Putting the 'sad' in SADC

By Matthew Hill

The mining slump raises fears about the wider social impact

Instead of the bacon, thousands of foreign mineworkers are going to have to return home with retrenchment letters as the resources downturn hits home.

This spells trouble for neighbouring states piggybacking on SA's mining sector for employment. Mining is by far the biggest employer of migrant labour, at 50%, with the next biggest being manual labour's 10%.

Remittances play a big role in neighbouring countries. In Swaziland, they account for 4,2% of GDP. In Lesotho, it's about a fifth of GDP, while remittances make up about 25% of foreign earnings. Money sent back to families mainly buys food.

Mozambique and Lesotho have compulsory remittances pay, meaning workers have to send a percentage of their earnings back home.

The SA Institute of International Affairs' Tim Hughes says the effect of the imminent retrenchments won't be as great as 10 years ago - when migrant labour accounted for nearly 60% of SA's 563 000 mining workforce - but it will be felt. Foreign workers make up about half that percentage now.

A major restructuring of SA's mining workforce took place from 1990 to 1996, as 45% of mineworkers lost their jobs. Proportionately SA workers suffered the most during this period, with foreign labour ballooning to 59% of all mineworkers in 1997.

Declining employment in the gold sector since 1970 has obviously had an effect. "Retrenchments have had a significant impact on the national economy in Lesotho, due to the loss of remittances," according to a UN report published in April. With announcements from both DRDGold and Simmer & Jack Mines about job cuts in recent weeks, the trend is continuing. This is despite the rand gold price being at near record highs.

The UN's International Research & Training Institute for the Advancement of Women report warns that these remittances are important for the receiving countries, and any structural shifts can have "dire consequences". Frost & Sullivan analyst Wonder Nyanjowa estimates job losses in SA's mining sector will reach 40 000 by the end of 2009. The mining workforce was nearly 500 000 in 2007. In supply and support sectors, the retrenchment figure could hit 150 000.

Government has been quick to respond to the crisis. This week it called an urgent meeting with unions and the Chamber to try to "soften the blow" of job losses. It has set up a task team that has 20 days to come up with a strategy to minimise retrenchments.

The FM was not able to get comment from the Lesotho and Mozambican governments.

Gold mines have historically been the biggest absorber of migrant labour, but platinum has been a growing employer of Mozambicans. Just about all cross-border mine workers in the gold sector are employed through labour bureaus with fixed-term contracts. These contracts stem from treaties between governments.

Though DRDGold and Simmers are the only gold miners that have announced layoffs, platinum company Lonmin has confirmed it is considering large-scale retrenchments. Up to 5 500 workers out of about 25 000 might have to go because of a 60% drop in the platinum price this year. Lonmin's bigger rivals, AngloPlat and Impala Platinum, have yet to say how many jobs will be lost.

Evaporating demand for ferrochrome, of which SA is the biggest global source, will also lead to job cuts. Uranium producer Uranium One is retrenching the 1 000-plus workforce at its mothballed Dominion mine near Klerksdorp.

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president Senzeni Zokwana says SA is headed for disaster if job losses and high food prices continue. If 40 000 mineworkers lose their jobs, that figure must be multiplied by 10, he adds - a mineworker has an average of that many dependants.

This will have serious social repercussions. Retrenched migrant workers will struggle to find any employment in their home countries, which offer fewer opportunities than SA.

Teba, a company that organises mining employment for SA companies in Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana, says mining companies have a "social obligation to reskill" retrenched workers. Teba's Kevin Cotteril says this usually involves activities like brick making, chicken rearing and radio repairs.

Chamber of Mines industrial relations adviser Elize Strydom says individual mining companies usually engage the labour department when retrenchments are envisaged. The company and the department then work together to try to mitigate the negative effects of job losses. Efforts include imparting practical skills.

"Some businesses exploit the situation by employing foreign people, knowing they can pay them as little as they want," Zokwana says, adding that this creates social tension in communities where South Africans lose out. However, he dismisses the possibility of a recurrence of the xenophobic attacks that swept the country in May. The attacks weren't caused by unemployment, Zokwana says.

What Zokwana - also president of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers' unions - does flag, though, is the possibility of higher unemployment leading to higher crime.

Zokwana says the 300 000-strong NUM "can never accept that our members will lose their jobs. I'm not saying that we'll go on strike, but we need to engage."

Government, labour and business need to get together to consider alternative measures that can be taken to minimise job losses in the mining sector, says Zokwana. "Can the state intervene and assist? The state has an interest in the mining industry as a source of foreign exchange, and it's also a major employer." He says both national and local government need to get involved, because the closure of a mine has a big impact on surrounding communities.

Zokwana adds the private sector must also not rush into mass retrenchments, only to be left without a workforce when commodity prices tick up again. The Chamber of Mines acknowledges this, and says retrenchments are a last resort.

The effect on migrant workers in the mining sector will be profound, but many more in neighbouring countries are dependent on SA for informal cross-border trade. These people will also suffer.

Mozambique: South African ports losing business to port of Maputo

Durban, South Africa, 5 Dec – The ports of South Africa are losing market share to that of Maputo, which is cheaper to use and requires less bureaucracy, the chief executive of Sturrock Shipping, Andrew Sturrock said in Durban Wednesday.

Sturrock said that the volume of goods that was processed via Maputo, most of it from or travelling to South Africa, had been growing substantially, particularly container cargo, coal, metal scrap for export and sugar derivatives from Swaziland.

Sturrock said that the port of Maputo now worked better as it had been partially +privatised and added, “everyone knows that when a business is managed privately bureaucracy reduces and decisions and better and made more quickly.”

The port of Maputo is managed by a consortium made up of the Grindrod and Dubai Ports World groups with a 51 percent stake, whilst the remaining 49 percent is in the hands of the Mozambican government.

However, other South African businesspeople do not share Sturrock’s opinion.

Dave Rennie, the executive director of Grindrod Freight Services said he believed that Maputo was merely a complement to South Africa’s port and part of a network that serves the region.

“I would not describe it as a direct competitor of South Africa’s ports,” said Rennie, adding that Maputo was well situated to serve the interior and was linked by road and rail to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

Une antenne de la SR21 en Chine [Tianjin]

La SR21, a ouvert depuis le mois de Juin 2008, un bureau de représentation en Chine, a Tianjin, qui a pour but d'intensifier le flux d'échanges entre la Réunion et la Chine.

Une présence réunionnaise en Chine

Depuis 2003, La Réunion a initié une coopération avec la municipalité de Tianjin, formalisée par la signature d’une convention cadre. La SR21 est un partenaire privilégié de cette coopération depuis sa mise en place et s’implique notamment en matière d’échanges économiques.

A ce titre, la SR21 a ouvert un bureau de représentation en Chine, depuis juin 2008, dans la ville de Tianjin, 3e plus grande ville économique du pays.

L’objectif de ce bureau de représentation est, sur la base des liens étroits que nous entretenons avec la Chine, d’intensifier le flux d’échanges Réunion-Chine, en proposant un appui aux entreprises réunionnaises dans leurs projets de développement en Chine mais également en menant un travail de promotion de la destination Réunion auprès d’investisseurs chinois potentiels.

Un appui dans vos projets en Chine

Fort de son réseau d’informations en Chine (Missions économiques, Ubifrance et différentes Chambres consulaires) et de ses relations privilégiées avec le réseau d’affaires et la municipalité de Tianjin, le bureau de représentation peut vous proposer :
- des informations de marché,
- des missions de prospection sur mesure : découverte de régions, de zones d’investissements, organisations de rendez-vous…

Le bureau de représentation pourra vous apporter une aide personnalisée dans vos projets de développement en Chine, et tout particulièrement à Tianjin et ceci, dans le plus strict respect de la confidentialité des informations qui seront confiées.

Pour toute information: Gaelle HAO LAW CHONG

Magnetic Plaza, Building 17, Office 5A07
Binshui West Road, Nankai District
300381 Tianjin, P.R.China

T: 0086 22 2374 1220
F: 0086 22 2374 1220
E: gaelle.hlc@sr21.re

In S. Africa, ANC Dissidents Pledge 'New Way'

Splinter Party of Mbeki Loyalists Set for Tuesday Launch, but Many Challenges Lie Ahead

By Karin Brulliard - Washington Post Foreign Service - Sunday, December 14, 2008; Page A16

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 13 -- The South African city of Bloemfontein was the birthplace nearly a century ago of the African National Congress, the iconic liberation movement that toppled apartheid and dominates government.

Now the city is playing host to a splinter party that may herald an end to the ANC's supremacy and a new era in South Africa's young democracy.

Thousands of ANC dissidents are descending on Bloemfontein for the Tuesday launch of a political organization that they promote as an alternative to a ruling party that has abandoned its ideals for corruption, intolerance and factionalism after 14 years at the helm.
The breakaway party, called Congress of the People, is led by liberation struggle luminaries making promises of hope and change ahead of general elections next year.

