Emerging Actors in Africa news round-up

GENERAL

BASICs, BRICs and PIGS: New Acronyms and the New World Order
Quietly, but inexorably, the world is changing. In the past three months a number of events have occurred, which, in and of themselves may go nowhere, but indicate the emergence of tectonic shifts that will change the world as we have known it for much of the 20th century.
These changes may not necessarily be for everyone’s good, they may even portend more frightening developments, but if we don’t know about them we’ll only experience their effects like the victims of a sudden tsunami, arising out of nowhere and sweeping thousands into oblivion. Read more

South-South biotech collaborations flourish
Developing countries are turning to each other for affordable and targeted solutions to national health problems, a study of South-South biotechnology collaborations has found. 'Brother-sister' trade relationships between developing countries allow cheaper drugs and vaccines to reach more poor people than do 'parent-child' relationships with the developed world, according to a study published in Nature Biotechnology Read more
Many See Science Investment as Critical to Africa Growth
Two African leaders said that investment in science, technology and innovation was the best engine for long-term development of the continent.
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Scratch & Win War Is Waged on Africa’s Fake Malaria Medicines
Within 1.2 seconds, Dankwah’s transmission is routed to a Hewlett-Packard Co. data center in Galway, Ireland, where a computer verifies the code and responds, “OK.” It is the first test of a system developed by HP and Dankwah’s employer, mPedigree Network Ltd., to help millions of Africans avoid counterfeit malaria pills with little or no active medicine, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its May 17 issue.
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CHINA in AFRICA

Africa should learn from China on agricultural development
African countries should learn from China's experience in improving agricultural productivity, the president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) said. Read more

The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) is working on facilitating investments in the automotive, power generation and agricultural markets in South Africa
This follows the fund and Chinese cement company, Jidong Development Group, on Thursday signing a memorandum of understanding with black-owned Women Investment Portfolio Holdings and local limestone-miner Continental Cement to build a R1,65-billion cement manufacturing plant in Limpopo province. Read more

China boosts business links with South Africa
China will on Friday formally announce its largest investment in South Africa for two years, entrenching its position as the resource-rich continent’s most important economic and commercial partner Read more

China pledges economic aid for $6 million to Seychelles
The People’s Republic of China has pledged economic aid to Seychelles worth 40 million Yuan (approximately US $6 million) for development projects in areas to be agreed upon by both sides. Praising the continued growth and rejuvenation of Seychelles-China relations following the meeting, President Michel said:“We had a very good discussion. We have excellent relations with China, and this meeting represents a rejuvenation of our relations, a new momentum, for the development of cooperation and exchanges.” Read more

China defends Africa investment as South Africa deal reported
Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying told the Wall Street Journal “China's presence in Africa is becoming more and more market driven, the actors operating there are diverse, there are many models, and the areas they are in are broad”. China has steadily built up trade and economic ties with Africa in recent years, drawing accusations in the West that it has taken a “neo-colonialist” attitude toward the continent. Read more

Chinese bank to invest $1bn in Zambia power plant
China plans to spend $1-billion to help build a power plant to boost Zambia's electricity supply by 600 MW, a senior official in Africa's top copper producer said on Tuesday.
Jiang Chaol Liang, president of the China Development Bank, said China was ready to provide equity amounting to $1-billion for the Kafue Gorge Lower power plant Read more

Sata Questions ‘Imaginary’ Chinese Investment to Zambia
The leader of Zambia’s main opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party says the government’s announcement of a $1 billion Chinese investment to help build an electric power plant is a “cheaply conceived” ploy to garner votes ahead of next year’s general elections.
Michael Sata questions the timing of the announcement saying it is “premature and presumptuous” for the government to make such claims when negotiations with a Chinese Bank to finance the project are still ongoing. Read more

Kenya reaps handsome rewards from its robust 'Look East' policy
Presidents Kibaki and Hu Jintao agreed that China will lead the construction of Kenya’s second seaport in Lamu. The country will also fund parts of the Northern Corridor and the new Mombasa-Kampala standard gauge railway line. Read more

