Africans In China

Ghana has taken a bold initiative towards a systematic establishment of economic, technical and legal framework to manage its oil extraction, whilst maximizing its benefits to improve living standards. To this effect, the government has assigned a team of experts in the oil industry to develop a master plan for the petroleum sector.

The team of experts has been subdivided into six working groups and each is supposed to produce a policy document which would become part of the master plan to guide the development and management of Ghana’s emerging oil industry and how it interfaces with the rest of the economy.

This was made known at a workshop dubbed “Consultative meeting on the Oil and Gas fiscal regime and fund types” in Accra, on Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP).

The workshop is aimed at providing space for in-depth discussions on the specific issues of taxation and all the fiscal arrangements most suitable for the country if it intends to achieve the desired growth of a middle income status in the shortest possible time.

Among the six working group includes- the legal regime, fiscal regime and fund types, health, safety, environment and community issues, security, local content and capacity building and downstream, natural gas utilization and infrastructure development.

Addressing the gathering (mainly made up of stakeholders in the oil industry) at the workshop, a Chief Director at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana Juaben-Boaten Siriboe noted that the discovery of oil in the country puts the economy on a good stand towards realizing a middle income status and is leaving no stone unturned to learn from oil producing countries who have benefited from the smooth management of their upstream resource activities.

According to him, the experiences of some resource-rich Developing Countries in managing their oil has not been encouraging as it has in one way or the other destabilised the economies of those countries.

“The experiences of some resource-rich developing countries suggest one thing. Growth and prosperity from oil discovery are not inevitable. The irony in some cases is that the oil effect has been destabilising, leading to low growth, widespread inequalities and conflict, the so-called resource curse. According to one expert, the curse stands ready to capture new and unsuspecting economies that have weak institutions and poor standards of governance”, he noted.

“The good news is that there are other countries that have grown and developed from their natural resources. Botswana with diamonds and Norway and Malaysia with oil are good examples”, he added.

Nana Siriboe averred that the eventual benefits the country can receive from its oil and gas resources depend, in part, on the fiscal regime that the country has in place.

“In fact, many experts believe that the fiscal regime is what separates those economies where petroleum has made a difference to the overall living standards of citizens from where it has not”, he said.

The country, since February 2008 has had the benefit of many experts on several aspects of the petroleum industry through a number of workshops. Nana Siriboe contended that the biggest challenge facing the country is how to transform the experiences gained to good use.

“Our challenge is rather how to take these lessons and experiences and use them to develop the rules and guidelines that will yield the maximum direct and indirect benefits for all Ghanaians and to make progress towards a good and prosperous society”, he noted.

(ALLAFRICA)

Ethiopia plans to increase export earnings by a billion dollars to $2.5 billion in 2008/09 compared with the previous year, the trade ministry said on Tuesday.

“Ethiopia plans to raise 68 percent of the planned $2.5 billion export earnings from agricultural commodities such as coffee, oil seeds, spices, leather goods and flowers in 2008/09,” the ministry said in a statement.

Industrial exports are expected to be 32 percent of the total, with income from textile products set at $49 million from $14.6 million in 2007/08. Country’s financial year runs from July to June.

Income from leather products is targeted at $146 million from $92 million previously. China’s Sino-Overseas Leather Products intends to build four factories to make finished leather goods.

Ethiopia’s import bill was $4.7 billion in 2007/08. In the year before that, the country earned $1.2 billion from exports but paid $3.9 billion for imports ranging from industrial machines to oil.

“Imbalance between domestic demand and supply as well as the global rise in oil and other commodity prices has made the trade deficit to balloon to an estimated $4.7 billion,” said Ken Ohashi, World Bank country director for Ethiopia.

(The Daily Monitor)

CHINA invited journalists from Africa on the sidelines of the Olympic Games to see the other side of the country which is not portrayed through the games. Being one of them, I was eager to go there and learn from experiences of a third world country that is currently challenging the technological and economic dominance of the developed countries.

After going around in Beijing and Tianjin, I concluded that our leaders at all levels should be taken on study tours of China and young students should choose China for their university level education.

But I will reflect on those experiences another time, I am today interested in discussing the way forward for Africa in the face of competing interests from major powers.

While in Beijing, we visited the Foreign Ministry to meet the country’s Special Envoy on African Affairs Ambassador Liu Guijin, who is China’s diplomatic gateway into Africa.

In his moving speech, Ambassador Liu hailed the beneficial cooperation between China and Africa and dismissed propaganda by the Western media that his country was exploiting African resources cheaply. He said his country was cooperating with Africa in the areas of infrastructure, hospitals and that plans were afoot to build schools in rural areas of Africa.

He emphasized that China was a sincere cooperation partner of Africa and it was baseless to view the continent as anyone’s backyard. Of course no one doubts China’s contribution to our development.

In Tanzania, evidence is everywhere to see, from construction of Tazara, textile factories, etc. Our cooperation has been that of teaching a person how to fish and not merely giving him a fish. However, from what Mr Liu said, I realised that super and emerging powers are viewing Africa as one of the most strategic places for their economic continuity and are competing for it.

Each power that matters is now trying to create a platform for discussing and making deals with the continent.

The latest country to organise such a summit is Turkey, a little known semi-European country, which is currently hosting African leaders at the Turkish-African summit. Asummit with Iran, another quasi-super power, is in the offing. So, what do they want from us? Take Tanzania for instance.

Mineral, oil and forest resources are there to tap and the middle class is growing and ready to consume foreign-manufactured goods. Therefore, industrialised countries

want these resources at cheaper price to keep their industries spinning and also want clients for their end products.

Now that everyone is interested in the continent, it is high time our leaders woke up and stopped throwing away resources cheaply.

China wants Africa, EU is in love, India is interested, the USA, now Turkey and Iran. Africa out there is viewed as a one country. So, what should be done? If I can borrow from the ideas of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who says that the problem for Africa is on the value addition.

He says that the total value of the coffee drunk in the whole world is now US$ 100 billion. Out of this US$100 billion, the coffee producing countries get only US$12 billion. The rest is taken by people outside the coffee growing areas.

The price is now US$2 per kilogramme and when you add value, that same kilogramme goes to almost between US$10 and sometimes even US$70 per kilo, he argues, adding that coffee should be blended in Africa for the continent to benefit.

Of course we cannot close our door and sit on our resources helplessly. We need their money and technology and therefore we have no other way but to work with them

(Emmanuel MUuga,Daily News)

The news that twelve Southern African nations have set up of a free trade area is a clear indication that Africa has started looking inwards for market. The bid to strengthen regional exchange of goods and economic integration for a market of 247 million people and an economy worth more than $430 billion will be an extra mile covered as far as the quest for African Economic integration is concerned.

