{jcomments on}OMAR, BXL, AGNEWS, le 20 juillet 2010   —Scientists have proclaimed a breakthrough in research into the use of an antiretroviral microbicide which they say could prevent more than 500,000 new HIV infections in South Africa alone over the next decade.

BURUNDI :

Burundian online journalist faces life in prison for treason
cpj.org/2010/07/20

New York, July 19, 2010—Burundian authorities’ arrest on Saturday of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu on treason charges over commentary critical of the country’s security forces is alarming, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. He is being held in Mpimba prison in the capital, Bujumbura.
Kavumbagu, editor of the private online daily Net Press, could face life in prison if convicted over a July 12 story reporting on the deadly July 11 terrorist attacks in neighboring Uganda, defense lawyer Gabriel Sinarinzi told CPJ. The Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the blasts and threatened more attacks against Uganda and Burundi unless they withdrew peacekeeping forces deployed in Somalia, according to news reports. Net Press’ story questioned the ability of Burundian security forces to prevent a potential attack in the country, and accused the forces of looting and killing in Burundi, according to CPJ research.

It’s not clear why Kavumbagu was charged with treason, a war-time offense, and not under Burundi’s press law, according to Sinarinzi. The defense had requested the journalist’s release on bail pending trial, he added. Kavumbagu’s detention violates the Burundian criminal procedure code, which allows pre-trial detention of suspects under limited conditions that do not apply to the journalist’s case, Sinarinzi said.

“The treason charge against Jean Claude Kavumbagu is an extreme form of intimidation,” CPJ East Africa consultant Tom Rhodes said. “The authorities must follow the national press law and release Kavumbagu on bail.”

Police Officer David Nikiza arrested Kavumbagu at his office on Saturday and took him to the office of Magistrate Tabu Renovat, where he was interrogated for two hours, charged with treason, and transferred to Mpimba prison, the journalist’s brother, Jean-Marie Vianney Kavumbagu, told CPJ. The same day, 15 radio stations in Bujumbura broadcasted a simultaneous message calling for Kavumbagu’s release, he said.
Kavumbagu is already battling a government appeal of a March 2009 dismissal of criminal defamation charges over an article that claimed President Pierre Nkurunziza spent an exorbitant amount during his trip to the 2008 summer Olympics in China, according to Sinarinzi.
Tensions in Burundi were high last month during presidential elections in which all opposition candidates withdrew over fears the outcome would be rigged—the incumbent remained as the only choice on the ballot, The Associated Press reported. And authorities expelled Human Rights Watch researcher Neela Ghoshal from Burundi in May after the publication of a report documenting pre-election violence

EAC sends election observer mission to Burundi
www.apanews.net/2010-07-20

APA – Kampala (Uganda) The East African Community (EAC) has sent a 25-member Election Observer Mission toBurundi for the legislative polls to be held in this country on 23 July.

Hon. Lydia Wanyoto Mutende, a Member of East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), heads the 25-member Mission which comprises EALA members ; members of National Assemblies from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania ; members of the EAC Partner States’ Electoral Commissions ; members from the Partner States Human Rights Commissions ; members from the Private Sector ; and officials from the EAC Secretariat.

The EAC mission will assess whether conditions exist for the conduct of elections that allow the people of Burundi to freely express their will. It will also determine whether elections are conducted in accordance with the legal framework for elections in Burundi.

Its other objectives are to determine whether the final results of the electoral process as a whole reflect the wishes of the people of Burundi, among others.

The EAC Election Observer Mission is in Burundi at the invitation of the National Independent Electoral Commission of Burundi (CENI). A similar mission was in the country last month to monitor the presidential elections held on 28 June.

RWANDA

Collateral damage
SUSAN THOMSON /www.mg.co.za/Jul 20 2010

In five weeks, Rwandans will go to the polls to elect a president. The incumbent, Paul Kagame, head of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, continues to exert total control over the country’s election process.

Kagame, who came to power as the leader of a rebel army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), that ended the 1994 genocide, legitimised his rule in 2003 when he won the presidential elections with 95% of the vote. Anywhere else in Africa, and indeed the world, such a result would indicate that Kagame was hardly elected in free and fair elections. Despite the fact that Amnesty International, the European Union, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations found serious irregularities and widespread oppression in the elections, Kagame won praise from major donors such as the United States and the United Kingdom for his thoughtful and benevolent leadership of Rwanda’s rebirth as a model recipient of international aid.

In advance of the upcoming presidential elections, many within the international community have remained supportive of Rwanda’s so-called “democratic transition”. They seem to ignore the widespread arrests of journalists and opposition politicians, the closing of independent Rwandan newspapers, ejection of a Human Rights Watch researcher, an assassination attempt against exiled General Kayumba Nyamasa who had a falling out with Kagame, and the killing of journalist Jean-Leonard Rugambage who attempted to report on the assassination attempt in the online version of a Rwandan newspaper whose print edition had been closed down by the government.

‘No government is perfect’
While diplomats and policymakers from some countries, like Sweden and The Netherlands, have cut their aid, others like the United States and the United Kingdom continue to publicly support Kagame. As an American diplomat currently based in Kigali said, “Of course this government is not perfect. But no government is. The position of many in the diplomatic corps is to gently nudge the RPF towards democracy.” In other words, key donors like the US and the UK view the continued harassment and intimidation of political opponents and critical journalists as par for the course in the transition from civil war and genocide to democracy.

While diplomats quietly acknowledge this repression of elites, there is no public acknowledgement of the impact of the elections on average Rwandans.

In Rwanda, politics is the preserve of elite actors, who represent about 10% of the population. Average Rwandans such as rural farmers, teachers, nurses, low level civil servants, traders, or soldiers who make up the remaining 90% of the population have virtually no say in politics. In November 2009 a group of rural farmers resident in southern Rwanda sought to register a new political party to put forward their own presidential candidate. Several of them were arrested without charge, and the presumed organisers remain in prison; the rest fled to neighbouring Burundi. Indeed, average Rwandans are the first to suffer when elites use all available tactics to gain political power. As the Swahili proverb goes, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”.

Silencing critical voices
A climate of fear and insecurity predominates in the everyday life of average Rwandans. Anyone who questions RPF policies or its treatment of its opposition and critics can be beaten, harrassed or intimidated into submission. Those who are perceived as sympathetic to the political opposition can be arrested, “disappeared”, or like Rugambage, murdered. The number of political prisoners as well as those who have disappeared is unknown. Human Rights Watch reports that repression of political freedoms in a strategy of the RPF to “silence critical voices and independent reporting before the elections”.

The strategy of repression means that none of the three main opposition parties — Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, FDU-Inkingi and PS-Imberakuri — are able to take part in the elections. Distant family members of opposition politicians and critical journalists find themselves under constant surveillance. As a result, the vast majority of the population waits silently and anxiously for the elections, hoping that they are perceived as model citizens so as to avoid attracting unwanted attention from government loyalists.

Rwandans are more than skeptical about the government’s commitment to democracy. They recognise the upcoming presidential elections as a form of social control to ensure they vote for the right party (meaning Kagame’s RPF). As an aide to the minister of local government said, “In 2010, the people will also vote as we instruct them. This means that those who vote against us understand that they can be left behind. To embrace democracy is to embrace the development ideas of President Kagame”.

Average Rwandans interpret democracy as a form of repression. A male university student told me, “Oh, we understand that voting is not something done freely. Since the middle of 2009, students are told to take an oath of loyalty to the RPF. This means that we have to join the RPF — if we don’t we don’t have any opportunities to get a job or get married or have any kind of life really. In Rwanda, democracy means to understand that the power of the RPF is absolute.” A rural woman who lost her husband in the 1994 genocide told me a similar tale, “Democracy is something the government says we need when they fear losing their power. We heard this before the genocide, and we hear it now. Democracy would be OK if regular people like me could actually participate rather than being told whom to vote for and when.”

For average Rwandans, democracy is the domain of the elite, who intimidate and harass the rural population into parroting the so-called democratic ideals of the RPF. This democracy is an alienating and oppressive daily reality — something which could crystallise into violence in early August 2010 when Rwandans go to the polls again. The words of a Rwandan colleague are emblematic, “Anyone who has the means to do so is getting out of the country. For those of us who can’t , we just hope the elections are without violence. When the government can imprison or kill anyone they please, we are all nervous because it means none of us is safe …”.

Susan Thomson is a Five Colleges Professor, funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts. She has been researching state-society relations in Rwanda since 1996 and is the author of numerous publications on the country.

Politician’s burial as Kagame kicks off Rwanda campaign
20 July 2010/www.bbc.co.uk

Campaigning has begun in Rwanda ahead of presidential elections next month, in which President Paul Kagame is widely expected to retain power.

The run-up to the 9 August election has been marred by violence and intimidation of opposition politicians.

The vice-president of the Democratic Green Party, Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, was found murdered last week and is to be buried shortly.

The government has denied involvement in the killing.

But BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says such events have left many worried about the human rights situation in Rwanda.

‘Not stupid’

The election campaign could hardly be getting off to a more inauspicious start, he says

Just hours before supporters of Mr Kagame are expected to fill a stadium for the first of many political rallies, Mr Rwisereka is to be buried.

His almost decapitated body was found in Butare in the south of Rwanda after he was reported missing.

Like several other opposition parties, his party cannot compete in the elections, and it claims that the government has blocked its registration.

Our correspondent says there have been other worrying events in recent months, including the murder of a prominent journalist, the attempted assassination of a former army general, and numerous arrests amid reports of splits within the Rwandan military.

The government denies it has moved to crush the opposition and points to a smear campaign.

“We certainly might not be a model government for a lot of people, but we’re not a stupid government, and we will not try to kill three people in a row right before election – an election in which we believe strongly that President Paul Kagame would win,” Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told the AP news agency.

But our correspondent says not everyone is convinced.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a full investigation into what human rights groups say are politically motivated attacks.

“In my view these are not elections,” former speaker of the Rwandan parliament and government critic Joseph Sebarenzi told the BBC.

“Elections suppose competition and in Rwanda today you don’t have that competition because the leaders of political parties have been put in prison, other political parties were prevented from presenting their candidate because they were not registered. Those who are running are friends of Kagame,” he said.

But this was strongly denied by Rwanda’s High Commissioner to London Ernest Rwamucyo, who said that the rules to register for elections were clearly set out.

“All those who fulfilled the requirements have been registered and are standing for election… They will be free and fair,” he told the BBC.

He also denied that the candidates were government stooges.

In the first election since the 1994 genocide, seven years ago, Mr Kagame won more than 90% of the votes.

He is also expected to win easily this time, for what is due to be a final seven-year term in office.

Mr Kagame has many admirers in the international community who praise him for rebuilding Rwanda following the 1994 genocide.

Some of his supporters say he is just the no-nonsense military strongman the country needs, given that Rwanda lies in such a troubled neighbourhood.

But our correspondent says allegations of oppression are not going away, and some analysts worry just how sustainable the status quo is.

Rwanda minister denies government role in attacks
By EDITH M. LEDERER (AP)/20072010

NEW YORK — Rwanda’s foreign minister on Monday vehemently denied the government was involved in three recent high-profile attacks on opponents, saying investigators and journalists should be searching for people trying to create chaos ahead of upcoming elections.

Critics claim the Rwandan government is cracking down on dissent ahead of the Aug. 9 presidential election, citing the killings of opposition journalist Jean-Leonard Rugambage and opposition leader Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, the shooting of dissident former Rwandan general Kayumba Nyamwasa, as well as the arrest of American defense lawyer Peter Erlinder.

“We certainly might not be a model government for a lot of people, but we’re not a stupid government, and we will not try to kill three people in a row right before election, an election in which we believe strongly that President Paul Kagame would win,” Louise Mushikiwabo said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Since at least 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the minister said the country has developed a reputation for being secure, which is important for its survival and rebuilding, “so we’re not going to, for no good reason, to start creating instability in the region.”

“We have no motive whatsoever,” Mushikiwabo said. “The question we should be posing is, who really benefits from this state of affairs? Who benefits from instability and fear in Rwanda? Certainly not this government and certainly not Paul Kagame.”

“For sure we know that somebody wants to create chaos and trouble for Rwanda before our elections, so we are on high security alert,” she said.

Mushikiwabo said she still expects the Aug. 9 elections “to take place peacefully” and she said the four presidential candidates starting Tuesday will be out campaigning and talking to voters.

Mushikiwabo said Nyamwasa, the former general who survived after being shot in the stomach near his home in South Africa by assailants, was wanted in Rwanda on charges of creating instability in the country earlier in the year.

“That’s what made him leave the country,” she said. “Rwanda does not want a dead general. Rwanda wants a general who can face trial and defend himself.”

She said there have been arrests in Nyamwasa’s shooting but the government hasn’t heard “anything conclusive” from the South African government.

As for Rugambage, Mushikiwabo said he had been a young soldier in the army that was committing genocide in 1994, served time in prison and became a journalist when he was released. She echoed Rwandan police who said two suspects were arrested and one was related to a person said to have been killed by Rugambage during the genocide.

