1. General

Tanzania looks to ‘free zones’ for economic growth
Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda on Wednesday said Free Zones concept is today recognized as an effective instrument for economic development. Pinda made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the three-day Africa Free Zones Association Convention 2011 in Dar es Salaam under the theme of “The Role of Free Zones in Achieving Millennium Development Goals in Africa”. “The concept puts in place all necessary machinery to accelerate economic growth in order to alleviate poverty, create employment, generate revenue and improve quality of life. These are key indicators of the Millennium Development Goals.” Pinda said.
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China attracts USD 38.8 billion FDI in four months
China continues to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), which grew 26.03 per cent year-on-year to reach USD 38.8 billion during the first four months of this year. FDI in China climbed 15.21 per cent to USD 8.46 billion in April, down from March growth of 32.9 per cent, Yao Jian , the spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), told the media here today. While March saw 2,538 new foreign-invested companies being approved to operate in China, 2,215 foreign-invested companies were approved last month, up 8.21 per cent from the same period in 2010.
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2. China in Africa

China lends Zambia $180mln for regional trade road
A state-owned Chinese bank will lend Zambia $180 million to upgrade a road that should help boost trade with Africa's Great Lakes countries, an official said on Monday. The region, loosely defined as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and western Tanzania, is a key market for Zambian sugar and cement exports. Watson Ng'ambi, head of infrastructure development at the Works and Supply ministry, said China's Export and Import Bank was ready to disburse the funds at once.
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Uncertainty in Egypt hits Chinese companies
China's investment in, and exports to, Egypt will probably decline sharply this year. That's after the recent turmoil in the African country dampened investor confidence and added the specter of trade protectionism, said a senior official from China's Ministry of Commerce. However, from a long-term perspective the prospects for Sino-Egyptian economic and trade ties will become more positive, when the political situation in Egypt stabilizes and the investment environment improves for foreign companies, said Ma Jianchun, a minister counselor at the Chinese embassy in Cairo.
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Youth urged to go farming
Farmers are expected to benefit when China becomes the market for their agricultural products, a leading brewer has said. “Now is the time for the Youth in Uganda and Africa to consider Farming, because the Chinese will soon start taking cereals and milk for breakfast,” Mr Baker Magunda the East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) MD told students attending a youth forum at Kyambogo University in Kampala, recently. The forum was organized by AISEC, a global platform of university students that prepares youths in school to gain relevant skills that will help them either get jobs or set up lasting businesses.
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3. India in Africa

PM going to Ethiopia, Tanzania next week
Serious threats posed by terrorism and piracy will be high on the agenda of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during the talks with African leaders on his six-day visit to Ethiopia and Tanzania next week. Dr Manmohan, who leaves on May 23 for Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union, will discuss the twin challenges during the Second Africa-India Forum Summit to be attended by 15 African countries.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

BRICS health ministers warm up from Beijing meeting
Health Ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met here on Tuesday, to prepare for the BRICS Health Ministerial Meeting which is to be held in Beijing on July 11, 2011. The preparatory discussion was convened on the sidelines of the 64th World Health Assembly, which have gathered health authorities from 193 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO).
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Brazil holds Talks With Agriculture Ministry
A delegation from Brazil has held discussions with Officials at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to discuss ways of improving agricultural production in the country. The Deputy Minister for MOFA, Hon. Nii Amasa Namoale, briefing the press, said that Brazil is granting Ghana a loan facility of 95 million dollars to purchase tractors and farm machinery to aid the mechanisation process of the agricultural sector.
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

Russia Targets African Resources as Reserves Run Out, AFDB Says
Russian companies are increasingly looking to tap Africa’s mineral wealth, as reserves in their home market become depleted and more expensive to extract, according to a study by the African Development Bank. “Africa’s underexploited mineral reserves, which account for about 30 percent of global resources, will be strategic complementaries to Russia’s depleting natural-resource base,” the lender, based in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, said in an e- mailed copy of the study today. “The costs of exploration and production are much lower” in Africa than in Russia.
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India's hour in Africa
I was privileged to have separate opportunities of interaction, the past two months, with the Prime Minister of Mozambique, the Vice-President of Kenya and the Delhi-based High Commissioner of one of the most important African countries. These meetings and other conversations with knowledgeable people from the continent have led me to make three important conclusions.
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