The accord that was made during the 28th SADC (Southern African Development Community) summit of the 15-nation in Johannesburg will indeed make SADC an attractive trading area. The bloc includes Angola, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Angola, Seychelles and Congo have yet to sign the agreement.

Other African regional trade blocs such as Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East Africa Community (EAC) ought to emulate this move in order to avail an estimated 1 billion people market to African entrepreneurs.
The need for economic integration is not only about the removal of tariff barriers but should focus on building both productive and trade capacity. There is a need to expand agriculture and industrial base as well to promote intra-regional trade.

For this to be practical enough, hard work, dedication, and unswerving commitment is necessary from the member states to mobilise resources available so as to meet the objective of strengthening trade in Africa to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty in the continent. Various member countries need to develop structures and strengthen supply. The regions should also diversify their productive capacity to expand the range of products that can be traded in striving to increase the value addition of the products. This will accelerate development  in  Africa.

(africanexecutive)

African countries are making remarkable progress although there are still many challenges to overcome, writes Bryan Mukandi

WE WISH to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us . . . our vices and our degradation are ever arrayed against us, but our virtues are passed unnoticed.

Those words were written by John Russwurm in the first edition of Freedom’s Journal in 1837. Freedom’s Journal was the first newspaper published in America that was written and operated by black people. Russwurm’s words could be mine, as well as many Africans today.

Like Russwurm, I feel the world tends to look at my people through a broken lens. I feel as though our faults are magnified and our condition over-simplified. I feel that there are many who claim to speak for us yet see us as something slightly less than human - less, at any rate, than our European, American or Asian brothers and sisters.

I have been asked why, given all the resources poured into Africa by donor agencies and governments, Africa has not made more progress. Concerns have also been raised about population growth in places like Ethiopia.

The short answer is that Africa has, and continues to make, remarkable progress. That said, there are still some serious challenges on the continent. Where people are vulnerable, they tend to have more, rather than less, children. Where infant and child mortality is high, families will try and have more children to make sure some survive to adulthood. They depend on their children to help work their land, source food or take care of them when they get older and are no longer able to look after themselves. It is human nature.

And yes, Somalia is still Somalia. Yes, the Niger delta is unstable. And there is also Sudan, the Congo and Zimbabwe. As a continent, we have a tragic track record of human rights abuses - then there is corruption and the mismanagement of resources. Progress is being made all the same, though.

Once, the idea of the one-party state was acceptable, but now most African countries have accepted the concept of democracy in principal, if not always in practice. While sometimes it feels like sub-Saharan Africa takes two steps forward then one step back, at least the overall movement is in a positive direction.

The continent as a whole is slowly coming to terms with the standards and norms of the world. This is happening not in isolation, but while trying to negotiate through murky, sometimes treacherous, global waters.

There is so much external interference in Africa’s affairs that China and the West are at loggerheads over who gets to pimp the continent. If, in spite of all of that, some are still concerned at the ecological destruction that results from the number of children Ethiopian women choose to bear, our apologies. Feel free to have nothing to do with all things African. The greatest danger to development is the desire to see a “return” on one’s “investment”. Giving money for development work is not the same as investing in a start up company, it is not even similar to investing in a social enterprise. Both come with the expectation of financial reward. The desire for quick fixes and instant results is what leads to an over investment in projects like food handouts over those that help people achieve food independence. It is the latter rather than the former which should be promoted, even though it is less measurable.

The second greatest danger to development comes from not realising the worth of the people who are being helped. Africa’s greatest asset is not her oil or mineral wealth, but her people. The rate of development and growth there will be determined by how many Africans are empowered to contribute to their countries.

I wholeheartedly believe in seeking African solutions to Africa’s problems. That will only truly happen when Africa’s rural majority has the kind of access to information and resources as other people groups.

The main aim of all those interested in that continent should be rural development. Food independence and basic skills provision are a great start, but to date some have seen them as an end. There needs to be intense investment in communication infrastructure.

The rural masses need access to the outside world. Phone lines, access to international television and the internet will change local aspirations. There is something about knowing how other people live that produces discontentment with a sub-standard way of life. That discontentment will bring about more positive changes in local and national government than all the conditional aid in the world. If Africa is going dramatically to develop, it needs more world-class universities. India’s plethora of universities has done wonders for the Indians. Africa needs many engineers, teachers, lawyers, scientists and medical personnel. We also need many politicians, philosophers and lawyers to form systems of governance that will work in our context.

America’s democracy is different to Europe’s and Japan’s. Perhaps it is time Africans came up with their own form of governance - and while some of our professionals might emigrate, the migration of Indian professionals has helped the sub-continent in the long run.

The average African man or woman needs to be seen as being no different to the average European, apart from their different circumstances. If that happens, the natural response will be to pour as much as possible into changing those circumstances and that can happen without a cent going to an African government official if so required. It can also come to be without a cent from a single Western aid agency. It has been said though that many hands make light work.

Africa will come right eventually. It is just a question of time.

Vincent Browne is on leave

© 2008 The Irish Times

The 88 or so Heads of State who watched the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympiad at the Beijing Olympics Stadium might have sat dazed with mouths open at the vintage show sold to the world which may prove difficult to equal.

That is a big task for London, when the youth of the world assemble there in 2012. Among the distinguished Heads of State were some African leaders, including our own President J.A. Kufuor, and I was wondering what went through their minds as they watched in amazement, the spectacular choreograph of human movement, the beating of drums, clanging of cymbals, music from over 11,000 voices and the thumping of feet from a dense forest of human legs.

As for President George W. Bush and his allies from the West, their worst fears have come to pass — that the Beijing Olympic Games will open the eyes of the world for it to see what really a great one-time backward nation called China had become in just a matter of two decades.

The West tried in vain, even before it started, to dilute the successes of the Games after they failed to prevent the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from awarding Beijing the 2008 Games.

First, it was the cynical prediction that the Chinese do not have the financial clout and the technical and technological expertise to put in place the facilities in a matter of seven years for the hosting of the Games.

When they realised at the last hour that the physical facilities were set, the West opened a new battle front — that China does not deserve to play host to the rest of the world because of its poor human rights record.

The journey of the Olympic Torch from Mount Olympus in Greece to Beijing was disrupted at several places with well-rehearsed demonstrations against China’s rule over Tibet.

At one stage, Africa was brought into the fray, when, as if crying for a poor continent, the West decided to use China’s business links with The Sudan as an excuse for the unending Darfur conflict.

There were threats from world leaders with leanings towards the West to boycott the opening ceremony.

In fact, everything, including the dark clouds that hung over Beijing was used to make the Games unpopular and if possible, a failure.