Mushikiwabo said someone has been taken into custody on suspicion of having murdered Rwisereka, the first vice president of the unregistered Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, whose body was found last Wednesday near the border with Burundi, his head almost detached.

Erlinder, the American lawyer, was arrested in June on a charge of minimizing Rwanda’s genocide but later released on medical grounds.

He disputes the generally accepted version of Rwandan history, which holds that the vast majority of victims were ethnic Tutsis massacred by extremist Hutus. He contends large numbers of Hutus were killed too, maybe more Hutus than Tutsis — a claim not supported by research done by international human rights organizations.

Erlinder returned to his home in Minnesota but Mushikiwabo said “Rwanda expects him to face charges in Rwanda.”

“The substantive case has to be tried so we do expect him to be available when the judicial authorities want him to be in Rwanda,” she said.

Kagame led the Tutsi-dominated force into Rwanda in 1994 that ended the genocide and he has been in power ever since.

Hutu critics say Rwandan law stifles conversation and is bottling up grievances that need to be aired publicly, and one recent report, talking about Hutu refugees in Uganda, said that the ingredients are in place for a return to Hutu-Tutsi conflict.

Mushikiwabo said this will never happen.

“Genocide is a state crime. It’s a crime committed by a state, by leaders. There is no way that Rwandans today — I’m talking about 10 million Rwandans living in Rwanda today — would allow any leader at all to brainwash them and take them back to 1994,” she said.

UGANDA

AU summit kicks-off in Uganda
20 Jul 2010/www.bizcommunity.com

PRETORIA: The 15th Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union (AU) got underway in Kampala, Uganda, on Monday (19 July 2010), under the theme ‘Maternal, infant and child health and development in Africa’.
According to the AU website, the draft agenda of the Session will include the 20th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) from 19-20 July.

It said the 17th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council will also be held from July 22-23.

As a sideline event, the Government of Uganda hosted an African Youth Forum AYF alongside the 15th AU Summit from 17-19 July under the theme ‘Maternal, infant and child health: African youth call for action’.

Expressing her anticipation in an interview, the AU commissioner for social affairs, Bience Gawanas, said: “It is important for the AU, our leaders and the continent that the July summit should not just be an end in itself, but a means to an end… this summit will not aim for just another declaration.

“We are looking forward to an outcome that will make a real difference – not just another commitment,” she said.

President Jacob Zuma, who is currently on a working visit to Libya, is expected to attend the summit from next week when heads of state and government convene their session from 25-27 July.

Many other heads of state are scheduled to participate in the summit that is also expected to focus on peace and security, infrastructure, energy and food security.

Ugandan authorities have assured that country was ready to host a safe summit despite the recent al-Shahab-inspired suicide bombings that killed more than 70 people.

Uganda Government News: FDC says is till opposed to UPDF deployment in Somalia
20100720/www.ugpulse.com

The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has said it will stay opposed to the deployment of Ugandan armed forces in Somalia until all countries fulfill their pledges.

The FDC also urges African leaders meeting at the Munyonyo African Union summit to force other countries to send forces to Somalia if there is to be any commendable change in the state in Somalia.

The FDC Party spokesman, Wafula Oguttu however is pessimistic that the African leaders sitting at Munyonyo can do anything in regard to forcing other states to send troops.

Uganda and Burundi remain the only African countries that have so far deployed troops in Somalia and they are willing to send more. The Al Shabaab terrorists last week bombed Kampala killing over 70 people. The terrorists punished Uganda for sending troops to Somalia.

After Uganda Blasts – An Interview with President Obama
Mahdi Haile/www.americanchronicle.com/July 20, 2010

After Uganda Blasts – An Interview with President Obama.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

Internal Transcript received By Mahdi Haile From The White House. July 13, 2010

INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT

BY SOUTH AFRICAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Diplomatic Reception Room

3:45 P.M. EDT

Q Mr. President, you reached out yesterday to President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, pledging U.S. support after the twin bombings in Kampala. Can you share some of the details of that conversation with us?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I expressed, obviously most immediately, the condolences of the American people for this horrific crime that had been committed. And I told the President that the United States was going to be fully supportive of a thorough investigation of what had happened.

Al Shabaab has now taken credit, taken responsibility for this atrocity, and we are going to redouble our efforts, working with Uganda, working with the African Union, to make sure that organizations like this are not able to kill Africans with impunity.

And it was so tragic and ironic to see an explosion like this take place when people in Africa were celebrating and watching the World Cup take place in South Africa. On the one hand, you have a vision of an Africa on the move, an Africa that is unified, an Africa that is modernizing and creating opportunities; and on the other hand, you´ve got a vision of al Qaeda and Al Shabaab that is about destruction and death. And I think it presents a pretty clear contrast in terms of the future that most Africans want for themselves and their children. And we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to support those who want to build, as opposed to want to destroy.

Q These attacks are very much about what is happening in Somalia today. How does that change, if at all, the game plan of the United States with regard to the Transitional Government that is in power there?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, obviously Somalia has gone through a generation now of war, of conflict. The Transitional

Government there is still getting its footing. But what we know is that if Al Shabaab takes more and more control within Somalia, that it is going to be exporting violence the way it just did in Uganda. And so we’ve got to have a multinational effort. This is not something that the United States should do alone, that Uganda or others should do alone, but rather the African Union, in its mission in Somalia, working with the Transitional Government to try to stabilize the situation and start putting that country on a pathway that provides opportunity for people, as opposed to creating a breeding ground for terrorism.

Q Former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania — you might know him — Charles Stith — has just written a piece about radical Islam in Africa specifically, and I’d like to quote something from it. He says, “It became clear to me that the dirty little secret that no one wanted to discuss openly was political Islam´s corrosive effect and adverse impact on development and stability on the African continent. It is inarguable that Islam is a factor in Africa.”

In your view, are there strategies in place to deal with this?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think — look, Islam is a great religion. It is one that has prospered side by side with other religions within Africa. And one of the great strengths of Africa is its diversity not only of faith, but of races and ethnicities. But what you have seen in terms of radical Islam is an approach that says that any efforts to modernize, any efforts to provide basic human rights, any efforts to democratize are somehow anti-Islam. And I think that is absolutely wrong. I think the vast majority of people of the Islamic faith reject that. I think the people of Africa reject it.

And what you´ve seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself. They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains.

And that´s why it´s so important, even as we deal with organizations like Al Shabaab militarily, that, more importantly, we also are dealing with the development agenda and building on models of countries like South Africa that are trying to move in the right direction, that have successful entrepreneurs, that have democracy and have basic human freedoms — that we highlight those as an example whereby Africans can seize their own destiny, and hopefully the United States can be an effective partner in that.

Q So this is a link to poverty, that´s what you´re saying.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it´s not just link to poverty. I mean, I think there´s an ideological component to it that also has to be rejected. There´s — obviously young people, if they don´t have opportunity, are more vulnerable to these misguided ideologies, but we also have to directly confront the fact that issues like a anti-democratic, anti-free speech, anti-freedom of religion agenda, which is what an organization like Al Shabaab promotes, also often goes hand in hand with violence.

Q Sudan. The International Criminal Court has added the charges of genocide to the arrest warrant of Sudan´s President Omar al-Bashir. There´s a view in Africa, certainly with the African Union, that the pursuit of President Bashir will be undermining or detrimental to the Doha peace process. What´s your view?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, my view is that the ICC has put forward an arrest warrant. We think that it is important for the government of Sudan to cooperate with the ICC. We think that it is also important that people are held accountable for the actions that took place in Darfur that resulted in, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of lives being lost.

And so there has to be accountability, there has to be transparency. Obviously we are active in trying to make sure that Sudan is stabilized; that humanitarian aid continues to go in there; that efforts with respect to a referendum and the possibility of Southern Sudan gaining independence under the agreement that was brokered, that that moves forward.

So it is a balance that has to be struck. We want to move forward in a constructive fashion in Sudan, but we also think that there has to be accountability, and so we are fully supportive of the ICC.

Q Is peace not at risk if he were to present himself to the ICC?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that peace is at risk if there´s no transparency and accountability of the actions that are taking place, whether it´s in Sudan or anywhere else in the world.

Q The World Cup, Mr. President, you mentioned that. To a certain extent, I imagine around the world, it was overshadowed by what happened in Uganda. But South Africa was basking in the glory of having successfully hosted this World Cup. But let´s acknowledge the skeptics — and there were quite a few of them and they were quite loud. I wonder if you were one of them.

THE PRESIDENT: No, I wasn´t. I, having visited South Africa and seen the extraordinary vitality of the people there, having gotten to know President Zuma and understanding the extraordinary pride that his administration expressed, which I think was a pride that was shared by all South Africans, I had confidence that this was going to be a success.

Obviously, it was just a terrific s
howcase, not just for South Africa, but for Africa as a whole, because what it lifted up was the fact that Africa — all the stereotypes that it suffers under, all the false perspectives about Africa capacity, that when given an opportunity, Africa is a continent full of leaders, entrepreneurs, governments that can operate effectively. What we now have to do is build on that positive image that comes out of the World Cup.

And when I was in Ghana last year, I was very clear on what I think the agenda has to be — Africa for Africans. That means that we can be partners with Africans, but ultimately, on whether it´s issues of eliminating corruption, ensuring smooth transitions of democratic governments, making sure that businesses are able to thrive and prosper and that markets are working for the smallest farmer and not just the most well-connected person — those are issues that Africans can work on together.

And in terms of my orientation working to help in Africa´s development, we want to provide resources, but we want to partner with those who are interested in growing their own capacity over time and not having a long-term dependency on foreign aid.

Q You also spoke in Ghana about the need to stop the blame game.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. Well, look, I feel very strongly that — you talk to the average person in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria; they will acknowledge a tragic history in terms of colonialism and negative Western influences. But I think what they´ll also acknowledge is their biggest problem right now is the policeman who´s shaking them down, or the inability for them to be able to get a telephone in a timely fashion in their office, or having to pay a bribe. Those are the impediments to development right now. And those are things that Africans can solve if there is a determination and there´s strong leadership.

And Nelson Mandela set us on a path in understanding the standards of leadership that are needed, and I think those standards can be met. And you´re seeing countries around the continent who are starting to meet those high standards that are so necessary to ultimately help the people.

Q I want to talk about President — former President Nelson Mandela in a second, but before that, let´s just touch on this bid, the U.S. bid for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. How serious are Americans about soccer? My sense is that they´re feeling fairly partial to it.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, listen, I think that you saw a quantum leap this year because of the excellence of the U.S. team. It´s absolutely true that they call baseball the national pastime here in the United States; that basketball is obviously a homegrown invention; and we dominate American football. Those are all sports that developed here and that the United States is obsessed with.

Soccer is a late entry. But what you saw with the U.S. team was huge enthusiasm of the sort that I haven´t seen about soccer before. And the younger generation is much more focused on soccer than the older generation. I mean, my daughters, they play soccer, they paid attention to who was doing what in the World Cup. And so I think what you´re going to continue to see is a growing enthusiasm and I think people are very serious about the World Cup being hosted here in the United States.

Q I want to touch on AIDS. Mr. President, there´s been a great deal of appreciation and goodwill towards the United States for the Global Health Initiative, of which PEPFAR is the cornerstone. Some criticism, though, from AIDS groups in South Africa that there´s a de facto decrease in funding, even though there´s a 2.3 percent increase. How do you respond to that? It´s based on inflation. Inflation in developing countries tends to be higher than it is in the United States. It´s a 2.3 percent increase, and they’re saying it´s a de facto decrease.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have to say that we are seeing not a decrease, but an increase in PEPFAR, an increase in the Global Health Initiative. And I promise you when I´m fighting for that budget here in the United States, people don’t see it as a decrease. They see it as an increase. They understand we´re putting more money into it, and it´s the right thing to do.

What we do want to make sure of is that as successful as PEPFAR has been, as important as it is for us to, for example, get antiviral drugs in there, that we´re also helping to build up capacity — consistent with what I said earlier.

So, for example, what are we doing in terms of creating public health systems and infrastructure in a place like South Africa so that the incidents of infection are reduced? We´re not just treating the disease itself, but we´re also doing a much better job in terms of general public health so that fewer people are getting infected in the first place.

I think that kind of reorientation you´re going to start seeing in some areas. We´ll continue to provide increases in antiviral drugs, continue to provide millions of rand, billions of U.S. dollars to basis assistance, but we also want to build capacity at the same time.

Q Final question, Mr. President. Nelson Mandela will be 92 on Sunday. Your thoughts?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, he looked terrific, first of all.

Q Didn’t he?

THE PRESIDENT: And when I spoke to him on the phone after the tragic loss of his granddaughter, he sounded as clear and charming as he always has been.

And he continues to be a model of leadership not just for South Africa, but for the world. So we celebrate him here in the United States, as you do in South Africa. We wish him all the best. And we are constantly reminded that his legacy of seeing every person as important, and not making distinctions based on race or class but the degree to which they are people of character — that’s a good guidepost for how all of us should operate as leaders.

And so I wish him all the best. And South Africa continues, I think, to be blessed by not just a national treasure but a world treasure.

Q Well, South Africans wish you best. Thank you very much. Very good to meet you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I enjoyed it.