"We are indeed a progressive organization that is charting a new way in our country," one of its leaders, ANC veteran Smuts Ngonyama, said at a recent news conference.

The breakup, triggered by the ANC's ouster of President Thabo Mbeki in September, has riveted South Africans. Newspapers regularly speculate about the next high-ranking ANC defectors. COPE, as the new party is known, said this week that it had more than 400,000 paid members, about two-thirds as many as the ANC.

Just how much support the new party can garner in a few short months is unclear. The ANC, which won nearly 70 percent of the vote in 2004, is a formidable brand with a deep legacy, and polls indicate it is unlikely to lose.

But surveys also show that public confidence in the ANC is waning as worries grow about the future of South Africa, where crime and poverty rates remain stubbornly high, and schools produce few skilled workers.
So COPE could wipe away the ANC's two-thirds majority, analysts say, and by allying with other small parties -- which profess delight about the split -- it could provide the first real opposition to the ANC.

"There is no doubt that COPE is not just another opposition party that can be easily dismissed," said Prince Mashele, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies.

The effort has produced more political theater than substance. The parties have called each other names and demanded apologies. They have gone to court over the phrase Congress of the People, which the ANC claimed ownership of because it was the name of a 1955 event that spawned the party's historic Freedom Charter, which outlined the ANC's core principles. The court disagreed.

But the new party has offered little in the way of policies beyond a pledge to push for elections that let voters, not Parliament, decide who is president. The ANC says the fuzzy platform is evidence that COPE is just a group of bitter outcasts.

"I don't believe for one minute that the ANC is going to be challenged," said ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus. "That is, for lack of a better word, poppycock."

No matter how it turns out, the split was inevitable, historians and analysts say. Throughout its history, the ANC has been a political hodgepodge of communists, unionists, intellectuals and capitalists who allied in the fight against apartheid, which ended in 1994. Once in government, their goals often diverged.

In recent years, fissures within the party leadership began to form.
At their simplest, they boiled down to a split between those loyal to Mbeki, an aloof economist, and Jacob Zuma, a charismatic populist who has been battling corruption charges for years.

The tensions came to a fore at an ANC conference last year, when Zuma ousted Mbeki as party president and many Mbeki allies lost plum party posts. In September, the party forced Mbeki to step down as South Africa's president after a court ruling suggested that he had pressured prosecutors to charge Zuma with graft.

The sudden ouster unsettled many South Africans and enraged Mbeki allies, two of whom have led the split. One, former defense minister Mosiuoa Lekota -- commonly called "Terror" for his charging style on the soccer field, lambastes the ANC for supporting Zuma despite the lingering criminal charges and for condoning tribalism by playing up Zuma's roots as a Zulu, South Africa's largest ethnic group.

Mbeki has stayed out of the rift, though there are whispers that he orchestrated the breakup.

COPE supporters say the well-known former ANC figures have given the new organization a credibility that other opposition parties lack.
Zuma acknowledged as much in a speech last month, telling his audience that "voting is serious" this time.

"Someone who knows every corner of the house is now outside the house," Zuma said, according to the South African Press Association.

Others are not so sure.

"These really are yesterday's people," said Robert Schrire, head of the political science department at the University of Cape Town. COPE, he said, needs "leaders with a future, not leaders with a past."

A bigger challenge for COPE may be that it appears elitist. The party has used Facebook to rally support, and many of its followers are black professionals. The object of much of their disaffection is Zuma, who stirs up crowds with a liberation anthem about a machine gun and lacks the formal schooling that critics say is necessary to lead South Africa through tough economic times.

But the ANC has a huge following among the vast population of the poor, and most South Africans do not have Internet access.

"What COPE needs to do is go out there and identify every big township, every informal settlement, every rural area," said William Gumede, author of a book on Mbeki and the ANC. "They have to get beyond preaching to the converted."

The new party's leaders say they are doing so, and the point did not go unmentioned at a recent COPE gathering of young professionals in suburban Johannesburg. One speaker reminded the participants, many of whom were preparing to head to their provincial homelands for the holidays, that South Africa is "about the people you left at home that you know that ask you for money."

Khaya Dlanga, 30, an advertising copywriter who was at the meeting, said he thought all South Africans were thirsting for choice. For too long, he said, they have felt that not voting for the ANC amounted to betrayal of the party that delivered liberation. That has given the ANC a dangerous blank check, he said.

"Our young democracy needs this," he said. "We don't owe anybody anything. What we owe, we owe to the country."

Angola president off to China in search of investment

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos flew to China on Monday in search of further financial investment for his oil-rich southern African state, a government official said.

Dos Santos' trip to China, his second in five months to one of Luanda's top economic partners, comes as Angola is being forced to re-evaluate its budgetary plans following the drop in oil prices.

"The president is making this visit to appeal for more financial investment from China," a senior Angolan official told AFP.

"The water sector needs a lot of investment and this is the next big area the government is working on and it hopes the Chinese will be able to help with the financing."

Dos Santos is also hoping to use Chinese financing to fulfill his promise during September's parliamentary elections to build one million homes, the official added.

China has been a key financial partner for Angola as it rebuilds its infrastructure after decades of civil war.

While credit from the Asian giant is officially believed to exceed four billion dollars (three million euros), a government source told AFP it was closer to seven billion dollars.

Many of the loans are oil-backed and Angola is now China's largest supplier of crude oil. Around 40,000 Angolan visas were issued to Chinese workers last year.

The budget, passed on Friday by the national assembly, is based on oil reaching 55 dollars a barrel, but the government has admitted this may have to change if the price continues to fall.

Travelling with the present to China is Foreign Minister Assuncao dos Anjos, Finance Minister Severim de Morais, and Transport Minister Augusto Tomas, the state news agency ANGOP reported.

The visit is scheduled to last until Friday, ANGOP said.

On Saturday, Angolan state airline TAAG launched a twice-weekly direct flight to Beijing.

Norway's Acergy and French contractor Spiecapag signed a $550 million pipeline contract in Angola

Entrepose Contracting (ENTC.FR) said Monday its Spiecapag unit stands to make $300 million from a contract to build a new onshore and offshore gas pipeline network for Angola LNG Ltd.

Angola LNG's shareholders are affiliated to Chevron Corp (CVX) as well as Sonangol, Total (TOT), BP PLC (BP) and ENI SpA (E).

The $550 million contract was awarded to a consortium that includes Spiecapag and Acergy SA (ACY.OS) of Norway.

La SR21 et l’AD s’engagent ensemble à promouvoir le produit économique Réunion

Un accord de partenariat a été signé au conseil régional ce lundi 15 décembre 2008 entre la SR21 et l’agence pour le développement (AD). Le but de l’accord est de coordonner et de mettre en valeur les initiatives de promotion et de développement de l’activité économique réunionnaise.

in CLICANOO.COM | Publié le 16 décembre 2008

La SR21, société d’économie mixte de la Région Réunion, et l’Agence de développement de La Réunion (AD) se sont engagées hier à faire cause commune pour le développement économique de l’île, en signant “un accord de partenariat opérationnel”. Cette convention poursuit l’objectif d’un travail collaboratif et coordonné entre les deux structures, et clarifie les champs de compétence de l’une et de l’autre : le marketing territorial pour attirer les investisseurs revient exclusivement à la SR21, tandis que la prospection et l’accompagnement de projets incombent à l’AD.

L’attractivité du territoire sera quant à elle du ressort partenarial des deux organismes. Jean-François Moser, président de l’AD, se félicite de cette nouvelle répartition des rôles, qui permettra “d’éviter la superposition des échelons” et “de revisiter le produit Réunion d’une même voix pour le rendre attractif”. Pour Pierre Vergès, président de la SR21, le public et le privé “ne vont pas l’un sans l’autre”. “Il faut sortir des coutumes de cloisonnement qui ont jusqu’ici prévalu et desservi le développement de La Réunion. Il n’y a pas de domaines réservés. Ce cadre nouveau permettra de déverrouiller ensemble les obstacles.” Ainsi réunis, le monde politique et le monde économique entendent notamment offrir à La Réunion une nouvelle visibilité sur les quatre secteurs-clés du projet Ile Verte : l’agro-nutrition, l’énergie, le tourisme et les technologies de l’information et de la communication.

