{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 06 février 2010 – CNN- February 06, 2010–Former South African president Nelson Mandela celebrated the 20th anniversary of his release from prison, and invited his ex-wife Winnie and others to an intimate dinner here on Thursday night.
RWANDA
UGANDA
Obama uses prayer breakfast to slam Uganda
www.digitaljournal.com/06022010
While speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast President Obama took the opportunity to voice his opinion concerning the Ugandan anti-gay bill.
On Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast President Obama took time to criticize the Ugandan anti-gay measure. Obama said that it was, “unconscionable to target gays or lesbians for who they are.” He went on to say that the measure under consideration is “odious.”
The National Prayer Breakfast was sponsored by Fellowship Foundation, who has been associated with efforts to get the Ugandan bill passed.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) were against Obama speaking at the breakfast because of the hosts involvement with the Ugandan measure. They felt that it would imply Washington’s support of the bill.
Essentially the bill is intended to punish sexual activity between persons of the same sex with either long term jail sentences or even death.
CREW asked for members of Congress along with Obama not to attend the breakfast. They also approached C-SPAN to refrain from showing the breakfast or at a minimum to link it to The Fellowship.
J. Robert Hunter, a member of The Fellowship told the New York Times in a story Thursday that it is unfair to blame the group for the Uganda legislation. Hunter pointed out that 30 family members went to Africa and shared their dismay concerning legislation to Ugandan politicians.
Melanie Sloan the executive director for CREW issued a statement, “The president and members of Congress should not legitimize this cult-like group-the head of which has praised the organizign abilities of Hitler and bin Laben.”
Uganda Action Alert
Feb. 6, 2010/www.windycitymediagroup.com
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ( IGLHRC ) has put out a call urging members of the U.S. Congress to support resolutions in the House ( H.R. 1064 ) and the Senate ( S.R. 409 ) condemning the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill and affirming the intrinsic dignity of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation.
Background
In Uganda, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 was introduced in Parliament last October. The bill targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) Ugandans, their advocates, and those that know someone LGBT. It would reaffirm existing penalties for homosexuality and introduce sweeping new criminal provisions. Some of these troubling provisions include: imprisonment for life for anyone convicted of the “offence of homosexuality;” punishment for the “promotion of homosexuality” with prison terms; imprisonment for up to three years for anyone who fails to report to the authorities LGBT people or LGBT human rights defenders they know; and most egregiously, the application of the death penalty to anyone in Uganda who has consensual same-sex relations repeatedly or who has consensual same-sex relations and is HIV positive. If this bill were to pass, it would be a devastating blow to the human rights of all Ugandans and would significantly impede effective HIV prevention and care.
This week in the U.S., a bipartisan group of members of Congress proposed resolutions condemning the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The House resolution, H.R. 1064, sponsored by Howard Berman ( D-CA ) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ( R-FL ) , received thirty-nine cosponsors. The Senate resolution, S.R. 409, sponsored by Russ Feingold ( D-WI ) and Tom Coburn ( R-OK ) , currently has four co-sponsors. The House resolution extends beyond Uganda to call on all nations to reject laws that criminalize homosexuality.
Public pressure is needed to ensure that both resolutions come up for a vote. Condemnation by the U.S. government is one of many factors that could persuade Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to prevent the bill from becoming law. If the resolutions pass, the U.S. Congress will join President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in sending the government of Uganda a unified message that passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill will have serious consequences to its relationships internationally.
TANZANIA:
BAE deal with Tanzania: Military air traffic control – for country with no airforce
Claire Short and Robin Cook had tried to stop the sale of a hugely expensive radar to the poverty- stricken Tanzanians
Rob Evans and Paul Lewis /The Guardian/Saturday 6 February 2010
Tony Blair was at the centre of controversy over BAE’s arms deal with Tanzania, just as he was in the Saudi contracts.
Cabinet ministers Claire Short and Robin Cook had tried to stop the sale of the hugely expensive radar to the poverty- stricken Tanzanians. But, as prime minister, he overruled them and insisted that the deal had to go through.
It left Cook ruefully muttering that it seemed that Dick Evans, BAE’s then chairman, seemed to have “the key to the garden door of No 10”.
The World Bank and the International Civil Aviation Organisation judged that the 2001 purchase was unnecessary and overpriced.
But the £28m deal started to look even worse when the SFO discovered that a third of the contract’s price had been diverted into secret offshore bank accounts.
The SFO believed that this money was used to pay bribes to Tanzanian politicians and officials.
Yesterday Short, who resigned from the government, said : “Every way you looked at it, it [the deal] was outrageous and disgraceful. And guess who absolutely insisted on it going through? My dear friend Tony Blair, who absolutely, adamantly, favoured all proposals for arms deals.
“It was an obviously corrupt project. Tanzania didn’t need a new military air traffic control, it was out-of-date technology, they didn’t have any military aircraft – they needed a civilian air traffic control system and there was a modern, much cheaper one. Everyone talks about good governance in Africa as though it is an African problem, and often the roots of the ‘badness’ is companies in Europe.”
In Yesterday’s agreement with the SFO, BAE admitted one offence under the 1985 Companies Act relating to the Tanzanian contract.
Dick Olver, the chairman, admitted that BAE “made commission payments to a marketing adviser and failed to accurately record such payments in its accounting records … The company failed to scrutinise these records adequately to ensure that they were reasonably accurate and permitted them to remain uncorrected.”
The SFO discovered that the money had gone into a Swiss bank account controlled by Sailesh Vithlani, a middleman of Indian extraction with a British passport.
He left Tanzania after the country’s anti-corruption unit accused of lying to investigators. He is listed as wanted by Interpol.
One Tanzanian politician, Andrew Chenge, was forced to resign in 2008 after investigators discovered more than £500,000 in a Jersey bank account he controlled. He denied the money had come from BAE.
CONGO RDC :
KENYA :
ANGOLA :
Angola’s new constitution comes into force
Pana /06/02/2010
News – Africa news .Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos has called on his compatriots to respect the country’s new constitution which came into force Friday.
In a speech at the proclamation of the new constitution here, president Dos Santos said with the new constitution in place, Angolans had been able to prove that they had the ability to “manage and resolve our own affairs without external interferences.
“We have been able to take into account the realities of events in our country in fashioning out a truly accepted constitution.”
