{jcomments on}DAM, NY, AGNEWS, 28 december 2010  – [Les exportations kenyanes en fleurs coupées pourraient accuser une perte d’un milliard de dollars, en raison des annulations de vol à cause de la neige dans les principales destinations européennes … “500 tonnes de fleurs sont perdues chaque jour en raison de l’annulation des vols à destination des marchés outre-mer” ]

BURUNDI :

Burundi : Vives inquiétudes au sujet des Shabaab à Bujumbura

Le retrait des unités burundaises de l’Amisom, n’est point à l’ordre du jour, dit le porte-parole du gouvernement, Philippe Nzogodonarida.

Les populations burundaises ne sont pas restées indifférentes, loin s’en faut, à l’annonce d’attaques, promise en fin de semaine dernière contre l’Ouganda et leur pays. Ces deux pays ont fourni l’essentiel du contingent de l’Amissom, la force africaine de maintien de la paix déployée à Mogadiscio pour prêter main forte au gouvernement somalien.

Les islamistes somaliens ont déjà perpétré un attentat meurtrier qui a fait 76 morts à Kampala en juillet dernier. C’est dire si la menace terroriste est prise au sérieux à Bujumbura. C’est du reste ce que le porte-parole du gouvernement burundais, Philippe Nzogodonarida a confirmé lundi au service francophone de la Voix de l’Amérique.

Chaque Burundais doit être conscient, dit-il, que « la menace est collective et que la sécurité incombe à chacun. » Le gouvernement burundais s’engage cependant à tout mettre en œuvre pour que la sécurité soit sauvegardée au maximum. Le ministre Nzogodonarida a par ailleurs donné l’assurance que la menace des shabaab somaliens n’aura aucune incidence sur la présence de ses troupes en Somalie. Il s’agit selon lui de montrer au monde entier que l’armée burundaise est capable du meilleur.

Publié le 28-12-2010 Source : www.voanews.com Auteur : www.voanews.com

RWANDA

Le Rwanda organise et perd un tournoi de préparation de la CAN

Dakar, 27 déc (APS) – Le Rwanda, dernier adversaire de l’équipe nationale cadette du Sénégal, a perdu un tournoi triangulaire avec la Tanzanie et le Kenya qu’il a abrité récemment à Kigali, rapporte le site de la Confédération africaine de football (CAF).

’’C’est le Kenya qui est sorti victorieux du tournoi organisé sous l’égide de la CECAFA en s’imposant lors du dernier match le 22 décembre dernier à Kigali face aux Rwandais par 3 buts à 2’’, ajoute la même source.

‘’Dans le match précédent, les Kenyans avaient réalisé un nul avec la Tanzanie 2-2. de son côté, le Rwanda avait auparavant remporté une courte victoire devant la Tanzanie 1-0 dans ce tournoi destiné à préparer la CAN de la catégorie que les Rwandais vont organiser du 8 au 22 janvier 2011’’, précise la même source.

Interrogé à la suite du tournoi, l’entraîneur des Amavubi cadets, le Français Richard Tardy, s’est dit convaincu que ‘’ce mini-tournoi a été très utile et laisse augurer une belle performance de l’équipe à la CAN’’.

Il a regretté que son équipe, qui n’a bien joué contre la Tanzanie, a gagné alors que quelques jours auparavant, elle avait fait un très bon match contre les Kenyans et elle a perdu.

Les Lionceaux dirigés par Boucounta Cissé ont joué trois matchs de préparation (une victoire contre le Brésil et deux défaites contre le Mali). Ils termineront leur match de poule contre le Rwanda, le 14 janvier.

Auparavant, ils auront déjà joué contre le Burkina Faso, le 8 janvier et contre l’Egypte, le 11 janvier. SD/AD

Rwanda: Country Plans Influential Business Reforms in 2011

Berna Namata28 December 2010 Government Supporting Daily

http://allafrica.com/stories/201012280192.html

Rwanda will continue to implement business reforms in order to boost private investment that is needed to sustain the country’s rapid economic growth.

Currently, the country needs to achieve a sustained GDP growth rate of approximately 8 percent in order to achieve its development targets.

Rwanda maintained reforms aimed at easing doing business, moving up 12 positions in the “Doing Business 2010” Report, the eighth publication of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank.

This year Rwanda was ranked the 2nd best reformer, only beaten by Kazakhstan. Last year it took the top spot.

The report benchmarks regulations that enhance business activities and as well as those that hamper business. It focuses on business regulation and protection of property rights.

Ranked at 58th overall in the world, Rwanda technically jumped from last year’s 67th position of the 183 countries surveyed in the report dubbed “Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs”. It was ranked 158th in the 2009 Doing Business (DB) report.

“We were inspired by the 2010 results to even do better especially on indicators that were more challenging,” Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the Minister of Trade and Industry said while commenting on the Doing Business findings.

While the business environment has progressively improved, Nsanzabaganwa said the country will continue to deepen the reforms to facilitate the business community

“We are reforming not because there is a Doing Business Report but the report itself is a yardstick to measure how we compare with regards what is happening elsewhere. We always aim to put our ambitions higher,” says Nsanzabaganwa who also doubles as the Chair for the Doing Business Steering Committee.

She says that the country still faces a big challenge of changing the attitude and culture in service provision, an issue the next round of reforms will be focusing on.

“It’s very critical because we may have the laws and the reforms in place but until it is adhered to; for people to get the service they deserve; then you really did not do much,” Nsanzabaganwa observed.

In 2010, Rwanda introduced several reforms, where it now takes an average of three days to start a business compared to an average 45-days required by its African counterparts and 13 for the rich countries.

It now requires two procedures to open a business in Rwanda compared to about nine in Africa and five in the developed countries. While it takes just one day to check a company name, submit registration application and pay registration fee as low as Rwf25,000 ($40), it require between one to three days to finally pick up a registration certificate – allowing an investor to start their business immediately.

The report underlines Rwanda as taking the lead globally in facilitating the business community acquire construction permits, getting credit and trading across borders.

Government tackled access to credit by allowing borrowers the right to inspect their own credit report and mandating that loans of all sizes be reported to the central bank’s public credit registry.

Trading across borders is another area in which Rwanda made remarkable changes, says the report. Rwanda reduced the number of trade documents required and enhanced her joint border management procedures with Uganda and other neighbours, leading to an improvement in the trade logistics environment.

According to John Gara, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rwanda Development Board 9RDB), his organisation will concentrate on improving Rwanda’s performance particularly on the closing business indicator measured by the World Bank’s Doing Business (DB) Report.

“Rwanda has consistently done badly (closing business indicator). Many of our businesses when they collapse they do not do it through the system -if they do not do it through the system it gives the impression that we do not have a system which works for the dissolution of companies,” he said.

While this year the country took the lead globally in facilitating the business community to acquire construction permits, getting credit and trading across borders, it lags on the closing business indicator.

Yet since last year (May), the country has insolvency law that spells out legal provisions relating to commercial recovery and settling of issues arising from insolvency.

RDB intends to rollout a sensitisation campaign for the business community and the legal society to increasing awareness to encourage formal business closure by using the existing law.

“We are increasingly going to encourage companies to do it through the formal system.”Gara said.

Karim Tushabe, the legal consultant with RDB’s Doing Business unit, says that Rwanda has consistently been ranked the lowest mark under the closing business indicator because it is treated as a “none practice.”

“We are seen as a country which is not practicing insolvency,” he said.

For Rwanda to be recognised as practicing insolvency under the DB report, Tushabe says it has to show at least five companies have undergone through the process.

With the sensitisation of the various stakeholders about the law, the legal officer said this will help to make the law more operational.

According to the report findings, sub- Saharan Africa has the largest share of economies with little or no insolvency practice.

Twelve of the region’s 46 economies- more than a quarter-have had fewer than five insolvency cases annually in recent years, the report says.

Other key reforms implemented this year include: launch of operations of the country’s first private credit reference bureau, streamlining property and company transactions, introducing online transactions such as tax calculation and setting up a “One Stop Centre” for construction permits.

According to the report, globally, doing business remains easiest in OECD high-income economies.

In Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia the report finds that entrepreneurs have it hardest and property protections are weakest across the 9 areas of business regulation included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business.

Obama take heed: French judge files charges against Kagame allies

December 27, 2010 / Powered by Translate By Ann Garrison

http://sfbayview.com/2010/obama-take-heed-french-judge-files-charges-against-kagame-allies/

U.S. AFRICOM Commander William “Kip” Ward confers with Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe. Kabarebe, one of Kagame’s top officers, is charged by French courts for having taken part in shooting down the plane of then Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryaimira and thus triggering the Rwanda Genocide and by the Spanish Audiencia Nacional for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.N. Mapping Report released Oct. 1 documents his command of Rwandan troops guilty of atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. – Photo: AFRICOM

On Dec. 11, I was honored to stand in for Alice Muhirwa of Rwanda’s FDU-Inkingi Party, on WBAI’s Afrobeat Radio in New York City. Afrobeat producer Wuyi Jacobs and I both worried because Alice hadn’t answered the phone, but we later learned, in a round of phone calls and e-mails, that she had twisted her ankle and a doctor had just set it in a cast, leaving her flat on her back and unable to come to the phone.

Not good, but better than being in Rwanda’s maximum security 1930 prison, where Victoire Ingabire and Bernard Ntaganda remain behind bars after attempting to run against Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Rwanda’s 2010 elections. Kagame was re-elected on Aug. 9 by a 93 percent majority – implausible in any real pluralist democracy. Here’s Afrobeat:

Afrobeat Radio on Rwanda, broadcast on WBAI, New York City, Dec. 11, 2010

Alice Muhirwa, treasurer of Rwanda’s FDU-Inkingi Coalition of Parties

Four days after this Afrobeat broadcast, on Dec. 15, a French judge filed preliminary charges against six people close to Kagame, including Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe, for the 1994 assassination of Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Rwandan and Burundian presidents at the time, that triggered the Rwanda Genocide.

However, these charges and all the evidence of the Kagame regime’s crimes are nothing new.

Cynthia McKinney held Congressional hearings in 2001, producing evidence that Kagame had ordered the assassinations then joined Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni in invading and plundering the natural resource wealth of D.R. Congo, costing millions of lives. There have been more damning hearings since, including those held by Orange County Republican Congressman Ed Royce, who concluded that “the State Department didn’t want to hear any of this though, as Kagame sat on their pedestal, and largely still does.”

In 2006, Obama shepherded Senate Bill 2125, the Obama Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, into law. It stated:

“(6) Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, both the real and perceived presence of armed groups hostile to the Governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi continue to serve as a major source of regional instability and an apparent pretext for continued interference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by its neighbors [Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi].”

How many of Obama’s ardent 2008 supporters know the only Senate bill that will ever bear his name alone?

Paul Kagame in 1994 when this photo was taken was vice president of Rwanda and head of his Rwandan Patriotic Front. – Photo: Alexander Joe, AFP/Getty

The Spanish Audiencia Nacional indicted Kagame’s top officers for genocide. There have been many U.N. and other human rights reports documenting the Kagame regime’s atrocities and minerals plunder in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, on Oct. 1, the U.N. Mapping Report documented Rwanda’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and civilian massacres in Congo, crimes that an international criminal court would be expected to try as genocide. How much more will it take?

When will Obama revisit his own 2006 Senate Bill, and take heed of the Oct. 1 U.N. report? And now, when will Obama take heed of the new French charges? How much longer will the U.S. back the regime sued on two continents, in three countries: France, Spain and the U.S.? How long will the U.S. back the president that Professor Ed Herman, co-author with David Peterson of “The Politics of Genocide,” and, with Noam Chomsky of “Manufacturing Consent,” calls “the worst killer on the planet”?

RDC –Congo

Foreign citizens arrested for illegally owning drugs in Zaire

12/27/10 ANGOP / Mbanza Kongo – About four foreigner citizens from DR Congo were arrested over the last weekend by the Angolan border police in the northern Zaire province for illegally owning 220 kilograms of drugs.

This was said to Angop on Monday by the spokesman of the command of Angolan National Police (PNA) of Zaire province, superintendent Antonio Silveiro.

According to him, the referred citizens were arrested in Minga border in Kuimba district while trying to enter the national territory with the respective drugs.

RD Congo: RSF salue la libération du journaliste Shemahamba

Pana 28 décembre 2010 / Paris, France – Reporters sans frontières (RSF) a salué la libération lundi, du journaliste congolais, Robert Shemahamba, détenu dans les locaux des services de renseignements de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) depuis le 17 décembre, mais s’inquiète du sort de son confrère Dominique Kalonzo.

“Je remercie Dieu et tous ceux qui ont fait pression pour ma libération. Les dix jours de détention ont été un calvaire. A Uvira, j’étais dans une cellule sans lumière. Les conditions n’étaient pas bonnes. Il a fallu que je me révolte et j’ai été transféré à Bukavu, une semaine après. Je pense que je vais souffler un peu ici avant de retourner à Uvira”, a déclaré Robert Shemahamba, dans un communiqué de RSF dont copie a été transmise à la PANA.

Directeur de la Radio télévision communautaire Mitumba (RTCM), émettant à Uvira (province du Sud-Kivu dans l’est de la RDC), Shemahamba avait animé le 12 décembre dernier l’émission ‘’Franc parler’’ au cours de laquelle les invités ont critiqué le discours du président Joseph Kabila à la nation et la construction du stade d’Uvira, dont s’occupe l’administrateur adjoint du territoire en charge des finances, Victor Chomachoma, soupçonné de corruption.

Le lendemain, Robert Shemahamba a été convoqué au parquet de grande instance d’Uvira et entendu par le procureur de la République. Il était accusé par Victor Chomachoma d’”insulte et d’outrage à sa personne et à la personne du chef de l’Etat”. Convoqué à l’Agence nationale des renseignements (ANR) le 17 décembre, il y a été placé en détention.

Par ailleurs, RSF s’inquiète du sort d’un autre journaliste, Dominique Kalonzo, correspondant à Uvira de la station privée Radio Maendeleo, basée à Bukavu, qui est recherché par l’ANR, dans le cadre de la même affaire que Robert Shemahamba.

RD Congo: Les enseignants menacent d’aller en grève

Pana 28 décembre 2010 / Kinshasa, RD Congo – Les enseignants des primaires et secondaires menacent de ne pas reprendre les cours après les vacances de fin d’année sur toute l’étendue de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), si le gouvernement ne leur paie pas leurs salaires des mois de novembre et décembre au plus tard, le 31 décembre 2010.

Le secrétaire général du Syndicat des enseignants du Congo (SYECO), Jean Pierre Kimbuya, qui a annoncé la menace de grève lundi à la presse, a fait savoir que dans l’Est de la RDC, des enseignants attendent encore les salaires du mois d’octobre.

En effet, a-t-il affirmé, la décision a été prise lors de la tenue de la dernière assemblée générale tenue le 11 décembre dernier à Kinshasa, mais jusqu’à ce jour, personne n’a encore touché son salaire et les enseignants ont passé les fêtes de Noël dans la disette.

M. Kimbuya a dénoncé “l’insouciance du gouvernement face à la misère des enseignants” et le non respect de l’échéance du 20 de chaque mois pour la paie.

On rappelle que le gouvernement a uniformisé les salaires des enseignants sur toute l’étendue de la RDC et a promis une légère augmentation des salaires dans le budget 2011 évalué 6,7 milliards de dollars américains.

Santé-RD Congo: Une épidémie de varicelle sévit dans le centre

Pana 27 décembre 2010 / Kinshasa, RD Congo – Une épidémie de varicelle sévit dans la ville de Mbuji-Mayi et les localités environnantes, au centre de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), où on a enregistré, depuis environ deux mois, plus de deux cents cas, selon des sources médicales locales, qui n’ont pas fait état de décès parmi les personnes touchées.

La propagation de cette maladie virale est due à la promiscuité et au non respect des règles d’hygiène élémentaires, ont indiqué les mêmes sources.

La varicelle est une maladie infantile éruptive fréquente, caractérisée par sa très grande contagiosité.

