A Look at China's Presence in Africa

There has been a change in ideological sentiment on China’s involvement in Africa. The paradigm shift has been led by Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo’s bestseller, Dead Aid, which gave voice to the possibility of a development model defined by diligent business practices as opposed to the traditional Western model which is driven by foreign aid. If managed prudently the Sino- African relationship could prove to be an empowering change for several African governments and provide the foundation for the continent to take its place as a partner in the global economy. For China, Africa is an excellent complement to its resource and market-seeking global agenda. Since 2000 China-Africa trade has grown at an average annual rate of 33.5 per cent. Although still second to the United States (whose trade with Africa amounted to US$140 billion in 2008), trade rose from US$55 billion in 2006 to around US$107 billion in 2008, accounting for 4.5 per cent of China’s total trade and surpassing the US$100 billion trade target set for 2010 at the 2006 Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).



China has also identified the value of Africa as a political ally in its quest for a greater role in international affairs. The benefits of China’s African diplomacy became clear in 1971 when China’s accession to the UN General Assembly and Security Council was assisted by 26 affirmative votes cast by African countries. Today China has diplomatic relations with 49 of 53 African nations and China’s deepening engagement means that the US, Europe and other emerging partners have little choice but to compete for access to the continent’s emerging markets and resources. In November 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao took the opportunity to declare China’s commitment to African development while challenging the established industrial powers to do the same:

In the global financial crisis, what people tend to easily ignore is the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals … Here I would like to once again appeal to the international community to work hard with firm determination and effective measures to reach the MDGs while tackling the global financial crisis.

This declaration was accompanied by the announcement of US$10 billion in preferential loans to support African countries over the next three years. In light of the OECD’s prediction that the G8 will fall US$23 billion short of its 2005 promise of US$50 billion in foreign aid to the poorest and most vulnerable by 2010 (Africa contains 33 of the 49 Least Developed Countries, as classified by the UN ), it is little wonder China’s diplomacy is gaining traction among African governments.

Although the China-induced resource boom is providing a shortterm fillip to African growth and Moyo’s ambitions for a business-driven model of growth, China alone will not be the continent’s saviour. To avoid destructive competition in the region, a cooperative framework on African issues is required between China, the US and Europe and emerging partners to the continent such as Brazil, India and Russia. This is increasingly important in the context of trade frictions that are present in the current global economic environment.

Legitimate concerns about human rights and exploitative practices surround China’s non-interference based involvement in African nations. The list includes arms dealing with repressive regimes, support for autocratic governments isolated by the West, plundering resources with little concern for environmental issues and importing unskilled Chinese labour who are culturally ignorant and unwilling to integrate.

Many of these issues highlight what seem to be self-serving political and strategic motives behind China’s activity in Africa. Many are fuelled by Western hypocrisy. The West’s involvement on the continent has been, and continues to be, littered with tales of mismanagement, exploitation and funding despots. Furthermore, China is hardly alone in marrying political and strategic considerations to its aid agenda. In December last year the US President, Barack Obama, signed off on a deal with Israel worth US$2.77 billion in 2010 (worth a total of US$30 billion over the next decade) with 75 per cent tied to the purchase of US-made military hardware.

Defending exploitative behaviour is not the issue. The business-driven model of development provides new opportunities to several African nations long overlooked as legitimate trading and investment partners. African countries and the African Union need coherent, longterm strategies to apply leverage to international commercial interests and to create opportunities for enduring economic competitiveness and growth. With the prediction by the International Energy Agency that China’s oil imports will increase four-fold by 2030, it is vital for Africa itself to respond strategically to the opportunity that China offers the continent. Although the FOCAC provides an effective forum to develop diplomatic and commercial relations, the issues cited above will continue to bedevil China’s involvement with the continent if strong institutional frameworks of governance and dispute resolution mechanisms are not properly implemented.

In the latest issue of The Atlantic magazine, China's resource play in Africa and development pledges are discussed in vivid detail and questions are asked.

All across Africa, new tracks are being laid, highways built,ports deepened, commercial contracts signed—all on an unprecedented scale, and led by China, whose appetite for commodities seems insatiable. Do China’s grand designs promise the transformation,at last, of a star-crossed continent? Or merely its exploitation?

At some point, at sometime, Africans are going to have to take control of their own destinies. Howard is very descriptive in regards to what Chinese laborers and business men are doing in Africa. However, one ends up asking: "What are Africans doing to advance their own needs?"

Surely they can't all be reading the paper and taking a nap?

All joking aside, the cold reality is that foreign attempts to develop Africa have spectacularly failed. No one disputes that developmental polices have traditionally been short sighted. Nevertheless, development projects are only as good as the repairman has money, skills, ambition, a society that encourages entrepreneurship, and the will to see the service they manage succeed.

The only people that can - and should - save Africa at the end of the day, are Africans.

China deepens Niger Ties

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="190" caption="Niger"][/caption]

China deepens ties with Niger.

NIAMEY, Niger — For China, the transition seems smooth.  Just a few months ago, China was widely derided here as the financial backbone propping up an autocratic president, Mamadou Tandja, giving him the confidence to ignore international condemnation as he chopped away at Niger’s democratic institutions.

But now that Mr. Tandja has been overthrown, China appears to be settling into a new role: business partner to the good-government-preaching military officers who ousted Mr. Tandja under the banner of restoring democracy.

“Our diplomatic relations with China were not affected by the coup d’état,” said Mahaman Laouali Dan Dah, a spokesman for the military junta now running the country.

That was plain to see from the front page of the government newspaper this month. China’s ambassador to Niger, Xia Huang, was prominently shown inspecting the bridge that his country is building here in the capital. About 10 days before, Mr. Xia had proclaimed on state television that China’s extensive oil and uranium interests in Niger had not been “disrupted by the events” — the coup — in February, news agencies reported.