China to lend Zambia mining firms $5 bln
China will provide $5 billion in loans to private mining companies in Zambia as Chinese companies continue to increase their influence in Africa's top copper producer, President Rupiah Banda told state media on Wednesday. Read more

China opens up market to 4000 African products
China has lifted import duties for some African products to open up its markets and fast track the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs). Chinese Commercial Counselor in charge of Western Asian and African Affairs Xie Yajing told The Standard the Chinese Government would establish an African Exhibition centre to shore up the visibility of African goods in her country and increase market access. Read more

To Congo, with Trouble
A barter deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) trumpeted by China as a showcase of its "win-win" strategy in Africa has been hit by charges of corruption, a court case and a barrage of Western criticism. The surprise onslaught is causing Beijing to suspect a plot to undercut its expanding presence in the resource-rich continent. Read more

The Democratic Republic of Congo said it won’t approve a $284 million bid by China’s to buy copper mine developer Platmin Congo
The offer is “in violation of applicable regulations,” Alexis Mikandji Penge, the chief of staff for the minister of mining, said in an e-mailed statement. “As a result, it has no effect in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Zijin, China’s largest gold producer, and Chinese state- backed CAD are buying Platmin Congo to get hold of assets including stakes in two copper-cobalt projects. The U.S. last month asked Congo to improve its business climate after a Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s project was in dispute for two-and-a-half years.
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China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, discovered natural gas at Isiolo in northern Kenya
Cnooc, and its partners which include Africa Oil Corp. and Lion Energy Corp., made the discovery after drilling an onshore exploratory well 5,085 meters (16,700 feet) deep, he said. “This is the deepest well ever drilled in Kenya,” Murungi said. “We have very high hopes.” Read more

INDIA in AFRICA

India pushes for more cultural, educational ties with Africa
ndia is promoting greater cultural interaction with Africa to “renew connections” and underscore the growing importance of Africa on the country’s foreign policy radar, says Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) director general Virendra Gupta.
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Plugging the technology gap with help from India
Investment in information technology can help Africa to improve governance, overcome poverty and deal with critical infrastructure gaps, taking India as an example, the co-chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2010 (WEF) said.Read more

Soccer time! World Cup pulls Indians to South Africa
With the FIFA World Cup in South Africa just a month away, football fever seems to have started gripping fans in cricket-crazy India, with travel companies reporting a steady rise in inquiries for packages to the Rainbow nation. Read more

Emami plans big foray into Africa in cash crops and power
Indian personal care and ayurvedic medicines major, the $165- million Emami group, is making a big foray into Africa not just in their traditional lines of businesses but also in contract farming and power generation, a top official has said. Read more

South Africa to speed up talks for trade agreement with India
Talks for preferential trade agreement between India and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) would be intensified, South Africa's Trade and Industry minister Rob Davies has said. Read more

Nigeria-India trade volume hits $10 billion
The trade relationship between Nigeria and India has been robust and relatively balanced, says Mahesh Sachdev, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, when he led a delegation of some Indian businessmen to visit Jibril Martins-Kuye, the minister of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday. Read more

Vedanta to Buy Anglo American Mines for $1.34 Billion
Vedanta will buy the Skorpion mine in Namibia, the Lisheen mine in Ireland and a 74 percent stake in Black Mountain Mining in South Africa. The London-based company will complete the deal through its Hindustan Zinc Ltd. unit, which has about $2.7 billion in cash, within three or four months, Vedanta Vice Chairman Navin Agarwal said today in a conference call.
The acquisition will add to Vedanta operations in Africa, where it already produces copper. Vedanta said the acquisition will increase its zinc capacity by 37 percent to 1.46 million metric tons a year, or about 11 percent of global supply. Read more

