{jcomments on}DAM, NY, AGNEWS, 18 décember 2010 – ABIDJAN-Laurent Gbagbo a exigé samedi le départ “immédiat” de Côte d’Ivoire des Casques bleus de l’Onuci et de la force militaire française Licorne, alors que la communauté internationale lui enjoint de céder le pouvoir au plus vite à son rival Alassane .
BURUNDI :
Burundi economy to grow 4.5 pct in 2011 – IMF
NAIROBI Dec 18 (Reuters) – Burundi’s economy is expected to grow by 4.5 percent in 2011 from an estimated 3.9 percent this year, and inflation to tick up, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
IMF put Burundi’s 2009 economic growth at 3.5 percent. It also sees headline inflation jumping to 7.5 percent in 2010 from 4.6 percent last year because of rising food prices.
“The macroeconomic outlook in 2011 is generally positive with real GDP projected to rise by 4.5 percent and inflation forecast at about 8 percent,” IMF said in a statement late on Friday.
“The foremost downside risk stems from the uncertain external environment.” The central African economy is heavily dependent on agriculture revenues, in particular from the tea and coffee sectors.
IMF reiterated that Burundi needed to boost its spending on infrastructure, speed up integration into the regional trade bloc East African Community and further reform its financial sector.
“The mission was encouraged by the authorities’ efforts to consolidate progress on revenue collections and reallocate spending to priority sectors. It encouraged the authorities to continue reforms of wage and employment,” IMF said.
Burundi, which has a population of 8 million and borders Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, is emerging from more than a decade of civil war that killed 300,000 people.
The country is enjoying relative peace since the last Hutu guerrilla group, the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), agreed last year to lay down weapons and join the government.
(Reporting by George Obulutsa, editing by Miral Fahmy) (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit:af.reuters.com/)
RWANDA
India to invest $250 mn in Rwanda
Indo-Asian News Service / Kigali, December 18, 2010 – An Indian company has signed a pact with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to invest $250 million for a knowledge hub and an integrated food park in this East African country, once associated with its fratricidal conflict that claimed nearly a million lives. India’s Universal Empire
Infrastructures (UEIL) has been in discussion with the Government of Rwanda for a few months and the company delegation also visited here, the capital of Rwanda. The delegation also held detailed discussions with six cabinet ministers of the Rwandan government.
The memorandum of understanding inked now is a follow-up of the recent road shows held by RDB in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, officials said.
Clare Akamanzi, chief operating officer, and K Balachandran Nair, chairman and managing director, signed the pact on behalf of RDB and UEIL, respectively, in the presence of Munish Gupta, director of UEIL, and Rosemary Mbabazi, director for investment promotion with RDB.
The pact focusses on the establishment of a knowledge hub that entails a multi-disciplinary university that comprises all schools, especially for medicine, in collaboration with Royal Colleges of either Scotland, Ireland or England, as also those for engineering, management, commerce, education, agriculture, arts and humanities, and basic sciences.
It also calls for centres on employable skill development, IT, biotech and research, apart from a sports complex and convention centre, a medical resort with 300 rooms, wellness centre, naturopathy and water sports to spur tourism.
The second part of the pact focusses on the establishment of an integrated food processing park to develop agriculture and animal husbandry.
Rwanda, now led by its second-term, democratically-elected President Paul Kagame, wants to leave the catastrophic genocide in 1994 behind and forge pacts globally to lift the impoverished country. Around 90 percent of the population of this country is engaged mainly in subsistence agriculture and processing of some minerals.
Rejet de la demande de libération d’une opposante rwandaise
Par Reuters, publié le 18/12/2010 – La Haute Cour de justice du Rwanda a rejeté la demande de libération sous caution de l’opposante Victoire Ingabire, accusée de menace contre la sécurité nationale et l’ordre public, ont annoncé vendredi les services du procureur général.
Victoire Ingabire est également poursuivie pour avoir participé à la création de la Coalition des forces démocratiques (CFD), un groupe armé basé sur le territoire de la République démocratique du Congo. Elle plaide non coupable.
Dans un communiqué, les services du procureur se félicitent de cette décision et annoncent une prolongation de trente jours de la période de détention préventive de l’opposante.
Sylvain Sibomana, secrétaire général de son parti, les Forces démocratiques unies, a déclaré à l’agence Reuters qu’aucune explication n’avait été donnée après la décision de la Haute Cour où, ajoute-t-il, Victoire Ingabire n’a pu vu de juge. “Les accusations répondent à des motifs politiques et changent constamment”, a-t-il dénoncé.
Ingabire, qui vivait en exil aux Pays-Bas, a regagné le Rwanda en janvier dernier avec l’espoir de se présenter à l’élection présidentielle du mois d’août. Sa candidature avait été rejetée à la suite d’accusations fondées sur la loi interdisant la négation du génocide de 1994.
Kezio-Musoke David, Henri-Pierre André pour le service français
RDC –Congo
Mondial des clubs: déception en RDC, quelques pillages à Lubumbashi
(AFP) – 18/12/2010 – KINSHASA — De Kinshasa à Lubumbashi en RD Congo, de nombreux Congolais étaient déçus mais malgré tout fiers de leur club, le Tout-Puissant Mazembe, vaincu par l’Inter Milan (3-0) samedi en finale du Mondial des clubs, la première disputée par un club africain.
