measure of justice. In the starkest cases, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, farmers lost their property after local administrators slow-pedaled loan applications, leaving them unable to plant key crops. 

The agreement is part of a wider effort by Obama and senior officials to dispense with lawsuits stemming from America’s checkered civil rights legacy. In December, the Justice Department led efforts to settle a long-standing case with Native Americans who accuse the federal government of mismanaging royalty payments for natural resources mined on tribal lands. A settlement is awaiting congressional action. 

Vilsack and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. took a personal interest in striking a deal with the black farmers, whose leaders have appeared regularly in the halls of Congress and in the White House. Vilsack predicted that Congress will approve the settlement. 

“I’m going to focus all my time and resources on making that happen,” he told reporters Thursday. “The president is prepared to indicate that it’s a priority not just for his administration but for the country.” 

In a statement, Obama applauded the Cabinet members for “bringing these long-ignored claims of African American farmers to a rightful conclusion.” 

The government paid $1 billion to settle a related case with 16,000 black farmers in 1999, but notification and communication errors led to some farmers being omitted from that settlement.

The agreement announced Thursday would provide cash payments and debt relief to farmers who applied too late to participate in the earlier settlement. Authorities say they are not certain how many farmers might apply this time, but analysts following the dispute say the number could be higher than 70,000. 

Under the terms of the settlement, which also requires the approval of a federal judge, farmers can walk away if Congress does not act by March 31. Officials involved in the agreement, however, said they think they could secure an extension if necessary. 

Farmers can apply through a streamlined process if they wish to submit claims for up to $50,000, or they can complete a more detailed claim that could result in a larger payment. The payout to each farmer would depend on how many people make claims, said Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli. 

John W. Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, which has been lobbying for an agreement, said: “There’s a huge trust factor that has been broken. The $50,000 will not put a farmer who has lost his farm back on his land, but it will help them have some comfort in their final years.” 

Since black farmers first filed the lawsuit, known as the Pigford case, in 1997, Hispanic farmers, women and Native Americans have also sued the government, based on alleged widespread discrimination in awarding agriculture loans and subsidies. Advocates for those farmers are expected to lobby Congress to be included in the new Pigford settlement in the weeks ahead, analysts said. 

The USDA’s relationship with minorities has been fraught for decades. Nearly eight years ago, black farmers took over a regional office in Brownsville, Tenn., to protest the agency’s pace in processing their loan applications. Under the Bush administration, the agriculture secretary appointed a civil rights director, a practice that continues in the Obama era. 

Administration officials said Thursday that the outlines of the settlement had met with bipartisan support, particularly from lawmakers from agricultural districts. But House appropriators, who would be the first to act on the measure, said they needed more time to review the settlement before offering solid predictions as to its fate. 

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she was encouraged by the settlement, which could provide the most help to farmers in Southern communities. “Over the past 20 years, the number of farms operated by black farmers has declined by nearly 50 percent,” Lee said. “In part, this decrease was caused by a lack of access to loans and other assistance which were provided to other farmers.” 

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), also a member of the caucus, said: “This settlement is a case where justice delayed will no longer be justice denied. . . . History has taught us to never give up when fighting for what is right. What happened to these black farmers was wrong, and we now have the opportunity to make it right.” 

Staff writers Krissah Thompson and Ben Pershing contributed to this report.

Redefining Americana
On the road and drawing big crowds, a mosaic of celebratory and unsettling images from Black history stimulates a unique perspective on the story of a people.

By LEILONI DE GRUY, Staff Writer/www.wavenewspapers.com/ Feb 19, 2010 

Walking through the “America I Am: The African-American Imprint” exhibit at the California Science Center can be a mentally and physically exhausting experience. 

Taking into account how slaves were captured, tortured and overworked — then later freed, only to be segregated, discriminated against, ridiculed and lynched — can do a number on the psyche. However, toward its end, the exhibit inspires feelings of hope in the telling of stories about civil rights leaders and others who helped guide the African-American experience into a new era.

Asking them to share reactions to some of the more haunting displays, The Wave recently arranged to accompany two groups of guests — first a group of schoolchildren, then three adults — on their journey through the winding path of the exhibit, as they took in more than 200 artifacts and visuals on display. All told, they cover 400 years of African and Black American history in politics, religion, economics, sports, academia and entertainment.

Of all displays on the approximately 90-minute tour, none seemed to have a bigger impact on visitors than a set of authentic Cape Coast doors — also referred to as “the doors of no return.” It is said that once slaves passed through them, all hope of ever returning home was lost. Also featured in this section of the exhibit: a re-created slave ship, coffle chains and shackles, bills of sale for a woman and child, a cotton gin, branding irons used to track slaves, a replica whip and plantation horn, and an authentic Ku Klux Klan robe and hood. 

“These images right here are how they would steal the African people from Africa, make them walk for miles and miles to the coast with chains linking them from neck to neck and ankle to ankle,” said Tamika Lamison, a program manager with the California African American Museum. “Then they would put them on a boat and take them on a journey called the Middle Passage, where they would sell them into slavery.”

She was speaking to third-graders on the tour, who had a difficult time wrapping their minds around these tragic events of history. Asked by a child how generic items like cowry shells could be traded for people, as hard as it was to answer, Lamison replied: “They didn’t look at Africans like people — they looked at them like property.”