Le vice-président de la Région Raymond Lauret, également président de l’Etablissement public foncier de La Réunion (EPFR), a par ailleurs annoncé un prochain partenariat entre l’EPFR, l’Agorah, la SR21 et l’AD quant à une stratégie commune sur la maîtrise et la disponibilité du foncier pour les entreprises. “Le foncier ne doit plus être un problème”.

in Témoignages du mardi 16 décembre 2008 (page 5)

Les objectifs du partenariat sont de permettre le travail coordonné et collaboratif entre l’AD et la SR21 mais aussi de faciliter les rencontres entre le monde politique et économique. Il s’agit de rendre La Réunion attractive économiquement en premier lieu, et d’assurer au territoire un positionnement clairement identifié ainsi qu’une visibilité internationale.
Pierre Vergés, président de la SR21, dit de ce partenariat qu’il est un outil « de recherche d’excellence pour l’activité économique réunionnaise ». Les partenaires indiquent aussi qu’il « faut tenir compte de l’évolution historique de l’économie réunionnaise mais aussi du contexte mondial ». Jean François Moser précise que l’accord est le moyen « de revisiter le produit Réunion en créant un produit opérationnel ». « Le but du partenariat n’est pas de travailler pour des marchés évidents mais pour des marchés où les difficultés sont nombreuses » ajoute-t-il.

Un contexte particulier

Le partenariat entre la SR21 et l’Agence de développement s’inscrit dans un contexte mouvant. En effet, notre île est confrontée à l’impact d’événements extérieurs qui pèseront au cours des prochaines années : une crise mondiale (dont les impacts sont toujours difficilement mesurables) ; les Accords de Partenariats Economiques ; une réorientation possible des crédits européens ; des financements de l’État de plus en plus contraints ; l’incertitude concernant le règlement sucrier duquel découle le prix de la canne et la fin du régime actuel de l’octroi de mer à la même échéance.

Atouts réunionnais

Les deux partenaires s’appuient sur des atouts à valoriser pour positionner l’offre Réunion dans la compétition mondiale

- Le continent africain et la zone Sud Est de l’océan Indien concentrent l’essentiel des efforts des bailleurs internationaux, des développements que La Réunion doit accompagner.

- La fin de la bipolarisation mondiale, avec notamment la montée en puissance des économies asiatiques (Chine, Inde, Golfe dessinent à nos portes un nouvel ordre mondial dans lequel La Réunion a sans conteste une carte à jouer)

- La Réunion est la seule région européenne de l’hémisphère Sud, une position stratégique à valoriser : France (département d’outre-mer) et Europe (région ultrapériphérique) dans l’océan Indien

South Africa emerging as a credible alternative offshore destination

Everest Group has released the findings of its latest and most comprehensive study on South Africa’s BPO industry, titled “Ready to compete: South Africa’s BPO capabilities in the Financial Services sector”. Everest conducted this study with Letsema Consulting on behalf of a South African government and industry partnership, which comprised of “the dti”, Business Trust and BPeSA (BPO industry association). This report provides a comprehensive fact-based view of South Africa’s current BPO capabilities and its growth potential in the Financial Services (FS) sector.

Says Brian Whittaker, CEO of South Africa-based Business Trust, “BPO is one of the priority sectors for growth in South Africa. Our target is to achieve 100,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2009; and we have already made significant progress. Various public and private sector initiatives have been put in place to attract more offshore BPO jobs to South Africa. This report provides potential investors with a level of fine-grained information to support the business case for investing in Financial Services (FS) BPO in South Africa”.

Elaborating on the findings of the study, Nikhil Rajpal, Principal, Everest Group, adds, “South Africa presents a significant opportunity for global Financial Services firms looking to expand their offshore footprint. It offers a 50-60% operating cost savings potential over western markets. Further, we observed that the savings gap between Johannesburg and a low-cost offshore destination like Bangalore has decreased from 30% in 2005 to 15% in 2008 and could further decrease to just 8% in 2012. One of the reasons is that while most other currencies have appreciated on average over the last 3 years, the South African currency has depreciated. Also, inflation levels in South Africa are lower than other low-cost destinations like India and Philippines. If we take into account the impact of lower attrition in South Africa, the savings gap is even lower.” There are eight established delivery locations in South Africa, with the key ones being Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, he said.

South Africa presents a significant potential for growth driven by various factors including a large experienced talent pool with service delivery and domain skills in the domestic FS industry; sizeable pool with specialized skills; narrowing of savings gap; and, availability of scalable, high quality English skills, at a low cost.

The study further shows that the FS-focused BPO industry in South Africa has established significant scale with ~11,000 employees in service providers (includes suppliers and offshore captives). This scale is comparable or larger than several other emerging global sourcing destinations like Jamaica (2-3k), Romania (5-7k), Czech Republic (7-10k), Malaysia (13-15k) and Argentina (20-25k). The study shows that the service provider industry in South Africa has established credible delivery across FS sub-verticals (retail banking, insurance, asset management) and across BPO functions (front and back-office). The industry is delivering robust cost benefits and is meeting client quality and service level expectations. Further, it is evolving to deliver additional benefits beyond labor arbitrage. In addition to the service providers, South Africa has 65,000-75,000 employees in domestic captives of South African FS companies.

Says H.Karthik , Research Director, Everest Research Institute, “FS BPO service providers in South Africa have credible delivery maturity. As many as 240 FS clients are currently being served. While front-office remains a key strength with about 6,000 employees across inbound and outbound functions, significant back-office activity also exists, with about 5000 employees. Almost 75% of outsource-able FS back-office processes are currently being supported. There are early successes in offshore delivery of complex back-office processes, such as actuarial modeling and investment management”

Elaborating on the specialized FS skills available in South Africa, Nikhil Rajpal says, “The potential that South Africa offers becomes evident if you compare the scale of specialized FS skills available in South Africa versus other offshore destinations. While not the largest in every domain, there are clearly certain pockets of meaningful scale. For example, South Africa has 770 actuaries, as compared to 225 actuaries in India, 65 in Philippines and 80 in Czech Republic. Also, there are several universities and FS industry-specific training courses in South Africa that provide specialized qualifications. Universities offer B.Com specializations focused on financial services (e.g. Actuarial and Financial Mathematics, Investment Management), which produce about 4,500 graduates annually in these courses. Then, there are various industry-specific training courses and certifications. BANKSETA (Banking Sector Education Training Authority), INSETA (Insurance SETA) and FASSET (Financial and Accounting Services) enable financial services training for students and employees.”

The study estimates the total entry-level talent pool for BPO in South Africa to be ~470,000 annually, including high-school graduates. Besides scale, South Africa has strong English proficiency and cultural affinity with Western geographies like UK, observed Karthik. Other advantages include robust physical infrastructure and a good expatriate quality of life, he points out.

Commenting on South Africa’s growth potential as an offshore destination, Nikhil says, “South Africa is one of the few global sourcing destinations beyond India and Philippines that can offer sizeable and good quality English language skills at a low-cost. Latin American countries such as Argentina face challenges with good English skills. Nigeria, Jamaica and Kenya have smaller labor pools. Canada and Northern Ireland have higher costs. Mexico and Czech Republic too are more expensive relative to South Africa.”

Applauding the efforts made by government and industry in South Africa, Nikhil adds, “To help provide a fillip to its BPO industry, the South African government offers capital investment incentives, which can offset companies’ capital expenditure by almost 50%. It also offers training incentives, through which companies can save upto 5% of their operating costs. The South African BPO industry has worked for 3 years with the South African Bureau of Standards to develop internationally-focused and aligned, industry-specific standards for BPO.

According to the report, South Africa can play multiple roles for investors in the FS BPO space. These include: offshore destination for high-quality English language front-office work; offshore destination for complex FS back-office work; near-shore scalable destination for sub-Saharan Africa; risk diversification option for India/Philippines.

Angola launches direct flight to China

Angola has launched a flight linking it to China, which has sent thousands of citizens to work on the reconstruction of the continent’s fastest-growing economy following its 27-year civil war.

The first direct 14-hour flight from Luanda’s Fourth of February Airport to Beijing’s Capital International Airport left on Saturday.

“The flight will run twice a week on a Boeing 777-200 ER,” said a spokesman for TAAG, Angola’s national airline.

It is being launched on a charter basis but if the market reacts positively, we’ll pass to a scheduled service,” he added.

Chinese money and manpower have played a key role in the reconstruction of Angola since the end of its 27-year civil war in 2002. Tens of thousands of Chinese workers are employed on building and roads projects across the west African country.
Last year more than 22,000 Angolan visas were issued to Chinese passport holders.

Credit lines from China to the former Portuguese colony are believed to exceed four billion US dollars.

Many of these loans are oil-backed and Angola is now China’s largest supplier of crude oil.

“The opening of a direct air link has been planned for a while — and is needed because of all the Chinese construction workers in Angola,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at the London-based thinktank Chatham House.

“As long as large Chinese construction projects continue in Angola, a direct air link between China and Angola will be profitable.”

The new Luanda to Beijing route comes in the same week TAAG announced it was halting flights to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Pointe Noire in Congo (Brazzaville).

Citing “serious safety concerns,” the European Union last month renewed its ban on TAAG flights and extended the restrictions to all Angolan Airlines.

The Angolan government responded by sacking TAAG’s board and creating a commission to run the airline and investigate the safety issues.

It was also revealed that TAAG had lost 70 million dollars in the last year and was ranked 122 in a list of 124 world airlines.