A Lubumbashi, la capitale de la province du Katanga (sud-est), où le club est basé, quelques supporteurs mécontents ont pillé des boutiques appartenant à des ressortissants chinois, et la police à dû tirer en l’air pour les disperser.
Il n’y a pas eu de blessé, selon les premiers éléments d’informations sur place, et le calme est revenu rapidement, a constaté un correspondant de l’AFP.
Pendant la rencontre regardée sous la pluie et sur un écran géant installé dans le centre-ville ou dans des bars, des spectateurs ont protesté contre des décisions de l’arbitre du match, un Japonais, et certains ont crié: “les Chinois doivent rentrer chez eux”.
De nombreux Chinois travaillent à Lubumbashi et au Katanga, où des entreprises chinoises exploitent du cuivre.
A plus de 1.500 km au nord-ouest, dans la capitale Kinshasa, les récurrentes pannes de courant ont fait fi de la finale historique, et des centaines de supporteurs agglutinés devant des téléviseurs dans des bars ont dû faire la chasse au générateur, à seulement quelques minutes du coup d’envoi.
Après 13 minutes de jeu, l’Inter marque le premier but. “Ca commence mal pour le Tout-Puissant Mazembe”, lance le commentateur de la télévision Digital Congo.
Au même moment à Goma, dans le Nord-Kivu, à plus de 1.500 km à l’est de la capitale congolaise, des cris de désespoir retentissent du salon de coiffure “The best”, où sont rassemblées une quarantaine de personnes.
“Ca ne va pas, il faut qu’on marque”, s’inquiète un jeune.
Quatre minutes plus tard, nouveau but contre Mazembe.
“Hoo la la ! hoo la la!”, répète le commentateur à la télévision.
A la radio nationale, son lointain, nasillard et avec des blancs réguliers, le commentateur au téléphone se rassure enfin après une bonne action des Congolais qui ne sortiront “pas ridicules de ce tournoi”.
Suivent des commentaires sur l’arbitrage: “L’arbitre japonais va abîmer le match, il ne faudrait plus qu’il arbitre”, assène le journaliste.
A Lubumbashi la pluie ne s’arrête pas, devant l’écran géant les spectateurs sont trempés jusqu’aux os. “La pluie est une bénédiction. On croit à la victoire”, assure l’un d’eux.
A Kinshasa on espère aussi. “Mazembe a montré à la face du monde qu’il est un grand club. Ils vont renverser la vapeur”, assure Albert Kikunu.
La seconde mi-temps n’y changera rien et Mazembe encaisse un troisième et dernier but à 5 minutes de la fin.
“Les carottes sont cuites, complètement”, se désole le commentateur de la radio nationale.
A Kinshasa, dans les locaux du fan club du TP, on applaudit quand même à la remise des médailles avant d’entonner des chants à la gloire du club, et de se disperser
A Lubumbashi, Héritier Data, “supporteur du TP comme tout Congolais qui se respecte”, se dit “déçu mais pas trop. On a perdu mais ce n’est tout de même pas donné à tout le monde de disputer une finale du mondial. L’année prochaine on va gagner !”.
Netherlands cancels DRC’s US$ 400 million debt
18/12/2010 – Kinshasa, DR Congo – The Netherlands has written off a debt of US$ 400 million owed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in order to enable the African country to find its footing, the Congolese government said in a statement, received by PANA here Friday.
The debt cancellation, the statement said, was motivated by efforts by the Congolese government towards economic reform.
PANA recalls that Netherlands supports DRC in its programmes, including security, justice as well as the stabilization and reconstruction of the country.
UGANDA
EU envoy defends Uganda on genocide
By Stephen Wandera / Posted Sunday, December 19 2010
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Insight/-/688338/1074634/-/qmvgk6/-/
Over 200 international war and genocide experts met in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali at a conference on the theme: Genocide convention under siege? The case studies of the UN mapping report on the DRC and Darfur. This followed UN mapping report that leaked to the media in October accusing Rwanda and Uganda armies along with countries like Burundi, Angola and Zimbabwe of masterminding the genocide in DR Congo and looting minerals between 1999 and 2003. Sunday Monitor’s Stephen Wandera talked to the former European Union special envoy, in the Great Lakes Region, Mr Aldo Ajello, on various issues affecting security in the region.
You have served as the EU envoy in the region for over a decade even at the peak of genocide in Rwanda that saw about one million people killed in cold blood. Can history repeat itself in Rwanda and in DR Congo due the fact that UN peacekeeping troops are withdrawing from the war-ravaged eastern DRC?
We know very well that this area is a hub of several rebel groups including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
But I do not see any risk of genocide. In fact DR Congo has another problem of crimes against humanity because of big tensions that still exist in the eastern side of the country that have not been sorted out up to now.
Then you have a problem of the security. That government [DR Congo] should give priority of reforming the army, police and judiciary. But unfortunately there is strong resistance and up to now they have not been able to start serious programmes of reform.