Elle traduit la primo-infection par le virus varicelle-zona ou VZV, virus de la famille Herpesvidae .

Dans plus de 90 pc des cas, elle survient chez l’enfant entre 1 et 15 ans et sa période d’incubation est de 14 jours en moyenne (de 10 à 21 jours).

Bénigne chez l’enfant bien portant, elle peut être redoutable et mortelle chez l’adulte non immunisé, l’immuno-déprimé, la femme enceinte et le nouveau-né.

Détention des étrangers en possession de 220 kilogrammes de stupéfiants

27/12/10 16:22 Mbanza Kongo (Angola) / – Quatre Congolais (RDCongo) ont été détenus samedi dernier, par la police de garde frontière dans la province de Zaire (au nord du pays), pour possession de 220 kilogrammes de stupéfiants.

Selon le porte-parole du commandement provincial de Zaire de la police nationale, le surintendant António Silvério, ces étrangers ont été interpelés dans la localité frontalière de Minga, municipalité de Kuimba, lorsque, de forme illégalle, ils tentaient entrer dans le territoire angolais avec la respective drogue.

António Silvério a assuré que les quatre étrangers sont entre les mains de la police d’investigation criminelle de Mbanza Kongo pour répondre à leur crime, au Tribunal.

UGANDA

Uganda to Vaccinate 2.5 Million for Yellow Fever, Vision Says

By Fred Ojambo – Dec 28, 2010 / Uganda plans to vaccinate 2.5 million people against yellow fever after the disease killed 45 people in the country’s northern region in the past two months, New Vision reported, citing a ministry of health official.

The vaccine is expected next month, the Kampala-based newspaper said, citing Kenya Mugisha, the ministry’s director general for health services. The World Health Organization and U.S. Center for Disease Control are helping to bring in the vaccine, New Vision said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via Johannesburg on pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Uganda Government News: Bwanika Accuses NRM Supporters

http://www.ugpulse.com/articles/daily/news.asp?about=Bwanika+accuses+NRM+supporters+&ID=17310

Peoples Development Party’s presidential candidate, Dr. Abed Bwanika has accused the National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters of defacing his campaign posters and replacing them with those of President Museveni in several parts of the country.

Speaking to journalists this morning, Bwanika said the people who deface his posters have remote thinking and they are uncivilized.

Bwanika has also expressed dismay at the behaviour of NRM supporters he blames for tearing down and removing his posters.

Somalia: Obama’s Unholy Alliance With Yoweri Museveni

Black Star News Editorial / December 27th, 2010 /

http://blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/7032/2010-12-27.html

Africans cheer Obama–In the New Year he should embrace a genuine African Union Somalia policy and cut ties with Uganda’s war criminal ruler

If New Year’s prayers are answered, then the United States must stop bleeding the people of Somalia.

The U.S. must abandon its current approach to the Somalia tragedy. Washington must explore a genuine solution to end Somalia’s decades of warfare and political paralyses.

Currently the U.S. underwrites a fictitious government in Mogadishu kept in place by Ugandan soldiers, sent there on behalf of the U.S. by dictator, Gen. Yoweri K. Museveni, who is without a doubt an unindicted war criminal.

Washington finds this relationship beneficial because by Uganda propping up the fictitious Mogadishu government, the U.S. believes Somalia is secured from being overtaken as a haven by Al-Qaeda, the United States’ avowed foe. The U.S. views Somalia as Africa’s Afghanistan. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For Gen. Museveni, the relationship is invaluable for many reasons: it prevents the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, from indicting him for the well documented war crimes his army committed in the DR Congo, on which the World Court found Uganda liable and awarded Congo $10 billion, or from unsealing the indictment if one already exists; it prevents Ocampo from indicting Museveni for well documented crimes against humanity committed by his army and generals, on his orders, in the northern part of Uganda; it provides him with the aura of international legitimacy, by being associated with President Barack Obama, even when his popularity continues to erode domestically as Uganda approaches a presidential election in February; and, it provides sustenance, in the form of military materiel and money, for his armed forces–which army he has primarily used to suppress domestic dissent and to commit wars of aggression against Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now the Central African Republic.

The United States’ rationale for having Uganda act as its hired mercenary army is preposterous and actually counters its own stated policy objectives. The fictitious Somalia government currently holds only a few blocks of Mogadishu, the capital. This means that since it’s unable to expand its writ beyond this area, Somalia is actually fertile ground to become a haven for Al-Qaeda.

Therefore, the longer the U.S. pursues this strategically suicidal Somalia policy, the longer the crisis lasts, and with it, the suffering of the Somali people. Media accounts never refer to Somalia’s civilians deaths, possibly tens of thousands–first through the U.S.-sponsored Ethiopian invasion, through starvation and diseases caused by the recurrent mass dislocations of population, and through the reckless shelling by Ugandan soldiers.

How can the United States continue to underwrite a policy that is actually contributing to the deaths of Somalians, and to the continued destruction of their country?

And what of the war crimes?

In addition to the indiscriminate shelling of Somalian civilians, it’s been widely reported, including in corporate newspapers such as The New York Times that the fictitious Somali government employs child soldiers trained by Uganda –some of whom are as young as 11 years old– to defend the few blocks it now controls.

This comes as no surprise to people who have followed Gen. Museveni’s M.O. for years; he employed child soldiers in his own successful insurgency in Uganda. Of course, the use of children in war is prohibited by international law; the Somalian children are being paid with U.S. taxpayers money, which means the Obama administration is actually an accomplice to war crimes.

Fact is the Ugandan army: has not been able to check, let alone defeat the forces fighting against the fictitious Mogadishu government; it has not restored peace to any part of Somalia; it has not protected Somalians against violence from the armed militias; and, it has certainly not made Somalia a better country for its citizens.

It was a tall order–to ask Uganda’s president, using his army, to undertake in Somalia what he has not been able to accomplish in Uganda in 25 years in office as the United States’ own ambassador in Kampala confided in his memos to Washington, which were revealed to the world, courtesy of Wiki leaks.

Will the United States reverse its Somalia policy in the New Year? Not judging by the latest reports that the United Nations Security Council has okayed thousands of more troop reinforcement –surprise, surprise– from Uganda, to Somalia.

Uganda’s Gen. Museveni is an autocrat who is accountable to no one–his own regime’s survival is predicate on continued anarchy in Somalia. The United States has a government that’s supposedly accountable to Congress and to the electorate. What Somalia needs is an international conference that involves all major stakeholders, military, political, and civil society.

Contrary to the global media misrepresentation, Somalians are actually some of the most industrious, entrepreneurial, and intellectual people in all of Africa. If such a conference were sponsored by the international community, Somalians could form a legitimate interim regime–not the fictitious and discredited government now imposed on Somalia by the United States and Uganda.

African countries, including those with resources, such as South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Libya, might then be more inclined to contribute money and soldiers to a genuine African Union peace keeping force, with a clear mandate and rules of engagement, to ensure the security, while Somalia trains a police force. Perhaps Somalians may even be persuaded to lay down their weapons if they see that the world is genuinely interested in a comprehensive peace and recovery program.

So long as Somalia remains a mere arena for Washington’s proxy war with Al-Qaeda, it will in fact remain a haven for all sorts of lawless militias–contributing to more and more Somalian deaths.

Gen. Museveni does not care; but what about President Barack Obama?

“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

UPDATE: Uganda President: Constitution To Set Oil Revenue Sharing

KAMPALA, Uganda (Dow Jones)-27/12/2010-Uganda’s President said Monday that sharing of oil revenues between the oil-rich Bunyoro Kingdom and the central government will be determined by the country’s constitution when production commences.

Utilization of oil revenues was regulated under the 1995 national constitution, long before the discovery of oil and gas in the Lake Albertine rift basin in the west of the country, said President Yoweri Museveni, according to remarks released by the Museveni administration in connection with a campaign appearance Monday near recent oil discoveries.

“President Museveni has advised Ugandans to ignore politicians who have gone out of their way to politicize the recently discovered oil and gas,” according to a press release. “The constitution is clear and assertive on how revenue generated from such natural resources is shared between the central and local government, as well as the indigenous community where such a natural resource is found.”

