{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 25 mai 2010 – RTTNews- May 25, 2010–Ethiopia’s poll outcome in favor of incumbent Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is heading for controversy and tension, as European Union observers criticized the electoral process of “falling short of certain international commitments” and Opposition alleged widespread electoral fraud.

BURUNDI :

Ruling party takes big lead in Burundi election
www.africasia.com/250510

Burundi’s ruling party took a big lead in local elections seen as a key barometer for presidential and legislative polls later in the year, according to partial returns released Tuesday.

The ruling CNDD-FDD party of outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza won Monday’s vote with an average of 80 percent support in 32 of the 35 constituencies which had completed the count out of a total of 129 countrywide, according to the national electoral commission.

The opposition party of former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa had obtained between 15 and 20 percent of the vote, according to the early returns.

“These figures you are seeing in the media are accurate, they have been published by different constituency electoral commissions,” said national election commission member Prospere Ntahorwamiye.

Some 3.5 million voters were eligible to elect local councillors in a ballot seen as a test ahead of the presidential and legislative polls in June and July, respectively.

“If you look at the results that have come out, the CNDD will win the local elections by a large margin,” said the party’s spokesman Onesime Nduwimana.

Nduwimana added that it was likely they would beat their 58 percent score from the last such polls in 2005.

The polls had been delayed twice from Friday as a result of problems with the supply of voter cards and ballots, a hitch that heightened concerns over the vote’s credibility despite the electoral commission’s assurances.

Nkurunziza and Rwasa conducted high-octane presidential-style campaigns for the local elections, relentlessly criss-crossing the landlocked country, one of the world’s poorest.

While the 45-year-old president enjoys the advantages of incumbency, competition is fierce among rival parties from the Hutu community, the majority group accounting for around 85 percent of Burundi’s 8.5 million inhabitants.

RWANDA

Rwanda: Risks of HIV Transmission Double During Pregnancy – Study
Irene V. Nambi & Agencies/The New Times/allafrica.com/25 May 2010

A Two — year study that was launched in Rwanda, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, has proved that men in a relationship with an HIV-positive woman are twice more likely to get infected when their partner is pregnant.

According to global media reports, the research focused on more than 3,300 couples in which one of the partners was HIV-positive.

Dr. Nelly Mugo of the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta National Hospital, explained that biological changes that occur during pregnancy may make women more infectious than they would otherwise be.

In their analysis, they found that pregnancy was associated with increased risk of both female-to-male and male-to-female HIV transmission.

The study also found that for women with an HIV- infected partner, there is a higher risk of acquiring the virus during pregnancy.

In men, however, the link between pregnancy and HIV risk was much clearer, even after considering whether or not they had engaged in unprotected sex or were circumcised.

The Executive Secretary of the National AIDS Control Commission, Dr. Anita Asiimwe noted that studies in Rwanda have shown that the rates of HIV infections among women are higher than those among men.

“According to the 2007 Demographic Health Survey, HIV rates are higher in women but we are yet to confirm details concerning this new study,” Asiimwe said.

The results were presented on Sunday at the International Microbicides Conference (M2010) in Pittsburgh, USA.

Microbicides (substances designed to be applied topically on the inside of the rectum or vagina) are under active investigation as a method for women to use to protect against HIV.

Currently, microbicide trials are going on in the country.

Dar lags behind in business-friendly reforms: World Bank
thecitizen.co.tz/By Alvar Mwakyusa/25052010

Tanzania’s performance on creating business-friendly reforms continues to lag behind other East Africa Community member states, a newly released report by the World Bank reveals.

The Doing Business in the East African Community 2010 report which was released in Dar es Salaam yesterday, places Tanzania on position number four out of five countries that make the EAC. Rwanda and Kenya have been ranked on position number one and two, respectively. Uganda ranks number three while Burundi is placed on number five.

Tanzania has performed poorly in areas such as closing and starting business, protecting investors, access to credit, cross border trade, and issuance of construction permits.

“Securing a construction permit, for example, is so complex in Tanzania that it takes 32 steps and 328 days and at a cost approximately 33 times per capita income. The country has been ranked 178th out of the 183 economies in securing a construction permit,” says the report.

Tanzania has maintained the same position in closing business at position 113th in 2009 and 2010, while its performance on protecting investors has slumped from position 88th in 2009 to 93rd in 2010.

Access to credit also remains challenging to Tanzania, dropping from position 84th to 87th while it recorded poorly on employment of workers from position 131st to 133rd.

The World Bank ranking also showed Tanzania slumping on trading across boarder at position 133rd in 2010 from 131 in the previous year, whilst dealing with construction permits has had the country placed at 178th from 175th.

In payment of taxes, the country is ranked 120th from 113th while starting of business is at position 120th, down from 111th in the previous year.

Rwanda ranks dead last in terms of time and cost of liquidating a business.

According to the report, there are however, good practices amongst countries in the EAC that if adopted by all countries would yield very healthy business environment.

Tanzania ranks well in enforcement of contracts while Rwanda is hailed as being the fastest in starting a business. Kenya does well in securing credits.

“A key objective of the EAC is to develop an effective common market. The report provides a good basis for comparing regulatory performance across the region, and how this contributes to deeper regional integration,” said Mr Juma Mwapachu, secretary general of the EAC Secretariat.

The report draws on the data of the annual global Doing Business study and takes a detailed look at business regulations in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

“In times overshadowed by the global financial and economic crisis, business regulation can make an important difference for how easy it is to reorganize troubled firms to help them survive, to rebuild when demand rebounds, and to get new businesses started,” said Sylvia Solf, co-author of the report.

Doing Business in the East African Community 2010 was prepared as part of the EAC Investment Climate Programme supported by the World Bank Group and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development.

“This report shows that within the borders of the East African Community, there is already excellent experience of innovative investment climate reform that has delivered tangible benefits. EAC Countries can improve business regulation significantly just by implementing best practice already developed in the region,” said Tim Lamont, Regional Economist, for DFID’s programme in East Africa.

In the World Bank Doing report 2010, Tanzania was ranked 131st, Kenya 95th and Rwanda on 67th while Uganda and Burundi were placed on 112th and 176th position, respectively.

In 2008, Tanzania was ranked 124th, beating Rwanda and Burundi which were positioned 148th and 174th, respectively. Uganda was 105th whereas Kenya was 78th.

Tanzania’s ranking in the 2009 report declined to position 127th, Uganda at 111th while Kenya flopped to 82nd. Rwanda on the other hand picked up to position 139th as Burundi declined further to 177.

UGANDA

Obama signs U.S. law to help Uganda fight LRA rebels
May 25, 2010/Reuters

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday signed a law aimed at helping Uganda and its neighbors combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that has brutalized Central Africa for decades.

Barack Obama

Obama called the LRA’s actions — killing, raping, kidnapping children to serve as child soldiers — “an affront to human dignity” that must be stopped.

The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 is designed to provide humanitarian aid to Uganda and neighboring states, to support regional efforts to end the conflict and to bring LRA leaders to justice.

“The legislation crystallizes the commitment of the United States to help bring an end to the brutality and destruction that have been a hallmark of the LRA across several countries for two decades,” he said in a statement.

The Ugandan rebel group has killed and abducted people on a regular basis for the last 23 years, from Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch noted in a report in March.

The U.N. says the LRA killed more than 1,200 people in a 10-month period throughout 2008 and 2009, while Human Rights Watch said a massacre in the remote northeast killed 321 people in December.

The U.S. military’s African Command (Africom) provides communications, logistical and intelligence support for Uganda’s national army in its pursuit of the LRA.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert, editing by Anthony Boadle)

Harvey Milk Goes to Uganda
Mariana van Zeller.Peabody Award-winning correspondent for Current TV’s “Vanguard.”/www.huffingtonpost.com/
May 25, 2010

As California marked its inaugural Harvey Milk Day this past weekend, celebrating the gay rights icon, I couldn’t help but remember an interview I recently conducted in Uganda, the east African nation that is home to proposed legislation that would make being gay a crime punishable by life in prison or, in some cases, death.

“I was shocked the other day when I was watching this American movie ‘Milk,'” said Sylvia Tamale, dean of law at Makerere University in Uganda, referring to Gus Van Sant’s 2008 biopic. “I was shocked to see that the arguments put forward by the proponents of anti-homosexuality sentiments were exactly the same, almost word for word. These arguments are not new at all that Ugandans are using to justify the anti-homosexuality bill.”

I met with Tamale while filming the documentary “Missionaries of Hate” for the new season of Current TV’s Vanguard. While I was in Uganda, the campaign to push through the controversial anti-gay bill was reaching a fever pitch, with backers of the legislation drumming up support by holding mass rallies and marches condemning homosexuality.

Just as it was during the life and times of Harvey Milk, the movement against homosexuality in Uganda is being led by a group of conservative Christian evangelicals. And the arguments they’re using are an echo of Anita Bryant and the Save Our Children campaign.

“I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children,” Bryant said in 1977. “Therefore, they must recruit our children.”

More than 30 years later, our cameras were rolling as Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa brought a young woman to a press conference to testify about how she had been allegedly recruited to be a lesbian. “American money…is being used to seduce our children into homosexuality,” Ssempa said. “This bill is in response and desire to protect our children.”

The connection, while decades apart, is perhaps not so surprising if you believe those who trace the current anti-gay campaign in Uganda back to March 2009. That’s when three American evangelicals were invited to speak at a conference in the country about how Africans can protect themselves from homosexuality. Being gay in Uganda was never easy. But according to many local gay and human rights advocates, it was that conference where the depiction of homosexuality as predatory by nature gained currency in Uganda.

From there, local politicians and pastors–many with long-standing relationships with American Christian groups–took this notion and ran with it. Ssempa, as you’ll see in the documentary, went so far as showing hardcore gay porn in church in order to demonstrate the “sickness” of homosexuality.

It’s been more than three decades since Harvey Milk’s assassination, but the battle he led continues and is now open on new fronts. “I believe that the Christian fundamentalists in the US have found fertile ground in Africa to fight their battles,” Tamale told us. “Obviously they are not making a lot of the headway in the U.S., and they can very easily find allies here to fight their wars on the continent.”

Even after Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill drew the ire of international human rights organizations and governments around the world, another American evangelical, Lou Engle, traveled to Uganda to hold a rally with many of the leaders of Uganda’s anti-gay crusade.

Despite their best efforts, the anti-gay bill is still wavering in Ugandan parliament. Few now believe it will pass in its current form. But the public campaign to push it through created one of the most hostile environments for gays in the world today.

Yet even in this extremely charged climate, we managed to find gay men and women, activists and ordinary citizens who were willing to speak openly about their struggle.

“Admitting I’m gay is no longer a shame to me,” explained Long Jones, a gay man we met in Kamapala who had already been jailed, beaten and blackmailed because of his sexual orientation. “I’m not afraid because this is the opportunity that most people are getting to know that we really exist.”

Africa: Civil Society Declaration on Africa and the Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
25 May 2010/allafrica.com/Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)

We, the undersigned African civil society organizations and international organizations with a presence in Africa, call on African governments to make the most of the upcoming review conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which will take place from May 31 to June 11, 2010 in Kampala, Uganda.

The review conference comes at a critical time in the development of the ICC. The court has made important progress since the Rome Statute entered into force in 2002 and is already providing a measure of justice for victims of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. But the court faces important challenges to implementing its mandate successfully. These include challenges in conducting court operations, such as obtaining adequate support to engage in outreach to affected populations. They also include external attacks on the institution, such as those advanced by some African leaders following the ICC arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in March 2009.

The review conference offers an exceptional occasion for African governments to help advance the global fight against impunity by restating their commitment to justice for the victims of grave crimes and offering views on the development of international criminal justice and the ICC. In addition to addressing several proposed amendments to the statute – including on the crime of aggression – the conference will have a general debate followed by two days of “stocktaking” of the Rome Statute system. The stocktaking exercise will provide a unique opportunity to provide input that can help to constructively shape accountability efforts domestically and internationally.

The review conference’s location in Uganda only adds to its significance, as the event can help forge a stronger link between the ICC and Africa. The review conference will also be an important opportunity for victims and civil society to be heard on the ICC.

This Declaration provides observations and recommendations on the review conference, which is consistent with the African Union’s call for attendance and effective participation at the conference (Decision on the Report of the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Rome Statute on the ICC, Assembly/AU/Dec.270(XIV), 2010). This Declaration focuses on high-level attendance and a high-level declaration, pledging, and the stocktaking exercise at the conference. The Declaration does not discuss proposed amendments under consideration.

I. High-level Attendance and Declaration

High-level attendance by ministers and other senior officials at the review conference – especially during the general debate and the stocktaking exercise – and adoption of a high-level declaration on the conference are two important ways governments can send a strong message of support for accountability for grave crimes in violation of international law. We have heard that a number of African states will have ministerial level participation at the conference, which is very positive and should be encouraged among all African ICC states parties. With regard to a high-level declaration, a draft that underlines core aims of the Rome Statute and commitments of states parties to the court has been prepared and should be available in Kampala for consideration. The adoption of the draft declaration would be a tangible outcome of the conference and a renewed expression of support for the fight against impunity at the highest political level.

II. Pledges

Pledges are a way in which states
may commit to undertake specific actions to advance support for the ICC, such as by pledging to adopt ICC implementing legislation by a specific date. Pledges – which can be made by individual states, groups of states, and regional and other groups – are a major, significant initiative around the review conference and an important way to help ensure the conference has impact beyond discussions in Kampala. Pledges should comprise tangible objectives to be attained within a specific time period and should be communicated to the Netherlands and Peru, as focal points on pledges, ideally by May 14. Pledges may be kept confidential until the review conference, although making them public in advance could help encourage pledges by other governments.

