Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Roundup

1. BRICS Summit

China Development Bank ready to pump 10 bn yuan to BRICS
China Development Bank, which just signed a local currency credit deal with its BRICS counterparts, is ready to pump up to $10 billion yuan as loans into Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, the bank's governor said. Chen Yuan, the bank's head, said the yuan loans, as part of the BRICS efforts to reduce the use of U.S. dollar in bilateral trade and investment, would focus on big projects in oil, natural gas and infrastructure fields.
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China, Russia support India's UNSC 'aspirations'
China and Russia Thursday joined fellow leaders of the five fastest growing economic powers in calling for comprehensive UN reforms and supported the "aspirations" of India , Brazil and South Africa for a permanent place in the Security Council. The two permanent UNSC members - China and Russia - in a joint statement of the BRICS grouping , said they "support their (India, Brazil and South Africa) aspiration to play a greater role in the UN".
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BRICS targets dollar, call for global monetary revamp
The five BRICS nations took another step towards cementing their global influence on Thursday, calling for a broad-based international reserve currency system "providing stability and certainty". In a statement released at a summit on the southern island of Hainan, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said the recent financial crisis had exposed the inadequacies and deficiencies of the current monetary order, which has the dollar as its linchpin.
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BRICS leaders see volatile commodity prices danger
Leaders of the top emerging economic powers meeting in China Thursday warned volatile commodity prices posed risks for the global recovery and voiced fears about capital inflows. Inflation has been rising on higher food, energy and metal prices due to Japan's nuclear disaster and the Libya conflict, while investors worried about the global outlook have poured money into fast-growing emerging economies. "Excessive volatility in commodity prices, particularly those for food and energy, poses new risks for the ongoing recovery of the world economy," Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - or BRICS nations - said in a joint summit communique.
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India, China, Brazil, SA for balanced conclusion of Doha round
Opposing protectionism and seeking a rule-based multilateral trading system, India and three other fast growing economies pushed for a "comprehensive and balanced" conclusion of the Doha round of trade talks that addresses the development agenda effectively. India, along with China, Brazil and South Africa, also advocated the case of Russia's early accession to the World Trade Organisation.
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Africa infrastructure needs $480bn – Zuma
Africa needs $480-billion for infrastructure development over the next ten years, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. "Over the next ten years, Africa will need $480-billion for infrastructure development which should interest the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) business communities," he said in an address for delivery at the third Brics leaders meeting at Hainan island in China.
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SA small, but strategic partner for BRICS – Busa
SA might be small compared with Brazil, Russia, India, and China, but it is a "strategic" partner for these countries, Business Unity SA president Futhi Mtoba BusinessLIVE today. SA has officially joined the BRICS grouping of the world's fastest-growing economies. BRICS held a summit on April 14 in Sanya on Hainan Island in China. The summit was preceded by a few meetings, including that of business representatives from all member countries in what is referred to as the BRICS Business Forum.
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South Africa looks for new investment opportunities in China
South African executives in the energy, engineering and telecommunication sectors said Thursday they were looking for investment opportunities in China as well as other BRICS economies. "With South Africa joining the BRICS countries, we hope our coal-to-liquids (CTL) project in Ningxia can get approval from Chinese government officials," said John Armstrong, president of Sasol China.
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BRICS not only on economic cooperation, but political voice of the South: minister
South Africa's entry into BRICS, a group of emerging economies, not only provides opportunities for economic development in Africa, but also demonstrates the voice of the South can not be ignored in global politics, a South African minister has said. "BRIC countries are largely, I say largely, products of our forebears in the Bandung Conference of sole solidarity in 1955, so we are elated to see such South-South solidarity coming up with such economy giants emerging from this," International Relation and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
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2. China in Africa

Take firm stand against China - Malema
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has accused China of using South Africa to extract Africa’s wealth of mineral resources without offering anything in return. South Africa’s foreign policy has shifted significantly in favour of China and is poised to become a member of the Bric economic grouping of Brazil, Russia, India and China. But Malema, speaking in Cape Town on Friday night, also questioned South Africa’s participation in what will be known as Brics, saying he was yet to be convinced about the role South Africa would play in it.
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Hisense to change SA perceptions
Chinese technology company Hisense has launched a South African operation which includes a technical skills transfer programme at the firm's local factory. The company is also determined to change the negative perception of Chinese consumer goods. "We want to bring the latest technology to South Africa because our R&D [research and development"> centres produce products for the global market," Hisense SA general manager Jerry Liu told News24.
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Chinese firm elates mine suppliers
LUANSHYA-based mine suppliers have praised the China Non-Ferrous Metal Corporation Luanshya Copper Mine (CLM) for coming up with a deliberate policy to give 75 per cent of the contracts involving locally sourced goods to local companies. And CLM public relations officer Sydney Chileya confirmed that Luanshya based mine suppliers were already enjoying the benefits of the policy. Luanshya Mine Suppliers Association information secretary David Lloyd said mine suppliers were happy with the CLM management’s recent resolve to start giving preference to local mine suppliers.
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Bank of China, IDC to fund undersea cable
Lawrence Mulaudzi, the CEO of eFive Telecoms, which is a shareholder in the cable system, said yesterday that the project officially received backing from the Brics governments this week at their summit in China, but there would not be funding from these governments. The cable network will also link North America through GlobeNet, which provides capacity through its fibreoptic submarine cable connecting North and South America. Mr Mulaudzi said the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Bank of China have agreed to fund the project.
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Tobacco rakes in US$220m
EXPORTS of processed flue-cured tobacco have so far raked in US$219,7 million since the beginning of the year as China remained the biggest buyer of the country's golden leaf. The money was raised from the sale of 18,8 million kg sold at an average price of US$5,24. Normally, tobacco bought in any particular year is sent for processing, which, in some cases, includes the stripping off of the stem from the leaf or any other condition that may be prescribed by the buyers. The processed tobacco would then be exported the following year at almost double the price at the floors. According to figures released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, China bought 18,8 million kg worth US$140,72 million at an average price of US$7,48 per kg. Current prices are hovering just above US$3 per kg.
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Dangote, Sinoma in $3.9bn African Cement Deal
Dangote Group and Chinese firm Sinoma have jointly entered into a fresh $3.9 billion contract to be executed in six African nations, including Nigeria. The contract which was signed in Lagos by the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and President of Sinoma, Mr. Wu Shoufu, will see Dangote cement’s output across Africa rise to about 50 million metric tonnes per annum in two and a half years. Dangote said the move is in line with his company’s overall objective of boosting cement production and supply within the African continent to the end of making the product accessible and affordable for the ordinary person.
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Senegal, China to enhance strategic partnership
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade met here Thursday with visiting senior Chinese legislator Chen Zhili to further develop a new type of strategic partnership between the two countries. Wade praised the cooperation between the two sides and said Senegal is proud that China attaches great importance to bilateral relations despite huge differences in the sizes of territory and population between the two countries.
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3. India in Africa