Will most western countries would trend carefully after a  military Junta overthrows a government, the Chinese simply don't care. Neither does the Junta. The Nigeran junta knows who didn't harshly critique what they were doing "in the name of democracy".

But the junta does not seem eager to upset the Chinese — “checking doesn’t mean calling into question,” said Col. Abdoulkarim Goukoye, a junta member — and for now China appears to be proceeding confidently, sealing its reputation here as the continent’s behind-the-scenes force, ready to do business regardless of who is in power or whatever outrage exists about it.

But even Mr. Bazoum did not suggest breaking with China now. In a sign of how desperately Niger needs investment — the nation ranks at the very bottom of the United Nations human development index — Mr. Bazoum said he hoped the old deals would be respected, suggesting how quickly the looming backlash against China here has become an embrace.

“They couldn’t care less” who leads the country, Mohamed Bazoum, a former opposition leader recently appointed by the junta to a civilian council, said of China’s investments in Niger. “The Chinese, they were about to destroy democracy. They were playing a very negative role.”

“When the international community turns its back on you, you’ve got to find money somewhere,” said Sanoussi Tambari Jackou, the senior member of Niger’s Parliament. After all, he said, “it’s the West that threw Tandja into the arms of the Chinese.”

Africa weathers global economic crisis

More good news about the prospects of economic growth in Africa. Africa weathered the storm better than in the past and previously thought.

Sub-Saharan Africa is weathering the global financial crisis well and its recovery is expected to be stronger than after previous global downturns, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday.

While some oil-exporting countries and middle-income nations had been hit hard by falling demand for their exports, the continent's low level of integration into world markets meant that it had been relatively sheltered from the crisis, the IMF said in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report.

Furthermore, while Africa had feared a sharp fall-off in foreign aid and remittances from expatriate Africans as a result of the crisis, the decline had not been as severe as anticipated, the IMF found.

That aid, twinned with improved government policies in many countries meant the downturn had a limited effect on some of the poorest countries.

'Growth in a number of the more fragile economies even accelerated last year,' the IMF noted.

By contrast, middle-income economies that conduct a lot of trade with the rest of the world were among the hardest hit.

South Africa's Gross Domestic Product contracted by 1.8 per cent in 2009. The IMF has predicted 2 per cent growth for the continental powerhouse in 2010.

Growth also slowed in oil-producing countries on the back of shrunken demand and prices for fuel, coming in at around 4 per cent. But the rebound in oil prices meant countries like Nigeria and Angola, Africa's biggest producers, were headed for growth of about 6 per cent this year, the IMF said.

One of the biggest threats to Africa was the tightening of foreign purse strings for development projects, the IMF warned.

The IMF also cautioned that stronger oil prices, while benefiting producer countries, could cause inflation to spiral in others, and that donor aid might be further tightened as leading economies come under pressure to cut public spending.

Political uncertainty also posed a threat to growth in some parts of Africa, particularly West Africa.

After growing by 2 per cent in 2009, the continent as a whole will grow by 4 per cent in 2010, the IMF predicted, a forecast unchanged since last October. That compares with average growth rates for the region of about 6 per cent between 2004 and 2008.

In 2011, the IMF expects the region to grow by 6 per cent.

Bright days ahead for African agriculture?

Africa joins Asia and the U.S. in passing the worst of the global economic crisis. The winds of economic dynamism seem to be blowing at the back of the African continent as a whole. That is  according to William A. Masters, a professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.

After decades of bad news, at least three major trends are turning Africa's way: agricultural policies, rural demography, and farm productivity all promise improved opportunities for farm families across the continent. These trends move too slowly to make headlines, but cumulatively they offer a whole new world of bigger payoffs from public and private investment in agriculture and rural development.
Each country in every year faces a unique set of circumstances. Novelties get the most attention, like the possibility that outside investors might control large areas of farmland. Spatial diversity is also important, because it ensures that each place differs from the aggregate average. For Africa as a whole, however, at least three slow trends have recent turning points that offer game-changing new incentives for entrepreneurs and governments.
The first turning point is political. New data from a World Bank study that compares farm policies around the world since 1955 shows for the first time just how far today's African governments have gone to reduce the cost to farmers of the export taxes, marketing boards, and other interventions imposed by previous regimes (www.worldbank.org/agdistortions). Africa's policy-induced price distortions peaked in the late 1970's, and reforms since then have removed about two-thirds of that burden, greatly facilitating productivity growth and poverty alleviation. Further reforms could yield additional benefits, but much of the handicap imposed on African farmers by post-colonial governments has now been removed.

The second transition is demographic. Census data compiled in recent revisions of United Nations population projections reveal the slowly unfolding implications of African history. African households obtained access to modern medicine much later and more suddenly than people in other regions. The resulting improvement in child survival rates and population growth during the 1970's and 1980's were faster than those seen earlier in Asia or Latin America.

Africa's towns and cities have been growing at some of the world's fastest rates, but their absolute size is so small that they can absorb only a fraction of all new workers. Consequently, Africa's rural population has been growing faster and for longer than any other in human history, with a correspondingly rapid and prolonged decline in per-capita endowments of land and other natural resources. Moreover, post-independence improvements in child survival triggered a rise in child dependency rates, which also reached historically unprecedented levels in the 1970's and 1980's.

Africa's demographic burdens began to lighten in the 1990's, thanks to gradual reduction in fertility rates and continued urbanization. As seen earlier in Asia, the slowdown in rural population growth and the reduced burden of childcare creates a window of opportunity for new investment to bring larger year-on-year increases in output per capita.

