Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Round-Up

1. General

Africa is painting a distorted picture of economic progress
Last week, the World Bank predicted that the EAC region was set to grow by an average of five per cent over the next year. And who would blame the general public for believing the optimism, adjusted inflation figures that distort real living standards, an expansionary monetary policy, upward corrections in all the major financial markets, and a booming property industry are all positive signals for a change in our fortunes. But this veil, displaying a new chapter in our economic history only serves to hide a distortion that is perpetuated by ill informed institutional leaders. The economic gap that exists today between the rich world and Africa is alarming and has only been made more so to me, by the measures developed nations are taking to fix their deficits.
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To prosper, Southern Sudan must wean itself from the aid bandwagon
Rich donors to Africa have a tendency to take credit for many of the continent’s achievements. But donor interventions in Africa are not always altruistic, and are quite often detrimental. Sceptics have often noted that aid does not reduce poverty; it is often the cause of poverty and violence in many parts of world. A recent article in Newsweek, for instance, has suggested that the pumping of massive amounts of aid money into Southern Sudan has had at least two visibly detrimental effects: educated Southern Sudanese are choosing to set up their own NGOs to tap into the aid money instead of taking up government jobs, and the high salaries paid to expatriate aid workers is distorting the local economy. Worse, massive aid flows could also be a catalyst for renewed violence, as a government flush with aid money could be viewed as “a prize by competing Sudanese factions”, writes Newsweek’s Kevin Peraino. But recent statements by President Barack Obama suggest that US aid policies towards Africa may be changing dramatically.
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Dark Liquid Continent
The recent gulf of Mexico disaster has been said to be the worst oil spill in US history. This tragedy has brought to the surface the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the oil companies. With this disaster, BP (earlier, British Petroleum) is now in the eye of the storm. BP (now, re-branded as Beyond Petroleum) has for long been flaunting its environment-friendly logo of an invigorating green and vibrant yellow sun, bestowing it with a halo of social responsibility. A rather deceptive halo, it seems. It's not just CSR which has attracted attention, but also the double standards of oil multinationals at home and in host countries. A case in point is Nigeria where oil spills have been the order of the day. Yet, the oil multinationals operating in the Niger delta have often been immune to the basic protocol of rational conduct.
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G-20 to Avoid `Competitive Devaluation,' Prod China
Group of 20 finance chiefs vowed to avoid weakening currencies to lift exports and left it to a leaders’ meeting next month to flesh out how to further pressure member China to allow faster gains in the yuan. Finance ministers and central bankers ended talks in South Korea Oct. 23 foreswearing “competitive devaluation” to calm fears of a trade war stemming from using cheaper currencies to spur growth. They called for reduced trade imbalances while stopping short of a U.S. proposal for targets that was aimed at making a yuan advance more palatable to China. Leaders will take up the debate at the Seoul summit on Nov. 11-12.
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Global oil firms interested In Uganda’s refinery
Oil majors from India, China and Europe have expressed their interest in building Uganda’s first refinery, expected to have a capacity of 200,000 barrels a day, the minister of state for energy said last week. The new refinery will be a boost for the energy-starved nation in East Africa, which currently meets its oil product requirements through imports from the Mombasa oil refinery in Kenya. London-listed Essar Energy PLC, China’s CNOOC Ltd, France’s Total S.A. as well as other European oil companies have shown interest in the proposed project, Mr Simon D’Ujanga told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
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Guinea mining 'totally corrupt'
Multinational firms have fought for years to control Guinea's enormous mineral wealth, leaving the future president with a totally corrupt sector to clean up, according to critics in civil society. "We are the world's second largest bauxite producer, we have iron ore reserves envied by everybody, we have gold, diamonds, oil, etc. But we vegetate in misery. We lack even water and electricity," said Mamadou Taran Diallo, president of the Guinean coalition of Publish What You Pay, a global initiative.
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2. China in Africa

AU Chairman Ping Concludes Visit to China
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr Jean Ping, has concluded a four-day visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese Government. During the visit, which took place from 31 October to 3 November 2010, the Chairperson was received in Shanghai by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Yang Jiechi, who co-chaired with Dr. Ping the 3rd China-AU Strategic Dialogue. Both sides exchanged views on a broad range of issues of mutual concern, including the situation in Sudan and Somalia.
