{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 14 juin 2010 NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 14 – President Mwai Kibaki was due to chair an urgent security meeting on Monday to discuss Sunday night’s blast in Nairobi which left five people dead and 82 others injured.
BURUNDI :
Nkurunziza only candidate in Burundi presidential elections
By Judith Basutama/www.english.rfi.fr/Monday 14 June 2010
The campaign for Burundi’s presidential poll due on 28 June started Saturday. President Pierre Nkurunziza is the only candidate after opposition leaders decided to boycott the polls. The electoral campaign will end on 25 June.
Nkurunziza kicked off his electoral campaign in his native province of Ngozi in the North of Burundi. Thousands of supporters from Bujumbura capital city and other provinces attended the rally.
Nkurunziza stressed that for the first time in 48 years of Burundi independence, democratically elected institutions have ended their term. To him, it is a mark that peace and security have been restored.
In Bujumbura, however, considered as the opposition stronghold, there is no visible sign of the electoral campaign. Residents preferred to stay indoors or in pubs to watch the world cup.
Nkurunziza is the only candidate for the presidential poll. Six opposition candidates pulled out of the vote in protest over rigging in the local elections held last month.
They are calling for new elections and the dismantling of the national independent electoral commission. Although opposition parties are forbidden from organising rallies, they have vowed to launch a campaign to boycott the vote.
A series of incidents marked the beginning of the electoral campaign. On Saturday, seven people were injured in grenades blasts in Bujumbura. Police spokesman Pierre Channel Ntarabaganyi called them election-related acts of sabotage.
Grenade blasts wound 7 in Burundi: police
Jun 14, 2010 /Reuters
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – Unidentified attackers detonated hand grenades in different areas of Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, wounding seven people, police said on Sunday, at the start of campaigning for a presidential poll later this month.
The attacks happened late on Saturday and mainly targeted hotels and pubs. “It is too early to confirm if the attacks are linked or not to politics,” police spokesman Pierre Channel Ntarabaganyi told reporters.
He said police were investigating reports that the attackers were using motorcycles.
The central African nation holds a presidential election on June 28, but six opposition candidates have withdrawn leaving incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza without a challenger.
The government barred the opposition parties from holding rallies, saying they had pulled out of the presidential poll.
Some 13 opposition parties have rejected the result of last month’s district poll, when the ruling CNDD-FDD won 64 percent of the vote. They have accused Burundi’s National Electoral Commission (CENI) of failing to prevent fraud during the May 24 vote and demanded a rerun.
CENI dismissed the call and said the presidential election would go ahead in spite of the boycott.
The elections are seen as a test of stability for the coffee-producing nation of 8 million people.
Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, is widely expected to win a second term. Burundi has enjoyed relative peace since the Forces for National Liberation, the last Hutu guerrilla group, agreed to lay down weapons and join the government last year.
RWANDA
Cynthia McKinney: Rwanda, release Professor Peter Erlinder
June 14, 2010/www.sfbayview.com
Urgent need for a high profile international campaign to release Professor Peter Erlinder, an eminent voice for international peace who stands uncompromisingly for justice for all
The jailing in Rwanda of attorney Peter Erlinder, who went there to represent Victoire Ingabire, President Kagame’s leading opponent in the August presidential election, has sparked debates about the credibility of the Rwandan government. Here, Cynthia McKinney is writing to fellow associates of the Brussels War Crimes Tribunal in response to a message from Christian Scherrer, who describes himself as a genocide scholar, has investigated genocide in Rwanda and is a professor of peace studies at the Hiroshima Peace Institute of Hiroshima City University in Japan. Scroll down for more appeals to free Erlinder, from the National Lawyers Guild and the Africa Faith and Justice Network and recommendations on how you can help.
by Cynthia McKinney
I am sorry to have to take time away from caring for my father to deal with this, but I will. For reference, I have included the most knowledgeable non-Great Lakes residents on this planet about Mr. Kagame and the Rwandan regime and the case of Mr. Erlinder. I would like to beg your pardon in advance for what I am about to say and how I will say it. However, since Mr. Scherrer started it by calling my name out publicly, I will now set the record straight: Sadly, Christian Scherrer has taken on the sounds of a two-bit shill rather than those of a truth seeker and truth teller.
As for the truth, there are none more knowledgeable on this subject than Charles Onana, Wayne Madsen, Keith Harmon Snow, and lawyers Jordi Palau and Michael Hourigan.
Let me begin with Charles Onana: Charles has written the essential book on the act of terror that resulted in the downing of a plane containing the democratically elected presidents of both Rwanda and Burundi. In that book, Charles named Kagame as the mastermind and organizer on the ground, in conjunction with non-African powers (as is usually the case on The Continent) of the terrorist act that resulted in what has become known as the “Rwandan Genocide.” Kagame sued Charles in French court for defamation and lost the case. I worked closely with Charles during my days in Congress and during the time of his book and the case in France. It was through Charles that I met Victoire (Ingabire), the presidential candidate jailed by Kagame and who was represented by Erlinder.
Wayne Madsen also wrote a book about the U.S. use of proxies in Africa, of which Kagame is the most important now that Jonas Savimbi is dead. Wayne testified for me in Congress on the situation in the Great Lakes and is extremely knowledgeable about the nature of the Kagame regime.
Keith Harmon Snow travels to the region often and testified for me in Congress at the most comprehensive Congressional briefing ever held on Capitol Hill and one that is well known to region watchers. Keith has written extensively on the Kagame regime and its ties to the U.S.
Jodi Palou is a Spanish attorney who secured justice in Spain’s courts by pleading for and getting an indictment for genocide against 40 of Kagame’s soldiers. The case is ongoing and the consideration of corporate complicity in genocide is next. I served as a witness in this case.
Michael Hourigan was a United Nations investigator charged with investigating the Rwandan Genocide. However, when he touched upon Paul Kagame’s role in sparking that very tragic event, he was asked to ignore critical evidence implicating certain “foreign powers” and Paul Kagame, himself. Hourigan resigned instead. He came to work on the issue with me in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill.
Some of us also gave testimony to Judge Bruguiere, who was France’s terrorism judge at the time. Judge Bruguiere’s report traces in exacting detail the chain of possession of the missile used to kill the two African presidents that sparked the “Rwandan Genocide.”
Sadly, Christian has only discredited himself by unnecessarily singling me out in such an unprofessional, unfounded and insolent manner. Peter Erlinder is in need of all assistance the international organization for human rights lawyers can muster. He is in the hands of a murderous, brutal regime.
The message from Christian Scherrer
Please be careful. Rwanda is not a rogue state but a country which has suffered a tremendous genocide and they have been left to be slaughtered by a fascist-communalist government while the international community was watching!