TANZANIA:

‘Yes’ push hots up ahead of Z’bar referendum
Tuesday, 20 July 2010 /By Salma Said, Zanzibar/thecitizen.co.tz

Supporters of the referendum slated for July 31 have launched massive campaign to rally people behind their move as those opposed to the proposition of forming a government of national unity fail to come in the open.

The ‘yes’ camp campaign was launched in Pemba on Sunday in a well attended concert and yesterday a number of rallies were held in various areas in the island to sensitize people to give a not to the proposals contained in the referendum.

The concert was partly funded by the Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD). Some of the funds provided by the Centre were used to purchase campaign materials such as posters.

Addressing one such rally, the Civic United Front (CUF) secretary general, Mr Seif Shariff Hamad, said ‘yes’ vote in the referendum would help to cement Zanzibar unity.

He said Zanzibar has reached a point where it needs a government of national unity to solve its prolonged political problems.

“The government of national unity is needed for the interests of Zanzibaris and the country,” he said noting that the referendum was historical move which has been facilitated by the House Representative enactment of the law.

According to Maalim Seif, what is sought in Zanzibat was the government of national unity and not a coalition government as purported by some people.

Explaining, he said the coalition government is formed in a situation where an election fail to produce an outright winner like what happened in UK in May.

“As opposed to that situation, the government of unity is formed after agreements that participants of the election should be given chance to participate in the resultant government,” he said.

He rallied Pemba residents to vote ‘yes’ for the referendum as it would help to solve long standing political problems, which were source of economic and social hardships experienced by Zanzibaris for many years.

He noted that Zanzibar had had seven elections, four before 1964 revolution and three after the revolution but none has managed to uncontested results.

He said the new system which has been agreed would ensure that all parties which participate in the election were given chance to participate in the unity government.

“If people vote yes, the House of Representatives will meet on August 9 to make necessary constitutional changes that would officially recognise the new governing system where we will have a president and two vice presidents, the first from the party which takes second slot in the election and second, who will also be the leader of government business in the House of Representatives will come from the winning party,” he clarified.

In the meantime, six members of a team formed by the House of Representatives continues with giving voter education, reports have emerged that there are several leaders who have been misleading wananchi on the meaning of the referendum.

This was said during a two days symposium held in malindi where some participants said street leaders, (Shehas) and some representatives have been misleading people on referendum.

The participants were also amazed by the stance shown by some representatives who supported the referendum motion when it was brought in the house for debate but were now campaigning against it, albeit underground.

Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations in Tanzania and UNDP Resident Representative, Albéric Kacou, said yesterday that the organisation was not supporting any camp in the ongoing referendum campaigns in Zanzibar.

A statement issued yesterday quoted him as saying the upcoming July 31 Zanzibar referendum “is a positive step forward and avails all Zanzibaris with an opportunity to contribute to the design of the future government of Zanzibar.”

“No matter what the referendum outcome may be, the United Nations in Tanzania stands ready to assist the elected government of Zanzibar to face future development challenges,” he added.

The UN Head also emphasised the importance of voting in the referendum, noting that high participation will lend credibility to the referendum result. The United Nations, through the multi-donor UNDP Elections Support Project, is providing technical assistance to the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC).

ZEC is solely responsible for organising and managing the July 31 Zanzibar referendum. UNDP technical assistance for the referendum includes the purchase of ink, stamps, ballot papers and ballot boxes; software for the speedy and transparent reporting of results; funds for training of ZEC poll workers and funds for information material about when and where to vote on referendum day. Most of the funds for the referendum are provided by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.

The UNDP Resident Representative informed that the UNDP logos seen on some voter information material is a signal of funding support only. He emphasised that UNDP is not responsible for the content of voter education material and that UNDP has no role in referendum organisation or management, tasks managed entirely by ZEC.

Mr Kacou also said he was impressed by ZEC’s level of preparedness for the referendum, which it achieved in a very short time after being given the mandate to conduct the referendum only in June.

DC ask for the support for talented children
Tuesday, 20 July 2010/By The Citizen Reporter, Arusha

Arusha district commissioner Raymond Mushi has stressed the need to support talented children pursue education to the ultimate end without hitches.

He said it would be a grave mistake if children with talents lose support midway in their studies because of lack of support from parents or guardians.

He specifically cited brilliant kids forced out of school because their parents could not pay for their education or because of shortage of teachers or books.

He said he also sympathised with those with a passion for science or female students who could be talented but lacked other necessary support to finish studies.

Mr. Mushi made the remarks when officiating at a graduation ceremony for induction course for students expected to join the Arusha Technical College (ATC).

He said education was a key to the development of any country and that Tanzania was not spared being part of the increasingly globalised world.

He pointed out that the fourth phase government embarked on a programme to have a secondary school in each ward as one strategies to access education to as many children as possible.

The DC added that without good foundation in education Tanzania cannot have the required human resources to spearhead national development.

Greater emphasis on human resource development would be in the technical fields for which students must embrace science subjects.

Mr.Mushi revealed that the government intends to expand industrial production during 2010 to 2020, adding that the strategy cannot be accomplished without serious investment in technical training.

“Expansion of the industrial sector needs scientific knowledge, modern technologies and technical skills which must be derived from serious training” noted the DC.

He called on the society to avoid a situation where talented children will be forced out of school or access to education and challenged schools and colleges to attract more students to science subjects.

Mr.Mushi, who is an engineer, blamed peop
le who often mislead students, especially females, that science subjects such as Mathematics, were difficult.

He added that female students should be encouraged to take science subjects because they were equally as competent as their male counterparts once given the opportunity.

The 62 female students who graduated on Saturday would now qualify to pursue ordinary diploma course at the college.

The five best onces would be sponsored by the Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) In their message they called on the college to construct more hostels for male students.

Govt not reducing human trafficking’
Tuesday, 20 July 2010 /By Bernard Lugongo/thecitizen.co.tz

The Government has not fully complied with the minimum standards for reducing human trafficking, a new report argues.

The report which was issued by the US embassy in Dar es Salaam says the government made little progress in implementing its 2008 anti-trafficking law.

Though the situation was rampant, the government had never convicted a human trafficking offender. It charged only one suspected trafficker and achieved no conviction.

The report states that incidence of internal human trafficking was higher than that of transnational trafficking, which is usually facilitated by family members, friends, and brokers’ offers of assistance with education or finding lucrative employment in urban areas.

“The use of young girls for forced domestic labor continued to be country’s largest human trafficking problem,” the report says.

That was, in part, due to poor inter-ministerial coordination and lack of understanding of what constitutes human trafficking.

“Most government officials remain unfamiliar with the act’s provisions or their responsibility to address trafficking,” the report notes.

Moreover, the ministries involved in anti-trafficking efforts failed to communicate or cooperate with each other and had no budgetary resources allocated to combating the crime.

Reacting to the report, the foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Minister Bernard Membe told The Citizen on phone that the Government was aware of the problem, and extremely against it.

He said the Government was making an effort to fight the problem as stipulated in country’s law.

“We would not like to see children in our neighbouring countries denied their rights such as education as they trafficked in our country to forced labour,” Mr Membe said.

He said the ministry would continue fighting the problem through, apart from enforcing law, providing education over the human trafficking using mass media.

But the report points out that girls from rural areas of Iringa, Singida, Dodoma, Mbeya, Morogoro, and Bukoba regions were taken to urban centers and Zanzibar for domestic servitude and some domestic workers fleeing abusive employers had fallen to forced prostitution.

For the past year, the report says, trafficking victims, primarily children, from Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda were identified in the country, particularly in the agricultural, mining, and domestic service sectors.

Malawian men were subjected to forced labor as fishermen on countries’ lakes. Indian women legally migrated to Tanzania for work as entertainers in restaurants and nightclubs; some were reportedly forced into prostitution after their arrival.

Small numbers of Somali and Chinese women were also subjected to conditions of commercial sexual exploitation in the country.

Citizens of neighboring countries might have voluntarily migrated through Tanzania before being forced into domestic servitude and prostitution in South Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, says the report.

The US Embassy recommended that the Government must enforce the Anti- Trafficking in Persons Act by prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders.

Cash reward with counselling may help fight STIs
2010-07-20/(ANI)

Giving cash rewards along with counselling might prove effective in combating sexually transmitted infections in rural Africa, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the Development Research Group at the World Bank and the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania found that people who were offered up to 60 dollars each over 12 months to stay free of STIs had a 25 percent lower prevalence of those infections after a year compared to those who were not eligible for the money.

“Although we cannot directly measure risky behavior, the fact that disease prevalence decreased suggests that the incentives worked,” said study author Will Dow, UC Berkeley professor of health economics.

The conditional cash transfer program is becoming an increasingly popular concept in the public health field that essentially rewards desirable behaviour with money.

“This study is the first to show that cash rewards can reduce STI prevalence, and is a key step in determining whether it is worthwhile to launch a larger study to test whether cash rewards could in fact slow the HIV epidemic,” said Dow.

While the impact of the cash incentives did not differ between males and females, the impact was larger among people with lower incomes.

CONGO RDC :

UK – MFA – Democratic Republic of Congo: business, economy and growth
www.isria.com/20_July_2010

Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham and the International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien visit the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The visit will focus on the economy, the business climate and promoting growth in DRC. Discussions will focus on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals; getting the most impact from UK aid; the upcoming elections in DRC; and stabilisation in the east of the country. This will be the first time Henry Bellingham and Stephen O’Brien have visited the country since their appointments.

The Ministers will take part a number of meetings and talks with Congolese ministers and parliamentarians. These will include a round table hosted by Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito and a meeting with Vice Prime Minister Lumanu to discuss human rights, security sector reform and the forthcoming elections in DRC. They will meet with the Minister of International Cooperation to discuss the impact of British aid.

Following their meetings in Kinshasa, the Ministers will witness first hand the stabilisation work of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the country (MONUSCO) and see a series of UK funded development projects.

Abuse Allegations Reported in Peacekeeping Missions
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR/www.nytimes.com/July 20, 2010

There have been 45 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against personnel in United Nations peacekeeping and special political missions worldwide this year, with 18 involving minors, according to United Nations statistics. Most cases remain under investigation.

Of the 39 reported to countries that contribute peacekeeping troops, as well as other member states, the United Nations has received responses in just 13. The standard policy is to repatriate the personnel involved, with discipline left to individual governments.

The bulk of the cases, as in previous years, involve peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But that might be partly attributed to a particularly aggressive radio campaign by the discipline team there, as well as greater interaction by the troops with the local population than in most missions, the spokesman for peacekeeping operations, Nick Birnback, said.

KENYA :

ANGOLA :

Holding of CPLP s summit is opportune- São Tomé s President
www.portalangop.co.ao/7/20/10

Sao Tomé – The President of São Tomé and Prince, Fradique de Menezes said Monday that the 8th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP, to be held Friday in Luanda represents a good opportunity to discuss specific matters of the community.

Speaking to the Angolan press at the capital city of São Tomé, Fredique de Menezes said that at the meeting it will be discussed issues related to the internal situation of each member country, general problems and cooperation among them.

According to the São Tomean Head of State, he will not take to the summit any specific issue, but he intends to call on more developed countries to increase their support to the least developed nations, making, thus, a solid front in order to achieve the solidarity which is intended.

To Fradique de Menezes, it is “fundamental to create a true community of partnership and solidarity.

The Portuguese-speaking community comprises São Tomé and Princípe, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Portugal, Brazil and East Timor.

Govt to pay off debt to firms, impose rigour in budget
www.portalangop.co.ao/7/20/10

Luanda – The Angolan government processed in June this year the payment of 1.0 billion US dollars related to the debt of firms operating in the national market in 2008/2009 period, following the world economic and financial crisis, ANGOP has learnt.

A press note from the Ministry of Finance says that the global amount of the debt is 9.0 billion US dollars.

According to the document, Angola is determined to impose a greater rigour and transparency to the execution of the state budget, by reorganising and improving the public financial management, with highlight to the rules of execution of the 2010 budget, passed by a presidential decree dated March 24, 2010.

It also comprises the ongoing disposals of the recommendations from Ernest Young, a consulting multinational firm, hired by the Angolan government to support the reorganisation of public finance.

“The goal is to put an end to a series of practices of budgetary managers that are confused with the mistakes and habits of the past that President José Eduardo dos Santos wants managers to abandon”, says the press note.

Early this year, President José Eduardo dos Santos reaffirmed his policy of Zero Tolerance, with regard to these mistakes and vices, by determining a new era with adoption of new working methods, another discipline, new conscience and profile in the public manager, which must be suitable to their responsibilities.

SOUTH AFRICA:

South Africa: Scientists Proclaim Breakthrough in HIV Prevention
20 July 2010/allafrica.com

Cape Town — Scientists have proclaimed a breakthrough in research into the use of an antiretroviral microbicide which they say could prevent more than 500,000 new HIV infections in South Africa alone over the next decade.

The scientists, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, and Columbia University, New York, say that an experiment with a trial group of South African women shows that those who used a vaginal gel containing tenofovir, an antiretroviral drug, were 39 percent less likely to become infected with HIV during sex than those who did not use it.