Angolan Transport Minister Augusto Tomas said: “It is important that TAAG’s performance is in line with Angola’s current economic development.”

Angola is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and has overtaken Nigeria as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producer with Luanda growing as key destination for many international airlines.

Lufthansa, British Airways, Brussels Air, Air France, Portugal’s TAP and South African Airways (SAA) are just some of the major carriers running flights in and out of the country.

Flights are usually full and often overbooked. One-way tickets can sell for up to US$5,000 on some routes due to the demand from the growing expatriate community of oil and construction workers enjoying Angola’s post-war boom.

Lufthansa spokeswoman Karin Webr said: “In terms of revenue, this is one of our best-performing flights, and there is certainly a potential to increase the frequency of the flight to more than once a week. As well as the oil traffic, we are seeing a demand from the Asian market using Frankfurt to transfer into Luanda from China and other parts of the region.”

Next year Delta hopes to become the first American airline to run a scheduled service from the United States.

A company spokeswoman confirmed the flight was awaiting approval from the Angolan government but the plan was to operate from Atlanta to Luanda, via Cape Verde.

Thousands of Americans work in Angola for oil companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron and BP and there is also a large diplomatic and NGO presence in the country.

Currently, the only direct route to the United States is via a charter service limited to oil workers and their families.

Global financial crisis set to stall Botswana growth

Business Report, 15/12/2008

The global economic crisis had started to affect Botswana's output and would significantly damage the mineral sector, which accounted for the bulk of export earnings, the country's finance minister, Baledzi Gaolathe, said on Friday.

Gaolathe told parliament that the world credit crunch had forced the curtailment and postponement of Botswana's capital expenditure programmes, worsening the decline in demand and hitting employment.

"The lack of available credit and long-term investment funds has slowed down growth in consumer spending, [and] reduced employment and incomes, as well as causing capital losses on personal savings and other assets," he said.

Mineral exports, in particular diamond sales, had started to fall significantly last month and there had been a been a sharp decline in commodity prices for other minerals - such as copper, nickel and gold - in the past three months.

"As a result of these developments, there will be a slowdown in economic growth and decline in government revenues, in particular mineral revenue, which forms the bulk of government's total revenues, from the end of 2008/09 until 2010/11," Gaolathe said.

"The expected substantial reduction in mineral revenue due to the global financial crisis is a cause for serious concern, given that such revenues have accounted for about 35 percent to 50 percent of the total government revenues over the past five years."

However, Botswana's foreign exchange reserves had increased, with the value of the Bank of Botswana's investment portfolios rising because of the relatively good performance of the global bond markets and relative strength of the currencies in which the portfolios were invested.

"[But] in the face of uncertainty as to the duration of the global economic slowdown, the cushion provided by the foreign exchange reserves may not be sufficient to ensure long-term budget sustainability," Gaolathe said.

South Africa: Business confidence in construction falls

By Roy Cokayne, Business Report, 15/12/2008

Pretoria - Business confidence in the construction industry was knocked in the fourth quarter of this year by disappointing business conditions, according to the FNB civil construction confidence index released on Friday.

The index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, dropped further from a level of 69 in the third quarter to 60 in the fourth quarter.

The index was at 76 in the first quarter and 71 in the second quarter of this year.

But Cees Bruggemans, the chief economist of First National Bank, said survey respondents did not expect a further deterioration in overall business conditions and construction activity levels in the first quarter of next year.

He said the drop in confidence in the fourth quarter could be related to the fact that business conditions "turned out well below expectations".

"In particular, the growth in construction activity disappointed and a net 50 percent of the respondents reported that the fourth quarter rate was below that of the same quarter a year ago," he said.

Comments by respondents to the survey indicated that a number of factors could have contributed: the high level of interest rates, weaker private sector demand to shortages of public sector funding, poor administration and slow payments by government clients.

It was not surprising that respondents to the survey indicated that they had experienced a sharp escalation in tender price competition during the quarter because of reports of weaker overall demand levels, he said. Bruggemans said 49 percent of respondents in the third quarter survey indicated a keener tendering environment compared with the same quarter a year ago, but this figure jumped to 64 percent in the latest survey.

The tighter demand conditions led to margin compression, resulting in the overall profitability of construction companies that participated in the survey turning out well below expectations.

Bruggemans said the moderation in construction activity resulted in 7 percent of the survey respondents indicating that they were reducing the number of people employed in their organisations.

"Nevertheless, good-quality, skilled labour remains a constraint on companies and 84 percent of the respondents to the survey indicated that skilled labour shortages are hampering their construction activities," he said.

Fonds pour mobiliser les ressources des migrants pour le développement de l’Afrique

Au cours de la 2ème Conférence ministérielle euro-africaine, qui s’est tenue à Paris, le 25 novembre 2008, le ministre français de l’immigration, Brice Hortefeux, a annoncé que la France allait participer à un fonds fiduciaire multi bailleurs avec la BAD visant une meilleure mobilisation des fonds transférés par la diaspora africaine et de ses compétences au service du développement des pays d’origine.

La France avait lancé, pendant l’été 2008, un appel à candidatures auprès de plusieurs institutions de développement pour susciter leur intérêt à accueillir un fonds fiduciaire visant à faciliter la mobilisation des compétences et ressources des migrants au service du développement de l’Afrique. Sur la base de sa proposition, la BAD a été sélectionnée pour accueillir ce fonds, sujet à l’accord du Conseil d’administration qui pourrait en être saisi, dans le courant du premier trimestre de l’année prochaine.

Le fonds est d’un montant initial de 6 millions d’euros sur 3 ans, pouvant être augmenté de 3 millions d’euros en fonction de ses résultats. Il vise principalement à aider au développement de services et produits financiers de nature à réduire les coûts de transferts de fonds des migrants. Il servira aussi à accompagner des projets d’investissement des migrants sur des secteurs tels que la santé, la formation professionnelle et les activités productives et à promouvoir le cofinancement de projets par les migrants et les associations de migrants.

La création de ce fonds, au sein de la Banque, constituerait une des pièces maîtresses de son initiative visant à faire des transferts de fonds des migrants l’un des piliers du développement de l’Afrique, en complément aux actions ponctuelles qu’elle a déjà entreprises dans ce domaine. En cas d’approbation du Conseil, le Fonds pourrait être opérationnel dès mars 2009. En complément de la participation française, d’autres partenaires ont manifesté leur intérêt à participer à la mise en place de ce fonds.

Les chefs d’Etat convergent à Doha pour se pencher sur le financement du développement

Le président de la Banque africaine de développement, Donald Kaberuka, se joint aux chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement du monde entier qui convergent sur Qatar pour un Sommet de haut niveau avant la Conférence internationale sur le financement de développement, organisée par l’ONU du 29 novembre au 2 décembre 2008 à Doha.

La Conférence internationale de suivi sur le financement du développement est programmée de longue date par l’ONU pour faire le point sur le consensus de Monterrey (2002), une étape cruciale marquant un accord global Nord-Sud sur les principes du développement. La conférence doit à cet égard formuler des recommandations sur les principales mesures destinées à revigorer le développement, qu’il s’agisse de commerce, d’aide au développement, d’investissement, d’allègement de dette, de mobilisation de ressources nationales ou encore d’une architecture financière internationale efficace.

Les travaux de la conférence sur le financement du développement prennent une importance particulière dans le contexte de la crise financière. Afin de faire entendre la voix de l’Afrique et ses préoccupations face à la crise financière, la BAD a organisé à Tunis, le 12 novembre 2008, une conférence ministérielle ayant abouti à une prise de position africaine commune.

Programme de la conférence internationale sur le financement du développement

Site web de la conférence

Zambia Signs US$ 24 Million AfDB Budget Support Loan Agreement-Endorses African Legal Support Facility Agreement

Lusaka, 2 December 2008

Zambia and the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group on Tuesday in Lusaka, signed a US$ 24 million Loan Agreement to finance the country’s Second Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS) program, which aims at developing the private sector and improving public finance management.

The agreement was signed by Zambia’s Minister for Finance and National Planning, Situmbeko Musokotwane and the AfDB’s Resident Representative in Zambia, Vivienne Apopo.

The Zambian government also signed on to the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), a collective fund set up to assist Regional Member Countries (RMCs) of the Bank in addressing capacity issues while dealing with the growing problem of litigation by vulture funds, as well as to enable them build the technical capacity for complex commercial negotiations. The ASLF is particularly relevant for countries such as Zambia with natural resource-based economies that are constantly targeted by international speculators.

On the occasion, Mr. Musokotwane and the World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director, Pablo Recalde, signed a memorandum of understanding on a framework for the administration of the Bank’s US$ 500,000 humanitarian assistance grant to flood victims endorsed by AfDB President Donald Kaberuka during his official visit to Zambia in August 2008.

