Emerging powers news

Latest edition: emerging powers news roundup

2012-03-19, Issue 576

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/80869

Printer friendly version

1. China in Africa

Chinese delegation’s advice to Tanzania
Tanzania will attract more investment from China if it addresses insecurity and improves its physical infrastructures, according to the Chinese Business Chamber. The chairman of the chamber, Mr Janson Huang, said Tanzania has many potentials but was losing billions of dollars from Chinese investments. This is because of concern about insecurity among investors from the Asian economic giant coupled with the poor infrastructure, especially roads, he said.
Read More

Tanzania China sign deal to improve trade
The government has signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in a bid to improve trade and investment between the to countries. The signing of the MoU was one of the outcomes of the Tanzania-Zhejiang Business Forum held in Dar es Salaam over the weekend. The two parties said the agreement seeks to improve business and investment relationship between Tanzania and China’s Zhejiang Province for the mutual benefit of both sides.
Read More

South African team visiting India to boost bilateral trade
A trade delegation from South Africa led by its Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe, will be in India to boost bilateral trade. The delegation, which is part of Investment and Trade Initiative (ITI) of their Government, will be in Chennai and Mumbai between March 19 and 23.
Read More

China promotes dialogue between Sudan, South Sudan
China said Tuesday that its special envoy's visits to Sudan and South Sudan were aimed at promoting amity between the two countries, in an effort to safeguard regional peace and stability. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin made the remarks at a regular press briefing in Beijing. Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs Zhong Jianhua visited Sudan and South Sudan from March 10 to 13, said Liu.
Read More

ECOWAS intensifies preparations for Second China Business Forum in Accra
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold an inaugural meeting of Presidents of Regional Business Associations (RBAs) as well as a joint meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Private Sector Organizing Committee to intensify preparations for the Second Business Forum with China from March 20–21 in Accra.
Read More

China’s Africa Centre nears completion
An African business and culture centre in Shanghai, China, is set to open later this year, with representation of at least 30 African countries. The Africa Centre is part of Shanghai’s new Touchroad Diamond Innovation Park, set to be opened by September this year.
Read More

Zambia, China revive ties
ZAMBIA and China are actively putting their bilateral and trade relations back on a firm footing after doubts arising from the election of a new government in Zambia. There was feverish activity as 2011 drew to a close with a quickening of high-level contacts between the two countries. By then there was already a standing invitation to President Michael Sata from his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to visit the People's Republic of China.
Read More

2. India in Africa
India-Africa conclave to discuss projects worth $30 billion
Industry leaders and government representatives from 36 African countries and at least 3 non-African countries would be congregating at the 8th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership. They will discuss 250 projects worth $30 billion. The event being organised in New Delhi during March 18-20, 2012, has Central African Republic as the Guest Country and Zimbabwe as the focus Country.
Read More

NIRD to set up rural tech parks in Africa
The National Institute of Rural Development, a training, research and consultancy organisation under the Ministry of Rural Development, headquartered in Hyderabad, is setting up rural technology parks in five African countries, including Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo and Malawi. This is part of the Government of India's contribution to the India-Africa engagement to promote trade and friendship.
Read More

Workshop on how to set up small business aims to foster Indo-African relationship
In an attempt to strengthen the partnership initiative between India and Africa, the All India Management Association (AIMA) in collaboration with the Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) organised a two-day workshop on enterprise development for African students titled ‘Don’t Hunt for a job, Be your own boss’ at PhD Chamber, Sector 31 on Friday. The workshop is being supported by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Read More

African nations back India on emissions
A tectonic shift in the global climate negotiations got underway with the African group of countries siding with India in demanding that equity and 'common but differentiated responsibilities' be embedded in the talks for a future climate regime. The re-alignments became evident with several key groups of nations submitting their views on how countries should increase their ambition levels for cutting emissions in the coming years.
Read More

African students seek education in India
Dulce Vania from Mozambique is studying for a management degree in India and is also a budding entrepreneur - she exports human hair to her homeland. "I have stated a small-scale human hair export business. Back home, it is used for making various accessories," Vania told IANS. Studying for a management course in finance from the Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE) at Baddowal, close to the industrial hub of Ludhiana, Vania says that African students studying in India are trying to pick up entrepreneurial skills.
Read More

India's Ranbaxy opens Morocco unit
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India's top drugmaker by sales, said its Moroccan unit has started functioning, giving it direct access to a $1 billion pharmaceuticals market. The unit, Ranbaxy's third in Africa, will also help the company supply products to other north African countries in future, it said on Monday.
Read More

3. In Other Emerging Powers News

Sasol moves ahead with 140 MW gas-fired Moz power plant study
JSE-listed energy group Sasol says it is well advanced with a feasibility investigation into a 140 MW gas-fired power plant, which could be developed near Ressano Garcia, in Mozambique. The project, which had not yet been board sanctioned, could be pursued in joint venture between Sasol and State-owned utility Electricidade de Moçambique. The output would be consumed within the borders of the fast-growing Southern African country, which is keen to diversify its power mix and reduce power imports from South Africa.
Read More

4. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

China’s Libya Problem
The Arab Spring hasn’t been kind to China – it has drawn significant international criticism for its decision to veto U.N. Security Council resolutions censuring Syria’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters demanding increased freedoms. But it’s in Libya where China is most likely to feel the economic pains of its rigid foreign policy.
Read More

3Qi: China’s landmark Sicomines deal in the DRC
The controversial 2007 Sicomines infrastructure-for-natural resources deal between China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a milestone in Sino-Africa ties as it’s one of the largest agreements of its kind on record. Originally valued at 9 billion dollars (it has seen been reduced), the deal stunned many in the West, particularly at the International Monetary Fund, as it was widely interpreted as a direct challenge to the half-century old order that governs Western management of aid and development assistance in Africa.
Read More

China's CSR leaders named
Haier, Lenovo and Huawei are among the Chinese brand owners demonstrating the strongest corporate social responsibility credentials on the global stage, a study has argued. The World Economic Forum, a Swiss not-for-profit foundation, and the Boston Consulting Group, the consultancy, assessed 95 leading Chinese firms and interviewed 130 experts to identify the country's CSR leaders.
Read More

Sino-African cooperation to grow
Standard Bank Group Ltd, Africa's biggest lender by assets, said on Thursday that China and Africa will experience a "honeymoon" period during the next 10 years in terms of investment, and their areas of cooperation will be extended. "From my perspective I see Sino-African cooperation moving beyond political expediency to a point where it will be driven by 'Africa needing China and China needing Africa' - a good basis on which to build trust and expand cooperation," said Craig Bond, chief executive of the bank's operations in China.
Read More

↑ back to top