{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 12 mars 2010 – AFP- March 12, 2010–The African Union wants Niger’s military junta to free President Mamadou Tandja, overthrown in a February 18 coup, the body’s peace and security chief Ramtane Lamamra said Thursday.
RWANDA
Rwanda: 256.com correspondent Godwin Agaba blames government for Kigali bombings and seeks asylum
Diary Entry by Ann Garrison/www.opednews.com/March 12, 2010
Godwin Agaba, Rwandan correspondent for African Great Lakes regional outlet 256.com, has gone into hiding after Rwandan President Paul Kagame ordered his arrest. Agaba blames the Rwandan government for recent grenade attacks in the nation’s capitol, Kigali, and is now seeking asylum beyond the borders of Rwanda and neighboring Uganda, and D.R. Congo.
On Thursday, March 4th, two days after Senator Russ Feingold, D-WI, Chair of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Africa, called for the opening of political space in Rwanda, grenades exploded again in Kigali, with 16 people hurt, some critically.
The Feingold Statement on the Fragility of Democracy in Africa was read into the Congressional Record and released to the public on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010, as tension continued to increase in the run up to this year’s Rwandan presidential election, with polls scheduled for August 9th, and opposition parties still struggling to convene, register, campaign, and avoid arrest.
Rwandan 256.com correspondent Godwin Agaba says that the Kagame government is staging the bombings to frighten the population and create an excuse to arrest its enemies.
I grew up around a radioactive toxic mess called the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in a gorgeous place, Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, by way of Western Oklahoma, another gorgeous place. I’m a compulsive writer and sometimes I sign as AnnieGetYourGang.
Heavy rains slow Rwanda-Uganda road transport
Fri Mar 12, 2010 /Reuters
KAMPALA (Reuters) – Heavy rains have collapsed sections of a highway in southwestern Uganda linking it to Rwanda, slowing goods transport between the two landlocked countries, a roads official said on Thursday.
The east African country has received unusually heavy rain since December, leading to a wave of devastating landslides in mountainous regions and damaging farms and transport infrastructure.
Heavy rains in eastern Uganda triggered a massive landslide last week that killed over 80 people after burying three hamlets in the Bududa district. Landslides have also occurred in the country’s southwest and western regions, causing limited damage.
Dan Alinange, communications manager for Uganda’s National Roads Authority (UNRA), said rain had damaged sections of the highway between Kabale, a major town in southwestern Uganda and Rwanda’s border town of Katuna.
“Some sections of the road have collapsed and to prevent a complete breakdown, we stopped all heavy trucks and buses from using the road but small passenger vehicles can still pass,” he said.
Landlocked Rwanda imports nearly all its goods through Uganda and disruption of traffic is expected to slow down the flow of critical supplies like fuel.
Alinange said they had decided to divert fuel tankers and other heavy vehicles to a bypass. But the alternative route is winding and badly potholed, increasing the time vehicles take to reach Rwanda.
“It’s an emergency situation and we have already delivered our engineers to the area. Work is already underway and we expect to finish all repairs in a week’s time so normal traffic flow can resume,” he said.
UGANDA
Uganda defers decision on Tullow’s farmout arrangements
www.ogj.com/Eric Watkins /OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor /Mar 12, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 11 — Uganda said it will defer for a month its decision over farmout arrangements for several oil blocks made between Tullow Oil PLC and potential partners Total SA and China National Offshore Oil Corp.
“Our expectation is that by April we will have finished our evaluation and that the government will give the go-ahead for the transactions to proceed,” said Kabagambe Kaliisa, the energy ministry’s permanent secretary.
“We have told everybody in the world that we are looking for strong investment in this sector. We are looking for companies that have strong market capitalization,” Kaliisa said.
The need for a decision arose after Tullow’s preemption of partner Heritage Oil’s stake in Blocks 1 and 3A along with the subsequent farm-out of stakes in Blocks 1, 2, and 3A to Total and CNOOC.
In February, Tullow indicated it planned to bring in a partner to help with development of the Ugandan assets and also with construction of downstream facilities, such as a refinery and a 1,200-km export pipeline (OGJ Online, Feb. 8, 2010).
The government’s decision partly confirms media reports this week quoting Tullow that Total and CNOOC were likely to buy a total of two-thirds of its Uganda oil assets under agreements with the local government to be signed in the next weeks.
Total and CNOOC presented their part of the proposals to the government last week and had been expecting a response by the end of March. But any disappointment on the part of the two firms has to be tempered by the perceived need of the Ugandan government to be seen as in control of the nation’s resources.
More to the point, according to analyst IHS Global Insight, “the Ugandan government is keen to ensure that it gets any reconfiguration of the development consortium (and its obligations) right at this stage, rather than rushing a decision that it will later come to regret.”
Uganda, Kenya discussions
Meanwhile, in a move that may have a significant effect on the negotiations, Uganda and neighboring Kenya have resumed discussion on the planned extension of the Mombasa to Eldoret oil products pipeline.
Most noteworthy, the two sides are reported to be discussing an option that would see the line reversed to allow passage of products from Uganda to Kenya. Such a reversal is in keeping with the wishes of Kampala, which has sought to have its oil refined in the country instead of merely exported.
In that connection, the Ugandan government last month let a contract to Foster Wheeler AG’s Global Engineering & Construction Group for a feasibility study of a 150,000-b/d refinery, which would be Uganda’s first (OGJ Online, Feb. 2, 2010).
Earlier, Tim O’Hanlon, Tullow’s vice-president for African business, underscored the importance of the refinery project, along with export pipelines, for Uganda’s aim.
“Uganda’s oil basin development plan is an integrated project that requires building of a refinery that is linked with pipelines to supply local, regional and international markets,” said O’Hanlon (OGJ Online, Sept. 17, 2009).
TANZANIA:
Talks to Address Trade in Tuna and Ivory
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR/ www.nytimes.com/Published: March 12, 2010
Marathon negotiations on protecting the planet’s endangered species open on Saturday in Qatar with tensions bubbling over efforts to ban trade in bluefin tuna and to reopen exports of elephant ivory from Africa.
About 40 proposals are on the agenda for the 12-day meeting of the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which could help determine the fate of species from rhinoceroses to polar bears, from hammerhead sharks to red coral.
A pronounced focus on marine creatures is evident in this year’s proposals, reflecting a growing awareness of the decimation of the seas, negotiators and conservation experts say.