Commenting on the event, the minister thanked the Bank Group for its continued support to Zambia’s development efforts, especially within the framework of the Fifth National Development Plan. He assured that the loan would be used to finance poverty reduction and economic growth projects. He emphasised the importance of the timing of the support considering that Zambia, like many other developing countries, was facing a number of challenges in the wake of the current global financial crisis.

Furthermore, Mr. Musokotwane commended the Bank for spearheading the African Legal Facility, noting that many African countries had lost huge resources in contracts and negotiations mainly due to limited internal capacity to negotiate and conclude beneficial deals for their countries. He also thanked both the Bank and the World Food Programme for the Humanitarian Assistance to the flood victims.

For her part, the AfDB Resident Representative, Vivienne Apopo, congratulated the government on the success of the recent presidential by-elections, and thanked them for continued support to Bank Group activities in Zambia and the African region. Mrs. Apopo observed that since Zambia’s economy relies mainly on the exploitation of natural resources, especially metals, the African Legal Support Facility would be handy in assisting the government in building the necessary capacity for effective negotiations and preparation of beneficial international contracts for managing its natural resources.

She thanked the WFP for its cooperation and readiness to administer the humanitarian assistance grant to flood victims. Mrs. Apopo re-affirmed the Bank’s commitment to supporting Zambia’s socio-economic development efforts.

WFP Country Director, Pablo Recalde thanked the Bank Group for the timely assistance to vulnerable groups in the country, facing many social and economic challenges that are threatening the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Forum de haut niveau sur le financement des investissements pour l'agriculture en Afrique subsaharienne

Paris, 8 décembre 2008

Relancer l'agriculture en Afrique nécessite des investissements dans les pistes, l'irrigation, la production, la commercialisation, la transformation, la recherche et les institutions. Des ressources privées et publiques doivent être mobilisées de manière coordonnée. Le Forum devrait proposer des pistes concrètes pour un renforcement des liens entre investisseurs privés et soutiens publics dans les politiques nationales et sous-régionales des pays africains.

• Programme
• Note de présentation
• Investir dans l'agriculture africaine

L'ancien président du Botswana s’exprime à la BAD sur les industries extractives en Afrique

Source

« Si le Botswana est un cas de succès, le pays le doit à la discipline et à la transparence » a déclaré, jeudi à Tunis, l'ancien président du Botswana, Festus Mogae, qui faisait un exposé dans le cadre du programme des conférenciers émérites de la BAD, sur le thème «les industries extractives et le développement de l'Afrique: les leçons du Botswana". M Mogae s’exprimait ainsi au siège de relocalisation temporaire de l’institution, devant de nombreux participants, notamment, les administrateurs et le personnel de la Banque, les membres du corps diplomatique et la presse.

Dans son allocution de bienvenue, le président de la BAD, M. Donald Kaberuka a salué le parcours exceptionnel du conférencier qui a successivement occupé d’éminentes positions dans la fonction publique internationale notamment celles d’administrateur au Fonds monétaire international, de gouverneurs à la Banque mondiale et de président du Conseil des ministres de la communauté régionale pour l’Afrique australe. Il a gravi presque tous les échelons de l’administration publique de son pays (gouverneur de la banque centrale, ministre des finances et de la planification, vice-président) avant d’être élu président de la république en mars 1998. Son mandat de président a pris fin le 31 mars 2008. Son engagement en faveur de la bonne gouvernance et de la démocratie lui valu la reconnaissance internationale avec le prix Mo Ibrahim qui lui a été décerné en 2008. Né en 1939, le Président Mogae est titulaire de nombreuses distinctions honorifiques. Il est commandeur de la légion d’honneur (Grand-Croix) de la république française...

Dans sa note introductive, le président Mogae a déclaré : « si le Botswana est un cas de succès, le pays le doit à la discipline et à la transparence ». En effet, le Botswana met un accent particulier sur les différentes étapes du processus, notamment au niveau de l’exploration, de l’exploitation et de la fiscalité, pour s’assurer que ses intérêts sont sauvegardés dans les négociations des contrats miniers. Il a indiqué que son pays gère de façon transparente les ressources tirées des mines, notamment en investissant l’argent dans des projets de développement. Selon le président Mogae, « les ressources du continent devraient servir à financer le développement et non à susciter des conflits ». Il a indiqué que souvent les conflits naissent du partage de la richesse et c’est la raison pour laquelle les Etats devraient veiller à bien négocier les contrats. S’il arrive que les contrats soient mal négociés, il serait judicieux de procéder à des renégociations a-t-il déclaré. Il a enfin invité les africains à mettre un accent particulier sur le leadership qui est un viatique pour la promotion d’un développement durable.

La Banque africaine de développement a un rôle important à jouer pour assister les pays qui le souhaitent dans les négociations ou renégociations des contrats miniers, a déclaré l’éminent conférencier.

L’hôte de la BAD a eu le même jour, une session extraordinaire avec le conseil d'administration de la Banque sur le même sujet, après sa conférence. M. Mogae, rappelle-t-on, est aujourd'hui, l'un des dirigeants africains les plus réputés, en raison de sa remarquable réussite et de son leadership qui a permis une gestion transparente des richesses minières de son pays.

Lonrho unit gets $5 mln contracts in Angola

Dec 12 (Reuters)

Lonrho Plc, the British-based conglomerate with various business interests in Africa, said on Friday its e-Kwikbuild unit received two contracts worth $5 million for its prefabricated buildings in Angola.

The company said the first contract, worth $4.5 million, was from Kimbo Limbombewa, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), to develop a school, training rooms and accommodation for young orphans.

Lonrho, which holds 55.6 percent in e-Kwikbuild, said it also received a $500,000 contract from Sul Engineeria for the supply of an office and residential buildings on the outskirts of Luanda.

E-Kwikbuild, which develops insulated prefabricated buildings, had said in November that it completed and started production from a new prefabricated panel production plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

"With the opening of the new production facility in Port Elizabeth we are now seeing an increasing order book across other African countries," Chairman David Lenigas said in a statement.

Shares of Lonrho, which have lost about 90 percent of their value since the beginning of the year, were up 2.4 percent at 4.59 pence at 1009 GMT.

Angola: Industry Deputy Minister Wants Recovery of Chinguar's Factories

Angola Press Agency, 12/12/2008

Angola's deputy minister of Industry, Abraão Gourgel, on Thursday here guaranteed the recovery as from 2009 of factories destroyed by the war in Chinguar District, central Bie Province, ANGOP has learnt.

The official, who was speaking to the press after an official visit, underlined that the repair works that are to start next year, in a three-year period, will comprise foodstuff industries (soft drink, tomato-paste) and building materials.

The project will count on the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture and will be executed in all provinces of the country.

Abraão Gourgel reminded that besides increasing the supply of food for the population, it will also provide more jobs countrywide.

The deputy minister called on businesspeople to collaborate with the local government in the rehabilitation and construction of various factories.

On Friday, Abraão Gourgel is to visit the districts of Katabola and Kamacupa to assess the level of destruction of the local factories.

Angola: "Nosso Super" National Land-Mark - Finance Minister

Angola Press Agency, 11/12/2008

The Angolan Finance minister, Severim de Morais, Thursday here said that the Programme of Re-structuring of Logistic and Distribution System of Essential Goods to the Population (Presild), integrating "Nosso Super" outlets, constitutes a land-mark for the country.

"With the inauguration of Logistic and Distribution Centre (Clod), the country gives an important step toward consolidation of logistic structure, capable of ensuring a better response to the need of consumers", said the Cabinet minister when presenting the infrastructure to the President of the Republic, José Eduardo dos Santos and to the government officials.

According to minister Severim de Morais, since March 2007 some 26 supermarkets were inaugurated, an average of one shop every month, in a performance considered positive.

The first Clod, located at Viana district, 30km from Luanda city, cost USD 30 million, and it will supply products to "Nosso Super" Shops.

Severim de Morais also guaranteed the implementation of sub-programme of Logistic and Distribution Network of Products to the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and of National Police.

Angola: Prime Minister Stresses Importance of Supply Centre

Angola Press Agency, 11/12/2008

Angolan Prime Minister, António Paulo Kassoma, Thursday here said that the newly-open Supply and Logistic Centre (CLOD) will contribute to the improvement of the supply system to the population.

"It is also a promoting and stimulating element of the local production", said the Angolan Premier, who along with the speaker of National Assembly, chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and other officials, attended CLOD inauguration, presided over by the Head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Inaugurated in the ambit of the Programme of Restructuring of Logistic and Supply System of Essential Products to the Population (PRESILD), CLOD will employ 250 people in a 24-hour service and its construction cost USD 30 million.

In her turn, the minister of Trade, Fátima Valente, told journalists that with the functioning of this centre, "there will be betterment in the supply of locally-made products".

The minister of Agriculture, Afonso Pedro Canga, considered that it has a great importance because it will directly benefit the farmers at a time that works have been done aiming the increase of production of agricultural products.