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USD16.4m deal inked to improve Tazara services
The Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has signed a contract with the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) for the manufacture and supply of six mainline locomotives and spare parts, worth USD 16.4 million. A Tazara press statement issued yesterday in Dar es Salaam said the agreement was signed by Tazara managing director Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and CCECC representative Miao Zhong. It said the locomotives would be manufactured by CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Company Limited of China on behalf of CCECC under licence of the renowned General Electric (GE) of the US.
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China firms outmuscling Kenyan ones on road projects
Kenya's prime minister on Tuesday challenged Kenyan road construction firms to improve their standards and take on Chinese companies that have won several tenders in the country's major road expansion programme. The government in east Africa's largest economy has embarked on its most ambitious infrastructure investment programme ever, entailing construction of new roads, upgrading of some facilities and the rehabilitation of others. About 78.6 billion shillings has been budgeted for spending on road construction in the fiscal year ending next June. Local firms have missed out on the lucrative contracts, scooping only a third of the total value of awarded contracts with the rest going to foreign firms mainly from China.
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Chinese companies among bidders for Juba-Lamu oil pipeline: WSJ
Chinese companies are among those that are competing to win a contract for building a pipeline that would pump oil produced in South Sudan through a Kenyan port, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The controversial project would enable the landlocked South to avoid transporting its main export through the pipeline that runs through the North until it reaches Port Sudan.
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Bid for Ghana Oil Field Rebuffed
Ghana's state-owned oil company and China's Cnooc Ltd. made an unsuccessful joint bid of $5 billion for a U.S. company's stake in one of Africa's most promising oil regions, an official of the Ghanaian company said Monday. The offer was for a 23.5% stake in Ghana's Jubilee field, one of the continent's largest oil deposits, and other nearby assets. The field, thought to contain 1.5 billion barrels of crude, is scheduled to start producing oil in December, heralding Ghana's entry into the ranks of Africa's major oil producers.
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China on multi-billion dollar projects in Zimbabwe
China has pledged to assist Zimbabwe build two more schools, a mini-hydro power station and various other assistance as the two countries continue to strengthen ties. Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Xin Shunkang, said the assistance would be exten-ded under the China-Africa Co-operation. Mr Xin was addressing more than 30 journalists attending a two-day workshop on photography in Harare. He was speaking on China’s economic development and Sino-Africa relations. The multi-billion dollar projects, he said, would be implemented in the next three years as Zimbabwe and China celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations.
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Congo defends $6 bln China deal, awaits funds
The Democratic Republic of Congo and China have defended a $6 billion deal for copper mining and infrastructure projects which some say could leave the poor central African nation out of pocket. The deal was reduced from $9 billion last year after the IMF raised concerns that it could plunge the poor central African nation deeper into debt and delayed a multi-billion dollar debt forgiveness deal pending its revision. Detractors still say the accord, one of a growing number signed between China and African states, lacks transparency and could ultimately be to Congo's detriment. "We don't lose -- we earn everything," said Moise Ekanga, Congo's coordinator for the Sino-Congolese Cooperation Agreement, in an interview setting out terms of the accord.
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Chinese will open a $67 million leather factory in Ethiopia
China’s Xinxiang Kuroda Mingliang Leather Co. will open a $67 million leather factory in Ethiopia on Nov. 24, adding to the billions of dollars already invested in the East African country by China. Xinxiang financed 55 percent of the project, with the remainder coming from the China-Africa Development Fund, the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia said in an e-mailed statement today.
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Ghanaian journalists to train in China next year
China is rolling out a training package for Ghanaian journalists, to broaden their horizon on the culture of the Asian giant and sharpen their skills. Mr Gong Jianzhong, Chinese Ambassador, made this known on Tuesday, when he paid a courtesy call to the Management of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra to acquaint himself with the operations of the wire service. Mr Gong expressed his appreciation to journalists and media houses in the country for portraying China positively to Africa and the rest of the world.
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Africa – China Conference opens in Ethiopia
A high level Africa – China Conference to discuss Development Transformation Approaches to reduce poverty, accelerate bread based growth and advance the Millennium Development Goals in Africa is underway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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China seen as crucial market for SA tourism
China has been identified as a crucial tourism market, with Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk saying several initiatives are under way to unlock its potential as a key market. These include securing an agreement to lift travel restrictions on Chinese tourists to SA, as well as pursuing direct air access between the two countries. Mr van Schalkwyk said that, after two high-level visits to China this year, including a state visit by President Jacob Zuma in August, SA is hopeful that a deal lifting travel curbs on Chinese citizens will be reached by May. “I expect to announce a comprehensive agreement with China at the Tourism Indaba in Durban in May,” he said last week.