The third turning point in this sequence is technological: national estimates of cereal crop productivity show how, after decades of stagnation during the Asian green revolution, African yields have grown steadily over the past decade, so that estimated cereal grain output per capita now equals that of South Asia.
The start of this turnaround could be associated with the other two trends, as the cumulative result of more favorable policies and increased labor per hectare, but it could also reflect the gradual spread of improved crop varieties that resulted from earlier investment in agricultural technology. The inflow of foreign aid to boost agricultural production did not rise until after the world food crisis of the 1970's, and it peaked in the late 1980's, yielding payoffs some years later.

Masters does sound a cautious tone even with the good news. The reason is that African agriculture still has some hurdles and challenges. For the farmers there:

• Depleted soil nutrients.


• Falling soil moisture.


• Rising temperatures .


• Worsening disease pressures.

These challenges can be dealt with effectively with improvement in farm policy due to importation and implementation of technology. Land reform that has property rights as the main foundation to ownership and the rule of law, which is backed up with an independent and competent judiciary. Again this is no easy task, especially in places that might be war torn, but these policies will be the main driver of improvement in Africa's agriculture.

Nigeria cement ties over Nuclear Proliferation

The U.S. and Nigeria seal cooperation agreement on stopping Nuclear proliferation.

Nigeria and the United States have agreed to work together to counter the spread of nuclear weapons, a senior US official said after a weekend meeting with acting president Goodluck Jonathan.

Undersecretary of state for political affairs William Burns met Jonathan late Saturday as the West leans on the UN Security Council -- where Nigeria has a seat -- to slap tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

"The United States and Nigeria are determined to live up to our responsibility on nuclear issues," Burns told Nigerian state radio after the meeting, which he described as "excellent".

Both nations would work together to "both reduce existing nuclear arsenal ...and work against the proliferation of nuclear weapons," he added.

They will also "look for ways in which we can increase cooperation on civilian nuclear energy," he added.

Burns met Jonathan on the same day that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in Kampala to lobby Uganda -- the other African member of the Security Council -- on the nuclear issue.

Iran has previously offered to help Nigeria build a nuclear power plant.

Iran faces new sanctions after it refused a nuclear fuel supply deal which would have sent its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for conversion into high-grade uranium and later returned for its nuclear energy needs.

Last weekend, Iran -- which is defying previous UN demands to halt uranium enrichment, and which denies it is on a quest for a nuclear arsenal -- said it would lobby all UN Security Council members against sanctions.

Jonathan met US President Barack Obama a fortnight ago when he travelled to Washington on his first foreign trip for an international summit on nuclear security.

Nigeria is the United States' biggest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with about a half of Nigerian crude oil production crossing the Atlantic to the US market.

On April 5 the two countries announced a strategic partnership deal focusing on energy, regional security and good governance -- the first time that the Obama administration has afforded such status to an African state

More in depth information on US-Nigeria relations can be found at US State Department site.

African Union leaders meet US Security advisor.

On Friday,  leaders from the African Union where in Washington for some strategic meetings.

Senior African Union officials met US National Security Advisor General Jim Jones at the White House to discuss increased cooperation between the United States and their organization.

The AU delegation, led by chairperson Jean Ping, was on the last day of a three-day visit for the first high-level bilateral talks between the African Union and Washington on issues including fighting hunger, climate change, and boosting peacekeeping operations.

Jones and Ping "both greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet and discuss shared challenges and opportunities in the areas of peace and security and economic development," the White House said in a statement on Friday.

The two "agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to strengthen cooperation on bilateral, regional, and global issues."

Ping told reporters after the meeting that the AU's 53 member states face issues "which are global problems, which can be solved only globally.

"If you want to talk about climate change or trade, no single (African) country... could be heard. Its voice is too small to be heard individually," Ping said.

"When we speak collectively, then we represent a power."

The US ambassador to the AU, Michael Battle, said that Washington is "seeking to have a relationship with the African Union as a continental body, which does not replace the bilateral relationships we have with individual African nations."

In dealing with transnational issues like drug trafficking, climate control, and food security, "the only legitimately elected voice to speak for the entire continent is the African Union Commission."

The AU delegation also met with senior officials in the State Department, the US Agency for International Development, the Department of Justice and others.

Africa growth potential similiar to India?

Africa resembles Indian economic growth potential according to Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal

In Africa, Bharti Airtel Ltd. appears determined to wade into a market loaded with poverty, promise and major legal tussles—just like home in India.

Bharti, headed by Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, has seized on a potential $9 billion deal with Kuwait's Zain, or Mobile Telecommunications Co., that, if completed, would catapult the company into the ranks of major telecom operators in Africa. Combined with operations in India, Bharti would have significant footholds in two continental markets. The deal would include the assumption of $1.7 billion in debt.

Associated PressNigeria is Africa's largest cellphone market. Above, a man uses a gasoline generator to charge mobile-phone batteries for a fee in Lagos.

Bharti isn't the only telecom operator eager for a piece of Africa. On Tuesday, a consortium involving China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. bid $2.5 billion for the former state telecoms monopoly in Nigeria, according to the National Council on Privatization. The government privatization body said that the China Unicom-led consortium outbid four other contenders by more than $1.5 billion for Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd., or NITEL...

Bharti's bid also comes at a time when new undersea cables are reaching Africa, connecting the continent to the rest of the world.

"Zain's operations in Africa will always be attractive because of their footprint there," says Badii Kechiche, a senior analyst in London at Pyramid Research.

The talks mark the third attempt by Bharti's Mr. Mittal to gain a foothold in Africa, the world's poorest continent but with a population of about one billion and home to several fast-moving economies.

For global telecom companies, Africa offers strong growth potential. Cellphone penetration rates remain among the lowest anywhere. Zain has close to 42 million customers in the 15 countries the deal will include, with most markets having shown double-digit subscriber growth in recent years. There's room to grow: Cellphone penetration in these markets averages less than 40%, according to data from industry researchers Onda Analytics.