Please get more on what you say in the end, “I need a few more details on his arrest,” before you alert the network into action.
Leave Cynthia out; she is accused (with some reason) to have denied genocide in Rwanda.
In short: As you know, I was there right after the genocide in the first U.N. Human Rights field operation. I have designed Rwanda’s response to genocide 1994-95, discussed it with the first post-genocide government and was supported by all U.N. orgs (organizations) in Rwanda – about seven – except one. Three years later the Rwandans started to implement my three-point proposal for re-establishing justice and accountability. The government did a huge and excellent job.
They will surely listen to me.
My advice for now: Put the international campaign on hold until we know the facts.
If you want me to find out what happened, I can find out.
And tell Cynthia (we love her) to stay out. She surely misinterprets Rwandan-U.S. relations and she knows nothing about Rwanda.
The message from Niloufer Bhagwat, leading constitutional lawyer and vice president of the Indian Association of Lawyers, to which Scherrer is responding
I am back and extremely anxious about Professor Peter Erlinder. It is very important that this (his jailing) be immediately brought to the notice of the highest (officials) at the U.N. Human Rights Council and name the government of Rwanda and its illegal activities.
As you are wholly aware, Professor Peter Erlinder is a highly respected lawyer and professor well known and well thought of within the United States, in Japan and internationally and an eminent former president of the National Lawyers Guild. Even the secretary general of the United Nations (should) be officially informed, as there is a threat to his life and this has arisen because they had sought the assistance of lawyers as volunteers for the pro bono defense of accused persons before the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), which has led to the illegal arrest and detention of Professor Peter Erlinder.
I am aware that they requested for volunteers as I was also requested at the relevant time, but declined as I did not approve of the manner in which the Security Council was arbitrarily appointing these Special Tribunals. The arrest and intimidation of Professor Peter Erlinder and his medical condition further exposes the Security Council Tribunals as kangaroo courts witnessed by the intimidation and death of former President Milosevic to better devour the economic space of former Yugoslavia.
You are aware of the shenanigans of some of the permanent members of the Security Council both in Rwanda and in former Yugoslavia, among other regions, which led to the genocide and civil strife respectively, to camouflage the sordid reality of the interventions (for which) the so called special tribunals were established. Some of the lawyers who were requested to volunteer learned first hand as to what had happened. Peter Erlinder among others was one of them and wrote extensively on the issue; therefore the mistreatment and arrest which has led to the deterioration of his medical condition. We cannot afford to lose Peter Osamu. …
Cynthia McKinney could advise us on who would be the best person to intervene from the United States. I am sure she will advise us and assist in raising the issue in Washington. Her voice, which is respected even among her worst critics, cannot be ignored. …
The prosecutors and defense counsel at the Security Council appointed tribunals should boycott the tribunals and/or lodge a serious protest with the Security Council until Professor Peter Erlinder is released.
The DC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild protests the detention of attorney Peter Erlinder by Rwanda
Washington, D.C. – American law professor and former president of the National Lawyers Guild Peter Erlinder was recently arrested by Rwandan authorities and charged with “genocide negationism,” a speech crime that could carry a sentence of 25 years in prison. He traveled to Rwanda on May 23 to aid in the defense o
f Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, a leading opposition figure and presidential candidate. The DC chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (DC-NLG) strongly condemns this politically motivated prosecution of an attorney for vigorously defending his client and protested outside the Rwandan Embassy Tuesday, June 8.
President Turna Lewis of the DC-NLG said, “Professor Erlinder traveled to Rwanda to provide representation in a legal proceeding. The rule of law requires that defendants be permitted to obtain legal counsel that will advocate for their interests. Any country that prosecutes attorneys for defending their clients cannot claim to respect democracy or human rights.”
The crime that Professor Erlinder has been accused of, “genocide ideology,” requires no proof of participation in genocidal acts and criminalizes speech protected by international human rights law as codified in the Genocide Convention of 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966. According to Human Rights Watch, the Rwandan government regularly uses prosecutions or threats of prosecution under this law to stifle legitimate dissent.
Yesterday, Professor Erlinder was denied bail and was transferred from the jail where he had been held to the general prison in Kigali. He could be held for another month until his appeal is heard.
Professor Erlinder is a professor of law at the William Mitchell College of Law. He is a frequent litigator and consultant, often pro bono, in cases involving the death penalty, civil rights, claims of government and police misconduct and criminal defense of political activists. Erlinder was president of the National Lawyers Guild from 1993-1997. He has been a defense attorney at the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda since 2003.
Remain abreast of latest updates via Free Professor Erlinder Now on Facebook.
This statement was forwarded by Friends of the Congo.
Call for the release of human rights lawyer Peter Erlinder
by the Africa Faith and Justice Network
On May 27, the Rwandan government arrested Professor Peter Erlinder and falsely charged him with genocide ideology. Mr. Erlinder, an international human rights lawyer, traveled to Rwanda to represent his client, Mrs. Victore Ingabire, a presidential candidate also accused of genocide ideology for daring to call on the Rwandan government to remember all victims of the Rwandan war.
Erlinder’s arrest is the latest of Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s actions undermining free speech and rule of law, actions that have become more frequent in the run up to the August 2010 elections. Act now on behalf of free speech and human rights: Call for Erlinder’s release!
AFJN has long been concerned about the political climate in Rwanda and Kagame’s heavy-handed leadership. Our members have helped to sound the alarm on political repressions and violence in the run-up to the August 2010 elections, including the expulsion of a Human Rights Watch worker, the closure of independent newspapers and the harassment of opposition candidates like Ingabire.
Furthermore, Kagame’s invasion and ongoing destabilization of neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo has been a focal point of AFJN’s DRC campaign. This conflict has cost over 5.4 million lives, yet the world remains silent.
Instead, Rwanda has been considered a “success story” in the eyes of the U.S. Just last year over $178 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars were sent to President Kagame in aid. This level of support, nominally to promote democracy, healing and recovery after the genocide, has been consistent despite evidence of Kagame’s dictatorial behavior.
Now, by putting his hands on a human rights advocate, President Kagame has clearly shown to the world who he really is. The U.S. Department of State has only timidly asked for the release of Mr. Erlinder, acting as if he has done something wrong. Please join us in the call for Erlinder’s release!
Erlinder’s arrest is in part a retaliation by the President Paul Kagame for his extensive work at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Also, on April 30, 2010, Mr. Erlinder and his colleagues filed a lawsuit in a court in Oklahoma against President Paul Kagame regarding events surrounding the triggering of the 1994 genocide. President Paul Kagame wants to prevent Mr. Erlinder from representing his client, Mrs. Inagbire, who needs to be cleared of the charges to be able to campaign freely for the presidency of Rwanda in 2010.