So long as the army is not well trained and paid, they tend to harsh the civilian population. Women are raped and other sorts of harassment because the DR Congo army cannot prevent such atrocities committed by rebel groups like Maimai, Armed Forces of Rwanda (EX FAR/Interahamwe). Sometimes it’s the government troops that commit such crimes.
Some Rwandan delegates at the conference including the Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama have accused UN of betraying Rwanda twice. First, by withdrawing its troop during the 1994 genocide and now the report alleges that the Rwandan army committed genocide in DR Congo from 1993 to 2003. They say the word genocide is being abused, what is your take on this?
Yes it’s true to analyse that way, because genocide is a very bad thing. Genocide is a very serious crime and you cannot make it a panel concept. You cannot just talk about genocide like that. It implies an ill will to destroy entirely or partially an ethnic group, national group or leaders’ group. This should not be abused and I am disappointed with this report that does not name victims. It’s wanting and flawed.
Is there some substantial evidence in the report that can be used to pin some army officers in the region or even for them to be dragged to the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
Well, we cannot deny that military operations conducted in eastern Congo could not produce collateral damage where innocent people or a larger numbers of soldiers would be killed. This is regrettable and may be serious investigation should be done about that but not about an imaginary crime of genocide.
One thing that should be considered when you look at these things is that crimes are committed in the context of war.
It was the will of the former regime of Rwanda to start another war and attack the new government. We are talking about people who committed the most horrible atrocities of the century after the one of the Jewish – People who used civilians as human shields during war.
Military were mixed with refugees in camps then you have a fight that could cause collateral damage, is not something that is justifiable as genocide but is understandable.
Heads of state from the great lakes region are expected to meet in Lusaka Zambia this month to discuss the alleged plundering of DR Congo minerals and timber. Do you think these leaders are clean?
The exploitation of Congo is a real thing. Many countries have been involved in this including Congo itself, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and to a less extent Angola.
What is the way forward and how can Heads of state handle this illegal business in DR Congo?
What should be done is to transform this illegal exploitation into a legal exploitation. You know Congo is a very rich country, they have almost everything and they are surrounded by countries that have nothing or very little.
Without giving gifts to anybody, the idea of exploitation by joint ventures legally organised and paying regular taxes is the best way to solve the problem and to get out of the question of illegal exploitation.
We have been working on regional cooperation for stability and development of the great lakes region with an office in Bujumbura looking at that with Ambassador Liberata Mulamula. There are many instruments that can be used in the next meeting in Lusaka Zambia.
Some scholars have argued that DR Congo is too big and should be divided for better rule of law and order. Do you think this can bring sanity in a country widely blessed with precious minerals like diamond and gold?
No, DR Congo should not be divided. The only thing you can do is decentralisation in the public administration. That should be done and I think it is being done.
There was a long discussion of creating a federal state, to consider that the state should be divided into provinces and regions and then have a federal government at the central level.
We have not been supportive of this idea because it would create an idea of secession that could instigate war. So the idea of decentralisation has been retained.
What could be the effect of polls in Southern Sudan? Are we seeing the end of Uganda rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that were pushed to the Central African Republic by Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF)?
I have been out of touch with Sudan for a long time and I have not been able to follow the developments. I am not sure of what is happening over there.
========================================
Some atrocities detailed in the UN Report
Kinigi, December 7, 1996
Elements from the AFDL/APR killed nearly 310 civilians, many of them women and children. The troops had accused the local population, mostly Hutu, of sheltering Interahamwe [Hutu paramilitaries, who] had already left the village.
At first the troops sought to reassure the civilians [whom they gathered together] in several buildings, including the adventist church and the primary school. In the afternoon, troops entered these buildings and killed the villagers with hoes or axes to the head.
Luberizi, October 29, 1996
Elements from the AFDL/APR/FAB [Burundi’s armed forces] killed around 200 male refugees.
The victims were part of a group of refugees told by the troops to regroup so that they could be repatriated to Rwanda. The troops separated the men from the rest of the group and killed them with bayonets or bullets. The bodies were then buried in mass graves [near to] the church.
Bwegera, November 3, 1996
They burned alive 72 Rwandan refugees in Cotonco (cotton company) headquarters, one kilometre from the village.
Mutiko, December 1996
Special units from the AFDL/APR started to hunt down refugees, killing several hundred. Once they had been intercepted at barriers put up by the troops, the victims were given food and told to get into UN lorries waiting at the exit of the village.
The victims were then taken out on to the road, then killed with blows to the head with canes, hammers and axes. The troops encouraged the local population to take part in the killings.
On Uganda, the reports says…
The UPDF confined a group of women and raped them in turns for pleasure at Premier Bassin Hotel for four days, from August 7-10, 1998.
Later in 2003, Médecins sans frontiers, the French health organisation, reported treating some 822 rape victims aged 13-25 assaulted in Bunia between May and December of that year.
The report says on November 9, 2000, Ugandan soldiers indiscriminately killed 36 people in Kikere Village, close to Butuhe, north of Butembo. “The soldiers fired blindly on civilians using rifles and rocket-launchers. Some civilians died as a result of being burned alive in their homes.”
In Beni, UPDF allegedly instituted a reign of terror for several years with complete impunity.
TANZANIA:
Le nouveau gouvernement de Kikwete secoue la Bourse.