For Bharti, coming to Africa may seem like a coming home. Like Africa, India boasts high subscriber growth rates and large rural populations with little fixed-line infrastructure. There are common aspirations for owning a mobile phone, both as a tool for business and as a means to contact far-flung family members. And with growth has come aggressive competition.

Nigeria perhaps best highlights the potential pitfalls Bharti may face in entering the African market. With a population of nearly 150 million people and over 70 million GSM subscribers, Nigeria is Africa's largest mobile market...

In another sizable market, Kenya, Zain has similarly hit competitive headwinds. In the third quarter of 2009, Zain's market share was static at 17%.

Tata Motor sets sights on Africa.

At the recent Geneva Auto Show Tata motors state their deepening view on the African car market.

The Tata booth at the International Motor Show in Geneva stands out, and that's quite an accomplishment given it's sitting next to the high-shine polish of an Aston Martin and the leggy models posing alongside Lamborghini's station.

The Tata booth, like its automotive products, is scaled down. No glitz and no girls. Instead, India's top vehicle maker by revenue has two cars of note on display: a concept electric Nano and the Aria, a crossover with the frame of a small SUV and the curvature of a Minivan. Neither are necessarily sexy or powerful -- or any of the other Geneva Motor Show buzzwords....

"We're expanding in our 16 markets outside of India," said Abhay Deshpande, Tata's deputy general manager, in charge of vehicle integration with the Nano. "The Middle East, Africa and southern Asia are all very strong." When every other car manufacturer is drooling over the Chinese market, Mr. Deshpande says they're expanding in Africa instead.

"We're the number one brand in Ghana and have a strong market in South Africa and Senegal," Mr. Deshpande said.

Tata also just launched in Nigeria and Tanzania. By focusing on growth outside the traditional markets of Europe, Asia and North America, Tata wants to build brand allegiance in these areas before they become mainstream....

That's not to say they're ignoring Europe and the U.S. "The Aria and Nano are good for Europe and I think they will work in America, too," Mr. Deshpande said.

In the emerging markets, the Nano is priced at around $2,500.

China's African Land grab?

Another example of China's expanding footprint in Africa.  This time about accumulation of land in Africa.

Virtually unnoticed by people outside, Chinese companies have spent the past two years accumulating millions of hectares of African farmland.

Since 2008, when worldwide food shortages and a boom in biofuels suddenly made farming an attractive target for investment again, at least 20 million hectares – and possibly as much as 100 million – have been leased by foreigners (actual buying is rare) in Africa. On one hand, you can see the appeal: Africa has the cheapest arable land in the world, valued at an average of $800 a hectare.

This happens to be exactly what African farms need. Whether someone from another continent can deliver it is an open question, but we shouldn’t be so quick to assume the worst.

Many of these deals are being done by China – how much, we don’t know, because record-keeping is sketchy. Persian Gulf countries and Europeans are also making big agricultural investments in Africa, but China’s getting the attention because it’s moved in with so much money and because it’s a poor and authoritarian developing country whose motives and methods are widely distrusted......

But it’s worth taking a second look. People see the Chinese as moving into Africa, kicking poor farmers off their land, and growing food to be shipped back to China for domestic consumption. This seems unlikely, however. China already produces far more food than it needs, and its agricultural productivity is increasing. What it does have is $2-trillion (U.S.) in foreign-exchange reserves that it realizes it ought to invest more widely. African farms are a great bargain for investors who don’t mind risk; they can be turned into high-output and, therefore, high-profit operations....

The difference between that cited European agricultural revolution and China currently buying/leasing land to farm in Africa is that the profits and produce those Europeans made went to feed Europeans. China is farming African land not to feed Africans, but the Chinese. Increase in farming yield is meaningless so far as Africans are concerned, since China is under zero obligation to feed them with the food it produces on African land.

The system China is building is more like the one in Ireland 150 years ago rather than Europe - the great Irish potato famines ravaging the local population while Ireland itself was a net exporter of food at the time, since the majority of producing farmland was under the control of foreign landowners.

Ten things we have learnt about Africa

A new study by the Pew Center has been released about attitudes from religion to morality in Africa.  It was based on interviews and surveys of 25,000 people and over 19 countries.

Some of the interesting finds are:

1. 75% of South Africans think polygamy is "morally wrong" - bad news for their president, as Jacob Zuma took his third wife earlier this year and is engaged to a fourth. However, the survey also revealed some possible double-standards. While only 7% of Rwandans approved of polygamy (although this did include women), a rather higher number - 17% - of men said they had more than one wife.

2. An overwhelming majority of respondents disapproved of homosexual behaviour. In three countries - Zambia, Kenya and Cameroon - this was a massive 98%. Interestingly, one of the countries with the highest numbers of people - 11% - accepting homosexuals is Uganda, where an MP is trying to get legislation passed which would punish homosexual acts with life in prison and even death in some cases. The former Portuguese colonies of Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique were also relatively tolerant of homosexuality.

3. Africa is probably the world's most religious continent, with more than 80% saying they believed in God in most countries. At least half of the Christians questioned expect Jesus Christ to return to earth during their lifetimes. In Ethiopia, 74% of Christians say they have experienced or witnessed the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person and in Ghana, 40% of Christians say they have had a direct revelation from God. About half of all Muslims expect to see the reunification of the Islamic world under a single ruler, or caliph, in their lifetimes.

4. Zimbabwe, where the Lemba people say they are the lost tribe of Israel, was not one of the countries surveyed. But 26% of Nigerian Christians said they traced their origins back to Israel or Palestine.