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China and Botswana consumate media wedding
To mark 35 years of the existence of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and Botswana, the two governments saw it fitting to promote media cooperation because the Fourth Estate plays a conducive role in building and developing relationships. Officiating at the China-Botswana media seminar last Friday, Chinese Ambassador to Botswana, Liu Huanxing, said media partnerships between the two countries could enhance the existing socio-economic and cultural cooperation.
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Sinohydro Group boosts African stakes
Sinohydro Group, a leading State-owned group in hydropower construction, will increase its investments in Africa, said a senior company official. "We are conducting a series of projects in some African countries, including a copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and two hydropower stations, one in Mozambique, and the other in Zambia. We are also looking closely at investment opportunities in Liberia," said Ding Zhengguo, assistant president in charge of overseas projects for Sinohydro Group, on Tuesday.
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Chinese enterprises shoulder social responsibilities in Africa
A gradual transformation appears to be taking place among Chinese enterprises in Africa. Feng Zuoku, vice president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, spoke Friday at the launching ceremony of an online poll for the Top 10 Chinese Enterprises in Africa in Beijing. He said China now puts more emphasis on improving Africans' "living standards and quality of life.” "In addition to the breakthroughs made in trade and economic relations between two countries, Chinese enterprises have been involved in many projects related to Af-rican people's livelihood improvement, which have been welcomed by African people and praised by African leaders," Feng said. In order to showcase the all-weather relationship between China and Africa and recognize the philanthropic practice of Chinese companies in Africa, the voting has selected 20 candidate enterprises, all of which share the same qualifications of protecting Africa's local environment and cultures with a strong sense of fulfilling corporate social responsibility.
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China's great African hopes
China would like Africa, and South Africa in particular, to be a sexy topic in its business circles, it seems. Africa is usually conspicuous in its absence in the People's Republic of China's state media, but the past few weeks has seen a slew of articles aimed at boosting the image of the African continent in influential trade and investment circles. State media organisations, like other businesses in China, are directed from the top. Journalists inside China's massive propaganda machinery tell how government missives are regularly issued to editors, instructing what can and can't be reported, and what the editorial line on certain issues should be.
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A Win-Win Forum
The FOCAC has promoted China-Africa joint development, said a September report issued by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). While helping project China's influence in Africa and beyond, it has boosted Africa's international profile and brought China-Africa relations onto a larger stage, said the report, titled "Toward a New Decade: Research on the Sustainable Development of the FOCAC."
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3. India in Africa

Slow credit disbursement to Africa worries India
At a time when India and China are locked in a race for control of natural resources and energy assets in Africa, the Indian government is worried about the slow pace of disbursement from a $5.4 billion (Rs24,030 crore) line of credit that it promised to Africa in 2008. The issue has already caught the attention of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which is conducting a review to ascertain the reasons behind the delays. Money from the line of credit, announced at a summit of the India-Africa Forum, was to be disbursed over a period of five years.
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India's ONGC confirms seeking Angola assets; no decision on Iran
Indian upstream player ONGC Videsh expects to conclude an agreement soon in Kazakhstan for an exploration block in the Caspian Sea and has not yet decided whether to pull out of Iran's South Pars project because of the threat of US sanctions, exploration director Joeman Thomas said Tuesday. ONGC Videsh, or OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned ONGC, is also actively pursuing offshore opportunities in Angola but cannot confirm that it is among the companies approached to take a stake in a block that ExxonMobil wants to quit, he said in an interview.
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US, India may jointly tap Africa agriculture
India and the US may team up to tap farm opportunities in Africa that may also translate into the US funding Indian farm projects in the continent. The proposal is a spin-off from the India-US Agriculture Dialogue and an announcement is likely during the US President Barack Obama’s visit starting 6 November. “As part of the India-US dialogue on agriculture, there has been some focus on Africa,” said a senior Indian government official who didn’t want to be identified. “We will talk to them. It will be our projects and their funding, and will result in reduced cost of delivery. The African countries will be our equal partners.”
