Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Round-Up

1. General

UK warms up to Harare
Britain is increasingly showing strong signs that it wants to improve its relationship with Robert Mugabe as aides on both sides confirmed this week that a new policy of promoting trade between the two countries is taking off. This week a Foreign Office spokesman told this newspaper the UK government has a new focus on what it termed commercial diplomacy and that it is engaging with all sides of the inclusive government, made up of Zanu-PF, the MDC-T and MDC-M.
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Anxiety over exploitation mars East Africa trade talks with EU
The fate of the region’s long running search for a binding preferential trade pact with Europe hangs in the balance after the East African Community refrained from providing direction on crucial trade pacts last week. Lack of feedback from the regional body by the end of this month could leave traders open to higher tax levies and lock them out of established markets. The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) are seen as the only recognisable trade instruments through which the region will safeguard its preferential relations with Europe in the years to come as the world shifts away from non-reciprocal trade pacts of yesteryears.
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2. China in Africa

Zimbabwean workers protest over treatment by Chinese companies
China's engagement in Africa has come under the spotlight amid claims from Zimbabwean union officials that Chinese companies are engaged in the "gross violation" of labour rules. Chinese firms are said to have underpaid workers, forced them to work overtime for free, and not provided adequate safety clothing, according to the Zimbabwe Construction and Allied Trades Workers' Union. The complaints were made to the Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday. "We would like to warn the Chinese contractors who are operating in Zimbabwe that if they do not follow the laid-down laws, the union is going to take strong action against them," the secretary general of the union, Muchapiwa Mazarura, told Newsday. He said members had complained of the "gross violation of labour laws", and called on Zimbabwean government ministries to make greater efforts to ensure Chinese companies complied with the law.
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Chinese companies deny Africa labour abuse
Chinese companies Thursday denied allegations by a Zimbabwe trade union that said Chinese construction firms had violated labor laws there by underpaying and abusing local staff. Ge Yizhong, deputy general manager of Zim Nantong Construction, which is currently operating in Zimbabwe, told the Global Times that local workers his company had hired were satisfied with their working conditions, including salaries. "There is no ill-treatment of workers at my company. We have provided protective clothing to local workers and pay them according to the regulations set out by the local trade union," he said. "We have adjusted working hours to meet workers' demands. We have raised their pay twice since last year to counter the devaluation of the local currency."
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Zambia Uneasily Balances Chinese Investment and Workers’ Resentment
Hundreds of angry coal miners pushed toward the locked gate at Shaft 3, shouting and cursing as they neared the mine’s Chinese managers, who understood neither the English nor the Tonga words of the mob. As the workers butted up against the fence, the bosses grew more fearful and finally two fired their shotguns. The Zambian miners scrambled in terror. Bodies pivoted, jounced and stumbled. Boston Munakazela did not know he was hit until he suddenly fell over and saw the blood on his chest and arms. Vincent Chenjele was knocked off his bicycle with a hole ripped in his belly. Wisborn Simutombo, bleeding from his arms, legs and stomach, pleaded with friends to pull him to safety across the coal-dusted road. “We weren’t going to hurt them, but maybe the Chinese didn’t understand that,” Mr. Simutombo, 25, said recently, displaying scars left by the spray of shotgun pellets. “They were quick to shoot us though, and in Zambia the Chinese can get away with anything.”
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Zambia: Mine calls back 234 of 807 workers from recess
China Non-Ferrous Metal Mining Luanshya Copper Mine, has recalled 234 of the 807 employees who were sent on forced recess in order to pave way for maintenance works at the mine. Announcing the calling back of the 30 per cent workforce at the newly re-opened copper mine, Labour deputy minister Simon Kachimba says the other 573 workers would be called before the end of the year.
