GENERAL

Oil groups turn focus back to traditional fields
Twenty years ago, Western oil majors saw their future in Africa, Latin America and the Former Soviet Union (FSA), which political change and new technologies were opening to them. However, a wave of resource nationalism, spurred by a surge in oil prices from $40/barrel in 2004 to over $147/barrel in 2008, undermined this strategy, and the oil majors are now more focused on opportunities closer to home Read more

IMF and Africa agree on public investment borrowing modalities
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and African countries have identified "binding constraints" on public investment's ability to boost growth and have resolved that any borrowing for public investment should be consistent with debt sustainability considerations. Read more

Rethinking the Idea of the South: A new class division and rivalry is in the making
They go by different names: IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China). These formations all amount to more or less the same thing: the new “emerging economies” seeking to redefine relations between themselves and the rest of the world. Read more

CHINA and AFRICA

China shifts its Africa investment strategy
China’s push into Africa in recent years has not been easy. Prior to the 2008 recession, China’s cash-rich state-owned enterprises, sovereign wealth fund and other financial institutions invested with gusto. In its pursuit of energy deals, supplies of commodities and large construction projects, China has gone where many developed nations fear to go. Read more

After a coup, Niger resumes business as usual with China
“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 Read more

$520m loan for electricity in 2,200 communities from Chinese Exim Bank to Ghana
The government has secured a $520 million loan facility to expedite the extension of electricity to 2,200 communities across the country. The Exim Bank of the US granted the nation a $350 million loan, while the government contracted $170 million from the China Exim Bank. Read more

China donates $40 million opera house to Algeria
China will pay $40 million to build an opera house for major trading partner Algeria, a gift likely to serve as a powerful symbol of Beijing's growing economic influence in Africa. Read more

World Bank unit to finance Chinese Africa venture
The World Bank’s private sector arm has signed its first deal to finance Chinese investment in Africa, a move it hopes will help to discourage violations of human rights and environmental standards.
Read more

Zimbabwean vice president Mujuru meets with Chinese Workers
Joyce Mujuru had a cordial meeting with workers of the Jiangsu International Company of China which had completed the project of renovating the Zimbabwean National Stadium, and hosted a banquet in their honor. Read more

China carries out poverty alleviation cooperation with Sudanese NGOs
According to the event presenters, the purpose of hosting the "Workshop on Capacity Building for Sudanese NGOs for Poverty Alleviation" is to share with Sudanese NGOs China's experience in poverty alleviation and social development, to improve their capability in these fields, and to deepen exchanges and cooperation between Chinese NGOs and their Sudanese counterparts. Read more

China and Africa in urgent need of joint research
Although China-Africa relations and economic cooperation between the two parts of the world have been developing in a healthy and stable way, some fuss-makers in the West tend to point their fingers and make irresponsible remarks from time to time. The fact is, the people who watch China-Africa relationship closely and academics studying China and Africa in the West seem to outnumber their counterparts in China and Africa, the former's number of published works surpassing that in China and Africa combined and the influence covering almost the entire world. Read more

'Be truthful about chinese investment', Milupi challenges State
Mr. Milupi said government should not go about celebrating Chinese investment in Zambia when the real objective of such investment is not known.
He said Zambia has continued to lose huge amounts of money all in the name of the Asian investments. Read more

Chinese Embassy to Gabon held a reception on the Shanghai World Expo
The reception was attended by nearly 100 guests including Gabonese Foreign Minister Paul Toungui, Gabonese officials for the Expo, local mainstream media, representatives of Chinese companies in Gabon, and Chinese citizens living in the country. Read more

Chinese ambassador to Zambia attends traditional local ceremony
At the invitation of Litunga, paramount chief of the Western Province of Zambia, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin, commercial counselor Wang You, together with their wives, drove over 1000 kilometers to attend the famous Kuomboka Ceremony. Read more

INDIA and AFRICA

Jay Shree Tea to buy three estates in Africa
Jay Shree Tea & Industries Ltd, a Kolkata-based tea manufacturer, is acquiring three tea estates in Africa. These acquisitions follow Jay Shree’s Rs 112.5-crore domestic buy last month. The financial details of these transactions were not disclosed. Jay Shree is acquiring 100% shareholding of Kijura Tea Co Ltd in Uganda, and another 60% stake each in two other estates, Mata Tea Co Ltd and Gisakura Tea Co Ltd in Rwanda, it said in a statement. Read more

South Africa's ties with India crucial in global marketplace
“India is now actively welcoming business opportunities in South Africa. There has been a tremendous support from both Indian as well as South African government in terms of financing, investment and promotion of councils like Export Promotion Council and Apex Chambers and formation of IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) Council,” says Srinivash Singh, MD, McNally Bharat Engineering. Read more

Tata Africa to start assembly plant in Nigeria
Tata Africa''s Regional director for West Africa, Sudeep Ray says this plan comes with a condition that the unit sales of the model hits one thousand per year in the country where second hand vehicles compete fiercely with brand new products. "Definitely for Nigeria we''re planning an assembly plant. We started operation one and half years ago and the last one year has been a learning period to understand which models will be doing well here and accordingly we will be looking at an assembly operation going forward in the next two to three years," he told the media, here. Read more

Time to give strategic cast to India-Africa ties
With a growing global interest in India’s engagement with Africa and China’s surge in the region, experts and officials Wednesday pitched for imparting a strategic vision to the burgeoning economic and diplomatic ties between New Delhi and the resource-rich African continent. Read more

China-Africa deals threaten Indian diamonds
ndian diamond cutters fear Chinese efforts to secure a supply of the rough gems from Africa are threatening their hold on the diamond cutting industry. In a bid to develop a competitive cutting and polishing industry, China has set up direct deals with African governments, providing medicine and resources to build infrastructure in exchange for rough diamonds.Read more

Other Emerging Actors

Broad investments in Nigeria
Following the cre-ation of enabling environment for businesses in Rivers State, foreign investors are now exploring investment opportunities, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Prince Ogbonna Nwuke, has said. Read more

Vodacom’s DRC investment turns sour
Africa’s mobile telecommunications sector has been one of the continent’s star performers over the past decade and many foreign players are reaping the rewards for being early investors. South Africa-based Vodacom’s experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo, however, recently took a turn for the worse due to a fall-out between the company and its local partner. Read more

Algeria Opposes MTN-Orascom Deal
Algeria's government is opposing a deal under which South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. would acquire the prized Algerian unit of Egypt's Orascom Telecom, the Telecommunications Ministry said Wednesday Read more

Uganda plans new development paths with Iran
Iran is one of Uganda's newest development partners. It is interested in building an oil refinery for the processing of Ugandan oil and investing in the value chain of this young sector
Read more

Sierra Leone is progressing towards becoming an investment hub in Africa
Sierra Leone is now one of the top five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to investor protection and the ease of starting a business. The government is also unveiling a new investment incentives schedule that creates a level playing field for investors, while improving fiscal responsibility. Read more

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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