Monday, November 1, 2010

Venue swap benefits wanted president of Sudan

An African president wanted for genocide was expected for a weekend summit, but as the International Criminal Court asked Kenya to arrest him the venue was switched to a country beyond the court's reach, officials said on Wednesday.


The summit is now to take place in Ethiopia, which doesn't recognize the International Criminal Court. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the wanted man, visited Ethiopia in April 2009 soon after he was first indicted by the ICC. The change of summit venue raises questions about whether regional leaders have the will to bring al-Bashir to justice for atrocities committed in Darfur, in western Sudan. The weekend meeting held by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, brings together the leaders of six East African nations to discuss two referenda in Sudan in January that could see the southern part of Africa's biggest country break away. There are fears that if the referenda are postponed, a civil war could re-ignite in Sudan.

The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday made public a request to Kenya to arrest al-Bashir if he enters the country. Kenya is a signatory to the statute forming the ICC and is obligated to arrest al-Bashir if he is in Kenya, even though it failed to do so when he arrived in August for a ceremony to adopt Kenya's new constitution. Yufnalis Okubo, IGAD's acting director of peace and security, said the organization had initially planned to hold the summit in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, but that as of Tuesday the venue was changed to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. "It's not a big deal," he said, adding he did not know why the venue was changed. But the change happened as controversy grew around the possibility of al-Bashir's presence in Kenya.
 

Last week, African rights organizations asked Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki to clearly state that al-Bashir would be arrested if he visited. The ICC did not immediately return a call seeking comment. When Kenyan authorities did not arrest al-Bashir in August, they were heavily criticized, including in a statement by President Barack Obama.
 

The refusal to arrest al-Bashir raises doubts about Kenya's willingness to hand over top Kenyan officials expected to soon be charged by the ICC for postelection violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in 2007-08.  The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to arrest suspects. Al-Bashir refuses to recognize the court's authority and has vowed to never turn himself in. Darfur's ethnic African rebels rose up in 2003, accusing Sudan's Arab-dominated central government of neglect and discrimination. U.N. officials estimated 300,000 people died and 2.7 million were displaced. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda are members of IGAD. Eritrea suspended its membership in 2007. (Sapa-AP)

Adapted from:
Mmegi Online: Venue swap benefits wanted president of Sudan

Absa Capital to Start First Gold Exchange Traded Funds in Nigeria, Kenya

Absa Capital, a unit of South Africa’s Absa Group Ltd., said it may start the first gold- backed exchange-traded funds in Kenya and Nigeria.
“Absa Capital is in talks with the Nigerian Stock Exchange to potentially secondary list our NewGold exchange-traded fund,” Vladimir Nedeljkovic, the Johannesburg-based investment bank’s principal for ETFs and index products, said today. He is in Kenya to discuss starting the ETF in the East African nation.
NewGold, which has its main listing on South Africa’s JSE Ltd., is the largest gold ETF in Africa’s biggest economy, with more than $2 billion in assets. Earlier this year, Absa Capital, listed NewGold on the Botswana Stock Exchange.
Absa, South Africa’s largest retail bank and which is controlled by Barclays Plc, wants to expand in the continent to boost earnings. Absa Capital, which was launched in 2005 after the U.K. bank bought a stake in the lender, contributed more than one-fifth of Absa’s profit in the first half to June 2010.
In Nigeria, the NewGold ETF will develop the nation’s capital markets by improving liquidity on the bourse and bringing another asset class to the West African market, helping investors to “diversify their exposures,” Nedeljkovic said. “Our discussions with the NSE are in very early stages and we cannot provide any timing.”
ETFs trade like stocks, allowing investors access to commodities like gold and platinum without taking physical delivery of them.

Adapted from:
Bloomberg: Absa Capital to Start First Gold Exchange...

Birtukan one of three Sakharov finalists

AUDJ supporter chants slogans for release of Birtukan

Note - Prominent Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, who was released on October 6 in Addis from nearly two years of imprisonment, emerged on Monday one of three finalists for the prestigious Sakharov Prize. The others are an Israeli NGO known as Breaking the Silence and Cuban longtime dissident Dr. Guillermo Fariñas. It is a huge success for the pro-democracy camp in Ethiopia that Birtukan has been a finalist from nine other nominees. The winner of the Sakharov Prize will be announced October 21, 2010.

Breaking the Silence is an Israeli NGO, established in 2004, by Israeli soldiers and veterans who collect and provide testimonies about their military service in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem during the second Intifada. The NGO is dedicated to exposing the Israeli public to the realities of the Israeli occupation, as seen through the eyes of Israeli soldiers, and to stirring debate about the impact of the prolonged occupation on the Palestinian population and on Israeli society. "If we vote for Breaking the Silence were are voting for peace, we are voting for the honour of Israeli democracy and we are saying we are in favour of two states: the Palestinian State and the Israeli State (...) Awarding the prize, we want to give peace a chance", declared Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA, FR).