They say the gel was also 51 percent effective in preventing genital herpes infections in the women participating in the trial. The scientists noted that women with genital herpes run a high risk of HIV infection.

Making their announcement jointly in Durban and at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, they said it was “an important scientific breakthrough in the fight against HIV and genital herpes.”

If the research results are confirmed in further studies, the gel could revolutionize the lives of women whose partners fail to practise safe sex.

“Tenofovir gel could fill an important HIV prevention gap by empowering women who are unable to successfully negotiate mutual faithfulness or condom use with their male partners,” said Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University.

The trial with the gel was carried out by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), a joint UKZN-Columbia University research institute based at the UKZN’s medical school.

The 889 women from KwaZulu-Natal who took part were told to use the gel up to 12 hours before, and soon after, having sex. They used it over a period of between 12 and 30 months.

Of the 889, 98 became HIV positive over the course of the experiment. Of those who used the gel, 38 became HIV positive, while of those who used a placebo, 60 became HIV positive.

“Women who used the gel in more than 80 percent of their sex acts had a 54 percent reduction in HIV infections,” the researchers said, “whereas those who used the gel in less than half of their sex acts had a 28 percent reduction in HIV infections.”

Of 434 women who tested negative for herpes, 29 who used the gel became infected, as against 58 who used a placebo.

“The reduced rates of HIV and herpes infections among the women who used the tenofovir gel are statistically significant,” the researchers added.

Dr. Salim S. Abdool Karim, director of CAPRISA and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, said the trial results were “a significant first step toward establishing the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs for HIV and genital herpes prevention; confirmatory studies are now urgently needed.”

The scientists said all participants in the trials were given HIV risk-reduction counselling, condoms and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. They added: “The trial team observed no substantive safety concerns from use of the gel. Further, no increase in risky behavior was observed in the women…

“All volunteers to the study who tested HIV positive were provided care including ARV treatment at the CAPRISA clinics and women who became infected during the study were enrolled into CAPRISA studies and/or the CAPRISA AIDS treatment program at their respective sites for ongoing care and support.”

Aquarius Rises as South Africa Clarifies Mines Order
Bloomberg /July 20, 2010

July 20 (Bloomberg) — Aquarius Platinum Ltd., the fourth- largest producer of the metal, rose the most in almost two years in Johannesburg trading after South Africa’s government said a mines safety directive wasn’t intended to halt mining.

Aquarius climbed as much as 19 percent to 31 rand, the biggest intraday gain since August 6, 2008, and traded at 28.50 rand as of 11:15 a.m. local time. The stock jumped the most in a year in Sydney and London.

The shares sank yesterday after South Africa announced new rules affecting mines in the platinum-rich North West province, following the death of five miners this month. The government subsequently cleared up “misunderstandings” in a meeting with Anglo Platinum Ltd., Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Xstrata Plc and Aquarius, according to the Department of Mineral Resources.

“The meeting with the DMR was positive and constructive,” Aquarius said in a statement today. “The company is, together with its international mining consultant, reviewing mine design and support parameters to present best-practice guidelines to the DMR in respect of each of its mines individually.”

Safety Measures

The North West province’s principal safety officer issued the directive to reduce the width of rock between supporting pillars underground by 40 percent to 6 meters (20 feet) to help prevent rock collapses, Aquarius said in a July 16 statement. The DMR said yesterday it wanted companies to present safety measures, not to stop mining.

Aquarius climbed as much as 17 percent to 265.9 pence in London, the biggest intraday gain since April 9, 2009, and traded at 244.5 pence as of 10:18 a.m. local time. The stock advanced 14 percent to close at A$4.51 on the Australian stock exchange, also the largest jump since April 2009.

The safety directive was issued after five workers were crushed to death at the Marikana platinum mine owned by Bermuda- based Aquarius and Anglo Platinum. Last year, nine workers died in an accident at Impala’s Shaft 14 at the Impala Lease Area mine. South Africa is the world’s biggest platinum producer.

–Editors: Alastair Reed, Vernon Wessels.

MTN Group and Arieso sign multinational deal for network planning and optimisation
www.realwire.com/20 July 2010

Framework agreement covers 21 operators, 123M+ subscribers across Africa and Middle East

20 July 2010, Newbury, UK– Arieso, a leading provider of location-aware network management solutions for mobile operators, has signed a framework agreement with MTN Group, the multi-national telecoms provider with operating companies in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle East.

The agreement makes Arieso the preferred supplier of software and systems for subscriber-centric network design, planning and optimisation to MTN Group. Under the terms of the agreement, all 21 of MTN’s operating companies can use Arieso’s full suite of mobile network planning and optimisation solutions to manage and improve the performance of their 2G and 3G networks.

Arieso’s mobile network management technologies deliver ongoing business benefits for mobile operators who are experiencing high growth in data traffic, but whose radio network quality is suffering because of insufficient network capacity. Arieso solutions use location-aware subscriber information to quickly and precisely improve network performance and quality of service to the subscriber, based on actual end-user experience.

Commenting on Arieso’s selection, Navi Naidoo, General Manager of Network Technology at MTN Group, said, “MTN is committed to providing the highest standards of mobile voice and high-speed data services to our customers everywhere. Our rapid growth across different markets – together with the explosion in demand for mobile broadband in Africa and the Middle East – means we need powerful, scalable solutions that help us actively manage and optimize our networks. Arieso’s ground-breaking technology addresses this need, according to end-user requirements and our own CAPEX and OPEX guidelines.”

Arieso solutions enable a mobile operator to monitor and improve network performance on an ongoing basis, according to the precise location of subscribers and their user patterns. In this way, the operator can deliver an optimal mobile end-user experience for its subscribers – wherever they are, whatever they’re doing, in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible.

MTN Group is one of the world’s fastest growing operator groups. It serves more than 123 million 2G and 3G subscribers[1] across 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East – including South Africa, Botswana, Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Rwanda, Sudan, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Yemen.

“Our group-wide agreement with MTN is a significant step forward in Arieso’s ongoing global expansion,” said Shirin Dehghan, CEO of Arieso. “This agreement puts Arieso at the heart of some of the world’s most exciting, fast-moving and competitive mobile markets in Africa and the Middle East. We now look forward to working with the various MTN operators to deliver enhanced network performance and improved subscriber experience to all their customers.”

[1] 123,580,000 subscribers as of March 31 2010 (source: MTN Group)

# # #

About Arieso
Arieso has grown rapidly to become one the of world’s leading providers of mobile network management software solutions that enable operators to continuously and accurately direct investment to meet the increasing demand for rapidly growing data services. A superior alternative to outdated optimisation methods, the company’s ariesoGEO technology delivers location-aware subscriber information to quickly and precisely boost network performance and enrich user experience. Arieso delivers proven carrier grade solutions that are robust, reliable and highly scalable. Clients include global Tier-1 operators such as MTN, AT&T, O2, Telefonica and Vodafone.

About the MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN”. As at 31 March 2010, MTN recorded 123,5 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East.
 

South Africa: Government Lends a Neighbourly Hand to Rural Communities
Hopewell Radebe/Businessday/20 July 2010

Johannesburg — THE government is speeding up rural development programmes to stop villages and other settlements from turning into ghost towns.

Rural Development and Land Reform Deputy Minister Joe Phaahla says efforts are being made not only to prevent the acceleration of urbanisation, but to improve infrastructure to help revive the economies of rural communities.

“Rural development is being undertaken not to save cities from being flooded by jobless rural communities but to ensure that people understand there is a quality of life in a rural setting that could be driven by agricultural activities through normal farming and agri-processing industries,” he says.

Mr Phaahla says that the model for rural development is all-encompassing to ensure those choosing to stay and farm the land are not denied the pleasures of social engagement through things such as sports, arts and culture. “They equally deserve to have facilities where such activities can take place.”

This means that people should have the opportunity to work in the tourism or entertainment sectors within their rural communities.

Michael Aliber, an agricultural economist at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, says the approach to rural development pilots needs to be rethought.

“The available information about these pilots is inadequate, but from the crumbs that fall our way we suspect there are serious questions regarding the scope of the approach that is presently under way,” he says.

Mr Phaahla says the department has a particular interest in small towns that are falling apart due to basic amenities that are not maintained and collapsing infrastructure. “They are part of our mandate because they provide the opportunity for the state to establish offices that co-ordinate social needs while facilitating trade.

“Towns that were key to agricultural or mining activities which have slowly fallen apart due to mine closures or diversion of resources are being assessed to ensure their sources of economy are diversified.”

Asked why the state continues to keep such towns alive when the economic reason for their existence has disappeared , Mr Phaahla says even though some were created for ideological reasons or specific economic activity, the state has to make sure every avenue is explored to rebuild them.

“We have been told we are wasting valuable time and resources and advised that we should shut down certain towns and move people to areas deemed economically viable and sustainable, but we don’t want an artificial way of stopping migration to cities.

“There must be an organic growth and natural movement towards urbanisation. Any social engineering attempts would not be sustainable,” he says.

“The state will not follow the apartheid style of moving people. Instead, we will endeavour to invest in rural economies to ensure the quality of life in those areas is acceptable.”

Mr Phaahla says the potential for development of rural economy remains largely untapped and conditions for entrepreneurship to thrive have not been properly explored.

Commercial agriculture has been the focus of the government in the past, with no “strategic interventions to help ordinary people” fill the supply gaps with small-scale and subsistence farming adventures.

Ruth Hall, senior researcher for the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, says that Mr Phaahla is right: it is not the government’s business to shut down towns and move people to new settlements.

“People may choose to stay or go, depending on opportunities available. Ours is an urbanising society, but even while the proportion of people living in rural areas is in decline, the absolute number of the rural poor continues to rise, and we urgently need a decisive policy response,” Ms Hall says.

Although rural development is one of the top priorities of this government, she says, there is a lot of confusion about what rural development is and how to bring it about.

According to Ms Hall, every rural development intervention must enable a larger share of the money coming into rural communities to circulate within them, building local economies as people buy goods and services from each other. That must be at the heart of our rural development efforts.

“Because the most significant resources and skills in rural areas relate to farming, supporting small-scale farmers must be the central thrust of rural development.” Ms Hall also says the state should focus on regulation to limit concentration of ownership and monopoly power in the commercial sector and in agri-business.

It should also provide generic support to small producers to enable them to improve their productivity and income.

South Africa: Mudslinging Halts Communications Parade of Progress
Thabiso Mochiko/Businessday/20 July 2010

Johannesburg — MORE allegations of interference in tenders, cancellation of an advertising contract, and a staff exodus have arisen from the turmoil that has rocked the Department of Communications.

The relationship between Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and his director-general, Mamodupi Mohlala, has reached breaking point after it emerged last week that he had changed her responsibilities and scaled back her powers regarding tenders, curbs that allegedly would benefit people close to the minister.

The dispute between Ms Mohlala and Gen Nyanda threatens to paralyse the department, which has the task of overseeing key projects such as SA’s migration to digital broadcasting.

Since the two took up office last year, the communications industry has witnessed a positive shake-up, with mobile operators forced to lower termination rates, and the implementation of turnaround strategies for the SABC and Sentech. The two seemed to make a good team, but the relationship has clearly soured.

“They both have strong personalities and neither is willing to compromise. This whole matter should have been handled better and it might even need political intervention,” says a source close to the dispute.

So tense is the relationship between the two that the industry, staff and suppliers are afraid to speak on the record for fear of being victimised.

A part from an exodus of staff and operational changes such as centralisation of the tender process, the pair are also said to be at loggerheads over policy issues.

There are allegations that Ms Mohlala overstepped her boundaries by making announcements on policy matters and issuing policy directives about the lowering of cellphone rates and Telkom ‘s black economic empowerment (BEE) status. Directives of this sort are the responsibility of the minister as departmental political head.

Ms Mohlala has dismissed these allegations, saying there was no transgression as policy matters also fall within her job description and that “expressing a policy intent is not a policy directive”.

With regard to the alleged cancellation of a multimillion-rand advertising contract awarded to Draft FCB last year to raise public awareness about digital migration, Ms Mohlala says the department is in possession of a forensic audit report that questions the conduct of both department staff and the service provider in failing to fulfil the contract’s requirements.

“We have therefore instituted a disciplinary process against the aff
ected staff and are seeking legal advice about the manner in which the contract can be cancelled with limited consequences for (the department),” she said.

Responses such as these suggest that the ministry was aware of all this, yet no intervention or action was taken internally. Instead it elected to spend millions on consultants and lawyers.

“The minister would not want to be seen as meddling in operational issues. The policy matters were unfortunately not addressed adequately,” said a ministry source.

A spokesman for Gen Nyanda, Tiyani Rihkotso, said “the ministry will not address internal organisational matters and processes in the media”.

Regarding allegations of interference in tenders from the departmental and state-owned entities that fall within the communications department, Gen Nyanda has strongly denied the claims.

However, he has issued instructions to suspend all tenders that have been issued or are about to be issued until they are discussed with him and approved by him.

Gen Nyanda is also under political pressure regarding allegations that his company, General Nyanda Security, has been embroiled in the tender saga that resulted in the dismissal of the CEO of Transnet’s Freight Rail division, Siyabonga Gama.
 