However, the spirit of the Olympic Games — uniting the world under the canopy of sports — prevailed, and the world denied those who want to settle political scores on the sporting arena the luxury of victory.

So they all came. President George W. Bush was there with his wife and father, former President George Bush.

So was Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who was among the first leaders who threatened boycotting the Games.

When they came, they saw that no amount of propaganda can destroy the spirit of a people who are determined to carry their destiny into their own hands.

China will be the centre of attraction for the world during the Games, and after that the world cannot ignore its dramatic entry into worldstage economically, industrially, technologically and scientifically.

Apart from the impressive opening ceremony which foreign correspondents acknowledged as first class, the quality of the facilities provided by the Chinese made nonsense of the initial doubts raised about their capability to organise and host the games.

That brings me back to the African leaders who witnessed the historical opening ceremony.

Were they just mesmerised or they dreamt seeing their respective countries becoming another China in the next few years?

It will be unfair to put China into the same jacket as African countries, because the former’s civilisation dates back several thousands of years.

However, before the Deng Xiaoping years, when China introduced economic reforms and changed its development direction by embarking on a massive capitalisation process, it had everything in common with most African countries, including Ghana.

It had an economy that could not match those in the developed Western countries and also placed excessive emphasis on state ownership.

Owing to its ideological posture, it could not open the economy to direct foreign capital from the West.

All that changed by 1992, when Deng pushed for a market-oriented economy, which was endorsed at the 14th Party Congress.

That opened the doors widely for the Chinese economy to attract direct foreign investment from the West.

Industrialisation shifted gear from the archaic state-owned enterprises to market-driven enterprises, either as state-private ownership or wholly privately-owned .

That set China on a new development path which took the world by storm.

There was, however, a precondition — that the raising of the living standards of the people should not be compromised when adopting capitalist measures to develop the economy.

China has since moved fast to become the fastest developing economy in the world. It has sustained an average growth rate of 9.5 per cent over the past 26 years, and has become a preferred destination for the relocation of global manufacturing facilities.

In Ghana, similar arguments were made against state-owned enterprises. Government has no business indulging in petty trading, building hotels or distributing commodities, so went the argument.

Various governments, in response to this challenge, embarked on a privatisation process which got to its peak in the 1980s when the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC) was totally dismembered and its affiliate companies divested, sold or privatised.

The interesting question is, how come that almost all the state enterprises which were divested or sold with the intention of injecting into them fresh capital and better managerial competence did not blossom into bigger and better companies?

You can mention them. The tomato factories at Pwalagu and Wenchi; the Leather Factory in Kumasi; the Bonsa Tyre Factory; the Meat Factory at Bolgatanga; the GIHOC Pharmaceuticals, the Cannery at Nsawam; the Tema Food Complex; the State Fishing Corporation; Tema Shipyard and Drydock, the State Shipping Line and many others. All these have ceased to exist and nothing better had sprouted in their stead.

The country’s industrial sector has crumbled from a humble beginning as a newly developing nation with a modest industrial base, processing goods to become a net importer of everything, including toothpick and fruit juices.

What did the Chinese and those other countries that have made it do, which we failed to do? In short, what went wrong with our privatisation process?

Can it be said that over the years, our leaders were careless or were not sincere about the way they disposed of these state enterprises?

From an emerging industrial country, we have slipped back as producers of raw materials to feed factories in other countries.

When we look back to those years when Ghana had a flourishing textile industry, with her popular GTP Real Wax Print being a leader on the international market, we ask ourselves, what happened?

Not only did the garment and leather industries that collapsed, surrender to foreign textiles and leather products.

Virtually, everything on our local market came from outside, either as brand new or as discarded and disused junk, popularly called home-used.

If China and other Asian countries have been able to open up to foreign capital without necessarily compromising local production, how come we could not do so over here?

Surely, China could not have jumped onto the international market in such a dramatic manner without a good blend of foreign capital and technical know-how on one hand and local ingenuity on the other.

The current situation, which allows excessive importation of food items such as onion, tomato, maize and rice when conditions are conducive for local production, means we are a long way from coming near to the achievements of China and other south-east Asian countries.

Liberalisation to the point where the country has virtually become a dumping ground for any conceivable commodity from outside cannot encourage local production, and in the long run, cannot free the country from its dependency syndrome.

As for our preparation towards and participation in the Games, the least said about it, the better. We took everything for granted.

China has sent a message which must not be taken for granted. That is, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The world is not going to wait for us. We must begin to rely more on ourselves rather than seeing salvation as coming from outside.

Q: Would you explain the bilateral relations of the two countries? A:

Well, in a new era, all the major indicators reveal an exponential growth in the relations, and the all-round cooperative partnership between China and Ethiopia is entering a new phase. Recent years has witnessed the intensified exchanges of visits. H.E. Ato Meles Zenawi, Premier of Ethiopia, paid a visit to China in 1995 and in 2004. H.E. Mr. Jiang Zemin, then President of China, and H.E. Mr. Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of China, visited Ethiopia respectively in 1996 and 2003. In late 2006, H.E. Mr. Hu Jintao, President of China, and H.E. Ato Meles Zenawi co-hosted the FOCAC Summit in Beijing. H.E. Mr. Sun Zhengcai, Chinese Minister of Agriculture visited Ethiopia in July 2007. In early 2008, H.E. Mr. Yang Jiechi, Chinese Foreign Minister paid an official visit to Ethiopia. Afterwards, H.E. Mr. Wang Guangtao, then Chinese Minister of Construction, and senior officials from the Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party toured Ethiopia consecutively. H.E. Ato Assefa Kessito, Ethiopian Minister of Justice paid a working visit to China in September 2007.

In addition, the multi-level exchanges are increased between China National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Ethiopian parliament. The Ethiopia-China friendship group has been set up in the House of People’s Representatives, headed by H.E. Ato Sofian Ahmed, Ethiopian Minister of Finance and Economic Development. This year the China-Ethiopia friendship group was also established within the China’s NPC. It offers an institutional basis for the advancement of bilateral legislative cooperation. Plus, H.E. Ato Teshome Toga, Speaker of the House of People’s Representatives, visited China in July 2008.

Further more, China and Ethiopia share similar views over a wide range of issues, such as human rights, peace and development, African issues. The two sides conduct regular exchanges of views and coordinate positions. China appreciates Ethiopia’s adherence to the One-China principle and its strong support for China’s reunification and China’s stance on Taiwan and Tibet issues. The political consultation mechanism was established between the Chinese and Ethiopian foreign ministries in 2001, by which officials at minister or Director-general levels meet and exchange views regularly.

Q: Would you brief features of China’s development aid to Ethiopia?