Guillermo  Fariñas, aged 48, was nominated in the name of all those who fight in Cuba for freedom and human rights.  He is a doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident in Cuba. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years "not in his own favour but in order to defend his compatriots" said José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP, ES). A supporter of non-violence who dares to denounce the Castro regime, "Guillermo Fariñas is a symbol in the struggle against the imprisonment of political opponents (). Because he is defending dignity and democracy in his country, he is the ideal candidate for the Sakharov Prize" say the MEPs who nominated him.

Birtukan MIDEKSA, an Ethiopian politician and former judge, is the leader of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party. On December 28 2008, Birtukan Mideska was re-arrested and imprisoned to serve a life sentence, after having spoken in Sweden with journalists about the way opposition leaders were released in her country. She was released from prison at the beginning of October, after almost two years' incarceration.
"The Saharov prize should be given to those who need international visibility and protection. Birtukan Mideksa needs both. By awarding the Saharov prize to Birtukan Mideksa, representing all Ethiopian political prisoners, the European Parliament would bring hope and would call attention to this young mother, one of the few female party leaders in Africa. It would also guarantee visibility of the struggle of thousands of forgotten political prisoners who fight for justice, the rule of law and democracy in Ethiopia", declared Adrian Severin (S&D, RO).


Adapted from:

SA govt signs pact to fight crime

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Oct 24 2010 18:05

South Africa's government on Sunday vowed to reduce violent crime by signing a delivery pact which sets out a programme of action to ensure people in the country feel safe.

The agreement with the presidency sets targets for ministries with responsibility for crime prevention, security and justice to bring down violence, fight corruption and better manage caseloads in the country's courts.

"It sets standards against which government will be measured as it pursues a safer South Africa in partnership with various sectors of society," said a government statement.

The pact is the government's programme of action to make the country safer for residents and more attractive to investors and visitors who have expressed concerns about crime, it said.

Targets include lowering levels of serious crime, increasing visible policing, and tackling escapes from custody.

A corruption baseline report is due by December, while border security is also to be beefed up.

The pact is one of a dozen priorities which also include bettering education, health, employment, and housing. Its main objective is that "all people in South Africa are and feel safe".

The agreements follow President Jacob Zuma's signing of performance agreements with his relevant ministers earlier this year.

South Africa's number of murders fell last year to the lowest level since apartheid but still averages 46 a day, one of the highest in the world. - AFP


Adapted from:
Mail & Guardian Online: SA govt signs pact to fight crime

Hotel Rwanda hero 'aided terrorism'

                                           Rusesabagina, right, has denied the allegations [EPA]
A senior Rwandan prosecutor is considering bringing charges of terrorism against a former manager of a hotel in Rwanda who saved hundreds of people from the 1994 genocide.
Martin Ngoga said on Tuesday that Paul Rusesabagina, whose actions are depicted in the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda, had helped finance what he described as terrorist activities in Rwanda by helping fund commanders with the FDLR, or Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.
Rusesabagina has denied the allegations, telling Al Jazeera on Thursday that it was "simply a smear campaign" against him by the government that dates from the film's release six years ago. He said that he had not sent any money to Rwanda in years.
"Hotel Rwanda [the film] was creating another hero that the Rwandan government did not want," he said.
"From that day on, the president started calling me a Hollywood-made hero, fabricated hero. He started calling me a thief, stealing with the foreign powers."
The government, he said, was launching a smear campaign against him because he has in the past opposed Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president.
The FDLR is based in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda's neighbour, and is made up of Hutus known as the Interahamwe, who are blamed for massacring up to 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in a spate of frenzied killings that lasted 100 days.
Rwanda has detained some of the FDLR commanders, but it is not clear how they have been allegedly receiving funds from Rusesabagina.
No formal charges have been filed yet, but Ngoga said he was asking US officials for assistance in gathering evidence against Rusesabagina.

"Those who want to continue considering him as a hero can go on," Ngoga told a news conference.
"We consider him a serious criminal suspect who has been financing FDLR and we are challenging whoever speaks on his behalf to tell us whether he never sent money to these FDLR commanders we have in custody."
Ngoga said some of the financial transactions originated in San Antonio, Texas, where Rusesabagina has a house.

Presidential medal
After his story was publicised in Hotel Rwanda, Rusesabagina was hailed as a hero around the world.
George W Bush, the former US president, awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the highest civilian honour in the US.
According to Terry George, the director of Hotel Rwanda, Kagame described Rusesabagina as a "manufactured hero" after he criticised the president's regime.
Rusesabagina, 56, who was released from a hospital operation last week to find that his home in Brussels, Belgium had been broken into and documents stolen, says he has done nothing wrong.
"It is the latest step in a campaign against me by the Rwandan government that has included public insults, lies and physical harassment," he said.
"My foundation is advocating for a truth, justice and reconciliation process to try to foster sustainable peace in Rwanda ... but anyone who opposes Kagame inside or outside the country is treated with this kind of harassment."
Kagame, an ethnic Tutsi who won re-election in August, has tried to downplay the role of ethnicity in post-genocide Rwanda, and people in the country rarely refer to themselves as Hutu or Tutsi and can face charges for speaking publicly about ethnicity.
But human rights groups accuse his administration of iron-fisted control and of silencing opposition politicians and media outlets.
The accusations against Rusesabagina came days after Rwandan authorities arrested Victoire Ingabire, the leader of the unregistered United Democratic Forces.
Ingabire, who has been under judicial control since April and was barred from the August election, has been detained in connection with an alleged plot to form a "terrorist group".
Earlier this year, Ingabire sought representation by Peter Erlinder, a US lawyer who was jailed by Rwandan authorities for about three weeks when he arrived in Rwanda in May to meet the politician.

