Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Roundup

1. General

Government defends £1bn of aid to India
The government has defended its decision to give £1bn in aid to India, despite the rapidly increasing wealth of the emerging economic giant. A review of UK aid will maintain aid donations to India of £280m a year until 2015, while withdrawing assistance from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Serbia and Moldova, the international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, revealed. The decision is likely to infuriate some Conservative MPs, who believe it is time to halt aid to India, which has economic growth of 8.5% a year, gives aid to Africa, spends £20bn a year on defence and has a £1.25bn space programme.
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2. China in Africa

China urges West to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday called on the West to lift sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe while Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe applauded the Asian giant for its continued political and economic support. Addressing journalists soon after meeting Zimbabwe President Mugabe, Yang, who is on a two-day visit, said Zimbabweans and other African people have a right to choose their own development path.
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Zimbabwean President and Prime Minister Meet Respectively with Chinese Foreign Minister
On February 11, 2011, Zimbabwean President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met respectively with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Harare. Mugabe said China’s relations with Africa are based on sincere friendship and equal treatment and China is more and more welcome in the continent. All African countries are ready to deepen traditional friendship, develop cooperation in all areas and strengthen coordination in international affairs with China. Mugabe appreciates China’s disinterested assistance to Zimbabwe’s economic and social development over the years, emphasizing Zimbabwe will remain committed to enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation with China.
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China calls on UN to pay more attention to Africa
China Friday urged the United Nations and Security Council to give more attention to Africa and called on the international community to provide greater support to the region in order to maintain peace and security. Addressing an open debate of the UN Security Council on the interdependence between security and development, Li Baodong, China's permanent representative to the UN said the inter-linkages between peace and development are most pronounced in Africa.
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China, SA collaborate on agriculture scholarship
Batches of agricultural sciences students are to be flown to Beijing each year for the next few years for further education under an agreement between the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the China Agricultural University. Fifteen post-graduate students are to leave for China at the end of March following the signing yesterday of an implementation protocol by Langa Zita, the department’s director-general, and Qu Zhenyuan, chairman of the University Council of China Agricultural University.
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Guinea, China eye strengthened bilateral cooperation
Guinean President Alpha Conde said Monday while meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that Guinea hopes to expand cooperation with China in a wide range of fields. Conde said Guinea values the traditional friendship with China, is grateful to China's assistance to Guinea under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and appreciates the contribution China has made to the peace and common development of the world as well as the recovery of world economy from the global financial crisis.
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Guinean president hails China's presence in Africa
In an interview accorded to Xinhua on Monday in the Guinean capital Conakry, President Alpha Conde affirmed that Africa's cooperation with China presents "a lot of benefits" to the continent. "For us, cooperation with China presents a lot of advantages because China not only gives Africa grants, but also invests in crucial sectors and the cost for African countries is low," Conde told Xinhua. "The arrival of China is a very good thing for us because she has liberated us from all external pressure," he noted. By terming himself as a "panafricanist," Conde insisted that African countries must reinforce the South-South cooperation, especially with China, India and Brazil.
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Gabon, China eye closer cooperation in trade, infrastructure
Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba met here Saturday with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, and they pledged closer cooperation in trade, economy and infrastructure. Gabon highly values its traditional friendship with China which has long offered firm support to Africa, the Gabonese president said. Gabon believes China's development will bring major opportunities to Gabon and there are great potential for trade and economic cooperation between the two sides, he said.
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Chinese FM arrives in Togo on mission to further ties with Africa
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived on Tuesday morning in Togo's northern city Kara, the second largest in the West African country, on a mission to further friendly and cooperative ties with Africa. Upon his arrival at Niamoutougou airport, Yang was welcomed by several ministers led by his Togolese counterpart Elliot Ohin and China's new ambassador to Togo, Wang Zuofeng. In the airport's VIP lounge, Yang held cordial and friendly talks with Ohin. In a written speech delivered at the airport, the Chinese top diplomat hailed the long history of Sino-Togolese friendship and cooperation. Thanks to efforts by leaders of generations between the two countries, "The Sino-Togolese relations have always developed in a healthy and regular way," he said.
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Chadian president says to expand cooperation with China in various fields
Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said Wednesday while meeting visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that his country is willing to expand cooperation with China in infrastructure building, agriculture, health care and other fields. During the meeting with Yang, who arrived here Tuesday for an official visit, the president said the Chadian-Chinese relations are based on equality, mutual respect and noninterference in each other's interior affairs. He said China has successfully completed a number of aid projects in Chad, which greatly facilitated the social and economic development of the African country.
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SA must gain from a China relationship
The relationship between China and SA should benefit both parties equally, according to Sisa Ngombane, the deputy director-general for Asia at the International Relations and Diplomacy Department. Ngombane was one of the speakers at the SA Inc meets China Inc Business Forum. He said on Wednesday that a minerals agreement between SA and China had been delayed amid continued consultations. "We need to move from exporting raw minerals to beneficiating those minerals at home," he said.
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SA opens door for Chinatowns
Massive Chinese shopping centres are mushrooming around the country, thanks to South African consumers’ predilection for cheap Chinese goods. The Chinese retailers have been so successful that owners of struggling shopping centres are queuing to to fill their vacant space with so-called "Chinatowns". As a result there is concern that the market for such centres is in danger of oversupply.
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3. India in Africa