Angola: Head of State Inaugurates Logistical Centre

Angola Press Agency, 11/12/2008

The Angolan Head of state, José Eduardo dos Santos, on Thursday here inaugurated the first centre of logistics and distribution (CLOD), which will enable to store and supply national products to the Nosso Super supermarkets, ANGOP has learnt.

Inaugurated in the ambit of the programme of re-structuring the logistical systems and distribution of essential products to the population (PRESILD), the CLOD will function with 250 people, 24 hours per day and will be supported by 55 trucks.

A second similar infrastructure is under construction in Lobito City, southwest Benguela Province and is expected to start operating next year, followed by others in other great centres of food production.

With this move the government want to create an efficient wholesale market, in order to valorise national production.

Nosso Super supermarkets network, whose first shop was inaugurated in March 2007, by President José Eduardo dos Santos, has already attended 11 million people, getting an income of about 13 million US dollars.

CLOD has cold-storage containers for meat, fish, fruits, a laboratory, commercial area, a hotel, police station and a waste treatment sector, besides other services.

President José Eduardo dos Santos also inaugurated on Thursday the Social Services Higher Institute of Angola (ISSA), located at Benfica Commune, in Samba District.

South African private sector in recession

The Watchdog

The South African private sector economy may well be in recession already as business activity levels are falling sharply in four of SA’s provinces. South Africa is one of the leading trading partners of Zambia

The Sake24 Provincial Barometers for October shows that activity levels in the private sector economies of Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Free State are falling dramatically and that several individual economic sectors are already in recession.

The Provincial Barometers were developed by Sake24 and T-sec chief economist Mike Schüssler. It uses a comprehensive set of existing statistical data from various sources to compile the coincident indices.

The Gauteng Barometer, which measures the pulse of South Africa’s premier provincial economy, declined in October by 14.8% to 128 index points compared to October 2009. The Western Cape Barometer slipped by 12% to 145 points. The Eastern Cape Barometer shed 10.2% to 141 points and the Free State by 10.4% to 122 points.

“The national economic growth rate for the third quarter was only 0.2%. If you strip out the contribution of government and personal services, the private sector economy shrunk by 0.6%. This follows on growth of 5.1% in the second quarter,” said Schüssler.

This slowdown follows significant double digit declines in all the provincial barometers since July this year. “This does not bode well for growth in the fourth quarter of the year.”

The shapes of the individual provincial barometers do not suggest that these economies have hit rock bottom. “We have seen a slowdown over the past 12 months and I expect the barometers to bottom after the second quarter of 2009,” said Schüssler.

“It is, however, clear the provincial economies that depend on primary industries such as mining and agriculture, are feeling the heat.

“I expect that other provinces such as North West and the Northern Cape that rely on mining activities, will also be under significant pressure,” he said.

Dire straits for property

The Gauteng Barometer shows that the broad financial, real estate and business services sector is in dire straits. Activity levels in this sector in October were nearly 16% lower than in October last year.

“The main reason is the significant decline in residential housing market. The number of houses sold in October was nearly 40% lower than in the corresponding month last year, while the new installment credit sales were also down by more than 30%,” said Schüssler.

“I have never seen decreases like this and it shows that this sector is in recession,” he said.

Similar decreases in the financial, real estate and business services sector are also evident in the other provinces.

New Liquefied Petroleum Gas Tanks in Mauritius

Cabinet has taken note of project proposals for the construction of two additional storage tanks of 5,000 MT capacity each for Liquefied Petroleum Gas with a view to increasing stock days to 54.

BONN, Germany, December 5, 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Board of Eskom Holding Limited announced today its decision not to proceed wit

PRETORIA, South Africa, December 2, 2008

The ICSU Regional Office for Africa (ICSU ROA), in collaboration with the National Research Foundation (NRF) and its partners is organizing an international workshop of experts on Global Environmental Change (including Climate Change and Adaptation) in sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop will be held in Pretoria, South Africa, on 9-11 February 2009. 

The workshop is open to researchers and policy-makers in public and private institutions and organizations (government, academia, industry, UN-agencies and NGOs) who are interested in contributing to the implementation of the ICSU ROA science plan on Global Environmental Change (including Climate Change and Adaptation) in sub-Saharan Africa.

The workshop will focus on the following themes

• Project GC01: Land Degradation, Biodiversity Loss and Human Well-being in Africa.

• Project GC02: Climate change and its impact on rainfall in Africa.

• Project GC03: Resilience of Food Supply Systems.

• Project GC04: Water Resources and their Governance.

• Project GC05: Atmospheric Composition Change.

• Project GC06: Africa’s Oceanographic Uniqueness

The programme will comprise of a limited number of keynote lectures and a poster session, with more time allocated to group discussions on preparation of research projects.Participants wishing to present posters are requested to submit their abstracts to the ICSU ROA secretariat before 19 December 2008.

See call for participation: http://www.icsu-africa.org/docs/iwegec_call.pdf

SOURCE : ICSU Regional Office for Africa (ICSU ROA)

South Africa / ESKOM not in a position to invest in nuclear

BONN, Germany, December 5, 2008

The Board of Eskom Holding Limited announced today its decision not to proceed with the proposed investment in Nuclear-1 project due to the magnitude of the investment. The proposed Nuclear 1 project would have resulted in the construction of the country’s second pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant. Koeberg Power Station is South Africa’s first and only nuclear power station.

The Eskom Board has, as a result, terminated the commercial procurement process to select the preferred bidder for the construction of the Nuclear-1 project. The two bidders, the EPR consortium led by Areva of France and the N-Powerment consortium led by Westinghouse of the USA, have been informed of this decision of the Eskom Board.

“The Board has expressed its appreciation to the two bidders for their interest in the Eskom build programme, and in particular their desire to participate in the nuclear industry in South Africa. We were impressed by their professionalism throughout the bid process. We thank them for their patience and understanding during the past few months”, says Mr Jacob Maroga, Chief Executive of Eskom Holdings Limited.

SOURCE : World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) Head Office

Washington accentue ses pressions pour le départ de Mugabe

(AFP) 

Les Etats-Unis accentuent leurs pressions pour chasser Robert Mugabe du pouvoir au Zimbabwe: ils appellent l'ONU à se substituer à l'Etat "défaillant" pour lutter contre le choléra et tentent de convaincre l'Afrique du Sud de fermer sa frontière avec son voisin.

"La situation est vraiment grave. Un seul homme entouré de sa bande tient le pays en otage et le Zimbabwe est en train de tomber rapidement au niveau d'un Etat défaillant", a déclaré jeudi l'ambassadeur des Etats-Unis à Harare, James McGee.

"Il est temps que Mugabe s'en aille. Il n'est plus utile au Zimbabwe", a-t-il noté, réitérant les appels à la démission du président zimbabwéen, âgé de 84 ans dont 28 au pouvoir, lancés ces derniers jours par la secrétaire d'Etat américaine, Condoleezza Rice, et le président George W. Bush.

La directrice de l'Agence américaine d'aide au développement internationale (USAID), Henrietta Fore, a pour sa part annoncé une aide supplémentaire de 6,2 millions de dollars pour faire face à l'épidémie de choléra qui a déjà fait 783 morts depuis août.

Elle a précisé que les Etats-Unis soutiendraient une mission d'urgence que l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) est en train de mettre sur pied pour le Zimbabwe.

"Les Etats-Unis vont soutenir les efforts de coordination internationale en finançant le centre de commande de l'OMS et le poste de coordinateur sanitaire de la structure de coordination des Nations Unies", a indiqué Mme Fore. "Nous remplaçons des services gouvernementaux".

Mme Rice doit participer la semaine prochaine à New York à une réunion du Conseil de sécurité consacrée à la situation au Zimbabwe, a indiqué le porte-parole du département d'Etat, Sean McCormack.

"Nous avons exprimé notre position très clairement", a-t-il ajouté. "Nous pensons que tous les pays qui ont ce que nous appelons une influence sous-utilisée, doivent l'utiliser".

Washington accuse le régime de M. Mugabe d'avoir créé cette crise humanitaire de toutes pièces en refusant de partager le pouvoir avec l'opposition après sa défaite aux élections de mars dernier et compte sur la Communauté de développement de l'Afrique australe (SADC) pour qu'elle convainque le président zimbabwéen de quitter le pouvoir sans effusion de sang.

Publiquement, les responsables américains s'abstiennent de critiquer l'Afrique du Sud, pays le plus influent de la région, qui s'est refusée jusqu'à présent à appeler M. Mugabe à démissionner.

"Nous attendons de l'Afrique du Sud qu'elle joue un rôle actif dans tout ce qui se passe dans le sud de l'Afrique. Nous continuons à travailler discrètement et en coulisses avec l'Afrique du Sud pour que cela se produise", a ainsi déclaré M. McGee.

Mais sous le couvert de l'anonymat, un haut responsable du département d'Etat a appelé les pays voisins du Zimbabwe, et notamment l'Afrique du Sud, à fermer leurs frontières avec le Zimbabwe.