Adapted from:
Aljezeera news article : Hotel Rwanda hero 'aided terrorism'

I’m no saint, Mandela says in book about his early days as a prisoner


AFP | NATION. Zindzi Mandela (left), the youngest daughter of former South African President Nelson Mandela shows him a letter at his home in Johannesburg on July 17, 2010 during celebrations of his 92nd birthday.

Posted Sunday, October 10 2010 at 18:32

JOHANNESBURG, Sunday

A new collection of Nelson Mandela’s private papers reveals his years of heartache at missing his family while in prison and his wariness at becoming idolised, in excerpts published today.

The book Conversations with Myself goes on sale Tuesday, but passages printed in British and South African papers show his thoughts on everything from the danger of corruption in power to his personal grief at the death of his son.

Decades worth of letters, diaries and private recordings were distilled by his eponymous Foundation in a project that purports to show the private man behind the global icon.

Now 92, the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against the white-minority apartheid government says he doesn’t want to be remembered as a larger-than-life saint.

“One issue that deeply worried me in prison was the false image I unwittingly projected to the outside world; of being regarded as a saint,” he said in a excerpt printed in South Africa’s Sunday Times.

“I never was one, even on the basis of the earthly definition of a saint as a sinner who keeps trying.”

Mr Mandela was detained for 27 years for resisting apartheid rule. He was released in 1990 and led negotiations with the government that culminated in his election as the country’s first black president in 1994.

He stepped down in 1999, after serving one term in office. He now appears frail and makes few public appearances since retiring from public life in 2004.

He remains deeply revered in South Africa, and although he has spoken publicly about his shortcomings, critical talk is almost non-existent about the man known fondly by his clan name Madiba.

The book appears to invite a more rounded discussion of his life, while also focusing on the enormous personal sacrifices required by his devotion to the liberation struggle.

“As a young man, I combined all the weaknesses, errors and indiscretions of a country boy, whose range of vision and experience was influenced mainly by events in the area in which I grew up and the colleges to which I was sent,” he wrote, according to the South African paper.

“I relied on arrogance to hide my weaknesses,” he added.

In letters written to his family while in prison, Mr Mandela wrote that he felt “soaked in gall” by being powerless to help his then-wife Winnie and his children, according to Britain’s Sunday Times.

“I feel I have been soaked in gall, every part of me, my flesh, bloodstream, bone and soul, so bitter am I to be completely powerless to help you in the rough and fierce ordeals you are going through,” he wrote to Winnie Mandela in August 1970.

When Winnie was also jailed for a time in 1969, he wrote to his daughters Zeni and Zindi, then aged nine and 10 that “now she and Daddy are away in jail.”

“It may be months or even years before you see her again. For long you may live like orphans without your own home and parents, without the natural love, affection and protection Mummy used to give you.”

The letters also reveal his sometimes stormy relations with Winnie, whom he divorced after his release from prison.

In a letter to a friend in 1987, he says that after writing to Winnie to say that their daughters had grown up well: “My beloved wife was furious... she reminded me: ‘I, not you, brought up these children whom you now prefer to me.’ I was simply stunned.”

A poignant letter to a friend records his reaction after Thembi, the elder of two sons from his first marriage, died in a car crash at the age of 24 in 1969. He was not allowed to attend the funeral.
“When I was first advised of my son’s death I was shaken from top to bottom,” he said, adding that he had experienced similar heartache when he lost a nine-month-old baby girl several years earlier.

Some of his musings resonate in modern South Africa’s concerns about corruption in politics.

“Frequently erstwhile revolutionaries have easily succumbed to greed, and the tendency to divert public resources for personal enrichment ultimately overwhelmed them,” he said.

Mandela himself isn’t expected to speak about the book’s release. His last public outing was a brief appearance at the World Cup final in July in Johannesburg. (AFP)

Adapted from:
Daily Nation: I’m no saint, Mandela says...

Monday, October 25, 2010

Lions on the move:The progress and potential of African Economies

A very comprehensive report by the McKinsey Global Institute. Very resourceful information even for your class room research and discussions.
Please follow the link for the full report on PDF .
http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/progress_and_potential_of_african_economies/index.asp

Mo Ibrahim Index Released Indicates Impressive Progress in Africa

5 October 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2010 Ibrahim Index released yesterday, Monday, shows impressive gains in many African countries in human and economic development but declines in political rights, personal safety and the rule of law.

The Ibrahim Index, launched in four cities across the continent, is published by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an organization committed to supporting good governance and great leadership in Africa. The Index assesses the delivery of public goods and services to citizens by governments and non-state actors across 88 indicators.