Oil exploration companies have confirmed around 2.5 billion barrels of oil in the Lake Albertine rift and preparations are underway to commence commercial oil production in the next couple of years.

However, oil and gas discoveries have become a major campaign issue in ongoing presidential and parliamentary campaigns for February polls, where incumbent Museveni is facing a strong challenge from opposition leader Kizza Besigye.

Uganda’s constitution provides for the sharing of royalties from natural resources between the central government and local communities.

Royalties for resources such as oil range between 5% to 10% and local communities are entitled to not more than a quarter of the royalties, according to Uganda’s Minerals Act, which was enacted in 2004 and is now part of the Constitution. The 2004 law gave further definition to the 1995 Constitution, which was more general on minerals royalties.

But the leadership of Bunyoro kingdom has been pushing for a share of at least 10% from overall oil revenues, not only royalties, when production starts.

In November, Besigye pledged to review oil revenue sharing with the Bunyoro region should he be elected president.

Besigye has so far presented the best oil revenue sharing proposal to Bunyoro, according to kingdom spokesman Ford Mirima.

“As a kingdom, we are behind Besigye because so far he is the only candidate to present to us an oil revenue sharing proposal,” he said.

Mirima said that the constitution does ‘recognize’ Bunyoro’s special status as the host of the oil region. He cited the 2010 draft oil law which is still silent on oil revenue sharing with the central government. The draft law is expected to be debated in parliament early next year.

However, the Ugandan presidency has warned politicians against telling “lies” and making “false” promises to gain popularity.

Under the Ugandan law, traditional leaders are prohibited from participating or joining partisan politics. The oil discovery has already sparked land disputes in the country and activists have warned that this could trigger Niger Delta-like conflicts when oil production starts.

According to Mirima the Kingdom has also asked government to restrict the migration of other tribes to the oil region to prevent conflicts over land and protect the interests of indigenous communities.

U.K.-based Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) is preparing to start developing its Kasamene oil field in Block 2 in Bulisa district in the third quarter of next year.

Eastern teams for Uganda Cup

By Oscar Balyejusa (email the author) Posted Tuesday, December 28 2010 at 00:00

http://www.monitor.co.ug/Sports/Soccer/-/690266/1079532/-/lpifie/-/

Eastern Uganda sides are pumped up to win their opening games of the newly-initiated Uganda Cup that kicks off tomorrow in Jinja.

Uganda’s lone rangers on the continent this term, Victors, who will play in the Confederations Cup, will be expecting an easy game when they host fallen giants Mbale Heroes at Kakindu stadium.

Victors’ coach George ‘Best’ Nsimbe has warned his players to avoid complacency as Mbale Heroes recently beat a seemingly invincible Jinja Bul Bidco.

World Cup boss to visit Kampala

With strikers Henry Kakooza and Paul Kibande plus defenders Julius Mulindwa and Ismael Kazibwe suspended, Nsimbe’s caution will come in handy.

Uganda: Kenyan Runner to Campaign for Museveni

Reuben Olita27 December 2010

http://allafrica.com/stories/201012280021.html

A Kenyan professional runner has set off from Nairobi, Kenya for a 650km great run to Kampala to campaign for President Yoweri Museveni’s re-election.

Charles Mulwa Kauso, 36, started the marathon at 6:00am yesterday to Kimende, over 40km away, where he was due to rest before resuming the journey this morning.

“Imagine I have passed Limuru (34km from Nairobi), where I wanted to spend the night. Since my body is responding well and the weather is fine, I can continue to Kimende,” Mulwa told New Vision through a text message.

He said he admires Museveni’s good leadership, thus his decision to campaign for the National Resistance Movement presidential flag-bearer.

Mulwa said the great run is a unique initiative that he will also use to celebrate the NRM’s silver jubilee celebrations on January 26, 2011, when he is expected to arrive in Kampala.

Mulwa’s historic run, dubbed “Museveni Tena (again)” will be held in two phases. He said the first phase, which will be an annual event, will end on January 26.

The second, he added, which will be from Mbarara to Kampala (450km), will take 20 days and would only be held this year. “I intend to become a life supporter of the NRM through campaigns and fundraising,” the celebrated marathon runner said.

Asked how he managed to raise funds to kick-start the exercise, Mulwa said after failure to get help from the Uganda High Commission in Nairobi, he sold his television set for Ksh10,000 (sh270,000) to raise the money.

“This is not enough, but I am determined to meet President Museveni for the second time in my life,” he added.

“He is a true African leader who deserves another shot at the presidency.”

Ugandans who wishing to join the run will be given chance to do so when Mulwa crosses the Malaba border.

TANZANIA:

Tanzania plans $120 mln, 50 MW wind power project

Tue Dec 28, 2010 DAR ES SALAAM, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Tanzania will begin construction of a $120 million wind power project early next year to curb chronic energy shortages in east Africa’s second-biggest economy, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Prolonged drought at hydropower stations and rising fuel prices have resulted in acute energy shortfalls, forcing the state-run power utility to introduce rolling blackouts.

Construction of the first-ever wind power station in the country, in the central town of Singida, will add some 50 megawatts of electricity to the national power grid.

“The financiers of the project have already given the go-ahead after looking at all the relevant studies. We expect the construction work to start at the earliest in February,” Tanzania’s deputy minister for Industry and Trade, Lazaro Nyalandu, told Reuters.

The state-run National Development Corporation (NDC) holds a 51 percent stake in the project and a privately owned company, Power Pool East Africa Limited, retains the rest. The details of the financing were not immediately available.

“It’s a 15-month project, so we expect the first 50 megawatts of electricity to start being generated by the year 2012,” Nyalandu said.

Energie éolienne: La Tanzanie cherche à développer le secteur

Pana 27 décembre 2010 / Dar es Salaam, Tanzanie – La Tanzanie cherche à produire 50 mégawatts à partir des turbines à air dans les 15 prochains mois, pour faire face à l’insuffisance de l’énergie hydroélectrique générée par les barrages et les stations thermiques, a annoncé lundi le ministère de l’Energie.

Dans le cadre d’un accord signé entre la Société pour le développement national (NDC) et le Groupe de l’Afrique de l’Est pour l’énergie (EAPP), la Tanzanie verra ses générateurs d’énergie propre installés dans la région de Singida située dans le centre du pays pour 123 millions de dollars américains.

”Je suis content que l’accord ait été finalement confirmé et dans les 15 prochains mois, nous aurons une production supplémentaire de 50 mégawatts. Ceci va beaucoup soulager le pays”, a indiqué le vice-ministre de l’Industrie et Commerce, Lazaro Nyalandu.

Le gouvernement détient 51 pour cent du capital du projet et M. Nyalandu a indiqué qu’il va générer de l’électricité à bas prix comparé à l’énergie hydroélectrique et aux stations thermiques. L’installation des turbines va commencer au mois de février prochain.

Au mois de mars dernier, la Tanzanie avait rejoint l’EAPP, une initiative régionale comprenant huit pays, en collaboration avec Norvège, pour la création d’un marché concurrentiel de l’énergie en facilitant aux zones rurales l’accès à une énergie fiable, bon marché et respectueuse de l’environnement.

Les autres membres d’EAPP sont : le Burundi, la République Démocratique du Congo, l’Egypte, l’Ethiopie, le Kenya, le Rwanda et le Soudan.

KENYA :

Kenya: Juice Maker Eyes U.S. Market

27 December 2010 / Nairobi — Local fresh drinks manufacturer Kevian Kenya Ltd has launched an ambitious expansion to the United States and Europe to tap the world’s biggest consumer markets. This follows its successful penetration in the five East African Community member countries.

The Nairobi-based firm – which manufactures ‘Pick and Peel’ and Afia juice brands as well as the Mt Kenya bottled water – says its products have captured a “significant” share of the regional market.

Kevian managing director Richard Kimani attributes this to a shift in consumer tastes in favour of fresh juices.

“Our mission is to be the leading producer and marketer of branded fruit juices in the East African region,” he said.

Currently, the regional juice market is worth $1.7 billion (Sh136 billion), with energy drinks making another $1 billion (Sh80 billion) and packaged water $992 million (Sh79 billion).