Peter Erlinder’s wife, Masako Usui, writes in a press release: “The offense Peter is charged with is not based on facts, but on the suppression of free speech in his representation of clients, which undermines the rule of law. His family knows he stands with people who are oppressed by those in power and he encourages people to stand up for justice.”
Take action today for Mr. Erlinder’s immediate release. Call President Barack Obama at (202) 456-1111 and your Congressional representatives (look up their contact info here) and urge them to personally tell the Rwandan government that Mr. Erlinder’s release is long overdue!
Script:
Hello, my name is ______ and I am calling President Obama/Senator/Representative _____ to ask him/her personally get involved in the effort to bring Professor Peter Erlinder back home to his family. He has been in a Rwandan jail since May 28, falsely charged with genocide ideology while doing his duty as an international and human rights lawyer. Please ask that all his charges be dropped and he be set free. In addition, please do what you can to ensure that my tax dollars do not go to support the Rwandan regime.
UGANDA
Rugunda explains stand on Iran sanctions
14 June, 2010/www.newvision.co.ug/By Cyprian Musoke
THE recent UN resolution to endorse sanctions over Iran for its uranium enrichment programme is open for review, Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, has said.
Rugunda said the UN was willing to remove the sanctions if Iran complies with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons.
The US-drafted sanctions resolution was last Wednesday adopted, with 12 votes to two in the UN Security Council. Lebanon abstained and Brazil and Turkey voted against it.
Uganda, which is a non-permanent member of the council, voted in favour of the sanctions.
According to Rugunda, Uganda agreed to the sanctions because of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It is important that all nuclear activities of state parties to the treaty are verified for their compliance with safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rugunda said, but added that Uganda commends and supports the diplomatic efforts of Brazil and Turkey.
“We are convinced that such confidence-building initiatives are useful in the search for a peaceful resolution of the Iran nuclear issue,” he said.
Rugunda added that Uganda knew it was important to continue efforts towards a negotiated solution that guarantees Iran’s inalienable right to develop its nuclear energy while assuring the international community that its programme is for peaceful purposes.
Iran rejected the sanctions, saying it would continue with its nuclear programme.
Hosting Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in April, President Yoweri Museveni said he would seek clarification from the US administration over the impending sanctions against Iran.
He explained that this would enable better understanding of the debate over the country’s contested nuclear programme before making a decision on the dispute.
Asked what Uganda’s position is on the sanctions, Museveni said: “We are just students on this matter It is a debate I have not been following.”
He said he had recently sought guidance from British prime minister Gordon Brown and Iranian foreign affairs minister Manounchehr Mottaki.
“I am going to engage the US to hear their version and then consult with our African brothers, whom I represent on the UN Security Council,” Museveni said.
He, however, noted that Uganda would not be pushed by any of its donors.
“We are not agents of the West on the UN Security Council, we are representatives of Africa and we follow what Africa decides,” Museveni said.
Uganda, Egypt discuss Nile Basin devt
14 June, 2010 /www.newvision.co.ug/By Gerald Tenwya
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni and Faiza Abu Naga, the Egyptian minister for international co-operation, have discussed development projects in the Nile Basin, including irrigation.
Meeting at the Nakasero State House in Kampala on Saturday, Museveni said Uganda and Egypt needed to work out a system for Uganda to have irrigation without affecting Egypt and other down-stream countries.
He said scientists need to create reservoirs, which can be used during the drought season in order to increase agricultural production.
According to a State House press statement, Museveni called for awareness on reducing the cutting down of trees for fuel and ensuring sufficient electricity supply.
The President stressed that electricity was a pressing problem in Uganda.
Naga said her country was ready to contribute to electricity-generation in Uganda, adding that the Nile basin countries needed to develop their own hydro-power potential as a prerequisite for development.
She said her government was committed to developing the resources of the Nile basin for the benefit of the member countries.
The River Nile Basin countries are Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Burundi and the DR Congo.
Egypt has intensified its engagement with the upper Nile countries since Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia signed the Nile Co-operative Framework Agreement two months ago.
Kenya also signed two weeks later, while Burundi and Congo are expected to sign soon.
However, Egypt and Sudan described the agreement as the ‘Entebbe Accord’ and insist “it is null and void.”
“Right now we are releasing more water than agreed upon in the demand curve between Uganda and Egypt,” Isaac Musumba, the foreign affairs state minister, said.
“The 1929 and 59 colonial agreements are out of date and no longer relevant to the current requirements of the countries sharing the Nile,” he added.
He cited population growth and climate change which are causing challenges to food security and generation of hydro-electricity power.
“We should negotiate for equitable use and management of the River Nile waters,” he stressed.
Tullow expands petroleum skills base in Uganda
www.monitor.co.ug/By Allan Ssekamatte/Monday, June 14 2010
Tullow Oil recently announced that it would sponsor six Ugandans to attain various post graduate degrees in oil & gas . Daily Monitor’s Allan Ssekamatte caught up with the company’s HR Manager Abdul Kibuuka
Which particular skills are currently needed to boost the petroleum industry?
The process of exploring for oil , extracting it and refining it to a usable final product is complex and requires a diverse set of skills. To complete its value chain you need the full gamut of petroleum engineering skills (geotechnical, civil, mechanical, chemical, manufacturing) and the full range of skills in geosciences, safety and environmental sciences among others. Most of these skills are currently not available in Uganda since oil exploration and production is new to the region.
What types of scholarships are available and who is eligible?
The scholarships are targeted at students from disadvantaged backgrounds that would otherwise not be able to meet the cost of studying abroad. Eligible candidates should be resident citizens of Uganda who have not previously studied abroad; should be below 27 years at the time of application, and hold a first class degree or second class upper division degree in geosciences from a recognised university.
The scholarships cover full tuition fees, return international airfares and living expenses. They will be offered through universities in the United Kingdom which include University of Aberdeen, Herriot Watt, University of Leeds and Royal Holloway. Applicants must have obtained admission to any of these universities for post graduate studies in geosciences.
Why has Tullow Oil chosen to offer these scholarships?
The decision to offer these scholarships was reached after realizing that Uganda has limited professionals to meet the needs of the petroleum sector, mostly owing to the fact that we have not had a history of oil production.
Now that the country has large deposits of oil, there is need for qualified professionals to support the industry and as key players in the sector, we feel obliged to support the people of Uganda in building the necessary capacity to tap into and benefit from the country’s oil resources.
What happens to the scholarship beneficiaries when they return after study?
They will be pioneer graduates in petroleum geosciences and so they are certain to get jobs in the industry.