Migrants attacked in South Africa
Tue, Jul 20, 2010/Reuters

JOHANNESBURG – South African residents have attacked migrants from African countries in a Johannesburg township, injuring at least five people and increasing concerns of a wave of xenophobia after the soccer World Cup.

Local media said four of those injured at Kya Sands were from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The fifth was a South African who said his attackers refused to believe he was a local.

Tensions have long been building between South Africans and millions of foreign migrants they accuse of taking jobs and homes, but open animosity appeared to be put on hold during the World Cup as South Africa showed its best face to the world.

A spate of attacks on foreign workers in 2008 killed 62 people and damaged investor confidence. Another wave could wreck the positive image that Africa’s biggest economy was able to portray during the soccer tournament.

Running battles erupted late on Monday at Kya Sands after a robbery inside the township sparked anger between locals and foreigners, the Eye Witness News website said. It took police several hours to quell the unrest.

Eye Witness News said two men had deep cuts to their heads. One said he had been attacked with an axe. A woman was carried out on her husband’s back, saying she had failed to outrun a mob and had been kicked in the chest.

Foreign migrants are estimated to make up more than 10 percent of South Africa’s population of about 49 million. Many are Zimbabweans who fled economic collapse at home.

AFRICA / AU :

AU summit opens in Uganda amid tight security, Peace and Security high on agenda
English.news.cn/Editor: Mu Xuequan /Xinhua/2010-07-20

KAMPALA, July 19 (Xinhua) — African Union (AU) Summit opened here on Monday amid heightened security following last week’s terror attacks in the capital city of Kampala with peace and security likely to overshadow the official theme, maternal and child health.

The nine-day summit kicked off at Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo, in a Kampala suburb, with the opening of the 20th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee attended by AU Commission chairperson Jean Ping.

As the delegates accessed to the venue, security screening were put in place at various key points and intensified military and police patrol were heavily deployed in all roads leading to the venue.

Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s Foreign Minister said following terror attacks in Kampala African states must work together for the establishment of peace and security in affected parts of Africa, including the fight against terrorism.

“We surely cannot allow the terrorists to succeed in their mission of instilling fear and panic among the population,” said Kutesa, who is also second vice chairperson of the executive council of the AU.

“We all want a peaceful Africa, a secure Africa and a prosperous Africa,” he said adding, “It is indeed all the more reason we are here to find the permanent solutions to the various challenges hindering the socio-economic transformation of Africa.”

The July 11 twin bomb explosions at a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant where hundreds of football fans were watching the World Cup final killed over 70 people. Somali militant group al Shabaab with known links with al Qaida has claimed responsibility of the deadly attacks.

Ugandan police have arrested over 20 suspects in relation to the attacks believed to be carried out by two suspected suicide bombers, one Ugandan and one Somali, whose reconstructed photos with the help of American and Israeli investigators were made public on Sunday for more leads.

Four Ethiopians detained by the police last week were released after being questioned. Some Pakistanis were still in police custody for having contact with al Shabaab.

“I am sure that your respective foreign affairs ministers and heads of state and government will show solidarity by turning up to attend the executive council and the summit,” said Kutesa.

The theme of the summit is “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”, which is in line with the Millennium Development Goals the AU member states subscribe to achieve by 2015.

Others to be discussed include peace and security, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and food security. The 20th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council convenes on 22-23 July and the 15th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government will be held on July 25-27.

Patrick Guma, Uganda’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said over 40 heads of state and government have confirmed attendance while 49 delegations from 53 member states arrived here for the meet.

African leaders must walk the talk on maternal health –Chaka Chaka
Tuesday, 20 July 2010 /www.independent.co.ug

This week heads of states from the African continent will be in Kampala for the e 15th African Union (AU) summit which will focus on maternal, child and infant health. African states have a high maternal and infant mortality rates, and it remains to be seen what these leaders can do more to prevent thousands of deaths per year on the continent.

Maternal health was incorporated in the Millennium Development Goals but evidence indicates that it may not be easy for developing countries like Uganda to achieve this goal. In Uganda, the figures have not changed much over the years with 527 out of 100,000 births died in 1995, 507 in 2001 and 435 in 2005.

The main causes of maternal mortality in Uganda is reported to include haemorrhage, obstructed labour, and ruptured uterus, sepsis and hypertensive disorders. In Uganda, few women deliver from health facilities with professional health workers. According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, the proportion of mothers delivering in health facilities has been persistently low. The numbers increased from 38% in 1995 to 42% in 2006.

The African leaders have been called upon to “walk the talk” in improving lives of mothers. The UNICEF goodwill ambassador and singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka who will attend the summit to address the leaders had a talk with The Independent’s Rosebell Kagumire.

Essien: I Am Honoured By My AU Peace Ambassadorial Role
Date: 20-Jul-2010/sports.peacefmonline.com

Ghana star Michael Essien is best known for his destroying tactics on the pitch, but he will now have to take a slightly different stance off it after being appointed as one of fourteen African Union Peace Ambassadors.

The Chelsea midfielder will work with the AU to promote peace and better security on the African continent, something he is truly delighted about.

Essien told Ghana FA’s website: “I am truly honoured by the African Union’s decision to consider and appoint me a Peace Ambassador.

“I know with my image and experience in the past I can play an important role in fostering peace not only in Africa but throughout the world.

“I will give my all in this new position to help to contribute to peace and security in Africa, which has been a challenge in some areas of our continent.

“This is a very important challenge that needs addressing and I hope I will achieve our aim of fostering peace, love and unity in Africa.”

Essien missed out on the first ever World Cup on African soil due to injury and will view this as his chance to give something back after missing out on the Black Stars’ uplifting showing in South Africa.
 

APRM meeting wants African governments held accountable
By crocodila Kampala : Uganda/www.allvoices.com/Jul 20, 2010

By George Okore:
Civil Society Organizations (CSO) have been challenged to hold African governments accountable so that the continent can realize faster political, social and economic achievements.
The assistant Bishop of Church of Uganda Dr D. Zac Niringiye wants tough international sanctions imposed on leaders who do not meet expectations of its citizens. Giving a key note address during the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) workshop in Kampala, Uganda, the Anglican prelate said African governments must double their commitments to APRM tents of democracy, respect for human rights, fighting corruption and goods governance. He urged government to allow greater access to civil societies to enhance follow up of their national plans of action.
Speaking at the meeting, Ugandan Member of Parliament and Pan African Parliament vice president Mary Mugyeni urged civil societies to play their rightful role in holding African governments accountable. The APRM Civil Society meeting preludes the 15th African Heads of State and Governments Summit which will be held later this week. According to Mr Steven Grudzd of South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), the two forum will review and take stock of relationship between APRM and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) from the African continent. “APRM holds much promise for the continent and it is important that CSO appraise it at this meeting” he said.
At the meeting, the participants noted that lack implementation of APRM in nine African countries which have been successfully been peer reviewed was due to lack of truly effective public participation in the process as the national levels. Since its launch in March 2003, twelve African countries have been successfully peer reviewed and adopted national plan of action to address the challenges identified. These countries include Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Benin and Algeria.
The meeting will also be addressed by renown African Scholars and Speakers like Professor Jinadu Adele Liasu ( Nigera), Ozias Tungwarara ( Zimbabwe), Dr Kenkwenda Mbaya ( DRC), Sabiti Makara ( Tanzania), Gilles Badet ( Benin ), Fatima Zohra Karadja ( Algeria) and Dr Comlan Prosper Deh (Togo).

Africa’s “Child Witches”
www.soschildrensvillages.ca/20/7/2010

– The number of children accused of witchcraft in Africa has risen steadily over the past 20 years. UNICEF remains concerned over this growing child rights problem.

Attacks on, and murders of, young children accused of witchcraft across Africa are on the rise. Most of the accused are boys between the ages of 8 and 12. According to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), those children who are most at risk include orphans, street children, albinos and disabled children – particularly, those suffering from autism or Down’s syndrome.

The report is titled, Children Accused of Witchcraft: An Anthropological Study of Contemporary Practices in Africa.

Allegations of child witchcraft have been over the past couple of decades. Previously it was not uncommon for women, especially the elderly, to be cast out of their communities as witches. It was rare, however, for children to be subject to those same accusations.

UNICEF’s report identifies four categories of child witchcraft. The first is children accused of acts of witchcraft. The second is children who have been killed or exorcized because their bodies have been inhabited by demons. The third involves albino children, and the fourth concerns babies who have been born with complications or whose labours were abnormal or difficult.

“These children may be premature (in the eighth month), or presentation may be in any variety of breech positions, or in the posterior, face‐up position during delivery,” said the report. “Also included are twins, who are sometimes associated with the occult, their birth symbolizing the evil or anger of the gods.”

The countries worst affected by this trend are Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Nigeria, where an exorcism can make a religious leader more than USD$250. In many parts of these countries, albino children are killed so that their body parts may be harvested. Many cultures practicing indigenous religions believe that the hair, skin, eyes and limbs of albino children have magical powers. In other words, witchcraft is a lucrative industry in its own right … making putting an end to it and protecting children from their own communities difficult.
In the DRC’s capital city of Kinshasa, 20 000 street children are accused of witchcraft every year.

If children are not killed or beater, pouring gasoline into their eyes and ears, or forcing them to drink various, potentially unsafe, liquids are among the “remedies” and punishments inflicted upon accused children. Not only are children being physically assaulted, but they face significant emotional and psychological trauma from the exclusion and hatred that comes with being branded as a witch by one’s own family or community.

UNICEF’s report cites continued poverty, especially regarding the financial strain of raising children in the context of dwindling food and employment resources, as the primary reason for the upsurge in allegations of child witchcraft.

UN /ONU :

UN meet to examine Tanzania’s HIV Act
Tuesday, 20 July 2010/By Neville Meena, Citizen Correspondent, Vienna

The HIV/Aids (Prevention and Control) Act enacted in 2008 is to be scrutinised during the 18th International Aids Conference, which opened here yesterday.

The law will be discussed in depth on Thursday, with the focus being on its suitability and applicability as a weapon in the war against HIV/Aids.

A group of experts have already gone through the law, under which people found guilty of spreading the virus with malicious intent can be jailed for between five and ten years.

Discriminating against people living with HIV is another punishable offence under the law, which also provides for penalties against people who deliberately mistreat others simply because they have the virus that causes Aids.

A statement made available to The Citizen said making HIV transmission a criminal offence made it difficult for people living with the virus to help in the implementation of the law.

It said there had been only a handful of reports on stigmatisation of people living with HIV/Aids despite the government’s mobilisation and sensitisation of policymakers, MPs, legal experts, religious leaders and the media.

No conviction has been reported since the law came into force on April 4, 2008.

Health and Social Welfare minister David Mwakyusa in recently in Parliament that the Judiciary and society at large had a pivotal role to play in making the law effective.

The Vienna international has drawn about 20,000 participants, including scientists and health experts, from all over the world.

Tanzania Commission for Aids (Tacaids) executive chairman Fatma Mrisho is leading Tanzania’s delegation, whose size could not be immediately established. However, several countries, including Uganda and South Africa, have sent much larger delegations.

According to the schedule of the seven-day conference, Tanzanian delegates will take part in various discussions.

Human rights activists have been invited to the conference for the first time, and the issues that are expected to be a major talking point is the recent discovery by US scientists of a protein said to be capable of offering protection against HIV. The scientists who made breakthrough in their search for a vaccine have been invited to brief delegates on their research.

The conference started on a cheerful note for Africa country when a UN report released head of the meeting indicated infections in the continent have gone down by 25 per cent.

South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was among prominent delegates who were expected to address the conference’s opening session last night.

While Tanzania’s law on HIV/Aids is under scrutiny in Vienna, the East African Community is in the process of formulating a common law that would be applicable across the region.

Under the envisaged law, all HIV-positive east Africans could access free anti-retroviral treatment even as they move freely from country to country.

This follows the East African Community (EAC) initiative to develop a law to guide the region’s response to HIV/Aids.

This comes as the regional block moves towards an integration process that would see more citizens cross the boarders in the five states of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda.

“With the signing of the protocol on customs union that will enable free movement of persons, you are actually going to see free movement of the virus because people will be interacting more easily as they transact business. The effect of that is that HIV must be seen regionally,” said Catherine Mumma, a Kenyan Human Rights Lawyer, who works with consultancy group Africa Vision Integrated Strategies was quoted as saying last year.

She led a consultation in the EAC states before the drafting of the new proposed law.

Based upon the consultations, the proposed law aims to provide joint treatment policies for people in the region while they move freely across the borders.

The law will allow for a common stance on HIV/Aids, which aims to be non-discriminatory. Currently some countries in the region criminalise the treatment of HIV-positive sex workers and gay men.

It is expected that the proposed law will take on the good parts of the existing laws in the region but also tackle some of the silent issues and make better the areas that are controversial.

For example, Kenya and Tanzania have laws providing for the free treatment and counselling for HIV-positive people.

But one of the controversial areas is the criminalisation of the transmission of HIV/Aids which was included in a law in Uganda.

