1. General

U.S. Backs India Seat on U.N. Council
President Barack Obama, in a speech to the Indian Parliament, for the first time publicly backed India's inclusion as a permanent member in the United Nations Security Council, albeit after the council undergoes a broad restructuring that could takes years, if it happens at all. "The just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate," Mr. Obama said. "That is why I can say today—in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed U.N. Security Council that includes India as a permanent member."
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Beijing looks at laws on philanthropy
The first national charity law is likely to be legislated in three years in China, a former official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs told China Daily. Wang Zhenyao, former director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs' social welfare and charities department, said the draft was submitted to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council last year for further revision. "The legislation is highly possible in next three years as both the National People's Congress and the society have a lot of concern on the matter," said Wang, who was in charge of drafting the charity law when he worked for the ministry.
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2. China in Africa

Ghana taps China loan for $2.85 billion road project
Ghana will use the first $2.85 billion of a $13 billion Chinese loan facility to fund a road improvement project, the government of the West African country said on Wednesday. The first phase of the project will begin in early 2011 with an initial investment of $1.9 billion, and the second phase will start later in the year, Ghana's finance ministry said in a statement on its website. Ghana President John Atta Mills signed a loan agreement with China's Exim Bank and the Chinese Development Bank in September totaling nearly $13 billion -- one of China's largest financial commitments in Africa to date. Ghana's government said the total agreed loan facility will be drawn down gradually as projects arise, with terms set on a project-by-project basis.
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China to Spend $350 Million Building Road From Ugandan Airport to Capital
China will invest $350 million to build and manage a toll road from Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport to the capital, Kampala, said Syda Bbumba, the East African country’s finance minister. The new road will help ease congestion as the existing 36- kilometer (22-miles) link is regularly blocked with traffic, Bbumba told reporters today in Kampala, the capital. Talks on details about the project are continuing, she said.
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Sundance hires CITIC for funding help
Sundance Resources has appointed China's largest investment Bank, CITIC Securities, to help secure debt and equity funding for its Mbalam iron ore project in West Africa. CITIC will take over current talks between Sundance and several Chinese investment groups which are interested in the project.
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Parliament to play greater role in overseeing international government commitments
Parliament’s National Assembly (NA) is set to play a greater role in monitoring and overseeing government’s international commitments with China. The nine-day official visit to China this month by NA Speaker Mr Max Sisulu, NA House chairperson for international relations Ms Mildred Oliphant and a delegation of senior Members of Parliament drawn from eight NA committees is laying the basis for more focused oversight of government’s international commitments with China.
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China Merchants to buy stake Nigeria port operator
China Merchants Holdings International has agreed to form a joint venture that will buy a 47.5 percent stake in a container-terminal operator in Nigeria from Israel's Zim Integrated Shipping for $154 million. China Merchants will own 60 percent of the venture, with China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) taking a 40 percent stake after obtaining approval from Chinese regulators, the Chinese port operator said in a statement.
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3. India in Africa

US, India to help African food security: Obama
President Barack Obama on Monday announced a U.S.-Indian partnership to promote food security in Africa, harnessing technology to battle starvation in a part of the world where China has boosted its presence."We are going to share Indian expertise with farmers in Africa," Obama said in a speech to India's parliament. The project will link U.S., Indian and African universities to spread knowledge and boost innovation, while deploying technology to improve drought-resistant farming.
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India seeks more oil, gas from Nigeria
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora on Thursday said Africa's largest crude oil and gas producer — Nigeria — was willing to increase oil exports to India besides liquefied natural gas (LNG). “Nigeria is our close friend and willing to help us in meeting our growing energy requirements. This is a positive development for securing India's energy security,'' Mr. Deora said.
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India gifts 25 buses to Liberia
India has donated some 25 buses to Liberia to transport students to and from the only institution of higher learning in the West African nation, as also general commuters in and around capital Monrovia. This is part of India's efforts to build more bridges with Africa in ways that directly benefit its people. According to official sources in Monrovia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has asked the authorities at the National Transport Authority to distribute these 90-seat buses among the nation's 15 political sub-divisions and ensure they are protected and maintained.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

Lula: I’ll Make Sure Brazil-Africa Cooperation Continues
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday in Maputo that he would be the guarantor that his country’s cooperation with Africa will continue after he leaves office in January. “Brazil’s policy (of cooperation) with Africa, and in particular with Mozambique, will continue and will strengthen itself with the president-elect, Dilma Rousseff,” Lula said at an official banquet offered for him by the president of Mozambique, Armando Guebuza. Lula emphasized the good relations between Brazil and Africa, where the South American country has 34 embassies in the continent’s 53 nations, and he added that his successor, Rousseff, “has the same commitments as I do with Africa.”
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Gazprom Discovers Algerian Gas; Eyes Nigerian Assets
OAO Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned natural gas export monopoly, made its first commercial African gas discovery in Algeria, a move that could enable it to expand gas sales into Spain and Portugal. Algeria “is extremely important” as it could enable Gazprom to expand to the only remaining areas of Europe where it’s not present, Boris Ivanov, head of the company’s global exploration and production unit Gazprom EP International B.V. said in an interview at the Africa Upstream conference in Cape Town today. Gazprom controls about 30 percent of Europe’s gas supplies and has the world’s largest gas reserves.
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Opportunity for SA firms
There are a lot of trade opportunities for South African small businesses in developing countries such as Brazil and India. This was revealed yesterday during a two-day conference at Nasrec, Johannesburg. The D3 Africa Conference was organised by Emergent Africa Development to promote access to international markets for emerging and aspiring entrepreneurs. Emergent Africa Development provides training and business linkages for entrepreneurs. Brazil and India have formed strong bilateral relations with South Africa after the recent visits by President Jacob Zuma. Mari Gerpe, head of trade section at the embassy of Brazil, told entrepreneurs that her country was a growing economy with a variety of opportunities for South African businesses.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

Corporate India Finds Greener Pastures—in Africa
Indian billionaire Ravi Ruia has flown to Africa at least once a month for the past year and a half. He's invested in coal mines in Mozambique, an oil refinery in Kenya, and a call center in South Africa. Soon, he may also have a power plant in Nigeria. "Africa looks remarkably similar to what India was 15 years ago," says Firdhose Coovadia, director of African operations at Essar Group, the $15 billion conglomerate headed by Ruia and his brother, Shashi. "We can't lose this opportunity."
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Some challenges ahead as SA's new 'partnership' with China takes shape
It is alleged that, in 1800, General Napoleon Bonaparte (then First Consul and not yet Emperor of France) said: “China? There lies a sleeping giant. Let him sleep! For when he wakes, he will move the world.”Now historians are having great difficulty in tracking down this quote (some people claim it dates from 1803) and it is beginning to look as if he never said it. Be that as it may, China has certainly awoken, and is most definitely moving the world – including South Africa. During August, it became clear that China had become the second-biggest economy in the world, after the US. In 2009, China became South Africa’s largest single country trade partner, overtaking the US. That year, the Asian giant became this country’s biggest source of imports. This year, China also became South Africa’s biggest export market.
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