Daniel’s Blog

Note: China-Africa exponentially growing trade and investment have been a hot topic in western media. According to them, China is stealing African resources and killing local companies and people by guns and cheap fake products. Many Western media have sent reporters in Africa for that matter. I will post link to some of the videos soon. The question about why Western is very worried and has been trying to rise an anti-chinese feeling among Africans is both ridiculous and groundless. I will talk more on this next time. This article will give you an idea of the true motivations of western media on this issue.

Enjoy reading

Daniel

UK firms losing business in Kenya to China, India
by Charles Wachira

When Kenya purchased Toyota vehicles for its military forces, instead of the all-pervasive Land Rover, it signalled a seismic change — in effect ending the most favoured status enjoyed by imports sourced from its erstwhile colonial master the UK.

Another example is De la Rue, a UK-based printing and security firm that has uninterruptedly printed Kenyan currency since independence. It is fighting to retain its contract. The administration of Mwai Kibaki broke with tradition, inviting other internationally recognised firms to bid for the job.

The London-based firm J&S Franklin Ltd served as a single-source supplier of uniforms and combat kits for the armed forces since Kenya “unshackled” itself from British colonial rule in 1963. Kenya’s Department of Defence terminated its contract to the benefit of a Chinese firm.

Similarly, Brooke Marine and Vosper Thornycroft, two British companies that have exclusively supplied ships to Kenya’s navy since independence, have had to contend with the phenomenon of open tendering.

This change of fortune for British firms is captured in the official annual economic survey cobbled together by the country’s Ministry of Finance. In 2007, imports from the UK were worth Ksh29,414 million ($4.9 million) — compared to China’s Ksh45,668 million ($7.6 million) or India’s Ksh56,815 million ($9.5 million). Compare this with 2001 during the peremptory reign of Daniel arap Moi. UK imports then totalled Ksh21,989 million ($3.7 million) while China was at a much lower Ksh6,792 million ($1.1 million) and Indian imports amounted to a relatively puny Ksh12,830 million ($2.1 million).

Since the replacement of Moi’s government in 2003, it has taken China and India only three years for their imports to Kenya to overtake those from the UK, formerly a premier source of imports. “It is as a result of prudent decision-making that the Kenyan government opened up the country to the Far East, including Asian countries. As a result, Kenya has been able to access countries that provide better deals,” says Dr Gerrishon Ikiara, a former permanent secretary in the Kibaki administration and currently a senior lecturer at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Nairobi.

“In the past, procurement of government goods was shrouded in mystery. Then political considerations mattered more than economic sense,” he said. According to the economist, Asian countries offer competitively priced goods and services compared with the UK.“Right now most of Kenya’s roads are either being refurbished or built anew by Chinese firms. And all our international airports are also being upgraded by Chinese owned firms. This is after going through the process of open tendering,” Dr Ikiara said.

Kwame Otieno, a senior researcher with the local think-tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), blames “the rigidity of the British system” for the dip in British imports. The IEA promotes debate on policy issues. “If a Kenyan, for example, wants to visit the UK, they face a lot of stringent requirements that act as a hindrance. But if they wish to travel to the Far East, China or India, the process is enabling and travel-friendly.”

Sources said the change in bilateral trade relations between the UK and Kenya is as a result of poor relations between the political leaders of the two countries in the recent past. It is argued that Moi had very cordial relationships with occupants of 10 Downing Street in London. Successive British governments deliberately turned a blind eye to the excesses of his government. As a result, firms with British ties continued to receive lucrative contracts at the expense of other countries.

The Kibaki regime has been upbraided harshly, particularly by local British envoys, for failing to tame corruption in high places. Confirming the bad blood between the two countries, Sir Edward Clay, British envoy from 2001 to 2005, was in early 2008 officially declared persona non grata by the Kenyan government.

(TradeAfrica)

China has spent Sh3.7 billion in an aggressive search for oil in Eastern Province and says initial tests show “positive results”, the Sunday Nation can reveal.

Industry experts said Chinese optimism is not surprising: oil was discovered at Loperot, 100 kilometres South of Lodwar by Shell in 1992 and the Chinese are prospecting in the same basin.

Shell struck oil in the so-called Block 10B after drilling 11 dry wells. A dispute between the firm and the Kanu government halted exploration and the find was hushed up, but not before 19 litres of crude was extracted.

In 1993 the US government estimated that there could be 100 million barrels of oil (worth more than Sh800 billion) at the Kenyan Coast alone.

Woodside, an Australian company which prospected for oil off the Coast of Lamu, had calculated that four out of the seven possible wells, had more than 250 million barrels of oil, according to confidential documents seen by the Sunday Nation, and as much as one billion barrels for the whole of its block.

Woodside left after its $100 million drilling came up with nothing despite high expectation that they would strike at least natural gas.

Kenya, which some experts describe as a gas rather than oil region, has a prospective 100,000 square kilometre oil field off-shore with between 600 billion and 6 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, according to one US estimate.

There was a gas explosion in a nearby coastal island during exploration and satellite maps seen by the Sunday Nation indicate seepage of oil on the sea bed.

Exploration efforts

A Chinese company, Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting, contracted by the government-owned China Offshore Oil Exploration Corporation, has been doing tests in Merti, 260 kilometres from Isiolo town.