“As you are seeing the impact of industrial fishing for the past 50 or 60 years, marine species have finally started to get some attention,” said Matthew Rand, the director of global shark conservation for the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Some of the fiercest debate in the prelude to the meeting in Doha, the Qatari capital, has centered on the bluefin tuna, whose ranks have plummeted by about 90 percent in the western Atlantic and 80 percent or more in the eastern Atlantic since 1970.
Conservationists want to ban international trade in bluefin tuna to allow stocks to regenerate. But Japan, which consumes well over half of the worldwide catch and where a single fish can fetch prices above $100,000, said Thursday that it would opt out of the ban if it was approved.
Such a move is allowed under the 1973 convention, which has been signed by 175 countries and is often referred to by its acronym, Cites (pronounced SIGHT-ees).
In the United States, conservationists have faulted the Obama administration as being slow to support the ban. But Thomas L. Strickland, the assistant secretary of the interior for fish, wildlife and parks, said that Washington would work hard to win passage.
“The bluefin tuna is in a catastrophic decline,” said Mr. Strickland, who is leading the American delegation to the talks. “It is imperative that we take strong steps to protect that iconic fish.”
He suggested that European Union countries, swayed by Spain, Italy and France with their large tuna fleets, have been dragging their feet on enforcing quotas. “There are questions about some of the Mediterranean countries, whether they have been as attentive as others,” he said.
The European Union said Wednesday that it would support a ban but with certain reservations. That includes a one-year delay in enforcing the ban if approved, and an exemption for “artisanal” fishermen who supply their local markets using small boats.
Yet perhaps the most bitter fight has arisen over a proposal by Tanzania and Zambia to resume trade in their stocks of elephant ivory. Led by Kenya, several other African nations are seeking to block the request, arguing that it could lead to a surge in illegal poaching across the continent.
Tanzania and Zambia counter that they would funnel all the estimated $18.5 million in tusk sales toward conservation.
In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, an international team of conservationists details a sharp increase in poaching in recent years — even before 2007, when Cites approved a less protected status for elephants in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Affluent buyers of ivory carvings in China, Japan and Thailand have driven the market in poaching, the conservationists said, abetted by Asian gangs operating in Africa.
From 8 percent to 10 percent of the elephant population is being poached annually, said Samuel K. Wasser, a University of Washington biologist and the lead author of the Science article. DNA studies indicate that most of the trafficking runs through Tanzania and Zambia.
A complete ban in 1989 helped slow a precipitous decline, but a population estimated at 1.3 million in 1980 is down to less than 500,000 today. Sierra Leone reported the death of its last elephant in 2009, said Pat Awori, the founder of the Kenya Elephant Forum, an umbrella group of organizations seeking to extend the ban.
Kenya, Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone have proposed extending the ban until 2027.
Their acrimony extends toward the Cites leadership itself, which they have accused of promoting the ivory trade. The leadership issued a statement denying any favoritism.
In bargaining for support, Kenya and its allies have signaled to the European Union that they will support the ban on bluefin tuna fishing in exchange for support on extending the moratorium on trading ivory, Ms. Awori said.
“If we don’t extend the ban to be able to study the impact of these limited sales, there may be no elephants left to protect,” she said.
Such horse trading is controversial: conservationists argue that every proposal should rise or fall on the basic of scientific evidence detailing the possible extinction of individual species, not as part of a political deal.
But it is not unusual at a meeting of around 2,000 delegates representing parties from tiny states like Monaco, which proposed the bluefin tuna ban, to the Asian association of shark fin traders.
The United States is proposing that six species of sharks be added to the list of endangered animals whose trade is monitored but not banned. They include the hammerhead shark, whose fins are highly prized in China for soup, with a bowlful selling for as much as $100.
China is among the most prominent foes of the measure.
Other American proposals call for monitoring the trade in pink and red coral and completely banning the trade in polar bears. Over all, the inventory of proposals for the conference reads a bit like the lyrics of the unicorn song, the one starting with “green alligators and long-necked geese” — or perhaps the catalog of mythical creatures in the menagerie of Dr. Dolittle, given that the species are identified by their Latin taxonomy.
Yet there is no doubt about the intensity of the clashes over species like the Loxodonta africana, or the African elephant, or Thunnus thynnus, the Atlantic bluefin tuna.
President Kikwete nudges EAC on railway modernisation
12/03/2010 /www.afriquejet.com
Eastern and Southern African countries are resolved to create a huge free trade area spanning from Egypt to South Africa, but without a reliable railway network, their ambiti on would be unattainable, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete said here Thursday.
‘Our resolve to move to a single market will not succeed without a wider connectivity of the existing railway lines from Alexandria to Cape Town,’ Kikwete said at the opening of a two-day regional conference on revital isation of the ailing railway systems in member countries of the East African Community (EAC).
Co-sponsored by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the conference has brought together railway operators, government officials, development partners and private sector representatives to consider a proposed US$20 billion master plan for modernisation of the existing railway systems and development of new railways, which would link landl ocked Burundi and Rwanda to East African seaports.
The EAC partner states already have individual country plans for development of new lines. CPCS Transcom of Canada recently completed the master plan which the meeting will use to decide on the way forward.
But, in view of the envisaged great investment, the president called on the private sector operators to play their part alongside governments. He noted that the absence of effective participation of the sector was a matter of concern.
‘The present regional network is too old, old fashioned and inadequate to meet our present needs. It needs modernisation and expansion as a matter of urgency,’ Kikwete said.
Part of the network was built between 1805 and 1914 across Tanzania by the German colonial rulers of the then Deutsche Ostafrika (Dutch East Africa) that included Burundi and Rwanda as one colony. The British colonial government built the line running from Mombasa port in Kenya to Kampala, Uganda, between 1896 and 1931.
The president challenged the meeting participants to generate ideas and come up with pertinent proposals on how to modernise the railroads to the standard gauge instead of the narrow gauge which limits the freight carry ing capacity.
In a desperate bid to keep their rolling stock operating, the governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda resorted to concessionary leasing of the railways to foreign operators. This option, however, has proved to be fraught with managerial difficulties and constant conflict with local workers.
Describing the rail networks as a linchpin in regional integration, Kikwete also urged the participants to give serious thought to the issue of concessions, adding: ‘We have been going through difficulties in the management of our railways [because of concessions]. This conference will be of immense value if you come up with workable solutions.’
Meanwhile, the AfDB has confirmed a US$8.5 million credit to finance a feasibility study on extension of the Tanzanian railroad to link the capitals of Burundi and Rwanda.