We also plan to offer them opportunities for research internships and work experience during their holidays to ensure they have firm grounding by the time they graduate. I encourage all Ugandans who qualify for this life-changing opportunity to apply before the deadline of July 31.
Applications should be sent to scholarshipsuganda@tullowoil.com
Has the lack of local skilled labour affected your operations in anyway?
No, it hasn’t, at least not in the short run. We have been able to bring in expatriates to occupy positions where we have not identified Ugandans with the required training and experience, especially in the more specialised roles that require petroleum industry experience.
The expatriates are helping to unlock the industry and to train Ugandans in the more specialised skills with a view to succeeding them because we believe that’s what is sustainable. Of course in the long term the absence of local skills will have an impact because it’s costly to employ expatriates for a very long time. It would also be unfair if Ugandans did not participate fully in the industry.
What else can be done to increase the number of professionals in the sector?
The sector needs to extend opportunities to Ugandans with the requisite background training to participate so that they can obtain experience while on the job. Ugandans learn very quickly and I have no doubt over time the skills will be picked up. Tullow has started several Ugandans on various technical training paths and they are progressing very well.
However, majority of employment opportunities shall be created in industries that support the petroleum sector rather than inside the sector itself. We need to carefully look at the skills that will be required in the support industries rather than focus on specialised petroleum skills only, that’s when you can maximise participation.
Just imagine how many construction workers and welders would be required to set up a refinery or to construct a pipeline?
The number is certainly a big one but construction or welding are not petroleum specific skills.
TANZANIA:
Africa Adventure Consultants Teams Up with AfricAid To Support Girls’ Literacy in Africa
June 14th, 2010 /by: neraksells/www.theopenpress.com
A Special 2011 Fundraising Safari to Tanzania Will Include a $2,000 Per Guest Contribution to AfricAid’s Kisa Project
Denver, Co (OPENPRESS) June 14, 2010 — Kent Redding, president of Africa Adventure Consultants and newly appointed Board member of AfricAid (http://africaid.com/?page_id=17), a nonprofit organization that supports girls’ education in Africa, announces a May 2011 AfricAid/Africa Adventure Consultants fundraising safari in Tanzania.
The 13-day program dubbed AfricAid’s Tanzania: In-Depth Cultural Experience & Wildlife Safari has been set for May 20, 2011.
The per person rate is $7,995 based on double occupancy. The single supplement is $750. The fee includes a tax-deductible $2,000 donation that provides a two-year scholarship for one girl as part of AfricAid’s Kisa Project (www.kisaproject.org). Kisa Project funds school scholarships and leadership training to some of Africa’s brightest young women.
Safari highlights include game viewing in Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti parks, village visits to AfricAid-supported schools, accommodations in luxury tented and mobile camps and lodges, meals, land transfers and more.
“It’s well known that girls who are educated can transform their own lives and positively impact the futures of their communities,” said Redding, who through living and working for more than a decade throughout Africa has what he calls “a keen sense of how and where energies and money can be spent to begin to make a difference.”
“We are very pleased to have Kent Redding join our Board,” said AfricAid President Richard Shuyler. “He not only brings years of experience in the African travel industry to AfricAid, which will be invaluable in helping to give our many supporters the chance to experience a life-changing trip to Africa, but his time living there also has afforded him the opportunity to fully appreciate both the joys and challenges of daily life in Tanzania. We look forward to benefiting from his unique insight as AfricAid continues to expand its work in East Africa.”
AfricAid’s (www.africaid.com) origins date back to 1996 when its founder, Ashley Shuyler, traveled to Tanzania with her family at the age of 11. Struck by the poverty she saw there, particularly among children her own age, she became determined to do something to help. From the fact that 95 percent of girls in Tanzania are not able to complete a high school education – mostly because they cannot afford the school fees, she realized that education was the key to uplifting individuals and entire communities. In 2001, Ashley formed AfricAid with the mission of supporting girls’ education in Africa in order to provide young women with the opportunity to transform their own lives and the futures of their communities. Since its inception, AfricAid has raised nearly $800,000 in its mission to support girls’ education in Africa.
AfricAid provides funding for scholarships, school building projects, leadership training, vocational and teacher training, school supplies, school lunch programs, and it works in conjunction with the local initiatives of Tanzanians and other African leaders committed to education.
About Africa Adventure Consultants
Denver-based Africa Adventure Consultants, Inc. (AAC) organizes exclusive, customized, 100% carbon-neutral safari adventures throughout East and Southern Africa. The company conducts business only in destinations they know intimately and offers Africa’s best local camps, lodges and guides. They are definitive experts with years of relationship building and travel in the countries where they orchestrate safaris. This in-country expertise and depth of knowledge differentiates ACC from other safari providers. AAC offers full service trip planning, from flights and safaris, to travel insurance and safari gear.
Through a $25 donation made in behalf of each guest, AAC supports a variety of African conservation organizations, community-based tourism programs and grass-roots humanitarian causes such as AfricAid.
AAC organizes safari adventures in 13 countries across East and Southern Africa: Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and The Seychelles.
CONGO RDC :
KENYA :
Security chiefs meet after Kenya blasts
BY BERNARD MOMANYI/www.capitalfm.co.ke/Jun 14
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 14 – President Mwai Kibaki was due to chair an urgent security meeting on Monday to discuss Sunday night’s blast in Nairobi which left five people dead and 82 others injured.
The meeting to be attended by top security chiefs as well as the Defence and Internal security ministers was to be held at the President’s Office at Harambee House.
“The President has convened an early morning security committee meeting to discuss this matter. We want to get to the depth of this matter,” Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said when he visited victims at the Kenyatta National Hospital on Sunday night.
“We want to get to the bottom of this matter. We are appealing for calm from all Kenyans as police investigate the matter,” he added.
Monday’s meeting to be convened jointly with Prime Minister Raila Odinga will bring together the Military Chief Jeremiah Kianga, Police chief Mathew Iteere, Ministers George Saitoti (Internal Security), Yusuf Hajji (Defence) and Intelligence chief Michael Gichangi.
The meeting was called following an incident on Sunday night when two explosions ripped through a rally organised to drum up support for rejection of the proposed Constitution.
The meeting held at Uhuru Park, left five dead and 82 others injured, hospital officials said.
Panic gripped the crowd at Uhuru (Freedom) Park in the heart of the capital when the blasts went off during prayers at the end of the rally, called by evangelical Protestant churches.
“There were two explosions which went off in the middle of the crowd,” Nairobi Provincial Police chief Antony Kibuchi said.
“This is an isolated incident, but it is unfortunate we have lost lives,” Mr Odinga later told reporters after visiting some of the injured at Kenyatta national hospital.