For African governments that are not yet parties to the court, a priority pledge is ratification of the Rome Statute by a particular date. As the ICC is a court of last resort, becoming a party to it is an essential way to demonstrate commitment to the fight against impunity. For African governments that are states parties, a priority pledge should be adoption of domestic implementing legislation for the Rome Statute by a particular date. To our knowledge, only five states in Africa – Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa – have enacted comprehensive ICC implementing legislation. Such legislation makes genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity crimes under domestic law and provides for cooperation with the ICC. (While Uganda’s parliament has also adopted such legislation, Uganda’s president had not signed the bill into law as of this writing.)

Another important area for pledges is to work toward the timely establishment of an ICC Liaison Office in Addis Ababa. This office would be an important way to create an avenue for essential discourse and access to the ICC by the African Union and to strengthen cooperation and engagement between the two entities. Work toward conclusion of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the AU and the ICC would also be a valuable pledge. MOUs already exist between the court and the United Nations, as well as the European Union, and are under consideration by other regional groups. The conclusion of a memorandum of understanding would be an important way to facilitate cooperation between the AU and ICC and a logical step in line with article 4 of the AU’s Constitutive Act, which rejects impunity.

There are many other areas that merit consideration as possible pledges. These include: ratifying the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities by a specific date; building ICC support across ministries, and at regional and international organizations; promoting ratification or the adoption of implementing legislation in other countries; appointing a national ICC focal point or intra-agency task force; contributing to arrest operations and executing warrants; concluding agreements on sentence enforcement, witness relocation and interim release; and actively participating in sessions of the ICC Assembly of States Parties.

III. The Stocktaking Exercise

The stocktaking exercise will focus on four issues that reflect key challenges in bringing to account perpetrators of serious crimes in violation of international law: the impact of justice on victims and affected communities, state cooperation, complementarity, and peace and justice. Substantive and constructive discussions during stocktaking thus have the potential to enhance future accountability efforts. However, thoughtful preparation and participation will be essential: the exercise can only be as valuable as the contributions made to it.

It is crucial that views from Africa be heard in these discussions and we encourage African states to make interventions on relevant stocktaking topics. We also encourage African states to consider resolutions on topics where they are put forward.

As your government prepares for the stocktaking exercise, we would like to draw attention to several issues related to each of the topics that will be considered:

Impact of justice on victims and affected communities

The work of the ICC is at its core about victims who have suffered grave crimes. The ICC has unique elements to help realize victims’ rights and expectations for justice, such as victim participation in proceedings and reparations. Hundreds of victims are already participating in situations and cases before the ICC and the victims’ trust fund has undertaken projects to assist victims. With the court’s first cases focused in Africa, African victims have been the primary beneficiaries to date of the ICC’s efforts to promote justice for victims. At the same time, lack of execution of arrest warrants, lengthy proceedings, and limited cases are only a few of the areas where victims have expressed disappointment and frustration with the ICC. A key challenge is ensuring victims have adequate access to information about the court.

The stocktaking session provides an important opportunity for African governments to reflect on the central role of victims in the accountability process and key issues related to victims, such as: the significant advances included in the Rome Statute of the ICC in terms of promoting victims’ rights; areas where more work is needed by the ICC, such as strengthening outreach and communications; and observations on best promoting victims’ rights in domestic prosecutions for serious crimes. In addition, the draft resolution on victims merits attention as it includes important elements, such as on the need to deliver effective justice to victims and the priority of victims’ rights and interests.

Cooperation

The ICC relies on cooperation to fulfill its mandate as the court lacks any police force. Cooperation includes two main components: judicial assistance and logistical support – such as facilitating investigations and witness relocation, and putting in place domestic frameworks that enable effective response to cooperation requests; and strong political support – including mainstreaming support for the court in regional and international organizations. One of the most significant areas of cooperation that relates to both of these components is apprehension of suspects. The ICC cannot bring justice to victims if suspects are not brought to the dock. Notably, the ICC has outstanding arrest warrants in three of the five situations where it is conducting investigations. Some of these warrants have been pending for several years and suspects continue to be involved in committing atrocities against civilians.

The stocktaking session on cooperation provides a valuable opportunity to discuss experiences thus far in addressing cooperation requests or providing political and diplomatic support to the court. Pledges and expressions of support to cooperate with the court and identify ways to strengthen domestic, regional, and international cooperation with the court – including with regard to arrest operations – would also be important. Finally, the session is a good occasion to consider publicly supporting the establishment of a working group by the Assembly of States Parties on cooperation to ensure continued focus on this important issue by states parties.

Complementarity

One of the most important ways to expand the fight against impunity is through complementarity. This principle concerns the role of national courts in assuming their primary responsibility in prosecuting serious crimes. It also touches on efforts to strengthen national courts to make sure they are able and willing to assume their responsibility to prosecute serious crimes. Too many national systems in Africa currently lack the capacity or the will to address serious crimes. The stronger the ability and willingness of national courts to prosecute these crimes, the more the ICC can truly act as a court of last resort.

The stocktaking session on complementarily is a significant opportunity for African governments to discuss how to ensure their na

tional courts take up their responsibilities in investigating and adjudicating Rome Statute crimes. This includes overcoming lack of political will to prosecute, and promoting targeted assistance to enable fair, effective domestic prosecutions, including by enabling proper witness protection, and support for victims. Finally, a resolution on complementarity has been prepared, which discusses the key elements of the principle and merits due consideration.

Peace and Justice

As the ICC conducts its work in different situations where conflict is ongoing, concerns that efforts to achieve peace will be undercut by efforts to ensure justice have consistently arisen. Few deny that peace and justice must go hand in hand in the long-term, but the analysis often becomes more difficult during particular periods of conflict or peace negotiations.

The stocktaking session on peace and justice is an important moment for reflection on identifying ways to pursue peace and justice simultaneously, and to recognize several core principles that are fundamental to state parties’ commitment to the ICC in the context of debates on peace and justice. These include that perpetrators of serious crimes should not go unpunished; that the ICC should function as an independent institution; and that accountability for grave crimes is a key way to contribute to sustainable peace, including by promoting the possibility to deter future crimes.

These principles are central to the Rome Statute, and have been consistently supported by African governments since before the ICC came into existence. This is reflected by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Principles, adopted in 1997, and Dakar Declaration in support of an international criminal court, adopted in 1998.

Organizations supporting this Declaration:

1. Abubu-Dukire (Association for the Rights of the Missing and the Victims of Mass Killings), Bujumbura, Burundi

2. Access to Justice, Lagos, Nigeria

3. Action Against Impunity for Human Rights (ACIDH), Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

4. Action of Christian’s Activists of Human Rights in Shabunda (ACADHOSHA), South Kivu, DRC

5. Action of the Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT – Burundi), Bujumbura, Burundi

6. Advocates of Public International Law-Uganda (APILU), Kampala, Uganda

7. African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), Dakar, Senegal

8. African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), Guinea

9. African Association for the Defence of Human Rights (ASADHO), South Kivu, DRC

10. African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, Sudan

11. African Development and Peace Initiative (ADPI), Adjumani, Uganda

12. Amnesty International, Dakar, Senegal

13. Article 19, Nairobi, Kenya

14. Association for Human Rights and the Penitentiary World (ADHUC), Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

15. Association of the Christians for the Abolition of Torture, Senegal

16. Association of the Shipowners on Lake Kivu (ASSALAK), South Kivu, DRC

17. Association of the Women Lawyers, Bangui, Central African Republic

18. Association of Victims of Crimes and Political Repression in Chad (AVCRP), Chad

19. Association pour la Promotion et la Défense de la Dignité des Victimes, DRC

20. Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Association of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone

21. Burkinabe Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CB/CPI), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

22. Burkinabe Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

23. Burundi Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ICC-CB), Bujumbura, Burundi

24. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Cairo, Egypt

25. Cameroon Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Douala, Cameroon

26. Campaign for Human Rights in Burundi (CADRHO-BURUNDI), Burundi

27. Capacity Builders, Freetown, Sierra Leone

28. Center for Democratic Empowerment, Monrovia, Liberia

29. Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Lilongwe, Malawi

30. Center for Justice Studies and Resolution 1325 (CJR/1325), Kinshasa, DRC

31. Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP-Liberia), Monrovia, Liberia

32. Center For Reparation and Rehabilitation (CRR), Gulu, Uganda

33. Center for Trauma Counseling and Conflict Resolution (CETCCOR), Monrovia, Liberia

34. Central African Republic Coalition for the ICC, Central African Republic

35. Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

36. Children and Women’s Empowerment Society, Freetown, Sierra Leone

37. Children Education Society (CHESO), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

38. Cite des Droits de l’Homme et de Paix (CIDHOP), DRC

39. Citizens Coalition for Constitutional Culture (4Cs), Nairobi, Kenya

40. Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Enugu, Nigeria

41. Civil Society of Congo (SOCICO/NK), North Kivu, DRC

42. Club of the Friends of Law in Congo, DRC

43. Coalition for Justice and Accountability, Freetown, Sierra Leone

44. Congolese Foundation for the Promotion of Peace and Human Rights (FOCDP), Kisangani, DRC

45. Congolese Initiative for Justice and Peace (ICJP), Bukavu, DRC

46. Congolese Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), Brazzaville, Congo

47. Conscience International, Freetown, Sierra Leone

48. Consortium for the Empowerment and Development of Marginalized Communities (CEDMAC), Nairobi, Kenya

49. Darfur Artists Union (SAD), Darfur, Sudan

50. Darfur Bar Association (DBA), Khartoum, Sudan

51. Darfur Democratic Forum (DDF), Darfur, Sudan

52. Darfur Displaced People and Refugees Union, Cairo Egypt

53. Defence for Children International (DRC), Freetown, Sierra Leone

54. DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Gaborone, Botswana

55. East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP), Kampala, Uganda

56. Fédération des Jeunes pour la Paix Mondiale, DRC

57. Formerly Abused Development Program-Uganda (FADEPU), Uganda

58. Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy (FOHRD), Monrovia, Liberia

59. Foundation for International Dignity (FIND), Monrovia, Liberia

60. Grassroots Initiative, Freetown, Sierra Leone

61. Group Agora for the Education on Rights of the Child and Peace (GRA-REDEP), Dakar, Senegal

62. Groupe Equitas, DRC

63. Heirs of Justice, Bukavu, DRC

64. Human Rights and Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND), Khartoum, Sudan

65. Human Rights Concern, Eritrea

66. Human Rights Network-Uganda (HURINet), Kampala, Uganda

67. Human Rights Watch, Johannesburg, South Africa

68. Human Rights, Justice and Peace Foundation, Aba, Nigeria

69. International Center for Policy and Conflict, Nairobi, Kenya

70. International Crime in Africa Programme (ICAP), Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, South Africa

71. International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), Kampala, Uganda

72. International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Inter-Society), Anambra state, Nigeria

73. Ivorian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ICC-CI), Abidjan, Ivory Coast

74. Justice Plus, DRC

75. Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Nairobi, Kenya

76. Kolan Kissy Rural Development Agency, Freetown, Sierra Leone

77. League for Human Rights, Jos, Nigeria

78. League for Peace and Human Rights in the DRC (LIPADHO), DRC

79. Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), Lagos, Nigeria

80. Légalité, DRC

81. Liberia Democratic Institute, Monrovia, Liberia

82. Liberia Media Center, Monrovia, Liberia

83. Lira NGO Forum, Lira, Uganda

84. LOTUS, Kisangani, DRC

85. Nagaad Umbrella for Somaliland Women NGOs, Hargeisa, Somaliland

86. National Coalition for the International Criminal Court in DRC (CN-CPI/RDC), Kinshasa, DRC

87. National Organization of Human Rights, Senegal

88. Network Movement for Democracy and Human Rights, Freetown, Sierra Leone

89. Network of the NGOs in Congo, North-Kivu Province (REPRODHOC/NK), RDC

90. Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC), Abuja, Nigeria

91. One Family People, Freetown, Sierra Leone

92. Parents without Partners and Victims Forum, Freetown, Sierra Leone

93. Peace Pen Communications, Nairobi, Kenya

94. Peace Youth Association (PYA), Darfur, Sudan

95. People’s Educational Association, Freetown, Sierra Leone

96. Prison Watch, Freetown, Sierra Leone

97. René Cassin Institute (IRECA), South Kivu, DRC

98. Rights and Rice Foundation, Monrovia, Liberia

99. Samotalis Coalition of Human Right Organization, Hargeisa, Somaliland

100. Social Action for Peace and Development (ASPD), Goma, DRC

101. Social Reform Centre (SOREC), Nairobi, Kenya

102. SocialJustice Advocacy Initiative (SJAI), Lagos Nigeria

103. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Lagos, Nigeria

104. Solidarity for Social Advancement and Peace (SOPROP), Goma, DRC

105. Solidarity of the Women for Peace and Integral Development (SOFEPADI), North Kivu and Orientale, DRC

106. Somali Human Rights Defenders Network (SOHRIDEN), Mogadishu, Somalia

107. Somaliland Impartial Human Rights Organizations Network (SOHIRA-Net), Somaliland

108. South African Coalition for the International Criminal Court (SACICC) Durban, South Africa

109. Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Lawyers Association, Gaborone, Botswana

110. Southern Africa Litigation Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

111. Synergy of Congolese NGOs for the victims (SYCOV), DRC

112. Synergy of Women for the Victims of Sexual Violence (SFVS), North Kivu, DRC

113. The Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC), Kampala, Uganda

114. The Center for Research on Environment, Democracy and Human Rights (CREDDHO), Goma, DRC

115. The Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists, Nairobi, Kenya

116. The League of Human Rights in the Great Lakes region, Rwanda

117. Uganda Coalition for the International Criminal Court (UCICC), Kampala, Uganda

118. Ugandan Victims Foundation, Lira, Uganda

119. Unit of Service and Assistance, Harare, Zimbabwe

120. Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Educational Trust (WLSA), Zambia

121. Women’s Advocates, Sierra Leone

122. Women’s Forum, Sierra Leone

123. Youth Empowerment Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone

124. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Harare, Zimbabwe

TANZANIA:

CONGO RDC :

Canada. B.C. mine company’s Congo license lifted
The Ottawa Citizen; News Services/ May 25, 2010

Vancouver-based First Quantum Mineral Ltd. and its partners in the Kinganyambo Musonoi Tailings Sarl project in the Democratic Republic of Congo said they’ve become aware that their license has been awarded to a “third party,” chief executive officer Philip Pascall said. The $750-million copper and cobalt project was closed in August after a two-and-a-half-year review of the Central African nation’s mining contracts. First Quantum and its partners brought the case to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration in Paris on Feb. 1.