Approaching the Cape Coast doors, visitors were asked to imagine the trials endured by Africans who awaited the arrival of slave ships. “Imagine that when you pass over this silver line, you have to leave your home forever,” said Kapri, a docent who did not wish to disclose her last name. “This is what happened in history. When we pass over this line we are going to go through the doors. When the doors open all you see is water and a boat waiting for you. Then you are put in chains that link you and other slaves neck to neck and ankle to ankle.”

It was an opening for what everyone would see next. The hallway containing the doors is dark, but straight ahead, a glimmer of light shines on the rusted shackles and chains used to imprison untold generations of Black people. “Can you imagine being held in a dark, dirty room made of stone? Imagine if you couldn’t get out, you couldn’t go to a bathroom,” added Kapri. “If you went to the bathroom, it was just there. If someone had to throw up, it was just there. If someone got sick, it didn’t matter.” 

For visitor Deborah Edwards. the idea alone was enough. “I can’t even imagine,” she said. “Just the thought of what they went through I feel …” 

Her thoughts trailed off.

Another section of the exhibit covers the history of disrespectful, stereotypical images of Black people — which were used to both dehumanize Blacks and sell products to Whites. “Stereotypes were used to sell merchandise,” said docent Ciara Seaman, pointing to an ashtray molded in the form a Black baby sitting on a toilet with its mouth open. “They would always portray us as dark with big, red lips, bulging eyes, big butts. They would make us look awful. … If you see here — above — it says ‘Colored Women,’ ‘White Ladies.’ Any time they could make a disrespectful subtlety, they would.”

Added: docent T. Bankole: “They made them appear to be less than human by creating characters. Any time you are trying to destroy a race, first thing you do is destroy their history, then you destroy their culture. Especially if you’re trying to keep someone in bondage because its all about power and identity. They created literature and propaganda that reinforced their logic that we were not human beings.”

Gladys Clark, who grew up in Oklahoma during the 1950s, looked at this — and other so-called “coon” images — with a vacant stare. She then turned to a reporter and reflected on her own struggles with racism. “When I look at a lot of this stuff I know a lot about it because they taught a lot of culture at my school and I saw a lot of these things,” she said. “It leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings. It’s overwhelming to a certain extent to know what our people went through and how we’ve come so far. Some of the racist things I see here, I was actually exposed to it.”

Coming up during segregation, Clark said she saw firsthand how Blacks were painted in a negative light in advertisements. She even witnessed her own mother going through the back door of markets to pick up groceries, as Whites breezed through the front. 

“I used to look at my brown skin and say, ‘I don’t want to be this color. Why was I born this color?’” she said. “That’s the way they made you feel. We were suppressed by racism.”

CANADA :

Barrick set for 25% gold stake offering
By Matthew Kennard /www.ft.com/Published: February 19 2010

A new miner is set to enter the FTSE 100 with the London flotation of a collection of African gold mines by Barrick Gold of Canada, the world’s largest producer of the precious metal.

Barrick plans to sell off a 25 per cent stake in the new vehicle, African Barrick Gold, to institutional investors in the initial public offering.

ABG’s assets comprise four mines in north-west Tanzania, representing 9.6 per cent of total gold production of Barrick, which has market capitalisation of about $37bn (£23.7bn).

Richard Morgan, analyst at Mirabaud, said ABG could be worth about $6bn if it traded on the same per ounce valuation for its resources as Rangold Resources, the FTSE 100 African gold miner.

In 2009, ABG made earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $249.5m on revenues of $693.4m. It is expected to be listed with no debt and cash of $280m.

Barrick has been operating in Tanzania for a decade and the assets produced 716,000 ounces in 2009, which would make it the largest UK-listed gold producer at flotation and the fourth largest working in Africa. But ABG hopes to raise annual production to 1m ounces within four years.

Greg Hawkins, the new chief executive of ABG, said Barrick had been looking at how to develop its African assets and maximise their value.

“With the African assets sometimes it’s been difficult to grow because there are so many other huge Barrick projects around the world and Africa is often a bit smaller and hard to get on the radar,” he said.

Barrick’s primary listing is on the Toronto Stock Exchange but the AGB offering was seeking to tap London-based investors seen as more favourable toward African assets.

“Our understanding is that Africa is more attractive for the investor base in Europe and London,” said Mr Hawkins. “There’s a variety of reasons for this: London’s neatly in the time zone, there’s the history.”

In 2008, Industrias Penoles SAB, a Mexican mining company, spun off its silver assets into a new London-listed FTSE 100 vehicle, Fresnillo, which has since seen its share price jump sharply since the start of 2009.

Although miners make up 14.7 per cent of the value of the FTSE 100, there were few large London-listed gold producers in which to invest.

Joe Lunn, analyst at FinCapp, said: “It is a marketing thing, London is starved of large-cap gold miners. Randgold Resources is the only mid- to large-cap producer in London and as such commands a significant premium. In spinning off its African assets, Barrick will be hoping this new company commands a similar premium.”

Some analysts said the African spin-off may be an attempt by Barrick to reduce portfolio risk. ABG said it was also considering a secondary listing on the Tanzanian Stock Exchange

1,700 kg of hashish seized in Montreal
February 19, 2010/CBC News 

The Canada Border Services Agency said Thursday it has seized more than 1,700 kilograms of hashish in the Port of Montreal.