Dar es Salaam
CONGO RDC :
KENYA :
ANGOLA :
SOUTH AFRICA:
Malawi, South Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa Bond, Currency Preview
March 12, 2010/By Garth Theunissen /Bloomberg
March 12 (Bloomberg) — The following events and economic reports may influence trading in sub-Saharan African bonds and currencies today.
Burundi: The central bank will announce the amount of Treasury bills it plans to offer at its next auction.
The Burundian franc was unchanged at 1,230 per dollar as of 7:14 a.m. in the capital, Bujumbura.
South Africa: Africa’s biggest economy plans to sell 600 million rand of bonds maturing in 2023, 2028 and 2033.
The rand traded 0.1 percent stronger at 7.4213 per dollar by 7:16 a.m. in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, while the nation’s benchmark 13.5 percent security due September 2015 yielded 8.25 percent.
Malawi: The south-east African nation is scheduled to sell 3.3 billion kwacha ($21.9 million) of Treasury bills.
The 273-day bill was sold at an average yield of 10.61 percent at an auction on March 8.
The Malawian kwacha was unchanged at 150.8005 by 7:17 a.m. in the capital, Lilongwe.
–With assistance from Mike Cohen in Cape Town. Editor: Ana Monteiro.
Rant Black activists threaten to disrupt SA World Cup 2010
www.rantrave.com/ Rant /Adriana Stuijt /12032010
Netherlands, The With the FIFA World Cup 2010 football tournaments only 91 days away in South Africa, it’s not widely known that black activist groups and radical islamists plan to disrupt the events with massive, violent mass-protests and even armed attacks.
Internet sites in South Africa at the moment are crawling with calls to ‘Kill all whites at the WC2010″. These are no idle threats either: a hand-grenade and bombs were found on two popular Western-tourist beaches in Cape Town and Durban just recently — and the country’s top security expert warns of ‘the very real threat of a terror attack against the WC2010…’
On March 10 2010 in Cape Town, a M75 Chech-made grenade was found on the Table View beach — which is hugely popular with foreign tourists The grenade was safely exploded by a bomb-disposal expert in the ocean – who told journalist Leon Steenkamp of the local Table Talk community newspaper that ‘the hand grenade had been emptied but based on its condition it had been recently dumped.”
This wasn’t seen as major news by the main-stream news media in South Africa who have been placed under censorship by FIFA — with threats that their accreditation to football events will be withdrawn — to only report ‘good news’ in the run-up to the World Cup. Only this one independent little paper reported the original story – with a front-page picture of the grenade being exploded in the ocean by a bomb-disposal expert.
Yet this should have received more media attention – especially when one also takes note of the recent warnings by top local security expert Frans Cronje, of the SA Institute for Race Relations — writing in his Jan 2010 report that there is a ‘very real terrorism threat’ against the WC2010; and noting:
‘One of the most effective assets that any terrorist group can possess is to convince its next target that they are no longer at risk…”
read his entire report on URL: http://www.sairr.org.za/sairr-today/sair…
Security experts involved in the arrangements surrounding the World Cup 2010 football tournaments should be alerted to every such incident – even an apparently minor one. Yet outside the readers of Table Talk, people remained blissfully ignorant until one of those emailed me a copied page: now the readers of my blog also know. Several months ago, several rockets also were found on a Durban beach. Again, very little media attention.
These are typical examples of the very pervasive media censorship to only report ‘good news’ in the runup to the WC2010: a direct result of the rules laid down by FIFA – the Austrian-based organiser of the WC2010.
Meanwhile the World Cup is also causing untold misery for many homeless people – there are widespread reports of crime gangs trying to abduct children outside their schools and homes to press them into sex-slavery — and the tournaments have not even started — yet the SA Police Service now issues frequent warnings. Only yesterday a 14-year-old Afrikaans girl (poster with this story) went missing in Benoni, near Johannesburg in Gauteng province and alerts were issued to try and find her.
Hundreds of squatter camps facing the football venues and along the tourist-routes are also being ‘sanitised’ — causing misery to many hundreds of thousands of homeless adults and street children; Some 800 poor children in Nelspruit in Limpopo province were kicked out of their school near the FIFA-stadium to make way for site supervisors; and most reports of violent crimes are suppressed by the SAPS ; and FIFA is even interfering with Africa’s traditional practices by banning rituals for good luck.
The South African people of all races are becoming increasingly angry with the ‘wasteful WC2010’ – but especially with their self-enriching, elitist ANC-leaders… who allow all this to happen.
South Africa Unveils HCT Program
www.soschildrensvillages.ca/12/3/2010
– South Africa has unveiled its latest plan for combating AIDS. 28% of pregnant women in the country were HIV-positive, making action supporting mother-to-child-transmission crucial.
With the hope of inspiring the willingness of South Africans to be voluntarily tested for HIV/AIDS, South African President Jacob Zuma and his Cabinet have all agreed to be tested for HIV publically. The announcement was made in support of the country’s new HCT (HIV Counselling and Testing) program for combating HIV/AIDS.
Within the next year, the country hopes to have more than 15 million people tested. It further hopes to reduce HIV transmission by 50%. Testing is vital to reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS in South Africa because those who know their status can seek the support they need to feel empowered to make more informed decisions concerning their livelihoods, sexuality and family planning.
Paediatric AIDS infections continue to be a problem. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of children 15 years old or younger increased from 1.6 million in 2001 to 2 million in 2007. In 2008 alone, 430 000 more children became infected with HIV. 90% of these new infection occurred in Africa, and most the children were infected by their HIV-positive mothers in the womb (in utero), during birth (intrapartum), or through breastfeeding. These types of transmission are referred to as “mother-to-child-transmission,” abbreviated as MTCT.
Central, then, to South Africa’s HCT program is acting on the country’s maternal and child health strategies. South Africa hopes to have 80% of those in need receiving anti-retroviral medications (ARVs) and all of its public and community health facilities able to provide testing and ARVs by June 2011. Already, at least 95 percent of health clinics provide services designed to prevent MTCT. This can be done with improved antenatal and neonatal care. For instance, a single dose of the drug nevirapine delivered to the mother and the child, or a combination of ARVs can reduce the chances of MTCT by 50%.
Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is optimistic about the future. “A world where no children are born with HIV is truly possible by 2015,” he said. Moreover, other childhood diseases are on the downslide, says Kazatchkine: “It is also possible now to imagine a world with no more malaria deaths, since already an increasing number of countries have been reporting a reduction in malaria deaths of more than 50 per cent over the past couple of years.”
The Global Fund released its report in anticipation of an upcoming meeting in the Netherlands concerning international funding for HIV/AIDS.