India, S Africa to conduct joint Naval exercise
India and South Africa on Thursday decided to hold joint Naval exercises and fixed a new trade target of $15 billion to be achieved by next year as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Jacob Zuma met in Sanya and discussed ways to boost overall ties. During the 45-minute meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Zuma also informed Singh about his government's intention to invite President Pratibha Patil and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to his country.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

BRICS, IBSA focus on different issues: India
Ahead of PM Manmohan Singh's visit to China for the BRICS summit, India on Monday allayed concerns that with South Africa too joining the four-nation economic powerhouse, the IBSA grouping comprising India, Brazil and South Africa is going to lose its sheen. Singh will fly to Sanya, a coastal resort town in China, on Tuesday to attend what is the first BRICS summit meet after South Africa joined the group. "BRICS focuses on economy but it is slowly moving towards other areas. However, IBSA is based on democratic values and other similar causes which are common to the three countries. There is a difference between the two. South Africa joining BRIC is not going to diminish IBSA," MEA secretary (economic relations) Manbir Singh said, in what was apparently a dig at China.
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Doha trade negotiations on the verge of collapse
The Doha trade negotiations are on the verge of collapse due to unrealistic demands by leading industrialised countries that want China , India , and Brazil to "harmonise" a large percentage of their industrial tariffs well below current applied rates, sources said. World Trade Organisation director general Pascal Lamy today informed members of the G-90 coalition that there are "unbridgeable" differences over "sectorals" in Doha industrial goods, sources said. The G-90 includes countries from Africa, Pacific and Caribbean as well as least-developed countries. Lamy said his meetings with the US, China, India, and Brazil over the last fortnight revealed that the gaps in positions among members are too wide and not amenable for any closure at this juncture, an African trade envoy told PTI.
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SA key in international world: Zuma
South Africa is assuming an increasingly important position in the international arena, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday. "SA is ideally placed in the shifting poles of power, not only as an emerging market, but also as a leading economy in a continent that is home to approximately fifteen percent of the world's population," Zuma said in China during the Boao Asia Forum Meeting. "We actively participate and contribute to positions formulated in global policy making and are supportive of the G20 agenda." He said domestically, SA was implementing programmes aimed at promoting inclusive growth through expanding development and access to social services for all, especially the poor, in order to improve their living conditions.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

Sino - Zimbabwe relations – who benefits?
This question can be answered in one sentence – the Chinese, Mugabe, his cabal of generals and their hangers on. Of course the Chinese, being shrewd businessmen, get the lion’s share. Although they do try to put a positive spin on their aggressive global expansion – for example Heilongjiang Beidahuang Nongken Group, China's largest agricultural company, said recently that it plans to acquire or lease 495,000 acres of farmland in Latin American countries as well as Russia, the Philippines, Australia and Zimbabwe. The group's chairman Sui Fengfu told the Chinese official newspaper China Daily that: "In Venezuela and Zimbabwe, the Chinese group mainly supplies machinery and labour, and takes about 20 percent of the harvest in return.” I would be very surprised if this is indeed the case with China’s involvement in Zimbabwean agriculture.
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India dazzles, but China ahead in Africa
The story, already part of diplomatic lore in the capitals of sub-Saharan Africa, goes like this. In July 2006, the erstwhile president of the African Union commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, announced the decision to hold India-Africa summits on a regular basis. Two months later, Konare summoned the ambassadors of India, China and Brazil to ask them about their nations’ interests in Africa. The Brazilian and Indian envoys are said to have gotten off reasonably lightly, but the Chinese diplomat was allegedly cross-questioned by Konare over China’s state-led development model of resource extraction across Africa in exchange for Chinese goods. Beijing is believed to have been so upset by the hectoring that it sought to pacify matters by immediately sanctioning $150 million to build the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
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China in Africa part 3: Mozambique
Shortly after dawn, just as early rising tourists were sipping coffee and preparing for a day in the water, Mozambican fishing boats started coming ashore, discharging local fishermen and their catches. Sea turtles were beheaded, rays lay bloodied on the sand, and sharks - especially sharks - had their fins hacked off and were then chopped into chunks. Shark fins, apparently, were the order of the day. What the more curious among the visitors knew was that nobody in Mozambique wanted those fins; they're exclusively a Chinese delicacy. To the horror of the Europeans, Australians and South Africans who had come to enjoy these creatures in their natural habitat, it seemed as if the beaches of Mozambique had become a killing field for everything scientists describe as Elasmobranchii - mostly predatory fish which have skeletons of cartilage instead of bones.
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