Controlling enablers in the conflict mineral trade
Human Rights First.Non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization/By Enrico Carisch, Advisor to Human Rights First /www.huffingtonpost.com/May 25, 2010

Congress is poised to take action to confront one of the most intractable problems in one of the most violent places on earth: conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite 10 years of United Nations reporting about vicious violence connected with gold, tin, coltan and wolframite, many international refining and trading companies insist, implicitly or explicitly, that their due diligence need not extend to the origins of these minerals. Well-intentioned governments have trotted out half-hearted responses to block this funding source for illegal militias and soldiers who commit gross human rights abuses in the Congo.

The Senate legislation proposed by Senator Brownback, Feingold, Durbin, Specter and Brown, and similar legislation that is making its way through the House, will remove the option for U.S. corporations to plead ignorance of the devastating effects uncontrolled imports of these metals can have on the local populations of the Congo. This legislation would also clarify how we in the industrialized world, our governments and our companies, can better shoulder our responsibilities as important stakeholders of Central Africa’s natural resources.

The pending bills in the Senate and House would force companies to determine and disclose whether coltan, tin, gold, and wolframite used in their products originated in war-torn areas of the Congo, information that the U.S. government would then make public. This would be a first step toward giving all market participants–starting but not ending with those in the U.S.–confidence that their purchases of raw materials and finished goods are not inadvertently enabling atrocities in Central Africa.

As commendable the legislative efforts are, Congress must guard against false victories that might result from only embracing due diligence norms for US companies. The underlying hard security problems in the Congo persist and atrocities continue. The logistics for carrying out credible audits and certification as envisioned in the Senate legislation will be very difficult and costly. Enhancing controls over the Congo’s natural resources was always part of an overall plan in which the U.S., as an important member of the international community, had a hand in devising. There are three components to this plan that deal with physical security, reconstruction of the DRC’s institutions and state capacities, and establishing regional peace and security.

Establishing physical security and stopping the horrific human rights abuses against the people–particularly the women and children–of the eastern Congo’s Kivu Provinces is, at bottom, the responsibility of the Government of President Joseph Kabila and in particular of his armed forces. Strong international pressure, backed up by determined financial and technical assistance, will be necessary to help President Kabila to wrest control from those military leaders who stand in the way of regularizing the Congo’s mineral industry.

Rebuilding the Congolese institutions in charge of managing the nation’s natural wealth is in progress, thanks to significant investments by the World Bank. These efforts encompass the enactment already in 2002 of a modern Mining Law and ministerial orders that set out detailed rules for the certification of all mineral resources as a condition for an export license. Two agencies have been created, one to evaluate and certify all precious and semiprecious stones and minerals, and the second to protect and train artisan and small-scale miners as well as to monitor their production and sales. Finally, the DRC’s mining cadastre is the most advanced digitalized national resource inventory management system in the region and is contributing greatly to protecting land and natural resource rights.

Similar progress can be noted on the regional level. In response to past wars, the international community facilitated the creation of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). The organization, comprised of 11 Central African states, fosters dialogue and cooperation among the member states. Furthermore, in September 2009 it formed a regional steering committee charged with implementing plans that will allow member states to act in concert against illegal exploitation of natural resources and to establish a regional certification system for gold, tin, coltan, and wolframite.

Congress should support and strengthen this overall plan. Ensuring overall peace and security in the Congo is the best guarantee to regularizing and securing the global mineral supply chain. If the industrialized States do not accept the leadership responsibility, China will gladly lead the way in the race to the bottom of transparency and accountability.

*The author has served as a UN sanctions monitor in the DRC, assisted the ICGLR with planning its natural resource management and is currently advising Human Rights First, a U.S.-based human rights advocacy group.

KENYA :

US Groups Scrutinize Abortion Details in Kenya’s Draft Constitution
Nico Colombant/www1.voanews.com/ 25 May 2010

U.S. groups are closely scrutinizing abortion language in Kenya’s draft constitution which will be submitted in a referendum in August. Our correspondent has reaction from the groups, after several U.S. lawmakers demanded a probe into whether U.S. officials are breaking a little-known U.S. law by favoring the document.

Both abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups have reservations about Kenya’s proposed constitution, and its inclusion of abortion law, but for different reasons.

The director of international operations at the pro-Christian and pro-life American Center for Law and Justice, Jordan Sekulow, approves a line saying life begins at conception, but not what follows.

“It starts out saying life begins at conception but has the well-known abortion exception known as the health of the mother exception, and the way that has been interpreted not just in the United States but around the world by judges and attorneys is that basically that allows for abortion on demand,” said Jordan Sekulow. “That can be for any reason, because you do not feel good, because you are pregnant, so you can have an abortion. So what it does is put conflicting language in a constitution that just does not coordinate correctly.”

Sekulow has been been working with affiliate partners in Kenya at the East Africa Center for Law and Justice to defeat the draft constitution for the abortion reason and several other parts of the document, such as the inclusion of Islamic courts.

The proposed constitution outlaws abortion, but not if a trained health professional estimates there is a need for one in an emergency situation, if the woman’s life is in danger, or if an abortion is permitted by any other written law.

The U.S. ambassador in Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, welcomed parliament’s approval of the overall draft text. For years, the United States has been pressing Kenya to pass a new constitution, and the U.S. government has spent money to help with the process. But several Republican lawmakers are pointing out the existence of a law called the Siljander Amendment, which prohibits U.S. foreign assistance funds to lobby for or against abortion.

Earlier this month, New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, who is the leading Republican on the House Africa and Global Health Subcommittee, and two other congressmen, wrote a letter requesting an immediate audit of all U.S. funds used in relation to Kenya’s proposed constitution.

U.S. groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights are also looking at the constitutional developments in Kenya closely, but they are concerned with the health of women. Kenyan organizations estimate up to 300,000 abortions take place every year, even though the practice is currently outlawed.

Elisa Slattery, the group’s legal adviser for Africa, says the proposed constitution makes progress, but it does not do enough to ensure women have a choice to seek a legal and safe abortion.

“Basically right now, it talks about a health and a life exception, but we know that women terminate pregnancies for many reasons including sexual violence, or grinding poverty, and so restricting access to safe abortions does not stop women from ending an unwanted pregnancy,” said Elisa Slattery. “It just forces them to use painful, dangerous and often lethal methods.”

Slattery says her group’s research shows more than a third of maternal deaths in Kenya are caused by botched abortions. She cites statistics that say 44 percent of deaths from unsafe abortions take place in Africa.

“Women drink bleach,” she said. “They drink detergent. They insert pens into their uteruses. We interviewed a medical provider who said she had a woman coming to her facility who had had an unsafe abortion and they could smell her as she walked down the street because she was septic. There were flies following her. And for the women who do survive they often are rendered infertile or they are disabled for life. And then there are the women who die and often their deaths just are not captured. There just are so many untold stories of women who have died from unsafe abortions.”

Advocates from both sides agree Kenya’s constitution has become a battleground for the abortion issue. They are also equally surprised the law concerning abortion was included in Kenya’s new constitution. A ‘yes’ vote for the draft constitution, as Kenyan media report is likely, will make it very difficult to change the way the country’s system deals with the divisive matter.

Kenyan court rejects Muslim courts
2010-05-25/- Reuters

Nairobi – A proposal to entrench Muslim courts in Kenya’s constitution is discriminatory, the high court said on Monday, three months before Kenyans are due to vote on a new draft constitution.

Opposition to the courts has brought together Christian clergy and some politicians to oppose the proposed constitution, which is intended to avert a repeat of the post-election violence which shook east Africa’s largest economy in early 2008

Also known as Kadhis’ courts, the proposed courts deal with matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance among Muslims.

“We grant a declaration that any form of religious courts should not form part of the judiciary in the constitution as it offends the doctrine of separation of state and religion,” read the ruling handed down by a three-judge bench of the high court.

The judges said elevation of the courts would raise Islam above other religions in Kenya.

Although their ruling emanated from an earlier draft constitution which was rejected in a 2005 referendum, the courts proposal is also contained in the draft constitution being put to a vote in August.

Fred Ojiambo, a Nairobi lawyer said it was too early to tell the impact of the ruling.

The search for a new constitution in the east African nation has spanned two decades, causing frustration among some people.

Senior politicians in Kenya’s grand coalition, including President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga have been campaigning for adoption of the draft constitution.

Higher Education Minister William Ruto leads, together with churches, lead the opposition to the draft which polls have shown is likely to be accepted in the referendum.

The National Council of Churches of Kenya said it would address the ruling at a news conference slated for Tuesday

Egypt says Nile basin countries not to harm its waterinterests
May 25, 2010/english.peopledaily.com.cn/Source: Xinhua

Egyptian and Kenyan prime ministers said on Monday there is consensus among the Nile basin countries with no intention to harm Egypt’s water interests.

Following a meeting with his visiting Kenyan counterpart Raila Odinga, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said there is consensus among the Nile basin countries on not harming his country’s water interests.

However, the Egyptian premier said that though Egypt understands there is a long-standing consensus among the Nile basin nations on not jeopardizing Egypt’s water rights, yet it opposes the “wording” of the agreement, state-run MENA news agency reported.

“Egypt adheres to its rights. There is no question about that. That is why Egypt believes that any project on the Nile river must first be raised for negotiations and consultations among the Nile basin nations,” he said.

Nazif unveiled an initiative by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to form a Nile basin commission for the purpose of development in the riparian countries and for overcoming differences among them.

“President Hosni Mubarak has conveyed messages to presidents of the Nile basin countries pertaining a presidential initiative to establish a Nile basin commission. The commission will work to attain real development in the basin and to overcome all differences that erupted while drafting the Nile basin initiative, ” he said.

The Kenyan government on Wednesday joined four upstream countries who signed the Cooperative Framework Agreement on the equitable use of water despite boycotts from Egypt and Sudan.

However, the Kenyan prime minister said during the joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart that neither his country nor the rest of the riparian nations have any intention to harm Egypt’s water interests.

“On our part there is no intention to harm Egypt’s water security and I carry a message of optimism…Egypt will not be affected by the agreement signed recently,” Odinga said.

Egypt has launched intensive talks with Nile basin countries, seeking to preserve its historical quota to the Nile water.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak emphasized on Sunday during a meeting with the Kenyan premier that his country would help Kenya and other upstream countries to raise the water levels in Lake Victoria.

Next month, Egypt’s Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza and Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieddin will head to Ethiopia and Uganda for talks with officials there.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Saturday contacts with the signatories will continue until a joint vision of the water-sharing treaty is reached, which will determine whether Egypt will join or stay out of the agreement.

Within the framework of Egypt’s intensive diplomatic efforts to contain its differences with the upstream countries, the Egyptian president met also on Sunday with his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila.

The Congolese president, whose country was one of the five states that refrained from signing the agreement, affirmed that his country will not hurt the Egyptian interests in the Nile water.

“The Congolese president said his country was totally convinced that any Nile basin accord must be unanimously approved and must achieve the mutual interests of both the upstream and downstream countries without doing any parties any harm,” spokesman for the Egyptian cabinet Soliman Awwad said on Sunday.

Egypt and Sudan want to maintain the status quo stipulated in two colonial agreements they signed with Britain in 1929 and 1959, which granted them the right to use more than 85 percent of the Nile water.

However, upstream countries want to be able to use more of the Nile water for development projects.

The proposed framework agreement was first drafted in 2007 to establish a permanent Nile basin commission that includes all ten Nile riparian states: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, the democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

ANGOLA :

Kidnappers of Angolan mining magnate’s son to appear in court
Tuesday, May 25, 2010/ www.newstime.co.za

Three Angolans who allegedly kidnapped Samuel Amoes, the five-year-old son of an Angolan mining magnate, in Troyville will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Amoes was returned to his family after Declan Condon, a private investigator, met them with the ransom at a a supermarket in Troyeville. The accused had designated it as venue to exchange Samuel for a substantial ransom in excess of R1 million.

While Condon was there one kidnapper met him to take the ransom – after Condon had first been given proof of life – and thereafter another delivered the child to him.

Both of Samuel’s parents were out of the country at the time of the kidnapping but his mother flew home immediately after hearing about the incident which took place at a church play school in Johannesburg early in May.

Police suspect that the men are related to the mining magnate’s family. They were allowed to escape by Condon on the day as the boy’s safety was considered his primary concern.

They were later arrested in Troyeville and Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg where police also recovered an undisclosed amount of cash believed to be the ransom money.

At their appearance the accused will clarify their position regarding bail.

Child Mortality Declines 1/3 Since 1990
www.soschildrensvillages.ca/25/5/2010

– 10 countries have seen particularly good declines in the rate of death for children under five years old. An article in the Lancet explains why.

In 2000, with the signing of the Millennium Declaration and creation of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, the international community pledged to reduce child mortality by two-thirds of 1990s levels (Goal #4). According to an article entitled “Neonatal, Postneonatal, Childhood, and Under-5 Mortality for 187 Countries, 1970–2010: A Systematic Analysis of Progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4” that was published in the Lancet (a medical journal with a special focus on global health), progress toward this pledge has been better than previously thought.