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Enterprises need cultural adaptation in Africa
Chinese companies have to rethink the way they adapt to local cultures and better handle labor relations when they extend their businesses into foreign countries. Reoccurring labor disputes, especially in Africa, are reminders that if Chinese enterprises want to settle into local markets and grow into real multinational giants, they have a lot to learn. The latest trouble took place in Zimbabwe, where a local union declared war on Chinese construction companies there, accusing them of providing poor employment conditions and firing the African workers at will. Although Chinese representatives tried their best to defend themselves, the damage was done.
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China-Africa trade ties move beyond resources
Energy deals took centre stage during a southern African tour by China's leader-in-waiting, but the growing ties between China and Africa are quickly moving beyond the traditional sectors of energy and infrastructure. Vice President Xi Jinping this week wrapped up a visit to South Africa, Angola and Botswana. Xi, who is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as head of the ruling Communist Party in 2012, witnessed the signing of deals worth millions of dollars to build a power plant and solar panel factory and to increase South African exports to China. Less visible during state visits but increasingly important is trade in sectors besides resources. Chinese consumer goods are making huge inroads in African markets, and more and more Chinese firms are exploring manufacturing deals.
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China, S. Africa ink deals on trade, energy
China and South Africa inked a series of energy and trade deals on Wednesday during Vice-President Xi Jinping's three-day visit to the nation with Africa's largest economy. The four inter-governmental agreements were announced during a bilateral trade commission co-chaired by Xi and South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.
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China, South Africa pledge to enhance military ties
China and South Africa on Thursday pledged to enhance military ties. The pledge came out of the meeting between Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie and South African Secretary of Defence Mpumi Mpofu, who was here for the fourth meeting of China-South Africa defence committee.
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S.Africa signs $435 mln solar deal with Yingli
South Africa has signed a deal with Chinese company Yingli Solar to build a $435 million manufacturing plant with a local partner, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Nelisiwe Magubane, director general at South Africa's department of energy, told Reuters on the sidelines of a visit by China's vice president that Yingli would partner with a local company and aimed to start building the plant within 12 months.
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Africa’s infrastructure next big move for China companies
The construction of transportation and power infrastructure across Africa could provide the next big opportunity for Chinese firms aiming to invest in the continent, a senior executive with South Africa's Standard Bank told Reuters. Speaking on the sidelines of a mining conference, Andrew King, the bank's Asia chief executive, said the big advantage Chinese developers had over their Western counterparts was the Chinese firms' access to financing from government policy banks.
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Chinese vice president calls for stronger FOCAC
Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Thursday called here for concerted efforts to make the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) stronger and to boost the development of the new type of China- Africa strategic partnership. Addressing a seminar marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of FOCAC, Xi proposed to strengthen strategic planning, practical cooperation and institution building of FOCAC so as to make it a solid base for political mutual trust, a major engine driving common development and an efficient and mature platform for China-Africa cooperation.
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China and Botswana sign economic, energy deals
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Sunday signed several economic deals with Botswana, the world's biggest diamond producer, including one offering the southern African country $6 million for development. Xi, touted as China's next president, arrived in Botswana on Saturday, the last stop on his Africa tour, after visiting oil producer Angola, China's biggest African trading partner, and South Africa --Africa's biggest economy. Vice President Mompati Merafhe and Xi signed three cooperation deals, including an Economic and Technical Cooperation agreement, under which China is to provide Botswana with aid worth 40 million RMB, China's Xinhua news agency reported. The two also signed an infrastructure and energy deal between the national utility Botswana Power Corporation and China Development Bank and Golden Concord Group, it said. The other agreement was on financial projects between the Botswana government and the Export-Import Bank of China.
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China, Angola establish strategic partnership
China and Angola announced Saturday that they have decided to establish a strategic partnership to continue shoring up bilateral cooperation. The leap forward in China-Angola ties came after visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and held talks with Vice President Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos. Both sides agreed, they said in a joint communique, that China and Angola are strategic cooperation partners, and that boosting their comprehensive collaboration serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both nations.