For Africa, the index showed groups indicators in four groups. In two of them, sustainable economic opportunity and human development, the picture was mostly positive - and in fact no country declined significantly in these categories. 'The 2010 Ibrahim Index gives us a mixed picture about recent progress on governance across the continent. While many African citizens are becoming healthier and have greater access to economic opportunities than five years ago, many of them are less physically secure and less politically enfranchised," said Mo Ibrahim, founder and chair of the foundation.

"However, this average masks large variation in performance across countries. Angola, Liberia, and Togo all show significant improvements in governance performance scores. In both sustainable economic opportunity and human development there have been improvements in many African countries in good governance. Importantly, no country has declined significantly in these categories" said the report issued in Nairobi yesterday.

The Ibrahim Index is Africa's leading assessment of governance, established to inform and empower the continent's citizens and to support governments, parliaments and civil society to assess progress. The 2010 Ibrahim Index shows both areas of progress and setbacks in governance between 2004/05 and 2008/09. Overall governance quality remains largely unchanged from previous years, with a continental average score of 49 and Mauritius is at the top of the list while Somalia is at the bottom.


Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Ibrahim Foundation board member Mamphela Ramphele and index advisor Daniel Kaufmann at the launch of the report.
Mauritius (82), the Seychelles (75) and Botswana (74) top the overall rankings, while Somalia (8), Chad (31) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (32) are at the bottom. Angola, Liberia and Togo saw marked improvements in their scores, while Eritrea and Madagascar slipped significantly. But in the other two categories - Safety and Rule of Law, and Participation and Human Rights - the picture was grimmer. On the economic front, progress was made, with 41 of the 53 nations registering improvements.

In sustainable economic opportunity, 41 African states improved; 10 of these were significant. According to the report, in human development, 44 of Africa's 53 countries progressed driven by improvements in most countries in the health and welfare sub-category. Two of the improvements in human development were significant.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance was created in recognition of the need for a robust, comprehensive and quantifiable tool for citizens and governments to track governance performance in Africa by Dr. Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born British mobile communications millionaire


http://allafrica.com/stories/201010050618.html

Is Africa poised for steady, rapid growth?

Sep 8th 2010, 20:49 by R.A. | WASHINGTON

EMERGING markets have had a good decade. Rapid growth in China and India has pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, sustained expansion has spread from Asia, where rapid catch-up has a long history, to South America, where halting growth and economic retrenchments were more the norm. These impressive expansions survived the recent downturn; while developed economies struggle to find their footing, China, India, and Brazil are closer to overheating.

What may come as a surprise to many readers is that Africa has increasingly shared in this growth. Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has generally been strong over the past decade. In 2009, when the world economy shrank, sub-Saharan Africa continued to expand. The IMF projects that the region will grow at 5% or more in 2010 and 2011.

The performance has led some to speculate that Africa may be on the cusp of joining other emerging markets in sustained catch-up growth. That would be a most welcome development; few trends would do more to improve human welfare. But is it a realistic hope? Many times before Africa's prospects have brightened only to fall prey to war, kleptocracy, and crashing resource prices.

We put the question to the economists at Economics by invitation: is Africa poised for steady, rapid growth?

Lant Pritchett suggests that the question itself leaves something to be desired—it makes little sense to speak of "Africa":

[T]ake the 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 2000-2005 the average growth rate was 2.2%—exactly the global average—but the standard deviation among African countries was 6.1%—much higher than the global variance. This is a terrible aggregate. All knowing that country X is "African" has done for me is increase the variance—I am not sure whether it was growing very fast (as were Sierra Leone and Mozambique) or collapsing (as were Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire).
Eswar Prasad notes that it would help if developed economies took got out of the way:

One concrete step the advanced economies can take to help Africa get started on the road to higher growth is to open their markets to products, including agricultural commodities, that Africa is capable of exporting at this nascent stage of industrial development. Getting rid of their own massive domestic agricultural subsidies would be sensible for advanced economies themselves and do a world of good for underdeveloped economies in Africa and elsewhere. Sadly, piety and aid flows seem to be easier solutions for advanced economies to muster, holding back rather than helping Africa in the long run.
Gilles Saint-Paul, Daron Acemoglu, and Suman Bery also weigh in. It's a great discussion; do have a look through.

Gaddafi Shuns UN General Assembly, Sends Foreign Minister

Libya: Gaddafi Shuns UN General Assembly, Sends Foreign Minister
Abiodun Oluwarotimi
2 October 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York — Libyan president, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi reportedly shunned the just concluded 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York over his agitation for the world body to be reformed.

A member of the Libyan delegation, who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity, said that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was not comfortable with the way at which the United Nations Security Council is being over - possessed by the permanent members of the council.

He continued that the controversial absence of Muammar Gaddafi was not unconnected with his view that the veto-wielding nations of the Security Council were ignoring the views of the full 192 members of the General Assembly and the principles of the UN charter.

"Gaddafi believes that all nations are equal, whether they are small or big, and he is not too happy that the permanent members of the council are undermining other member states," he added.

It would be recalled that Gaddafi, in his statement while addressing last year's General Assembly, had accused the Security Council of not providing his country with security but terror and sanctions.