La Bourse tanzanienne traverse des moments de turbulences avec l’avènement du nouveau gouvernement Kikwete.
En effet, l’indice général de la Dar es-Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) a été secoué par des changements de l’exécutif.
Peu après l’annonce de la composition du cabinet du président Jakaya Kikwete, la semaine dernière, dans lequel ne figurait plus le défenseur du marché financier, l’indice général a chuté de 12,16 points.
En effet, le marché boursier a réagi négativement après le non-renouvellement du mandat de Jérémie Salomon Sumari, courtier en valeurs mobilières (fondateur et propriétaire de Stockbrokers Salomon) et ex-sous-ministre au Ministère des finances et des affaires économiques.
Néanmoins, peu après, le président, qui prononçait un discours à la première session de l’Assemblée nationale, avait promis de continuer à soutenir les politiques du secteur privé.
Tanzania Benchmark Coffee Rises 1.8% Before Three-Week Break
December 18, 2010 By Fred Ojambo Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Tanzania’s benchmark coffee climbed 1.8 percent at a Dec. 16 auction as buyers replenished their inventories before a three-week Christmas break, the Tanzania Coffee Board said.
The top arabica AA grade sold for an average of $250.13 a 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag, compared with $245.81 at the previous auction on Dec. 10, the board said late yesterday in an e-mail from Moshi, in northern Tanzania. Supplies of the grade rose 2.6 percent to 6,096 bags, it said. Sales will resume on Jan. 6 after the holidays, it said.
Overall prices at the auction rose by an average of $10 per bag compared with last week’s sale.
Supplies at the 20th auction of the 2010-11 season climbed 20 percent to 26,732 bags, with 25,375 bags being freshly supplied and the rest carryovers from the previous auction, it said. Arabica accounted for 86.2 percent of the beans supplied.
Sales at the auction rose 13 percent to 24,223 bags, with 22,266 bags being fresh supplies, the board said.
Tanzania reaps its crop from April through August. Arabica accounts for 75 percent of the country’s output, while robusta accounts for the rest.
The following are details of the Dec. 16 auction in U.S. dollars for a 50-kilogram bag for the good grades:
–Editors: Rob Verdonck, Christopher Scinta
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via Johannesburg on pmrichardson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
Alcatel-Lucent goes deep with links between Tanzania and Seychelles
Saturday, 18 December 2010 –
Victoria. Telecoms solutions provider Alcatel-Lucent has signed a $30 million deal with Seychelles Cable Systems (SCS) to build the Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS) linking Victoria in Seychelles to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The cable submarine network will provide the Seychelles islands with high-speed direct access to the world’s optical fibre backbone. SEAS will span over 1,900 km offering international connectivity in support of affordable Internet access and new broadband applications such as IPTV and online video.
For Mr Philippe Dumont, president of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks SAS, the new link represents “a tremendous opportunity to offer new applications that can benefit every sector of society.”
Seychelles Cable Systems—comprising the Government of Seychelles, Cable & Wireless Seychelles and TSL (Airtel Seychelles)— is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up to build and operate cable network SEAS. (Agencies)
UE junior to study in Tanzania in spring
Posted December 18, 2010 — John Martin
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/dec/18/no-headline—18a03uestudent-brf/
Whitney Cohen, a University of Evansville junior majoring in international studies, is the latest UE student to receive a Gilman Scholarship to support her plans to study abroad during the spring 2011 semester.
Cohen, from Sylmar, Calif., will enroll at the Arcadia University Center for East African Studies in Arusha, Tanzania. Her coursework will include a core seminar on conflict, peace and security in East Africa as well as Kiswahili language and elective courses drawn from the politics and culture of Tanzania.
Cohen is the fifth Gilman Scholar from UE since 2008. Brittany Drossart is a current UE Gilman Scholar completing studies at a university in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Other national scholarship winners from UE this year include Fulbright Scholars Courtney Kersten and Bryce Mitchell, both May graduates, who are working in Latvia and South Korea, and 2006 UE graduate Carime Lechner, who is a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Mongolia.
The Gilman Scholarship is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education. The program offers scholarships for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in education abroad.
KENYA :
Israel and Kenya share common vision on governance, says envoy
By EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA December 18 2010 –
If you are naïve, you may be persuaded by the argument that Israeli is a “small” country.
Israel ‘willing’ to help out Kikambala victims
“We are smaller than Tsavo National Park,” Israeli ambassador Jacob Keidar said during an interview in his office.
At 21,000 square kilometres, Tsavo National Park-East and West-is the largest protected habitat for wildlife in Kenya.
Israel covers 20,700 square kilometres, and measures 424 kilometres from north to south.
Fine. Israel may be small in size, but it has been at the centre of global politics for decades owing to the controversial story of its proclamation and religious heritage.
The influence
Typical of Israeli diplomats, Mr Keidar disagrees with the suggestion that his country wields great influence in world politics.
“We are not a superpower like the United States. Superpowers have more political leverage than we do. We are a small country and a bit more humble,” he said.
This is the mantra of Israeli diplomacy – a cleverly calculated strategy to project humility, victimhood and the desire for self-preservation in the midst of hostility.