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Chinese financing to Angola reaches US$ 10 million
The Chinese Vice President, Xi Jinping, Friday in Luanda commended the relationship between his country and Angola, whose financing agreements have now reached US$ 10 million. Jinping disclosed that the commercial exchanges totalled US$ 19.8 billion in the first nine months of 2010, which shows an increase of 80.8 per cent, in comparison to the same period in 2009. He gave these figures at the opening of talks between both countries' ministerial delegations, which was also attended by the Angolan Vice President, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, which is expected to lead to the signing of co-operation agreements in the fields of infrastructure construction, minerals exploration and supply of railways equipment.
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China Exim Bank eyes Africa loans, commodity focus
The Export-Import Bank of China sees plenty of opportunity to extend loans in Africa, focussing on raw materials and oil, while commercial banks are steering clear of the risk, its chief executive said on Monday. "There are a lot of areas to operate - particularly in the raw materials and oil sector. Certainly this is the area we will focus on," Exim Bank Chairman Li Ruogu told European and Chinese executives, bankers and officials meeting in Luxembourg. This month European Union trade chief Karel De Gucht rejected what he called China's "cheque book" approach to doing business with Africa, saying the EU would continue demanding good governance and transparent use of funds from its trading partners.
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'2010 China-Africa Brightness Action' Launched in Beijing
The launching ceremony for the "2010 China-Africa Brightness Action" was held at Deer Jet's fix base operation (FBO), Beijing Capital International Airport on November 18. The charitable initiative, co-organized by the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), the National Committee of Blindness Prevention (NCBP), China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), HNA Group, Anhui Foreign Economic Construction (Group) and Beijing Tongren Hospital, will give patients with cataracts in Malawi and Zimbabwe, two countries in Southeast Africa, access to free vision rehabilitation surgeries for a week.
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Chinese charity to donate sweaters to abandoned African kids
A Chinese charity will donate home-made sweaters to abandoned and disabled children in six African countries - South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) said 2,010 sweaters weaved by Chinese mothers will be donated to the underprivileged children. 'Everybody who can weave and has spare time can show their love by knitting the sweaters,' He Junyi, an official in charge of the charity programme, was quoted as saying by Xinhua. The sweaters will be specially woven by volunteers, a CCTF spokesperson said.
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India in Africa

3. India

India holds meeting with African Regional Economic Communities
The first ever meeting between India and the African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) was held here this week as part of efforts to further enhance the institutional engagement between India and Africa. The meeting, held from November 14-16, was attended by the Secretary Generals of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC), the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Deputy Executive Secretary of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Adviser in-charge of Political Affairs of Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD), the Director of Political Affairs of Union of the Arab Maghreb (UMA/AMU) and senior officials from their delegations.
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India can help transform Africa through education: AU official
India is poised to set up a string of higher education and training institutions in Africa - in areas ranging from diamond polishing to foreign trade - that differentiate its development-centric approach from that of China, says Jean-Pierre Ezin, a top African Union (AU) official. 'The AU looks to India to set up higher education institutions in Africa. India is doing a lot for the future of the continent and can transform the continent through education,' Ezin, commissioner of the African Union Commission for Human Resource and Science and Technology, told IANS in an interview.
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Indian Telecoms: Moving West
Don’t be surprised if again Africa and not Bangalore is making the headlines in 2011 as the main investment destination by Indian telecoms companies. Fifteen years ago there was no private telecoms industry in India. Today not only is there a vibrant domestic industry but many of the larger players such as Bharti, Reliance and Tata are now expanding outside India. One destination in particular – Africa – is proving to be increasingly popular for what we can term both “push” and “pull” factors.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

China's Brazilian shopping spree
They’ve snapped up iron mines in the south, bought into oil fields off the coast, and they may be trolling for 850,000 acres of farmland, too. While Chinese investors spent the last decade buying up natural resources across Africa, this year they’ve begun an unprecedented shopping spree in Brazil. In less than 12 months, Chinese investment has jumped by orders of magnitude — from a registered $82 million in 2009 to more than $25 billion in planned projects reported so far this year. “It’s the first year where big, big investments — tens of billions of dollars — have been announced,” said Kevin Tang, a director at the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “This decade will be one where we see an investment boom between China and Brazil.” Chinese companies have announced more than $25 billion in Brazilian investment deals to date in 2010, according to a tally of deals tracked by the government and reported in the press. Billions more are reportedly in negotiations.