Officers discovered the drugs in a shipping container from South Africa on Jan. 27 but kept the information quiet for two weeks so the news wouldn’t interfere with police work, agency spokesman Dominique McNeely said.

The drugs have a street value of about $36 million, McNeely told CBC News.

“According to our customs shipping information, the container arrived from South Africa and the drugs were concealed in the false bottom of wooden crates and the crates contained statues and masks,” he said.

The drugs were portioned off into 864 packets, and found in 18 of the 19 inspected crates, McNeely said.

The container in question had been examined by border officers in late July but returned to South Africa because the wood packaging didn’t meet Canada’s plant health requirements, the agency said.

McNeely said the hashish has since been turned over to the RCMP. 

Africa: Nearly 100 Nations to Reduce Emissions Under Copenhagen Accord
19 February 2010/America.gov (Washington, DC) /allafrica.com/Cheryl Pellerin

Nearly 100 countries have signed on to the Copenhagen Accord, a nonbinding agreement crafted in the final hours of the U.N. climate change conference in December 2009, meeting the first official deadline of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat.

The UNFCCC is the international agreement ratified by 193 countries to control emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) that drive climate change.

The Copenhagen Accord is a 12-paragraph document (PDF, 182 KB) developed by leaders of 25 major greenhouse-gas-emitting nations, including the United States, covering the actions needed by industrialized and developing countries to avoid the worst effects of global climate change.

The accord seeks to limit global temperature rise by pushing developed countries to make deep but unspecified cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and by setting global and national emissions peaks “as soon as possible,” with a longer deadline for developing countries.

By January 31, countries that wish to be associated with the accord were to notify the UNFCCC secretariat of their support. To date, Todd Stern, the State Department’s special envoy for climate change, said at a February 16 briefing in Washington, “slightly less than 100 countries have indicated they want to be part of the accord” but others may still sign on.

Many of the major developed and developing countries have associated themselves with the accord, including the United States, Australia, Canada, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and the European Union and its member states. The nations submitted proposed actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their countries.

The submissions were made in response to Paragraph 4 of the accord, which called on industrialized nations (referred to as Annex I parties) to submit a list of economy-wide emissions targets for 2020 and beyond. Paragraph 5 called on non-Annex I parties to submit proposed actions for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions for the same time period.

THE WORK AHEAD

In other progress on the accord, a new high-level advisory panel on climate change financing has been created. It will be co-chaired by U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

“The advisory group will develop practical proposals to significantly scale up both short-term and long-term financing for mitigation and adaptation strategies in developing countries,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki moon said in a February 12 press conference with Brown and Meles. “In particular, it will look at how to jump-start the mobilization of new and innovative resources to reach $100 billion annually by 2020. Funding would include both public and private sources.”

Funds will support adaptation, mitigation, technology development and transfer, and capacity building in developing countries, with priority for the most vulnerable. Panel members will include a balance of representatives from developed and developing countries.

Ban expects the group to present initial findings during the UNFCCC parties’ May 31-June 11 negotiating session in Bonn, Germany, and final recommendations before the 16th conference of the UNFCCC parties (COP-16), to be held November 29-December 10 in Mexico City.

“There are probably four or five elements of the accord that need further work,” Stern said, “and those things need to be carried forward.” These include:

• Climate fund: A Copenhagen Green Climate Fund will be established to support activities in developing countries related to climate change mitigation. The new advisory panel will study potential sources of revenue for the fund.

• Technology mechanism: A mechanism will be established to enhance ways to develop and transfer technology to support country-specific adaptation and mitigation efforts.

• Transparency: The actions of developed and developing countries will be subject to international measurement, reporting and verification in accordance with guidelines adopted by the conference of the parties. The guidelines have yet to be established.

“Whatever the ups and downs of this process at any particular moment, there is only one direction that this process can go, which is in the direction of action to reduce emissions,” Stern said. “I very much hope we get there sooner rather than later, and we will be doing everything we possibly can to advance that goal.”

Black History Month celebration strengthens our ties

Feb 19, 2010/newsdurhamregion.com

Ajax groups, citizens and Town government are pulling out all the stops next week to celebrate Black History Month.

This year’s edition is still a celebratory event, though tinged with a measure of sadness as the consul general of Haiti is scheduled to take part locally to acknowledge the contributions of black culture to Canada’s mosaic.

But it’s not just about members of the black community celebrating themselves. It’s an opportunity to strengthen Canada’s cultural ties, to acknowledge that we are greater than the sum of our parts, and to learn more about the history of the black community.

It is also the recognition of a history that is worth celebrating, of a community of people that has contributed so many ways in the past and often in extremely difficult social circumstances. It is about dignity and extending a hand of friendship and learning more about ourselves.

Esther Forde, the curator at Cultural Expressions Art Gallery in Ajax, is excited about the upcoming celebration and spotlight on local events and achievements, along with the visitation of foreign dignitaries from Haiti, Jamaica and Barbados. But her perspective on the Ajax Black History Month celebration is one of inclusiveness, a view that we should all embrace.

As Ms. Forde noted this week: “What’s the point of celebrating Black History Month with only the black community?”

Indeed. 

The larger community in Ajax, every multicultural corner of it, should take that simple question to heart and make a point of taking part in the celebration, in whatever small way possible. By doing so, you create opportunities to strengthen existing bonds of friendship and foster new ones. Share your own history while learning that of the black community here at home and in a wider context.