A: Actually, China is Ethiopia’s major trade partner. A China-Ethiopia economic and trade joint commission has been created as a facilitator for economic cooperation. Its latest meeting was held in Beijing last year. According to China Customs, the two-way trade volume reached US$ 860 million in 2007. From Jan. to June 2008, the figure was US$ 638 million, up 59.7%. China’s exports to Ethiopia are primarily food, clothing, pharmaceuticals, machineries, electronics, etc. Ethiopia’s major exports to China include sesame, coffee, leather products. Another feature, development assistance, it has a tradition in China’s policy towards Ethiopia. The Wereta-Woldeya road was among the first projects constructed with Chinese assistance, which was significant in linking up the two remote parts of Ethiopia. As some other examples, the irrigation project on the Hare River was built by China in 1996, which helped irrigate some 1000 hectares of land in Ethiopia.

The Addis Ababa ring road was built partly on China’s assistance. At present, China has pledged 100 million birr to build the Gotera Flyover in Addis Ababa, 54% of whose construction had been completed by May 2008. In addition, it is China’s long-term policy to encourage the competent and creditworthy enterprises to invest in Ethiopia. It can be recalled that only 14 Chinese companies had invested US $ 10 million by the end of 2003. However, there is a notable rise afterwards due to the improving investment environment in Ethiopia and the policy incentives on the Chinese part.

According to the Ethiopia Investment Administration, China-funded enterprises had invested US $ 960 million in Ethiopia by July 2008. China’s investment is diversified into many sectors, such as construction, telecom, textile, healthcare and agriculture. It brings to Ethiopia much-needed capital, know-how and management experience. It also plays a notable part in increasing local employment. According to the Ethiopian Investment Administration, by July 2008, 42,000 Ethiopians had been employed on a permanent basis by Chinese enterprises in Ethiopia, some 49000 temporarily.

Agricultural cooperation also takes a special place in bilateral relations. As a typical multilateral project, the Chinese Agricultural Ministry, the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations had conducted tripartite cooperation. Within the tripartite framework, China had sent 8 groups of 32 agricultural experts to Ethiopia from 1998 to 2006. These experts were actively dedicated to spreading agricultural techniques and enhancing Ethiopia’s agricultural productivity. Besides, China and Ethiopia also have cooperation in agricultural TVET education. From 2001 to 2008, China has sent 8 groups of 280 professionals to Ethiopia under this program.

Moreover, an agreement was singed in May 2008 to build an agricultural technology demonstration center in Ethiopia. And China offered animal Health Laboratory Equipments to Ethiopia in June 2008. China will send two senior experts on agricultural technologies to Ethiopia.

Q: How do you evaluate technical cooperation of the two countries? A:

As it is known, The Exim Bank of China provides US$ 500 million master loan to Ethiopia. So far, loan agreements have been signed for eleven projects. Before the end of 2008, the same agreements are expected to be signed for another two large-scale projects of over US$ 100 million, namely Mugher Cement works and Fan Hydropower Station. Besides, there is major project cooperation, first of all, the construction of Tekeze hydropower station is China’s biggest ever contracting project. Built by Sino hydro company, Gezhouba Group and some Ethiopian companies, the station is expected to generate power from this September.

Secondly, ZTE, China’s telecom giant, is to put US$ 1.5 billion into upgrading Ethiopia’s telecom system from 2006 to 2009. Ethiopian residents are likely to enjoy more reliable telecom service in the years to come. In a very significant development, two Chinese investing giants; Jiangsu Qiyuan Group and Yonggang Group, have initiated the project of “Eastern Industrial Park” in the Oromia Regional State. Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Ethiopian government in March 2008, they have embarked on substantive construction. The Chinese companies will pump millions of dollars into the project, laying down sound infrastructure for this special economic zone. It is believed that the industrial park will not only help Ethiopia to attract more FDIs, also serve as a platform for Ethiopia to draw on China’s experience in economic development.

The Implementation Program for the Cultural Cooperation (2007—2009), signed by China and Ethiopia, which set a good framework for cultural interactions. As some recent cultural exchanges, China Qingdao Folk Art Troupe and Gansu Arts Troupe respectively performed in Ethiopia in July 2007 and March 2008, to boost Ethiopia’s Millennium celebration. In May 2008, H.E. Ato Mahamude Gaas, State Minister of Culture and Tourism attended China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair. The Ethiopian National Theater Arts Troupe also toured China Xinjiang in June 2008 for the International Folk Dance Festival.

Over decades, Ethiopia has been a receiver of Chinese medical teams. In education sector, China has helped build the biggest TVET College in Ethiopia, which is to be open this September. Later on, the two sides will take the teaching cooperation in the College. China’s government scholarship program has been expanded after the Beijing Summit. This September 46 Ethiopian students will go to China in their academic pursuit, pushing the total number of Ethiopians studying in China under the scholarship program to 118. In short, we have still good technical cooperation between Ethiopia and china.

Q: Would you explain the FOCAC framework?

A: The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is launched in 2000; it is a mechanism for collective dialogue and multilateral cooperation between China and Africa. To the host of the 2^nd Ministerial Conference of FOCAC in 2003 and co-host to the Beijing Summit, Ethiopia has made unique contributions to the Forum. At the Beijing Summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced eight policy measures to further cooperation with the African countries. Ethiopia will be the only African country to benefit from all these eight measures.

The first measure is the Zero-tariff treatment to Ethiopia: It has started from 2005. In that very year, Ethiopia’s export to China soared from the 2004 US$ 14 million to 85 million, registering an increase of 500%. The year of 2007 saw further expansion of the preferential treatment from the original 192 export items to 442. In June 2001, China extended debt cancellation to Ethiopia. In 2007, China wrote off Ethiopia’s interest-free government debts, maturing by the end of 2005. As one of eight policy measures, China has pledged to set up the fund in order to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa. Among the first batch of projects sponsored by the Fund, the Ethiopia-CGC glass works is built in Addis Ababa. The Fund is also working with other Chinese companies to explore cooperation projects.

As part of bilateral education cooperation, China has decided to build three rural schools in Ethiopia. Now, the school locations are designated, and their construction will begin soon. To implement the policy measures set by the Beijing Summit, the first batch of anti-malaria medicine was handed over to Ethiopia in May 2008, and the second batch is under preparation. China has also planned to build a malaria treatment center in Ethiopia. So far, the exchange of letters has been done and Chinese contractor will soon start the center construction. China is also helping build a hospital in Akaki, Addis Ababa. Its Design Contract was signed in July 2008. The hospital is expected to be open in two years’ time.