“The government will do everything to apprehend the perpetrators,” he said, adding however that the incident “should not be linked” with the planned August 4 referendum on the draft revised Constitution.
Peter Wanyoike, a doctor at Kenyatta national hospital, confirmed that five people had died, while another five were fighting for their lives.
“We have five people who are in a critical condition and some of them are already in the (operating) theatre.”
Police sealed off the vast park as ambulances converged on the scene, then sped away to take the casualties to various hospitals.
Inside one hospital, some of the bloodstained victims appeared unconscious, lying on stretchers on the floor of the emergency ward. They mainly suffered injuries on the legs and lower torsos.
It appeared that an explosive device had been thrown at the crowd, police chief Kibuchi said, while survivors thought hand grenades had been used. The blasts were said to have gone off 15 minutes apart.
“We will get to the bottom of the matter,” said Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, as he announced that a police investigation was underway.
“We do not want to speculate… We cannot tell the kind of devices that were used … but we will know in due course,” he added.
Kenya has been striving to chart a new political course after the 2007 elections which shattered its reputation as an island of stability in the otherwise volatile Horn of Africa region.
International Briefs
www2.journalnow.com/JOURNAL WIRE REPORT/ June 14, 2010
Explosions at political rally kill 5, wound 75
NAIROBI, Kenya — Two explosions ripped through a park in Kenya’s capital during a packed political rally late yesterday, killing five people and wounding 75, officials said.
The rally was held to protest a draft constitution that the country will vote on in August. The country’s president and prime minister support it, but several prominent political leaders do not.
Top Arab diplomat backs people in blockaded Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Amr Moussa, the Arab world’s top diplomat, declared support yesterday for the people of blockaded Gaza in a visit to the Palestinian territory.
Israel, meanwhile, appeared to grow more isolated after its May 31 raid on a aid ship as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak abruptly canceled plans yesterday to visit Paris.
Japanese space probe back on earth after asteroid trip
ADELAIDE, Australia — A fiery burst of light over the Australian Outback marked the return of a Japanese space probe that scientists hope carried samples from an asteroid that could offer insights into the creation and makeup of the solar system.
It is the first time that a spacecraft has successfully landed on an asteroid and returned to Earth.
Mexican Indians kidnap 13 briefly in promotional tour
MORELIA, Mexico — A government media tour to promote tourism in southwestern Mexico went awry when machete-wielding Indians briefly kidnapped 13 reporters on the trip, officials said yesterday. Fifteen people trying to film a beer commercial were also abducted.
Nobody was harmed during the abductions Saturday, said a Michoacan state government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
2 high-ranking policemen are released in Colombia
BOGOTA, Colombia — Soldiers freed yesterday two high-ranking police officers held by rebels in southern jungles.
Both Gen. Luis Mendieta and Col. Enrique Murillo were captured by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in November 1998.
South Korea’s top officer offers to retire from post
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s top military officer offered to retire yesterday amid criticism over alleged negligence ahead of the deadly sinking of a warship blamed on North Korea, a news report said.
Gen. Lee Sang-eui, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, submitted his application for retirement to Defense Minister Kim Tae-young.
ANGOLA :
Investment strategy: State-to-private contracts provide second route to riches
By Tom Burgis /www.ft.com/June 14 2010
If 1978 was the year that China’s communist rulers began to embrace the market, perhaps 2009 was the moment that Beijing’s African strategists did something similar.
For the past decade, China’s huge deals on the continent broadly followed a pattern. Analysts christened it “Angola mode” after the original pact: a mammoth infrastructure programme in exchange for crude and other resources, agreed between two secretive governments and underwritten by billions of dollars of cheap Chinese finance.
Such state-to-state deals continue to be replicated, most recently in Niger, where China is building an oil industry from scratch, for an initial $5bn, and a uranium mine.
But of late China has forged a second route to Africa’s mineral riches, one whose first ports of call is western bourses rather than presidential palaces. The new approach might be dubbed “Addax mode”. Last June, Addax, an independent oil-producer listed in Toronto and London with assets in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Kurdistan, announced it was selling itself to Sinopec, one of China’s three big energy groups.
The deal bought Sinopec sought- after production in west Africa. The $7.2bn fee represented China’s biggest outward oil investment.
The hefty premium rekindled accusations that Chinese groups, flush with cash and driven by strategic national goals rather than commercial calculations, regularly overpay.
Chinese officials reject such claims, saying executives are given strict financial targets and note that China has been able to pick up bargains after the commodity bust left mining assets cheap and western rivals short of money.
But there is also a more fundamental reason for a recent rush of state-to-private investments. “In Congo or Angola, you can say [to the government]: ‘Give me some blocks and I’ll build you a railway,” says Amadou Hott, chief executive of UBA Capital, the investment banking arm of one of Nigeria’s biggest lenders, which has a partnership with China Development Bank. “But here, you have to talk to Shell or Chevron.”
The three countries in which Beijing struck its grandest early infrastructure-for-resources bargains – Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan – have much in common. Each has only recently emerged from long, horrific civil war. Each has an authoritarian government that controls access to underdeveloped resources.
However, in Nigeria and South Africa, the continent’s two biggest economies, some of the world’s most powerful mining and oil companies have spent decades establishing dominant positions.
Some analysts see the Addax deal as evidence of Chinese frustration that its efforts to court the establishment in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest repository of oil and gas, have been rockier than elsewhere.
“Before the Chinese arrival becomes noticeable, they will have to throw lots and lots of things at us, because we have a preponderance of old friends,” says Ernest Nwapa, a senior official at the national oil company, referring to Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and the other majors entrenched in Nigeria’s oil sector.
China has plenty to throw, however. State-owned CNOOC’s confidential bid to buy 6bn of Nigeria’s 36bn barrels of reserves for $50bn, was followed by last month’s undertaking by a Chinese construction group to spend $23bn building refineries.
The same approach is in evidence in South Africa, where mining empires such as Anglo-American control some of the planet’s richest stocks of everything from diamonds to coal.
Political ties are strengthening ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s visit to Beijing in August. Mineral alliances could follow, but, for now, China is shopping in the private sector, most recently agreeing to plough $877m into mining platinum via South African junior Wesizwe.
Martyn Davies, who has advised on a number of Chinese deals in Africa as chief executive of Frontier Advisory, says it is “premature” to divine a wholesale change of strategy.
“The terms of engagement are still shaped by the same forces: it’s a state-capitalist approach,” Mr Davies says.
In some quarters, a grey area between state and private is emerging. The publicity-shy China International Fund, based in Hong Kong, is ostensibly private. In Angola it has provided at least $2.9bn of credit lines in parallel to lending from Chinese state-owned banks for infrastructure projects.