South Africa: A Long Walk from Soweto to Sandown
Mphutlane Wa Bofelo/PAMBAZUKA NEWS/allafrica.com/12 March 2010
In the wake of media exposure of his lavish and opulent lifestyle as well as business interest mostly sustained by government tenders, South Africa’s ANC Youth League president, Julius ‘juju magic’ Malema has suddenly come out in the clear about what he and the ANC nationalists mean by nationalisation of the mines.
The ANC Youth League chief recently told a press briefing that all his organisation is calling for is public-private partnerships: ‘We are saying the state must have a majority shareholding and we want the formation of a state-owned mining company… Some people call it public-private partnerships, we call it nationalisation’.
It is not a surprise that Malema’s call for nationalisation did not elicit from big capital the amount of consternation and uproar that followed Mandela’s statement on nationalisation upon his release in 1990. Then there was such a hue-cry that Mandela had to recant his pronouncement the day after he made it. Mandela was forced to reassure local and global capital by declaring that nationalisation has never been a policy of the ANC and will never be. But the ANC Youth League’s pro-nationalisation statement did not elicit the same level of anxiety from big business or any negative response from the almighty ‘markets’. There was no high-powered delegation of the captains of capital to the current president of the ANC. In the actual fact one mine owner, by the name of Patrick Motsepe, was quoted in the press saying he would have no problem if the ANC government chose to nationalise the mines.
I can only think of one explanation for the relatively muted response of big capital to the present calls for nationalisation within the ranks of the ANC. After 15 years of ANC government, the owners of capital now know that the radical leftist terminology that the ANC uses is just a rhetorical spin to sell rightwing programmes. In the past 15 years, most of the bourgeosie class and white racists in general have come to the realisation that they should in fact have backed-up and expedited the reformist negotiated settlement that saw the ANC in political office much earlier.
Elements within the ‘old’ National Party and the white liberal fraternity who called for negotiations much earlier were able to read and understand the bourgeosie nationalist undertones of the nationalisation clause and other clauses of the Freedom Charter. They had the insight and foresight to understand that white capitalist interests and global capitalist interests would be better served by capitalism without racialist fetters. They understood that the economic advancement of an African middle-class and the creation of a black bourgeosie would provide a buffer against black working class uprising, as the black governing and upper-classes would be more effective in getting the consent of the masses and in entrenching their legitimacy and hegemony.
If anyone had a problem in understanding that the Freedom Charter did not call for socialisation and public ownership of the mines but the transference of ownership from white and foreign bourgeosie to the African and local bourgeosie, Mandela’s lengthy explanation at the Rivonia Trial clarified this for them: ‘The most important political document ever adopted by the ANC is the “Freedom Charter”. It is by no means a blueprint for a socialist state. It calls for redistribution, but not nationalisation, of land; it provides for nationalisation of mines, banks, and monopoly industry, because big monopolies are owned by one race only, and without such nationalisation racial domination would be perpetuated despite the spread of political power. It would be a hollow gesture to repeal the Gold Law prohibitions against Africans when all gold mines are owned by European companies.’
Mandela made it succinctly clear that land will remain under private ownership and that nationalisation will be a tool of ‘de-racialising’ ownership of big monopolies and to give Africans and the local bourgeosie in general a stake in the mines and the banks. Mandela went on to reassure the Afrikaner that the congress movement’s version of nationalisation is akin the nationalist project pursued by the National Party to affirm and empower Afrikaner capitalists against foreign capital. ‘In this respect the ANC’s policy corresponds with the old policy of the present Nationalist Party which, for many years, had as part of its programme the nationalisation of the gold mines which, at that time, were controlled by foreign capital.’ The chief architect of the current neo-apartheid, neo-colonial, neo-liberal capitalist dispensation went further to stress that ‘under the Freedom Charter, nationalisation would take place in an economy based on private enterprise. The realisation of the Freedom Charter would open up fresh fields for a prosperous African population of all classes, including the middle class’.
It is very clear from Mandela’s pronouncements that the envisaged and expected outcome of the nationalisation project was not an egalitarian society, but a stratified society in which prosperity will continue to be hierarchical, albeit not along strictly racial lines. Madiba did not mince his words in asserting that the ANC stands for reform and not total overhaul of apartheid-capitalism. He ambiguously declared: ‘The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society.’
According to the best recollections of the most authoritative figure within and on the ANC, the ANC has never ever condemned capitalist society. Yet the root causes of the global economic depression, the massive inequalities and injustices, rampant corruption, individualistic greed and crass materialism, gluttonous consumerism and the moral decay and rot in society lie in capitalism. The opulent lifestyle of the propertied and the governing classes is an integral part of the traditions and culture of capitalism. The sweeteners and ‘gifts’ that corporate capital give to government officials and bureaucrats as well as the proverbial ‘drink’ public servants ask from citizens are part and parcel of capitalist culture/morality.
The rent-a- black face and ‘tenderpreneur’ trend and the phenomenon of senior and influential members of the ruling party doing business with government directly or through fronts are all corrupt practices that are sure to thrive in a capitalist society where the individual is placed above the collective. As long as we operate within the framework of capitalism, nationalisation and/or state ownership will invariably mean state capitalism, leading to the fattening of a narrow black middle-class which is dominant in the state and the well-connected scrounging local bourgeoisie. In the former Soviet Union, nationalisation and state ownership resulted in state capitalism and the emergence of the nomenklatura. This replicated itself in many countries going by the label socialist/communist, people’s republic or some variant thereof. Very often, it was the case of the state/party prescribing socialism for the masses and capitalism for itself.
Already the ANC Youth League is saying there’s nothing wrong with powerful and influential members of the tripartite alliance doing business with government. The point the league misses – deliberately – is that Malema and his ilk do not get the tenders because their companies surpass other contenders in service and expertise. Once the tender committee gets wind that company X belongs to the brother/sister who has the clout and power to decide the fate of government officials (and by extension the fate of the bureaucrats), it is more than likely to use its ‘commonsense’.
In defence
of the right of Malema to do business through government tenders, the ANC Youth League’s treasurer, Pule Mabe, says ‘the best way to do business is through government tenders.’ Mabe’s comment gives you the idea that the middle-class and aspirant bourgeosie within the congress movement are calling for nationalisation so that they can (ab)use the colour of their skin, struggle credentials, office-power and political connections to get a foothold on the mines, the banks and big monopolies. Once this cream of the cream from the black population has made it to the top most of the capitalist society, the logic is that they should live/play the part and live as far as possible away from the masses, geographically/physically, socially and economically. After all, their entire dream is to be the ‘Black Diamonds’. They want to shine and glitter, far away from the Black Hole… the ghetto. They want to be like white kids, drive snazzy cars in the Northern suburbs, own villas in Europe, play golf, take up fishing as a sport, go as tourists to the township or as a campaigning entourage, under heavy protection and surveillance by the army and the police. (And don’t you dare point a middle-finger at the opulence and indifference to the suffering of the poor).