More over, Ethiopia is the first African nation to which China sends young volunteers. The first group consisted of 12 members. The second group of 50 members was the largest volunteer team ever sent abroad by China. Now the third group is forthcoming. In 2004, China granted Ethiopia the Approved Destination Status for Chinese tourists. And China is helping build the AU conference center in Addis Ababa, whose designing is completed and whose construction is starting late this year. In the sector of human resource cooperation, China helped train 269 Ethiopian professionals in 2007, another 79 in the first half of 2008.

Q: How do you assess the mutual support and close coordination of the two countries?

A: Basically, China and Ethiopia, both respect the development path independently embarked upon by each other. China’s development assistance to Ethiopia is genuine, selfless and transparent. China never imposes its will on Ethiopia by way of its assistance. The economic cooperation is based on complementarily of two economies and aimed at a win-win result. It is part of South-South cooperation. For instance, China’s exports bring tangible interests to Ethiopia as benefiting ordinary Ethiopians and buttressing Ethiopia’s initiative to rein in inflation. China’s capital goods are compatible with Ethiopian specifications and inductive to growth of Ethiopia’s national industry. China offers a growing market for Ethiopia by importing goods from it. Mutual support is the driving force behind China-Ethiopia cooperation. The two sides are bent upon strengthening cooperation in UN and other multilateral arenas by supporting each other’s just demand and reasonable propositions. China and Ethiopia underline the importance of learning from and drawing upon each other’s experience. Recent years see many visits exchanged for the purposes of experience sharing in judicial, educational, agricultural, anti-corruption and other sectors.

Q: How does China view the remarkable economic growth of Ethiopia?

A: Ethiopia is a country with a history of several thousand years, a land of wonders and surprise, home to cultured and friendly people who are descended from some of the oldest civilizations. The new Millennium celebration is a typical embodiment of Ethiopia’s unique culture. I would take this occasion to express my congratulations to the Ethiopian Government and people for its notable economic and social progress. In recent years, Ethiopia has achieved a domestic production growth of around 10%. It has done a good job in increasing productivity, improving infrastructure, attracting FDIs, reducing poverty and promoting exports. As evidenced by statistics in the fiscal year 2006/2007, Ethiopia’s manufacture industry grew at 12.5%, and revenue from exports was over US$ 1.2 billion, up 17.2% on a yearly basis. Ethiopia has been recognized as one of African countries which are most likely to reach the MDGs in 2015. It is a clear testament that Ethiopia is a hardworking nation with pioneering spirits and great prospects.

As a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Ethiopia had struggled prominently in modern history to realize the OAU objectives and helped the African countries under colonialism to gain independence. Now, as the seat of the African Union (AU), Ethiopia makes unique contributions to the AU politically, economically and even logistically.

Ethiopia is committed to peace in the Horn of Africa and the African continent. It is one of world’s top ten contributors and Africa’s second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping missions. Now, Ethiopia is playing an active role in the UN/AU Hybrid Operation in Sudan Darfur. Although Ethiopia is still confronted with challenges, such as curbing inflation and ensuring food security, I firmly believe the Ethiopian Government and people could overcome them and attain prosperity in the new Millennium.

Q: What would the Beijing Olympic Games uniquely give meaning to both countries’ relations?

A: Ethiopia also enjoys a prominent position in the Olympic movement; Ethiopia actively participates in the Beijing Olympics and builds a strong Olympic team of 30 athletes. I believe Ethiopia will have more chance of winning medals this year. The Beijing Olympic is a chance to advance Olympic spirits of solidarity, friendship and peace. It bridges peoples with different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds.

Athletes from Ethiopia, China and other countries can share experience, achieve glories and feel more close to each other. The Beijing Olympic is a chance to advance Olympic spirits of solidarity, friendship and peace. It bridges peoples with different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds. Athletes from Ethiopia, China and other countries can share experience, achieve glories and feel more close to each other. Ethiopia is a strong supporter for the Beijing Olympics. It echoes China’s call for opposition to politicizing the Olympics or linking it with irrelevant issues.

The Chinese Embassy works with Ethiopian Olympic Committee and other Ethiopian partners to host the 2008 Olympic Day Run & Ring Road Relay in June 2008, and also an Olympic Photo Exhibition in July. The Embassy contributes 500,000 birr to the Ethiopian Olympic team. H.E. W/ro Aster Mamo, Minister of Youth and Sport will go to Beijing to watch the Games. H.E. Ato Abdisa Yadeta, State Minister of Youth and Sport, attended the opening ceremony.

As indicated by Ato Mulualem Bassie, Secretary-General of Ethiopian Olympic Committee, Ethiopia takes the Beijing Olympics as a high time to promote Ethiopia to the world as part of its Millennium celebration. Ethiopia will take some initiatives in the Olympic Village to show its alphabets, calendar and Millennium emblems to thousands of visitors. Ethiopian people will certainly know more about China through the opening ceremony and other Olympic events. In my capacity of Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia, I would thank Ethiopia for its great support for the Beijing Olympic Game. I would also wish Ethiopian Athletes a success in Beijing.

Q: Is there any thing you want to add at last?

A: Both China and Ethiopia are cradles of human civilization and forged close ties in the struggles for national independence and national building. In this new era, we share increasing common interests. Building strong ties between China and Ethiopia will not only promote development of each side, but also help cement unity and cooperation among the developing world and contribute to establishing a just and equitable new international order. China will remain a close friend of Ethiopia.

(waltainfo)

One : Don’t miss the boat.
Two : Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three : Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four : Stay fit When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five : Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six : Build your future on high ground.
Seven : For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
Eight : Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine : When you’re stressed, float a while.
Ten : Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven : No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting…

Two recent headlines in Asian publications caught my attention.

One was in India’s Financial Express, “India Inc hunts bright prospects in Dark Continent,” posted on August 12, 2008. The other was “Scramble for Africa: Local entrepreneurs find our colonial heritage helps in doing business on the ‘dark continent’ in the August 19, 2008 edition of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

Both articles were about the great prospects Africa offers for businesspeople from India and Hong Kong respectively. As such, they could be broadly considered to be ‘positive’ articles, different from the endless tales of woe about Africa we are accustomed to from most of the Western media.

The Western world which has had close (though not necessarily happy) recent ties to Africa continues to see the latter primarily as a problem child needing to be rescued, scolded, bullied or pitied. But an evolving reality of the modern world is that of a confident, ascendent Asia which is beginning to look beyond the patronising stereotypes to search for opportunities for mutually beneficial economic cooperation with Africa. Whether the Africans are now awake enough in relating to Asia to avoid the exploitation and ill-treatment they experienced at the hands of the Western world alongside the benefits of that interaction remains to be seen.

In theory, the recent experiences of colonialism at the hands of Europe that India and Hong Kong share with Africa gives us a lot in common. One would expect a certain degree of empathy and sensitivity towards the regurgitation of colonial-era stereotypes like ‘dark continent.’ In practice that is obviously not necessarily the case.