In another development, the Angolan National Assembly has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday during which it would approve its new speaker, António Paulo Kassoma, to replace former speaker Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, now appointed vice president.
Luanda –
SOUTH AFRICA:
Jacob Zuma’s straying outside his three marriages roils South Africa
Critics say the president has betrayed the trust of the nation. This latest sex scandal may have staying power, with some supporters of polygamy believing he has crossed a line.
By Robyn Dixon/www.latimes.com/February 6, 2010
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa – President Jacob Zuma already has three wives and numerous children. He has survived a trial on charges that he raped the daughter of an old friend; and in a country with one of the highest HIV rates on Earth, he has been forced to apologize publicly for having unprotected sex.
His acknowledgment this week that he had fathered one more child, by many counts his 20th, outside his three marriages has launched another sex scandal, one that shows no sign of going away any time soon.
Details of the 67-year-old president’s sex life contradict the government’s HIV/AIDS campaign, an important element of which is reducing rampant promiscuity. But the scandal appears to have hit a deeper nerve: a sense that Zuma crossed an invisible line.
The birth of his latest child unsettled his core supporters, traditionalists who accept polygamy but regard having a child outside those multiple marriages as improper. Many other South Africans, particularly urbanites, are disquieted by polygamy. The practice sits awkwardly with the country’s stated commitment to gender equality.
Zuma ignored revelations of the birth of his latest child for three days, then issued a brief statement Wednesday acknowledging paternity and attacking the news media. That only made things worse: Critics attacked his view that the news media had no right to probe his private life
After the blaring headlines (“Shame of a Nation”) and cartoons (“The Sex-President”), Zuma canceled public engagements for two days, citing his workload.
One of his sons, Duduzane Zuma, released a rare statement Friday begging the media to leave his father alone: “We as a family are content with the polygamous nature of our household. We are content to have 20 siblings or more.”
The weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper was having none of it.
“Over and over President Jacob Zuma has asked South Africans to stretch tolerance to its dizzy limit, and by and large we have complied,” it said in a stinging editorial. “But this week, from dusty streets and taxi ranks to cocktail bars and Facebook pages, it was clear that the elastic had snapped.”
It accused Zuma of betraying the public trust after the apology that followed the 2006 trial in which he was acquitted of raping the daughter of a longtime family friend. “I erred in having unprotected sex,” he said then. “I should have known better.”
In court testimony, he said he had showered afterward because he believed it would reduce the likelihood of contracting AIDS from his HIV-positive accuser.
The acquittal and apology helped clear the path for Zuma, a longtime power in the governing African National Congress, to become president last year.
Zuma has been married to his first wife since 1973. One spouse committed suicide in 2000, leaving a note that life with him was “hell.” He divorced South Africa’s current home affairs minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in 1998. But he married another wife in 2008, and a third just a month ago.
The mother of his latest child, a 4-month-old girl, is Sonono Khoza, a bank official and daughter of an old friend of Zuma: Irvin Khoza, the head of South Africa’s 2010 soccer World Cup organizing committee. Because of strictures in Zulu culture on having a child outside multiple marriages, Zuma had to pay damages to the family.
Mail & Guardian columnist Charlotte Bauer said in an interview that she initially couldn’t embrace Zuma’s polygamy, but after a lot of thinking and many discussions with friends, she accepted it as part of the country’s reality.
But a public show of tolerance by many South Africans that is at odds with their private views on polygamy may explain the depth of the backlash, she said. “South Africans are quite conservative people in terms of morality and family and God and Christ,” she said. “People have suddenly gone: ‘Look, you had a very big canvas to paint on, mate, and you went over the limit.’ “
Zuma recently defended his polygamy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying he loved all his wives equally, and adding with a smile that some Zulu people believe their culture is superior.
Others say bad timing sharpens their embarrassment over Zuma’s behavior. In March, Zuma plans to visit Britain, where he will meet the queen and Prince Charles. In June, South Africa hosts the soccer World Cup tournament.
Said an editorial in the Star newspaper this week: “His rampant libido has made South Africa a laughingstock of the world.”
robyn.dixon@latimes.com
Mandela,ex-wife Winnie celebrate 20 years of his freedom from jail
Saturday, February 6, 2010/ANI/news.oneindia.in
Johannesburg (S. Africa), Feb.6 (ANI): Former South African president Nelson Mandela celebrated the 20th anniversary of his release from prison, and invited his ex-wife Winnie and others to an intimate dinner here on Thursday night.
Buzz up!Mandela, 91, was freed from Robben Island prison on Feb 11, 1990, after serving 27 years. He went on to become South Africa’s first black president in 1994.
Cyril Ramaphosa, one of a number of anti-apartheid activists, hailed Mandela as an “inspiration” in the struggle against apartheid.
The Telegraph quoted him, as saying: “We are forever indebted to you, for the leadership and inspiration you provided. We are happy you are a free man, because as you became free, you made us free.”
Mandela highlighted the importance of his friendship with his former jailer, Christo Brand, saying it “reinforced my belief in the essential humanity of even those who had kept me behind bars”.
The gathering, arranged by Mandela’s daughter, Zindzi, and Winnie, took place on the grounds of his Houghton home. His daughter filmed the evening for a documentary, Conversations About That Day.
South Africa’s parliament will open next Thursday, the exact anniversary of Mandela’s liberation. (ANI)
AFRICA / AU :
WHAT MAKES YOU AFRICAN?
www.therichmarksentinel.com/ Rashid Kay/ Saturday, February 06, 2010
Is there such a thing as “White African”?
If we delve a bit deeper it becomes evident that the White man with his words is again trying to displace the Black race.
If Africa is home to Black People, then there is only African, period. Whites in Africa are merely foreigners as the Black race is still considered foreigners after 500 years in the West.
“Black Africans”, this phrase should not be perpetrated by Black People as it tells their young that we, as a race, have no history and no place of origin.
If the phrase “Black African” is allowed to be part of our vocabulary then our history, as Black People, will be further distorted with lies concerning our race and our rich history.
Understand one thing, whenever the White man hyphenates a word; it is affirming that, that particular thing or person does not belong or that its/his origin is not of the place of residence.
Have you ever wondered why there is no White European or White American?
This is because the White man understands the power of words.
If there is a double-barrel to your citizenship then you should understand that the first one means “where you are from” and the second one means “where you live”.