Some promised projects have stalled, but the CIF and its sister company, China Sonangol, a joint-venture with Angola’s state-owned oil company, are expanding across the continent rapidly.
In October, Guinea’s military-backed government unveiled mining, oil prospecting, and infrastructure joint-ventures with the CIF and China Sonangol with plans for $7bn of investments. There followed CIF’s deal with Bellzone to spend $2.7bn on export infrastructure from the Aim-listed junior miner’s planned iron ore mine in central Guinea in exchange for a share of the mineral permits.
Some Chinese officials have been quoted as saying the CIF is a purely private affair, occasionally seeking to distance Beijing from its activities.
However, a report for the US Congress found evidence that “key personnel” among its owners “have ties to Chinese state-owned enterprises … and possibly China’s intelligence apparatus”.
SOUTH AFRICA:
Texas teen dies while hiking in South Africa
By RAF CASERT © 2010/ The Associated Press/June 14, 2010
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A Texan teen fell to his death while hiking down Table Mountain, one of Cape Town’s main tourist attractions, South African police said Sunday.
Police spokesman Billy Jones said the 14-year-old, who was not identified, and his parents and a sibling had on Saturday taken the cable car to the top of the 3,563-foot (1,086-meter) landmark. They then walked down along a known route.
Along the way, the teen fell about 30 feet (10 meters), and died on the mountain.
“We have been in touch with the family throughout,” U.S. Consulate spokesman Nathan Holt said. “We provided assistance. We extend our deepest condolences to the family. We thank South African authorities for all their assistance.”
Two officials, who both requested anonymity, said the family is from Houston.
South Africa jails gunmen for swift World Cup justice
thecitizen.co.tz/14062010
JOHANNESBURG, Sunday
A South African court handed rapid punishment to two men who robbed World Cup journalists from Portugal and Spain, sentencing them to 15 years in jail, police said yesterday.
The robbery last Wednesday raised concerns about sullying South Africa’s reputation before the World Cup even started on Friday. The country’s extremely high rates of violent crime were one of the biggest concerns before the tournament.
The armed robbers raided a lodge north of Johannesburg and stole laptops, mobile phones and cash.
National police chief Bheki Cele had congratulated investigators on making swift arrests, which were processed by one of the special courts set up to accelerate justice during the tournament.
“Two of the accused, Bright Madzidzi, 20, and George Magubane, 28, were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each for armed robbery,” said a statement from the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure.
“Ndubuisi Odungwa, 20, was sentenced to four years imprisonment for the possession of stolen property.”
Officials said the two convicted robbers were Zimbabweans and Odungwa was a Nigerian.
Police yesterday also said team officials from Uruguay declined to press charges over a theft after a person from the team’s retinue was caught on closed-circuit television.
Brigadier Sally de Beer said police responded to a report that cash was stolen from the hotel the team, who drew 0-0 with France in their opening game on Friday evening, was staying in Cape Town.
“Police went to the hotel and using CCTV identified a person (travelling with the team). They did not want to press charges,” she said.
South Africa hopes a successful World Cup will bring millions more tourists to this country and boost investment. Serious crime during the globe’s most watched sporting event could have the opposite effect.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said police would act swiftly to deal with criminals.
“The manner in which the investigation was conducted and finalised sends a stern message that our warnings to criminals were not empty threats,” Mthethwa he said.
AFRICA / AU :
BHP, Massmart, Super Group: South Africa Equity Market Preview
June 14, 2010/By Janice Kew/Bloomberg
June 14 (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 fell 284.70, or 1.1 percent, to 26,849.17 on June 11 in Johannesburg, paring its gain for the week to 1.1 percent.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL SJ): The world’s largest mining company has signed a $3 billion iron-ore agreement with Liberia, according to Richard Tolbert, chairman of the National Investment Commission. Billiton snapped three days of gains, dropping 1.93 rand, or 0.9 percent, to 210.07 rand.
Massmart Holdings Ltd. (MSM SJ): The FNB/BER second quarter consumer confidence index is released at 12:00 p.m. in Johannesburg. Massmart, the country’s biggest food and general- goods wholesaler, rose 0.1 percent, to 119 rand. Truworths International Ltd. (TRU SJ), South Africa’s largest clothing retailer by market value, increased 1.5 percent to 54.50 rand. Woolworths Holdings Ltd. (WHL SJ), a food and clothing retailer, gained 1.2 percent, to 24.95 rand.
Super Group Ltd. (SPG SJ): The transport company hosts its annual general meeting of shareholders. The stock gained 1.7 percent to 60 cents.
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) fell 2.1 percent to $18.88. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) declined 0.4 percent to $42.28. BHP Billiton Plc (BBL US) retreated 0.5 percent to $54.94. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) rose 3.2 percent to $4.46. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) slid 0.5 percent to $13.42. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) increased 0.3 percent to $9.77. Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMPUY US) fell 1.1 percent to $23.98. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) rose 2.1 percent to $3.95. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) lost 0.6 percent to $36.21. Telkom South Africa Ltd. (TLKGY US) fell 0.3 percent to $18.57.
–Editors: Philip Sanders, Ana Monteiro.
UN /ONU :
Mo Ibrahim prize goes to none
Monday, June 14, 2010 /english.aljazeera.net
Judges for a $5m annual prize for good governance in Africa have decided not to give the award for the second consecutive year.
The organisers of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership were expected to announce the winner of the award to a person who had set an example for honest, democratic governance on Monday.
But on Sunday, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which is based in London, said that its seven-member prize committee, led by Kofi Annan, the ex-UN secretary-general, had not chosen anyone to win the award.
The foundation said that since last year’s failure to select a winner, there had been “no new candidates or new developments”.
No new candidates
“The standards set for the prize winner are high, and the number of potential candidates each year is small. So it is likely that there will be years when no prize is awarded,” Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born telecommunications billionaire, said in a statement.
“In the current year, no new candidates emerged,” he said, adding that while many African nations are advancing economically and with regards to governance, more needs to be done.
Ibrahim created the award, the largest individual prize in the world, in 2007 to encourage good governance on a continent known for high levels of corruption and poor democratic standards.
The award can only be given to former democratically elected heads of state who left office within the last three years.
The $5m award is given over 10 years with a potential subsequent $200,000 annually for life for good causes.
Festus Mogae, the former Botswana president, and Joaquim Chissano, of Mozambique, have previously won the award.
USA :
Police break up Durban protests
June 14, 2010/By Soccernet staff
The long-standing dispute between workers at South Africa’s World Cup stadiums and the authorities again spilled over as riot police fired tear gas into crowds of stewards in the hours after Sunday’s match between Australia and Germany.