The better we know our neighbours, the more we share a common view, the deeper our knowledge and respect for one another, the stronger we become.

Congratulations are due to the organizers of the local celebration, as well as the Town of Ajax and its citizens for creating an atmosphere that facilitates greater learning and tolerance. This is an exciting annual celebration that opens doors, plants the seeds of knowledge, recognizes the importance of embracing our differences and brings us all closer together.

It’s Black History Month. Celebrate it. Take it in. Enjoy it. Learn from it.

Coup leaders suspend Niger’s constitution
Soldier oust President in bloody attack, promise ‘democracy and good governance’

GEOFFREY YORK/From Friday’s Globe and Mail / Friday, Feb. 19, 2010

JOHANNESBURG — 

.Mutinous soldiers have seized power in Niger after capturing the President and cabinet in a violent coup, spiriting them away to an unknown location in the aftermath of a gun battle that killed at least three people.

A spokesman for the coup plotters, wearing a military uniform and surrounded by soldiers, went on national television last night to declare that Niger’s constitution had been suspended and a group calling itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy had taken power.

Asking Niger’s people to stay calm, the spokesman said the coup was a “patriotic action” to “save Niger and its population from poverty, deception and corruption.” He said the coup leaders wanted to “turn Niger into an example of democracy and good governance.”

The plotters seemed in command of the West African country last night, with tanks rumbling through the streets and troops surrounding the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey. State radio was playing military music, as it did in previous military coups in the 1990s.

One report, quoting a military source, said the coup was led by an army officer, Major Adamou Harouna. Some reports said President Mamadou Tandja and his cabinet were being held at an army barracks on the outskirts of the capital.

Mr. Tandja sparked international condemnation last year by dissolving parliament and extending his own rule beyond the constitutional limit of two terms in office.

He held a widely criticized referendum that abolished many of the limits on his power. When the constitutional court ruled that the referendum was illegal, Mr. Tandja simply abolished the court and appointed his own supporters to it. International sanctions were imposed and the country was left isolated.

While its people are impoverished, Niger is mineral-rich. It is one of the world’s biggest uranium producers, and many Canadian gold and uranium mining companies are active there. Canada is believed to be the second-biggest foreign investor, behind France.

The country has been politically unstable for decades, plagued by coups and rebellions, including three coups between 1974 and 1999. Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay were kidnapped by Islamic militants in Niger in 2008 while on a United Nations mission to try to resolve the conflict between Mr. Tandja’s government and rebel forces in the uranium-rich north of the country.

The military coup in Niger is the latest blow to efforts of African leaders to strengthen democracy across the continent. Coups have erupted across Africa in recent years, from Guinea and Mauritania to Madagascar and now Niger. While civilian rule is apparently being restored in Mauritania and Guinea, other regimes in countries such as Ivory Coast and Madagascar have continued to postpone elections that were demanded by the international community.

The 15-nation West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, was quick to denounce the military coup in Niger. Its chairman, Nigerian acting president Goodluck Jonathan, said the organization “condemns once again all acts of ascension to power and remaining in power by unconstitutional means.”

The drama began at about midday yesterday in Niamey, where Mr. Tandja was holding a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace. Soldiers in armoured vehicles attacked the building, heavy gunfire and loud explosions were heard for more than an hour and plumes of smoke were seen rising from the palace. Tanks were seen firing, and several injured soldiers were carried to hospital, while civil servants ducked for cover or locked themselves in their offices. Soon the streets were deserted, with shops closing early.

In their television statement last night, the coup leaders announced that a curfew was in effect and the borders were closed. Two planes were diverted from landing in Niamey, including an Air France passenger jet and the private plane of the Senegalese Foreign Minister, who had been dispatched to Niger to try to resolve the crisis.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the coup was partly a response to Mr. Tandja’s attempt to keep power. He implied that Mr. Tandja might have only himself to blame.

“President Tandja has been trying to extend his mandate in office,” Mr. Crowley said. “And obviously, that may well have been, you know, an act on his behalf that precipitated this act today.”

He said the United States does not support the coup, but he added, “Clearly, we think this underscores that Niger needs to move ahead with the elections and the formation of a new government.”

AUSTRALIA :

Barrick to spin off African assets

BRENDA BOUW/VANCOUVER — From Friday’s Globe and Mail /Source: Company reports/ Published on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 

.MINING REPORTER

Barrick Gold Corp. is hiving off its African assets into a separate public company – a move it says will help them grow outside the shadow of its larger operations.

The decision also means Barrick can separate those higher-cost African mines, which have been a headache at times, from its books.

“We are really creating a better way with which to pursue opportunities in Africa, to get the value that we are creating better recognized because Africa is a relatively small part of Barrick,” chief executive officer Aaron Regent said in an interview yesterday.

“For us, it’s all about how we facilitate and accelerate the growth potential of all of our regions, and this is one way we can achieve that.”

He said the model is not something Barrick is planning for its other operations in North and South America or the Australia-Pacific region.

The new company, African Barrick Gold, will trade on the London Stock Exchange and eventually the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania.

Barrick will own 75 per cent of the new company, and float the rest in an initial public offering expected to take place in March.

“We think it’s a unique business environment, so we are establishing a structure which I think is really customized to the continent and customized to the opportunities that are out there, and that’s why we went this route,” Mr. Regent said.