Today, 4.2 million fewer children die than in 1990. In 1990, 11.9 million children under the age of 5 died. In 2009, this number was 7.7 million; thus, rates have decreased by over one-third. So, while researchers find it unlikely that most countries will meet MDG #4 to reduce child mortality, they are on the right track and have found methods of success that they can build on and less-successful countries can learn from.

The Czech Republic and Malaysia have reduced their child mortality rate by 70%. Among sub-Saharan African countries, the top performers are Angola, Botswana and Cameroon. But, why? According the experts, countries have become more adept at controlling the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. Some tell a different story, such as improved food security and development. Ethiopia, for instance, has cut its child mortality rate by a half since 1990. For others, the reduced impact of war on children’s live expectancy is evidenced: Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kenya have all seen the rate of decline in their child mortality rates increase by over 1% in the past 10 years.

Most child deaths occur during birth and before the child is 1 year old. Few countries—only Swaziland, Lesotho, Equatorial Guinea, and Antigua and Barbuda—have actually seen their child mortality rates rise in the last 20 years.

Alan Lopez, one of the articles lead researchers affirms that with improved health and medical care systems (and the continued functionality of these systems even in the midst of war, disasters and displacement), great strides in preventing child deaths can be made. Indeed, health spending has rocketed to $200 billion in the past 20 years, particularly targeting HIV/AIDS drug programs and immunizations.

SOUTH AFRICA:

Israel Denies It Offered South Africa Warheads
By ISABEL KERSHNER/ www.nytimes.com/May 25, 2010

JERUSALEM — The office of Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, strongly denied Monday that Mr. Peres, as Israel’s defense minister, offered to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa in 1975, as reported by The Guardian.

Dan Meridor, Israel’s deputy prime minister and minister of intelligence and atomic energy, told reporters on Monday that he had no particular knowledge of what went on in the 1970s, as he was “not in business” then, but that he believed Mr. Peres.

Yossi Beilin, a former leftist minister, also dismissed the newspaper article and the book on which it was based, “The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship With Apartheid South Africa,” by Sasha Polakow-Suransky.

“The article does not concretely say that Israel wanted to sell nuclear warheads. It is a conclusion,” Mr. Beilin told Israel Radio. “The book itself does not say this explicitly, and I think that the president’s denial puts an end to the subject.”

Israel has a longstanding policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying that it has nuclear weapons, though it is widely believed to have developed a large arsenal.

The president’s denial was unequivocal, stating that “there exists no basis in reality for the claims” that “Israel negotiated with South Africa the exchange of nuclear weapons.” The Guardian article, the president’s office added, was “based on the selective interpretation of South African documents and not on concrete facts.”

The Guardian said its reporting was based on the “top secret” minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975. The documents, it said, were uncovered by Mr. Polakow-Suransky in research for the book, and showed that South Africa’s defense minister, P. W. Botha, had asked for nuclear-capable Jericho missiles with the “correct payload,” Mr. Polakow-Suransky said in an interview with Al Jazeera, and that Mr. Peres had responded by offering them “in three sizes.”

The “three sizes,” The Guardian stated, “are believed to refer to the conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons.” That, however, was not detailed in any of the documents shown, though Mr. Polakow-Suransky said the documents made clear that the South Africans had interest in Jericho missiles, “only if they carried a nuclear warhead.”

“Sure, there was some kind of cooperation, and there was talk about weapons,” said Ephraim Asculai, who worked at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission for over 40 years, and who retired in 2001. But to conclude that the “three sizes” necessarily referred to weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads, was a long stretch, he said.

In an interview with the South African Press Association, Pik Botha, who served as South Africa’s foreign minister in the waning years of apartheid, also questioned the article’s claims. “I doubt it very much,” said Mr. Botha, who is not related to P. W. Botha. “I doubt whether such an offer was ever made. I think I would have known about it.”

Mr. Peres, an elder statesman, was responsible for establishing Israel’s nuclear program with help from France in the 1950s.

Israelis acknowledge that there was cooperation with South Africa — what Mr. Beilin, the former minister, called “an unholy alliance that Israel, in its isolation, forged with the apartheid regime.”

Shlomo Brom, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said it was well known that there had been cooperation between Israel and South Africa on ballistic missiles. “They paid, we developed them, then they bought,” said Mr. Brom, who served as defense attaché at Israel’s embassy in South Africa from 1988 to 1990. Mr. Brom said that Israel had also “probably” received uranium from South Africa.

But he said he had a hard time believing that Mr. Peres was trying to sell nuclear warheads to the South Africans in 1975.
Celia W. Dugger contributed reporting from Johannesburg.

Absa, Adcock, African Bank, Anglo: South Africa Stocks Preview
May 25, 2010/By Nicky Smith and Janice Kew/Bloomberg

May 25 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa tomorrow. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index added 519.58, or 2 percent, to 26,777.79 at the close in Johannesburg.

Abe Construction Chemicals Ltd. (ABU SJ): The bitumen, silicones and acrylic producer said it received an offer of 200 million rand ($25.5 million) from Chryso Southern Africa Ltd. for 100 percent of its stock. The shares rose 5 cents, or 3.1 percent, to 1.65 rand.

Absa Group Ltd. (ASA SJ): Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation on the country’s largest retail bank to “underweight” from “equal weight.” Absa rose 3.18 rand, or 2.5 percent, to 130.93 rand.

Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd. (AIP SJ): South Africa’s largest over-the-counter drug company said first-half profit before tax increased by 9 percent to 546 million rand ($68.8 million) and that it expects sales to rise in its main business units during the second. The shares added 1.10 rand, or 2 percent, to 55.10 rand.

African Bank Investments Ltd. (ABL SJ): South Africa’s largest provider of unsecured loans was raised to “buy” from “‘neutral” at UBS AG and “hold” from “sell” at Deutsche Bank AG on the stock’s valuation. African Bank rose 90 cents, or 3.1 percent, to 30 rand.

Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ): Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added the diversified mining company to its “conviction buy” list. The brokerage lifted its recommendation from “neutral,” citing exposure to commodities for which it expects “prices to generally remain well above mid-cycle levels over the next three years.” Anglo rose 4.07 rand, or 1.5 percent, to 285.42 rand.

Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP SJ): Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on the producer of platinum in South Africa to “overweight” from “underweight.” Aquarius increased 94 cents, or 2.3 percent, to 41.12 rand.

Buildmax Ltd. (BDM SJ): The building-materials supplier said losses widened to 1.01 billion rand in the full year from a loss of 97.5 million rand a year earlier. Buildmax will raise 150 million rand through a rights offer. The stock fell 7 cents, or 16 percent, to 36 cents.

Brait SA (BAT SJ): South Africa’s largest buyout company said annual net income rose 11 percent to 185.6 million rand. Brait’s shares rose 10 cents, or 0.5 percent, to 21.60 rand.

Intertrading Ltd. (ITR SJ): The fruit and nut exporter expects to report a 15.1 cent per share loss for the year ended February 28, from a loss of 9.8 cents for the same period a year earlier. The stock was unchanged at 45 cents.

Lonmin Plc (LON SJ): Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on the world’s third-largest platinum producer to “equal weight” from “underweight.” Lonmin was little changed at 184.59 rand.

Metropolitan Holdings Ltd. (MET SJ): The insurer that targets low and middle-income earners holds its annual general meeting. The stock gained 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to 16.09 rand.

Nedbank Group Ltd. (NED SJ): Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation on South Africa’s fourth-biggest bank to “equal weight” from “overweight.” Nedbank climbed 2.21 rand, or 1.6 percent, to 136.57 rand.

Optimum Coal Ltd. (OPT SJ): The miner has declared force majeure over marketing contracts it holds with BHP Billiton Energy Coal and Mercuria Energy Group because of the pay strike at Transnet Freight Rail Ltd., the state-owned port and rail company. The stock was unchanged at 27 rand.

Trans Hex Group Ltd. (TSX SJ): Africa’s biggest publicly traded diamond producer said profit in the year through March was 22 million rand, from a loss of 798 million a year earlier as prices and demand improved. The company didn’t say which measure of profit it was referring to. Trans Hex was unchanged at 3.66 rand.

Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:

Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) slid 0.4 percent to $17.94. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) dropped 0.1 percent to $38.96. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) declined 1.7 percent to $52.01. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) rose 0.5 percent to $4.19. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) advanced 0.2 percent to $12.62. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) climbed 1.7 percent to $9.19. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) increased 3.1 percent to $23.50. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) rose 3 percent to $3.45. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) dropped 1.5 percent to $34.73.

–Editors: John Kohut, Antony Sguazzin

AFRICA / AU :

Report: U.S. to expand military action in Mideast, Africa, Asia
English.news.cn/ Xinhuanet/2010-05-25

BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhuanet) — The United States has approved a broad expansion of covert military action in the Middle East, parts of Africa and Central Asia, according to the New York Times reports Tuesday.
Top American commander Gen. David Petraeus signed the directive in September, the paper said, according to unnamed defense officials and military documents.
The directive authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the region in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats.
Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.
(Agencies)

IMF Pares Growth Forecast for Mideast, N. Africa (Update1)
May 25, 2010/By Camilla Hall/Bloomberg

May 25 (Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fund forecast economic growth of 4.3 percent for oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa this year, cutting its prediction from a month ago after oil prices fell.

The fund had forecast growth of 4.5 percent for the region’s oil exporters, which account for more than a third of global output, in its World Economic Outlook published on April 21. Crude has slumped almost 20 percent this month, to about $70 a barrel, on concern the European debt crisis will curb demand.

“The last few weeks obviously there’s been some spillover effects” from the European sovereign-debt crisis,” Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, told journalists in Dubai today. Still, “after a difficult year, economic prospects for the region are starting to look brighter,”

Growth will be almost three times faster than the 1.5 percent that the countries recorded last year, the IMF said in a report on the region published today.

The oil exporters should keep stimulus packages in place this year as slow credit growth may hamper recovery, Ahmed said. Oil-importing countries such as Egypt and Pakistan have “limited scope” for government spending because of a pick-up in inflation, he said.

Exporters should consider unwinding their stimulus packages starting in 2011 “to avoid possible crowding-out effects in the medium term as private sector activity gains momentum,” and interest rates should also “begin rising again to preclude inflationary pressures,” the IMF said in the report.

–With assistance from Henry Meyer in Dubai. Editors: Ben Holland, Louis Meixler.

Africa Development Bank Seeks Funds as Crisis Looms (Update1)
May 25, 2010/By Nasreen Seria and Monica Mark/Bloomberg

May 25 (Bloomberg) — The African Development Bank is seeking to triple the amount of funds it has available to invest in roads and power plants as the continent braces for the second crisis in two years emanating from outside its shores.

The bank’s 77 members will meet in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, on May 27 and 28 to approve an increase in the capital base to about $100 billion.

The investment funds may help Africa offset the impact of the Greek debt crisis, which threatens to stall the global economic recovery and spark another wave of risk aversion that sent emerging market currencies tumbling late in 2008. The bank, based in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, more than doubled lending to $12.6 billion last year.

“The bank has to be strong because of another crisis looming,” Thierry de Longuemar, the bank’s vice president of finance, said by phone from Tunis on May 18. “It’s in the interests of the clients of the bank that the capital increase is approved.”

Governors at the bank recommended on April 24 that shareholders including Nigeria, Egypt and the U.S. approve the increase.

‘Firepower’

“It’s a big, big boost to the work of the bank,” bank President Donald Kaberuka said in an interview in Abidjan on May 23. “As Africa recovers, we need to keep the momentum, not slow down the support to African economies. The capital increase will give us the firepower” we need.

Kaberuka, a former finance minister of Rwanda, is seeking re-election for a second five-year term as head of the African Development Bank, with members expected to vote on the position on May 27.

Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s poorest region, will double to 4.7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, as oil, platinum and copper deposits lure investment. Investors are also seeking to tap a domestic market that has just surpassed 1 billion people.

The pick-up in growth may be derailed as the Europe debt crisis spreads, undermining the euro and prompting governments to slash spending to curb deficits. About 60 percent of African exports are shipped to Europe and the U.S., according to the African Development Bank.

Bail Out

The IMF and European leaders agreed on May 2 to a 110 billion-euro ($138 billion) aid package for Greece. In exchange, Greece pledged to implement austerity measures of almost 14 percent of gross domestic product. Spain plans to make its biggest budget cuts in 30 years, while Portugal has also pledged to slash wages and raise taxes to cut its fiscal shortfall.

“Despite the optimism there’s been about China-Africa trade, the fact remains that Europe is still the largest trading partner that Africa has,” said Razia Khan, head of Africa economic research at London-based Standard Chartered Plc. “Africa will likely be impacted. It’s going to be a big talking point at the meeting.”

The African Development Bank, one of five major multilateral development lenders in the world, invests about 60 percent of its funds in transport, water and power projects, with the rest going to budget support and private sector loans.

Roads

Africa has 204 kilometers (127 miles) of roads per 1,000 square kilometers of land, with only one-quarter of that paved, according to the World Bank. That compares with a world average of 944 kilometers. While many African governments see agriculture as the engine of growth, only a third of people living in rural areas reside within 2 kilometers of a usable road, according to the lender.

Kenya secured a 12.5 billion-shilling ($157 million) loan from the African Development Bank in December to build roads linking to Ethiopia. In April, the lender said it approved $233 million of loans to Tanzania for rail and road projects.

Power projects have also come to dominate the bank’s lending recently as faster economic growth puts strain on ailing electricity plants, resulting in outages. The bank is investing $100 million in Kenya’s Turkana wind project and has lent Eskom Holdings Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned power utility, 1.89 billion euros to build the Medupi coal-fired power plant.