Mr Keidar doesn’t agree. He says Israel captures world attention because of its geopolitical importance. “It is considered a holy place by Christians and is the only democracy in the Middle East.”
“There is also curiosity that such a small country without natural resources is one of the most successful in the Middle East and has probably the highest of number Nobel laureates in science.”
Pull strings
Though influential, Israeli diplomats prefer to pull their strings behind the curtains, away from the megaphone.
One may not have seen Israel’s hand in efforts to broker peace following the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya at a time when diplomats from the European Union, Britain, and the United States were visible and vocal. Israelis were at the centre of the conversation but only exercised their influence behind closed doors.
And during that time Mr Keidar learnt two attributes Kenyans share with his countrymen: resilience and optimism.
He says that despite the odds, Kenyans seemed hopeful that a peace deal would be struck.
Mr Keidar compares the Kenyan spirit with the Israeli attitude that the suggested two-state solution for the Middle-East conflict will come to fruition.
The solution envisages Palestinian and Israeli states existing side by side in peace.
He also points out that the problems facing the grand coalition are not unique to Kenya. Israel has been run by coalition governments since 1948.
“There will be difficulties and delays in a coalition but always ensure that there is movement,” he said. The diplomat describes negotiation and compromise as the lifeblood of any political coalition.
AFRICA / AU :
Le président érythréen est persuadé que les États-Unis veulent le tuer
Le président de l’Érythrée, Isaias Afewerki, « pense que les États-Unis vont tenter de le tuer en lançant un missile sur sa maison de Massawa », selon une note diplomatique révélée mercredi dernier par WikiLeaks.
Dans ce câble, l’ancien ambassadeur américain, Ronald McMullen, rapporte également que M. Afewerki est persuadé que le Premier ministre éthiopien, Meles Zenawi, a également tenté de le faire tuer en 1996. M. McMullen rapporte ainsi que Meles a offert à Isaias l’un de ses avions en 1996 pour le raccompagner en Érythrée lors d’une escale à Addis-Abeba après des vacances passées au Kenya. « Isaias a accepté l’offre. En route, l’avion a pris feu mais a réussi à faire demi-tour et à atterrir sans problème à Addis-Abeba », peut-on lire dans le télégramme. Un porte-parole du gouvernement éthiopien a démenti cette information, estimant que cette rumeur était « sans fondement ».
Côte d’Ivoire: Gbagbo exige le départ de l’ONU et de la force française
Source:AFP — date: 18-Dec-2010 / ABIDJAN-Laurent Gbagbo a exigé samedi le départ “immédiat” de Côte d’Ivoire des Casques bleus de l’Onuci et de la force militaire française Licorne, alors que la communauté internationale lui enjoint de céder le pouvoir au plus vite à son rival Alassane .
Cette annonce intervient au moment où une reprise de la quasi-guerre civile de 2002-2003 – qui avait conduit à l’envoi de ces forces d’interposition – est de plus en plus redoutée par les Ivoiriens comme à l’extérieur.
Après l’élection controversée du 28 novembre, Gbagbo et Ouattara, reconnu président par l’ONU et la France notamment, se disputent le pouvoir. Leur duel a déjà débouché jeudi sur des violences ayant fait au moins onze morts et des scènes de guerre à Abidjan et dans l’intérieur du pays.
Le gouvernement “s’oppose d’ores et déjà au renouvellement de cette opération qui expire le (lundi) 20 décembre 2010”, accusant l’Onuci d’avoir soutenu ces derniers jours des éléments de l’ex-rébellion des Forces nouvelles (FN), alliée à Ouattara.
“La récréation est terminée!”, a déclaré plus tôt à l’AFP Charles Blé Goudé, leader de la jeunesse pro-Gbagbo, illustrant le durcissement de son camp, de plus en plus isolé sur la scène internationale tandis qu’il semble garder les commandes dans le pays.
“Nous allons défendre la dignité et la souveraineté de notre pays jusqu’à la dernière goutte de notre sueur”, a affirmé le chef des “jeunes patriotes” et ministre de la Jeunesse de Gbagbo.
“Je demande à tous les Ivoiriens de s’apprêter à livrer ce combat, on va libérer totalement notre pays”, a poursuivi celui qui fut le fer de lance de violentes manifestations anti-françaises en 2003 et 2004 et reste soumis à des sanctions de l’ONU.
Un rassemblement des “jeunes patriotes” était prévu samedi après-midi dans le quartier pro-Gbagbo de Yopougon à Abidjan.
Autre signe d’une montée de la tension: une patrouille de l’Onuci, puis le siège même de l’opération à Abidjan, ont essuyé dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi des tirs d'”hommes armés vêtus de tenues militaires et voyageant dans un véhicule civil”, a annoncé l’Onuci.
L’ONU, l’Union africaine, la Communauté économique des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest (Cédéao) ainsi que l’Union européenne et les Etats-Unis – qui ont brandi la menace de sanctions – ont haussé le ton ces dernières heures pour obtenir le départ de Gbagbo.
Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy, qui compte 15.000 ressortissants dans le pays, a prévenu que Gbagbo devait partir “avant la fin de la semaine”. Sinon, il figurera “nommément” avec son épouse Simone sur la liste des personnes visées par des sanctions de l’UE, a-t-il dit.