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Building BRICs in Africa
Some eye-catching numbers from Standard Bank out today on the influence of BRICs countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — on Africa. First off, the bank says the global recession and its recovery have been nourishing these so-called South-South ties. But it is all now ready to take off.
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ANALYSIS-Partners S.Africa and China battle for Zimbabwe
While South Africa and China have been building on a relationship that will bind them even more tightly for years to come, they have also been increasingly at loggerheads over future influence in Zimbabwe. South Africa this week hosted Vice President Xi Jinping, touted as China's next leader, signing deals with much ceremony to build trade with its biggest bilateral partner, while Beijing aimed to secure resources and investment. But the two have also been quietly jockeying for years for a stake in the untapped wealth in Zimbabwe, once a regional power through its minerals and agriculture until blunders by the government of President Robert Mugabe turned it into a basket case, where inflation reached 500 billion percent in 2008.
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Friends of Tibet promise to continue fight for Dalai Lama
Local politicians and lobbyists vowed this weekend to continue their fight for a South African entry visa for the Dalai Lama following meetings with the exiled Tibetan leader in India. Ian Macfarlane, director of the South African Friends of Tibet lobby group, met with the Dalai Lama in India last week. He was part of a group of South African lobbyists who returned home from New Delhi this weekend. They attended the Conference on the Future of Tibet alongside 250 delegates from 56 countries in New Delhi.
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South African Coal Price Highest in Two Years on Chinese Demand
Prices for coal shipped from South Africa’s Richards Bay, the continent’s biggest export facility for the fuel, rose to the highest level in more than two years on Chinese demand. A cold wave is sweeping across China from the west, lowering temperatures in northern regions by as much as 18 degrees Celsius today, the National Meteorological Center said. That may spur coal demand. Power-station coal prices at Qinhuangdao port, a Chinese benchmark, rose today to the highest since Jan. 25, data from the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association show. “The bulk of recent imports have been from China,” Amrita Sen, a London-based analyst with Barclays Capital, said by phone today. Buyers have increasingly turned to South Africa for coal because supplies from Indonesia have been hampered by rainfall and Australian shipments face infrastructure bottlenecks, she said.
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Rand Merchant asked Zambia to diversify into infrastructure and agriculture development
South African lender, Rand Merchant Bank, a subsidiary of First National Bank asked Zambia to diversify into infrastructure and agriculture development than rely on copper to accelerate economic growth. Mr Theuns De Wet fixed income currency and commodity researcher said that although copper has been Zambia’s mainstay the country buoyed by increased copper production and high metal pricing on the international market, should refocus its vision into infrastructure and agriculture development to increase its economy beyond 6%.
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UN Experts Urge South Africa to Strengthen Control Over Private Security Firms
A group of independent United Nations experts today urged South Africa to strengthen oversight and control over private military and security companies exporting their services abroad, saying regulations currently in place face implementation challenges. At the end of a 10-day visit to the country, the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries noted that South Africans have, since the end of apartheid in 1994, been widely employed by private military and security companies operating around the world. As a result, South Africa was one of the first countries to adopt legislation on the provision of foreign military assistance in 1998. "Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the regulatory regime established in South Africa for private military and security companies and individuals operating in different countries has faced challenges in terms of implementation," the Working Group, which visited South Africa at the invitation of the Government, said in a statement.