“The bank helped mitigate the effects of the recent global crisis,” said Samir Gadio, vice president of macro research and strategy at Renaissance Capital in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Member States

Founded in 1963, the African Development Bank has 53 member countries from Africa and 24 from outside the continent, including the U.S., European Union and Japan. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has the biggest shareholding in the bank of 8.9 percent, while Egypt owns 5.5 percent, de Longuemar said. The U.S. is the biggest non-African member, with a 5 percent shareholding.

“On the surface, everything was looking okay for Africa,” said Khan. “Now we have new doubts about the global recovery. The African Development Bank has been very proactive with lending in the past crisis. The capital increase shows that here’s a development bank in a much better position” to respond in the face of another crisis.

–Editors: Philip Sanders, Karl Maier

Africans descend on Accra for Nkrumah’s fest
news.myjoyonline.com/Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana/ Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Events celebrating the life of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah reach their climax today, Tuesday, as Africans from across the continent mark African Union (AU) Day.

The two events coincided when the AU endorsed celebrations by the government and the people of Ghana to honour the country’s Founder and First President.

Across the continent, Dr Nkrumah is revered as the foremost personality in the struggle to liberate and unite the continent from colonial rule.

For the opportunity it provides, the occasion will be used by African leaders who have converged on Accra for the celebration to re-dedicate themselves to the work of uniting Africa for peace and the economic development of the continent.

They believe that peace is a prerequisite to the continent’s development efforts and have pledged to focus their attention on achieving that objective.

The Deputy Chairman of the AU Commission, Mr Erastus Mwencha, articulated the continent’s view when he proposed the toast at a State Banquet in commemoration of the life and times of Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah in Accra on Sunday.

The colourful event attracted an array of personalities; including President John Evans Atta Mills and his wife, Ernestina Naadu Mills, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, a former President of Zambia, Dr Kenneth David Kaunda; Vice-President John Dramani Mahama; the Chairman of the Council of State, Prof. Kofi Awoonor; members of the Diplomatic Corps, traditional leaders, youth groups and a cross-section of Ghanaians.

Mr Mwencha commended Ghana for its role in peacekeeping operations across the globe spanning over five decades, stressing that was an indication that “the people of Ghana appreciate the value of peace and stability”.

He said by those values, Ghana had discovered its potential as a result of peace and become a beacon of hope not only for the continent but also the world at large.

“This is the legacy that Osagyefo Dr. Nkrumah has bequeathed to Ghana and Africa,” he stressed, and called on all Africans to join in the celebration of this year’s Peace Day, which falls on September.

On conflicts in some parts of Africa, Mr Mwencha said peace was the responsibility of all communities and nations and stressed the need for the opening of a new chapter that would allow peace to prevail.

Responding to the toast, President Mills expressed gratitude to all those who had helped to make the memorable occasion a success.

“On behalf of the government and the people of Ghana, I welcome you all who have come from beyond our shores and borders to join us celebrate the life and work of an illustrious son of Ghana and Africa,” he said.

He lauded the planning committee for rolling out the year-long programme and doing the nation proud with their hard work.

UN /ONU :

Peres, Botha deny 1970s Israel-South Africa nuke pact
Tuesday, May 25, 2010/news.oneindia.in

Cape Town, May 25(ANI): Israel’s President Shimon Peres and former South African Foreign and Defence Minister P. W. ‘Pik’ Botha have both dismissed and rejected reports of the two countries inking a nuclear weapons pact in March 1975.

According to The Guardian and the South African Press Association (SAPA), Peres said Israel has never negotiated the exchange of nuclear weapons with South Africa.

His office said “Tere exists no basis in reality” for claims based on declassified secret South African documents that he offered nuclear warheads for sale with ballistic missiles to the apartheid regime in 1975. Israel has never negotiated the exchange of nuclear weapons with South Africa. There exists no Israeli document or Israeli signature on a document that such negotiations took place,” it said.

SAPA quoted Botha as saying that at the time he was ambassador to the US and the UN, so he could not have been involved in such meetings.

‘I would have known’, he said.

But he said that as minister of foreign affairs from April 1977, and, towards the end of his term, as negotiator with the US on the signing of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, he had known “what was going on”.

“I was very closely connected with our Atomic Energy Board and later Corporation. I would have known about it,” he said.

He had also known Peres and other senior Israeli leaders.

It was of course possible that an offer was made at a low level, between officials. But for it to have any significance, it should have been brought to the attention of the South African ministers connected with the country’s own weapon production.

“As a serious offer of one government to another, my answer is no. Definitely not,” Botha said.

The South African documents, which are dated March 31 1975 and marked “top secret,” show Peres’ offer was made in response to Botha’s request for Israel to supply them with warheads.

But they make no mention of any “exchange” between the parties. At the time, South Africa had not yet acquired nuclear capabilities and would not do so for several years.

At the talks, Israeli officials “formally offered to sell South Africa some of the nuclear-capable Jericho missiles in its arsenal”, the memo said.

It also said Peres and Botha signed an agreement about military ties between the two countries, including a clause that said “the very existence of this agreement” was to remain secret.

The material was discovered by US academic Sasha Polakow-Suransky while researching a book on the close relationship between the two allies. (ANI)

UN chief to visit Brazil, Africa
www.focus-fen.net/FOCUS News Agency /25 May 2010

New York. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he would travel to Brazil later this week to attend a meeting of the UN Alliance of Civilizations aimed at fostering greater cross-cultural understanding.
Brazil is to host the third forum of the alliance in Rio de Janeiro Friday and Saturday, AFP informs.
The UN secretary general told a press conference that support for the alliance was on the rise, with the United States earlier this month becoming the 119th country or international organization to join the group.
“Such bridge-building work across cultures, religions and traditions is critical to so many of our global challenges,” Ban said.
The Alliance is a 2005 initiative by former UN chief Kofi Annan and the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey aimed at bringing together institutions and civil society to bridge prejudices and misunderstandings between peoples of different cultures and religions.
From Brazil, Ban said he would next fly to Malawi at the start of an African tour that will also take him to Uganda.
In Malawi, the UN boss said he would address parliament, confer with President Bingu wa Mutarika, the current chair of the African Union, and tour a Millennium Village showcasing the UN poverty-reduction Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Next Monday, Ban said he would convene in the Ugandan capital Kampala the first review conference of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The UN-backed ICC began operating in 2002 as the world’s only permanent, independent tribunal to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
“The Kampala review conference is an important opportunity, not only to take stock of our progress, but to strengthen our collective determination that international crimes cannot go unpunished,” the UN chief told reporters.
“The era of impunity must end. We are entering a new age of accountability,” he added.
Ban said he would wrap up his upcoming trip in the French riviera city of Nice to attend an Africa-France summit hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I plan to use the occasion to meet with many African leaders and take part in an important session on climate change and development,” he noted.
The UN chief also said he planned to return to Africa twice more in June, first to South Africa to discuss the MDGs and attend the opening of the World Cup soccer tournament, which kicks off in Johannesburg June 11.
He was next to pay successive visits to Burundi, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin and Sierra Leone.
At the end of June, Ban said he planned to make a separate trip to Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he is to discuss with Congolese leaders a timetable for the withdrawal of the 20,000-strong UN force which Kinshasa wants to see completed by August 2011.
DRC leaders have demanded a first withdrawal of UN troops around next June 30, the date on which the former Belgian Congo will celebrate 50 years of independence.

Army contingent to Chad under UN flag
Tuesday, 25 May 2010/www.dailymirror.lk

The first-ever Sri Lankan military contingent to Chad, an African country will leave today in a special flight, the military spokesman said.

“In response to United Nation’s request, the army is going to dispatch a new UN contingent of 61 Sri Lanka Army Engineers on earth-moving equipment assignments to Central African Republic and the Chad, a landlocked country in Central Africa this afternoon,” military Spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said.

He said the contingent would comprise three Officers and 58 other Ranks inclusive of one from the Sri Lanka Electrical Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) and a team of six aero medical personnel. A few days ago, another five member aero medical team, increasing the entire contingent to a total of sixty-six, proceeded to this Central African country at the UN request. The latest offer is considered a clear endorsement of the UN’s recognition of the professionalism and commitment of the Sri Lanka Army and Tuesday’s dispatch occurs at a time when arrangements are being made to send the newest contingent of 749 Army personnel to Haiti shortly to relieve the serving contingent, the spokesman added.

AMISOM Committed to Somali Government
Peter Clottey/www1.voanews.com/ 25 May 2010

A top official of the African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) told VOA the group will continue to protect the Transitional Federal Government despite increasing threats from the hard-line insurgent group, al-Shabab.

Major Barigye Ba-Huko said the insurgents are just “blowing hot air,” but adds that AMISOM will not dismiss them.

“We do not take the threat lightly. Our mission, our mandate still stands as the same as it has always been. We do not believe that military solutions, use of violence, the use of the gun is the way to go. It has not been able to solve the problems of this country for the last 20 years and neither do we think that it will do it now,” he said.

Described by Washington as a terrorist organization with strong links to al-Qaida, al-Shabab vowed Monday to seize the presidential palace. The insurgent group reportedly controls large portions of land north of the capital, Mogadishu.

But, Major Ba-Huko expressed skepticism about the ability of the insurgent group to seize the presidential palace.

“We would advise those who are advocating for those actions that war begets war. We do not believe that they would be able to march into state house. We do not encourage it, but suffice it to say that we are very considerate over the population who continue to suffer at the hands of these fellows,” Ba-Huko said.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s government has been battling insurgents, including al-Shabab, who have vowed to overthrow the administration.

But, Major Ba-Huko said the latest threat is a mere insurgent publicity exercise.

“It’s unfortunate that, quite periodically, these people will come up they seem to be fighting on the two fronts; the front of propaganda and the front of the gun. So, I think it is just hot air (and) they want to keep the moral of their fighters. We think it (threat) is just a diversionary tactic,” Ba-Huko said.

He also said AMISOM will encourage dialogue among Somalia to resolve their problems instead of using violence.

AMISOM is mandated by the African Union, as well as the United Nations, to support Somalia’s transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the security forces, and to assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of long time President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Did more African aid deliver fewer coups?
Tuesday, 25 May 2010/By Martin Plaut /Africa analyst, BBC News

Five years on from one of the most ambitious aid packages ever devised for Africa, the reviews have been mixed on how successful the plans have been in reality.

When developed nations met at the Gleneagles Summit in 2005, they promised to double their aid to Africa by 2010, while Africa said it would end the coups and corruption that have blighted the lives of millions.
The publication of two reports shows that both sides have gone some way towards fulfilling those pledges, while falling short in other areas.

And they highlight how Africa is now moving beyond the era of aid and dependency.

Have the rich countries delivered on their promises?

The answer to this – from Data (the organisation set up to monitor the promises made in 2005) – is clearly no.

Good cop, bad cop

In 2005, developed nations known as the G7 agreed to “an increase in official development assistance to Africa of $25bn [£17bn] a year by 2010, more than doubling aid to Africa compared to 2004”.

The best estimate is that by the end of this year the G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) will have provided just 61% of this planned increase.

But this total hides some really significant differences.

The report highlights the achievement of the UK, which has seen the fastest growth, in relation to the size of its economy .
Perhaps this is not surprising, since the Gleneagles summit was the brainchild of the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

But it is not just the quantity of British aid that is impressive, it is the quality.

The UK’s aid agency Dfid is singled out in the report as “the world’s most respected bilateral aid agency”.

By comparison the Italian effort – with development aid actually falling by $235m (£163m) since 2004 – is described as “appalling”.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was forced to apologise for this performance in July 2009, saying: “I am sorry we did not respect our promises, we are sorry we reduced aid to Africa, and for this reason we have opened a debate within the government.”
So far this debate has failed to produce results and Data suggests that Italy should now be excluded from future discussions on aid.

Perhaps the most important achievement since 2005 has been to severely reduce African debt.

Almost $100bn (£69bn) has been written off, or is about to be.

But the report warns that this trend could go into reverse, with 28 African countries building up debts again and now classed by the IMF and World Bank as having a high or moderate “debt distress”.

Shady business

A parallel report, produced by the African Progress Panel, chaired by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is equally critical.
It shows that while African leaders are increasingly willing to sign up to international treaties promising good governance, they frequently fail to live up to their promises.

“Chronic problems remain, including state fragility, corruption and widespread lack of basic freedoms.”

The report goes on to highlight recent trends.

“The most high-profile setback is the return of coups d’etat – the last five years have seen violent and unconstitutional changes of government in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritania and Niger – despite the professed zero-tolerance policy of the African Union.”

Michael Keating, director of the panel secretariat told the BBC: “Governance and leadership are still the missing ingredients in Africa’s development.”

The most scandalous example of this is the way in which the continent continues to be plundered – frequently with the connivance of its rulers.

The report says some $854bn (£593bn) left Africa illicitly between 1970 and 2008. When mispricing of services and smuggling are added, this rises to a staggering $1.8 trillion (£1.2 trillion), with between $37bn (£26bn) and $53bn (£37bn) lost in 2008 alone.

The Africa Panel Report says that this outflow is facilitated by a “global shadowy financial system comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing and money-laundering techniques”.

But perhaps the most important message is that the era of aid and dependency may now be a thing of the past.

Power of the private purse

Africa is continuing to grow despite the barriers thrown up by a skewed international trading system, corrupt governments and rapacious warlords.
Aid was important in softening the blow of the economic crisis, but now other flows dwarf the contributions of the G7.

Far more is now given by workers sending home remittances from abroad, by private investors and by some of the giant philanthropic trusts, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or the Ford Foundation.

Aid has played its part. This is clear from both these reports.