"Cela pourrait être quelque chose d'aussi simple que de fermer la frontière", a déclaré ce haut responsable, soulignant que le Zimbabwe est un pays enclavé, dont l'économie dépend totalement des échanges avec ses voisins.

"L'économie formelle et l'économie parallèle en souffriraient", a-t-il ajouté. "Il suffirait d'une semaine pour que l'économie du pays soit à genoux".

Depuis huit ans, cet ancien grenier à céréales de la région s'enfonce dans un marasme sans précédent qui se caractérise aujourd'hui par une hyperinflation délirante, 80% de chômage, des ruptures chroniques d'approvisionnement en devises et en produits alimentaires.

Cette crise se double d'une paralysie politique depuis la réélection contestée fin juin de M. Mugabe. Le régime et l'opposition n'arrivent toujours pas à s'entendre sur un partage du pouvoir, malgré un accord conclu en septembre.

Le Geeref, fonds européen de soutien aux énergies propres investit 22 millions € en Afrique

BRUXELLES, Royaume de Belgique, 11 décembre 2008

Le Fonds mondial pour la promotion de l’efficacité énergétique et des énergies renouvelables (Geeref), mis en place par la Commission européenne pour aider les pays en développement et les économies en transition à accéder à l’énergie propre, a décidé d’une première série d’investissements pour un montant total de 22 millions €. Réalisés dans le cadre de la lutte contre le changement climatique, ces investissements financeront, en Afrique subsaharienne et australe ainsi qu’en Asie, des projets à petite échelle dans le domaine des énergies renouvelables. Cette annonce a été faite aujourd’hui par M. Stavros Dimas, membre de la Commission européenne chargé de l’environnement, à l’occasion d’une présentation du Geeref, dans le cadre de la conférence des Nations unies sur le changement climatique à Poznań, en Pologne.

«Le Geeref offre une plateforme financière pour soutenir la lutte mondiale non seulement contre le changement climatique, mais aussi contre la pauvreté», a déclaré M. Dimas. «La recherche en parallèle d’une solution à ces deux questions est au cœur de la ‘vision commune’ de l’Union européenne en vue de l’accord international global sur le changement climatique que nous négocions à Poznań et que nous devons conclure d’ici la fin de l’année 2009.»

Le comité d’investissement du Geeref a donné son approbation préliminaire à des investissements pour un montant total de 22 millions € dans deux fonds commerciaux consacrés aux énergies renouvelables. Le premier concerne des projets en Afrique subsaharienne et australe et le second est centré sur l’Asie, et plus particulièrement sur l’Inde. Les deux fonds investiront des capitaux dans des projets d’énergie renouvelable, comme l’éolien, le petit hydroélectrique, la biomasse ou la récupération du méthane. Dans les régions couvertes par ces deux fonds, le marché n’offre pas suffisamment de possibilités d’investissement dans ce type de projets.

«À travers le monde, 1,6 milliard de personnes n’ont toujours pas d’accès régulier à des services énergétiques fiables. Les investissements du Geeref permettront d’accélérer le transfert, le développement et le déploiement de technologies respectueuses de l’environnement et contribueront ainsi à assurer aux habitants des régions les plus pauvres du globe des approvisionnements en énergie sûrs et propres», a déclaré M. Louis Michel, membre de la Commission européenne chargé du développement et de l’aide humanitaire.

Fonctionnement du Geeref

Le Geeref, dont la création a été décidée par la Commission en 2006, investira principalement dans des fonds et structures d’investissement similaires consacrés aux infrastructures dans le domaine des énergies durables et des énergies renouvelables et adaptés aux réalités et besoins des régions concernées. Avec d’autres partenaires, il réalisera des co-investissements dans des projets spécifiques. L’accent sera mis sur les investissements d’un montant inférieur à 10 millions €, ceux-ci étant le plus souvent ignorés par les investisseurs privés et les institutions financières internationales. Il est prévu que le Geeref investisse dans des sous-fonds régionaux pour la région Afrique, Caraïbes et Pacifique (région ACP), l’Afrique du Nord, les pays d’Europe orientale non membres de l’Union européenne, l’Amérique latine et l’Asie.

Ensemble, la Commission européenne, l’Allemagne et la Norvège ont affecté au Geeref un montant d’environ 110 millions € pour la période 2007-2011, et il est prévu que d’autres acteurs public et privés apportent un financement complémentaire.

Le Geeref est géré par un comité d’investissement rassemblant des représentants des actionnaires et des experts du secteur. Il est conseillé par la Banque européenne d’investissement et le Fonds européen d'investissement.

SOURCE : European Commission

Mauritius: main figures from the Health Statistics Report 2007

Cabinet [05/12/2008]  has taken note of the publication by the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of the Health Statistics Report 2007. The salient features of the Report are, inter alia, as follows:-

  For Island of Mauritius

  (a) Crude Birth Rate was 13.2 per thousand mid-year resident population as compared to 13.8 in 2006;

  (b) Crude Death Rate was 6.8 per thousand mid-year population as compared to 7.3 in 2006;

  (c) total fertility rate dropped to 1.6 in 2007;
  (d) life expectancy at birth rose from 61 years for male and 66 years for female in 1973 to 69 years and 76 years respectively in 2007;

  (e) 13,480 births occurred in government hospitals in 2007 representing 83% of all births registered in the Island; and

  (f) the total number of pathological tests carried out in public laboratories, which was 3.5 million in 1997, increased to 7.4 million in 2007.

  For Island of Rodrigues

  (a) the Crude Birth Rate was 22.6 per 1,000 mid-year resident population in 2007;

  (b) from 27.2 per thousand live births in 2006, the Infant Mortality Rate went down to 15.4 in 2007; and

  (c) diseases of the circulatory system were responsible for 35.4% of all deaths in 2007, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (mainly diabetes) for 16.6%, neoplasms (cancer etc.) for 18.3% , diseases of the respiratory system for 8.6% and injury and poisoning for 6.9%.

Maurice: développements dans le "ICT sector"

Cabinet [05/12/2008]  has taken note of the various initiatives put in place in the ICT sector with a view to making the sector more resilient to the world financial crisis, viz -

  (a) reduction of International Private Lease Circuit tariffs and passing the benefits to end users;

  (b) proclamation of the Data Protection Act 2004 to attract investors and boosting up the Business Process Outsourcing/call centre segments;

  (c) making provision for appropriate infrastructure for ICT expansion;

  (d) developing a pool of IT professionals to support the expansion of the ICT sector, in particular, investment in higher value added Business Process Outsourcing; and

  (e) improvement of internet connection and speed, as well as increase in cable connections, such as SEGANET and SEACOM.

  Cabinet has further taken note of developments in the SEGANET project, an Indian Ocean Commission initiative, which aims at connecting Member States via a submarine fibre-optic cable to provide high telecommunication bandwidth for the socio-economic development of the region. A “Protocole d’Accord” on the project would shortly be signed by all parties concerned. The “Protocole” would serve as a reference tool and a basis for Member States to make their decisions based upon the result of in-depth legal, economic, technical and financial studies on specific important key issues relating to the Project. It also provides for the setting up of a Regional Strategic Committee under the purview of the IOC to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the project.

Maurice: Adoption d'un "Insolvency Bill "

Cabinet  [05/12/2008]  has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of the Insolvency Bill which aims at reforming the law relating to the insolvency of individuals and companies, and in particular to –

  (a) provide straightforward and fair procedures for realising and distributing the assets of insolvent individuals and companies;

  (b) promote honest trading and the prudent incurring of liabilities, impose penalties on the fraudulent and reckless trading and management of assets leading to insolvency, and place appropriate sanctions on profligate individual and commercial behaviour;

  (c) provide alternatives to bankruptcy for individuals facing insolvency and procedures for workout and administration of companies as alternatives to winding up with a view to their rehabilitation; and

  (d) address the position of cross-border insolvencies in relation to companies.

  The Bill presents a comprehensive set of insolvency reforms that would address the recommendations of the World Bank pertaining to the insolvency legal framework. The new law, if well implemented, would provide Mauritius with a modern and effective insolvency system.

Une Bourse de Commerce en opération bientôt à Maurice

Debesh Beedasy, Le Matinal, Port-Louis, 10 décembre 2008

Les Mauriciens pourront investir sur les Bourses du commerce à partir du premier trimestre de 2009. Suite à l'approbation du régulateur, le Global Board of Trade (GBOT) est sur le point de démarrer ses transactions avec un éventail de produits comprenant des métaux précieux, des produits agricoles, des métaux non précieux et des produits énergétiques. En réalité, l'effet entre les forces du marché régionales et globales sur la Bourse du commerce domestique jettera les bases d'un marché commun sur la région panafricaine. Jusqu'à présent, les Mauriciens n'ont pas eu l'occasion d'investir dans les Bourses du commerce à Maurice.