He further said the council, comprising the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China as permanent members, had failed to prevent or intervene in 65 wars that had taken place since the United Nations was established in 1948.

Although the Libyan president did not attend this year's General Assembly, but his Foreign Affairs minister, Mr. Musa Kousa, who led the country's delegation to the annual event, said that the United Nations was at a crossroads and it should be reformed to become equally united for all states.

"The reform, which we are calling for and aiming to achieve, is to make the General Assembly the real legislator," he told the General Assembly.

To address the current situation where some states have permanent membership of the Security Council while others do not, Mr Kousa suggested granting permanent membership to regional organisations instead of individual countries.

"Thus, we will ensure the representation of all people on earth, and the anti-democratic and frustrating veto power shall not be the exclusive privilege of the few," Mr. Kousa said.

He called for the investigation into the invasion of Iraq, which he said resulted in "mass killings, and the execution of prisoners of war, including the head of state."

Mr. Kousa also urged a review of the international convention prohibiting the production, use and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, saying it failed to take into account the interest of small states, the victims of the weapons.

"The legislators of this convention should have made the states concerned (countries that produce and use them) committed to compensate those affected by mines planted in their lands and provide legal and political assurances for the protection of small states due to the lack of possession of neither defensive nor offensive weapons," Mr. Kousa said.

He announced that Libya would early next month host an African-Arab summit in a bid to enhance cooperation. Another summit bringing African states together and those belonging to the European Union will follow in November.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201010040360.html

Scrambled in Africa: China in West Africa

Sep 16th 2010

WHEN ICBC, the world’s biggest bank by value, paid $5.5 billion for a 20% stake in Standard Bank in 2007, bankers around the world sat up and took notice. The deal with South Africa’s largest lender suggested Africa was no longer a curiosity but a potentially big source of profits. Some elements of the continent’s vaunted financial blooming have since wilted: Nigeria’s banks, which had briefly seduced Western investors, suffered a crisis (see article). But the main business logic—that Africa’s growing trade links with other emerging markets have raised its strategic importance in banking—is intact.

“Now everyone’s looking at Africa,” says Jacko Maree, Standard Bank’s boss. In January Bank of China, the country’s most international outfit, entered into a pact with Ecobank, which operates in 31 African countries. Chinese staff will drum up business from local branches. In August Brazil’s Bradesco and state-controlled Banco do Brasil announced a new African holding company with Banco Espirito Santo (BES), a Portuguese firm active in Angola. And HSBC is in talks to buy Nedbank, a South African bank. William Mills, who runs Citigroup in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, says the continent is becoming “more and more competitive”.

Local and Western banks’ profits in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, were about $2.6 billion in 2009, not far off the sum Western firms made in India or China (see table). But China is active, too. So far, Export-Import Bank of China, a state entity which promotes trade and investment, has done all the running. It has perhaps $20 billion of loans in Africa (including north Africa), reckons Deborah Bräutigam, of American University in Washington, DC. Western private banks in sub-Saharan Africa have loans of $50 billion, excluding South Africa and Liberia, whose shipping industry distorts the data. Bank of China’s loans to Africa and the Middle East doubled last year to $3 billion. ICBC recently made a $200m loan to the Nigerian arm of MTN, a South African mobile-phone firm, to buy equipment from Huawei, a Chinese manufacturer.

There are broadly two sorts of firms operating in the region. First, the biggish locals, such as Standard Bank, which is active in 16 countries, and Togo-based Ecobank, which operates mainly in west and central Africa. Then there are rich-world firms, which tend to operate where there are historical links: Société Générale in French-speaking west Africa; Barclays and Standard Chartered in English-speaking countries; and Portugal’s banks in Angola and Mozambique. Citigroup has run a skeletal network since the mid-1960s.

Traditionally all used variants of the same basic business model of serving well-off consumers, state entities, and medium-sized and big businesses. The banks typically gathered more in deposits than they lent, which meant excess liquidity was parked with rickety governments and central banks. There were usually limits on how much profit could be sent home. But with high interest rates on private loans, the returns on equity were pretty good.

Increasing the scale of this sort of operation is tricky, as the formal economy is often shallow and the middle class small. Some have expanded too quickly. Ecobank has 750-odd branches, 40% of which have been built since 2007, a heavy investment which helps explain why its return on equity was a lowly 6% last year. Its chief executive, Arnold Ekpe, says he has slowed expansion and is keen to restore profitability. At Standard Bank Mr Maree acknowledges that “we were a bit too aggressive on branches”. Barclays has also slightly cut back on sales outlets.

Jean-Louis Mattei, who runs Société Générale’s international retail activities, still wants more branches but says, “We have to be realistic, not optimistic.” He plans to add 100 in sub-Saharan Africa to the existing 300, using plain buildings and a regional back-office system to keep a lid on costs. Mobile banking, meanwhile, is popular but most banks have yet to find a way to grab a large chunk of the profits.