It has helped millions into school, with 75% of children now attending classes across Africa. In Burkina Faso and Zambia attendance has reached 90%.

Malaria has been tackled through the delivery of bed-nets, with 200 million delivered by the end of 2009.

And nearly three million people now receive anti-retroviral drugs to fight HIV/Aids, compared with 100,000 in 2003.

As Kofi Annan puts it: “The ingredients of success are not a mystery.”

With growth, good government and continued international involvement, Africa can provide for its people.

USA :

Reports: U.S. Expands Secret Military Missions
May 25, 2010 /www.rferl.org

The United States has reportedly expanded clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and other countries in the region.

“The New York Times” reports that a secret directive, signed in September by the head of U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces.

The document says the goals are to “penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy” militant groups, including Al-Qaeda, and “prepare the environment” for future attacks. It does not authorize offensive action, “The Times” reports.

Anonymous U.S. officials quoted by the newspaper said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.

2nd ruling on firefighter tests, death-row decision
By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY /2010-05-25

In other Supreme Court action Monday:
•By a 9-0 vote, the justices said African-American applicants who challenged Chicago’s hiring exam for firefighter jobs did not wait too long to bring their claim of discrimination. The justices ruled narrowly on a question of deadlines in U.S. anti-bias law.

The case was the second in two years involving firefighters and complaints about city testing policies. Last year, the high court ruled 5-4 that New Haven, Conn., wrongly discarded the results of a firefighter promotion test after whites outscored blacks and Hispanics. That decision raised the bar for city employers seeking to justify abandoning tests or other seemingly neutral criteria after discovering they hurt racial minorities.

NFL: High Court denies bid for antitrust protection

Monday’s case arose from a 1998 class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 6,000 blacks who scored in the “qualified” range on a 1995 written exam but were not hired by Chicago. The city in 1996 began hiring candidates who had scored higher and were deemed “well-qualified.”

The lawsuit alleged the test had an illegal disparate impact on blacks, and a U.S. appeals court ruled that the suit missed a 300-day deadline. It said the clock began running after the city first sorted scores into “well-qualified,” “qualified” and “not qualified.” In reversing, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the high court that anti-bias law lets workers file within 300 days of adoption of a practice and in response to a city’s later use of that practice.

•Agreed to use a Texas death row prisoner’s case to decide whether an inmate can obtain, under federal civil rights law, DNA evidence for testing to try to prove innocence.

The dispute would be heard in the term that begins in October.

Henry Skinner is sentenced to die for the 1993 New Year’s Eve murders of his girlfriend and her two sons.

•Agreed to hear, also next term, two Arizona cases testing a 1997 state law that provides income tax credits to people who donate to school tuition groups that give scholarships to private schools, including religious institutions. The challengers say most of the money goes to religious schools. A federal appeals court sided at an early stage with the challengers and said their claim that the law violates the constitutional separation of church and state could go forward.

US warns on Nigerian kidnappings after 2 deaths
By JON GAMBRELL/The Associated Press/ May 25, 2010

LAGOS, Nigeria

Two U.S. citizens died in separate, botched kidnappings in Nigeria’s restive southern delta in April, highlighting the continuing danger of living and working in Africa’s most populous nation, the State Department warned Monday.

The State Department announced the deaths in a new travel warning it issued Monday for Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million people in West Africa. The warning called on citizens to “avoid all but essential travel” to the Niger Delta, as well as northern states recently gripped by religious violence between Christians and Muslims.

More than 110 expatriates have been kidnapped in Nigeria since January 2009, with six killed, the State Department said. It offered no details about the two U.S. citizens killed, other than to say they were attacked near the city of Port Harcourt, the center of commerce in the swamps and creeks of the delta.

“Local authorities and expatriate businesses operating in Nigeria believe that the number of kidnapping incidents throughout Nigeria is underreported,” the warning read. It later added: “Violent crime committed by individuals and gangs, as well as by some persons wearing police and military uniforms, is an ongoing problem throughout the country, especially at night.”

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, did not return a call for comment.

Militants in the Nigeria’s southern delta have targeted oil workers for kidnapping in the past during their campaign to bring more oil money to a region that suffered environmental damage and economic neglect over 50 years of production. Violence lulled after many took part in a government-sponsored amnesty program offered last summer by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, but his long illness and death appears to have shaken militants’ hopes in the deal.

Many companies have hired out paramilitary police armed with Kalashnikovs to protect employees who move only in convoys. But foreigners aren’t the only ones targeted by criminal gangs, comprised sometimes of former militants seeking to make political statements.

Increasingly, wealthy Nigerians and politicians have been kidnapped simply for ransom money.

Politics could again play a role as the 2011 presidential election draws closer, said Mark Schroeder, the director of sub-Saharan Africa analysis for STRATFOR, a private security think tank based in Austin, Texas.

“Right now, there’s not that political cover for militants to carry out kidnappings of foreigners like” oil workers, Schroeder said. “That’s not to say militants who are aggrieved or militants who have seen their bosses paid off with millions and got nothing won’t try to do a kidnapping to raise their own profile or generate ransoms.”

CANADA :

AUSTRALIA :

EUROPE :

EU Observers, Opposition Criticize Ethiopia Election But Winner Vows To Rule
5/25/2010 / RTTNews

(RTTNews) – Ethiopia’s poll outcome in favor of incumbent Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is heading for controversy and tension, as European Union observers criticized the electoral process of “falling short of certain international commitments” and Opposition alleged widespread electoral fraud.

There was an “uneven playing field,” said chief EU observer Thijs Berman, contradicting his earlier comments that “in the vast majority of polling stations, the elections were well organized.”

He said that shortcomings in the pre-election process likely had an impact but they did not mean the outcome was not valid.

Sunday’s voting process to elect a new Parliament was relatively calm and hassle-free compared to the 2005 polls, which saw violent clashes that killed 200 people.

But Merera Gudina, leader of the Opposition Medrek alliance, told media that it did not “look like an election, even by African standards.”

New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned the election, saying that it was preceded by “months of repression,” in which the government “pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters.”

Election results indicate landslide victory for the country’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and Zenawi held Tuesday a victory rally attended by tens of thousands of people.

Election and government officials have denied the charges of fraud, accusing the Opposition of making excuses for its defeat.

Addressing the rally in Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square, Zenawi vowed that “The people’s vote will not be overturned by foreign forces.”

The US, EU, and China together provide $820 million a year in financial aid to Ethiopia, a U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist insurgency in north-eastern Africa.

Zenawi has been in power in the impoverished African nation since the ouster of Haile Mengistu Mariam in 1991.

by RTT Staff Writer

COMESA, EU Sign EUR20 Million Agri Input Project Funding – Comesa
www.nasdaq.com/25052010

NAIROBI -(Dow Jones)- The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the European Union have signed a EUR20 million contribution agreement to support Comesa’s agricultural inputs project known as Comrap, Comesa said in a statement.

The project will improve smallholders’ access to agricultural inputs and boost agricultural productivity over the next two years, Comesa said in a statement posted on its website.

“The project will alleviate the constraints faced by smallholder farmers who want to access seeds, fertilizers and financing in order to increase the volume of their staple crop production,” the statement said.

Comrap is funded through the EU Food Facility, which has a global budget of EUR1 billion.

Derek Fee, the head of EU delegation in Zambia, said: “I very much hope that this EU support will contribute to alleviating the impact of the soaring food prices, and that the benefits of the project will be substantial for the smallholder farmers in the region.”

The Comesa trade bloc comprises 19 countries.

Website: http://www.comesa.int/lang-en/component/content/article/34-general- news/430-comesa-and-eu-signs-a-20-million-euro-agro-input-project-

-By George Mwangi, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 254 735 781 853; gmwangi0@gmail.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-25-100722ET

Iran issue forces Turkey to a crossroads
By Justin Vela / www.atimes.com/May 25, 2010

ISTANBUL – Turkey entertained United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Istanbul at the weekend and basked in praise for its efforts, along with Brazil, in securing a nuclear fuel swap deal for Iran.

Ban told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he welcomed Ankara’s diplomatic efforts since it improves the chances for a diplomatic solution to Iran’s standoff with Western nations over its nuclear program.

On Monday, Iran handed a letter to the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, in which it

outlined the swap deal in which 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium would be handed to Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel.

Turkey’s involvement in the Iran issue comes at a critical time. Tehran faces a fourth round of UN sanctions as well as sanctions from the United States over its uranium-enrichment program, which it insists is for peaceful purposes.

Turkey recently hosted a conference on ending the conflict in war-torn Somalia; Ban was also present at this event. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was also in the country recently to discuss energy routes and sign US$25 billion in agreements, including a $20 billion deal for a massive nuclear power plant to be built on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast.

These diplomatic efforts have been backed up by the travels of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose visits to countless countries in the past few years have been a hallmark of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

Davutoglu describes a “zero problem” foreign policy approach as the country’s driving force. This was outlined in his 2001 book Strategic Depth. The title alludes to Turkey’s distance from global players, its own neighbors, and the assets of both.

Believing Turkey to be centrally located, Davutoglu advocates the expansion of the country’s influence throughout the region, increasing ties with all willing countries, and becoming more of an independent power.

The “activist” foreign policy, coupled with Erdogan lashing out at Israel to cheers from Arab countries and continuing a friendly relationship with Iran, has prompted debate whether the mildly Islamist AKP is turning its back on the European Union (EU) and trying to create some kind of neo-Ottoman Islamic caliphate.

While Davutoglu is known to balk at the term neo-Ottoman, Turkey’s expansion of influence through a policy of engagement and commercial trade is beginning to have one of the largest effects on the region in recent years. The successes have been clear.

Turkey has aided talks between the US and insurgents in Iraq, brought together the prime ministers of Serbia and Bosnia, and mediated talks between Israel and Syria. The country has seen an expansion of visa-free travel and the number of flights from Turkey to Asia, Africa and the Middle East has increased.

In March, the country turned down a standby International Monetary Fund loan because it did not need the emergency funds and imports and exports have grown from the same period last year.

Though both countries refused to cut defense spending, inroads also have been made with Greece, Turkey’s historic rival.

This type of foreign policy has earned more raised eyebrows then applause, however, especially as the AKP tries to enact constitutional reforms aimed at curbing the judiciary and the military ahead of parliamentary elections next year.

Far less attention is being paid to the fact that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic, had a motto of “peace at home and peace in the world”. Turkey has long sought to secure good relations with other countries, especially its friends, who are defined by strategic support and mutual interests and, also, its neighbors who are potential customers for Turkey’s expanding markets.

This type of foreign policy, one of non-interference and cooperation, is a path Turkey has long tried to follow. Numerous agreements and non-aggression pacts have been signed, such as the Balkan Pact with Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia and the Treaty of Saadabad with Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, a country that Turkey has not had problems with for more than 300 years, despite sharing a 499-kilometer border.

The Balkan Pact was meant to protect the participating countries from the rise of fascism in Europe and the Treaty of Saadabad was meant as a promise of non-aggression towards participating countries. Turkey knows it is a country at the crossroads. A policy of open relations is aimed at staving off conflict, which, along with being draining for Turkey, would also most likely provoke internal instability from the country’s Kurdish or other ethnic factions.

As Davutoglu recently wrote, “There are more Bosnians in Turkey than in Bosnia-Herzegovina, more Albanians than in Kosovo, more Chechens than in Chechnya …”.

The agreements also do not come without benefits for Turkey. For example, the Lausanne Strait Agreement, which settled boundaries contested after World War I, led to the Turkish republic being recognized as the successor to the Ottoman Empire.

During the Cold War, Turkey sided with the West against the threat of communism, something which Ataturk had deemed incapable with modern Turkey. It also joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952, serving as the alliance’s eastern flank.

Unhappy with the term neo-Ottoman, Davutoglu has done his best to steer comparisons of Turkey’s modern foreign policy to the “Ostpolitik” of West Germany in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Ostpolitik, a policy of change through rapprochement, saw communication, agreements and commercial relations better the relations between West Germany and East Germany, Russia, and other Soviet satellite states. While the incremental improvements in relations did not change certain fundamental demands, such as West Germany’s demand for reunification, the two Germany’s eventually recognized each other and were both admitted to the UN.

Similar policies of detente were carried out by the Vatican towards the Soviet Union and by South Korea towards North Korea from 1998-2008.

Today, Turkey’s foreign policy is emblematic of an again powerful country defining itself in the post-Cold War era. However, though it is expanding its influence in the region, Turkey does not see itself as turning its back on the EU. Rather, Turkey sees itself as extending the EU’s transformative power while at the same time finding new markets for its own growing production.

“If you look at the situation 20 years ago when Turkey had tension with Greece, tension with Bulgaria, tension with Russia, active hostility towards Syria, the situation has eased,” says Andrew Finkel, a British journalist who has worked in Turkey for 20 years. “Of course one of the main objectives of the foreign policy is to ease the wheels of commerce.”

Turkey may be frustrated with the slowness of its EU accession process, but half its trade is still with the EU and the number of European businesses in Turkey are growing. The US has remained Turkey’s chief arms supplier for decades.

One of the most obvious ways Turkey has shown its ability to win hearts and minds is its famous soap operas, which have become popular with millions of viewers in the Middle East. “My impression is that these people are hooked not because Turkey is a moderate Islamic country,” says Ayhan Kaya, a professor of International Relations at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.

“People are hooked by the soap operas because they give a rather European perspective of Turkey to Middle Eastern countries. This is why Turkey is becoming so magnetic.”

The soap operas raise issues such as premarital sex, children born out of wedlock, spous
al abuse, romance and love. These are issues not openly talked about in the majority of the Arab world, yet Turkey is bringing them out in the open and forcing them into the discourse of family life.