African farmland to Indian firms no cause for worry: UN official
A top official at UN agencies has sought to allay apprehensions among people of some African countries that propose to lease farmland to investors from countries like India to mutually secure food supplies under South-South cooperation. UN officials also say the rich countries must play a more meaningful role in addressing concerns over climate change in the African continent, assessed to need $25 billion in funding, with support also coming in from emerging economies like India and China. 'Concerns over land are just an apprehension. Land is allocated to serious investors and they are helping in the development of the respective regions. There is no free lunch,' said Youba Sokona, coordinator at the United Nations Economic Commission.
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Ahead of May summit, India steps up Africa diplomacy
Ahead of the second India-Africa Forum Summit, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday met his counterparts from over half a dozen African countries and underlined New Delhi's commitment to the development of the continent. Krishna met his counterparts from Eritrea, Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Niger, Central African Republic, Togo and Angola and discussed a range of bilateral issues, including intensification of trade, counter-terror cooperation and the UN reforms.
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Indian varsities fuel Mauritius' 'knowledge hub' dream
Private Indian universities setting up campuses in Mauritius are helping the island nation off the African coast realise its vision of transforming into a knowledge hub. Two of the largest private universities in India, the DY Patil Medical College and Amity University, are in the process of setting up their campuses in Mauritius. The JSS Mahavidyapeetha (JSSMVP), a Karnataka-based educational foundation, established the JSS Academy of Technical Education in Mauritius in 2006. As private universities in India seek to expand to foreign shores, Mauritius is an obvious choice for its proactive plans for expanding higher education in the country.
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Indian Overseas Bank plans African expansion
Public sector lender, Indian Overseas Bank is eyeing entry into African mainland now. Further, the lender aims to convert its representative offices in Dubai and China into proper bank branches. "We are looking for some openings in Africa ... we have just initiated the process," Indian Overseas Bank Chairman and Managing Director M Narendra said.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

Eye on UNSC seat, India for more aid to LDC members
The grouping of 48 Least Developed Countries (LDC) constitutes 25% of the total United Nations membership, and India is set to announce further concessions for the block when it hosts the two day ministerial meeting of the LDC countries from February 18. While the meet aims at furthering the south to south cooperation, it also helps India get its goodwill dividend in its efforts to get a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, as the grouping has 33 countries from Africa, 14 in the Asia Pacific region and one in Latin America and Caribbean, Haiti.
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SA business in Russia for trade, investment drive
A delegation of business leaders and government officials from South Africa arrived in Moscow on Monday for a three-day visit to boost trade and investment between Russia and South Africa. This comes ahead of South Africa's participation in the BRICS summit in China, scheduled for April. The three-day Trade and Investment Initiative in Moscow will include an exhibition and sector-specific investment seminars. The visit aims to strengthen partnerships between Russia and South Africa through joint ventures, technology transfer and skills sharing. It will also showcase products and services in Russia and South African markets.
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Brazil Launches New Bioenergy Initiative For Africa
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota and Development Bank President Luciano Coutinh agreed Thursday to join the efforts of their agencies in a fresh bid to promote bioenergy in Africa, China's Xinhua news agency reported. First programme under the new initiative will be focused on the eight members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, according to the agreement.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

China and U.S. Have Huge Room for Cooperation in Africa
At the turn of the year, two pieces of news about Africa in the Western media reports aroused wide attention. First, China has formally invited South Africa to join the cooperation mechanism of BRIC countries. And secondly, as the Associated Press reported it, the United States government is preparing to approach Africa in a quiet but strategic manner. South Africa has long been regarded as part of the traditional sphere of influence for Europe and the U.S., and so its accession to BRIC is soon interpreted by some Western media as its adopting the “Go East” strategy, as African countries, represented by South Africa, have realized that the world economic gravity is shifting toward the East with China as the leader. China is construed as the main “pusher” behind this shift and is allegedly intending to curry favor from and expanding its influence in Africa. The United States’ spreading the message of its intention to enhance engagement with Africa at this very moment is then seen by the media as Africa will be the new play ground for China and the U.S. in the next phase. This writer, however, does not agree with such a view.
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SA's Bric strategy is politically strategic
Mills Soko and Mzukisi Qobo’s article: “Creating more walls than Brics” (January 7) argues that South Africa’s invitation to join what they regard as an “amorphous entity” is “an affront to the country’s foreign policy”. This is not helpful. The invitation to join the group of Brazil, Russia, India and China (or Bric) and its acceptance is, primarily, a political issue and offers South Africa a fresh opportunity to engage with new global realities. The political potential is based on strategic considerations, given the clear indication that the Brics will become a political force. Brazil and Russia welcomed China’s decision to invite South Africa into the group, because of the country’s political significance. Brazil is of the view that South Africa, as a Bric member, will make an important contribution to the group on the basis of its “economic relevance” and its “constructive political action” globally.
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'China ready to go to war to safeguard national interests'
Terming US attempts to woo India and other neighbours of China as "unbearable," an article in a Communist party magazine has said that Beijing must send a "clear signal" to these countries that it is ready to go to war to safeguard its national interests. The article published in the Qiushi Journal, the official publication of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) said China must adhere to a basic strategic principle of not initiating war but being ready to counterattack.
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