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Emerging powers news
Latest edition: emerging powers news roundup
2011-09-26, Issue 549
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/76570
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1. China in Africa
China to build complex in Mozambique
A Chinese company is building a $439m housing project outside the capital in Mozambique, meant to create a new suburb for the middle class, state media reported on Tuesday. Prime Minister Aires Ali laid the first stone for the construction of 5 000 houses "worthy of Mozambicans" in the city of Matola, near Maputo, according to state newspaper Noticias. The southern African country, one of the poorest in the world, signed the deal with China's Henan Guoji Industrial and Development company in August.
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China gives Benin $34m in loans, grants
China has given Benin $34m in loans and grants, part of which will fund an anti-piracy patrol drive off the coast of the west African country where hijackings have surged this year. The aid package was announced by the office of President Thomas Boni Yayi, shortly after he returned home on Tuesday at the end of a week-long official trip to China. Of the $34m, about $5,5m will go towards the purchase of a vessel to patrol the waters off the coast of Benin, which has seen 19 ships coming under attack this year alone, up from zero reported last year.
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Tanzania nears $1bn loan from China for pipeline
Tanzania is expected to sign a deal for a $1,06bn loan from China to build a natural gas pipeline from the southern part of the country to its commercial capital, a newspaper has quoted the energy minister as saying. Last month, Energy and Minerals Minister William Ngeleja said in a presentation to parliament that the government was seeking loans from China to finance the construction of the pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam.
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Zambia opposition leader says to keep China ties
Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata, who stands a fair chance of an upset in next week's presidential election, said on Friday he would maintain strong economic ties with China despite his previous criticism of Asian investment. The Patriotic Front (PF) leader has accused Chinese mining firms of creating slave labour conditions in Africa's top copper producer with scant regard for safety or the local culture, but has tempered the rhetoric as the September 20 election has neared.
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Zambia's kwacha falls after opposition poll victory
Zambia's kwacha fell to a 12-month low of 5,030 against the dollar on Friday after opposition leader Michael Sata, a fierce critic of foreign mining investment, especially from China, won a surprise election victory. Traders said the currency of Africa's biggest copper producer was likely to remain on the back foot until Sata provided clarity on his economic policies.
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2. India in Africa
India's foreign trade institute to set up shop in Uganda
The government-run Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is setting up its first overseas campus in Uganda to assist students of African nations understand the nuances of globalisation and capacity-building in the continent. 'We are setting up a full-fledged institution like the IIFT in Kampala. It will be our first full-fledged overseas campus. The Ugandan government will provide physical infrastructure,' said IIFT director K.T. Chacko.
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India moves to wrestle African telecom market from China
The battle for the control of Africa's telecom market is heating up, with India attempting to wrestle the market from China through bigger investments in the region's ICT sector. Last week, the Indian government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zimbabwe on computer aided education for youths dubbed "the Hole in the Wall Project." The Indian government will additionally help Zimbabwe with the establishment of three learning institutions in to mark the pilot phase of the project.
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India to boost Ethiopia's leather production
Two Indian government leather development institutions have vowed to transform Ethiopia's leather sector in three to five years and make it globally competitive. Ethiopia has Africa's largest cattle population. The arrangement has been made by the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) and the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) with the Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute (ELIDI). The two Indian institutions will transfer technology and help accelerate the sluggish growth of earnings from the East African nation's leather and leather products export.
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3. In Other Emerging Powers News
Chinese experts propose India-China-Africa trilateral
Amid attempts by the West to project India and China as rivals in Africa, Chinese scholars have proposed trilateral cooperation between New Delhi, Beijing and the African continent which could include dialogues between their policy makers and academics. "India, China and Africa have similar economic and political interests. A trilateral cooperation mechanism will contribute to international peace, stability and prosperity," said Africa Study Centre Director Li Rong at the influential China Institute for Contemporary International Relations.
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"Brazil Could Mediate Between Juba and Khartoum"
The world's newest nation, South Sudan, is seeking support from Brazil – the first country in the world to recognise the new nation – in learning the art of diplomacy and defusing tensions and persistent conflicts. South Sudan plans to open an embassy in Brasilia in 2012, the first in South America. Brazil could be a "trusted partner" to help the new country negotiate with Sudan to the north and learn "how to conduct diplomacy," said James Padiet Angok, in charge of relations with South America in South Sudan's recently created Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
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Emerging powers can play vital world role -Brazil
Brazil, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, is part of the BRICS group of emerging market powers, which also includes Russia, India, China and South Africa. Brazil earlier this month moved to spearhead an effort by the BRICS group to support the crisis-hit euro zone by making coordinated purchases of euro zone government bonds. Early this summer, the growing dissatisfaction by emerging countries that they remain relegated to peripheral roles in world affairs was highlighted by the jockeying over the naming of a new head to the International Monetary Fund.
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BRIC nations sign Beijing Consensus
The BRICS countries, including China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, signed the Beijing Consensus on Wednesday, stating that coping with the financial crisis and promoting long-term, steady and relatively rapid economic growth are their shared tasks. The consensus, signed at the second BRICS International Competition Conference, called on all countries and regions to build more consensuses and adopt effective competition policies, which it said "are vital for ensuring fair competition, protecting the interests of consumers and promoting the healthy development of a market economy."
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