Just a message to the under-class black fellow who think that having black ownership of the mines, banks and big monopolies is for the collective pride and dignity of all black people. The logic of capitalism is that once you are rich you should stay as far as possible from the poor. If anyone holds the illusion that corporate and political elites brought about by the struggles of the poor and their utilisation of public office for corporate gain will be any different, Steven Ngobeni of the Youth League has a message for them: ‘Malema cannot have the lifestyle of the poor just because he champions the poor’. This is the logic of neo-liberal capitalism. We can all be free but with different degrees of freedom.
And Malema and his friends are not breaking any party tradition by operating within the capitalist framework of crass materialism, hoarding, and keeping a safe distance from the poor. The father of the nation has said it all ‘the ANC has never ever condemned capitalist society.’ Black artists of the calibre of Hugh Masekela struggle like hell to have five minutes with Mandela. It is a walk in the park for any American to have a full sitting with Madiba.
Seasoned black artists curtain-raise for American has-beens or wannabes at gigs organised by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Just the other day John Kani was complaining about South African/Black artist never being offered a chance to play for Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela. Mr Kani, there is a long distance between Soweto and Houghton. Black workers, there’s a long walk and huge chasm between Seshego and Sandown. This is just a wake-up call for those who still hope that Malema and the ANC Youth League will propose practical ways of ensuring that state control is for public ownership and that there are mechanisms for the socialisation of the mineral wealth beyond formal state control. The hiss of a hyena is not laughter though it sounds like it.
Mphutlane wa Bofelo is a cultural worker and social critic.
South Africa Tourism Boost Adds to World Cup Enthusiasm
Howard Lesser/www1.voanews.com/ 12 March 2010
South Africa has announced that last year, the number of foreign visitors hit an all-time high. Tourism minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk told a travel industry conference in Cape Town that in doing so, an estimated 9.9 million travellers had defied a global recession and a 4% drop in worldwide travel in 2009. Although European and North American traffic declined, he said, arrivals from Africa, Asia, and South America all climbed.
South African-born Kenneth Hieber is founder and director of 2Afrika, a New York City travel agency he has operated since 1995. He says that with the World Cup beginning in three months’ time (on June 11), an even greater number is expected this year, including a surprising number of Americans.
“As I’m led to understand, the majority of people that are coming to the World Cup soccer are actually coming from the United States of America, per capita versus the other countries. But with all of the media attention focused on the World Cup, it certainly puts South Africa in a very positive spotlight,” he said.
Hieber explains that South Africa’s growing appeal to travelers from developing countries stems from a concerted effort by the national tourism industry, as well as Pretoria’s predilection for setting international monetary policy.
“Certainly, South African Airways and South African tourism are very aggressively marketing the destination. Because of the rates of exchange against the fluctuating South African Rand, it is an extremely affordable destination. It’s the affordability of the country or of any vacation one would take within the Republic of South Africa that is making it a rising destination to otherwise developing countries,” he said.
As the first nation to host a World Cup tournament on African soil, South Africa has weathered added scrutiny to meet international standards both for its guest accommodations and its stadiums and sports-related facilities. As a travel operator, Kenneth Hieber says he is confident that his countrymen will apply integrity and great organizational skills to host the event “with an enormous amount of flare and integrity.”
Airline service is expected to be at a peak during the tournament, so land transportation is the method of choice for tour operators to transport spectators between various venues for the matches. Hieber says the strategy of booking fully inclusive tours (FIT’s) takes into account that not all fans will be attending the same matches or the same number of contests.
“People may have tickets for one game and not another. And between that time, they may want to use certain activities that you really have to custom design…so we’re treating every reservation as a fully inclusive tour and tailoring it to the needs of the passenger,” he said.
Hieber says the experience of acting as standard bearer for the continent and welcoming an international audience to a world-class tournament will supplement their understanding of other cultures. For South Africans, who endured years of international isolation under an apartheid regime, he says hosting an event of such magnitude will help South Africans exchange traditions with their guests and also learn from them.
AFRICA / AU :
Bell, JSE, Steinhoff, Uranium One: South Africa Equity Preview
March 12, 2010/By Janice Kew/Bloomberg
March 12 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.
South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index slid 176.24, or 0.6 percent, to 27,911.43 in Johannesburg, paring yesterday’s 0.7 percent gain.
Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ): Copper declined, heading for a weekly loss, on concern that China may raise interest rates, potentially damping metals demand, while Greece’s budget crisis may restrain economic growth in Europe. Anglo American slid 54 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 296 rand. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL SJ), the world’s largest mining company, dropped 3.62 rand, or 1.5 percent, to 243.88 rand.
Bell Equipment Ltd. (BEL SJ): Africa’s biggest maker of vehicles such as dump trucks and forklifts reports annual earnings. The company said March 8 that it posted a loss of between 2.70 rand and 2.80 rand a share. Bell slid 5 cents, or 0.5 percent, to 10.65 rand.
JSE Ltd. (JSE SJ): Citigroup Inc. raised its share-price estimate on the operator of Africa’s largest stock exchange to 78 rand a share from 69 rand. JSE fell 14 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 20.45 rand.
Steinhoff International Holdings Ltd. (SHF SJ): Africa’s largest furniture manufacturer was cut to “hold” from “buy” at Citigroup, which cited the rand’s strength against the dollar and the euro. Steinhoff slid 14 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 20.45 rand.
Uranium One Inc. (UUU SJ): The Canadian producer of the metal is looking for acquisitions in Europe and Africa, Chief Executive Officer Jean Nortier said. Uranium One climbed 46 cents, or 2.2 percent, to 20.95 rand.
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) was little changed at $20.15. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) climbed 0.9 percent to $37.58. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) dropped 0.5 percent to $66.63. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) fell 2.6 percent to $5.70. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) was unchanged at $12.07. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) rose 1.3 percent to $9.62. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) dropped 0.3 percent to $26.41. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) increased 2.8 percent to $4.36. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) dropped 1.4 percent to $38.36.
–Editors: Paul Richardson, Ana Monteiro.