Another controversial area is that in the Penal Codes of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania prostitutes and gay men, who are considered high risk in HIV/Aids transmission, are not allowed access to treatment.
 

Climate change: vulnerable nations promise to cut emissions
Posted by Graham_Land in Climate & Change, Politics/www.greenfudge.org/2010/07/20

Six nations pledged to either go carbon neutral or low carbon at a meeting this past weekend in the Maldives. All are developing countries and most are low-lying island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels resulting from climate change.

Though these countries contribute almost nothing to climate change, their commitments to cutting greenhouse gases are a strong political statement in the lead-up to the UN climate change meetings in November and December in Mexico.

The government of the Maldives issued this statement, as quoted in an AFP report:

Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands and Samoa all pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions and pursue green growth and development.

Ethiopia, a country of 80 million, aims to become carbon neutral by 2025 by switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy and through reforestation.

From a report in the Asian Tribune:

As a developing country we are committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2021. We are working on establishing a robust measuring-reporting and verifying (MRV) system to set an example for countries that seek low emission development strategies. In future, we also hope to establish an international standard for countries who wish to share the carbon neutral goal.

– Andrei Bourrouet, Vice Minister of Environmental Management and Energy for Costa Rica

Smaller developing nations that are more vulnerable to climate change seek to establish a common position to negotiate from so that their voices may be heard amongst those of powerful industrial giants like the US, Japan, Russia and the EU as well as the large developing or ‘BASIC’ nations of Brazil, South Africa, India and China.

Graham Land

‘Groundbreaking’ gel halves HIV infection rates
By Simon Lauder/www.abc.net.au/2010/07/20

Tests in South Africa have shown that a gel containing an anti-AIDS drug can cut HIV infection rates in half when used before and after unprotected sex.

Scientists made the announcement at the World Conference on HIV/AIDS in Austria, which is grappling with the fraught question of how to use dwindling global funds to save more lives.

A recent UN report found HIV is now the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age and up to 70 per cent of women worldwide have been forced to have unprotected sex.

United Nations AIDS program chief scientific adviser Catherine Hankins says the tests using the gel are an exciting development.

“There has not been a product or a method yet that was designed specifically for women,” she said.

“This is a method that women can use in 12 hours before sex and then they put in a second dose after sex.”

In a three-year study involving about 900 women, South Africa’s Centre for the AIDS Program of Research managed to cut the rate of infection by 50 per cent over a year and by 39 per cent over two-and-a-half-years.

Dr Hankins told the BBC this is the first product for women which specifically targets HIV.

“This gel is the first one that actually contains an anti-retroviral against HIV in it. So it’s specific for HIV,” she said.

“It’s a real groundbreaking step forward to have the kind of results we’re seeing here.”

The findings have to be replicated in much bigger tests and safety studies also have to be done before the gel will be made widely available.

UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe says he wants a greater focus on having babies born HIV-free in the developing world, with an end to mother-to-child transmission by 2015.

“There are 400,000 babies born every year in Africa with HIV when we know in the rest of the world we don’t have any more transmission from mother to child,” he said.

The International AIDS Conference has already heard concerns about the effect of the global financial crisis on international donations to fight the disease, but there are also concerns about how existing funds are being spent.

Former US president Bill Clinton told the 20,000 scientists, health workers and activists at the conference that not enough of the funding is being spent on saving lives.

“Too much is spent on studies and reports that sit on shelves and maybe when we’ve got all the money in the world this is regrettable but not tragic, but keep in mind every dollar we waste today puts a life at risk,” he said.

Mr Clinton says a new funding model should be created in the fight against AIDS to ensure money goes where it is needed.

The conference has heard AIDS has killed 25 million people worldwide and more than 33 million are infected with HIV, which causes the disease.

Developed countries stop using arm-twisting measures in FTAs: UN Special Rapporteur
mardi 20 juillet 2010/by admin /www.thaindian.com

By Bobby Ramakant, Citizen News Service (CNS)

IN GUATEMALA THE PRICES OF SOME DRUGS WENT UP BY 845,000 TIMES

The European Union’s actions are a direct threat to access to safe, effective and affordable medicines across the developing world. The European Union is demanding longer patents through free trade agreements (FTAs), longer than demanded by the World Trade Organization. Negotiations on drug price with over 90 low income countries become difficult with patents, for example, in countries like Guatemala the prices of some drugs went up by 845,000 times.

European Commission (EC) is demanding such patents from 90 developing countries, including one of the poorest nations in the world. EC is also negotiating such an agreement with India, and want the negotiation to be done by end of this year. “We all know India produces 92% of generic medicines in the world, and what would happen to those countries that rely from imports from India, if India agrees to EC” wondered Sanya Reid Smith from Third World Network.

Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Health said: “In the year 2000, the price of one year of ART was USD 15,000 that was brought down to USD 80 per year due to generic competition. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) through TRIPS mandated that every country should have patents for 20 years, and also gave the flexibility to developing countries. But through TRIPS Plus/ free trade agreements (FTAs) what developed countries like US, Japan or regions like EU are trying to do actually goes beyond TRIPS. For example, with TRIPS the patent term was for 20 years, they want patent term extension – so patent term will be for a longer duration than 20 years.”

“They (through FTAs) also want other provisions, linking patents with drug regulatory regimes (patent linkage), through data exclusivity. All these actually impact how generics come into the country – they delay the onset of generics in a country. Instead of allowing competition immediately after the patent term is over, they restrict generic competition. It is because of generic competition that we could have such reduced prices. All such measures are what is called as the ‘TRIPS Plus’ measures, attempt to delay the generic competition” said Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Health.

“These agreements are thrust upon a country when they are not even supposed to have signed TRIPS. For example, countries from the Francophone Africa, they are among the least developed countries in the world, and they were supposed to sign TRIPS by only 2016, but you would not believe it that TRIPS agreement was actually complied with by large number of these countries even before India did. So they have so called ‘good laws’ for the “West” and very bad laws for their own countries” added Anand Grover.

ARM TWISTING MEASURES

———————–

“These negotiations aren’t done across the table in arms’ length negotiations. They are done through special conditions put by developed countries on developing countries, like trade barriers. These are the types of arm twisting measures developed countries resort. So any type of FTAs do not allow access to medicine at an affordable price, but delay generic competition and thereby promote monopoly. My report, which is the first report as UN Special Rapporteur, has highlighted this and I will call upon the developed countries not to use such arm twisting measures” said Anand Grover, who apart from being the UN Special Rapporteur is also a reputed lawyer of Supreme Court of India and heads Lawyers’ Collective.

Without the continued supply of safe, effective and affordable generic HIV medicines, the future of universal access looks bleak. Higher prices mean fewer people on ARVs; for those already on treatment newer treatment will not be available when resistance develops. (CNS)

Bobby Ramakant – Citizen News Service (CNS)

USA :

US State Dept issues travel alert for Uganda due to terrorist threat
July 20/Examiner/Leslie Koch

The US State Department issued a travel alert for Uganda on Friday that warns of possible terrorist attacks in Kampala.

The Ugandan capital was the site of terrorist bombings on July 11 that killed at least 74 people.

The travel alert mentions “the possibility of similar terrorist attacks” during the African Union Summit in Kampala.

The summit began on July 18 at the Speke Munyonyo conference site and is scheduled to end on July 27.

“U.S citizens should maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness,” reads the notice.

Safety precautions

The US State Department warns travelers to avoid large public gatherings in Kampala, as they may be vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

The US Mission recently canceled one of its own events in Kampala due to the threat, according to a message posted by the US Embassy warden on Friday.

The British Foreign Office offers similar advice on its website.

“British nationals should follow the advice of local authorities, exercise caution while travelling around the city and avoid large social gatherings.

“There is a general threat from terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers.”

Americans in Uganda are encouraged to register with the US Embassy in Kamapala

The US Embassy may experience sporadic closings in response to “security developments,” according to the travel alert.

Terrorists oppose African Union mission

The African Union (AU) is an organization of African nations founded in 1999 to support economic development and promote peace, security and stability in the continent.

Uganda was targeted for the July 11 terrorist attacks because it participates in the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Ugandans make up the majority of the mission’s 6,100 peacekeepers.

Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the two bombings in Kamapala, which occurred in a crowded restaurant and a rugby club as patrons were watching the World Cup.

While the terrorist attacks were intended to pressure Uganda into withdrawing its troops, they may have had the opposite effect. President Museveni pledged to send more troops to Somalia after the bombings.

Increased security in Kampala

Uganda has increased security throughout the capital, particularly at conference venues and hotels near the African Union Summit.

However, the US Embassy reminds travelers to be alert.

“At this time, the Ugandan authorities believe the perpetrators of these acts are still at large. We must assume that they continue to have the capability and intent to repeat similar attacks,” reads a message from the US Embassy warden, posted on Friday.

CANADA :

Government of Canada Announces Alliance to Spearhead Global Fight Against HIV
Tue, 20 Jul 2010 /Author : Government of Canada /www.earthtimes.org

VIENNA, AUSTRIA — 07/20/10 — Today, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, on behalf of her colleagues, the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, and the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, and in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced the renewed Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI), which features the creation of the CHVI Research and Development Alliance. The Alliance will enable Canada to be a leading contributor to global efforts in developing a safe, effective, affordable and globally accessible HIV vaccine.

“Through the launch of the CHIV Research and Development Alliance, Canada continues to lead the way in the global fight against HIV and AIDS,” said Minister Aglukkaq. “Today’s announcement reflects our Government’s continuing commitment to help find a cure for this devastating virus which crosses borders, cultures, genders and backgrounds.”

The CHVI Research and Development Alliance is a network in Canada that brings together leading researchers from the public and private sectors, as well as the international community, to develop innovative solutions to the challenges facing HIV vaccine development. The Alliance will focus on scientific excellence and a number of significant investments to help researchers get potential HIV vaccines from the lab to internationally recognized clinical trials.

“Canada has the expertise, experience and resources to make a significant contribution to this global effort to develop HIV vaccines,” said Minister Clement. “For one, the Government of Canada is proud to invest in the development of technology, and engage the world-leading capacities of our private sector to help accelerate the development of an HIV vaccine.”

Another important component of the renewed CHVI is the Government of Canada’s investments, through the Canadian International Development Agency, in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in low and middle-income countries. The investment is intended to help deliver improved access, better services and programs, and a higher level of education about HIV with the goal of reducing the number of HIV positive mothers who transfer the virus to their unborn children. This may help pave the way for the introduction and acceptance of an HIV vaccine when it becomes available.

“As the development of an HIV vaccine will take time, it is important to continue to support global HIV prevention to reduce infection rates,” said Minister Oda. “Our investment demonstrates that we are committed to addressing HIV and contributing to solutions globally to slow its spread.”

The Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recognize that input and support from the HIV research and HIV/AIDS service organization communities, both in Canada and internationally, are integral to making the CHVI a success. Consultations will be organized with these groups in the coming months to gather input on how best to implement the CHVI Research and Development Alliance, and to determine how the Alliance can best contribute to achieving the goals and priorities of the upcoming 2010 Scientific Strategic Plan of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.

“We recognize Canada’s significant contribution to the global effort to find a safe and effective HIV vaccine,” said Dr. Stefano Bertozzi, Director of the HIV Global Health Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This approach marks a significant step forward in the work to find a safe and effective HIV vaccine.”

While the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were developing the Alliance, work on the CHVI’s existing programs has continued.

As part of its $60 million commitment to the CHVI, the Canadian International Development Agency’s has committed $16 million over five years to support research teams in Africa. The teams will work to strengthen the capacity of African researchers and institutions to carry out future HIV/AIDS prevention trials in Africa. CIDA is providing this funding to the Global Health Research Initiative, which is providing, in turn, research grants to support seven Canada-Africa research teams over 2009-2014.

Through the CHVI Emerging Team Grant program, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) recently awarded $2 million over five years to two research teams in Canada. This investment will fund collaborative Canadian research in HIV vaccine discovery and social policy, and will help to facilitate knowledge sharing and capacity building in the research field.

AUSTRALIA :

Sundance’s iron ore project in Cameroon receives environmental approval
20 Jul 2010 /news.alibaba.com

SteelOrbis – Australia-based miner Sundance Resources, which is developing the Mbalam project in Cameroon, has announced that it has received environmental approval from the government of Cameroon for the project.

The Cameroon Ministry of Environment and Natural Protection has issued an environmental compliance certificate for the project after evaluation of the Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) Report submitted by Sundance in March 2010. The authority requested several additional and readily achievable studies be completed to update the company’s ESA.

Sundance’s acting chief executive officer Peter Canterbury said, “The green light from the environmental regulator is a key milestone for the Mbalam project.”

EUROPE :

Ethiopia: €15m to stop hunger, disease
Tuesday 20 July 2010/www.africanews.com/From the European Commission office

The European Commission has adopted a €15 million aid package to address a critical food security situation in Ethiopia where an estimated 5.2 million people will be requiring food assistance this year. Most of the funds will be channeled towards food assistance for disaster affected population.
According to a statement from the EU, the assistance also include food aid, nutrition and short-term food security. Support will also be given to the agricultural and livestock sectors, to safeguard livelihoods and improve food security.