In Kenya alone, the national juice market is estimated to be worth Sh7.2 billion. In the fresh drinks market, a huge demographic of people under 35 years make up 80 per cent of the East Africa’s population.

With a good number of players in the fresh juices market and competition so stiff, Mr Kimani says, Kevian is banking on quality as a competitive advantage.

To ensure a constant supply of fresh fruits from farmers, the firm in partnership with GTZ, Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, is offering farmers extension services to raise production.

“These projects have empowered farmers, making them to earn a decent living. This has boosted their morale, and on our part ensured that we have quality raw materials supplied without a hitch,” he said.

But even with the rosy outlook, Mr Kimani, whose firm was listed among the Top 100 companies in the country in the Business Daily and KPMG annually survey, sounded the alarm over rise in counterfeits in the market.

“This has been the key challenge in the sector. The actors recycle used bottles, making it almost similar to ours in terms of physical appearance,” he said.

The government should also step up its war, he added. According to Dr Julius Maina Mathara of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya’s food and beverage processing industry comprises more than 1,232 businesses. Agro-processing is the largest manufacturing sub-sector, accounting for 13 per cent of the total output.

Dr Mathara says for the country to realise its full potential in fruits processing, the government must develop food business.

“It must also come up with concrete plans on building infrastructural facilities like water, electricity, sewerage and sanitation, telecommunication facilities and roads,” he said.

The entry of Kevian in international markets could impact positively on the firm’s revenues as US food manufacturing industry is one of the largest sectors in the world, accounting for more than 10 per cent of all manufacturing shipments.

In addition, the processed food industry has experienced fairly steady growth over the last decade though it had a slight decline between 2005 and 2006.

“Demand for processed food products tends to be less susceptible to fluctuating economic conditions than other industries in this market,” says a recent report from HCDA. The horticultural body says in 2006, there were 28,000 establishments in food manufacturing.

Multinationals have a big presence in the industry but account for only 36 per cent of all the jobs in the industry.

Actualité Afrique : Le Kenya hanté par le spectre du terrorisme

Par Hamid Aqerrout / http://www.casafree.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=53952

Les Kenyans semblent ces jours-ci hantés par le spectre du terrorisme, tellement la menace est persistante et les attentats vont crescendo, comme celui de lundi dernier survenu lorsqu’un forcené a fait exploser une bombe dans un autocar de la capitale, ôtant la vie à trois personnes innocentes et semant la panique parmi une large frange de la population qui se préparait à célébrer, comme il se doit, la fête de Noël.

Avec 11 attentats perpétrés rien qu’en cette année dans différentes régions du pays, soit une moyenne d’une attaque par mois, le Kenya se trouve ainsi dans la ligne de mire des terroristes qui semblent décidés à fomenter leurs coups belliqueux sans aucun répit, comme pour sanctionner le pays pour son soutien aux forces gouvernementales en Somalie.

Cette recrudescence de la violence laisse perplexe les autorités kenyanes qui, malgré les mises en garde récurrentes contre d’imminents attentats – adressées par des pays voisins comme la Tanzanie ou l’Ouganda – n’arrivent toujours pas à anticiper la menace qui guette le pays, estiment des experts et analystes.

Quant aux citoyens, nombreux sont ceux qui affirment éprouver un sentiment de désarroi face à l’incapacité des forces de sécurité à prévenir et faire face aux actes terroristes.

Les forces de sécurité incapables de contrer la menace

“Pour le moment, nous sommes dans un dilemme sur la façon de répondre aux menaces terroristes. Toute forme de représailles a le potentiel d’une escalade des attaques sporadiques dans une pleine échelle de conflits régionaux”, affirme un officier de police sous couvert de l’anonymat. Et d’ajouter que l’incompétence et la corruption qui ronge le corps de la police ont permis à des groupes terroristes de prospérer sur le sol kenyan.

C’est dire qu’au moment où le pays connaît un afflux important de réfugiés et de migrants clandestins, les forces de la police sont dépourvues de moyens logistiques nécessaires pour faire face à la criminalité et pointent du doigt le gouvernement qu’elles accusent de sous-financement, malgré l’insécurité croissante, font encore observer les analystes.

Néanmoins, l’opinion publique reste divisée quant à savoir si la fréquence des attentats est simplement le résultat d’un manque de ressources ou d’un problème structurel encore beaucoup plus grave.

“Les salaires à eux seuls ne suffisent pas à améliorer la performance de la police. Nous avons besoin de réformes de fond qui vont au-delà des salaires et de bonnes lois qui doivent être une cerise sur le gâteau”, affirme le porte-parole de la police, Eric Kiraithe.

Le Premier ministre, Raila Odinga, a, lui-même, admis dans l’enceinte du Parlement que les forces de sécurité n’ont pas les moyens matériels et techniques nécessaires pour faire face aux crimes liés au terrorisme, corroborant ainsi les dires de Kiraithe.

C’est dans ce cadre, d’ailleurs, que le gouvernement envisage un examen des différentes options pour contrer les menaces maintes fois proférées par des groupes terroristes, dont Al-Chabaab de la Somalie voisine. C’est dans cette optique également que le personnel de sécurité des différents Services de l’Etat a vu son congé annuel annulé.

Toutefois, un expert en sécurité internationale, Opiyo Ododa, tout en reconnaissant la situation de cul-de-sac dans laquelle se trouve le Kenya, estime que “les représailles militaires ne peuvent désamorcer une situation déjà explosive”.

Des attaques sporadiques

Déjà au début du premier trimestre de cette année, l’avertissement a été donné par une attaque à la grenade perpétrée dans un supermarché de la capitale, Nairobi. Bien qu’elle n’ait pas fait de victimes, elle a eu au moins le mérite de déclencher un état d’alerte dans les rangs de la police qui avaient ainsi pu intercepter un explosif dans un véhicule de transport public à destination de la ville de Nakuru.

Quelques mois plus tard, un homme a été arrêté avec des détonateurs dans un bus de la ville de Garissa, avant l’arrivée de la Secrétaire d’Etat américaine Hillary Clinton pour une visite au Kenya.

Cependant, l’attentat le plus dévastateur a eu lieu en août dernier au parc Uhuru à Nairobi lors d’un meeting à l’occasion du référendum constitutionnel. Trois personnes ont été tuées et des dizaines d’autres blessées. Dans cette même foulée, un homme religieux a été arrêté à la ville de Limuru en possession 12 détonateurs.

Au début de ce mois, deux attentats à la grenade ont été perpétrées contre des agents de la police dans les quartiers Kasarani et Eastleigh de la capitale, faisant trois morts, dont un officier de police et plusieurs blessés.

C’est dire aussi que tous ces attentats sont venus rappeler aux autorités kenyanes l’impérieuse nécessité d’une approche sécuritaire qui soit à la mesure des nombreux défis auxquels fait face le Kenya, devenu désormais une plaque tournante pour l’immigration clandestine en provenance des pays voisins comme la Somalie meurtrie et l’Ethiopie, ainsi que pour le trafic de drogue.

Economie : Kenya : Près d’un milliard de dollars de perte en exportations de fleurs

Casafree.com le 27/12/2010 / Les exportations kenyanes en fleurs coupées pourraient accuser une perte d’un milliard de dollars, en raison des annulations de vol à cause de la neige dans les principales destinations européennes, apprend-on lundi auprès du département de l’agriculture.

“500 tonnes de fleurs sont perdues chaque jour en raison de l’annulation des vols à destination des marchés outre-mer” précise-t-on de même source, ajoutant que les exportations kenyanes en produits horticoles ont chuté de 2,9% entre 2008 et 2009, passant ainsi de 74 milliards à 71,6 milliards de Shillings (de 925 millions à 900 millions de dollars), en raison de la récession mondiale.

La directrice de l’Office kenyan des fleurs, Jane Ngige, avait déclaré que “de toute évidence, l’imposition de restrictions de vols en raison de conditions météorologiques défavorables au Royaume-Uni et en Europe a eu un impact majeur sur les activités des agriculteurs”.