Witnesses said several hundred stewards assembled underneath the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in an impromptu protest over wages. When the police moved in to break them up – reportedly firing two percussive grenades in the process – they moved outside the stadium where an AP reporter witnessed tear gas being fired.
“They’re giving us 205 rand ($26),” one worker told the New York Times. “We started at 12 noon and worked until midnight, and they want to give us 205 rand. Different things have been said to people, but we were promised 1,500 rand per day. We started to protest because we wanted to negotiate.”
Others said they had been abandoned after the match and would have to walk about four hours to get home. They said no transport was provided for them.
Later, about 100 police later surrounded a group of about 300 protesters on a street near the stadium and separated the men from the women. The protesters later left peacefully after discussions with police. There were no injuries or arrests reported.
A FIFA spokesman declined to comment, but he head of the World Cup organising committee said there had been “an internal pay dispute between the principal security company employed by the organising committee and some of the static security stewards employed by the company at the match.
“This happened, however, long after all spectators had left the stadium after the match and the incident had no impact whatsoever on the matchday security operations.”
U.S. teen falls from South Africa’s Table Mountain and dies
By jaded87 Cape Town : South Africa/ www.allvoices.com/Jun 14, 2010
A 14-year-old U.S teen from Texas fell from the Table Mountain while hiking and lost his life.
Table Mountain is one of the famous tourist attractions in Cape Town, South Africa.
The boy was on vacation with his parents and one sibling. On Saturday, the family had taken a cable car to reach the top of the Table Mountain, 3563 foot high, a landmark of Cape Town, South Africa. On the way back, they walked down. The teenager fell about 30 feet to the ground and died on the spot.
U.S. Consulate Spokesman Nathan Holt thanked the South African authorities for their assistance and extended their condolences to the family. The family belongs to Houston, Texas. South African Police cooperated with the U.S. authorities in the tragic episode.
CANADA :
Dana to buy Petro Canada unit
Mon Jun 14, 2010/Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) – British oil and gas company Dana Petroleum (DNX.L: Quote) said it agreed to buy Petro Canada Netherlands for around 270 million pounds ($393.3 million), its biggest ever acquisition, to boost its reserves and production.
Dana, which holds oil and gas assets in the UK and North Africa, said on Monday the deal would give it exposure to the Dutch North Sea and could raise Dana’s previous 2010 production guidance by about 10-12 percent on an annualized basis.
Dana estimates that its output will rise by 8,000-9,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2011, a 20-25 percent gain on the previous guidance for the group, and by 10,000-14,000 boepd in 2012 boosted by new projects in The Netherlands.
The purchase would also raise Dana’s proved and probable reserves by 12.2 percent to 254 million barrels of oil equivalent and give the group a more balanced 60:40 oil-to-gas ratio.
Dana said it had agreed a $900 million loan and revolving credit facility with the Royal Bank of Canada to help fund the deal and for broader corporate refinancing.
The company said the deal, which is conditional upon approval from its shareholders, was expected to complete in the third quarter of 2010.
Dana is buying Petro Canada Netherlands from Petro Canada (International) Holdings, a subsidiary of Canada’s largest energy company Suncor Energy (SU.TO: Quote).
Shares in Dana closed at 1,088 pence on Friday, valuing the company at 1.0 billion pounds.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Julie Crust)
Canada invites African leaders to G8 meeting
Jun 14, 2010/Reuters
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada said on Sunday it invited leaders from seven African countries as well as Haiti, Jamaica and Columbia to attend the Group of Eight summit it is hosting this month, citing a desire to make the event more inclusive.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that the government invited Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa to attend a special session at the summit.
“We will be engaging African leaders as well as key hemispheric partners in order to broaden representation and maximize results on international development and peace and security issues,” Harper said in the statement.
The G8 meeting of major industrialized countries will be held June 25 and 26 in the resort community of Huntsville, Ontario. It will be immediately followed by a meeting in Toronto of the Group of 20, which includes the G8 as well as major emerging nations such as China and India.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Hodgson, Editing by Sandra Maler)
Grannies stride to turn tide against AIDS in Africa
Posted By Jason Miller and W. Brice McVicar, The Intelligencer/14062010
Grandmothers from across the region joined forces over the weekend in their push to raise crucial funds for their counterparts battling the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
The local walk was one of many done by grandmother-led groups across Canada to show their support for African grandmothers fighting against AIDS.
About 70 people participated in the Stride to Turn the Tide Belleville walk which recorded about 300 kilometres in total distance covered from the starting point at St Thomas Church, on Saturday.
Sharon Vanclief, a organizer for the Quinte Grannies for Africa, said the goal is to collectively accumulate 8,000 km, which is the distance across Canada. She said there were supporters walking in countries across the world.
“It’s the first of what we hope will be an annual walk,” she said. “It’s an grassroots initiative. We are raising money with every footstep.”
Local grandmothers also received support from the Trent Hills Grannies and the Apple Route Grannies, from Brighton who are all members of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign run by the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
“I’m positive that we raised at least $10,000,” she said. “It didn’t hurt us that it was raining.”
Vanclief said money is still coming in and a more accurate figure should be tabulated today. The funds will go to the Stephen Lewis foundation, which runs the Turn the Tide of AIDS campaign aimed at eradicating HIV/ AIDS in Africa
Vanclief said the foundation is one of the key groups providing critical services and support for grandmothers and the children orphaned by AIDS in their care, she said.
During the first international grandmother’s gathering in 2006, 300 African and Canadian grandmothers converged in Toronto to forge a long-term partnership.
“We started to understand the plight they are in,” she said. “Their children were dying and then they’re caring for who knows how many grandchildren and other orphans within the community.”
She said since then grandmothers involved have been urging their communities to support Education for All, an initiative geared toward providing education for underprivileged African children.
Vanclief said the aim is to use education as a tool to guide the AIDS ravaged continent away from its destructive path.
“We have money and community resources and they sometimes have none of that,” she said. “In 2006 we made a pledge that we will not rest until they can rest.”
Since the launch of the Grandmother to Grandmothers campaign in 2006, more than 220 groups of Canadian grandmothers have raised more than $7 million. Money raised funds community-level organizations in 15 sub-Saharan African countries.
AUSTRALIA :
Teen Sailor Still Wants to Sail Around the World
2010-06-14 /english.ntdtv.com
The parents of sixteen-year-old U.S. sailor Abby Sunderland spoke of their relief at their daughter’s rescue from her crippled yacht Wild Eyes in the Indian Ocean Saturday, saying they were proud of her achievements.
Marianne Sunderland, Abby’s mother, said it was hard for her daughter to leave her boat in the middle of the ocean, but that she was in good condition.