Thirty die in renewed Mogadishu fighting
English.news.cn/ news.xinhuanet.com/ 2010-03-12
MOGADISHU, March 11 (Xinhua) — At least 30 people were killed and almost 83 others were wounded Thursday as the fierce fighting continues between Somali government forces backed by African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops and Islamist insurgent fighters in Mogadishu, medical sources said.
The fighting which erupted on Wednesday resumed in the early hours of Thursday morning after it briefly stopped overnight with both sides claiming successes.
“As many as 30 people were killed, 12 of them in one area in the north of Mogadishu while we have picked almost 83 wounded people including 35 children mainly in the northern districts of Mogadishu,” Ali Muse, head of local ambulance service told Xinhua.
Heavy artillery and intense gunfire was heard around the battle areas in the north of Mogadishu where witnesses said several shells landed in residential neighborhoods.
Families in residential pockets in the north began fleeing their homes to join hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians on the outskirts of coastal Indian Ocean city of Mogadishu.
Somali government military commanders as well as insurgent fighters have claimed to have achieved ground from the other side but that cannot be independently verified as the battle still rages in north Mogadishu.
The latest upsurge in fighting comes as speculation intensifies of a major government offensive to retake the capital from rebels who control more than half of the restive coastal city.
Somali government controls only parts of the capital Mogadishu while Islamist groups rein over large swathes of territory in the south and centre of war-ravaged horn of African nation.
The U.S. pledged to support Somali government plans to wrestle control of Mogadishu from Islamists who are poised to oust the weak but internationally recognized government of Somalia.
Editor: yan
African Union wants Niger President freed
(AFP)/12032010
ADDIS ABABA — The African Union wants Niger’s military junta to free President Mamadou Tandja, overthrown in a February 18 coup, the body’s peace and security chief Ramtane Lamamra said Thursday.
“It’s a constant source of preoccupation for the AU… it’s both a moral and a political obligation,” Lamamra said after an AU Peace and Security Council meeting.
“We’ve had guarantees that a qualified representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross was going to be allowed to visit him and I think I’m in a position to say that has already happened,” he said, adding that a long period of detention seems unlikely.
The junta has not yet set the length of the transition that started when it overthrew Tandja on February 18.
Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Badjo Gamatie and four of his colleagues detained after the coup were freed at the start of the month.
The junta, which appointed Major Salou Djibo as new head of state and set up a transitional regime to work towards elections, said recently that Tandja, 71, was being detained “for security reasons” in a presidential building where he is allowed access to his doctor.
The junta, which has constituted a cabinet, has promised a short transition and a rapid return to civil rule.
“The Peace and Security Council has reaffirmed it wants a short transition that should not last more than six months,” Lamamra said.
Asked whether the junta is likely to keep its word, he said: “An officer can be expected to keep his word but moreover their first actions have been to say loud and clear that they don’t intend to drag out the transition period…”
“Our feeling is that this group of Niger army officers is a group that should be able to keep its word.”
UN /ONU :
USA :
Swelling number of pregnant HIV positive women baffles experts
www.nation.co.ke/By DAVID NJAGI/ March 12 2010
A sharp rise in pregnancies among women on anti-retroviral treatment in Kenya and several other African countries has medical researchers baffled. The women have been found to be twice as likely to become pregnant compared to those not on medication, says a study published recently in the Journal of Medicine.
Researchers are worried that the increased pregnancies could lead to a rise in HIV positive babies. Of an estimated 1.5 million women who get pregnant in Kenya annually, about 100,000 are HIV positive. Studies show that about 45,000 of the babies they give birth to will be infected.
In the latest survey, researchers studied the women over a four-year period and found that nearly a third of those on anti-retrovirals had experienced a pregnancy. “The chance of pregnancy increased over time in women on drugs to almost 80 per cent greater than those not on medication,” the study says.
The link between ARVs and the high rate of pregnancy is not clear but experts think women on medication may feel more motivated to have children as their health and quality of life improve. “However, we did not examine how pregnancy desires and sexual activity of women changed while on ART, and cannot discern why the medicines are linked to increased pregnancy,” say the researchers from the universities of Columbia in the US and Cape Town in South Africa.
The new development presents a new challenge to HIV programmes to address the higher fertility and the possibility of increased cases of mother-to-child transmission. “HIV care and treatment services must strengthen medical as well as psycho-social care to address fertility desires and plans for both women and men with HIV infection,” the study says.
For women who do not wish to become pregnant, it is suggested that effective methods of contraception as well as safe abortion services be made available. But for women who desire a child, they should be supported in planning a pregnancy, the choice of anti-retrovirals and when and how to start on mother-to-child transmission treatment.
Ideally, pregnant women should visit an ante-natal clinic at 14 weeks so that in the event they are HIV positive, they are put on treatment to prevent transmission to the baby. Dr Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National Aids and STDs Control Programme, says many HIV positive women in Kenya are not utilising a family planning programme that is in place.
Stable relationship
“The government has a family planning programme to reduce pregnancies among HIV positive women but 50 per cent of the women who should be using it are not,” says Dr Muraguri. The rise in pregnancy and sexual activity has been found to be highest among those in stable relationships.
The researchers sampled women in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa. In Kenya, the study was conducted at the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital in Kisumu and Mosoriot Rural Health Centre near Eldoret.
According to the authors, related studies from Africa suggest that “HIV might modify but does not eliminate a broader desire to have children and that ART use may be associated with increased fertility desire among HIV-infected women possibly through increased hope and planning for the future”.
This means the level of confidence among HIV positive women is being inspired by the prolonged life that ART services bring, although scientists say there is still a high risk of the unborn child being infected. “This study suggests that starting ART is associated with higher pregnancy rates in sub-Saharan Africa, nearly doubling the chances of a woman becoming pregnant. “However, ART reduces but does not remove the chance of the mother passing HIV to her child at birth,” says the study.
Condom use
The 4,531 women enrolled for the study at 11 sites in 2003 were issued with a package of HIV primary care services which included clinical reviews and CD4 cell counts after every six months, but were not counselled on pregnancy and contraceptive use.
By the time the research was ending, six to nine of a group of 100 HIV positive women had conceived in all the countries under the study, except in South Africa and Rwanda, where the rates were lower.
It, however, shows that women in the 25 and 35-year age bracket are more likely to yearn for a baby in all the countries studied, although the level of education, being married, having a male partner enrolled into an HIV/Aids programme and use of contraceptives influence the likelihood of an HIV positive woman getting pregnant.