One lucrative strategy is to take a big bet on a booming economy. Portugal’s banks re-entered Angola after the civil war and are enjoying its oil bonanza. BES, Banco BPI and Banco Millennium BCP together have 170-odd branches in Angola, but made a staggering $440m of profit in 2009. Pedro Homem, a director of BES, says that although the pool of private-sector customers is limited, the bank’s loan book is “quite diversified”. The great risk is the Portuguese banks’ exposure to the state. The government seems also not to like foreigners taking the spoils. Last year all three had to ensure that at least 49% of their operations were owned by locals.

Others have chosen to focus on wholesale banking. Chinese firms that are building airports, roads and power plants are sought-after clients. Standard Bank has a team of 40 bankers in an office opposite ICBC’s headquarters in Beijing, who are trying to woo the Chinese bank’s clients. So far the financial performance of the collaboration has been disappointing. Still, the love-bomb tactics have created a strong brand recognition in the Middle Kingdom: Standard Bank is now known as “Africa and Mining Bank”.

Many banks envy the Standard Bank set-up but doubt that bog-standard alliances with Chinese banks are worth it. “They suck everything out of you,” says one European bank boss. Yet there are other ways to prosper. Standard Chartered’s wholesale operation now contributes 80% of its African profits, up from 60% a decade ago. It got there by bulking up its energy and commodities teams and using its global network to win African business from European and Indian clients, says V. Shankar, who runs the bank outside Asia.

Most firms are likely to use this “network banking” approach to try to benefit from the wave of infrastructure and natural-resources investment in Africa. Citigroup looks set to to reinforce its position in trade finance and investment banking, and if HSBC buys Nedbank, it will use it as a means to create a lean presence across the continent. (However, Barclays’ purchase in 2005 of ABSA, another South African bank, has not transformed its position in the rest of Africa.) In one sense this is disappointing: banks will not prepare for a consumer-banking boom unless wealth begins to trickle down. But the hard-headed approach is a sort of compliment too: banks are taking Africa seriously.

http://www.economist.com/node/17043662/print

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Please watch the video on TED talks / Youtube... we will try and figure out how to post videos on this blog page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

Viewpoint : what it means to be Nigerian

By Mannir Dan-Ali



The disparate groups in Nigeria join together to back the national football team
Why are we Nigerians not vociferously proud of our nationality?

I suppose patriotism is not the sort of thing that excites a lot of us. In fact any talk of patriotism is likely to induce a yawn or suspicion about the motive of the person raising it.

But that is not the same as saying that Nigerians have no sense of pride.

To understand patriotism's uneasy place in Nigeria, you have to go back to 1914 when the Southern and Northern protectorates and Lagos Colony were brought together to form a single country.

In the process about 250 disparate groups - including the three major ones of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba - were welded together in a "Tower of Babel" of sorts.

To this day, this uneasy coalition is still struggling to stay upright.

In fact, the story of Nigeria for the past 50 years seems to be characterised by a great deal of mutual distrust and suspicion between the various groups. And this state of affairs means that most Nigerians, consciously or not, see things from their tribal or factional perspective rather than from a common national point of view.

It appears that what many eminent Nigerians, including the celebrated writer Chinua Achebe, have referred to as the country's "failure of leadership" has meant a weakening of the national commonwealth and subsequently a lack of patriotism among its citizens.

Continue reading the main story “Start QuoteNigerians care for their country and still believe that one day its much talked about potential will be realised”

End Quote
Still standing, but standing still
'Nothing to celebrate'
How Indonesia overtook Nigeria

Still marginalised

At the centre of this is the growing corruption of Nigeria's elite which has given rise to anger and disillusionment throughout the country.

The fragility in the Nigerian project - or a lack of patriotism, call it what you will - is even visible online.

Raise any issue that mentions Nigeria in an internet forum and you are likely to see many comments which betray the ethnic, sectional or religious bias of the writer. In reference to the challenges that we face today, some still refer to what they call "the mistake of 1914".

On a more serious scale, such perceptions have also fed into the muted separatist tendencies of organisations such as the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob).

This group came to prominence during Nigeria's civil war 40 years ago and is still hankering after an independent Biafra state - home largely to the Igbo people. Although today Massob seems to be a fringe group, the sentiments it champions continue to resonate among a surprising number of Igbos.

Many feel that they are still marginalised because, in the years since the end of the civil war in 1970, they are yet to hold the presidency.

In the oil-producing Niger Delta region, an uneasy amnesty programme has eased some of the separatist innuendos of the former militants who, earlier this year, swapped their weapons for some skills training and a promise of jobs.

But with general elections around the corner, it is unclear if President Goodluck Jonathan, an indigene of the Niger Delta who took the reins after the death of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, will be able to get an elected term on his own.

If he is fails, who knows what this could mean for national pride in the troubled region?

Patriotic awareness

But not all belief in a united Nigeria is lost.

Nigeria's government wants people to be more patriotic
You need look no further than sports competitions - especially football - for evidence of our patriotism. It is there that you will find Nigerians, irrespective of age, tribe or creed, enthusiastically cheering on the national team.

In fact, a growing trend in Nigeria's major cities is the display of the country's flag on vehicles whenever Nigeria appears in a tournament. That rare display of pride in something Nigerian is what many of the country's leaders want to see in other areas.

As a result, many government programmes now promote patriotic awareness and zeal.