I wrote to both the Financial Express and the South China Morning Post to protest the use of the racist term ‘dark continent.’ In both cases I explained that the expression was used by Westerners to describe their mystification at and contempt for an Africa that was so different from what they knew, but was widely considered an insult by Africans. I felt silly in doing so because I had no doubt that both publications would have been well aware that the expression would not have been considered complimentary or even merely neutral by Africans.

To the Indian publication, I gave the (imperfect) example of how the word “coolie” as used by Westerners was also considered insulting by Indians. To the Chinese paper I illustrated the offensiveness of the term ‘dark continent’ to Africans by pointing out how the phrase “yellow peril” was once casually used by Westerners to refer to them. Both terms could be explained away as being fairly “innocent,” just as some have attempted to do with the term “dark continent.” But Africans are well acquainted with how hurtful “mere words” can be, in a way that apparently some Asians are beginning to forget as they become ever more like the Westerners.

Africa’s growing relations with Asia are to be welcomed. If Africa learns to manage them well, they offer opportunities that have not been possible with our close but fraught relations with the Western world. Despite the closeness of the relations that have been built up with the West, the relatively recent trauma to Africa of the negative, contemptuos treatment at the hands of the West and the complicated lingering after-effects have made ‘normal’ relations between the two extremely difficult to this day.

By and large, there is no such historical or racial ‘baggage’ with Asia, although that is no guarantee that it cannot develop. Many Africans have talked of the racism they experience in various parts of Asia. And the treatment of Uganda’s Asian-origin population at the hands of Idi Amin is a reminder of how easy it is for demagogues to justify  racial resentment and whip up hatred.

All this is precisely why the two publications’ racist references to Africa as the ‘dark continent’ are so unfortunate. The use of the term is a reminder of how Asian (and world) attitudes about us continue to be conditioned by how Western settlers, missionaries, explorers perceived and described us. Its use by two Asian publication indepednent of each other is a warning to us of how deeply entrenched is the Western brain-washing of Africa as the ‘dark continent’ is, applying even to  Asians who have suffered and protested at similar indignities in their recent past.

Africa needs to be extra cautious as it welcomes the great new opportunities offered by increased cooperation with Asia. Africa was found weak, divided and naively trusting in its interaction with Europeans bent on conquest. Centuries later, we are still struggling to regain our psychological feet in the world. We have absolutely no excuse to be found naive and wanting in our developing relations with Asia or any other part of the world.

Part of the process of being vigilant is for us to speak up when we are referred to disrespectfully, as the India’s Financial Express and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post have casually done with their racist ‘dark continent’ headlines.

by Chido Makunike

(AFRICAPATH)

Travelogue“Travel and See”: China and the 21st Century

“The 21st Century belongs to China,” one of the officials, who received a group of journalists from Africa visiting China on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympics Games, said with pride.

Indeed from all indications China, the Star of the East, has risen and there is no going back.

I was among the 34 African journalists invited to witness how the Chinese have been able to weave a tapestry of thousands of years of history, cultural heritage, social cohesion, economic development, scientific advancement and cutting-edge technology.

“Travel and see”, we are told and indeed I travelled and I saw.

Before leaving Ghana, I had been made to have a certain picture about Beijing and China as a whole.
First Beijing was portrayed as unhealthy because of an ever-present smog; that the Chinese did not respect human rights and that the Chinese were xenophobic.

Apart from the smog, which was evident even before Ethiopian Airline Flight ET 604 from Addis Ababa touched down at the Beijing Airport on August 5, the other two did not have any basis.

The Chinese had been able to adopt measures to reduce drastically the intensity of the smog by closing down some factories before the opening of the Games.

On human rights, the Chinese society is certainly disciplined. It is a society, in which everything is done with the interest of the State in mind.

Chinese society is based on the principle of collective well-being, instead of individual greed.

Unlike in the West where individual freedom is extended sometime to the level of absurdity Chinese society ensures that human beings behave as such and not as animals.

If this is what others see as human right abuse, then definitions do differ. No society has the right to impose its values on another. Every society must have the right to organise the social order the way it deems fit.

During interactions with the ordinary people, it came out clearly that the Chinese society is a contented one. Each has a specific task to accomplish which they go about doing with diligence.

The guides who were attached to us performed their duties with such a high level of diligence that should be the envy of other countries.

They were punctual and always had to wait for members of the group to assemble before beginning the day’s programme. They were very courteous but firm.

They would not bend the rules but they did it in such a way not to hurt any feelings.

From the interactions with the ordinary people, it came out clearly that virtually none of the 1.3 billion Chinese ever went to bed hungry. The State catered for the basic needs of its citizens.

At the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the ordinary Chinese, who have been portrayed as being xenophobic, asked us to allow them to take pictures with them.

At the Silk Market, sellers would approach customers, who came from all over the world, with persuasive words.

Some went to the extent of putting their hands on the shoulders of customers reminding me of traders back home at Makola Market in Accra and Kejetia in Kumasi.

At the Forbidden City, the palace of ancient Chinese emperors, the over 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation comes to life..

Needless to say the Great Wall of China showed what a determined people can do. It is a wonder that without modern construction technology, a civilisation could erect such an edifice on precipitous edges of mountains.

Of modern architecture, Beijing is arguably one of the most beautiful cities on earth. A member of our group, who had been staying in New York, summed it all up when he said, “Beijing is the modern side of New York”.

The towering glass and steel skyscrapers, the manicured flower beds, trimmed hedges and clean streets are a marvel.

A computer simulated tour of Beijing at the City Hall showed how advanced the Chinese are technologically.

One could see three-dimensional objects that gave the feel of reality, even though one knew one was watching a film with special goggles.

Many of the world’s giant supermarkets have opened branches in Beijing – Wal-Mart of USA; Ito-Yokado of Tokyo, Carrefour of France, and others.

Apart from the Central Business District of Beijing, where the streets are at the same level, and therefore, traffic has to be controlled, all other roads are dual carriage and at different levels so there is no question of head-on collision of vehicles.

We visited the Chinese East Free Port of Tianjin where we were told it would exceed throughput of 400 million tons by 2010.

Mr. Ou Yonglin, Vice Director of Publicity Department of the Port, said Tianjin is the largest free port in China, with the most favourable policy that facilitated cargo clearance processes, offered the most convenient transportation and most advantageous location.

Tianjin serves as the port of Beijing and is engaged in handling container and general goods; liquid bulk cargo and dry bulk cargo.

It has specialized docks for containers, iron ore, coal, petrol-chemical products, general cargo; bulk grain, bulk fertilizer; as well as roll-on-roll-off, as well as international passenger service docks.