Déjà en avril de cette année, les agriculteurs ont perdu environ 120 millions de Shillings par jour, suite à l’annulation par Kenya Airways des vols vers et au départ de Londres et d’Amsterdam en raison d’une éruption volcanique en Islande, souligne-t-on.

L’Union européenne est la plus grande destination des exportations kenyanes de fleurs coupées, avec jusqu’à 80% des importations.

Le secteur, qui emploie 100.000 personnes, a été, l’année dernière, le deuxième pourvoyeur de devises du pays après les transferts de la diaspora.

AFRIQUE SUD :

S.African Police Find Weapons Bound For Somalia

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / JOHANNESBURG December 28, 2010

A shipment of guns apparently bound for Somali pirate hunters has been seized at a home in South Africa, police said Tuesday, in what appeared to be a violation of a U.N. arms embargo in the war-ravaged country.

South African authorities said they did not know who was importing the weapons, but the seizure follows weeks of speculation over a controversial program to train anti-piracy forces in Somalia.

The anarchic country’s long coastline is dotted with pirates who prey on the vital shipping route, and millions of dollars are spent each day to maintain a coalition of international warships in the region.

Those involved with the controversial anti-piracy program, including an ex-CIA deputy station chief and a former U.S. ambassador, have refused to say who is funding it. But they have repeatedly insisted no guns would be sent to Somalia in violation of the U.N. arms embargo.

South African police spokesman Vincent Mdunge said police had been tracking the shipment and that four people were arrested last week after the guns were traced to the house outside Durban in eastern South Africa. Two of the suspects were South Africans; he would not disclose the two foreigners’ nationalities.

The shipment was comprised of eight assault rifles fitted with telescopic and silencing devices, two AK47s, two shot guns and a revolver.

“There could have been other firearms that are still lying about somewhere,” Mdunge said.

The four suspects were freed on bail after their Dec. 23 arrest and are next to appear in court Feb. 7. Police were still trying to determine whether a port official helped move the weapons.

Mdunge would not name the shippers, but said investigators believe that the weapons were being sent to Somalia for use to fight pirates. It was unclear whether the shippers had the proper permits to send the weapons to Somalia, Mdunge said.

He said he did not know whether the weapons were being imported by a private company or the Somali government.

It is also unclear exactly where the weapons were destined, or what their relation might be to a private security contractor who is training 1,000 men for an anti-piracy force in Somalia’s semiautonomous northern region of Puntland.

A Somali official said Monday that the new cabinet has given permission for training to take place in the southern capital of Mogadishu as well, where the weak U.N.-backed government is battling an Islamist insurgency.

He did not say how many men would be trained, but said part of the force would be used to protect Somali officials, who are the frequent targets of assassination attempts.

The Somali ambassador previously said that an anti-piracy force of up to 1,000 could also be trained in the capital and that the close protection unit could number up to 300 men. There is little piracy in the area around the capital but many Islamist insurgents.

U.S. officials say it is unclear who is funding the initiative, what its objectives are and whether it breaks a U.N. arms embargo on Somalia.

Millions of dollars have already been spent on equipment and the Muslim country donating the cash has also said that it will pay the salaries of the men it trains. Government forces are currently crippled by desertions because corruption and incompetence mean most soldiers go unpaid for months at a time.

Diplomats have expressed concern that opening a second stream of money, weapons and training will undermine efforts to force the Somali government to become more accountable and reform its defense ministry. They say such efforts are essential to defeating the al-Qaida-linked insurgency, which has carried out suicide bombings in Africa and has threatened to attack the United States.

Numerous Somali officials have identified Uganda-based Saracen International as the security contractor doing the training. But Bill Pelser, the chief executive of Saracen International, has denied his company is involved and says it is another company of the same name registered in Lebanon. Lebanese authorities say they have no record of such a company.

On Tuesday, Pelser again denied involvement and said he was happy to hear of guns bound for Somalia being seized in South Africa.

———

South African Corn Advances, Following Gains in U.S. Benchmark

By Mkhululi Mancotywa – Dec 28, 2010

Corn in South Africa, the largest producer of the grain on the continent, climbed after prices rose in the U.S., which competes for African export markets.

Corn futures for March delivery rose 1.25 cents, or 0.2 percent, to close at $6.1525 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade yesterday, the seventh straight gain. Hot, dry weather in the next 10 days will increase stress on developing crops in southern Argentina, World Weather Inc. said. A lack of rain in southern Brazil may also threaten some crops, while too much precipitation may increase disease in northern fields, it said.

White corn for March delivery, the most active contract on the South African Futures Exchange, added 6 rand, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,380 rand ($207) a metric ton. Meal made from the grain is the country’s staple food. Yellow corn for March delivery gained 10 rand, or 0.7 percent, to 1,459 rand a ton. The grain is used mainly as animal feed in South Africa.

Wheat for March delivery rose 7 rand, or 0.3 percent, to 2,838 rand a ton.

Gains or losses for the most active contracts of three additional crops today were as follows. All prices are in rand and the crops are sold per ton:

Today’s Price Previous Close % Change

Sunflowers 4,059 3,990 +1.7

Soybeans 3,285 3,215 +2.2

Sorghum 1,485 1,485 0.0

To contact the reporter on this story: Mkhululi Mancotywa in Johannesburg at mmancotywa1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at ajordan11@bloomberg.net.

AFRICA / AU :

Africa is not yet ready for regional integration or resource exploitation

By ROSEMARY OKELLO Posted Monday, December 27 2010 at 18:07

As the year comes to an end, the nagging question among many people in Africa is whether the continent is really going to take advantage of the opportunities, especially economic integration, presented by the 21st Century.

This was the concern at the recent Mo Ibrahim Foundation meeting held in Mauritius attended by leaders from Africa and beyond, including the AU secretary-general Jean Ping, the World Bank managing director, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, and other eminent African personalities.

Speakers emphasised that regional economic integration was one of the key factors in making sure that this is the century for Africa.

Although the continent is blessed with huge mineral resources, land resources, agricultural resources and even human resources, not much has not been done to tap this wealth. Some of them have become a source of pain rather than a source of comfort for many Africans.

Inertia, poor governance, poor infrastructure, institutions which do not work, and failure to embrace regional integration, have combined to frustrate efforts to make Africa a shining star.

But the delegates at the meeting said Africa can still adopt, the “we can do it” attitude and reverse the poor performance that has prevailed in the continent for years.

“The ‘we can do it’ attitude will be realised when we make progress in regional integration, and talk about it and build institutions that will drive it,” said Abdoulie Janneh, secretary-general and executive secretary, UN Economic Council for Africa.

On his part, Mr Ibrahim said that although regional and economic integration are an official policy of the African Union and although each African country is a member of two regional communities, not a great deal was happening.

“Is it lack of political will or is it fear? How can we articulate the benefits of integration in a way that wins the support of African people?” he asked.

According to Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, countries in Africa go to great lengths to avoid trading with each other (89 per cent of the trade is with non-African partners) although many African countries are landlocked.

Prof Paul Collier, director, Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, said that Africa being the last frontier for undiscovered resources has an opportunity that is yet to be exploited.

To him, economic integration is a crucial step towards the exploitation of these resources and development in a holistic manner.

“Combination of high resources and regional integration will give Africa the big money, which will dwarf the current foreign aid it gets,” said Collier, the renowned author of the Book, The Plundered Planet: How to Reconcile Prosperity with Nature.

Currently there are numerous examples of extraction of natural resources from Africa, which are becoming a missed opportunity for the continent in terms of growth.

“Many of the African people have lived through the missed opportunity years and the next generation might also live through the missed opportunities,” warned Collier.

Mistrust and the clash between national sovereignty and regional economic integration were some of the issues that emerged at the meeting.

How much power the states should devolve to regional bodies and how this process can be implemented with a view of raising citizen’s awareness on the importance of regional integration, were some of the troubling issues.

Dr Mohamed El-Baradei, former director-general, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that since one of the greatest hindrances to regional integration in Africa is poor governance, governments practising good governance should start by empowering people with knowledge on the benefits of economic integration.