Le GBOT, filiale du groupe indien Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTI), a lancé mercredi une campagne d'informatisation sur ce nouveau marché des produits. Cette campagne a regroupé des professionnels du monde des finances, des experts comptables et tous ceux qui sont concernés par ce nouveau marché. Le thème de cette initiative de formation s'intitule "Towards rebuilding markets : do we need structural or regulatory changes ?" Joseph Massey, "Managing Director" et "Chief Executive Officer" (CEO) de MCX (India) et Suresh Kumar, CEO d'Emirates Financial Services (Dubai) et Milan Meetarbhan, "Chief Executive" de la Financial Services Commission, ont expliqué mercredi, à l'hôtel Balaclava, le nouveau visage du marché financier à Maurice avec l'entrée en opération du GBOT à Maurice. Les professionnels des finances ont également eu des discussions et des éclaircissements sur le fonctionnement de cette Bourse de commerce.

FTI avait voté un budget d'environ 25 millions USD pour ce projet et compte récupérer ses investissements dans deux à trois ans. La compagnie prévoit également la mise sur pied d'un Sugar Board au sein de l'entreprise. Le Sugar Board sera une plate-forme de commerce pour le sucre.

L'implantation d'une filiale à Maurice de FTIL s'inscrit dans le cadre de l'expansion internationale du groupe, qui a une forte présence en Asie. La Bourse du commerce est la première phase d'un projet plus large de Bourse classe à capitalisation multiple. Initialement, cette Bourse permettra des échanges sur les métaux précieux et non précieux, l'énergie, les contrats et les produits agricoles.
FTIL, le promoteur du GBOT, est listé à la Bourse de Bombay et la Bourse nationale de l'Inde. FTIL est l'un des principaux promoteurs de la plus grande Bourse du commerce de l'Inde, notamment la Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) qui figure parmi les dix principales Bourses du monde. NYSE Euronext a récemment effectué une prise de participation dans MCX.

Le concours de différentes catégories de participants à la Bourse du commerce, aussi bien à Maurice qu'à l'étranger, par le biais d'une plate-forme électronique, liera en temps réel géographique des acheteurs et des vendeurs dispersés. Maurice a du potentiel comme centre financier dans la région et c'est surtout sa stabilité économique et politique qui a intéressé le groupe.

Les promoteurs du GBOT s'attendent à ce que cette Bourse du commerce basée à Maurice contribuera à accélérer l'intégration du sous-continent africain à l'économie mondiale en usant de la position stratégique de Maurice entre les fuseaux horaires de New York, Londres et Tokyo. Cette Bourse devrait aussi rehausser l'image de Maurice en tant que centre financier et leader dans la région. L'échange facilitera les liens entre les marchés de produits en Afrique et les centres de commerce, conformément aux meilleurs pratiques marchandes globales concernant la transparence des prix, l'efficacité commerciale, le "hedging" des risques et les finances structurées, à être introduites dans la région.

Une Bourse de commerce en est une où divers produits et dérivés sont commercés. La plupart des Bourses font des échanges sur les produits agricoles et d'autres matières premières ainsi que des contrats basés sur ceux-ci.

Maurice/Energie : Le contrat CEB-CT Power signé bientôt

Sharon Boyjonauth, Le Matinal, Port-Louis, 10 décembre

La signature du contrat entre le Central Electricity Board (CEB) et la firme malaisienne CT Power devrait intervenir incessamment. Les deux partenaires sont sur le point de signer le premier accord qui permettra à la compagnie d'électricité nationale de devenir propriétaire de la centrale à charbon à l'expiration du contrat, soit après 20 ans, au dire d'un haut cadre du CEB.

Selon le marché qui a été conclu, le CEB deviendra propriétaire de la centrale de 110 Mw à Pointe-aux-Caves. Trois ans avant la fin du contrat, une équipe de techniciens du CEB fera partie intégrante du personnel de CT Power et commencera à en prendre le contrôle.

Selon l'accord entre les deux partenaires, le CEB, qui a créé la CEB Investment Company Ltd, détiendra au moins 26 % de l'actionnariat du projet CT Power. Le corps paraétatique aura donc son mot à dire dans les décisions qui seront prises. Il a également été conclu que le retour sur l'investissement ne dépassera pas le seuil de 21,5 %.

Malgré les protestations des forces vives de la localité avoisinante contre la construction de cette centrale au coût de quelque Rs 5,5 milliards, les premiers coups de pioche devront être donnés au début de l'année pro-chaine. La première unité devra ainsi alimenter la grille du CEB en 2010 alors qu'il est prévu que la deuxième unité entrera en opération vers la mi-2010.

Le conseiller spécial du Premier ministre Joël de Rosnay avait montré des réserves sur la construction de cette centrale à charbon.

Accords de partenariats économiques : garantir un impact réel en termes de développement

Parlement Europeen - Commission Développement et coopération - 08-12-2008

Qu'ils signent ou non des accords de partenariat économique (APE) avec l'UE, les pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique ne devraient pas être moins bien lotis en comparaison avec le régime actuel de préférences, souligne le rapport adopté ce lundi par la commission du développement. Des mesures d'accompagnement, sous forme d'aide au commerce, doivent aider les pays ACP à compenser notamment la perte de recettes douanières.

Le rapport rédigé par Jürgen Schroeder (PPE-DE, DE) demande au Conseil et à la Commission d'accepter toute proposition d'accord émanant des pays ACP même si ces propositions ne portent que sur des échanges de marchandises. La compatibilité des APE avec les règles de l'OMC (article XXIV du GATT) ne concerne que les échanges de marchandises et exige qu'"une part substantielle du commerce" soit libéralisée "dans un délai raisonnable".

Les accords de Lomé conclus entre la Communauté européenne et les pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP) prévoyaient des préférences commerciales pour les pays ACP plus avantageuses que celles accordées par l'Union à d'autres pays en développement dans le cadre du système de préférences généralisées (SPG). Contesté par des pays en développement non-ACP, ce régime spécifique a pu être prolongé temporairement grâce à une dérogation de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), qui a expiré le 31 décembre 2007.

Les députés rappellent au Conseil et à la Commission que ni la conclusion d'un APE ni la renonciation à ce dernier ne devrait conduire à une situation où un pays ACP se trouverait dans une position moins favorable que celle qui lui était assurée en vertu des dispositions commerciales de l'Accord de Cotonou.

Aide au commerce

Seules des "mesures fortes" d'accompagnement permettront aux pays ACP de bénéficier des "possibilités offertes par les APE". Ces mesures devront notamment compenser la perte nette des recettes douanières et être investies en vue de diversifier la production à l'exportation et de produire davantage de marchandises à plus forte valeur ajoutée destinées à l'exportation.

Clause de révision et intégration régionale

Les accords APE devraient inclure une clause prévoyant une révision dans les cinq ans à compter de leur signature. Les parlements nationaux, le Parlement européen et la société civile devraient y être associés, selon le rapport. Ce délai de cinq ans devrait permettre d'évaluer l'impact des APE sur les économies des Etats ACP et sur la capacité de ces accords à renforcer l'intégration régionale. Une réorientation du terme de ces accords devrait être possible.

Pour éviter que des APE conclus avec des pays ACP individuels ou avec des groupes de pays ne couvrant pas l'ensemble d'une région donnée n'entravent le processus d'intégration régionale, les députés demandent à la Commission de redéfinir son approche et de s'assurer que la conclusion d'APE ne remette pas en cause ce processus.

Sur les 15 pays de la région pacifique (en incluant le Timor oriental) - où s'est déroulée la 16ème session de l'Assemblée parlementaire paritaire ACP-UE à Port Moresby (Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée) du 24 au 28 novembre 2008, seuls la Papouasie et les îles Fidji ont signé des accords provisoires. L’érosion des préférences commerciales, le sucre pour les îles Fidji et le secteur de la pêche au thon pour la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, ont incité ces pays à signer un accord provisoire en novembre 2007.

Contrôle parlementaire de la mise en œuvre des APE

La mise en œuvre des APE devrait être surveillée par un organisme parlementaire. Cette instance parlementaire devrait, dans chaque cas, être issue de l'Assemblée parlementaire paritaire (APP) ACP-UE.

Avis conforme du PE

Le Parlement européen sera amené à donner, probablement au printemps 2009, son accord formel (dit "avis conforme") pour que ces accords puissent entrer en vigueur. Comme ces accords ont un volet "commerce" important, cette procédure relèvera de la commission du commerce international du PE.

Les négociations avec les Etats ACP ont été ouvertes en 2002, suite à l'adoption des directives de négociation par le Conseil le 12 juin 2002. Ces négociations sont menées avec six régions (Caraïbes, Afriques de l'Ouest, Afrique Centrale, Afrique de l'Est et du Sud, Communauté de Développement de l'Afrique Australe et Pacifique).

Le rapport a été adopté par 15 voix pour et 13 contre -- Vote en plénière: février 2009