About 10 per cent of Barrick’s production comes from its African operations, which include four producing mines, Bulyanhulu, North Mara, Tulawaka and Buzwagi.

Their combined production in 2010 is expected to be 800,000 to 850,000 ounces, with total reserves at 16.8 million ounces.

“The spinout of the African assets is a very interesting step,” Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Heather Douglas said in a note to clients.

“The valuation that the company will be able to achieve for the spinoff may be impacted by recent negative security issues at North Mara, but the move will free up management time to focus on growth opportunities in South America.”

TD Newcrest analyst Greg Barnes said the new company is a sign Barrick is focusing on higher-growth, lower-cost regions. “We expect that investors should react positively to the news of the (African Barrick Gold) spinout as the company takes actions to, in effect, shrink to grow from less risky asset base with a lower cost profile,” Mr. Barnes said in a note.

Cash costs at the African mines were highest in the fourth quarter at $617 (U.S) an ounce, compared to $607 in Australia-Pacific, $523 in North America and $253 in South America.

Some analysts speculated the move could eventually lead Barrick to sell off the African division, which the company denied. “We are not looking at all to exit,” said spokesman Vince Borg, saying Barrick believes it can extract value from it, especially as a separate company.

BARRICK GOLD (ABX)

Close: $40.94, up $1.29

***

At a glance

Barrick capitalized on higher gold and copper prices in the fourth quarter. Here’s a look at its production and prices for the October-December period, compared with a year earlier.

Gold production: 1,898

million ounces, down from 2,112 million ounces.

Avg. realized gold price: $1,119 (U.S.) an ounce, up from $809 an ounce.

Copper production: 98 million pounds, down from 109 million pounds.

Average realized copper price: $3.44 per pound, up from $3.06 per pound.

Associated Press and staff 

***

Barrick

Q3…………………….2009………………..2008

Profit………..$215-million…..($468-million)

EPS………………22 cents…………..(54 cents)

Revenue………$2.4-billion……….$2.1-billion

All figures in U.S. dollars

Terror threat to Jaipur ODI, security beefed up

Indo-Asian News Service/ www.hindustantimes.com/ February 19, 2010

Jaipur,
Police have confirmed a terror threat to the first one-day international cricket match between India and South Africa in Jaipur scheduled this Sunday.

B.L. Soni, inspector general of Rajasthan police, said his force had intelligence inputs of the threat.

“We have terror inputs of the threat and beefed up security at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (the match venue),” he said.

Intelligence agencies had earlier warned about terror strikes during various sporting events to be held in the country this year including the Hockey World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.

However, Home Minister P Chidambaram has assured all the visiting countries of foolproof security for the upcoming sporting events.

Boost for England’s 2018 World Cup bid as FIFA want European host
19/02/10/ By Martin Lipton /www.mirrorfootball.co.uk
England’s hopes of landing the 2018 World Cup received a major boost last night as it emerged FIFA bosses are arm-twisting to ensure the tournament goes to Europe.

While President Sepp Blatter will not order the non-European bidders to withdraw from the race, the FIFA chief has cut an unofficial deal with UEFA head Michel Platini that will see the other would-be hosts choosing to battle for the 2022 tournament.

Should the USA, Australia and Japan stay in the race – South Korea, Indonesia and Qatar are only bidding for 2022 – they will find themselves frozen out and not given any backing by the FIFA High Command, damaging their chances of being serious contenders for the second tournament.

It effectively leaves England in a three-horse race with Russia and the joint bid from Spain and Portugal – the proposal from Holland and Belgium is a rank outsider – when the votes are cast by the 24 members of FIFA’s executive committee in December.

And with the guarantee of a European winner set in stone, it means securing the lion’s share of UEFA’s eight votes will be less important than building a broad coalition including Africa, Asia and the CONCACAF region.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke hinted at the deal as he explained: “There will be no decision and we will not ask that the 2018 World Cup should be in Europe or for the bidding rules to be changed.

“But up to the day before the vote, it could become the case that only the European bidders are asking to host 2018 and the non-European ones for 2022.”

With expensive tournaments in South Africa this summer and Brazil in 2014, FIFA need a safe financial cash cow for 2018 and Blatter also suggested he had reached agreement with Platini, adding: “The problems that could have been in the air between FIFA and UEFA no longer exist.

“We are working hand in hand to deal with the problems of football. Europe has the best players, the biggest clubs and of course the media.

“Football has an impact on society but it also has a very important economic impact.”

England’s bid team, headed by chief executive Andy Anson and FA chairman Lord Triesman, have worked hard on building relationships with the non-European voters. African has four votes, Asia four and CONCACAF – North and Central America and the Caribbean – three and can now start to trade support blocks.

Blatter also promised that the introduction of goalline technology was back on the FIFA agenda, although he has ruled out the use of video replays and will not introduce any new system ahead of the World Cup this summer.

The Internatio
nal FA Board – of which England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland represent half the eight members – will see presentations of both the Kairos system, which will see a chip inserted in the ball, and the Hawkeye system used in tennis and cricket.

Blatter added: “It is not a case of me and Michel Platini being stubborn. We need to see a system which is accurate but which must also be immediate.”

The Swiss also confirmed he will stand for re-election for a fourth term as FIFA President next year, after bitter rival Mohammed Bin Hammam, from Qatar, signaled he will challenge Blatter.