“Sovereignty is not about borders, it is the people. There seems to be too much emphasis on what separates Africans such as ethnicity, language and borders than what unites the people of Africa. The EU has many languages and numerous ethnic groups, yet being together outweighs the sovereignty issues,” said El-Baradei.

According to the briefing notes prepared by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, insufficient implementation of commitments by member states compromises efforts for regional economy.

But even if there were political will, Africans have to sort out another issue: regional infrastructure, which is crucial for integration, is wanting.

“The continent needs a strategy for the sustainable development of Africa’s infrastructure. Insufficient, weak and badly maintained infrastructure is a central impediment to trade, investment and economic development,” the notes say.

This means that if Africa is to succeed in the 21st century and be competitive in a rapidly globaling world, it must exploit its natural resources and embrace regional economic integration in the fullest sense of the concept.

Ms Okello is the executive director, African Woman and Child Feature Service.

Somali Islamist insurgents threaten US attack

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A leader of Somalia’s Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a speech broadcast Monday.

“We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country,” said Fuad Mohamed “Shongole” Qalaf.

Al-Shabab has not yet launched an attack outside Africa but Western intelligence has long been worried because the group targeted young Somali-Americans for recruitment. About 20 have traveled to Somalia for training and at least three were used as suicide bombers inside Somalia.

Al-Shabab holds most of southern and central Somalia and has the support of hundreds of foreign fighters, mostly radicalized East Africans. It seeks to overthrow the weak U.N.-backed government, which is protected by 8,000 Ugandan and Burundian African Union peacekeepers.

The al-Shabab militia launched coordinated suicide attacks in Uganda in July that killed 76 people. It has also announced its allegiance to al-Qaida and is believed to be harboring a mastermind of the twin 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.

The radio message was recorded in the town of Afgoye, near the Somali capital, during a meeting of Shongole and Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, formerly the leader of insurgent group Hizbul Islam. The two insurgent groups had clashed several times previously but announced a merger last week. Aweys said his group will fight under al-Shabab’s command.

“We have united for the sake of our ideology and we are going to redouble our efforts to remove the government and the African Union from the country,” said Aweys on Monday.

In an unrelated development, the Somali information minister said the new Cabinet had approved the use of a private security contractor to train forces in the capital of Mogadishu and the program would start “soon.”

Saracen International would train forces for VIP protection, said Abdulkareem Jama. He said he did not know exactly when training would start, what the men’s duties would include or how many men would be trained but he said the program included the renovation of a hospital and government buildings.

Somali officials are frequently killed by insurgents, both in single assassinations and en masse in suicide bombings and attacks. The Somali ambassador in Kenya previously said that up to 1,000 men could be trained in the capital for an anti-piracy force and 300 for a presidential guard.

Saracen is already training 1,000 men for an anti-piracy force in the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland.

The program has been criticized by U.S. officials who say it is unclear who is funding it, what its objectives are and whether it breaks a U.N. arms embargo.

Jama said the Somali cabinet had discussed those issues and were satisfied the embargo was not being broken but he did not say who was funding the program.

“There is a need for training,” he said. “There was an effort to slow down the project (in Mogadishu) because of those concerns.”

The arid Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government since a socialist dictatorship collapsed in 1991. Its position on the Horn of Africa means pirates can use its long coastline to capture shipping.

Analysts fear that al-Qaida linked insurgents are also gaining ground across the Gulf of Aden in the unstable nation of Yemen. If Yemen fell, that would mean failed states on either side of the shipping route leading into the strategically vital Suez Canal, the route taken by a substantial portion of the world’s oil shipments.

Associated Press writer Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Africans to issue ultimatum to Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo

By News Desk — GlobalPost Editors Published: December 28, 2010 ET in Africa

Three African presidents are due to arrive in Ivory Coast to issue Laurent Gbagbo with an ultimatum: step down or face removal by force.

Bangladeshi U.N. peacekeepers patrolling a neighborhood in Abidjan are followed by Ivory Coast gendarmes (R) on Dec. 27, 2010, amid a call for a general strike by opposition leaders hoping to pressure Laurent Gbagbo to step down. West African leaders arrive Tuesday to issue Gbagbo with an ultimatum. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)

Three presidents from African nations are due to arrive in Ivory Coast on Tuesday to tell embattled leader Laurent Gbagbo to step down or face removal by force.

Presidents Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, Boni Yayi of Benin and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde will arrive in Abidjan with officials of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to use “legitimate force” if Gbagbo does not step down from power.

The U.N. certified Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the Nov. 28 runoff vote in Ivory Coast, but Gbagbo insists he won.

More than 170 people have been killed in post-election violence, with human rights groups accusing gunmen supportive of Gbagbo gunmen of extra-judicial killings, kidnappings and torture. The dispute threatens to tip the country back into civil war, with Gbagbo’s supporters warning against use of force to remove him, citing the possibility of war in West Africa.

At a special summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Friday, the presidents of the region urged Gbagbo to step down. ECOWAS said it was prepared to use “legitimate force” against Gbagbo and mentioned the prospect of prosecution in an international court against those responsible for violence in Abidjan.

The United States and the European Union, meantime, have placed a travel ban on Gbagbo, while the World Bank and the regional West African central bank have frozen his finances.

While France, which last week urged its citizens to leave Ivory Coast temporarily, has agreed to recognize an envoy of Ouattara as the rightful Ivory Coast Ambassador in Paris.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/global/101228/gbagbo-ivory-world-un-war-africa

Côte d’Ivoire: l’UA nomme le Premier ministre kényan pour tenter de résoudre la crise

(AFP) – Il y a 18 heures

ADDIS ABEBA — L’Union africaine (UA) a demandé lundi au Premier ministre kényan, Raila Odinga, de coordonner les efforts de l’organisation panafricaine pour tenter de résoudre la crise politique en Côte d’Ivoire.

Le président de la Commission de l’UA, Jean Ping, a demandé à M. Odinga “d’assurer le suivi de la situation en Côte d’Ivoire et de renforcer les chances de succès des efforts en cours”, selon un communiqué transmis à l’AFP.

M. Odinga, qui a été nommé Premier ministre en 2008 dans un gouvernement de coalition mis en place pour mettre fin à plusieurs semaines de crise politique au Kenya, a récemment appelé à un retrait du président sortant Laurent Gbagbo.

M. Gbagbo et son rival Alassane Ouattara réclament tous les deux la présidence du pays après le deuxième tour contesté, le 28 novembre, des élections présidentielles.

M. Gbagbo a été désigné vainqueur du scrutin par le Conseil constitutionnel ivoirien et continue de détenir la majeure partie des leviers du pouvoir. Mais la grande majorité de la communauté internationale a reconnu M. Ouattara comme seul président légitime.

Par ailleurs, M. Ping, a exprimé son “soutien à la mission” qu’effectueront mardi à Abidjan les chefs d’Etat béninois, sierra-léonais et cap-verdien, désignés par la Communauté économique des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest (Cédéao).

Le président de la Commission de l’UA a souhaité que cette mission permette “d’enclencher une dynamique salutaire qui soit de nature à préserver les acquis de la démocratie en Côte d’Ivoire”.

Les 53 membres de l’Union africaine ont suspendu la Côte d’Ivoire le 6 décembre en raison du refus de M. Gbagbo de céder le pouvoir.