5. Belief in witchcraft is also common - about 40%; a similar percentage also visit traditional healers to cure sickness. Belief in witchcraft is highest in Tanzania with 93% - this is the country where witchdoctors say that magic potions are more effective if they contain body parts of people with albinism. Ethiopia had the lowest levels of belief in witchcraft - at just 17%. Belief that juju or sacred objects can prevent bad things happening was generally lower - between 20 and 30%. In Senegal, however, 75% thought such things worked - far higher than in Tanzania (49%). It may come as a surprise to learn that South Africa had the highest number of people - 52% - saying they took part in ceremonies of traditional religions, or honoured or celebrated their ancestors.

A majority of people disapproved of Sharia punishments such as amputations

6. Predictably, there was also a religious split concerning alcohol, banned by Islam. Surprisingly, however, more Muslims in Chad (23%) approved of booze, than Ethiopian Christians (5%). This comes as a huge surprise to Ethiopia experts, however, who point out that it is traditional to welcome Orthodox Christian clergy with traditional honey beer when they visit your house. Maybe "alcohol" was only taken to mean spirits by some of the respondents?

7. Attitudes to divorce showed a strong divide along religious lines in Nigeria. A massive 79% of Christians thought it was "morally wrong", while among Muslims, a narrow majority (46-41%) accepted divorce.

8. In recent years, Islamist hardliners in Somalia and Nigeria have introduced strict punishment based on Sharia law, such as amputating the hands of thieves and even stoning to death for adultery. The majority of people disapproved of such Sharia punishments. In Nigeria, they were backed by about 40% of Muslims and less than 10% of Christians. However, a majority did approve of whippings and amputations in Senegal and Mali. In nearby Guinea-Bissau, even 50% of Christians backed them. This was double the rate among Muslims in Ethiopia (25%) - maybe it feels like a more realistic prospect to them, as they share a border with Somalia and most Muslim Ethiopians are ethnic Somalis.

AFRICA HAVE YOUR SAY

The blending of religions like Islam and Christianity with African religions is one way of ensuring survival of traditional religions

BaDumisani, Berlin

Send us your comments

9. The survey also asked about material well-being in the world's poorest continent. Not so long ago, Cameroon regularly topped surveys of champagne consumption per head. However, a shocking 71% of Cameroonians surveyed said there were times in the past year when they did not have enough money to buy food. In Ethiopia, which is commonly seen as a country struggling to feed itself, the rate was far lower - at 30% - the lowest of all countries surveyed.

10. Ethiopia did, however, have the lowest numbers of people - 7% - who said they regularly used the internet. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame is striving to turn his country into Africa's answer to Silicon Valley and is being helped by the arrival of several new fibre optic cables off the east coast of Africa. He will be encouraged by the finding that 30% of his countrymen - the highest number - regularly browsed the web. Mobile phones, were far more common - with 81% of respondents in Botswana owning one. Many countries reported more than 50% having phones but here, Rwanda lagged behind at just 35%.

IBM to Support Local IT in Tanzania

IBM begins to expand its footprint in Africa, by helping to fund local home grown computer talent.

Dar Es Salaam — IBM, a company that deals with information technology, has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to support the adoption of Information Technologies and education.

Under the agreement, IBM will support the government's vision to build IT environment around the University of Dodoma, the 'Silicon Valley'.

According to Country General Manager, IBM East Africa, Mr Anthony Mwai, the company will under the agreement, facilitate collaboration with US universities on research projects in the area of smarter cities, cloud computing and business analytics.

He added that, IBM will also support the Ministry in developing and implementing better access to technology and educational resources for Tanzanian universities and Secondary Schools, especially in interior areas of the country.

The agreement further underscores IBM's commitment to Tanzania and the importance of information technology in the country's development by leveraging cutting edge technologies.

Both sides, the US and Tanzania will benefit from this partnership. This will only enhance and deepen the economic trust for both parties.

Nepad Unveils Project to Attract Investments Into Africa

More economic investment opportunities due to 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD unveiled 'The Best of Africa 2010-2015' project aimed at attracting investments into Africa.

The project will focus on showcasing Africa as a business and investment destination, according to NEPAD's Planning and Co-ordinating Agency chief executive officer Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki.

The initiative draws on the declaration of the 8th Assembly of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government through which the AU reaffirmed its commitment to make the 2010 World Cup a truly African tournament.

"We are looking to take advantage of the presence of the international and African business representatives that will be in South Africa for the World Cup in June. The idea is to get these representatives to engage each other on increased investments, growth and development for Africa." says Dr. Mayaki.

The Best of Africa project will take place in the first week of the World Cup in South Africa and will include a business conference, an exhibition and a cultural festival - all designed to showcase opportunities in the continent.

"It is a worthwhile initiative but much will depend on how well the African governments follow through with parties interested in investing in Africa. It is clear that there are investment opportunities in Africa but it is important to provide the favourable environment for investors to see a return." says TradeInvestSA editor JP van der Merwe.

"Feasibility studies for new projects will need to be thorough, land rights and ownership will need to be well defined and governments will have to outline definitive investment plans, where a thorough step-by-step process is followed. For portfolio investments, African markets will have to continue to open themselves up so that potential investors can buy or sell assets quickly and without hassle," he adds.

President Obama meets President Jonathan

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="President Obama met with acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, left, on April 11, 2010"][/caption]

Abuja — Acting President Goodluck Jonathan returned to the country yesterday after a four-day working visit to the United States where he attended the Nuclear Security Summit, met President Barack Obama and had other engagements.

It was his first official visit outside the country since he emerged Acting President on February 9 following President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's ill-health.

Foreign Affairs Minister Odein Ajumogobia (SAN) told State House Correspondents that the visit was successful.

"The visit was very successful. The meeting between the Acting President and President Obama was a successful one. It generated a lot of goodwill for the Acting President.

"You could see the interviews granted by the Acting President to CNN," he said.

The Presidential Aircraft, "Nigeria Airforce One," touched down at the Presidential Lounge of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja around 10. 27 am without some governors and top government functionaries that were with him in US.