For instance, the study observed that condom use may not necessarily prevent pregnancy compared to other conventional methods of contraception. “The high incidence of pregnancy coupled with the low prevalence of contraceptive use underscore the importance of addressing fertility-related issues within HIV care and treatment programmes in sub-Saharan Africa,” says the study.
The study recommends the introduction of pregnancy programmes for HIV positive women and suggests that safe abortion services should be made available for women who may conceive accidentally through insecure contraception. “These findings highlight the importance of pregnancy planning and management as a critical component of HIV care and treatment services,” says the study.
CANADA :
Ghana values cordial relationship with Canada
Source: Ghanaian News Canada/www.ghanaweb.com/Friday, 12 March 2010
Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada declares Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, His Excellency Richard B. Turkson has lauded the cordial historic relationship between Ghana and Canada.
Speaking at a reception organized in commemoration of Ghana’s 53rd Independence Anniversary for members of the Diplomatic Corps in the Canadian Capital City, Ottawa, and the Ghanaian High Commissioner noted that Canada has been one of Ghana’s long-standing partners. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is the longest-running African program (i.e. from 1957 to 2002). “We acknowledge the goodwill Ghana enjoys among Canadians which has translated into greater economic collaboration between our two countries. Our relations are very cordial and warm. It is appropriate on this occasion to express the appreciation of the Government and people of Ghana to the Government and people of Canada for the various forms of assistance Ghana has been receiving from Canada over the years”, he noted.
Expressing satisfaction and optimism on Ghana-Canada collaboration, Dr. Turkson noted with satisfaction the increase in the volume of Canadian investments in Ghana since 1994. Canadian investments are in the areas of engineering services, management consultancy, mining, geometrics, infrastructural development, finance, fisheries and health services. About 70 Canadian companies currently operate in Ghana. The High Commissioner expressed the hope that Ghana can do with more investments from Canada given the vast opportunities especially in the area of food and agro-processing.
Touching on the discovery of oil, Dr. Turkson noted that this huge oil discovery calls for investments in the area of management services to build local capacity for the sector. The discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 2006, its projected production and export later this year add to Ghana’s optimism for 2010 and beyond. He therefore called on all potential investors to venture into Ghana’s promising economy, where better returns are assured.
On behalf of Government of Ghana the High Commissioner announced that Ghana has declared September, 21st a statutory public holiday in Ghana, to immortalize the country’s founder, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, whose birthday falls on that day. It was declared to mark the centenary of Dr. Nkrumah’s birthday. At the 13th Ordinary Summit of the African Union in Libya, the AU also adopted the centenary birthday celebration of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a continental event. This is to underscore the fact that five decades on, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s ideal of the “African Personality” and vision of a continental union still live on.
The High Commissioner also noted that outlook for Ghana in 2010 and beyond is promising given government’s intention to continue on the path of fiscal discipline and social policy initiatives as well as the active promotion of private sector development and competitiveness.
Turning his attention to his Ghanaian Compatriots in the Diaspora, Dr. Richard Turkson emphasized that the present administration in Ghana considers Ghanaians abroad as an integral part of the country, an essential foundation for its development endeavors, as well as a vital link with the rest of the world.
He called on Ghanaians in the Diaspora to re-dedicate themselves as responsible citizens both to their host societies and to Ghana. He promised that the Government of Ghana will play its part in the nation’s development and called on Ghanaians in the Diaspora to also play their part to make Ghana the country we are so proud of.
Picture: High Commissioner Dr. Richard Turkson delivering his speech, with Mr. Francis D. Kotia Head of Chancery.
Source: Ghanaian News Canada, www.ghanaiannews.ca
AUSTRALIA :
EUROPE :
Too many ships ignore anti-piracy precautions, EU commission says
www.earthtimes.org/By : dpa /12 Mar 2010
Brussels – Too many ships passing through the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden ignore basic safety precautions, the European Union’s executive said Thursday as it urged member states to warn shipping companies of the dangers. Piracy off the Somali coast has soared in the last two years, despite the efforts of some of the world’s greatest military powers to impose safety at sea.
“Unfortunately, about a quarter of the vessels of all states passing through the area are still failing to register with the Maritime Security Centre of the Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA),” the European Commission said in a statement.
The MSC-HOA allows cargo and passenger vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden to register their presence and course with international naval flotillas, so that they can then be tracked and, if necessary, rescued by EU, NATO, Russian, Chinese or Japanese warships.
Vessels which do not register with MSC-HOA “are not covered by the measures implemented to ensure their passage through that area,” the commission statement said.
EU member states should therefore make sure that shipping companies based in their territory know about MSC-HOA’s existence and ensure that ships planning to transit the Gulf of Aden “have enough able-bodied crew members on board,” it said.
The EU currently has 10 frigates, a submarine and three surveillance aircraft in the area of the Gulf as part of its first-ever naval task force, codenamed Atalanta.
On Wednesday, NATO decided to extend its five-ship mission in the region until the end of 2012.
CHINA :
Crude Oil Trading Range Shifted Upward
www.fxstreet.com/Fri, Mar 12 2010
Although commodities initially plunged amid concerns over rate hike in China, prices managed to recover in NY session. However, probably dragged by static stock market movement, energy prices traded generally within a tight range.
WTI crude oil price ended the day flat at 82.11. Recent price movement suggests that the trading range of the front -month contract has shifted up to 75-84 from 70-80, reflecting positive demand expectations from the market. We did not find much industry-specific news that supported price yesterday other than OPEC’s mild upgrade on oil demands.
US trade deficit narrowed to $37.3B in January from $40.2B a month ago, while the market had anticipated an increase to $41.0B. Trade deficits narrowed as decline in imports outpaced that in exports. Details in the report show that imports fell for the first time in 5 months while exports the first time in 9 months. These by all means indicate slowdown in growth after the economy emerged from recession.
Specifically, crude oil imports fell to 245 mmb during the month, the smallest since February 1999. The decline has helped lower crude inventory and hence send price higher in recent weeks. However, the impact will be short-lived as imports may rebound in coming months as price surges.
Initial jobless claims slipped, by a less-than-expected amount, to 462K in the first week of March. However, both the 4-week average and continuing claims edged up. The market should pay close attention to claim data as well as other employment data in March as it will be the first month in 2010 that the job market statistics are free from impacts of adverse weather conditions and consensus hiring,
Gold price slumped, together with others in the commodity sector, before finding support above 1100 and rebounded. The benchmark contract closed at 1108.2, almost unchanged from the previous day. Silver, on the other hand, gained +0.8% to 17.16. For PGMs, platinum price surged +1.4% to 1612.7 while palladium continued retreating after making a decade high at 481.95 on Monday.