Financés par le groupe de la Banque africaine de développement / Des projets énergétiques en Afrique bénéficient de plus d’un milliard

27-12-2010 / Par Rafik Elias / http://www.latribune-online.com/suplements/economiesup/44869.html

Le groupe de la Banque africaine de développement (BAD) a récemment approuvé un total de plus d’un milliard de dollars américains pour cinq projets dans le secteur de l’énergie, rapporte l’African Press Organisation (APO). Ces projets sont localisés en Egypte, en RDC, en Ethiopie, au Kenya et en Tanzanie.Le premier projet concerne un prêt de 550 millions de dollars pour financer la réalisation d’une centrale électrique à cycle vapeur de 650 mégawatt (MW) sur un site situé à proximité de la ville de Suez, à environ 150 km à l’est du Caire. L’électricité produite sera transportée de la centrale grâce à un réseau 220 kV, suite à la réhabilitation de la ligne de transport aérienne double circuit existante et à la construction de deux câbles souterrains supplémentaires. L’électricité produite sera utilisée à des fins industrielles et commerciales. Le deuxième projet porte sur l’électrification périurbaine et rurale en République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Il est financé par un don du Fonds africain de développement (FAD) de 9,69 millions d’Unités de compte (UC), équivalent à 14,8 millions de dollars, (1 UC = 1,53 dollar américains en décembre 2010) et un don d’un montant de 60 millions d’UC, équivalent à 91,8 millions de dollars, de la Facilité des Etats fragiles. Il s’agit d’un projet d’investissement portant sur la réhabilitation et l’extension du système de distribution d’énergie électrique de Kinshasa et des localités choisies dans quatre provinces en RDC. Il comprend l’assainissement, la réhabilitation et l’extension de lignes moyenne et basse tension, la réalisation de branchements, l’installation de foyers d’éclairage public, la promotion d’actions commerciales spécifiques pour accroître le nombre de nouveaux abonnés et toucher

Un centre du Comesa pour l’intégration régionale à Maurice

Stéphane Saminaden / 12/28/10

L’Union européenne (UE) s’apprête à accorder environ Rs 225 millions (5,6 millions d’euros) au Comesa pour la construction d’un centre favorisant l’intégration régionale qui sera situé à Maurice.

Le centre sera connu comme le Regional Multi-Disciplinary Centre of Excellence et servira de centre de ressources et d’expertise pour le développement d’activité intra-régional au niveau du Comesa et au niveau de la communauté de l’Afrique de l’Est (EAC).

L’Union européenne se dit confiante que l’appropriation du centre par la communauté régionale est susceptible d’attirer des donations d’autres bailleurs de fonds afin de permettre au centre d’atteindre une indépendance financière dans le moyen terme.

C’est en 2005, lors du sommet des petits états insulaires que l’idée de la création d’un tel centre avait pris naissance. A l’époque on avait retenu l’idée que le concept de l’intégration régionale devait être assisté par un centre d’expertise.

UN /ONU :

Israel, Canada to Boycott Commemoration of Durban Conference Against Racism

By Gidon Belmaker/ Dec 28, 2010

Kenney Says Canada Will Boycott UN Anti-Racism ‘Charade’

Israel Remembers The Holocaust

The U.N. General Assembly decided last Friday to hold a high-level meeting to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Durban conference against racism in September 2011. Israel and Canada announced they would boycott the event.

The Durban process is monitoring the progress of the goals set forth in the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. It is regarded by Israel and other countries as a political tool for unjust criticism against it and a showcase of anti-Semitism.

The 2001 Durban conference concluded that Zionism is a form of racism. In the 2009 Durban follow-up conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a key speaker. Several countries, including the United States and Germany, boycotted that conference.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued an official statement condemning the decision to hold the conference next year.

“Israel regrets that a resolution on an important subject—elimination of racism—has been diverted and politicized by the automatic majority at the U.N., by linking it to the Durban Declaration and Program of Action (2001) that many states would prefer to forget,” read the statement.

“The Durban Conference of 2001, with its anti-semitic undertones and displays of hatred for Israel and the Jewish world, left us with scars that will not heal quickly.”

Voting in favor of the resolution were 104 countries. Twenty-two countries, among them the United States, the U.K., and Australia, voted against it.

John F. Sammis, the U.S.’s Deputy Representative to the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council explained his country’s objection to the resolution. “My delegation regrets that this resolution contains elements that require us to vote no, and we hope to work together to find common ground on concrete approaches that both protect freedom of expression and combat all forms of racism and racial discrimination,” he said in an official statement.

“In addition to these concerns with the resolution, we are also deeply troubled by the choice of time and venue for the 10th anniversary commemorative event. Just days earlier, we will have honored the victims of 9/11, whose loved ones will be marking a solemn 10-year anniversary for them and the entire nation. It will be an especially sensitive time for the people of New York and a repeat of the vitriol sadly experienced at past Durban-related events risks undermining the relationship we have worked hard to strengthen over the past few years between the United States and the U.N.,” he added.

Canadian Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced as early as November 2010 that Canada will not attend the follow-up conference. “Just as Canada was the first in the world to withdraw from Durban 2, so too Canada will lead by not attending this new Durban event,” said Minister Kenney in an official statement.

“Our government has lost faith in the Durban process. We will not be part of this event, which commemorates an agenda that promotes racism rather than combats it.”

UN peacekeeping chief arrives in Côte d’Ivoire, confers with president-elect

Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

27 December 2010 – The head of the United Nations peacekeeping operations arrived in Côte d’Ivoire today and met president-elect Alassane Ouattara, while stressing his department’s support for the UN mission in the West Africa country, which has plunged into political uncertainty following the outgoing leader’s refusal to stand down after losing the election.

“As head of peacekeeping operations, my first objective is to come and support our missions, especially when they face particularly delicate moments as is now the case in Côte d’Ivoire,” Alain Le Roy, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations told reporters after the meeting with Mr. Ouattara and his team in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Côte d’Ivoire.

“UNOCI [UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire] is facing a population and political leaders who are partially hostile to its presence,” Mr. Le Roy added. He said UN will continue to provide support to UNOCI to ensure that it fully and firmly fulfils its mandate.

“President Ouattara found that UNOCI was fulfilling its mandate satisfactorily but said, however, that there were still improvements to be made,” Mr. Le Roy said, stressing that the UN mission was not at war with anyone in the country.

“We protect civilians as impartially as possible because we have to protect civilians whoever they are, whatever their political affiliation or ethnic group,” Mr. Le Roy added.

Asked whether he might meet Laurent Gbagbo, the outgoing president who has refused to step down after he was defeated by Mr. Ouattara in the run-off poll held on 28 November, Mr. Le Roy said that he had requested a meeting and was awaiting response.

Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa exporter, was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. UNOCI has been supporting reunification efforts, of which November’s vote, which was delayed for five years, was a crucial step.

USA :

CANADA :

AUSTRALIA :

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EUROPE :

Un centre du Comesa pour l’intégration régionale à Maurice

Stéphane Saminaden / 12/28/10

L’Union européenne (UE) s’apprête à accorder environ Rs 225 millions (5,6 millions d’euros) au Comesa pour la construction d’un centre favorisant l’intégration régionale qui sera situé à Maurice.

Le centre sera connu comme le Regional Multi-Disciplinary Centre of Excellence et servira de centre de ressources et d’expertise pour le développement d’activité intra-régional au niveau du Comesa et au niveau de la communauté de l’Afrique de l’Est (EAC).

L’Union européenne se dit confiante que l’appropriation du centre par la communauté régionale est susceptible d’attirer des donations d’autres bailleurs de fonds afin de permettre au centre d’atteindre une indépendance financière dans le moyen terme.

C’est en 2005, lors du sommet des petits états insulaires que l’idée de la création d’un tel centre avait pris naissance. A l’époque on avait retenu l’idée que le concept de l’intégration régionale devait être assisté par un centre d’expertise.

CHINA :

China-Africa trade up 43.5% in Jan-Nov

Dec. 28, 2010 (China Knowledge) – Trade value between China and Africa surged 43.5% year on year to US$114.8 billion in the first eleven months of this year, according to a white paper on China-Africa economic and trade cooperation released by the Chinese government.

The figure had exceeded the US$106.8 billion recorded in 2008, said the white paper.

China, which overtook the E.U. and the U.S. as the largest trade partner of Africa in 2009, saw its exports of mechanical and electronic products account for more than 50% of the total exports to the region, while its imports of agricultural commodities have increased dramatically over the years.

Since 2005, China has exempted tariffs on some imports from the least-developed countries in Africa with diplomatic relations with China to boost its imports from the region. By July 2010, the number of tariff-free products had increased to 4,700, and is expected to grow to cover 95% of China’s total taxable items.

By the end of 2009, China’s total direct investment in Africa had surged to US$9.3 billion, with the scope of investment widening from the mining sector to finance, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture.

INDIA :

BRASIL:

EN BREF, CE 26 décembre 2010… AGNEWS /DAM, NY,26/12/2010