Tianjin has links with the Tema and Takoradi Ports and handles most of the machinery and equipment shipped to Ghana for numerous ongoing Chinese projects.

Mr. Ou advised African businessmen and women to patronise the port since it offered regular services at competitive prices for the shipment of cargo to and from China.

The Chinese have taken the world by storm and there is no indication that the storm would abate any time soon…

(ACCRA DAILY MAIL)

Chinese Factory to produce gloves, footwear in Ethiopia

By Muluken Yewondwossen

A Chinese company has signed an agreement with the Oromia Investment Commission of Ethiopia to build four leather goods factories in Sululta, around the Weserbi area, 20 km north of Addis Ababa, at a cost of 312 million birr.

Mohamed Ibrahim, vice commissioner of the Regional Investment Commission, told Capital that 5 hectares of land have been granted to Sino Africa Overseas Leather Products plc, where it will build the four factories.

“Sino Africa has plans to complete construction within three years and work will start in November 2008. During the first phase; that will be a year later, the factory would be able to produce more than three million pieces of finished leather annually,” said Mohamed.
The factory that will start production after the tannery is completed will have the capacity to produce one million pairs of gloves annually and the third factory will produce two million pairs of shoes. The leather garment factory will sew 200 thousand jackets annually. The factory will create 1300 job opportunities.

Sino Africa Overseas Leather Products is producing leather products in China and has imported processed leather inputs like pickled wet blue from Ethiopia.

According to the vice commissioner, currently many companies who want to be engaged in the leather sector are coming to the region. The interest is due to the high potential in the country.
Mohamed said another reason for investor interests is the proximity of the country to export markets in Asia, Europe and other African countries.

According to the Ethiopian Investment Agency, currently, 160 tanning, footwear and other leather goods producers have obtained licences from the Agency.

In addition to these, 6 tanners, 7 footwear and 9 leather goods factories are under construction

(Capital)

Lobito

The head of the rehabilitation brigades for Benguela’s Railway (CFB), the Chinese Wang Xuanshang, guaranteed last Friday in Lobito District, in the central Benguela Province, that the fitting of the rail tracks from Benguela to the neighbouring Huambo Province will be concluded next December.

The Chinese official said that the works of preparing the platform of the railway is already concluded in the section from Cubal District (Benguela) to Huambo City.

“There are material conditions and human resources that will guarantee the boost of the works in order to fulfil the established deadlines”, he said.

The official also said that the Chinese brigades have been working day and night so that by the end of 2011, the rehabilitation of Lobito (Benguela) railways up to Lwau City in the eastern Moxico Province, in an extension of 1,314 kilometres, can be concluded in order to benefit the Angolan development.

On his turn, the Angolan Transports minister, Augusto Tomás, said that with the conclusion of the rehabilitation works of Benguela Railway (CFB), it will boost the economy of Angola and other countries of the region.

(ALLAFRICA)

Efem Nkanga
Lagos

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe, has disclosed that Nigeria records 1.2 million new subscriptions each month to its growing subscriber base which has crossed 54 million active connections.

Engr Ndukwe, who disclosed this at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos at the weekend stated that the GSM revolution has transformed communications in the nation and has added to the economic growth of the nation which according to him is growing by 6% per annum.
He stated that the growth of mobile technology which will be seven years old this August has been so phenomenal that it has become a reference point for other countries.

“Since January this year, the telecom network has witnessed steady growth which currently outstrips 1.2 million lines every month, which indicates the fact that the growth rate is still not abetted. This also shows that Nigeria has witnessed economic growth because there is a linkage between acquisition of telecom services and economic improvement”, he said.
Commenting on the challenge of quality of service in the sector, Ndukwe stated that measures taken by the commission in the last few months has achieved notable improvements across the networks.

He stated that the commission had been active in following up with operators to find a permanent solution to issues of service quality.

One of the measures taken by the commission according to him is the issue of compensation which he described as the first in the country in which the NCC compelled operators to pay subscribers a token as compensation for poor services rendered. Other measures according to him taken by the commission include the acquisition of new systems for monitoring quality of service as well as stopping operators from further promos until they improve capacity etc.

On the registration of SIM cards being proposed by the commission and other stakeholders, Ndukwe stated that the commission decided on this course of action because of several reports from security agencies on increased criminal activities perpetrated through the use of mobile phones in the country.

He added that NCC was collaborating with the Nigerian security and intelligence agencies, and major telecom operators to ensure that henceforth all existing and prospective prepaid mobile phone services are registered in the country.

Ndukwe, who expressed optimism that the registration of sims will bring in sanity said that modalities were being worked out for immediate implementation of the scheme. He reiterated that identity registration is very important and called for a credible data base in the country that can be referred to curtail identity theft.

On the slow growth of fixed lines infrastructure in the country compared to mobile, Ndukwe stressed that fixed lines have never been known to grow as fast as mobile globally. He reiterated that though fixed line had good prospects and will grow in the future, it will not be like mobile’

He said that most of the land line infrastructures across the world today were built in the 1980s and the 1990s, which he said was the time that Nigeria missed the opportunity and that up to 2000, rather than progress, NITEL’s infrastructure has retrogressed.
He noted that with the fibre optics projects going on with some operators like Globacom focusing also on the fixed, their may be some hope. While agreeing that the cabling infrastructure is best for high bandwidth traffic, he however said some wireless systems are now carrying as huge bandwidth which is the reason why some of the operators have embraced it.

(ALLAFRICA)

Edris Kisambira
Kampala

A two-day translation marathon has resulted in a version of Mozilla’s Firefox browser Firefox in Luganda, Uganda’s most widely spoken language.

The software will be made available by Makerere University’s Faculty of Computing and Information Technology (CIT) with the aim of giving non-English speakers a browsing tool.

Software experts from Translate.org.za, a South African company that develops translation software, guided and trained 300 students from CIT as well as Luganda linguists from the Institute of Languages at Makerere in the translation exercise.

During the two days, experts from Rhodes University and Translate.org.za introduced participants to localization practices to speed the process.

A CD that contains a translated Firefox interface will now be distributed by CIT for a small fee to cover administrative costs while an electronic version will be placed on the CIT Web site for interested users to download. Friedel Wolff from Translate.org.za said that work remains to be done on the browser.

“There is now a Firefox browser that is 80 percent Luganda but the local community with help from CIT needs to continue to work on it to do some improvements before it is disseminated,” Wolff said.

In 2004, seven volunteers spent a year and half translating the older version of Firefox but the application was upgraded before they could distribute the translation.

Africa’s academic community has emphasized the importance of supporting local content and languages online in order to reach the rural population, given that the continent is home to hundreds of languages.