En visite vendredi à Abidjan, le président de la Commission de l’UA, Jean Ping, avait remis à Gbagbo une lettre du président en exercice de la Cédéao, le chef de l’Etat nigérian Goodluck Jonathan, lui demandant de quitter le pouvoir “immédiatement”.
Côté Ouattara, on n’entend pas relâcher la pression, malgré l’échec d’une tentative de marche sur la RTI et le siège du gouvernement, aux mains du camp adverse.
La marche a été réprimée dans le sang jeudi par les Forces de défense et de sécurité (FDS) fidèles à Gbagbo et le bilan de cette journée se situe entre 11 et une trentaine de morts, manifestants, FN et FDS, selon diverses sources.
Si vendredi les partisans de Ouattara sont restés chez eux, la coalition qui le soutient les a cependant exhortés à demeurer “mobilisés”.
Après avoir été la veille quasiment une ville morte, Abidjan restait calme samedi, mais certains quartiers populaires comme Treichville (sud) s’animaient peu à peu.
UN /ONU :
Gbagbo orders UN peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast
18/12/2010 –ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — The man who refuses to step down from the presidency ordered thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast immediately on Saturday, calling the global body that has endorsed his political rival an “agent of destabilization.”
The move was the latest act of political defiance by Laurent Gbagbo, who has been in power since 2000 and maintains he is the rightful winner of last month’s runoff vote in the West African nation despite growing international pressure on him to concede defeat.
The statement read on state television came just two days after as many as 30 people were killed in street violence in Ivory Coast. Earlier Saturday, masked gunmen opened fire on the U.N. base; no one from the U.N. was harmed in the attack.
Gbagbo’s spokeswoman said Saturday that the U.N. mission known as UNOCI has not remained neutral in the election dispute and accused it of arming the New Forces rebels allied with opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.
The United Nations certified results showing that Ouattara had won by “an irrefutable margin.” The U.N. had been invited by the country itself to supervise the vote and certify the outcome following a peace accord after Ivory Coast’s 2002-2003 civil war.
“The state of Ivory Coast considers that the UNOCI has shown itself to be guilty of serious misconduct, which indubitably proves that it is an agent of destabilization and contributes to the further division of the Ivorian people,” she said.
In New York, U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy was holding an emergency meeting of his department’s crisis team to discuss a response to Gbagbo’s request, said a U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It remains unclear what weight Gbagbo’s demand would have since the U.N. doesn’t consider him to be president. There are about 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the country, and about 800 of them have been protecting the compound from which Ouattara is trying to govern the country.
Gbagbo also called for the departure of about 900 French forces who have been supporting the U.N. peacekeepers.
While the United States, France and the African Union have endorsed Ouattara as the rightful winner of the election, Gbagbo maintains control of both the military and state media.
Earlier Saturday, masked men in military uniforms opened fire on the U.N. base after following guards back from a patrol, the U.N. mission said. No one at the U.N. was harmed in the shooting.
The six armed men in a civilian vehicle shot at the patrol as it entered the mission compound early Saturday and continued firing along the wall of the compound, the U.N. mission said in a statement. The U.N. guards returned fire.
Saturday’s violence comes just two days after as many as 30 people were killed during violent protests. Ouattara called on his supporters on Thursday to seize key state institutions that Gbagbo has refused to let go of. Police and troops loyal to Gbagbo prevented Ouattara’s supporters from marching on government buildings Friday.
International pressure is growing on Gbagbo to give up his claim to power in this nation that was once an economic hub because of its role as the world’s top cocoa producer. The civil war split Ivory Coast in a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south, and many had hoped that the election would help reunite the country.
While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattara still draws his support from the northern half of the country where he was born while Gbagbo’s power base is in the south.
Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out half a million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriated residents there who have long felt they are treated as foreigners in their own country by southerners.
National identity remains at the heart of the divide. The question of who would even be allowed to vote in this long-awaited election took years to settle as officials tried to differentiate between Ivorians with roots in neighboring countries and foreigners.
Ouattara had himself been prevented from running in previous elections after accusations that he was not Ivorian, and that he was of Burkinabe origin.
Laurent Gbagbo demande le départ immmédiat de l’Onu et des forces françaises
18/12 2010 – Nations Unies – euronews
http://fr.euronews.net/2010/12/18/laurent-gbagbo-demande-le-depart-immmediat-de-l-onu-et-des-forces-francaises/
Le président ivoirien sortant contesté qui a prêté serment le 6 décembre dernier estime que les casques bleus ne sont plus crédibles.
“Le président de la République de Côte d’Ivoire vient de demander le départ immédiat du territoire ivoirien de l’Onuci et des forces françaises qui la soutiennent”, déclare sa porte-parole à la télévision d’Etat.
Laurent Gbagbo s’oppose d’ores et déjà au renouvellement de cette opération qui compte près de 11 000 hommes et qui expire ce lundi 20 décembre. Le siège de l’Onuci a essuyé des tirs dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi.
Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy l’a appelé hier à céder le pouvoir à son rival Alassane Ouattara faute de quoi il s’exposera à des sanctions.