For example, African-Americans meaning “Africans who live in America”.
There is African-American, Arab-American, Hispanic-American, Chinese-American, to name but a few, yet there is no such a thing as European-American.
Do you know the difference between Indian-Americans and American-Indians?
Give people the name tags and they are divided, they will even kill one another over those name tags.
It is embarassing and misleading to write in our history books that Mark Shuttleworth was the first African to go to Space. How pathetic can we get? He is not African. I don’t care which African country’s passport he holds.
I paraphrase Malcolm X “Cats can give birth in the oven but their kittens will never be biscuits”. So just because you were born in the oven, does not necessarily mean you are a biscuit. An “Indian elephant” born in Africa does not become an “African elephant” and vice versa.
White People who were born in Africa will never be Africans, the same way as Black People born in China will never be Chinese.
Some White People have been in Africa for more than 400 years yet they do not have African names and cannot even speak an African language. I am not saying they must go but what are they here for?
How can you claim to be African when you still want our streets and our cities to bear the names of your European forefathers, who were oppressers and enslavers?
Skin colour (different shades of black, from the darkest to the lightest), language, culture, history, consciousness, heritage, origin, physical features…
These are just some of the factors which make one African. The expressions such as “African time”, “African ass”, have nothing to do with White People.
We cannot deny the fact that some racial interactions have caused major dilutions in form of mixed races.
“So don’t care where you come from as long as you’re a Black man, you’re an African”
BY: PETER MacINTOSH
Uncle Toms, coconuts and house niggers are the first ones to jump in White People’s defence and speak on their behalf. That kind of reaction really saddens me.
I AM AN AFRICAN
By THABO MBEKI (Former South African State President)
I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.
My body has frozen in our frosts and in our latter day snows. It has thawed in the warmth of our sunshine and melted in the heat of the midday sun. The crack and the rumble of the summer thunders, lashed by startling lightening, have been a cause both of trembling and of hope.
The fragrances of nature have been as pleasant to us as the sight of the wild blooms of the citizens of the veld. The dramatic shapes of the Drakensberg, the soil-coloured waters of the Lekoa, iGqili noThukela, and the sands of the Kgalagadi, have all been panels of the set on the natural stage on which we act out the foolish deeds of the theatre of our day.
At times, and in fear, I have wondered whether I should concede equal citizenship of our country to the leopard and the lion, the elephant and the springbok, the hyena, the black mamba and the pestilential mosquito. A human presence among all these, a feature on the face of our native land thus defined, I know that none dare challenge me when I say – I am an African!
I owe my being to the Khoi and the San whose desolate souls haunt the great expanses of the beautiful Cape – they who fell victim to the most merciless genocide our native land has ever seen, they who were the first to lose their lives in the struggle to defend our freedom and dependence and they who, as a people, perished in the result.
Today, we keep an audible silence about these ancestors of the generations that live, fearful to admit the horror of a former deed, seeking to obliterate from our memories a cruel occurrence which, in its remembering, should teach us not and never to be inhuman again.
I am the grandchild of the warrior men and women that Hintsa and Sekhukhune led, the patriots that Cetshwayo and Mphephu took to battle, the soldiers Moshoeshoe and Ngungunyane taught never to dishonour the cause of freedom.
My mind and my knowledge of myself is formed by the victories that are the jewels in our African crown, the victories we earned from Isandhlwana to Khartoum, as Ethiopians and as the Ashanti of Ghana, as the Berbers of the desert.
I am an African. I am born of the peoples of the continent of Africa. The pain of the violent conflict that the peoples of Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan, Burundi and Algeria is a pain I also bear. The dismal shame of poverty, suffering and human degradation of my continent is a blight that we share.
I am the child of Nongqawuse. I am he who made it possible to trade in the world markets in diamonds, in gold, in the same food for which my stomach yearns. Being part of all these people, and in the knowledge that none dare contest that assertion, I shall claim that – I am an African.
Now ask yourself:
DO YOU QUALIFY TO BE AN AFRICAN?
Some facts Stephen Harper should have on Haiti
Survivors of Haiti’s earthquake vent their frustrations before a visit by former U.S. President and United Nations special envoy Bill Clinton in Port-au-Prince on February 5, 2010. )
A granular look at challenges Canada must overcome if it’s serious about helping its quake-stricken Caribbean neighbour
Gerald Caplan/Special to The Globe and Mail /Feb. 06, 2010
.If Canada is to play a positive role in Haiti’s future, we must know what the situation actually is, and why.
Recently I described how Haiti came to be in such wretched shape, thanks to its own brutal leaders and the interventions of France and the United States, a story that is rarely told in the mainstream media. What follows is more recent information about Haiti, shortly before and after the earthquake, all of it publicly documented yet little of it known.
For a serious government, there are important lessons to be learned here.
» Two million people need food. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promised that by the end of January, the World Food Program and related organizations would feed at least half of those. In fact, the number fed was 600,000. “It has been slower than anyone hoped or expected,” UN humanitarian aid co-ordinator John Holmes said.
» Ban was also pushing a cash-for-work program. Jobs are to be created clearing the rubble at $4 to $5 a day. He appealed for $41-million for this program. By end January, $4.3-million had been donated.
» A “donor” conference for Haiti last April, 2009, after hurricane season, saw $402-million pledged. Actual disbursements were $61-million, about 15 per cent of funds promised. This is quite typical of many such pledges, not just to Haiti. Typically as well, we rarely hear of these broken promises.
» Many African nations – both governments and civil society groups – have donated funds to Haitian relief. With the sole exception of Botswana, and perhaps South Africa, all are as poor as church mice. Liberia, in west Africa, donated $50,000. Liberia’s total budget for 2010 is $370-million for about 3.5 million people. The province of Alberta, with the same population, had revenues for 2009-10 of $31.7-billion.
» While rescue teams from six different countries worked frantically to rescue 50-70 trapped people – mostly foreigners – from the rubble of Hotel Montana, the best in town before the quake, as of the end of January a lower-middle class neighbourhood behind the hotel called Canape Vert had received no aid whatever.
» Like Canada, the United States expects Haitians, with minor exceptions, to remain in Haiti. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has launched Operation “Vigilant Sentry” using the large naval flotilla the United States has assembled around Port-au-Prince. Their job is to deter desperate Haitians from embarking on the 1,000-kilometre sea crossing to Miami.
