Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Roundup

1. General

US foreign aid faces cuts as China's reach grows
U.S. efforts to counter China's growing influence in the developing world are a likely casualty of the budget battles dominating Washington's politics, as chunks of the foreign aid program face the ax. That could hurt not just the world's poor, but America's reach in emerging markets where China has ramped up investment and provided easy credit. The Obama administration has sought to step up its engagement in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Central Asia and Latin America. Development aid is a key plank of its strategy. The State Department argues it is "as central to advancing America's interests as diplomacy and defense."
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Labour and government take on retail giant
Government and the trade unions may have thrown a spanner in the works by getting the Massmart/Walmart merger hearing delayed by almost two months. However witness statements from the proceedings hint at the ideological war that will take place before the Competition Tribunal in May. The unions' objections to the merger have been buttressed by a number of affidavits filed by lawyers, academics and economic advisors from around the world, presenting anecdotal evidence of examples where the entrance of Walmart into a country has allegedly had a negative effect on small businesses and the labour force. Walmart and Massmart, on the other hand, argue that they will bring real competition, efficiency and job creation to South Africa.
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Foreign Investors Grab Land in Southern Sudan, Norwegian Aid Group Says
Foreign investors are buying large tracts of land in Southern Sudan that add up to an area larger than Rwanda, threatening food supplies and stability in a region due to become independent in July, a Norwegian aid group said. International organizations have sought or acquired 26,400 square kilometres (10,000 square miles) of land for agricultural, biofuel and forestry projects since 2007, Oslo- based Norwegian People’s Aid said yesterday in a report. When domestic investments, previously established mechanized farms and investments in tourism are included, the total comes to 57,400 square kilometres, about 9 percent of the region’s total land area, it said.
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2. China in Africa

Zambia's Chinese-owned copper plant workers strike
More than 600 workers at Zambia's Chinese-owned Chambishi Copper Smelter have downed tools demanding a pay rise, bringing production at the plant to a halt, a union official said on Friday. Chambishi, a joint venture of China Nonferrous Metals Corporation (CNMC) and Yunnan Copper Industry about 370 km north of Lusaka, processes 150,000 tonnes of blister copper per annum. Mundia Sikufele, president of the National Union of Mining and Allied Workers, said the strike started on Thursday after the management offered a 12 percent pay rise, which the workers rejected.
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Africa, China relations top agenda at Nairobi meeting
More than 50 African researchers and think tanks have begun a two-day consultative meeting in Nairobi to explore ways of encouraging research and policy on Africa-China relations. The exercise is expected to create an effective Africa-China Research Cooperation and Academic Exchange programme. The conference that was organised under the auspices of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) seeks to identify research priorities, activities and programmes, policy dialogue and advocacy issues.
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Tullow in $2,9bn Uganda deal with Total, CNOOC
British-based oil explorer Tullow Oil has agreed to sell stakes in its Ugandan operations to France's Total and China's CNOOC for $2,9-billion, bringing in big partners to develop the oil fields. Tullow said on Wednesday it agreed to sell each company a one third interest in fields around Lake Albert, which Tullow estimates to contain 1-billion barrels of oil, and potentially as much as 3,5-billion barrels. Tullow will retain a third share.
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China and Africa to deepen cooperation on intellectual property
China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) signed a memorandum of cooperation and understanding in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on March 28 to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation in the field of intellectual property. Under the memorandum of cooperation and understanding, the two countries will establish a basic framework for bilateral cooperation and launch activities, such as information exchange, recognition of best practices and capacity construction, to improve the management of the intellectual property systems of both parties and to improve efficiency.
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Chinese, Cameroon leaders mark 40th anniversary of ties
Chinese President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages with his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya Saturday to mark the 40th anniversary of bilateral ties. In his message, Hu hailed the healthy and steady development of China-Cameroon relations over the past four decades. The two countries had kept frequent high-level exchanges of visits, conducted fruitful cooperation in various fields, carried out programs within the framework of the China-Africa cooperation forum, and maintained close coordination and collaboration on regional and international affairs, Hu said.
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3. India in Africa

India-Africa partnership to fight dryland poverty
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) today announced the formation of ICRISAT South-South Initiative (IS-SI) to boost India-Africa partnership on agriculture research aimed at tackling poverty in drylands. Dr Nigel Poole, Chairman of ICRISAT Governing Board, in a statement said IS-SI will build upon ICRISAT's strong India-Africa partnership to scale up its role as the driver of prosperity and economic opportunities in the dryland tropics.
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India-Africa business conclave starts Sunday
With booming two-way trade, investment deals worth billions of dollars are likely to be discussed at the three-day India-Africa project partnership conclave that starts here Sunday, organisers said. Some 800 delegates from nearly 35 African countries are scheduled to participate at the seventh such conclave, co-hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Exim Bank, in cooperation with the ministries of external affairs and commerce. India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna is scheduled to kick-off the conclave with a special plenary address Sunday evening at the Taj Palace hotel. The theme this year: Creating Possibilities; Delivering Values.
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India-Africa businesses discuss $18 b worth projects
Seeking to forge a new economic partnership, Indian and African businessmen, delegates and political leadership went into a huddle discussing investments to the tune of $18 billion covering nearly 204 projects ranging from energy to education. With the seventh edition of the CII-Exim Bank conclave on India Africa Project Partnership coming to an end on Tuesday, over a dozen Ministers, including two Prime Ministers, attended the meet. The conclave witnessed the largest ever participation of 650 delegates.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