[Marianne Sunderland, Mother of Teen Sailor]:
“She sounded tired – a little bit small in her voice – but she was able to make jokes. I think she was looking forward to getting some sleep.”
Abigail Sunderland left the United States in January in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world.
Her yacht ran into trouble on Thursday when pounded by big waves midway between Africa and Australia.
Abby’s father, Laurence Sunderland, defended the decision to let Abigail sail:
[Laurence Sunderland, Father of Teen Sailor]:
“This was not a flippant decision. Abigail has been raised on the ocean her entire life. She’s lived over half her life on yachts. She’s cruised for three years with us on our own particular boat. This is like second nature to Abigail.”
He also expressed frustration at criticism of the youngster’s extraordinary attempt:
[Laurence Sunderland, Father of Teen Sailor]:
“What this is about is a young lady that has a great skill on the ocean, and a passion for blue water sailing. And she is a remarkable young lady and has done a remarkable job on Wild Eyes, sailing it over half-way around the world.”
Abigail told Australian broadcaster ABC, who interviewed her on board the fishing vessel shortly after her rescue, how she coped when she ran into trouble:
[Abby Sunderland, Extraordinary Teen Sailor]:
“When stuff is going on out there, you can’t really get too scared about it, it doesn’t do any good, you do it, you what you need to do: set off the emergency , you know keep the boat afloat, do all that, there is not much more that you can do. Getting all worried and scared about it doesn’t really help anything.”
The teenager said she was grateful to her rescuers, but plans to repeat her attempt.
EUROPE :
CHINA :
South Africa: Way paved for broader links
By Richard Lapper /www.ft.com/June 14 2010
South African diplomats frequently talk of the importance of the country’s relationships with the developing world.
But over the past two years, this orientation has begun to acquire real economic substance: nowhere more so than with China, the biggest developing economy of them all.
Chinese sales of manufactured goods, ranging from textiles to telecommunications equipment, has led to a steady expansion in exports, while its hunger for South Africa’s raw materials such as coal and iron ore has driven trade to new heights.
In 2009, China leapfrogged Germany, the US, the UK and Japan to become South Africa’s biggest trading partner.
China’s investment has been slower. At times, the October 2007 decision by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to invest $5.5bn in a 20 per cent stake in Standard Bank has seemed like something of an outlier. When the Chinese economy slowed in 2008, state companies that might have expanded abroad took stock.
However, in recent months China has begun to expand again. In March 2009, the China Africa Development Fund – a quasi-sovereign vehicle set up by the China Development Bank to invest in African opportunities – set up a Johannesburg office.
This year the fund has made the first of its investments. Last month, the fund teamed up with Jidong Development, China’s second largest cement maker, to acquire a majority stake in a new R1.65bn ($2.4m) cement plant based in Limpopo province.
As part of the deal, which represented Jidong’s first venture outside China, the two Chinese partners ploughed R382.5m into the development, with about R450m coming in loans from Chinese banks.
Two South African partners – Continental Cement and Wiphold, a black women’s empowerment group, also took equity stakes, with NedBank, a subsidiary of the Old Mutual insurance concern, providing additional finance.
A few weeks later, the fund supported a $877m equity and debt deal in South Africa’s platinum sector, the second biggest Chinese investment in Africa outside the energy industry.
Jinchuan, a state-owned mining company from the far west of China, acquired for $227m a 51 per cent stake in Wesizwe, a South African junior mining company and announced its intention to pump a further $650m in project finance in order to develop the flagship Frischgewaagd-Ledig project, near Rustenburg, west of Pretoria. The deals neatly encapsulate two related aspects of the Chinese thrust into South Africa.
On the one hand, China is keen to secure supplies of strategic raw materials, such as platinum, a metal whose main industrial use is as a coating for catalytic converters. The investment also gives China its first direct access to metal that is also heavily used by local jewellery manufacturers.
According to Martyn Davies, chief executive of Frontier Advisory, a Johannesburg company that advised Wesizwe, the structure of the world’s platinum market makes it particularly valuable. Since the bulk of international output is bought and sold as part of long-term contracts, only about 10 per cent of the metal is available on the open market. “This is a very significant strategic play,” says Mr Davies.
On the other hand, the cement deal highlights Chinese commercial interest in Africa’s expanding domestic markets, particularly in regional infrastructure.
Chen Ying, vice-president of Jidong, says his company is excited by South Africa’s growth potential and believes the market for cement will grow quickly over the next few years.
Per capita consumption is barely a quarter of that in China and the developed world and has been depressed by the economic slowdown last year, but Mr Chen says a revival in the housing market and continued public investment in infrastructure will sustain expansion. “We are not worried. Africa is like China was 10 years ago. But maybe in 10 years this will be growing faster than China is now,” he says.
Investment links are by no means all one way. A number of South African companies made significant commitments in the Chinese market, while others are doing business with the Chinese as they expand into the rest of Africa.
SAB Miller is the second biggest brewer in mainland China, while Naspers, the media and internet group, which generates the bulk of its cash from pay TV businesses in Africa, owns a 35 per cent stake in China’s biggest internet messaging company, the Hong Kong-listed Tencent.
Mr Davies says South Africa’s interest in the rest of the continent and other emerging markets paves the way for broader co-operation with Chinese business.
Banks such as Standard or First Rand, which last year signed a strategic co-operation deal with the Construction Bank of China, are well placed to help finance Chinese investment.
INDIA :
Ford Figo to South Africa, Engines to Thailand
Monday, June 14, 2010/By: Vicky.in/living.oneindia.in
Ford India, has began exporting the 1.4 diesel and 1.2 petrol engines from its Chennai Plant to Thailand and also began shipping of Figo to South Africa.
According to the Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Boneham, the company has lately started exporting the engines to Thailand as there is a demand of roughly 3,000 units per month. As of now, the MD informed it would be too early to comment on the future volumes of export as it largely depends on the demand of the Thailand’s auto market.
Apart from exporting Figo to South Africa, the company is also exploring other potential markets where it can expand its business.
In India, 6,237 numbers of Figo were sold in May 2010 and Ford has received 21,000 bookings within the first 2 and a half months since its launch and till date the company had delivered 16,000 cars. Owing to the strong demand, Ford India started second shift production in its Chennai plant. Boneham said that the production capacity would increase up to 1,40,000 units so as to reduce the waiting time for Figo customers. Additionally, 1000 more employees will increase the man power of the Ford’s Chennai Plant.
Figo had a red carpet welcome among the Indian hatchback buyers because the overall package at a very competitive price is the main reason for its success. Also, the Ford India President said that the diesel variants constitute 60% of Figo’s sales.
BRASIL:
EN BREF, CE 14 juin 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,14/06/2010