» That the Haitian government and other local leaders are largely MIA is easily explained. According to the former chief economist of Haiti’s central bank, more than 85 per cent of Haiti’s best “human resources” now live abroad. Many who remained were apparently killed in the earthquake, since, as CTV’s Tom Clark notes, all were at work in their offices when the quake struck.
» Haiti is one of the most unequal and polarized countries in the world, with a minuscule fraction of its population controlling almost all real power and influence and living lives of ostentatious luxury. Their section of the capital was largely untouched by the disaster. This elite has long used brute force to keep poor people in line, with violent military and paramilitary forces (some trained by the United States) doing their dirty work.
» Much foreign aid lands in the laps of these elite Haitian families, who distribute it as they see fit. Even before the earthquake, almost half of all Haitians survived on a household income of 44 cents a day.
» Despite their own monstrous leaders, Haitians have always been among the most wondrously creative people in the world, excelling in painting, culture, literature and music.
» For critical days after the quake, the U.S. military controlled the Port-au- Prince airport. Perhaps confusing Haiti with Afghanistan, they gave priority to their own military flights and turned away other rescue, medical and food missions. Aid agencies and other governments that argued for food and medical care as a priority were rebuffed.
» Canada’s troops arrived late in Jacmel to provide the area’s first relief apparently because Canada was waiting on the United States for its marching orders. This will of course be vigorously denied.
» Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a priest from the Haitian slums, swept into office in 1991 determined to end what U.S. doctor Paul Farmer called America’s “ruinous policies towards Haiti.” Aristide’s modest program terrified local elites and Western interests: land reform, a minimum wage of $3 a day, and an end to foreign-owed factories that paid paltry wages. Aristide was ousted in a coup backed by George H.W. Bush nine months later.
» Haiti’s miserable urban slums have swollen in part because Haitian farmers were recklessly undermined in order benefit foreign, mainly American, interests. Farmers flocked to already bursting, squalid, unserviced shanties, perfect fodder for a natural disaster to sweep away.
» According to Dr. Farmer, whose Partners in Health agency has been in Haiti for years, Aristide “did not please the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had invested millions in keeping Haitian wages low.” USAID is America’s CIDA, though with explicitly political as well as humanitarian and economic objectives (a direction the Harper government may well be heading for). It is somewhat unusual for an aid agency to want to keep a poor country’s wages low.
» When Bill Clinton allowed Aristide to return to office, it was on condition that he introduce the typical World Bank-IMF policies that undermined Haitians’ own interests. So tariffs on imported rice were slashed to the bone, American rice flooded Haiti’s markets, and countless rice farmers went under, soon fleeing to the urban slums.
» Haiti, once a major rice exporter, faced food shortages after its natural disasters. USAID sent in rice purchased from the large U.S. agribusinesses that had already been generously subsidized by Washington, and carried in U.S. ships to Haiti. Many American interests benefited from this “humanitarian aid” to hungry Haitians. This is one example among many of how the West, including the “donor” countries, enriches itself while impoverishing Haiti.
» Last year, Haiti’s government, so warmly regarded by Western governments and the United Nations, vetoed a proposal to increase the minimum wage to $5 – a day. It’s now $3.30 a day. In Ontario it will soon be a lowly $10.25 – an hour. I believe Starbucks has put on hold plans to open branches in Port-au-Prince Haiti in the immediate future.
» Canadian companies have long taken advantage of Haiti’s sweatshop factory conditions. One such company used to be involved in making baseballs in Haiti that ended up being used by the old Expos team. Company spokespersons explained at the time that they were utilizing the “ lowest-cost method of production.” Other North American businesses seem equally unable to resist the temptation of paying the lowest wages in the Western hemisphere, although some, admirably, abide by higher standards. This is another example of how rich countries enrich themselves at Haiti’s expense.
» Most outsiders’ plans for Haiti’s future include exploiting its low wage structures, probably for apparel companies; the question will be whether the wages will be merely very low, or outright abominable. The answer will tell us whether the richest countries in the world –supposedly generous in their aid to Haiti – will continue to get even richer by further impoverishing one of one of the poorest.
Gerald Caplan is a former New Democratic Party national campaign director and is author of The Betrayal of Africa
UN /ONU :
UN Ammo Had “Fraudulent Permits,” S. African Police Say, 8 Tons Stopped
www.innercitypress.com/By Matthew Russell Lee/February 6
UNITED NATIONS, February 5 — Police in South Africa are questioning whether there was fraud involved in a shipment of eight tons of ammunition headed to the a UN depot in the Congo. Contrary to UN statements to the Press, South African authorities have said, on February 5, that “there is a lot more investigation that needs to be undertaken regarding this ammunition, its destination and what appears to be fraudulent permits that were presented to officials.”
For the UN, which has committee charged with enforcing arms embargoes, to be charged with the use of fraudulent permits and end user certificates is more than a little ironic.
Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky on February 4:
Inner City Press: There is a case in South Africa where eight tons of ammunition have been seized by the Government… I mean, seized by police. It is said they were ordered by the UN for use in Ivory Coast, Liberia and Burundi. I guess what I’m wondering is, my understanding was that contingents bring their own ammunition, that the peacekeeping contingents from various nations that go to peacekeeping bring their own ammo and are reimbursed by the UN. Can you, either now or if you look into it, explain why the UN was ordering eight tons of ammunition, how the order came about, and what it would be used for?
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, I think it’s obvious what ammunition is used for.
Obvious, perhaps, but not without controversy for the UN. In Haiti, the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and even 50 caliber guns to control crowds in search of food aid has been criticized even by the UN’s own partners. This ammunition is all lethal, no rubber bullets listed.
The questioning continued:
Inner City Press: Why the UN itself was ordering instead of its own mission, it’s own peacekeepers that usually bring their guns with them?
The following day, Nesirky’s office sent the following to Inner City Press:
From: unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
Date: Fri, Feb 5, 2010
Subject: Your Question on Alleged Seizure of UN ammunition by South African police
To: Inner City Press
Ammunition not meant for Blue Helmets (Or Contingents) but for UN Security Personnel in BINUB, ONUCI and UNMIL.
The purchase was not meant for Blue Helmets (contingents), which are coming to the field with their own arms and ammunition, but for UN security personnel of three UN peacekeeping missions (BINUB, ONUCI and UINMIL).