The new funding decision will also provide a response to compounding needs in the health and water and sanitation sectors, to avoid health risks such as the recurrent outbreaks of cholera and meningitis epidemics.

The Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, stated: “The majority of the population in Ethiopia still live far below the poverty line, and is extremely vulnerable to severe changes in weather patterns, droughts, epidemics and protracted internal conflicts. With our multiple interventions we aim not only to provide for a speedy recovery but also to help to communities strengthen their own coping mechanisms.”

In addition to emergency food aid like the one adopted today, disaster risk reduction programmes are a crucial part of the Commission’s overall aid strategy, emphasizing longer term solutions in the form of climate change adaptation and strengthening communities’ own coping mechanisms. In June, the Commission allocated € 20 million to support 6 drought-prone countries in the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia.

Background

In Ethiopia the level of infrastructural development is low and the economy is by and large agrarian. The reliance on rain-fed agriculture means that the population is highly susceptible to seasonal variations and weather conditions. In 2009, the rains showed a below normal amount, late onset, early cessation and poor distribution.

On 31st March, 2010, the Commission adopted a Communication on Humanitarian Food Assistance (See IP/10/404). This lays out a new policy framework for EU humanitarian action to strengthen efforts to tackle food-insecurity in humanitarian crises. In recent years, hunger and malnutrition have increased in the world; in 2010, over 1 billion people are considered to be food insecure.

Of these, approximately 100 million are living in crisis contexts, and face extreme and acute food-insecurity and malnutrition that poses an immediate threat to life. The Communication states that EU Humanitarian Food Assistance will aim to save and preserve life, to protect livelihoods, and to increase resilience for populations facing on-going or forecasted humanitarian food crises, or recovering from them.

SACU summit was not about conflict resolution – Minister
20 July, 2010 /By Teetee Zwane/www.observer.org.sz

MINISTER of Commerce, Industry and Trade Jabulile Mashwama says last week’s meeting of heads of state and governments of SACU member countries was not about resolution of issues surrounding the contentious Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European Union (EU).

She also refuted reports that the outcome of the summit was that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland had “agreed” to follow the “proper” process and that in the meeting South Africa offered to assist the rest of the member countries in the negotiation process.
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) comprises Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and South Africa. Last Thursday and Friday, the heads of state and governments of SACU member states held a summit in Pretoria on achievements and challenges, and also to reflect on future strategies for the oldest customs union in the world.
SACU recently celebrated its 100 years of existence in Namibia and at that centenary celebration the heads of state and governments decided they would hold a summit within three months to provide strategic direction to the council of ministers.
challenges
This summit was also necessitated by emerging challenges that come with the continuous development of activities within several regional economic groupings world-over, hence SACU could not remain static in its approach to ensure that it remains relevant.
Some of the key challenges that had been on the agenda of the customs union were its approach in the EPA negotiations with the EU and the issue of the SACU revenue pool management.
These issues have been on occasion reported to have serious potential of breaking up the customs union and several meetings have been held by the council of ministers to find a way to address these issues, amongst others.
Even though it has been reported on several occasions that these issues had been resolved by the council of ministers’ meetings, it has also been felt that the public persistently saw signs of inconsistency in reporting on the matter.
When asked if the issues were indeed resolved as it was prior reported, Mashwama said “the council of ministers did what they could to ensure that the issues are resolved but clearly there is a need to ensure that the heads of state and governments are involved in these sensitive issues as they are significant to the existence of the union and indeed the welfare of the people of all of the member states.
“The heads of state in their wisdom directed that a summit be held so they could interrogate the matters together as opposed to getting individual feedback from their different ministers. This communicates serious commitment on the part of the heads of state and governments on SACU and its continued existence”.
resolution
On media reports in regional publications which reported that the summit was in fact mainly about the resolution of the EPA issue and that the outcome was that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland had ‘agreed’ to follow the ‘proper’ process and that in the meeting South Africa offered to assist the rest of the member countries in the negotiation process, the minister vehemently denied that as an outcome of the meeting, saying “clearly the SA media’s reliable source is significantly misinformed.
“It should be known that the meeting was about all SACU member states finding a solution in all the 10-plus issues that were brought before the heads of state and governments and no one country was singled out as one to help any other, and to my knowledge no one country has the perfect solution.
isolation
“It is certainly not true that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland agreed to anything in isolation on this matter. This was about finding a win-win approach in all the problems brought before the summit. In fact, the heads of state directed the ministers to develop such strategies and present before the summit before the end of October.
“It would be surprising therefore to hear that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland are found to have agreed to something in isolation.
“ It’s about win-win and that is the clear message that the heads of state directed council to strive for,” added Mashwama.
She said the heads of state and governments actually agreed that SACU should be transformed into a vehicle for regional economic integration capable of promoting equitable development.
The minister concluded by saying that the meeting was very fruitful and the heads of state provided the much needed direction and political will to speedily resolve any issues within the customs union.
Mashwama said she believed that issues such as these were not unique to SACU and believes the customs union’s approach to the issues demonstrates its maturity. She said she was confident that it would certainly play a significant building block within the regional integration agenda.
The next heads of state summit will be held before the end of October.

Ethiopia: European Investment Bank’s clarification of involvement in Gibe 3 project
Tuesday 20 July 2010 /www.afrik-news.com

The European Investment Bank confirms that it is no longer involved in the Gibe III hydroelectric project as the Ethiopian government has found alternative sources of finance. The Bank however reaffirms its strong interest and commitment to supporting the East African energy sector.
“The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting the energy sector across East Africa where technical, environmental and social standards are in place and financing terms are agreed with individual project promoters.” said Plutarchos Sakellaris, European Investment Bank Vice President responsible for Africa.

Prior to any financial engagement the European Investment Bank, the long-term lending institution of the European Union, carries out detailed technical, environmental and social assessments. As part of preliminary consideration of possible financing of the Gibe 3 hydroelectric project the Bank was involved in a range of technical, environmental and social studies both independently and in cooperation with others. and had secured finance for further studies, notably to study the impact of the project and related mitigation measures in the downstream area, including Lake Turkana. Its decision to discontinue its engagement with the project is based on the promoter having found alternative finance and not the results of these preliminary studies.

The European Investment Bank is engaged with key energy infrastructure across the region and examining possible projects to finance. These include cross border inter-connectors and key domestic power links, renewable power generation including wind farms and geothermal energy. Each project will be examined on its individual merit.

The European Investment Bank works closely with governments and relevant ministries, other development finance institutions, the private sector and local and international civil society groups.

The commitment to renewable energy in the region is shown by the long-term financial engagement and Board approval last month of a EUR 119m loan for further financing of the Olkaria geothermal plant.

Cameron WILL meet senators over Lockerbie as David Miliband says bomber’s release was ‘clearly wrong’
By Daniel Bates and James Chapman/www.dailymail.co.uk/ 20th July 2010

Cameron to meet U.S. senators to discuss Lockerbie tonight
PM: There is ‘no daylight’ between Obama and I on al-Megrahi
David Miliband fuels row by declaring release to be ‘wrong’
Hillary Clinton says it is an ‘affront’ to justice and calls for review

David Cameron will tonight meet senators to discuss the controversial release of the Lockerbie bomber as the international row about his return to Libya threatens to overshadow the Prime Minister’s first official trip to the U.S.
The Prime Minister was forced into the climbdown after initially ruling out talks with four U.S. senators, claiming his schedule for the Washington visit was too tight.
His u-turn came as former foreign secretary David Miliband jumped on the bandwagon to attack Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s release – despite having previously insisted it was not in Britain’s interests to have him die in a Scottish jail.
The Labour leadership candidate opened himself up to claims of opportunism as he said: ‘It was clearly wrong because it was done on the basis he had less than three months to live and it’s now 11 months on.’
In a bid to head off the growing row, Mr Cameron has insisted that he and President Obama are entirely in agreement about the bomber’s release and repeated that he had always been against it while in opposition.

‘On one issue in particular, Lockerbie – let me be absolutely clear – there’s no daylight between us,’ he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

‘I have the deepest sympathies for the families of those killed in the bombing. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was found guilty of murdering 270 people. They weren’t allowed to go home and die in their own bed with their relatives around them. I never saw the case for releasing him, and I think it was a very bad decision.’
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he added: ‘As leader of opposition, I couldn’t have been more clear that I thought the decision to release al-Megrahi was completely and utterly wrong.’
Mr Cameron will meet the four senators, who represent New York and New Jersey, at the British ambassador’s residence tonight.
They are Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer of New York and Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Both Gillibrand and Menendez sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has scheduled a public hearing about the affair for next week.

‘The Prime Minister recognises the strength of feeling and knows how important it is to reassure the families of the victims. We are happy to see them face to face and find time in the diary,’ a Downing Street spokesman said.

The Lockerbie case was contentious enough but it has now become embroiled with BP amid claims the oil giant – already under fire for the Gulf spill – lobbied the Government for al-Megrahi’s release.

Democrat Charles Shumer is insisting BP should face a criminal investigation into its role in freeing al-Megrahi. He and victims’ relatives want the ‘blood money’ deal to be officially investigated.

Mr Schumer called on the U.S. Justice Department to step in. ‘Because BP has huge amounts of assets in America, we can bring this case here whether the British government likes it or not,’ he said.

He said the Justice Department should investigate whether BP violated the Foreign Corrupt Services Act, which makes it a crime for a company to give anything of value to a foreign government to influence its actions.

The Whie House has said talks between the two leaders are likely to touch on the issue of al-Megrahi’s release and BP’s role in it.
Mr Cameron washed his hands of BP last night, saying the company would have to explain for itself any involvement in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya that helped pave the way for the decision to free al-Megrahi, who he calls the ‘ biggest mass-murderer in British history’.

But aides say the Prime Minister is determined to stand up for the beleaguered oil giant over the Gulf oil spill.

Mr Cameron will tell the President during White House talks that the firm needs certainty from the U.S. administration over the costs it will incur for the clean-up and compensation.
But he went out of his way to point out that oil deals with Libya were done under the Labour government and that al-Megrahi was released by the SNP-led Scottish administration last year.
Asked whether the oil giant had lobbied for al-Megrahi’s release, Mr Cameron said: ‘I have no idea what BP did, I am not responsible for BP.

‘All I know is as leader of the opposition-I couldn’t have been more clear that I thought the decision to release al-Megrahi was completely and utterly wrong.’
Mr Cameron will point out that al-Megrahi was released by the SNP on different grounds – his diagnosis with cancer.
Mr Miliband, who is running for the Labour leadership, said: ‘The decision was made in accordance with our constitution and so it was a decision for the Scottish Minister to make.
‘Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds and, as I understand it, that depends on him having less than three months to live, so something has gone badly wrong.’

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a letter to senators, says America is urging the Scottish and British authorities to review the circumstances of the bomber’s release.
Laying bare the strength of feeling in the Obama administration, she wrote: ‘That al-Megrahi is living out his remaining days outside of Scottish custody is an affront to the victims’ families, the memories of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing, and to all of those who worked tirelessly to ensure justice was served…

‘To that end, we are encouraging the Scottish and British authorities to review again the underlying facts and circumstances leading to the release of al-Megrahi and to consider any new information that has come to light since his release.’

Foreign Secretary William Hague has already agreed to consider the senators’ concerns and to respond directly to Congress, although he wrote to Mrs Clinton this weekend to deny the suggestion BP was involved.

‘There is no evidence that corroborates in any way the allegations of BP involvement in the Scottish executive’s decision to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds in 2009, nor any suggestion that the Scottish executive decided to release al-Megrahi in order to facilitate oil deals for BP,’ he said.

BP has confirmed it spoke to the previous government about the ‘negative impact on UK commercial interests’ caused by the slow progress on a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya but it denies any role in the al-Megrahi deal.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a public hearing about the issue for July 29, with which Mr Cameron has insisted the Government will ‘engage constructively’.
Mr Mcaskill promised that the Scottish Parliament would cooperate with any inquiry but shifted the blame back onto the Government.
He claimed there were ‘unanswered questions’ about a possible deal with the Libyans and the role played by BP, glossing over his move to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
‘These are questions that have to be answered by the British government. It was the British government who perhaps did a deal in the desert but that will be for them to state and for the senators to discover,’ he said.
‘No request has been received by us but the Scottish government’s position has always been that we accept there are many questions answered
we are happy to assist in any way we can, we will consider matters if and when a request is made. The bulk of the questions being asked relate to BP and to oil.’
Al-Megrahi, 58, was released from a Scottish prison in September after just eight years when a doctor said he had cancer and would be dead in three months.
Dr Karol Sikora has now changed his mind and said he could live for another decade, sparking outrage.
Brian Flynn from Manhattan, whose brother J.P. was killed, said: ‘I think this is criminal. The British economy was in trouble. The Labour government was in trouble. And they chose to sell out to the Libyan government and to BP.’