Alassane Ouattara a été déclaré vainqueur de la présidentielle du 28 novembre par la commission électorale. Et la communauté internationale l’a reconnu comme le président élu.
Les tentatives de médiation ont échoué. Et les partisans de Gbagbo et de Ouattara semblent prêts à en découdre. Le climat ambiant de guerre civile fait craindre le pire. Jeudi déjà, des violences ont endeuillé Abidjan après des affrontements qui ont fait entre onze et une trentaine de morts.
USA :
Afrique-USA : Les Etats-Unis et l’Afrique du Sud ont signé un accord-cadre de partenariat pour lutter contre le VIH/Sida
LIBREVILLE, 18 décembre (Infosplusgabon) – Les Etats-Unis et l’Afrique du Sud ont signé récemment un accord-cadre de partenariat qui va orienter les efforts futurs de lutte contre le VIH/SIDA en Afrique du Sud.
L’accord a été signé au cours d’une cérémonie à Washington DC par la Secrétaire d’Etat américaine, Hillary Rodham Clinton et la ministre sud-africaine de la Coopération et des Relations Internationales, Maite Nkoana Mashabane.
Selon un communiqué du Département d’Etat, ce partenariat dans le cadre du Plan d’urgence du président américain pour la lutte contre le SIDA (PEPFAR) prévoit un programme stratégique commun de coopération sur cinq ans entre le gouvernement d’Afrique du Sud, le gouvernement américain et d’autres partenaires.
“Nous sommes à un point où l’Afrique du Sud renverse la tendance du VIH/SIDA. C’est un moment passionnant et nous passons déjà en revue les études faites par le gouvernement sud-africain qui montrent que l’infection au VIH recule chez les jeunes. Nous voulons faire de notre mieux pour être un bon partenaire”, a déclaré Mme Clinton.
“Nous travaillons ensemble à relancer des relations bilatérales très fortes et très importantes élevées à un autre niveau par ce partenariat et ce dialogue stratégiques que nous avons consolidés en signant cet accord – dans cette salle même – au mois d’avril”, a pour sa part indiqué Mme Mashabane.
Ce partenariat soutient les objectifs de la stratégie nationale sud-africaine de lutte contre le VIH/SIDA, tout en contribuant aux objectifs internationaux du PEPFAR en matière de prévention, de prise en charge et de traitement.
Ce cadre de partenariat met l’accent sur la durabilité, l’expertise locale, la coordination et la responsabilité dans la lutte contre le SIDA.
Le Cadre du PEPFAR va s’appuyer sur le soutien américain actuel aux efforts de l’Afrique du Sud pour la prévention, le traitement et la prise en charge du VIH pour des millions de personnes dans ce pays.
Pour la seule année 2010, les financements du PEPFAR ont permis à près de 92.000 adultes et enfants en Afrique du Sud d’avoir accès au traitement, tandis que cinq millions de Sud-Africains ont été dépistés pour le VIH et ont bénéficié d’un soutien psychosocial avec l’appui des Etats-Unis.
Le président Barack Obama a fait de la lutte contre le SIDA une pierre angulaire de son Initiative pour la santé mondiale.
Un principe directeur de cette initiative est le soutien à l’appropriation par les pays de cette dernière et à travers ce cadre de partenariat, les Etats-Unis vont aider l’Afrique du Sud à renforcer ses capacités à maintenir ses progrès sur le VIH/SIDA à long terme. (Avec la PANA- FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/AMP/GABON 2010
CANADA :
AUSTRALIA :
EUROPE :
Aide de la Belgique et de la FAO aux agriculteurs africains
Samedi, décembre 18th, 2010 – Centre d’information des Nations Unies
http://mondeactu.com/monde/aide-de-la-belgique-et-de-la-fao-aux-agriculteurs-africains-9619.html
La Belgique vient d’approuver un programme de l’Organisation des Nations Unies flow l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) de 6,6 millions de dollars d’aide d’urgence aux agriculteurs pauvres africains, dans le cadre d’un partenariat qui a totalisé and de 80 millions de dollars au cours des 12 dernières années.
Quelque 2,6 millions de dollars de la Coopération belge flow le développement bénéficieront directement aux familles d’agriculteurs dont les moyens d’existence ont été compromis durant les troubles en République démocratique du Congo. Du manioc et des plants de patates douces ainsi que des outils et des semences seront distribués à 25 000 paysans, selon un communiqué.
En outre, 4 000 autres paysans bénéficieront d’une assistance flow doper leur prolongation de maïs et répondre à la demande du marché. Les coopératives de producteurs recevront une arrangement de base: réparation des machines-outils, des silos à pellet et des routes. Cela facilitera le stockage et le ride des récoltes.
Cette partie du projet sera mise en oeuvre conjointement avec le “Purchase for Progress (P4P)” du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM), également financé standard la Belgique. Le PAM help les agriculteurs en achetant leurs produits qui sont ensuite distribués comme help alimentaire aux personnes qui souffrent de la faim.