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Uranium and diamonds set to boost trade with India
Trade between Namibia and India has seen a modest but steady growth although trade volume is still in favour of India with exports to Namibia standing at US$22 million, while imports from Namibia amount to US$4 million, according to information provided by the High Commission of the Republic of Namibia in India. The principal export commodities from India to Namibia are drugs and pharmaceuticals, inorganic, organic and agro, chemicals, glass and glassware, plastic and linoleum products, metals products, machine tools, machinery and instruments, transport equipment, rubber products and electronic goods.
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Malawi, India ink four pacts as Bingu invite investors
Malawi and India on Wednesday signed four bilateral agreements to deepen cooperation in the fields of health, rural development and mineral resources. President Bingu Wa Mutharika and Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh held discussions on several issues for about an hour at Hyderabad House in Delhi before the pacts were signed.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

S.Korea says seeking $1 bln Congo mining deal
A consortium of South Korean companies will seek a minerals-for-infrastructure deal in Democratic Republic of Congo that could be worth $1 billion, Congolese and South Korean officials told Reuters late on Friday. The proposed deal -- involving refurbishment of a copper mine and construction of an Atlantic deepwater port -- would bolster South Korea's bid to secure long-term access to metals while speeding Congo's development, South Korean ambassador to Congo Kim Sung-chul said. "We were more poor than Congo in the 1960s, now we are chairing the G20. This change was possible only thanks to support from outside and we think it's high time we repay that," he said. Kim is leading a delegation of executives from South Korean firms Samsung, Hyundai, Bosco, Daewoo, and Taejoo Synthesis Steel to Congo mining sites.
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Brazil’s Vale to invest US$20 billion in Africa, with Mozambique a priority
Brazil’s Vale mining company plans to invest between US$15 billion and US$20 billion in projects in Africa in the next five years, nearly ten times as much as it has spent to date on the continent, and Mozambique will be one of the priorities. The company – the world’s biggest iron ore producer – indicated last week that it hopes the investments will also make it one of the three top copper producers on the continent, where there are abundant reserves of that mineral. It will also mine iron and coal.
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SA urged not to be ‘obsessed’ with Bric
SA’s bid to join one of the leading emerging market groups came under attack from trade policy experts yesterday. SA is campaigning to be admitted to the Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric) bloc of countries, in the belief that joining Bric will open up new markets for exports. However, yesterday at a South African Institute of International Affairs trade forum , some trade policy experts disputed this belief.
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The fragile bit of Bric
Despite Brazil's powerhouse reputation, Latin America needs to learn from China to secure future economic growth. Over the past 30 years, both China and nations across Latin America have sought to move away from inward looking economic models and integrate into the world economy. In 1980, the collective economic output of Latin America was seven times as large as that of China. Now, China's economy is larger than all of the economies in Latin America combined.
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NTT takes foothold in Africa with Dimension Data
Japanese mobile operator NTT is finally moving to invest in Africa's lucrative telecom market, completing the buyout of South Africa's Dimension Data. Deminsion Data has a presence in many African countries but with the buyout, the company is now poised to expand its services. NTT is buying the company for US$3. 24 billion and makes it the first Japanese telecom company to take a major stake in the African market.The deal will likely open a window of investment in Africa by Japanese companies that have been reluctant to enter an expanding telecom market that has become a center of an investment war by international businesses.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

How the politics of polarity affects the African continent
At any given moment in the global political order power is distributed in a way and manner that favours certain states more than others. Now such states are usually dominant enough to assign their own values to the international political system which has been described as amorphous. So the nature of the distribution of power in the system determines the type of polarity prevailing at any given moment. Four types of polarities have been identified by scholars namely, unipolarity, bipolarity, tripolarity and multipolarity . A shift from one kind of polarity to the other signals a re-arrangement of the global power system hence a new world order ensues.
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Currency War Marks Beginning of Shift from Washington Consensus to Beijing Consensus
We sit amongst the vulnerable beneath the trampling of elephants as they fight it out. South Africa may be a big player in Africa, but is no match for the economic giants in the global arena. South Africa simply does not have the foreign currency reserves or trade power to fight a currency war. All South Africa can do is watch and hope for the best while attempting to stem the assault on the Rand to some degree -- but it won’t be enough. The currency war on everyone's lips marks a new front in geopolitical tussles between old and new powers. Emerging powers are slowly subverting the hierarchy of wealth in favour of themselves. This is really at the heart of matters, as they stand.