Continue reading the main story
Nigeria at 50
Learning peace
Blog round-up
Nigeria's influence around Africa
What does Naija mean?
An example is the current rebranding campaigns to show the positive sides of Nigeria and efforts to get people to buy Made in Nigeria products. The problem is that these efforts have not produced many tangible results, apart from providing the country's intrepid stand-up comedians with something to poke fun at.

While the comedians provoke mirth and laughter, it pains me to see the way we sometimes denigrate our national institutions in the process. A prime example is the army which, at the very least, has been making efforts to serve its civilian authority democratically.

But I am always proud as a Nigerian when at a gathering, everyone joins in rendering the national anthem without the aid of a recording. And when you go abroad you can always tell the Nigerian from other Africans judging by his self-confident, some would say cocky, way.

The biggest mistake a non-Nigerian can make is to try to criticise the country or to even innocently join the Nigerian pastime of self-condemnation. That is when you see that, in spite of all the negativity, Nigerians care for their country and still believe that one day its much talked about potential will be realised.

With the continent's biggest population of over 150 million, almost a million square kilometres of mostly arable land, vast quantities of mineral resources - most of which remain untapped - and the can-do spirit of its people, it is difficult to see why not.

I believe that in the next 50 years, Nigeria is likely to confound those who have been telling tales of its fall. Better elections will help to strengthen democracy by producing leaders who are more likely to inspire others who believe that it is possible to have a Nigeria where differences in creed, tribe and tongue are no barrier to nationhood.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11406730?print=true

Drinkers in Botswana undeterred by alcohol price hikes

Please follow link to watch the video.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/2010/10/101014_botswana_beers.shtml

In a bid to curb alcohol abuse, the government looks set to raise the price of alcohol - again.

The decision, soon to be passed by cabinet, follows similar arrangements made by the government almost three years ago.

But many are up in arms over the government's decision.

Hundreds of Kenyan teachers sacked over sex abuse

More than 1,000 teachers have been sacked in Kenya for sexually abusing girls over the past two years, the authorities say.

Senior government official Ahmed Hussein told the BBC that most of the victims were aged between 12 and 15.

He said a nationwide confidential helpline set up to help victims had revealed that the problem was much more widespread than previously thought.

Most of the cases have occurred in rural primary schools.

Court convictions?
Continue reading the main story “Start QuoteWe had over 20 girls who were pregnant and nearly half the number were actually impregnated by the teachers themselves”

End Quote Brian Weke Cradle
Fear of rape 'traps Kenya women'

"Initially we were not able to know what was happening in the country because of the poor communication, but now communication is everywhere - there's mobiles across the country," Mr Hussein, from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Last year, 600 male teachers were dismissed and so far this year 550 teachers have lost their jobs for either kissing, touching or impregnating girls out a total teaching staff of 240,000 countrywide.

"A number of them have been taken to court, and they have been sentenced accordingly," Mr Hussein said.

Brian Weke, programme director for the Cradle, a child rights foundation in Kenya, agreed the problem was widespread.

He gave an example of a case in Nyanza province last year: "I found that in one primary school we had over 20 girls who were pregnant and nearly half the number were actually impregnated by the teachers themselves."

However, he said the officials investigating the abuse were not passing on vital information to get convictions.

"Our biggest problem is the fact that the district education officers - they do not report the matters to the police," Mr Weke told the BBC.

The BBC's Will Ross in the capital, Nairobi, says often teachers who are caught defiling their students end up paying the parents in order to prevent cases going to court.

Jane Thuo, a former teacher now with the Association of Media Women in Kenya, says female teachers are also starting to have illicit liaison with young boys.

"We see young men having affairs with older women and it is being replicated at school," she told the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11492499?print=true

Meeting the First ladies of Africa

Meeting the first ladies of Africa

By Joseph Warungu
Editor, BBC Network Africa

In recent weeks, I have been doing just what my mother said I should never do - eavesdrop.

But perhaps she would not mind so much if she knew I had been privy to conversations of the first ladies at five seats of power in Africa.


Indeed, the candid interviews, conducted by the BBC Network Africa's Veronique Edwards, give a new perspective on the leaders of the continent and address issues ranging from power and politics to glamour and romance.

Listening to Sierra Leone's Sia Koroma, Namibia's Penehupifo Pohamba, Ghana's Ernestina Mills, Zambia's Thandiwe Banda, and Uganda's Janet Museveni, the most striking thing is that these women care deeply about the condition of society.

As professionals in their own right, these women are actively promoting education and rural development and championing poverty eradication and the fight against HIV/Aids.

Mrs Koroma and Mrs Pohamba are both experienced medical professionals while Mrs Banda and Mrs Mills are teachers.

Family matters

The office of the first lady is not an elected one. This means they cannot directly intervene in the running of the country, despite their proximity to power.

However, some first ladies have been known to take matters firmly into their own hands to whip opponents into shape.

Our five ladies have subtle ways of dealing with their partners, too.

"Being a woman, we have our innate feminine tactics," says Mrs Koroma.


"If I call him 'Mr president' it means I want something from him. And I do call him 'Mr president' sometimes."