Professor Venansius Baryamureeba, the head of the CIT faculty, said there is now a need to develop online content in Luganda, and that the software development department at CIT is interested in continuing with the translation work.

“We have got the skills and are now in a position to be able to translate Firefox and other software into other indigenous languages,” Baryamureeba said. “And we will do this because we want to contribute to narrowing the so-called digital divide.”

Lorenzo Dalvit, a lecturer from the department of ICT at Rhodes University, said it was a great experience but also a lot of work for the team that did the translations.

At Rhodes, the university administration and Translate.org.za have initiated a project that is helping translate software in use within the university into non-English languages

(ALLAFRICA)

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) officially launched here on Sunday the Free Trade Area (FTA), ushering in a new era of economic integration in the region.

FTA was launched under the theme “SADC Free Trade Area for Growth, Development and Wealth Creation.”

Leaders who attend the 28th summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), pose for a group photo in front of the theme motto of the Free Trade Area (FAT) in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 17, 2008. The SADC officially launched the Free Trade Area (FTA) under the theme “SADC Free Trade Area for Growth, Development and Wealth Creation” on Sunday. (Xinhua Photo/Xu Suhui)

The launch is supposed to lead to the establishment of a Customs Union by 2010, Common Market by 2015 and creation of a Monetary Union by 2016.

Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, which has taken SADC chair from Zambia, said after the launch of FTA that “We reach an extraordinary milestone in our collective and ongoing integration program of SADC.”

“We say with pride that our collective efforts have borne fruit, and that we have successfully met the objective we set ourselves. Indeed, it required hard work, dedication, resolve, and an unswerving commitment to mobilize our limited resources so as to meet our objective,” the president said.

“This achievement must not be taken for granted. I raise this because we need to resuscitate that shared vision and commitment, the unity and cohesion that have characterized SADC from its inception, as we consider the next step that will be required further to advance our regional integration efforts in southern Africa,” Mbeki noted.

The South African president said there are at least two reasons to reaffirm the importance of regional integration.

Firstly, “Regional economic cooperation and integration offer us the opportunity to pool our limited resources and build an economic base to address the challenges of economic growth and development,” Mbeki said.

“Secondly, regional economic integration can create the basis for regional markets and industries to overcome the limits of small national market, to achieve economies of scale, and enhance competitiveness as a platform to participate more effectively in the world economy,” the president added.

Also speaking at the launch ceremony, SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Augusto Salomao said the launch of FTA is conducive to the regional economic development and it will attract foreign investment in the region.

Salomao said it will help increase intra-SADC trade.

Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, unveils the theme of the Free Trade Area (FAT) in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 17, 2008. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) officially launched the Free Trade Area (FTA) under the theme “SADC Free Trade Area for Growth, Development and Wealth Creation” on Sunday.(Xinhua Photo/Xu Suhui) (XINHUA)

One of the last missing sections in the global high speed internet will be filled in when East Africa finally gets connected.

The internet cable will connect countries such as Tanzania Photo: Getty Images

The area has so far been reliant entirely on expensive satellite connections to dial up to the world wide web.

East Africans have had to pay some of the highest rates for logging on to the internet with local universities charged up to 50 times more for bandwidth, the rate of data transfer, than a typical American college.

But in October the first sections of a new 9,300-mile submarine cable will be unrolled along the bottom of the Indian Ocean, connecting 21 countries on the eastern half of Africa to each other and to the world.

Fibre-optic cables, which use light signals to transmit data, carry more than 95 per cent of the world’s internet and telephone traffic. They are faster and capable of carrying more data than satellite technology. The increased use of video downloads, from sites such as YouTube, means that global bandwidth useage more than doubles every 18 months.

The £322m Seacom cable, owned mainly by African investors, will stretch northwards from South Africa, connecting Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya before joining the international grid in France and India.

It is due to be operational by June 2009.

“For the first time people in the region will have an on-ramp on to the global internet highway,” said Alan Mauldin, of TeleGeography, a telecoms market research firm in the US.

There are already extensive undersea networks, which were installed in the telecoms boom of the late 1990s, connecting most of the world but in a second wave of telecommunication expansion more undersea cables are being laid.

More than £3.5bn worth of new projects are due for completion by 2010.

(Telegraph.co.uk)

8 August Friday night Beijing time was as you already know a great day for the whole world and Chinese people in particular. Chinese demonstrated to the whole world what they are able to through the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Not many people think that either England or its former colony South Africa will make a comparable party to the world in 2010 and 2012 respectively. We may have to wait for more decades to see, not an event of the kind but an event of the same or comparable taste.

I was watching the ceremonies with other many Burundians and friends mainly Africans at Nanjing. Only Burundian girls seemed to have deserted the city. Every body was cheering Zhong guo jia you and Qind dao beer was of course present at the party as always. We were waiting to see the team representing the country of Runyonga: Burundi and its President Nkurunziza Pierre could be seen siting beside other many head of states.

Unlike Burundi which had just 2 girls and one guy representing him, big nations like USA were represented by a huge number of people and hailed from wherever in the stadium.

It was a time for all nations especially the small ones with less world wide reputation like Burundi to say: Hail , I m here, I do exist, this is how I look like, common look at me and see how I m beautiful, this is my flag . No much time to say how good is the economy, how many inhabitants in the country,how long is the history, how good at football is the President or the date of independence and whatever you would say when introducing one’s country.

What would you do if you are to introduce yourself or your friend to a such huge number of people without saying even one word ? You want them to know not as much as they can from you but only the best and in few minutes without speaking ?

It’s hard I can imagine and it’s even harder when introducing the whole country. Big well known countries just need to demonstrate their power to maintain their reputation but for some countries it’s just a moment to say they exist and try to give a better image to the world.

The Burundi team seemed to have experienced difficulties or if I can be specific they got it wrong: they walked barefooted and dressed in old traditional way to mean I don’t know what. Something you will see no where but in traditional dances. The costume of the guy on the picture above is for dancers INTORE and it’s used only when dancing. Don’t expect to see Burundian dressed in such way on your trip to the most beautiful mountainous country of Africa. I won’t say any thing about the girls, the world most beautiful ever in the world but unfortunately it’s not easy to see trough the picture.

Especially in Asia, where not few people still believe that in Africa we live on the trees, a such way of dressing give a wrong impression. It does in any how give a good image to the country. I m happy that all other African countries have already understood that. See some teams pictures:

I said Burundi got it wrong because it wasn’t a moment to show how a country is or used to be. It wasn’t about the history but the best about ourselves or what we would like to be. The rest should be kept at museum or for traditional performances. I m not saying that we should hide from the world that we used to make clothes from trees ( UMUMANDA) and not from cotton before the the Germans invaded us, I want to say that “when at Rome do as Romans do”.
Daniel