“I’m still here and I hope I’m still here in 2011,” said Blatter. “As I’ve said, I’ve not finished my mission. If the Congress allows, I will be at its disposal.”

Valcke announced that ticket prices had been slashed for this summer for South African fans, in a bid to ensure there are no half-empty stadia at the tournament.

The general secretary said 2.1million of the total 2.9m tickets had been sold, guaranteeing FIFA could not lose money, with England’s opener against the USA already a sell-out.

Valcke acknowledged the danger of more tickets ending up on the black market but said: “The black market can be a good thing because it means the event is working and there is a demand for tickets.”

EUROPE :

Tsvangirai in SA for surgery
2010-02-19 /Tangai Chipangura/www.citypress.co.za/- SAPA
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is in South Africa where he is undergoing an undisclosed surgical procedure, his spokesperson James Maridadi has confirmed.

Maridadi told City Press that the Prime Minister had left for South Africa on Tuesday and was expected back to Zimbabwe on Monday.

“It is not a major operation. It just a minor surgical procedure which is not life threatening. I am not able to give you details of the nature of the operation as that would be violating the PM’s privacy. 

“That is something personal which we should all respect. What is important is that the operation is minor and not life threatening,” Maridadi said.

A source within Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, however, said there was speculation the PM was going for a correction of deformities caused by the severe assaults he was subjected to at the height of his battle with President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai was nearly killed during assaults by police officers while in detention at Highfields police station on March 11 2007 when he attempted to address a prayer meeting which Mugabe had banned.

When he was finally released, after several days without treatment, his head and face were swollen and bleeding. 

He had scars all over the body and sjamboks and baton scars were easily discernible in images of him that were electronically distributed all over the world when he was brought to court.

Ironically, the police officer in charge of the district where Tsvangirai was tortured, Tomsen Todd Jangara was this week removed from the European Union’s sanction list of Mugabe’s inner circle. 

City Press has established that the removal of Jangara from the sanctions list was done through a mistaken belief that the police officer was dead. 

Jangara was promoted from the rank of Chief Superintendent to that of Assistant Commissioner soon after he oversaw the beating of Tsvangirai. 

“It all began with the Financial Gazette which published last month that I was dead. They had mistaken me with Winston Changara (Mugabe’s bodyguard) who died and was declared a national hero. 

“The Gazette, however, wrote that Tomsen Jangara had died, so the EU people took it from there and included me among other dead people that have been removed from sanctions,” said Jangara.

The EU list of the names of people removed from the sanctions contains names of Zanu PF officials such as the late Joseph Msika, the late Zanu PF politburo member Richard Hove and the late army commander Vitalis Zvinavashe who died recently. 

Tomsen Jangara’s name appears on the list.

CHINA :

China Unicom Denies African Expansion
Robert Olsen/ www.forbes.com/02.19.10,
The alleged $2.5 billion sale of Nigeria’s telecom company descends into chaos.

When Nigeria announced the sale of its former telecom monopoly to China’s second-largest mobile carrier, it appeared to be yet another example of a Chinese investment in one of the fastest-growing markets in Africa. Now it’s turned into just another example of the inherent difficulties of operating there.

China Unicom ( CHU – news – people )’s office in Hong Kong confirmed Friday that it was not part of the consortium that bid $2.5 billion for Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel).

Conflicting reports surrounding the sale of Nitel began to emerge shortly after the Bureau of Public Enterprises announced on Tuesday that New Generation Telecom had been selected as the preferred bidder.

The privatization office had said that the winning consortium included China Unicom, Minerva Group of Dubai and local operator GiCell Wireless.

However, China Unicom’s spokesperson Sophia Tso disagreed, stating that the company had not participated in the acquisition–and had no plans to become involved, either.

The Nigerian government had been seeking to sell a 75% stake in the Nitel and its subsidiary M-TEL since June, but now that process appears to be unraveling again. 
Nigeria’s attempts to sell Nitel date back to 2001, when it first ended the telecom’s monopoly. An offer from Egyt’s Orascom in 2005 was deemed too low, and a sale to local conglomerate Transcorp was reversed last year when the government took it back.

The telecom’s deteriorating infrastructure has seen its value drop to just $400 to 500 million, which is why Tuesday’s announcement of a $2.5 billion bid came as a surprise to some observers.

On Monday, India’s Bharti Airtel, controlled by tycoon Sunil Mittal, announced that it had started exclusive discussions with Kuwait’s Zain Group to acquire its African unit in a $10.7 billion deal. (See: “Indian Billionaire Nears African Expansion.”) The proposed agreement covers 15 of the 17 African countries in which Zain operates, which would win the firm 42 million new subscribers. (See Bharti Airtel’s profile on Forbes’ list of Asia’s Fab 50 companies.)

China Unicom has yet to set up any ventures outside of its home market. Its larger rival China Mobile ( CHL – news – people ) ventued into Pakistan when it acquired a majority stake of Paktel in 2007.

China Unicom has a three-year deal with Apple ( AAPL – news – people ) to market the Chinese version of the iPhone.

Officials say 47 countries trying to block attacks, pirates far less successful off Somalia

By Associated Press/February 19, 2010 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says that the United States and 46 other countries have made a significant dent in the percentage of successful pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa.

Although the number of pirate attacks is on the rise, fewer of those attacks are successful.