For Mrs Museveni, however, it is not enough to live with "power" - she has demanded some of it for herself as an elected MP and minister.

But her appointment to the cabinet, as well as public posts for other close family members, have led to accusations that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is running the country like a family business.

"I know that that is rubbish, I'm sorry to say this," said Mrs Museveni.

"But if there is anyone who takes the trouble to do everything by the law, it is my husband."

Uganda's first lady quickly jumps to her husband's defence when it is suggested that having come to power in 1986, he has overstayed his welcome with the voters.

"Every time he's supposed to go back and ask for their support… they give it willingly."

She concludes by confirming that she will retire from active politics after seeking a second, and last, five-year term as an MP at next year's general elections.

'Beat about the bush'

Unlike in the West, where first ladies and their children are political tools to be deployed at will during campaigns, or to help attract sympathy for the man at the helm, African leaders are generally very protective of their private lives.


However, Veronique manages to uncover a private view of men who are actually very ordinary, vulnerable and - like many of us - awkward.

"I first met him while I was studying in Germany," says Mrs Pohamba, recalling how the future president of Namibia wooed her and eventually proposed.

"He acted as if he'd been sent by someone else, saying: 'If there is someone who would like to fall in love with you, would you agree?'

"And I said: 'It depends on whether I know the person. If I don't, I won't agree... so who is this person you're talking about?'

"Then he continued beating about the bush and four hours later he said: 'The person I'm talking about is myself'.

"I responded: 'Wuh! Let me think about it'.

"We met again much later in Angola and fell in love and he proposed to me - on his knees."

Twin palpitations

If the Namibian president was having a hard time securing a future wife, Zambian leader Rupiah Banda, who already has grown up children with his late wife and grandchildren, had palpitations when he heard the news that he had become a father again.


"At the time, I didn't know I was expecting," his wife said.

"I went to the hospital to check why my stomach was becoming so uncomfortable.

"After the scan the doctor asked me if I was pregnant and I said: 'No'. Then he informed me that I was two months pregnant with twins.

"When I called my husband with the news, he was in shock. He said: 'No, no…really?...No!' He may have been expecting a child, but two was a pleasant surprise."

Zambia's first lady says she would like to see the establishment of a formal office of the first lady with a government budget allocation to support her public work.

However, this is a view that has provoked controversy in some countries, with many people questioning the need for a formal role for first ladies describing it as a waste of money. They argue that because the first ladies are unelected, they are not directly accountable to the people.

Sweetie Pie

Ghana's first lady does not have children of her own.

But as a teacher she is passionate about young people and works hard to promote literacy, especially for some of the girls in rural areas whose education is sometimes disrupted by social pressures, including men who prey on them.


But when at home, and away from her duties as a first lady, Mrs Mills spends time with her dogs, a habit she inherited from her father. One dog is called Tandy, another is Max. Then there is Candy and Sweetie Pie. With names like these it is hardly surprising that she talks to them all the time.

"They understand," she says, becoming animated.

"They lie on their back and I scratch their chest and they're happy!"

Although wining and dining with the high and mighty should bring happiness to many people, Africa's "first ladies" have their regrets.

'No more discos'

Despite the fulfilment they get from serving their societies and helping to improve life in Africa, they miss one thing: freedom.

"I used to wear normal clothes that a mother with two kids would wear. You know, easy clothes like jeans and a T-shirt," Mrs Banda recalls.

"Now there are some clothes that I can't wear because everyone - especially young people - look up to me; I need to set a good example."


is a monthly magazine produced by the BBC covering the continent's biggest and most pressing issues.
To subscribe, visit
For Namibia's Mrs Pohamba, before her life was surrounded by bodyguards and state protocol, music used to be the food of her soul and body.

"I can't dance any more... this house is like a prison... you're not really free, not like how I was in the old days.

"I could go to the disco, and then return to my house and start dancing again and doing this and that. That is no more."

Mrs Koroma will also not mind leaving State House when the time comes. Although her husband is only in the middle of his first term in office, she is clear about an exit plan.

"There's a golden rule in politics: You must know when to come in and when to get out.

"That is my motto and I'm going to stand by it. That exit is very important."

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

'Phone thieves' stoned to death by South African mob


Six people face murder charges after they allegedly stoned to death two young men suspected of stealing a mobile phone in South Africa.
The group, including three women, allegedly killed the pair on Sunday evening, Limpopo Province police say.
They have urged people not to take the law into their own hands.
Correspondents say mobs often beat up and kill suspected thieves in South Africa, where many have lost faith in the justice system.


"The taking of the law by the community into their own hands is strongly condemned," Limpopo police spokesperson Lt-Col Mohale Ramatseba said in a statement.
"Any person suspected to have been involved in criminal activities should be reported to the police so that they can be prosecuted in the courts of law."
He said the alleged theft of the phone had not been reported to the police.
Vigilante justice is common in South Africa, where tensions are high in townships over poor housing, services and crime.
Two years ago, there was a wave of deadly mob attacks against foreigners, who were blamed for stealing jobs and rising crime.
The group will appear in court on 20 October.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11532759