The purchase was a standard solicitation completed with full cooperation from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of South Africa. All licenses and end user certification have been obtained, presented and approved by proper authorities. The incident is now closed.
But on February 5, police in South Africa reiterated that “there is a lot more investigation that needs to be undertaken regarding this ammunition, its destination and what appears to be fraudulent permits that were presented to officials.”
Just as the UN is appealing its own UN Dispute Tribunal’s $20,000 judgment against Under Secretary General Shaaban Shaaban, South African police are appealing an order that was apparently won ex parte, without them being present. We will continue to watch on this case, on which the UN should provide updates given the dubious nature of its February 5 statement that “the incident is closed.” Watch this site.
* * *
Ban Ki-moon’s Nesirky Claims UN Pension Fund Not Part of UN, No Answers on Africa as Even Questions Are Restricted
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 5 — “I don’t think that’s question that I need to answer,” UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky told the Press on February 5. Inner City Press had asked about a UN Administrative Tribunal decision in favor of former Secretary General Kofi Annan, reversing the UN Pension Fund and awarded Annan two pensions, as a staff member and as Secretary General. (Click here for Inner City Press’ February 4 exclusive report and link.)
“That sounds like something for the Pension Fund to answer, not me,” Nesirky said, in what is becoming a trend two months into Nesirky’s tenure. Inner City Press explained that the Pension Fund claims its building on Second Avenue is not open to the UN press corps.
“You’ve just answered your own question,” Nesirky said. “It’s not part of the UN system.” Video here, from Minute 14:42.
Since it decidedly is — it has the UN’s immunity and Nesirky’s boss Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for example names a representative, currently Warren Sach — Inner City Press asked Nesirky to repeat and explain, “the UN Pension Fund is not a part of the UN system?”
Then Nesirky claimed that is not “a question I need to answer.”
So what or whose questions does UN spokesman Nesirky acknowledge that he “needs to answer”? Also on February 5, Inner City Press asked straight forward questions about Darfur, for the UN’s response to widely reported fighting between rebel groups displacing 10,000 people in an area in which the UN is charged with protecting civilians. Nesirky said only, “Let me find out.” Video here, from Minute 14:17.
When Inner City Press asked about UN training of ex-rebels in Nigeria’s restive Niger Delta, Nesirky demanded to know how the article in the Guardian newspaper of Nigeria was sourced, what UN official was named. Video here, from Minute 27:23. Inner City Press provided the information, in response to which Nesirky again said, let’s find out. Yeah, let’s.
This was the approach of Nesirky’s predecessor Michele Montas, to answer less than half of the questions posed. But even she rarely said, only one more question, or, no more questions for you, as Nesirky increasingly does. At first, Nesirky said he would answer all questions, putting them on a list until they were answered. (Click here for Inner City Press’ first month review of “NeSmirky”). But repeated questions at the noon briefing about Somalia have yet to be answered.
Questions put to him in writing about nepotism reaching to the highest levels of the UN have been entirely ignored. In response to a nepotism question about Ivory Coast, he outsourced answering to the UN Mission there, which provided an intentionally misleading answer. Nesirky, even when shown the answer and then a contradicting acknowledgement, had nothing to say.
Apparently that too is “not a question I need to answer,” according to Mr. Nesirky. Watch this site.
New Darfur Peacekeeping Chief To Join Doha Peace Process
Peter Heinlein/www1.voanews.com/ 06 February 2010
| Addis Ababa
The head of the joint African Union/United Nations mission in Darfur is heading to the Qatari capital, Doha to join international efforts to broker a peace deal between Sudan’s government and Darfuri rebels. The Doha talks appear to be picking up momentum as the Darfur peacekeeping mission UNAMID expands its role in the political arena.
Newly-appointed UNAMID Chief Ibrahim Gambari says with Sudan’s elections looming, a peace agreement between the government and Darfur rebels is urgently needed. “Time is not on our side. Elections are coming in April, referendum next year. And these are national issues because Darfur cannot be add
ressed in isolation from the rest of Sudan. We have to pay attention to it, and this puts pressure for the need to conclude a peace agreement first,” he said.
With that in mind, Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister and veteran UN diplomat is shifting UNAMID’s priority from peacekeeping to peacemaking.
He told VOA he will leave for Doha in the next few days to throw his full diplomatic weight behind peace talks led by the joint UN/African Union mediator Djibril Bassole. He says his focus will be on listening to the concerns of the various rebel factions. “The step I intend to take, one is to go to Doha to signal personally my support and that of UNAMID for the peace process, to support Bassole, but also to complete my consultations. So far my consultations have been with government officials of Sudan, now I need to touch base from the rebel movement and hear from them what would promote an early conclusion of the peace process and lead it to agreement,” he said.
The recent dispatch of Gambari and another top UN diplomat, Haile Menkerios to Sudan signals Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s commitment to make the country among his highest priorities.
Doha has become the focal point for the efforts by a host of mediators to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough on Sudan. President Obama’s envoy Scott Gration is involved, along with mediators from such places as Qatar, Libya, and the European Union. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is also helping in his capacity as chairman of the AU High Level Panel on Darfur. Gambari says he hopes to synchronize the diplomatic process. “I have proposed, and there’s a kind of consensus, to have a retreat of all special envoys, representing their countries or the EU, and to strategize, how do we synchronize our efforts to support the number one priority, which is the early conclusion of a ceasefire and a peace agreement. I’m moving fast,” he said.
There have been reports of disagreements between High level panel chairman Mbeki and the joint AU/UN mediator Bassole. But Gambari says he is confident the involvement of so many senior African diplomats can make a difference. “The objectives of the Mbeki panel, the objectives of Bassole, the objectives of UNAMID is peace and stability in Sudan, Darfur, in the context of the country as a whole, so it’s a partnership. By some coincidence, all of us happen to be Africans, and I’m committed to try to make it work,” he said.
With the election day looming, negotiators are facing tight time constraints. A Sudanese government representative was quoted as saying an agreement must be in place by the third week of March to have any effect on the April 11 vote.
U.S. President Barack Obama this week said he was not sure whether engaging Sudan on Darfur would meet U.S. policy goals. Answering questions through the You Tube internet site, Mr. Obama linked a political settlement to the return of three million Darfuris displaced by the war.