Hypocrisy of U.S. oil firms who deal with Gaddafi
Politicians in Washington have been accused of hypocrisy for their criticism of Britain and BP over links to Libya.
It turns out that American energy companies have been leading the charge when it comes to forging links with Colonel Gaddafi’s regime.
Since Libya re-opened for business in 2005, US oil giants such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron have been piling in to stake their claim for Africa’s largest oil reserves.
More than 50 American energy companies, compared to just four from the UK, have signed contracts with Tripoli for oil exploration and invested tens of billions of pounds in the country.
Experts said pursuing such an agenda while criticising British companies that do the same thing shows America wants to ‘have its cake and eat it’.
Exxon, the world’s largest oil company, has set up a special subsidiary, Exxon Mobil Libya Ltd, to keeping business running smoothly.
So keen is the petro-chemical giant to get on the right side of the authorities, it is even funding £18million of initiatives to educate impoverished children as part of a countrywide social responsibility drive.
All Western companies left Libya in the late 1980s after the U.S. and EU imposed trade sanctions on Gaddafi’s regime, which they said sponsored terrorism.
The restrictions were lifted in 2005 and American energy companies have not looked back since, not least because Libya has proven crude-oil reserves of 39billion barrels and estimates potential reserves may be triple that amount. ‘American companies-have been piling in to Libya with the support of the U.S. government,’ said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst with Chicago-based PFG Best.
‘The US wants to have its cake and eat it – it wants it both ways.
‘Libya has the ninth largest oil reserves in the world right now and could well be a major player in the international oil market in the future.’
Exxon and Chevron have signed exploratory deals with Libya, while ConocoPhillips, Hess, Marathon and Occidental have invested small fortunes in the country and have begun production.
Relations between Washington and Tripoli improved further that year when Gaddafi agreed to pay £1.2billion to settle all the compensation claims related to the Lockerbie bombing.
By 2009, trade between the two nations reached £17billion.
Fadel Gheit, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer & Co, said: ‘Since Libya was opened up to foreign investment in 2005, American companies have had the lion’s share of contracts and the biggest representation in the country.
‘There are 50 energy companies in the U.S. compared to four in the UK and all have been involved in Libya.’
An American oil industry veteran who worked in Libya for 19 years added: ‘Surely these senators were not and are not aware of what goes on in the outside world.
‘Perhaps they don’t know that American oil companies and their associates are still very heavily involved in Libya.’

CHINA :

Zimbabwe: Agriculture Demonstration Centre Nears Completion
20 July 2010/The Herald

Harare — The construction of an Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre at Gwebi College with assistance from the Chinese government is almost 90 percent complete.

This follows China’s pledge at the 2006 Sino-Africa Summit in Beijing to work on an eight-point plan to establish agricultural demonstration centres in Africa.

After a progress review yesterday, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said he was impressed.

“Zimbabwe was identified as one of the countries for the construction of demonstration centres and this is going to enable the country to exhibit Chinese machinery and equipment.

“Instead of going to China we will have the machinery here. The centre will enable local farmers to acquire skills and knowledge to make meaningful contributions to food security,” he said.

Minister Made said after training, farmers would be able to choose appropriate machinery for their activities, process their produce and sell finished products.

The centre will benefit the Southern Africa region.

Minister Made said the centre would concentrate on irrigation development.

China is an international leader in drip irrigation technologies.

Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Harare Mr Hu Ming said the centre would employ 200 people and enrol 120 students.

“This is the demonstration of the friendship between Zimbabwe and China. The two countries have been working together for a long time and we would like to further our economic relations through agriculture,” he said.
 

Murray and Roberts ‘will gain from alliance;
20 Jul 2010/ I-Net Bridge –

Intro
Credit Suisse Standard Securities has explored the notion of a potential future alliance between China based construction players and Murray & Roberts.

By Gareth Vorster

Financial services group Credit Suisse Standard Securities has explored the notion of a potential future alliance between China based construction players and Murray & Roberts, to enter African regions with high infrastructure investment levels.

As a result, Credit Suisse Standard Securities, a joint venture company created by Standard Bank and Credit Suisse, pointed to a one-year target price of R65, from a current share price of R39.24 for the construction group.

It follows comments from Murray & Roberts CEO, Brian Bruce, to find a basis for a strategic partnership following a recent trip to China.

“We believe the strategic rationale for such an engagement is comprehensive as Chinese, and other Asian players, seek to facilitate development of mineral resource supplies, aligned infrastructure and social development needs and could offer capital support at low cost.

“MUR should not ignore growth options north of its home market, offers valuable competencies and has a regional balance sheet that may restrict growth rates if large project options present themselves,” Credit Suisse Standard Securities said.

It noted that inward Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Africa, excluding the more established economies of Egypt and South Africa, had increased from US$2-2.5 billion per annum in the 90’s to US$50 billion in 2008.

“We estimate that China has started playing a meaningful role, with an increasing contribution from 5% of African FDI to 15% over past five years,” the banking group said.

Credit Suisse Standard Securities forecast that China’s contractor influence in African markets is set to accelerate when excess construction and materials capacity develops in China.

“Growth in GDFI (Gross Domestic Fixed Investment) outpaced consumer growth over 15 years resulting in 40% GDFI contribution to the economy. This should free up export capacity when
the domestic GDFI cycle moderates,” the group said.

It argues that Murray & Roberts could contribute in specialised engineering areas including mining, marine oil & gas, the local sourcing of materials and managing a diverse business environment, “while Chinese contractors could offer low labour and equipment costs, access to Chinese public and business networks plus attractively priced capital,” it said.

Credit Suisse Standard Securities highlighted sizeable Chinese players active in the region including China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China Railway Group, China Communications Construction Group, Shanghai Construction Group and China Railway Construction Corporation, as potential suitors.

In June, Murray & Roberts Holdings said it expects a dramatic decline in its diluted headline earnings when it reports its full year results towards the end of August.

The group said it expects diluted headline earnings per share and diluted earnings per share for the year ending June 30, 2010 to be 50% to 55% lower than the previous comparable period.

In 2009, the group reported diluted headline earnings of 675 cents per share, up 23% on the previous year.

It noted that the estimated cost to completion of the Gautrain Project infrastructure works saw an increase of about 390 million rand from its original estimate.

MUR said that its operating margin would remain within the group’s strategic range of 5.0% to 7.5%.

The group said its Order Book remains stable at about R40 billion with a solid long-term component in Southern Africa.

“The Group’s international markets continue to offer increased levels of opportunity while there is a shortage of new workflow into the group’s South African markets,” it said.

Brian Bruce last month alluded to a potential pick-up in its mining contracting divisions, noting that global mining resources markets were showing signs of a recovery on the back of increased demand for natural resources.

“The Order Book improvement in Clough (Australia) is evidence of the increased levels of activity in the natural resources sector, particularly oil and gas,” he told I-Net Bridge.

Clough is a publicly listed Australian based engineering, construction and asset support contractor and a majority-owned unit of MUR.

The CEO said that the international markets in which the group currently operated in, the Americas, Middle East And Australia, all fall within the natural resources sector.

Bruce added that the exception of Dubai and Bahrain, Middle East construction markets remain in positive territory.

“The group has a solid order book and prospects in Abu Dhabi and secured its first contract in the significant Saudi Arabia market,” he said.

An I-Net Bridge consensus forecast for Murray & Roberts revealed fully diluted headline earnings per share of 382.2 cents for 2010, and 532.4 cents per share for 2011.

Source: I-Net Bridge

INDIA :

IACC and SILF Join Hands With The Global LPO Conference 2010 – Buyers and Vendors Meet in The LPO Industry Delhi,India
globallpoconference/free-pressrelease-distribution.com/July – 20 – 2010

After announcing its annual Conference — The Global LPO Conference 2010—Buyers and Vendors Meet in the LPO Industry –to be held in Delhi, India on November 13th and 14th at Hotel Radisson Noida (Delhi-NCR), India—KPO Consultants, today welcomed on board the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) and the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) as its partners.
IACC, the only bilateral Chamber of Commerce in India, is committed to the development of Indo-US business and trade relations; while, the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF), is the apex body of law firms in India. While the IACC is the premier resource for Indian and American professionals and companies to grow their business, SILF has over the past decade worked extensively to create a robust network amongst Indian law firms, big and small, to enhance their interests. With IACC and SILF on board, we hope to further strengthen ties between buyers and vendors, bringing them on a common platform to address common concerns as well as share, discuss and implement ideas to further their business interests.

We, at the Global LPO Conference, strongly believe that such collaborations amongst companies, law firms, and business chambers across borders are part of an essential strategy to enable the region’s corporations to compete and be successful in the global economy.

This Conference, is a unique event aiming to bring together key executives with extensive interests in the legal outsourcing industry to one location across two days to discuss, deliberate, and learn about the challenges and opportunities posed by current practices in their industry. The Conference also allows delegates to meet face-to-face with service providers and country representatives from countries across Asia, Africa, U.S.A., and U.K. to discover how best to take advantage of a globalized marketplace. While the Conference boasts of an impressive line-up of speakers including industry stalwarts like Sanjay Kamlani, Co-CEO, Pangea3; Rahul Shah, AVP and Head, Infosys LPO; Abhi Shah, CEO Clutch Group; Hemant K Batra, Lead Partner-Kaden Boriss Legal LLP and Vice President, SAARCLAW; Michael D. Bell, Managing Principal, Fronterion LLC; Anand Sharma, CFO and Head –Management Services, CPA Global to name a few. Some of the unique features of this Conference include exclusive one-to-one meetings between buyers and vendors; opportunity for buyers to gauge vendor capability through innovative initiatives like commissioning Pilot Projects, going on LPO Office Tours, etc.

KPO Consultants, has been providing business solutions exclusively to the LPO industry and has worked with established and aspiring LPOs to set up their ventures, overcome their complex business and strategic issues and help management make key decisions affecting top line growth of the company. Having served clients in India, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Philippines, Mauritius, Canada, Australia, and many more countries, they have built a repository of insights and experience in this segment and are adept at understanding the finer nuances of offshoring/outsourcing legal work.

Venus Remedies receives GMP accreditation from Sudan for 7 injectable units
Tuesday, July 20, 2010/www.pharmabiz.com
Our Bureau, Bangalore

Venus Remedies Ltd has received Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) accreditation for its 7 facilities including oncology liquid, oncology lyophilized, cephalosporin, carbapenem, cardiovascular, small volume infusion and other specialty injection from National Medicine and Poison Board (NMPB) Republic of Sudan.

As per the reports of CMS Sudan, existing Sudanese Pharmaceutical market amounts to approx USD 520 million which is growing at 11 percent annually and market is largely dependent upon imports. In the context of pharmacological group, the two major segments are anti infective 28.6% and CVS 13.7% contributing to a sum of 42.3% of the total market share. It is an opportunity for Venus Remedies to tap this huge market with unique and innovative products.

“Venus is now looking forward to serve Sudan which is the largest country in Africa. MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region is believed to be one of the stringent regulatory approval systems across the globe. Due to this only big pharma players will be our competitors for generic products,” said Dr. Manu Chaudhary, JMD, Venus Remedies Ltd.

Venus Remedies is also in the process of seeking registration for products from all the seven facilities. The company has already filed 17 critical care product dossiers mainly in anti cancer and antibiotics.

The products for the market have been carefully selected by the company keeping in mind that Sudan is experiencing a burgeoning cancer epidemic that carries many challenges and are characteristic of developing countries. These include a high incidence of advanced, difficult-to-treat disease at presentation, and a high cancer burden that is related to infectious diseases.

The growth potential for this region looks to be very positive based on growth drivers like largest country in Africa with population of 42 million, growing economies in the region, high purchasing power, increased spend on healthcare facilities by governments, mandatory health insurance schemes and demographic trends like an increase in life expectancy, literacy rates and prevalence of life style related diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular, gastro and niche cancer , anti infective therapies. These therapies constitute around 35.7 percent of total pharma volume.

Sudan is the 10th country of African continent where Venus will have strong presence including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Togo and South Africa. With this GMP Venus today possesses 13 international GMP certifications from different countries of the world including EU-GMP which is valid for entire Europe for its super specialty injectable manufacturing facilities.

The company has appointed one of the biggest pharmaceutical distributors in Sudan for the promotion of their products. The company is highly optimistic in making good sales from the very first year of registrations. The company also plans to register its research products Sulbactomax and Potentox in this market.

BRASIL:

Brazil to reduce bureaucracy in World Cup financing operations
July 20, 2010/english.peopledaily.com.cn/Source: Xinhua

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed on Monday a bill to speed up the release of resources for the necessary projects for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

The bill was aimed to reduce bureaucracy in the approval of loans to finance several infrastructure projects which need to be completed before the two sports events, such as extensive airport renovations and expansions.

The new bill also assures that the loans to carry on projects for both the Cup and the Olympic Games are given priority by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).

Since the beginning of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, FIFA has been pressuring Brazil to speed up the infrastructure projects for the 2014 tournament. Extensive renovations in the stadiums will be necessary, and many of them have yet to be started. The necessary work in airports, which are said to be one of Brazil’s main problems, have not been done either.

The 2014 World Cup cities will have 400 million reais (224.7 million U.S. dollars) available in BNDES loans in order to build or renovate their stadiums and carry on urban infrastructure projects.

EN BREF, CE 20 juillet 2010… AGNEWS /OMAR, BXL,20/07/2010