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ALLISTER SPARKS: Let's look for solutions closer to home
While it has become fashionable to extol the virtues of the fast-growing BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- and for our policy planners to enthuse particularly about the "developmental state," which they seem to regard as a blueprint for economic success yet have still to define it properly, I would like to suggest that we cast our gaze a little closer to home. To Africa, no less. Ten years after The Economist in its notorious cover story declared Africa to be "The Hopeless Continent," McKinsey and Company, the prestigious global management consultancy, has rated it as delivering the highest rate of return on foreign investment of all developing regions.
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BRIC’s role in Africa’s economic and infrastructural development: New partners in a new era
The lack of physical infrastructure in Africa is said to be the largest obstacle to the continent’s global integration. The shortage of industrialisation and diversification in trade and business has in turn greatly disadvantaged Africa’s ability to become regionally, as well as internationally connected. While the solution to this dilemma is making Africa more competitive, the issue of the continent’s poor infrastructure must first be addressed.
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Taming Africa’s dragon
President Jacob Zuma made a historical state visit to China recently, which was part of a strong strategic effort to visit all the Bric partners (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in little more than a year after he took office. In retrospect, the pundits have asked a good question: what really came out of these visits? In the Chinese trip, the only evident outcome of a 13-cabinet minister and 370-strong business delegation was a raft of new MoUs — memoranda of understanding: in effect a “gentleman’s handshake”, a letter of intent without any promise or legal commitment. So in short, nothing much at all.
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China: A blessing or Africa’s curse?
From Mali to Madagascar, Kenya to Zambia, Niger to Uganda, Chinese investors and labourers have infiltrated the continent. In some of the countries, their actions have been lauded but in others loathed, as Sunday Monitor Correspondents Janet Otieno, Jonstone Ole Turana, Saudah Mayanja & Caesar Abangirah narrate:-Africa has witnessed an influx of Chinese investors and labourers in recent years. So important has the continent become in the eyes of the Asian country that Beijing has adopted the softer approach of ‘not interfering in the continent’s political affairs’ to justify her economic pursuits.
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The Zambezi be dammed!
In August, the government of Mozambique officially approved the construction of the Mphanda Nkuwa Dam which is to be built in the Zambezi River about 60km downstream from the existing Cahora Bassa Dam. The project is expected to cost between $2bn and $3.5bn and deliver 1 500MW of electricity with the potential of being expanded to 2 400MW. Construction, led by a consortium of Mozambican and Brazilian interests, is slated to start in 2011 and take five to six years to complete. As early as January the Mozambican newspaper Notícias reported that negotiations of long-term power purchase agreements with Eskom were expected to be concluded this year. “So what’s wrong with that?” you ask. “Isn’t this sort of thing going to help Mozambique develop?” Indeed, proponents of the new dam claim that it will attract energy-intensive industries to the country, but in reality, Eskom and power hungry South Africa are expected to consume some 90% of the electricity generated.
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African Public Opinon on China
Today a student asked me if I had any information on African public opinion about Chinese immigrants. Recently, a number of news articles have described a growing backlash against immigrant Chinese in places like Angola and Namibia. I don't know if survey data is collected on this issue (and I suspect it would be mixed at best: Chinese traders and operators of small service businesses are patronized by African consumers, but local businesses resent the competition). But we do have fairly good data on public opinion about "China" collected by the Pew Global Opinion Polls. I checked their 2010 report to see how "Africa" (in this case, only Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya) stands in its views of China -- and, for comparison, the US.
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An analysis of Chinese media support in Africa
The Center for International Media Assistance and the National Endowment for Democracy published a useful analysis of Chinese media support for institutions in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia titled "Winds from the East: How the People’s Republic of China Seeks to Influence the Media in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia."
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Sino-US storm clouds gather over Africa aid
At ground level, it seemed to be a happy harmony of Chinese, Western and African interests. After a Chinese construction firm won a contract to build a US-funded and much needed airport terminal in Mali's capital, officials from all three nations brought their pomp to a groundbreaking ceremony last month. The event topped the national news. But what plays well in Bamako can strike an ill chord in Washington. Even before the cornerstone was laid, wheels were in motion in the United States to make sure this kind of deal never happens again.
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Podcasts, Reviews and Interviews
“It’s not colonialism”
Peking University academic Li Anshan is an expert in Sino-African relations. Here, he hits back at criticism of Chinese investors abroad, telling Ning Er his country is succeeding where western aid has failed.
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