The State Department reported Thursday that pirate attacks jumped from 19 in 2007 to 122 in 2008. There were 198 attacks last year, but just 50 ships were actually seized last year — about 25 percent of those attacked. That compares to 12 successes or about 60 percent in 2007.

The department said Somali pirates now hold seven major vessels and about 160 crew members hostage.

Each year, approximately 33,000 commercial ships traverse the Gulf of Aden, making it among the world’s busiest shipping corridors.

PPR full year net profit increases
The Associated Press/ February 19, 2010
PARIS 

Retail-to-luxury group PPR SA is reporting an increase in 2009 profits and says it is launching an “energetic sales offensive” to boost revenues in high growth markets such as China and e-commerce.

PPR, owner of the Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci brands, said Thursday net profit rose 6.9 percent to euro984.6 million.

The group did not break out quarterly profit figures.

Revenue fell 4 percent to euro16.52 billion.

Sales improved in the fourth quarter, particularly at Gucci group, PPR said.

U.S., Japan Equity Funds Attract Inflows on Recovery (Update1)
February 19, 2010/By Lilian Karunungan and Reinie Booysen/Bloomberg

(Adds U.S., Japan funds in second paragraph.)

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — Investors pumped money into U.S., Japan and some emerging-market equity funds as economic data added to evidence of a recovery in the world’s largest economy, EPFR Global said.

Funds invested in U.S. stocks took in $3.14 billion in the week to Feb. 17, the biggest amount since mid-December, while Japan attracted $123 million, an eighth consecutive week of inflows, according to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research firm in an e-mailed release. Investors pulled $303 million from European equities as Greece’s debt crisis escalated.

“There’s a tug of war at the moment between earnings and macroeconomic numbers, which are generally improving, and the growing concern among investors that ballooning sovereign issuance and monetary exit strategies will combine to squeeze corporate and consumer credit,” EPFR Senior Analyst Cameron Brandt wrote.

U.S. stocks advanced this week as better-than-estimated earnings, industrial production and housing data bolstered investor confidence for an economic recovery. Data in the U.S. raised “hopes that the world’s leading consumer will regain its appetite” for exports from developing nations, EPFR said.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 2.9 percent so far this week, headed for its best performance since the period ended Nov. 6.

China Tightening

Investors withdrew $37 billion from money market funds in the week, while those invested in global stocks took in $3.69 billion, the company said. Global emerging-market equity funds posted the first inflow in four weeks, EPFR said, without providing data. Global bonds attracted $3.48 billion.

Data over the past few months showed that overseas shipments out of Taiwan, China, Thailand and the Philippines have started to recover from at least a year-long slump.

Latin American and China equity funds posted outflows in the week after Chinese authorities moved to tighten monetary policy, EPFR said, without providing data. China’s appetite for commodities from Africa, Latin America and Australia may ease, it said.

The People’s Bank of China on Feb. 12 said it will raise banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points effective Feb. 25. It ordered lenders to set aside more deposits as reserves for the second time in a month to curb loan growth and prevent asset bubbles. The current level is 16 percent for big banks and 14 percent for smaller ones.

Funds focused on high-yield bonds posted a second week of outflows as Greece struggled to rein in its budget deficit and governments increased borrowings, EPFR said.

Governments and companies in developing nations from Turkey to Slovenia and Indonesia have raised $72.8 billion from debt sales so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Indonesia sold $2 billion of 10-year bonds on Jan. 13 and the Philippines had sold $1.5 billion of debt the previous week.

–Editors: Shanthy Nambiar, Simon Harvey

INDIA :

Vodafone Cheapest Phones : Customer Smiles So Does Environment

Posted by: Priya M / infocera.com/19/02/2010
Vodafone has surely gone an extra mile to entice the customers by coming out with mobile handsets costing less than Rs. 1,000 in India as they are likely to be priced at $15-$20. Launched in Mobile World Congress 2010 especially targeting the customers in developing countries of Africa and Asia these handsets are loaded with all the common features available in high end mobile sets like sending SMS and making use of mobile banking solutions. 

Therefore Vodafone mobile can help save environment as people can now depend on their handsets for all banking and health queries thereby reducing the dependency on paper which can help save environment. So definitely the Idea ad could finally be implemented using these devices.

Vodafone

150 & Vodafone 250 Prices
Vodafone 150 will be priced at $15 ( approx 725Rs) while slightly higher end version Vodafone 250 that is packed with even a FM radio will be slightly higher priced at $20 (Rs 900).

Vodafone 150, 250 Availability
In first phase these mobile phones will be launched in 2 Asian countries India and Turkey and 6 African nations mainly to provide communication network to isolated villages. The African countries where this phone is likely to be introduced for VAS services include, Kenya, Congo, Mozambique, Qatar, tanzania and South Africa. Though there are many low priced phones in African countries they are unable to perform and provide the desired services.

Vodafone 150 features and specifications
These low cost Vodafone are packed with alarm clock, calculator along with a currency convertor, 100 name phonebook and a memory with good amount of SMS storage. This phone comes with 500mAH battery with a talk time of 5 hours and standby time of more than 400 hours. And that’s not all this phone has mini USB connector, torch and 2 inbuilt games.