Mauritius wants greater Indian role
Besides strengthening the infrastructure of this Indian Ocean country of 1.3 million people, Mr. Beebeejaun said Indian companies could assist in such fields as renewable energy, shipping, electricity generation, and sewage-treatment. Read more
Speaker assures India’s support for Swaziland’s development
India has offered a line of credit (LOC) of $10 million to Swaziland for establishing a science and technology park in the African nation which is surrounded by South Africa on three sides and shares a border with Mozambique.Read more

Other Emerging Actors

German Company Faces Criminal Complaint Over Abuses in Sudan Dam
The Merowe Dam on the Nile in Northern Sudan is one of the largest and most destructive hydropower projects in Africa. Commissioned in 2009, the project affects up to 70,000 people, many of whom were displaced from the fertile Nile Valley to arid desert locations. Thousands of people were flushed out of their houses by raising waters before they were properly resettled. A German NGO and an affected person now filed a criminal complaint over the abuses in the project against the German company that supervised project construction. The complaint breaks new ground in holding transnational corporations accountable for human rights abuses on their projects. Read more

With all eyes on Africa, Canada looks the other way
Burkina Faso is a country of 15 million tucked between West Africa’s coastal nations and a vast lawless desert. Its Foreign Minister, Bedouma Yoda, has just visited Ottawa to figure out why Canada’s not that interested. His country counts Canadian companies, mostly mining firms, as their largest source of foreign private investment. But last year, Ottawa dropped Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest nations, from the list of countries where Canada will concentrate bilateral aid. Read more

Zuma urges SA companies to explore opportunities in rest of Africa
Zuma encouraged the continuous penetration of the traditional markets by South African business, but urged them to also consider powerful emerging economies such China, India and Brazil. More importantly, he said, business in South Africa should explore the one-billion people strong African market. "Our involvement in African development in the future will be one of the major factors that influence how strongly our country grows." Read more

Blood Brothers: the emergence of Brazil & Africa
Historical ties between Africa and Brazil date back many centuries, through the years of the African Diaspora and the Atlantic slave trade. From the 16th century, slaves were spirited away from Central and Western Africa across to North and South America to work as unpaid labour on sugar, coffee, cocoa and cotton plantations, as well as gold and silver mines. Read more

Opinion

G8 invitation augurs well for African nations
When the world talks about matters that affect Africa, too often Africans aren’t part of the conversation. But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s invitation to Ethiopia and Malawi to join the G20 talks in Toronto on June 26 and 27 ensures that the continent will have a voice in economic discussions that could deeply affect the health of its collective economy and the welfare of its citizen. Read more

Africa: An economic giant that’s ready to wake up
Africa’s newest architectural miracle is a gigantic stadium in the earthy colours and shape of a calabash, the traditional cooking pot that symbolizes African village life. At night, on the Soweto horizon, it glows like the embers of a slumbering fire, waiting to be stirred into life. On June 11, the embers will awaken. Nearly 90,000 people will crowd into Africa’s biggest stadium, known as Soccer City, for the opening ceremonies of the World Cup, the most popular sporting event on the planet, held on African soil for the first time ever.
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Dates and Papers

Africa comes into focus
African Culture in Focus 2010, a seven-month exhibition and performance event highlighting African culture is preparing for its China tour that will begin May 19 in Beijing.
Announcing the event Friday, China's Ministry of Culture said that the showcase would be an important follow-up to the 4th Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Ministerial Conference that was held in Sharm el-Sheikh in November. After showing in Beijing African Culture in Focus 2010 will head to Shenzhen, Qing-dao, Xining and other Chinese cities. Read more

New book: South African Mining Companies in Southern Africa
Mining companies must be prepared to undergo some form of independent evaluation e.g. by organizations of repute with social research expertise and a methodology and goals agreed upon by all stakeholders: shareholders, labour, local communities, and governments. It must be undertaken at agreed regular intervals and reports must be open to public scrutiny, rigorous monitoring, and evaluation. Till then mining companies will face accusations that their CSR programmes are counterfeit. Read more

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Compiled by Anna Lena Wachter, intern based with the Emerging Powers in Africa programme.