Governors Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Ikedi Ohakim (Imo) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) as well as Ajumogobia and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, among others, were with Jonathan on the visit.

While in the US, Jonathan addressed the Council on Foreign Relations and visited the World Bank where he solicited the bank's support to finance infrastructure and provide technical expertise in the power sector.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government will soon establish a Diaspora Commission that will harmonise the contributions of Nigerians living abroad and ensure proper documentation of their input in the affairs of the nation as key stakeholders.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant Media and Publicity to the Acting President yesterday said Jonathan disclosed this while addressing the Nigerian Community in Washington DC on Wednesday to round off his official visit.

The Acting President said the establishment of the commission would enable the government have proper records of the contributions of Nigerian citizens abroad.

"We want to upgrade the Diaspora department in foreign affairs to the level of a commission to coordinate experts in the Diaspora. We are looking at establishing the commission before the end of this administration, in the next 12 months," he said.

Jonathan applauded the roles and contributions of Nigerians in the Diaspora saying that they have become some of the best in their chosen professions across the globe.

He said the government will continue to acknowledge the contributions of these noteworthy ambassadors, while thanking them for promoting the country's image internationally.

He urged the Diaspora not to relent in making positive contributions towards nation-building, noting that the task of swapping the negative perception about Nigeria with a positive image requires collective responsibility.

The forum afforded Nigerians in the US the platform to interact firsthand with the Acting President and ask questions on the state of the nation.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, said Jonathan's visit to US has given tremendous boost to the country's image abroad, making Nigerians in Diaspora hold their heads high once again in national pride.

Full link.

Stability in Niger Delta = Success for Nigeria

David Goldwyn, the U.S. State Department’s coordinator for international energy affairs, told an April 13 panel discussion sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the Obama administration is “strongly committed to helping Nigeria with its problems” and “will bring the resources of the U.S. government” to bear in areas such as expanding electricity use to create jobs and bring economic benefits to the delta.

Nigeria is important to U.S. policymakers, Goldwyn said: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited in August 2009; President Obama met with Nigeria’s acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, on April 11; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson has visited a number of times; and the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission was launched April 6.

All these efforts, the U.S. official told the panel, are meant “to bring all the parts of our government together to work with Nigeria as partners on solving some of the core problems facing the nation.” But “the lead … on strategies and plans … will come from the acting president and his Cabinet.

The key to Nigeria’s economic progress is stability in the Niger River Delta, where the bulk of the country’s oil and natural gas is produced and where a smoldering militancy and sabotage of production facilities threaten progress for the region’s 30 million residents, energy experts say.

Full article.

Back ground Video on the conflict.

Cyber War from-in Africa?

Recent post at Techdirt.com asks and answers the question whether, the growing online connectivity in Africa is really a bad sign:

In recent months, a number of folks have argued that the arrival of high-speed bandwidth in Africa represents not an opportunity for economic growth, but a dangerous threat to the world. According to these Western pundits who are, incidentally, often promoting their cybersecurity services, computers and connectivity in Africa either pave the way for terrorists to unleash cyber-attacks or for botnet operators to gather millions of unprotected machines into their control. Although we've spent considerable time debunking the hysteria around cyberwar, this new version of the meme is even more unfounded.

Worrying that Africa is going to start producing top-notch hackers in any great quantity seems pretty absurd, when we're talking about a continent where basic literacy, not to mention programming prowess, is a challenge. When Franz-Stefan writes in one of the articles above, that "skillful cybercriminals operating out of an unregulated Internet cafe in the slums of Addis Ababa, Lagos, or Maputo" will create the world's biggest botnets, he shows that he has little understanding of those "slums." For starters, electricity is intermittent enough to make cyberwar a sputtering failure. Secondly, although there are pockets of terrorists on the continent, by and large, elsewhere terrorists have access to far better finances and bandwidth than their comrades in Mogadishu. The fact that those terrorists haven't used the Internet for these types of attacks with any regularity suggests that they place far more faith in tried-and-true methods of terrorizing, and there is every reason to believe that those in Africa will be the same.

Finally, as Miquel Hudin points out, it is ridiculous (and very likely offensive) to think that Africans are any more likely to keep their PCs insecure than anyone else. An American or European who points to Africa as the source of infected botnet computers is wildly hypocritical considering the enormous number of insecure computers that wealthy, educated Westerners have in their homes and offices. It seems quite unlikely that African computers are any more insecure than elsewhere.

Frantic articles painting Africa as just another threat, especially with regard to a great opportunity for the continent - connectivity - are reckless and miss both on-the-ground context and level-headed responses to the challenges of the continent.

The  piece debunks the notion that Africa represents something beyond the norm.

The truth is, Africa is just the latest frontier, and yeah, with the opening connectivity, the worst elements will rise to the fore and make all sorts of mischief. But the bulk of humanity there will go about their business no better or worse than we do, given their resources. The criminals and terrorists and scam artists always flock to the most recently connected places, because they know the rules and security will lag desperately behind.

But the lag isn't infinite, so things settle down eventually, and the process is driven by locals who are legally and successfully exploiting the connectivity and don't care to be associated with such nonsense.

In short, this is a familiar process of frontier integration, and Africa doesn't exactly present a case out of the norm. It's just the case du jour.

Obama's lean toward economic connectivity over democracy: a very smart strategy?

Once again I find myself in complete agreement with the Obama administration's focus on economic connectivity and its prioritization relative to the democracy agenda:

After the imprisonment of Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour in 2005, the Bush administration suspended plans for free-trade agreements with Egypt. The Obama administration has now effectively reversed this policy just ahead of Egypt's May parliamentary elections.

During a March 21-23 visit to Egypt, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said the United States hoped to double trade with Egypt over five years. In a departure not only from President George W. Bush's approach to the Middle East, but also a break with President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo last year, Kirk omitted any linkage to "freedom" and "human rights."