While Turkey tries to foster good relations and serve as a negotiator, the limits of its “zero problem” foreign policy are at the same time being tested. Despite the Iran swap deal, Western countries are pressing ahead with sanctions for the regime. With more than $10 billion in trade and Turkey’s second-biggest energy supplier, Ankara has long tried to serve as a negotiator in the conflict between Iran and the West, despite being accused of stalling sanctions.

However, when faced with having to make a final decision on how to vote, Turkey is expected to side with its NATO allies in the West and vote for sanctions, creating another fissure in the region.

Turkey also made strides with its nemesis Armenia this past year, only to see the efforts collapse in March. The failure to open the border with Armenia and move towards some type of rapprochement was likely linked with Azerbaijan’s dissatisfaction with the lack of resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Russian pressure, according to Stratfor, an intelligence company.
Turkey has been impeded by Russia in the past. After the end of the Cold War, Turkey tried opening up to Central Asia, feeling it had a mission and ethnic affinity there. However, it found itself in territory where Russia also believed it had a natural right to influence and retreated from the region.

“If you raise your profile you are going to attract competitors. People will try to undermine you,” says Finkel. Now Russia and Turkey are becoming closer. The agreements the two countries signed recently perhaps not only acknowledge Turkey’s growing regional power, but also highlight how unacceptable Russia finds Turkey hosting the Western backed Nabucco natural gas pipeline.
Currently, it appears that Nabucco, despite years of doubt, will be built, undermining Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. At the same time, Turkey is also set to host Russia’s South Stream pipeline, which is supposed to transport energy to Europe and is preparing to enter into several different energy ventures with its northern neighbor. It is unsure if Turkey will be able to host the two competing pipelines or will bow to Russia pressure and shelve Nabucco. The question persists: Does Turkey truly need the West?

Justin Vela is a freelance journalist currently based in Helsinki, Finland.

CHINA :

A New Role for a Familiar Face at G.M.
By JERRY GARRETT/wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/May 25, 2010

It has been a fast-paced year in the career of Susan Docherty, a General Motors vice president. On Monday, she was assigned to another new post, her sixth since last summer, this time in international sales and marketing.

Earlier this year, Ms. Docherty, 47, a 24-year auto industry veteran, had been in charge of sales and marketing in the United States, but she recently had been replaced and her duties assigned to others.

Her new position, which she will assume on June 1, was previously held by Donald Johnson, a Canadian, who was stationed in China. Mr. Johnson will be given a different position, a G.M. press release said.

Ms. Docherty, a former Sloan Fellow at Stanford University, helped develop the Escalade into a success at Cadillac. She was promoted to head the Hummer division in 2004, western region general manager in 2006 and then general manager of Buick-Pontiac-GMC in 2008. In September 2009, she was moved up to vice president, in charge of sales in the United States, replacing Mark LaNeve. Marketing responsibilities were added to her title in December.
She seemed at that point to be on Chairman Ed Whitacre’s elite upper management team. But her sales responsibilities were given to a rising star, Mark Reuss, in March, and she lost the marketing part of her job to former Hyundai executive Joel Ewanick earlier this month.

She will now report to Tim Lee, who has been president of G.M. international operations since December.

Business Week magazine reported earlier this month that in the 11 months since Mr. Whitacre took over as chairman and chief executive, “G.M. has hired, ousted or reassigned more than 30 managers, mostly in sales and marketing.”

Wuhan Steel gets green light for Africa ventures
May 25, 2010 /english.peopledaily.com.cn/Source: China Daily

China’s third largest steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Group on Monday received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for two overseas acquisition deals in Africa that are expected to contribute nearly 2 billion tons of iron ore deposits.

The government cleared Wuhan Steel’s plan to acquire the Soalala iron ore deposit in Madagascar with two other companies and the company’s stake buy in a Liberian iron ore project.

The exploration license for the Soalala iron ore project was granted to Hong Kong-based Wisco Guangxin on May 8, a joint venture company 42 percent owned by Wuhan Steel, 38 percent by the Guangdong Foreign Trade Group Co and 20 percent by Kam Hing International Holdings, according to a statement released by Hong Kong-based Kam Hing International Holdings.

The project involves an area of more than 430 square kilometers and contains more than 800 million tons of reserves available for exploitation.

Wuhan Steel also signed an agreement on March 12 to pay China-Africa Development Fund $68.46 million for a 60 percent stake in China Union Investment Co, which owns an iron ore deposit located in central Liberia.
The project is the largest overseas investment in Liberia, with a deposit of 1.31 billion tons of iron ore reserves and is connected to ports via an 80-kilometer railway.

Wuhan Steel has been seeking to invest in more overseas iron ore assets to cut reliance on expensive imports.

“We aim to be self-sufficient in iron ore supplies in three to five years,” Deng Qilin, chairman of Wuhan Steel, said in March.

Wuhan Steel acquired a 21.52 percent stake in Brazilian iron ore miner MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA for $400 million last year.

The company also received approval from the Australian government for a A$271 million ($249 million) investment in Centrex Metals Ltd in November, and also for a 60-percent stake in the iron ore rights of five Centrex projects in South Australia that could contain up to 2 billion tons of resources.

“Africa has huge iron ore resources. But iron ore transportation requires advanced infrastructure development due to the large quantities involved,” said Yu Liangui, a senior steel analyst with Mysteel.com.

“It will require huge investment to build railways and ports in Africa, which might be the reason why Africa is not the first choice for Chinese enterprises.”

“However, with the ore prices surging, China needs to diversify its iron ore supplies to break the monopoly of the three global miners – Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale,” he said.

Rio Tinto has increased ore prices by $10 per ton in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. Accordingly its 63.5 percent grade iron ore powder now costs $123 per ton (Free On Board), while iron ore lumps are at $138 per ton.

The price increase in the second quarter is expected to push costs for Chinese steelmakers by an additional 40 billion yuan based on the import volume in April.

GAVIN HERON: SA and the continent
www.businessday.co.za/GAVIN HERON /2010/05/25

NEARLY half a century ago, on May 25 1963, 32 independent African states got together in Addis Ababa to form the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). In addition to the better-known aims — such as pancontinental unity and solidarity, the eradication of colonialism, and support for liberation movements — the OAU had another essential aim: to raise the living standards of all Africans.

Even if you’re not an Afro-pessimist you will admit that the OAU failed and, to this day, this is something the wise people of our continent are grappling with.

Earlier this month, I was at a conference in Cape Town dealing with exactly that. The conference was titled Realising Africa’s Untapped Growth Potential. There were some really good speakers at the conference — businessman Saki Macozoma for instance — and some pretty ordinary ones, who simply took screen grabs off the internet and then pasted them into PowerPoint.

Other than sitting through attempted murder by PowerPoint for a morning and a bit, some of the speakers were really interesting. And Clem Sunter was at his humorous, insightful and storied best. But what was really interesting was the theme of China.

Most speakers spoke about Chinese investment, Chinese partnerships and China’s focus on Africa. And that is no surprise. In the latest edition of The Atlantic, Martyn Davies, director of the China Africa Network at the University of Pretoria, was quoted as saying the Chinese were “the biggest builders of infrastructure. They are the biggest lenders to Africa, and China-Africa trade has just pushed past 100bn annually.”

The good side: China is the first major world power to invest heavily in African infrastructure — probably the biggest investor, according to Davies — and the benefits to the countries in which it invests are huge. Some commentators even argue that China’s investment strategy in Africa is far more beneficial to the continent than western “tied- up-to -better-governance” deals. The bad side: environmental concerns and the deployment of Chinese labour instead of the development of local talent. Not exactly “realising Africa’s untapped growth potential”.

The other theme that came out during the Cape Town conference was the idea of SA playing a role as the “Gateway into Africa”. Here there was an increasing worry that SA’s influence on the continent was declining. This is natural. As more countries outside the continent find their feet in dealing with Africa , they’ll go directly to African partners and governments.

So how does SA compete in this area?

South Africans have been, for many years, strong believers in their own ability on the global stage — although, admittedly, the Proteas and Bafana Bafana have somewhat dented this idea of South African supremacy. While there are examples to the contrary ( Standard Bank increasing its power and influence on the continent is a good example), we are losing our competitive advantage.

While there are many reasons for this, it’s good to look at Australia.

In all spheres, Australian institutions are among the best in the world. Their universities lie in the top 20 in the world; by offering the International Baccalaureate at school they are able to benchmark themselves globally; they have won the rugby World Cup twice; and their cricket team is the best in the world . Hard as it may be to admit this, there’s something they are doing right.

I think it comes down to a few simple things. First, Australia is a country that is outward looking. Within its national make-up is a desire to be the best in the world. Its citizens, for the most part, are brought up with the idea of beating England in everything. In business, they are dominant in many areas (News Corp in media, for instance).

The culture then is not about how good we are against one another, which is fairly typical in SA — just look at how the Cheetahs only start playing well when they play fellow South African rugby teams. It is a culture of asking: “How do we compete against, and beat, the rest of the world?”

Second, they plan. In their quest to be the best, they are intensely self-critical. After not winning a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, they developed the Australian Sports Institute. The result? An exceptional performance at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, where they bagged a total of 58 medals: 16 gold, 25 silver and seven bronze.

That isn’t bad for a country of just about 20-million people. For example, the UK managed just 28 medals overall.

Third, they are trade oriented. With a small population, Australia is focused on trading with the rest of the world. And it is extremely successful; 2009 estimates value Australian exports at 161,5bn with services (education, information technology, banking, etc.) increasing to 53,3bn in the period 2008- 09.

Obviously Australia doesn’t have the same issues as SA. But it planned to be where it is today. It changed things in order to be more competitive and to grow its economy and people. And this started with education.

The modus operandi of Australian schools is totally oriented to the country’s vision.

And as an export-oriented economy, these schools offer languages that facilitate trade; according to the Australian government, the most popular languages studied at matriculation level are Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Indonesian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic and Latin.

What do our schools offer as part of their curriculum? English medium Model C schools would generally offer English and one other South African language (Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, or Sotho) but no other.

Private schools require students to make the choice from the above but also generally offer, as a third language option, French and Latin (sometimes German).

Why not Mandarin, given China’s influence in Africa? Or Spanish, given that it is the dominant language in Central and South America (excluding Brazil) and increasingly the lingua franca of some US states? Why not Portuguese? After all, Angola is the fastest growing economy in Africa.

In my mind, SA is not serving its future business leaders well. Public schools have well-documented problems . But surely private schools should be looking at preparing students for their futures as global leaders and so grow the country’s competitiveness. They should be offering the languages of trade and industry. And they should be measuring themselves against global educational institutions.

Maybe offering the International Baccalaureate instead of the Independent Examinations Board exam would be a start.

SA and its educators and parents have to realise that the future of the country is dependent on the competency and competitiveness of its citizens. The time to start changing is now: before Australia suddenly emerges as the gateway into Africa. Or before our fellow Africans really don’t need us any more.

– Heron is group MD at TBWA Hunt Lascaris.

Daily News Brief
May 24, 2010/www.cfr.org

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

– South Korea to Cut Off Trade with North
– Iran Notifies UN of Nuclear Fuel Swap
– China Reaffirms Yuan Reform Policy
– UK Government Outlines Budget Cuts

Top of the Agenda: South Korea to Cut Off Trade with North

In a televised speech, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said his country would cut off nearly all trade with North Korea (NYT) after the sinking of a South Korean warship, a move the Obama administration supported. U.S. President Barack Obama instructed U.S. military commanders to coordinate with South Korea to “insure readiness and deter aggression,” while South Korea’s military moved to resume “psychological welfare” propaganda broadcasts at the North Korean border. North Korea responded that it would destroy any propaganda loudspeakers with artillery shells. Lee spoke just as economic and security talks between China and the United States began. China has called for restraint against North Korea, but Clinton pressed Chinese leaders to take a more aggressive stance.

China has yet to decide (WashPost) whether to back the results of the international investigation that blamed North Korea for the ship’s sinking or to support Lee’s call for the UN Security Council to take up the issue.

Analysis:

A Korea Times editorial says South Korea should press forward with further international sanctions against the North.

South Korea’s charge against North Korea is likely to result in a drawn-out effort to get the Security Council to censure Pyongyang, writes CFR’s Scott Snyder.

MIDDLE EAST: Iran Notifies UN of Nuclear Fuel Swap

Iran notified the International Atomic Energy Agency about its nuclear fuel-swap deal (al-Jazeera) brokered by Turkey and Brazil in a letter that said it expects the deal “to be realized as soon as possible.”

Iran’s elite displayed more unity in supporting the nuclear fuel-swap deal than it did with a similar deal last year and appears intent on trying to solve the nuclear crisis, says analyst Farideh Farhi.

Israel: Israeli President Shimon Peres said Israel is more likely to conclude a peace deal (WSJ) with the Palestinians if Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon are thwarted.

PACIFIC RIM: China Reaffirms Yuan Reform Policy

Chinese President Hu Jintao opened two days of talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Beijing by repeating a pledge (WSJ) to continue reform of his country’s exchange-rate regime.

The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue will include tough issues like Iran, North Korea, and U.S. trade concerns over China’s “indigenous innovation” policy, say four CFR experts.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: India to Repair “Trust Deficit” with Pakistan

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he is determined to reduce (WSJ) the “trust deficit” between India and Pakistan as his nation engages in a “major effort” to repair bilateral relations. Pakistan’s Supreme Court is set to hear challenges (BBC) to several constitutional measures passed by parliament in April, including granting parliament the power to appoint top judges.

Afghanistan: The Taliban claimed responsibility (AP) Sunday for an attack on Kandahar Air Base, the biggest NATO base in southern Afghanistan. It was the second attack on a NATO installation in a week.

AFRICA: Ethiopia Election Calm Despite Complaints

European Union election observers in Ethiopia are investigating complaints of irregularities in Sunday’s vote, but said the process was mostly peaceful (BBC).