Vodafone 250 featuresand specifications
Vodafone costing 5$ more is fitted with much more functionality like FM radio complete with Stereo handset, polyphonic ring tones, 1.45” display with 128×128 megapixels resolution and some great wall papers. The other Vodafone 250 specifications remain same as Vodafone 150

Vodafone is basically targeting the customers in India and Kenya which have a large number of mobile users using mobile banking services. This low cost phone is aimed to improve social lives of the people in these countries as made obvious by Patrick Chomet, Group Director Terminals, Vodafone “The lives of people who use these phones will be changed and improved as they become part of the mobile society“.

BRASIL:

Anglo American profits halve on economic downturn
AFP/19022010

LONDON — Global mining giant Anglo American on Friday said that its net profit more than halved to 1.575 billion pounds in 2009 as last year’s economic downturn slashed the prices of metals.

The London-based company said it would not pay a dividend for a second year running as profit after tax slumped 53.5 percent from 3.388 billion pounds in 2008.

“The impact of the global economic downturn on realised platinum group metals, iron ore, export coal, nickel and diamond prices has been the key driver of the decline in earnings, coupled with falling demand,” Anglo American, the biggest mining company in South Africa, said in a statement.

Anglo American said revenue dropped by a quarter last year to 16 billion pounds.

Group chief executive Cynthia Carroll said “the medium and long term outlook for the mining industry remains strong” as emerging economies such as China ramp up demand for raw materials.

“Demand for commodities is expected to remain robust with the continuing shift in the pattern of economic growth towards fast-growing emerging economies,” Carroll said.

“In order to sustain its growth potential, we anticipate that China will continue to upgrade and develop its infrastructure, while the longer term potential of India and Brazil is expected to provide further support.

“These economies also have the greatest scope for strong consumer spending growth, the principal long term demand driver for platinum group metals and diamonds,” she added.

Amid the severe downturn, Anglo American axed a massive 23,400 jobs, including contractor positions, in 2009 — a year when it also fought off a hostile takeover attempt by Swiss miner Xstrata.

Xstrata approached Anglo American in June with a merger proposal to create one of the world’s biggest miners with a combined market capitalisation of 44.2 billion pounds.

However, Anglo American dismissed the proposal as “totally unacceptable” and Xstrata eventually walked away last October.

The activities of the two companies overlap in many areas. Both own coal assets in Australia and South Africa, and there had been potential for savings across their copper mining operations.

Anglo American meanwhile has a 45-percent stake in De Beers, the world’s largest diamond company, which last week reported an annual net loss.

Fifa admits World Cup ticket prices too high

By Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter in Zurich /www.telegraph.co.uk/19 Feb 2010
Thousands of extra World Cup tickets will be offered to South African residents to ensure all matches are sold out following disappointing sales to overseas supporters, said Fifa on Thursday. 

Acknowledging that Fifa has lost money and that mistakes in the ticketing process and opportunistic pricing by travel operators had deterred many supporters, Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke also promised an overhaul of ticketing before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. 

Ticket sales for the tournament have been far lower than expected, with just 2.1 million of a total 2.9 million tickets sold. Prohibitive travel, accommodation and ticket packages sold through Fifa’s single licensed agency, Match, have deterred many fans. 

Sales of hospitality packages are disappointing, with 60,000 of 308,000 packages still available, including some sky boxes for the final. 

To ensure full stadiums, Valcke said category two and three tickets would now be regraded as category four seats, which can be sold only to South African residents for around $20 (£13). Fifa will suffer a financial loss as a result. 

“We will increase the number of category four tickets because we cannot have a situation where the World Cup is in South Africa and people cannot see matches. But this will bring less income to Fifa, but we have already brought in the income we need to match the organising committee budget, which is $423 million.” 

Valcke criticised opportunist pricing by airlines and travel companies: “I think that we are facing a peak time where companies feel that they can put the highest level of pricing. We want to make sure that fans can afford to travel to South Africa. 

“It is clear that people have decided that because it is the World Cup they ask the highest amount possible to maximise income, but it doesn’t work today. They forget that it is a long distance to travel to South Africa, you need to stay for more than a few days, so they have to make offers that the fans can afford.” 

Valcke said Fifa had been in talks with airlines including Emirates to try to encourage them to put on more routes. He said the credit crunch had impacted on hospitality: “It was the worst period to sell hospitality programmes, and I am sure that it [the credit crunch] has impacted by at least 50 per cent on the potential of selling hospitality.” 

He also acknowledged that Fifa may have made mistakes in the way it had run ticketing and travel arrangements. Fifa granted agency Match exclusive rights to sell travel and ticket packages for the 2010 and 2014 tournaments, but its near-monopoly on hotel rooms has seen supporters asked to pay high prices. Valcke predicted that Match was unlikely to make a profit from South Africa. 

“We have good lessons to learn from 2010 and they will help us in 2014. For the World Cup 2010 we will have to sell the tickets to fans direct, we will think about setting up Fifa ticketing centres around the world.” 

Overall Valcke said he was pleased with progress in South Africa. Fifa has taken control of nine out of 10 stadiums, with only Soccer City yet to be handed over. It is expected to be ready next month, and test events will be held shortly after. 

Comparing the tournament to a car he said: “We have a reliable 4×4 with four wheels and enough petrol to last 40 days, but now we are just adding bits and pieces to make it the most comfortable car, and training the drivers.” 

EN BREF, CE 19 février 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,19/02/2010