Kirk instead said that Washington's commitment to freedom, democracy, and human rights make the US "an even more attractive environment for investment and partnership." He added that the "partnership between the United States and Egypt in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East is a great foundation on which to build a much stronger economic and commercial relationship."

The Obama administration also seeks to import more goods from so-called Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs).

These operate under an arrangement according to which goods made in designated industrial areas in Egypt and Jordan, using Israeli inputs, gain duty-free access to the US market.

"We believe [that importing more goods] serves the United States' interest for the reasons that the QIZs were initially put in place, and that it helps provide stability when people have access to gainful employment," Kirk explained.

Nothing will make the Egyptian people more willing to ditch Mubarak's "emergency rule" than rising incomes, a growing economy, and a widespread sense of self-mastery.

Side note: In 2009, exports to Egypt totaled $5.3 billion. The top export categories in 2009 were: machinery, aircraft, cereals (corn and wheat), mineral fuel and oil, and miscellaneous grain, seed and fruit (soybeans). Top U.S. exports of agricultural products in 2008 totaled $2.1 billion, the 8th largest U.S. agriculture export market. Leading categories include: wheat, coarse grains and soybeans.(Office of US Trade Representative)

US Expands Security Role in Senegal and Liberia

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="513" caption="U.S. Marines disembark a landing craft during an offload of U.S. Navy Seabees and Spanish, Portuguese and British marines to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 in Guereo, Senegal, April 6, 2010. The Marines and Seabees will work with the Senegalese army as part of Africa Partnership Station West, an international initiative developed by U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa to to improve maritime safety and security. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Martine Cuaron"][/caption]

A small team from the newly formed Liberian Coast Guard successfully launched, for the first time, a Zodiac boat off of Bushrod Island, the historic home of the Liberian maritime forces, March 25, 2010.

The event was historic for the unit of 49 men and one woman, which was activated just more than a month earlier at Liberia's 53rd Annual Armed Forces Day in Monrovia....

After a decade's long absence from the water, the coast guard's activation signaled Liberia's commitment to reestablish its presence on its territorial waters.

Watching from the stands that day, and also looking on with pride the day of the boat launch, was U.S. Coast Guard Commander Jennifer Ketchum, who works out of U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) Monvoria Office of Security Cooperation, responsible for coordinating all security cooperation engagements between the U.S. and Liberia.....Throughout the next three years the United States government will provide $5 million worth of training, equipment and infrastructure to the new coast guard, according to Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to Liberia.

The coast guard's base on Bushrod Island is being re-established and is undergoing improvements that are being executed and overseen by a unit of U.S. Navy Seabees from the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven out of Gulfport, Mississippi. The team is working on three major infrastructure construction projects valued at $1.3 million - a pier, a boat ramp and perimeter wall, all of which are being funded by AFRICOM's Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Division.

Liberia, a country slightly larger than Tennessee, has 300 miles of coastline and Liberia's director of the Bureau of National Fisheries estimates that Liberia loses more than $12 million annually due to illegal fishing. Another threat is drug smugglers using West African nations as a transshipment point for $1.8 billion in illegal narcotics and counterfeit drugs.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="MONROVIA, Liberia - U.S. Coast Guard Commander Jennifer Ketchum, of the Monrovia Office of Security Cooperation, speaks with Petty Officer 2nd Class Dickson Agbo (center) and other members of the Liberian Coast Guard just prior to their first successful boat launch of a Zodiac boat. Ketchum is a U.S. Coast Guard reservist serving a two year assignment in Liberia providing assistance and guidance to the new Liberian Coast Guard. (Photo by Nicole Dalrymple, U.S. Africa Command) "][/caption]

Foreign aid donation hurting Africa

Do massive donations of cash as aid to poor nations allow them to focus on structural improvements and increased spending on health?  Or does that money allow corrupt governments to divert resources that they would have spent on those issues to other priorities?  A new study by Lancet strongly suggests the latter — even when the donors believe they have secured the distribution of the funds:

After getting millions of dollars to fight AIDS, some African countries responded by slashing their health budgets, new research says.

For years, the international community has forked over billions in health aid, believing the donations supplemented health budgets in poor countries. It now turns out development money prompted some governments to spend on entirely different things, which cannot be tracked. The research was published Friday in the medical journal Lancet. ....

The research raises questions about whether international aid is sometimes detrimental. Previous studies have found pricey United Nations health initiatives haven’t paid off and occasionally hurt health systems. Experts estimate about half of international health aid can’t be traced in the budgets of receiving countries.

Murray’s paper also found debt relief had no effect on health spending. Activists like Bob Geldof and Bono have long argued canceling African debts would allow countries to spend more on their health problems, but there was no evidence of that.

“When an aid official thinks he is helping a low-income African patient avoid charges at a health clinic, in reality, he is paying for a shopping trip to Paris for a government minister and his wife,” said Philip Stevens, of the London-based think tank International Policy Network. He was not linked to the study.

What can we learn from this study that we really should have already known?

1. Money is fungible – Giving block grants to a state for one purpose doesn’t mean that the purpose gets more money.  It allows the state to divert its already-committed resources to other purposes.  We’ve learned that here in the US with Porkulus block grants to states.  Without accountability, that money can go anywhere and either directly or indirectly feed the corruption at the heart of Africa’s problems.


2. Corruption is the root cause of nationwide poverty – We have sent monetary aid to Africa for decades in attempts to fix the problems of poverty and disease.  That should tell us that money isn’t really the root problem in these countries.  The governments, mostly corrupt dictatorships, create the problems through outright theft or the imposition of incompetent central economic planning.  In Zimbabwe, for just one example, it’s both.  That nation’s land used to provide for much of Africa’s food, and now it can’t even feed itself.