South Africa: South African logistics group Transnet’s biggest trade union ended a three-week strike (Reuters), which has curbed exports of metals, cars, fruit, and wine to Europe and Asia, as well as imports of auto parts and fuel three weeks before the World Cup begins.

AMERICAS: Drilling Projects Continue Despite Obama Halt

At least seven new permits for various types of offshore drilling and five environmental waivers have been granted since President Obama announced a moratorium on such passes (NYT).

Jamaica: Jamaica declared a state of emergency (Reuters) in two parishes of capital Kingston after shooting and firebomb attacks on police stations by suspected supporters of alleged drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who faces extradition to the United States.

EUROPE: British Government Outlines Budget Cuts

British Chancellor George Osborne outlined spending cuts (FT) for the British government in an effort to tackle the country’s deficit.

EU: EU finance ministers met in Brussels Friday to find a way to share more fiscal responsibility (DeutscheWelle) and calm jittery markets.

Saving the European Union requires a plan to allow fiscally weak member countries to fail, as well as painful lifestyle changes and some loss of national sovereignty, says Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies.

INDIA :

SOHM, India Expands Manufacturing Facility Offering Full Service Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Product Production
May 25, 2010 /www.marketwatch.com

BUENA PARK, CA, May 25, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — SOHM, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SHMN), a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer that produces and markets generic drugs covering all major treatment categories, announced today that it has expanded its pharmaceutical and nutritional manufacturing operations in Ahmadabad, India by opening a new facility to handle its nutraceutical product production. The facility adds 4,420 -sq.-ft. of manufacturing space and will employ additional laboratory staff. This facility will specialize in nutritional products and allow SOHM’s licensed generic pharmaceutical manufacturing facility to process its generic drug orders exclusively.

“The new nutritional manufacturing facility and laboratory staff are complementary to our pharmaceutical manufacturing facility and will allow for rapid turnaround and competitive pricing as our purchase orders continue to increase,” stated Shailesh Shah, Vice President for Corporate Strategy at SOHM, Inc. “We anticipate sales volume to continue to climb and our combined manufacturing facilities allow for scalability of operations as SOHM strategically positions the company as a full-service pharmaceutical and nutritional enterprise.”

About SOHM, Inc. SOHM, Inc. is a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer that produces and markets generic drugs covering all major treatment categories. Global headquarters are located in North America with manufacturing sites in India. Generic pharmaceuticals are exported globally with a focus on distribution in emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. www.sohm.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements, which may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of SOHM, Inc., and members of their management as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuation of operating results, the ability to compete successfully and the ability to complete before-mentioned transactions. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.

SOURCE: SOHM, Inc.

Ambani truce opens int’l lines for RComm again
www.indianexpress.com/Anandita Singh Mankotia / Tue May 25 2010

The patch-up by Ambani brothers by scrapping their non-compete agreement has paved the way for Anil group’s flagship firm, Reliance Communications Ltd (RComm), to explore a combination of foreign tie-ups for expansion.

While company officials were not available for comments, analysts maintain that with the right of first refusal (RoFR) also going away with the non-compete agreement, RComm and South Africa’s MTN could once again look at a merger possibility, making the Anil Ambani firm part of the South African telco, something rival Bharti had refused to do in 2008. “The canvas is now wide open for RComm since it was this right of first refusal clause which restrained the company from getting into a potential transaction,” said Prashant Singhal of E&Y. However, a deal with MTN could entail huge cash outflows for RComm this time since valuations of telecom companies in India have taken a hit in the last two years, he pointed out.
Romal Shetty of KPMG, however, ruled out RComm getting into any immediate talks. With valuations plummeting, acquisition or merger would not be a good proposition for the company, he felt, adding RComm had bagged spectrum in 13 circles for Rs 8,600 crore in the recently concluded 3G auctions.
RComm, which is the country’s second largest mobile operator with a total subscriber base of 102 million, needs to scale up because rival Bharti Airtel has widened the gap with the recent acquisition of the African operations of Zain Telecom.
An RComm-MTN combine could today throw up a total subscriber base of 225 million, thus giving a major leg-up to Anil Ambani’s telecom dreams. Further, MTN, which is present across 21 countries, is quite keen on an emerging market like India, the fastest growing telecom market in the world. Further, with Bharti competing directly on its home turf through the Zain buy, the pressure on MTN would also be to scale up.
The Bharti-Zain combine has a total subscriber base of 179 million with operations across 20 countries and ranks as the world’s fifth largest mobile firm by user base. An RComm-MTN combine, if it happens, would easily beat it.
In 2008, after the Bharti-MTN merger talks collapsed the first time as the latter wanted the Indian entity to become its subsidiary at the last moment, RComm had entered into exclusive negotiations with the South African telco. RComm had agreed to become part of MTN, with Anil Ambani becoming the single largest shareholder in the combined entity.
However, the talks could not proceed when the Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) waved the RoFR clause, which mandated that in case the promoters’ equity in group companies of either brother fell below majority, the first right of refusal lay with the other brother. Had the deal fructified then, the joint entity would have emerged as the sixth largest mobile operator in the world with a combined subscriber base of over 116 million.

Millicom plans new strategies to counter Bharti’s Africa entry
05.25.10/wirelessfederation.com

In Mobile, By Editor
.www.WirelessFederation.com/news: India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s Africa entry with services such as money transfers, banking and insurance has been planned to be countered by Millicom International Cellular SA, a company with mobile-phone customers in countries from Guatemala to Tanzania by accelerating its growth process and bringing new innovations for the people.
Millicom operates under the brand name is Tigo and was established 20 years ago by Sweden’s Kinnevik Investment AB as a holding company for cellular assets.

Like Bharti, France Telecom SA, Vodafone Group Plc and America Movil SAB de CV, Millicon is also pushing third- generation services for wireless Internet besides broadening its portfolio that includes SMS-based information services and microloans for topping up prepaid balances. Millicom was also interested in some of Zain’s Africa assets that Bharti agreed to acquire for $10.7 billion in March. In the process to speed up growth, the operator is also planning to bid in Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, other Greenfield operations or mergers would also be considered if the company is capable of becoming first or second in their markets and producing at least $100 million in annual revenue.
According to Chief Executive Officer Mikael Grahne, sooner or later markets come to a certain level of maturity and to get growth from then on you need new products and services, so Millicom is very heavily focused on anticipating that and the company will pursue customers who can pay more for extras and better network quality, rather than competing strictly on price of basic services.

Analysts feel that Bharti’s entry into Africa is likely to spark a wave of consolidation as less profitable players exit the market and bigger one resort to extensive investment. Earlier, an investment of as much as 7 billion euros ($8.8 billion) in deals focused on Africa and the Middle East in the next five years has been announced by France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard while Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao announced this month that sub-Saharan Africa is among the three “priority areas” for the world’s largest mobile-phone company.

EXIM India to open office in Ethiopia next month
www.hindustantimes.com/Indo-Asian News Service/ May 25, 2010

Ethiopia,
In a bid to support Indian companies’ growing investments in East Africa, the Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India will open an office in Ethiopia next month, officials said.

Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance and Development Sufian Ahmed and EXIM bank officials are expected to sign the agreement Tuesday, which will further boost ties between India and East Africa.

The bank and the Ethiopian ministry have been in negotiations for the last couple of months about the opening of the East African office in Addis Ababa.

The bank will open its office in a month, Indian embassy officials told IANS.

It will be the third office of EXIM bank in Africa. The bank has offices in Johannesburg and Dakar, responsible respectively for southern and western Africa.

In Ethiopia, EXIM has so far been active in disbursing loans for the construction of the Tendaho sugar factory and the expansion of two existing sugar factories.

The Indian government has accepted Ethiopia’s project proposal and offered a $640 million soft loan through EXIM bank for two expansion projects at the Fincha and Wonji sugar factories and to construct the giant new factory at Tendaho in Afar Regional State.

This is the largest single line of credit India has extended to a foreign country.

EXIM bank was appointed to execute the loan disbursement for Ethiopia in October 2007.

It is an Indian government-owned financial institution based in Mumbai and managed by a board with representatives from the government, Reserve Bank of India, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC), a financial institution, public sector banks, and the business community.

The bank’s functions are segmented into several operating groups that include the Corporate Banking Group, which handles a variety of financing programmes for Export Oriented Units (EOUs), importers, and overseas investment by Indian companies; and Project Finance/Trade Finance Group that handles the entire range of export credit services such as supplier’s credit, pre-shipment credit, buyer’s credit, finance for export of projects and consultancy services, and guarantees.

The Indian government launched the institution not just to enhance exports from India but to integrate the country’s foreign trade and investment with the overall economic growth.

Since its inception, the Exim Bank of India has been both a catalyst and a key player in the promotion of cross border trade and investment.

Banking on emerging markets
Sarath Chelluri / www.business-standard.com/ May 25, 2010

Mumbai
StanChart offers option to buy into a well-diversified business at fair valuations.

Standard Chartered’s (StanChart’s) Indian Depository Receipt (IDR) offer will be a first for the Indian capital markets. StanChart is ranked among the bigger global banks. It has operations in 71 countries and a network of 1,700 branches, with over 5,000 ATMs. It aims to raise Rs 2,400-2,760 crore by offering 240 million IDRs at Rs 100-115 each.

One IDR is equivalent to a tenth of a StanChart share. So, 10 IDRs are equivalent to one share of the bank. The capital raised from the issue will be used to grow consumer and wholesale businesses and expand the bank’s global footprint. It is also hoped that the listing on Indian exchanges should help improve visibility in India.
Right place, right time
Unlike developed markets, robust growth in the economies of the less developed or emerging markets is providing a good opportunity for players operating in these regions. In the overall business pie, StanChart gets only 10 per cent per cent from such developed markets as the US and UK. The rest of its business comes from Asia, Africa and West Asia. India accounted for about 20 per cent of the banks’ profits in 2009.

In fact, with around 70 per cent of its business coming from Asia, the bank was not only able to weather the crisis in the developed markets but also reported growth in profits. Over 2007-09, StanChart’s operating income grew by an average 17 per cent, while net profits increased eight per cent. For the calendar year 2009 (CY2009), although income growth was healthy and the bank was able to curb costs, StanChart made higher provisions even as its tax outgo jumped, restricting profit growth.

Diversified operations
StanChart’s operations are categorised into consumer and wholesale banking.

In the consumer banking space, it provides banking, deposit-related services, credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, auto finance and wealth management to over 14 million customers, including individuals and small & medium enterprises in Asia, Africa and West Asia. While the bank slowed lending in this segment in 2008 due to the global economic turmoil, it lent more in 2009.

In 2010, lending is expected to gather more pace after growing at a modest seven-eight per cent in the last two years. In the same period, wholesale banking grew 20 per cent. One point of comfort is that about 75 per cent of consumer loans is secured.

Wholesale banking is a client-centred business. It caters to corporate and institutional clients. The bank has strong cross-border capabilities and is well positioned to capitalise on international trade flows as a result of its broad geographical footprint. It works with companies looking to expand across their domestic footprint, and those seeking to penetrate markets.
Due to restricted lending in the consumer business, wholesale banking’s share in the overall pie increased from 47 per cent in 2007 to 61 per cent in 2009. Driven by financial markets and corporate finance segments, the operating profit of StanChart’s wholesale banking business grew 33 per cent in the last two years.

Investment rationale
Around 53 per cent of StanChart’s liabilities are low-cost deposits, higher than most of its Indian private peers, and this is an advantage. In terms of net interest margins (NIMs), they have come off from 2.5 per cent in 2008 to around 2.3 per cent in 2009, which is lower than HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

With emerging economies seeing good revival, margins may improve, aided by the bank’s low funding costs, rising rates and a pick-up in credit off-take. Overall, the bank could see its operating income and net profit grow at about 18-20 per cent and 12-15 per cent, respectively over the next two years.

At the upper price band of Rs 115, the IDR issue is valued at 15 times its CY2009 earnings. It looks comparable vis-a-vis its Asian peers, like Hong Kong and Singapore. However, in comparison with smaller Indian peers like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, it is cheap.

Investors, though, have to bear in mind that sale of IDRs will attract capital gains tax, even as dividends received from StanChart will be taxable as income. Nevertheless, given the growth opportunity and reasonable valuations, investors can subscribe to the offer.

BRASIL:

Brazil launches international TV station for Africa
Tuesday, 25 May 2010/news.bbc.co.uk

Brazil has launched an international television station based in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, to broadcast to African nations.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the aim of the Portuguese-language channel was to represent Brazil to to the world.

The channel shows Brazil’s growing interest in Africa, correspondents say.

It will also soon also be available in Latin America, Canada, Europe and the US, according to officials.

Speaking at the launch of TV Brasil Internacional at a ceremony in Brasilia, President Lula described it as the realisation of a dream.

“I don’t want a TV channel to speak well of Lula,” he said. “I want a channel that speaks well of the country, that can show Brazil as it really is.”

TV Brasil Internacional will be broadcast from Maputo to 49 African nations.

The main audiences will be in the African nations where Portuguese is spoken: Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.

The programming will come from domestic TV Brasil, with the emphasis on news and culture.

The network will also aim to reach the estimated three million Brazilians who live abroad, officials said.

TV soaps

The launch of TV Brasil Internacional is the latest sign of Brazil’s growing interest in Africa as well as its emerging role on the global stage, says BBC Americas editor James Read.

Brazilian mining companies have joined the rush to invest in Africa’s natural resources, and its food exporters have found growing markets there.

President Lula himself has been a frequent visitor, promoting diplomatic and economic ties.

Brazilian culture is also popular, from music and football to TV soap operas, while Brazil’s own African heritage makes ties closer still, our correspondent says.

EN BREF, CE 25 mai 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,25/05/2010