News reports say Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir visited Doha Thursday. He was said to have met the Emir of Qatar to express appreciation for that country’s sponsorship of the peace process.
USA :
Shirlee Smith: For black Americans, history is always a lesson
02/06/2010/www.pasadenastarnews.com
IT’S here.
Like just about everything else celebratory, it comes every year.
But for African-American – or Black – History Month, this hasn’t been the case for long. It has been with us since 1926, but back when Carter G. Woodson founded it, the time for acknowledgement and recognition was only a week.
Should we count the expansion as progress?
Still, there are always the same questions: Shouldn’t black history simply be part of American history? What’s with giving us the shortest month of the year?
This one-month recognition of African Americans’ contributions to this country raises the old issue of the separate but equal legal doctrine that justified systems of segregation.
Among those who think that a month is progress, many are willing to admit it’s all still an after-thought. I also suspect they’re ready to say, “OK, the history books neglected to include the real story, but as a people, black and white and others, we’ve got to accept the omission and move on.”
Easier said than done.
No number of parades, award dinners, oratorical contests or other alleged consciousness-raising festivities will bring meaningful light to what’s been omitted.
Steps in the right direction? That depends on which of the bands you’re cheering for in the local parade.
I remember sitting in my 10th-grade U.S. history class and reading the two paragraphs about slaves picking cotton while happily singing hymns.
Should I want to identify with this group of people when I was anything but happy when asked, not forced, to clean my room?
Did I wonder if there was more to the story? Of course not. I was too enthralled with the beauty of the antebellum Southern women, white women, with beautiful hair, beautiful clothes and foolish people, who looked like me, seeing to their needs.
Am I dwelling in the past? Is this recollection just what the progress group seemed to think should be left behind?
I eventually learned that everything one reads ain’t true. But I was way grown and a student at UCLA in a black studies course with John Hope Franklin’s “From Slavery to Freedom” as one of the assigned textbooks. Ah – so slaves were not happy. Yes, they were singing hymns, but hymns whose words had a runaway message such as, “Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home …”
Do I celebrate my heritage during the month of February? I celebrate who my people are every day. I have worked to help my children understand the true American landscape. I’ve worked to overcome the words my mother spoke when I asked why she had never told her children of the Negro’s struggles in this country.
She said: “We moved here from the South and didn’t want to burden our children with what we knew and had experienced. We came to a different place – we thought.”
shirlee@talkaboutparenting.org
Altadena author Shirlee Smith is the host of a local-access cable television parenting call-in show.
China’s Export Focus Breeds Backlash
online.wsj.com/FEBRUARY 6, 2010
Developing Nations Join West in Criticism of Beijing’s Policies to Support Its Factories Despite Fears of Global Imbalance
BEIJING—China’s efforts to extend its dominance as the world’s top exporter are facing stiff challenges, as the policies it has used to support exports bring new economic problems and escalate tensions with a growing list of trade partners.
Key elements of the strategy—including a cheap currency, regulated interest rates and low energy prices—are stoking discontent in fellow developing countries, not just Western capitals. That could crimp its drive to seek gains from emerging markets as growth in the rich world falters. At the same time, many economists argue, China’s export-friendly policies are fueling inflationary pressures at home, placing a burden on the rest of the economy.
Beijing is increasingly pushing back against what it calls unfair protectionism. Chinese authorities Friday set duties on some U.S. chicken products to counter alleged dumping. And on Thursday, Beijing filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization against European Union tariffs on imports of Chinese shoes.
China’s current-account surplus narrowed sharply in 2009, the government said Friday, a reflection of the impact of the global financial crisis on the nation’s trade balance.
But that may have just increased the pressure on Beijing to support its exporters.
China now accounts for more than 9% of global exports, a share that, after stagnating for most of 2007 and 2008, has been rising since the outbreak of the financial crisis and the ensuing collapse in global trade.
China has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest car market and is close to passing Japan as the world’s second-largest national economy after the U.S.—milestones that create a sense of its dominance at a time when other nations continue to struggle with the aftermath of the crisis.
“China and some of the other emerging economies are emerging intact out of this recession, and probably even stronger than before,” said Maarten Kelder, Asia president of consultants Monitor Group. “They have been able to adjust their cost structures and that has made them more competitive.”
That may not be enough to keep China’s exports growing at the 20%-plus rates of recent years, even when the world economy recovers.
While China has long faced pressure on trade from the U.S. and the EU, officials from developing countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand and Russia have also expressed concern in recent months.
India filed more trade complaints against China than any other nation last year, according to figures from China’s commerce ministry. “A balance of exports and imports is important,” Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma said in January in Beijing. China’s trade surplus with India grew 46% last year to $16 billion, probably aggravated by the weakening of the yuan against the Indian rupee.
“The dollar peg of the [yuan] has put additional strain on lower-end Asian exporters. This has led to charges of unfair trade from across Asia,” said Jamie Metzl, executive vice president of the Asia Society.
Even nations in Africa and the Middle East that have benefited from China’s oil demand and foreign aid are now voicing discomfort with its economic rise. “When we look at the reality on the ground we find that there is something akin to a Chinese invasion of the African continent,” Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said in November.
China’s government says it isn’t banking on an export-driven future and has tried, though so far without much success, to shift the emphasis of the economy to domestic consumption and services.
The collapse in world trade that began in late 2008 was far from painless for China: It put millions of people out of work and closed thousands of factories. Chinese exporters responded to the downturn by redesigning products and looking for new markets. They also benefited as the recession encouraged consumers to switch to the kind of lower-price products China provides. Shipments of traditional products such as toys and clothing held up far better than its other exports last year.
Gu Wu, who runs a company exporting radio-controlled toy cars from Shenzhen, says export orders have started to pick up since September. During the depths of the downturn, he asked his U.S. salespeople to fan out and find new clients, and is now reaping some of the benefits. “Many of them have come back with big orders, although cheaper goods are still the most wanted,” Mr. Gu said.
China’s government worked to reinforce exporters’ efforts. After allowing the yuan to rise for much of 2007 and 2008, authorities repegged it to the dollar in mid-2008. Exports got a further boost once the dollar started to fall in March. The effective exchange rate of the yuan—its value against the currencies of all trading partners—is down by 9% to 10% since then, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
The result: China accounted for 19% of U.S. imports in the first half of 2009, up from 16% in 2008, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
China’s global market-share gains enabled it to do less badly than other trading powers in the downturn. It exported $1.202 trillion of goods in 2009, 16% less than in 2008 but still more than any other nation. Export growth is expected to resume this year.