3. We need to change direction in Africa – None of us want to see an entire continent fail, but we apparently have two choices.  Either we drop billions on Africa every year in aid that extends the status quo, or we cut off the aid and force African nations to change from within.  The US had moved toward the latter in the last few years, but guilt-trip initiatives (however well meaning) keep putting political pressure on nations to maintain the status quo.

If we really want to solve the problem of poverty and illness in Africa, we need to demand political reform.  Everything else is a band-aid, and  not the kind of Band Aid that means aging rockers taking to the stage on G-20 conferences.

Dambisa Moy has been echoing the same conclusion as this recent study.





Long uncut-unedited interview.

Investing in Africa's Agricultural Future

Japan Makes Move on Oil pipeline plan

Financial Times reports that Japan

Plans to transform the east African oil sector by building a pipeline from south Sudan to the Kenyan coast were boosted on Wednesday when a Japanese company expressed interest in joining the project.

Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of the Japanese carmaker, said it was developing plans to build the $1.5bn pipeline, which would run for 1,400km from Juba, the capital of south Sudan, to the Kenyan island of Lamu, where an oil export terminal would be constructed.

The project would be the boldest yet by a Japanese company in Africa. China has also been studying the proposed pipeline and Toyota Tshusho said that co-operation with Beijing was possible.

The geopolitics of east Africa could be reshaped in January, when south Sudan will hold a referendum on independence. If it chooses to secede, a new country will emerge with about three-quarters of all the oil presently possessed by Sudan.

At present, the oil is exported via pipelines leading through northern Sudan to an export facility on the Red Sea. The government of the semi-autonomous south wants the new pipeline to reduce its dependence on the north and to create an export route via Kenya.

Takashi Hattori, a Toyota Tsusho executive, said the company’s plans were preliminary but that the goal was to build a pipeline with a capacity of 450,000 barrels a day, and an export terminal, the ownership of both of which would revert to Kenya after 20 years.

Mr Hattori said: “Of course, we need to discuss with the governments. But this is to show our intention to be involved.”

Japan is the only big industrialised country that buys Sudanese oil, receiving 2 per cent of the country’s petroleum exports in the first half of last year.

Japan is racing to join its fellow Asian countries like India and China to gain access to resources, raw materials and energy. China is following the recent Japanese engagement because it has

also expressed interest in the pipeline through Kenya and Mr Hattori has opened the door to possible co-operation with Japan. He said: “Maybe to collaborate with a Chinese company would be one of the options. We’d like to study any possible scheme further with the Kenyan government and the Sudanese government.”

Mr Hattori added that a “key success factor” would be securing finance from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation.

But Dennis Awori, the head of Toyota East Africa, said: “Everything is subject to very thorough feasibility studies, not to mention agreements with governments.”

If south Sudan achieves independence, the views of its government on who should build the pipeline will be crucial. “It’s all academic until we know what the south Sudanese want,” said David Raad, a business consultant in Juba. He added: “All the parties involved will be looking at the expertise, the resources and the intensity of proposals being made.”

Kenya supports the proposed pipeline as a way to bring development to its northern territories. The Toyota Tshusho executives were briefing the press in the office of Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, who visited Japan last month to discuss the pipeline and other investment opportunities.

Securing oil and other natural resources in Africa is one of Japanese diplomats main objectives, something that they share with China.  Tokyo has boosted its presence

Unlike China’s state-backed drive to secure resources and influence in Africa, Japan’s activity on the continent has been more fragmented .

Toyota Motor has a production hub in South Africa and Komatsu, a big Japanese maker of construction equipment, counts Africa as one of its biggest markets.

Toyota Tsusho’s rivals – trading companies such as Sumitomo and Sojitsu – have mining and oil interests in other corners of the continent, but they have not backed large infrastructure projects such as the Kenya oil pipeline.

Japanese funding for infrastructure has instead come in the form of government aid, which has given the country a more visible presence on the continent. Aid to improve agricultural productivity has also been abundant.

Unlike China, Japan can't be ruthless in its Business dealings like China.  Japan isn't criticized for its form of government or human rights like say China, which in the long run will give it an edge, just like many western businesses and corporations.  The tide is already turning against Chinese business dealings, although rather slowly, it is turning.

African Entrepreneurs

Africa should demand more from China

With an ever growing appetite for raw materials and energy resources, Africa should demand more in return for feeding China's  economic growth.

African states should harness Chinese interest as Beijing's demand for commodities drives growth on the continent and fuels capital investments, an energy conference heard on Tuesday.

China's investment model in Africa, characterised by long-term capital concessional financing, was a developmental "no-brainer," Martyn Davies, head of the Frontier Advisory firm, told the Oil and Gas Africa expo.

"It's very strategic and it's very long-term. The model works provided the extraction continues to take place and the oil continues to flow," he told conference delegates.

Africa and China, which imports a quarter of its oil from the continent, had shown parallel growth patterns since 2000 as energy-hungry Beijing went in search of new oil sources beyond traditional markets, said Davies.

"Africa needs to create the best enabling environment. China's interest in Africa is ours to lose," he told AFP on the sidelines of the conference.

"China's commodity demand is underpinning Africa's growth performance. As trade supply links become more entrenched, a component of China's growth depends on Africa's ability to supply," he said.

China's building up of trade and economic ties with Africa has drawn accusations that the country has taken a "neo-colonialist" attitude toward the continent.

Beijing also has been criticised for befriending pariah regimes in Sudan and Zimbabwe in a cynical bid to lock up supplies of resources needed to fuel expansion of its economy, the world's third largest.

A range of African countries are in a position of strength given that the Chinese are willing to pay top dollar and outbid many western nations for resources. Government accountability and transparency should be the top concerns for whatever nation is dealing with Beijing. Just take at look at the growing scandal in Namibia and President Hu's son.