Le enclose de la Belgique à la FAO aidera également au retour des anciens soldats et des familles d’agriculteurs qui ont souffert du fait des inondations et de la flambée des prix dans un pays voisin, le Burundi, et ce, dans le cadre d’un programme de 2 millions de dollars qui les aidera à reprendre leurs activités dans les champs. Le reste du enclose belge ira à l’aide aux paysans affectés standard la sécheresse au Niger et en Ethiopie.
La Belgique est l’un des and solides contributeurs aux activités d’urgence de la FAO. Cela est très apprécié et sa dernière démonstration de générosité permettra d’améliorer les moyens d’existence et la sécurité alimentaire de milliers de personnes vulnérables, a déclaré en piece M. Laurent Thomas, directeur de la Division des opérations d’urgence et de la réhabilitation à la FAO.
La Belgique a également contribué à hauteur de 900 000 dollars au Fonds spécial de la FAO flow les activités d’urgence et de réhabilitation qui permet à l’Organisation d’agir promptement dans les situations d’urgence. Depuis 1997, la Belgique a financé and de 105 projets d’urgence et de réhabilitation dans and 20 pays touchés standard des catastrophes.
CHINA :
China enters South African platinum sector
By Simon Mundy in Johannesburg – December 18 2010
China is to enter the South African platinum sector in a transaction worth $877m, its biggest mining investment in the country, as it continues to target Africa as a source of raw materials.
The deal, announced on Friday, will be China’s second-largest investment in the continent outside the energy sector. The state-owned miner Jinchuan Group and the China-Africa Development Fund will take a 45 per cent stake in the junior miner Wesizwe Platinum for $200m, as well as funding a $27m stake for black investors in line with South African black empowerment rules.
The Chinese entities have further committed to raise $650m in project finance to develop Wesizwe’s Frischgewaagd-Ledig mine. Jinchuan – China’s biggest platinum producer, which acquired Canada’s Continental Minerals for $434m in September – will take all platinum group metals produced at the mine.
The investment was a long-term bet in anticipation of growing platinum demand, said Dominic O’Kane at Liberum Capital. China’s hitherto limited interest in African platinum contrasts with its heavy investment in other extractive industries on the continent.
But tighter environmental restrictions, as well as burgeoning automobile markets in China and other developing countries, will increase demand for the metal, which is used in catalytic converters. South Africa has about 80 per cent of the world’s platinum reserves.
“So far they haven’t had a pressing need to strike up strategic alliances with platinum producers – platinum, relative to iron ore or copper, is not such an in-demand metal in China at the moment,” Mr O’Kane said. “But it will be increasingly so over the next 20 years.”
Arthur Matshiatshidi, Wesizwe chief executive, told the Financial Times that the equity investment would be concluded around the beginning of March. The project finance would be drawn down gradually once the equity finance was exhausted, which would be about 18 months later.
Wesizwe had been an “easy kill” for China, Mr Matshiatshidi said. “Our project is generally touted as one of the best unmined resources on the Bushveld Complex [in the north of South Africa] … But the capital markets have been very limited so we didn’t have many funding alternatives to pursue.”
With finance assured, Frischgewaagd-Ledig is expected to begin full production in 2015, with an output of 350,000oz of platinum group metals a year.
Wesizwe – whose share price has fallen by nearly 90 per cent in three years amid shareholder infighting – was unlikely to be the last Chinese investment in South African platinum, said Percy Takunda at Imara SP Reid, a brokerage. “I’d be very surprised if the Chinese just want to come in and participate at that kind of level,” he said, noting that bigger producers such as Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin dominated smaller companies that depend on them to refine their product.
Last week an unnamed Chinese state-owned company held talks on the $100m acquisition of Aurora Empowerment Systems, a troubled gold mining company part-owned by the nephew of Jacob Zuma, South African president. The biggest Chinese investment in South Africa was Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s $5.5bn purchase of a 20 per cent stake in Standard Bank in 2008.
INDIA :
China and India reduce November coal purchases from South Africa
Saturday, 18 Dec 2010 (Sourced from Bloomberg) – Bloomberg reported that China and India imported less coal from South Africa in November as shipments from Richards Bay terminal declined from a record. Chinese purchases fell 2.2% to 844,722 tonnes in November from October and Indian imports fell 25% to 1.63 million tonnes.
Asian coal purchases from South Africa declined 22% to 3.3 million tonnes in November from 4.25 million in October because of a drop in Indian purchases while European imports fell 35% to 1.1 million. Purchases by Asian countries through November this year were about 39.3 million tonnes and Europe imports were 9.6 million.
According to data on the terminal, at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Africa biggest coal export facility, shipments fell 30% in November from a month earlier. The port, on South Africa eastern coast shipped 5.18 million tonnes down from a record volume of 7.38 million in October. The terminal had stocks of 2.98 million tons at the end of last month.
According to data from Hampshire, UK based research firm IHS McCloskey average prices for the fuel shipped through the terminal rose 7.1% in November from October and traded at USD 110 a tonne as of December 10.
India purchases in the first 11 months of this year from South Africa rose 14% to 18.96 million tonnes from a year earlier. Chinese imports climbed to 6.52 million tonnes through November as lower freight rates boosted shipments, compared with 1.52 million tons it imported for the entire 2009.
BRASIL:
EN BREF, CE 18 décembre 2010… AGNEWS /DAM, NY,18/12/2010