The export resurgence has reached into new markets: A majority of China’s exports now go to other developing countries, with exports to India, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico growing by 30% to 50% in recent months, according to China International Capital Corp.
“There’s a potential spoiler for China in relations with the developing world. They’ve only been exporting and not importing,” said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist for Royal Bank of Scotland. “It’s one thing to produce job losses in the U.S., but it’s another to produce job losses in Pakistan,” with which China has close military ties, he said.
If China is able to overcome the obstacles, it could continue to expand its share of global exports for several more years. According to International Monetary Fund projections, if current trends continue, China’s share of world exports could reach 12% by 2014, a higher portion than Japan managed at the peak of its dominance in the 1980s.
But some researchers at the IMF say current trends aren’t likely to continue. A paper by IMF researchers published last year suggests that for China to continue the rapid export gains of recent years, it would need to boost its share of world exports to about 20% in coming decades, an unprecedented level. The fund’s researchers said China is unlikely to be able to do that without using even more government subsidies, which would further aggravate trade tensions and cause domestic economic problems.
—Ellen Zhu and J.R. Wu contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Batson at andrew.batson@wsj.com
CANADA :
Events mark Black History Month
www.beloitdailynews.com/By John Ranallo/ 2010/02/06
Music, dance, gatherings part of local events
By John Ranallo
jranallo@beloitdailynews.com
“For us at the Merrill Center, we celebrate black history every day,” said Regina Dunkin, executive director for the center.
Black History Month is observed during the month of February in the United States and Canada.
Cecil Youngblood, Beloit College director of intercultural affairs and assistant dean of students, said he hopes that people will pay attention to significant events regardless of what month it is. Black history is American history, he said.
“We tend to put things into silos too much, without realizing that,” Youngblood said.
Youngblood said the college hopes to teach students cultural competency. The college also works to show students that the differences between racial backgrounds and cultures are positive not negative.
“We have to learn to get along with one another because we are going to be here together,” Youngblood said.
He also said dedicating a month to black history is great, but he hopes that people observe and recognize the accomplishments of African Americans outside of the month of February. He would like to see the observation permeate throughout the entire year. He also believes that acknowledgments should be based on more than racial makeup.
He urges the public to come and attend some of the college events to help promote the cultural growth of the community.
BreAnn McCord, president for Black Students United at Beloit College said Black History Month is a time to share the African American culture with the community.
“It is so important to celebrate Black History Month because we have such a rich history that so many people do not know about even in this day and age,” McCord wrote in an e-mail. “Beloit College is a small campus, with a small minority percentage. I want everyone to see why we are so proud of our heritage and culture and give everyone a taste of our culture.”
McCord said the organization has planned many activities to celebrate the month long celebration. The organization will be bringing speakers and performers as well as planning panel discussions and events. On Monday the college will host jazz flautist Galen Abdur-Razzaqu, who has previously lectured on black history. He will perform at Wilson Theater at 8 p.m.
The college also will host a poetry session entitled “hot chocolate in the evening” on Feb 12. at 7 p.m. in the Java Joint.
Dr. Joy Degrut will be speaking at the college on post traumatic slave syndrome on Feb. 13.
Alpha Phi Alpha from UW-Whitewater will visit Eaton Chapel at 8 p.m. Feb. 19 to hold a step and tap dance seminar.
The college will also host a black history fashion show on Feb. 20 in the science center.
Merrill Elementary School will be hosting a Black History Month celebration starting at 1 p.m. Feb. 24. The event will be open to the public.
Superintendent Milt Thompson said he also looks forward to the day where accomplishments are recognized objectively regardless of what background people come from. He believes students and the community should familiarize themselves with older and recent history. Thompson believes that people should strive to learn more about others.
“We have got to be more genuine,” Thompson said.
Thompson said he is proud of the fact that the school district has such diversity. He hopes that it will inspire students and the community to learn more about one another. Thompson also said that the school can continue to work by helping students identify cultural leaders of different backgrounds.
“We need to seek to highlight accomplishments,” he said.
The Merrill Community Center will also be hosting it’s annual African American celebration on Feb. 23 from 3:30 to 4:30p.m.
Dunkin said the Merrill Community Center has been working to quiz students on black history for some time. The kids have been learning about the ideas of peaceful resistance and racism. They have also been quizzed on past civil rights leaders and studied culturally significant African Americans today. Students have also been learning to play instruments for an upcoming performance the Feb. 23 celebration.
“We are certainly supportive of Black History Month,” Dunkin said.
Regina Prude said Emmanuel Baptist Church will be holding a special Black History Month worship service. Members of the church will be donning afrocentric attire and the youth and young adult choir will perform. Following the service members will be asked to go to the family life center to view memorabilia that relates to black history.
AUSTRALIA :
Bharat Book Bureau: Fossil Inc. – Financial Analysis Review
Sat, 06 Feb 2010/www.tradingmarkets.com
Symbols: FOSL
Jan 29, 2010 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) —
Fossil Inc. is engaged in designing, marketing and distribution of consumer fashion accessories. The product portfolio of the company includes men’s and women’s fashion watches and jewelry (proprietary and licensed brands), handbags, small leather goods, belts, sunglasses, and apparel. The company principally operates in the US, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Central and South America, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Middle East. The products of the company are distributed through various distribution channels including wholesale, export and direct to the consumer. ( http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=117682&rt=Fossil-Inc-Financial-Analysis-Review.html )
Global Markets Direct’s Fossil Inc. – Financial Analysis Review is an in-depth business, financial analysis of Fossil Inc.. The report provides a comprehensive insight into the company, including business structure and operations, executive biographies and key competitors. The hallmark of the report is the detailed financial ratios of the company
Scope
– Provides key company information for business intelligence needs The report contains critical company information – business structure and operations, the company history, major products and services, key competitors, key employees and executive biographies, different locations and important subsidiaries.
– The report provides detailed financial ratios for the past five years as well as interim ratios for the last four quarters.
– Financial ratios include profitability, margins and returns, liquidity and leverage, financial position and efficiency ratios.