Gold, which rallied more than +20% last year as led by low global interest rates and massive stimulus measures, will get hurt if central banks begin withdrawing liquidity from the market in an environment of benign inflation. While China’s CPI hit a 16-month in January, global inflation remain subdued in general. UK is the only advanced economy with inflation level overshooting official target. Macro-environment does not favor gold’s movement in this sense.
In fundamental news, South Africa report the country’s mine output increased +7.7% y/y in January, the first time since July 2009 with PGM production surging +17%. However, gold output declined -18% from a year ago. We retain our view on tighter PGM demand/supply outlook in 2010. We expect auto market turnaround as driven by global economic recovery should boost demand while frequent labor strike and power outage in South African remain the biggest overhang in the country’s mine operations.
Sale of elephant tusk stockpiles may encourage poaching, experts worry
Elephant experts from around the world are joining a University of Washington scientist in calling for a moratorium on legal ivory sales, to protect elephants from being slaughtered for their tusks.
By Sandi Doughton/ seattletimes.nwsource.com/Seattle Times science reporter/March 12, 2010
Elephant experts from around the world are joining a University of Washington scientist in calling for a moratorium on legal ivory sales, to protect elephants from being slaughtered for their tusks.
UW conservation biologist Sam Wasser has been using DNA analysis of seized ivory shipments to track the thriving black market. His research shows poachers are killing more than 8 percent of the world’s elephants each year.
The African nations of Zambia and Tanzania are petitioning an international regulatory body for permission to sell stockpiles of tusks worth nearly $18 million. But in a commentary published Thursday in the journal Science, Wasser and his 26 co-authors argue that legal ivory sales can provide cover for illegal sales, and may actually increase the rate of poaching.
Also, Wasser’s analyses show that the bulk of the black market ivory seized by law-enforcement officials over the past several years originated in Zambia and Tanzania.
All sales of elephant ivory were banned in 1989. At the same time, African nations stepped up game patrols. As a result, poaching levels plummeted.
But money for enforcement programs dried up after a few years. Growing demand for ivory in Japan and China drove prices up, and poaching levels have been climbing for most of the past decade, Wasser said.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has allowed nations to sell stockpiled ivory and use the proceeds for elephant conservation.
Several of those previous sales were followed by spikes in poaching, as the organized crime rings that control the black market take advantage of legal sales to sneak their products into the international market, Wasser said.
“We really need to stop and get things back under control before we think about allowing any trade in this species,” he said.
CITES will consider the petitions from Zambia and Tanzania in a meeting that begins Saturday in Doha, Qatar.
INDIA :
Bond yields near 17-month high on fears investors will cut holdings
12 Mar 2010/ ET Bureau/economictimes.indiatimes.com
The 10-year bonds were little changed, with yields near a 17-month high, on concern investors will pare their holdings as inflation erodes returns.
Investors are holding back from purchases before a government report on March 15 that economists forecast will show the wholesale price-index climbed to 9.67% in February from a year earlier.
“Bonds will move in a narrow range because inflation is expected to accelerate and large supplies of bonds may be there in the initial months,” said Krishnamurthy Harihar, Mumbai-based treasurer at the Indian unit of FirstRand, South Africa’s second-largest financial services company. “Rate hikes will happen to damp inflation.”
The yield on the 6.35% note due January 2020 was at 7.99%, according to the central bank’s trading system. The price was at 88.96% per Rs 100 face amount. The yield touched 8.02% on March 9, the highest level since October 2008. The rate may rise to 8.25% by June, Harihar predicted.
RBI doesn’t expect managing next year’s record government borrowings to be a “huge” challenge, deputy governor Subir Gokarn said on Thursday. “We have a scenario of Indian growth looking fairly positive and global liquidity still looking fairly comfortable,” Gokarn told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday. “So taking all these factors into consideration, we don’t expect the borrowing requirement will be a huge challenge to meet.” Bond prices may be declining also on expectations of accelerating inflation, Gokarn said. Inflation may accelerate to double digits, stoked by higher food prices, he said, adding the measure won’t “persist” at that level.
The central bank has kept the benchmark reverse repurchase rate at a record-low 3.25% since April. Policy makers in January raised the proportion of deposits lenders need to keep as reserves to 5.75% from 5%. The next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for April 20.
The cost of five-year interest-rate swaps, or derivative contracts used to guard against fluctuations in borrowing costs, declined. The rate, a fixed payment made to receive floating rates, fell to 7.06% from 7.08% on Wednesday
BRASIL:
Brazil Beefs Up Import Duties on U.S. Goods
March 12, 2010/www.apparelnews.net
In retaliation for U.S. cotton subsidies, Brazil announced it would boost import tariffs on hundreds of U.S. products that include cotton, cotton fabric, and men’s and women’s pants as well as food, sunglasses and cell phones.
The trade war between Brazil and the United States, both major cotton producers, erupted in 2002 and turned into a long, drawn-out case before the World Trade Organization, with Brazil objecting to the United States’ $3 billion a year in subsidies to cotton farmers. The subsidies help push down world cotton prices, hurting farmers in South America, Africa and other parts of the world.
On Aug. 31, a WTO panel declared that Brazil could impose trade sanctions on U.S. products to retaliate for the cotton subsidies. Those trade sanctions can reach as much as $829 million a year based on fiscal year 2008, but they could be higher if 2009 figures are used.
On March 8, Brazil delivered to the WTO a list of goods subject to revised tariffs, which will go into effect April 7.
Currently, Brazilian tariffs on all U.S. cotton range from 6 percent to 8 percent. They will be increased to 100 percent. Tariffs on woven-cotton fabrics will go from 26 percent to 100 percent. The tariffs on men’s and women’s pants will rise from 35 percent to 100 percent.
“The Brazilian government regrets having to take these measures since it believes that trade retaliation does not constitute the most appropriate means to attain international trade on a fairer basis,” the Brazilian government said in a statement. “However, after almost eight years of litigation and over four years of continuing noncompliance … it remains for Brazil to exercise its right.”
The United States Trade Representative’s office said it is trying to resolve the situation. “We are disappointed to learn that Brazil’s authorities have decided to proceed with countermeasures against U.S. trade in the WTO cotton dispute,” said USTR spokesperson Nefeterius McPherson. “USTR is working to reach a solution to the issues in this dispute without Brazil resorting to countermeasures, and we continue to prefer a negotiated solution.”—Deborah Belgum
EN BREF, CE 12 mars 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,12/03/2010