Sudan secures US$360 mil. loan to build new dams and airport
Cash-strapped Sudan secured a US$360 million loan on Monday to help finance a new airport in the capital and two dams in the east of the country that will boost power supplies and irrigate farmland. U.S. sanctions, dwindling foreign reserves and a crippling debt burden, of around US$38 billion, have hampered Sudan's ability to secure external financing for new projects.
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India, China To Finance Construction of Rail Network Across Ethiopia
India and China have separately agreed to finance construction of a railway corridor across Ethiopia. The proposed 2,395-km national rail track, which is part of the Growth and Transformation Plan, is being seen as quite significant for the transportation system in this east African country. The entire railway network to be constructed across Ethiopia is estimated to cost $6 billion, of which India has pledged $300 million. The country seeks $300 million more from India, which has pledged assistance for the development of infrastructure in Africa.
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BRICS committed to the development of entire world: Chinese official
BRICS countries are committed to the development of developing nations and the entire world, a senior Chinese official said in Beijing on Friday. "It is the noble goal and the strong desire for peace, cooperation and development that made the five countries gather together," said Chinese State Councilor Dai Binggu in a meeting with experts and scholars of think-tanks from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. The experts and scholars, along with their Chinese peers, held a symposium in Beijing on Thursday and Friday to provide suggestions for the third BRICS Leaders' Meeting scheduled for mid-April in southern China.
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Russia sees BRICS as key element of new global economic model
The BRICS group is a key element of new global economic model and is expected to push on the reform of global monetary system, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry's spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing that Russia is optimistic of future of the group, which together accounted for 25 percent of the global GDP. He also noted that South Africa's accession to the group will boost the alliance's relation with the African Union and other international organizations.
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Anglo’s Kumba Proposes $7 Billion South African Steel Plant
Kumba Iron Ore Ltd., a unit of Anglo American Plc, proposed that South Africa build a $7 billion plant to make steel slab for export to Asia, helping to cut unemployment and boost growth in Africa’s largest economy. The plan would increase the steel industry’s contribution to economic output to about 17 billion rand ($2.5 billion) in 2015, from 12.7 billion rand in 2008, and create as many as 3,000 jobs, Kumba said in a report today. The plant would export to China, South Korea and Japan, countries with surplus rolling capacity and a shortage of iron ore, a raw material, it said.
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India trailing other BRIC nations on digital access
India is trailing the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia and China in the drive to get its population connected to digital technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones, a new report shows. The Digital Inclusion Index, provided by risk analysis firm Maplecroft, said India fell into the category of "extreme risk", meaning its population and economy was being stifled by a lack of "digital inclusion". Maplecroft used 10 indicators to judge the level of access to information communication technologies across 186 countries, including mobile and broadband subscriptions, fixed telephone lines and households with a computer and television.
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AU seeks roadmap, transitional govt to resolve Libyan crisis
A consultative meeting of the African Union (AU) and word powers on Libya is seeking to develop a roadmap, including a transition period, to be agreed by warring parties in the North African state, AU Chief, Jean Ping, said. The meeting, called by the AU and attended by Russia, China, US and France, opened in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, Friday. The AU also invited Libyan government and the National Transitional Congress (TNC) to the meeting. Ping said Thursday that the Libyan leader, Mouammar Kadhafi, accepted the invitation and had wanted to send his Prime Minster.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

Russia’s response to the Libyan crisis: a paradigm shift?
The rapidly changing situation in North Africa and the Middle East (the NAME region) has presented Russia with a number of difficult foreign policy challenges. Russia’s early reaction to the crisis in Libya has not only confused observers, but also allowed them to talk about a split within the country’s top leadership. Yet, hopefully, in the end, a more mature—and ultimately more effective—Russian policy in the NAME region will emerge.
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India, no rubber stamp for West
Emerging from the situation two decades ago, when the country was bankrupt and internationally isolated with the collapse of the Soviet Union, India can derive satisfaction from what has been achieved since then. The nuclear tests of 1998 and end of global nuclear sanctions by the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008 led to worldwide recognition of India as a legitimate nuclear weapons power. With a sustained high rate of economic growth and increasing integration with the global economy, India is now a member of the G-20 and the expanded East Asia Summit comprising the members of Asean together with the US, Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand.
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Delhi lags behind Beijing in Africa
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prepares for the second India-Africa Summit later this summer, a reality check on the last such meet held in Delhi in 2008 shows that where Delhi has dithered, Beijing has quickly covered ground. Even as India has sat complacently, counting basically on the presence of a substantial number of prosperous persons of Indian origin in the region, China has been aggressively working on making its presence felt. This is as true in Tanzania, a country in East Africa with which India has historical relations.
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