Aust and Sth Africa do climate deal
Saturday, February 06, 2010/bigpondnews.com
Australia has vowed to continue to work with South Africa on climate change issues with the signing of a formal agreement between the two nations.
Trade Minister Simon Crean says he and the South African minister for water and environmental affairs, Buyelwa Sonjica, had signed the letter of intent, ensuring future bilateral relations on climate issues continues.
Both nations have been working together under a partnership since 2006.
They’ll continue to work together to identify, develop and implement a joint program of activities that includes: economic instruments to address climate change; climate change impacts and adaptation in the agriculture sector; climate change and biodiversity; and greenhouse gas emissions reporting and monitoring at national and entity levels.
Mr Crean said Australia and South Africa would also share their experiences and lessons learnt on climate change policies and measures, focusing on clean coal technologies and regulatory frameworks.
EUROPE :
CHINA :
China Non Ferrous Metal suspend 200 employees in Zambia
steelguru.com/Saturday, 06 Feb 2010
China Non Ferrous Metal Mining Africa Limited has suspended more than 200 employees at its Chambishi unit in Zambia for suspected sabotage of its operations.
Last week, more than 17 NFC miners from underground section were rushed to a Chinese run Sinozam Friendship Hospital after they were gassed underground following an electrical cable that got burnt.
Mr Joshua Mutisa commissioner of Kalulushi district and Mr Goodwell Kaluba general secretary of National Union of Miners and Allied Workers confirmed the suspension of the miners in separate interviews.
Mr Kaluba said that almost the entire shift which went underground when the miners were gassed has been suspended for suspected sabotage. Almost all the miners who were gassed last week have been suspended. Over 200 miners were yesterday issued with suspension letters for suspected sabotage. What has happened is unfortunate but we will meet management over this issue.
Mr Mutisa said that a meeting has been arranged with mine management over the matter. He said that it is regrettable that the miners have been suspended without following the laid down procedure.
Mr Kaluba said that “They should have availed us with their findings. They instituted the investigations after the accident last week. We are disappointed that management has decided to suspend our members without involving us.” He said that the union will today engage management in an effort to find a lasting solution. He urged that affected miners and their families to remain calm and allow the union to resolve the matter with management.
Meanwhile, Mr Maxwell Mwale mines minister of Zambia urged the miners to desist from engaging in destructive activities that might affect their jobs.
(Filed by Mr Kapembwa Sinkamba SteelGuru Correspondent Zambia)
INDIA :
BRASIL:
CORRECT: Emerging-Market Assets Fall In Global Market Selloff
(“Emerging-Market Assets Fall In Global Market Selloff” published at 3:39 p.m. EST Thursday gave the wrong title for a portfolio manager at GE Asset Management in the fifth paragraph. A corrected version, which also clarifies the quote in the fifth paragraph, follows.)
By Katherine E. Wegert and Kejal Vyas /Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES /online.wsj.com/FEBRUARY 6, 2010
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Emerging-market assets sank Thursday in a broad market selloff as renewed fears about European debt woes and high unemployment in the U.S. pushed investors away from risky credits.
An endorsement from the European Central bank did little to calm nerves about Greece’s gaping budget hole, as the country’s largest union declared a national strike and concerns mounted that Spain and Portugal would soon follow in Greece’s footsteps.
Investors have been worried that sovereign debt problems in Europe may spill over into emerging markets assets, and an unexpected jump in new U.S. jobless claims only helped spook market participant even more.
“Investors are looking to reduce risk, so they’re selling sovereign bonds since they are one of the major liquid markets” for developing-world debt, said F. Erich Bauer-Rowe, head of emerging markets debt trading at Jefferies.
While the long-term fundamentals for developing markets remain promising, “it’s tough to say how much of [the selloff in mature markets] is really a crowded trade versus a revaluation of the market,” said Sean Newman, emerging market debt portfolio manager at GE Asset Management. That makes it much more difficult to call this a buying opportunity, he added.
The risk premium on JPMorgan’s Emerging Market Bond Index Global shot up 14 basis points to 328 basis points over Treasurys as the index lost 0.57%.
Spreads on the EMBIG were wider across the board, while equity and currency prices sank globally. The Bank of New York Mellon Emerging Markets ADR index was 4.4% lower, retreating to levels last seen in late October. Plummeting commodity prices weighed particularly heavily on Russian and Latin American stocks.
High-risk credits like those from Argentina and Venezuela took the brunt of selling. Argentina’s spread on the EMBIG ballooned 39 basis points to 790 basis points over Treasurys as the index gave back 2.91%.
The risk premium on Venezuela widened 28 basis points to 986 basis points over Treasurys. Its index lost 2.69%, while the bolivar slipped as low as VEF6.35 against the dollar, its weakest level since Jan. 11, traders said.
Brazil’s real sank more than 2% against the dollar, closing at BRL1.8830 in trading on the BM&FBovespa exchange, sharply weaker than Wednesday’s close at BRL1.8450.
Mexico’s IPC stock index fell around 2% as the peso continued to slide against the dollar.
The Colombian benchmark IGBC stock index, meanwhile, tumbled to close at its lowest level since Nov. 30 as worries over the May presidential election added to the knock-on effect from the global selloff.
The declines in asset prices come on the heels of a weak January for stocks as many investors pulled money out of the developing world. Concerns of high valuations have stifled investor appetite, but many are also preparing for higher interest rates in developed economies, which could lead to further volatility in emerging markets.
Despite Thursday’s weakness, there are signs that confidence in emerging markets remains fairly robust. A steady stream of new government and corporate bond issues hit the market, including a $2 billion offer from Lithuania and a $1.6 billion deal from Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Furthermore, as asset prices in some larger developing countries rise, analysts at major Wall Street firms have started picking up recommendations for investment into riskiest of emerging economies, the so-called frontier markets.
“Given the robust appetite for emerging markets this year, we expect the frontier markets to come back into fashion,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists said in a report.
They say investors are asking about the more obscure currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Kazakh tenge, while Ghana and Senegal are gaining interest on the sovereign credit side.
It’s a sign that while markets may be correcting, risk hasn’t completely been taken off the table.
-By Katherine E. Wegert and Kejal Vyas, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2252; katherine.wegert@dowjones.com
EN BREF, CE 06 février 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,06/02/2010