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Unlikely Person at the Heart of India’s Scandal
He was a small-town lawyer from a regional political party in a southern Indian state. By almost any measure, Andimuthu Raja, who had no background in telecommunications or in business, seemed an unlikely candidate to be the government minister presiding over the fastest-growing cellphone market in the world. But he had the only qualification that mattered: the ironclad backing of the political chieftain of his party, a crucial ally of the governing Congress Party. Without his party’s 16 members of the lower house of Parliament, the government cobbled together from squabbling allies would collapse. Mr. Raja is now at the center of what may turn out to be the biggest political corruption scandal in Indian history. He is accused of using his post to sell off valuable mobile telephone spectrum licenses in 2008 at rock-bottom prices. His decisions may have cost the Indian treasury as much as $40 billion, according to a government investigative report released last week.
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Brazil commits $13.66 million for Sickle Cell Centre in Ghana
Brazil has committed a grant of $13.66 million to Ghana, for the construction of a Blood and Sickle Cell Centre in Kumasi to facilitate the fight against the disease. The project would include a blood transfusion centre and out-patient clinic for sickle cell and other blood diseases.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

China-Africa Trade and Economic Relationship: Annual Report 2010
A report by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, in cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, provides an overview of Sino-Africa trade and economic data for 2009 and provides an outlook for relations in 2010.
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Ghana On The Wrong Path With Recent Chinese Loans
Ghana is obviously on the wrong path with the signing of recent billions of dollars in Chinese loans. While some economic observers hailed it as a major financial lifeline to a country on a continent that is unable to attract such a magnitude of financial support from the international financial centers like Washington, London, and Paris, and their Bretton Woods Institutions, Beijing is fast becoming a reliable alternative to the traditional lenders. However, an unimpeachable source, who was a member of the delegation that negotiated the deal, is unhappy with some of the elements of the deal. According to him, China, as a result of its fast-paced development, is seeking ways to dispose some of its rickety old trains, built over three decades ago, to make way for the connection of its fast trains across the entire Chinese mainland. As part of the deal, Ghana is to receive these old coaches and tracks which will amount to unspecified billions of dollars.
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India’s Neo-colonialism in Africa
Neo-colonialism is the most dangerous form of colonialism, which is prevalent in the present world. In the past, the most developed countries had direct control on the less developed countries, but most of the colonies got independence after the World War 11. As regards neo-colonialism, in theory a less developed or developing country is free, but in practice, its government and economy are controlled by a developed country indirectly. In these terms, by imitating the other western powers, India has been practising neo-colonialism in Africa. Today, Africa is the hub of natural resources with leading world powers, having eye the continent. Only an average 3% of cultivatable land in Africa is being used now, which is not sufficient to feed the entire population of Africa. The trade and investment in agriculture and agro-infrastructure are inter-linked and need foreign support. In this respect, India persuaded Africa to share Indian experience in this sector. Indian scientific and agricultural research institutions have assisted around 5,000 entrepreneurs for developing their business ideas in the African countries. Today, India’s foreign policy is being questioned as India is being accused of neo-imperialism in Africa, using its agriculture land to cater to the Indian population at home.
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New battle over Africa’s dependence on foreign aid
An unexpected struggle developed at a conference in Tunis recently between developed countries and Africa in what was meant to be a cordial meeting between "partners". The dispute was between the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Africa represented by the African Development Bank (ADB), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) and the Commission of the African Union, and was around the agenda of the World Conference in South Korea next year to review progress on aid effectiveness.
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Promoting Smart and Responsible Investment in Africa
As prepared for delivery, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, The World Bank, 2010 China Mining Congress and Expo, Tianjin, China, November 16, 2010
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Address by Foreign Secretary at NDC on ‘Challenges in India’s Foreign Policy’
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Zuma on BRICs, pardons and his cabinet shake-up
Prepared text of president's answers to questions in parliament, November 18 2010
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