The Chinese project is one of five exploration efforts currently going on in various parts of the country. It also comes in the face of a mounting energy crisis which has seen the cost of fuel rise 40 per cent in 12 months and the cost of electricity follow suit.

The Chinese have identified 15 wells which they say show strong signs of oil but are narrowing down to one. They are starting more exploration in neighbouring Marsabit District this month.

In April, Lundin Company, a Swedish multinational visited Kargi and North Horr areas and informed the local community that they were to start searching for oil in the area.

“They conducted meetings with the locals to inform them about their plans to search for oil,” a resident of North Horr Hilary Halkano told the Sunday Nation.

This will be the second exploration in Kargi, the first was in 1987. A company contracted to do the job left behind holes which locals say contain water poisonous to animals.

Kenya has a poor oil exploration record having only sunk 31 wells and none between 1992 and 2007. Sudan struck oil after drilling 78 times.

BGP Party Chief Mr Ye Dong Quan told the Sunday Nation that the company identified the wells after seismic equipment, which can peer 20 kilometres into the ground using shock waves, detected oil in some points.

Another engineer Mr Zhu Shanxin, who put the chances of striking commercially viable oil deposits at more than 50 per cent, said the wells must be draining into a major reservoir through underground oil rivulets and the task that remained was to establish which one among the 15 could be drilled.

“Some of the wells might be too shallow or might have small amounts of oil not commercially viable,” he said.

The team has to establish the density, quality and quantity of oil before an announcement is made. Sources claimed that the Chinese are to spend up to $60 million (Sh3.7 billion) on the project.

The company has state of the art equipment on site, including a truck for generating seismic shocks and mobile data processing laboratories.

“We would not have brought these machines here if we were not sure of striking oil. It is so expensive to maintain and run them,” Mr Quan said.

He said his company was prospecting for oil in 17 countries across the world, including Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, Nigerian and Sudan.

The provincial administration has laid out the red carpet for the Chinese firm, posting more than 30 Administration Police officers to guard the base camp and field equipment around the clock.

Six chiefs from Isiolo and Wajir districts have also been provided with a patrol vehicle to help keep off herders from the area.

An oil industry insider, who spoke to the Sunday Nation in confidence, said Kenya does not seem to have a consistent prospecting

(more…)

Did u notice how much she is beautiful? I know it’s probably the only thing you saw. Some one said she must have done plastic surgery ( beauty).
But the real reason she is still that much beautiful despite her age is simply bcz she is Burundian. She is nnot alone. It’s common in the country of Rugamba Rutaganzwa, Rungonga and Samandari , the Burundi bwa Nyaburunga.

The so-called Burundi Donors or “Bailleurs de fonds” or “Incuti z’Uburundi” have been promising billions and billions and never give even a cent. They probably look at her face and promise what they really don’t have or can’t give. After watching this video, some people can’t say what it is about.They need a second or even a third tour. Imagine if she was still 20. Dear Barundikazi (Burundian women), for the sake of international security, leave the offices and go back home to take care of ur children.

For us who were not around or were still young during the cold war period, CIA may sound just like other strange words. How about KGB ? Does it remind you something?

From my job today, I was surfuring the Internet looking for news about Africa and Olympics and some statistics about Burundi, my beautiful mother country.
By chance I found a page describing Burundi on the CIA website.

The page in question has a lot of information about Burundi and it was last updated on 15 July 2008. Not along time ago.

For those who don’t know CIA, go ahead and visit their website. Here, I m not making pub for them, I just want to point out some of ridiculous mistakes on the website of this “reputable” organization, which knows everything,everyone and every where as you used to believe. CIA, I grew up hearing, could tell how many grams of potatoes I was eating daily. Not to mention that they had every little hidden secret of all states in the world.

I think every one wondered where they were when the terrorists attacked USA on 11 September. However, we all knew that they are just humans, powerful man and woman from a rich nation, having enough dollars to waste and spend here and there but not little gods flying in the sky with unlimited supernatural power. We understood that it could happen and their claims to know all the secrets about the mass destructive arms of Irak reminded us they were not sleeping.

But let me first tell you what they wrote about Burundi;

1. The former name of Burundi is Urundi : No no no no no no no n o …. they are wrong. Urundi is not and have never been a name of Burundi. Burundi was Burundi from the beginning of Burundi and never changed it’s name. Burundi was a kingdom “Ingoma y’Uburundi” and not “Ingoma y’Ururundi” as CIA agents would call it. Urundi is a word which existed only in the heard of Europeans, originally invented by Germans following a misunderstanding conversation between a German official and a Rwandan official, and later used by Belgians after the 1st world war.

If you haven’t heard the story , let me briefly tell you what happened:

1896, when Germans invaded Burundi, the King of Burundi(Umwami w’Uburundi Mwezi Gisabo) with his Badasigana( name of his Army) resisted to colonization as some wise and courageous African leaders of the time  and fought them for nearly 7 years. They tried several time to catch or kill the King but in vain. Unfortunately, the neighboring kingdom: Rwanda was already under control. One day a German official asked a Rwandan to show him around and they walked to the borders of Rwanda and Burundi. This is what is Rwanda, you see, He said. Over there is Burundi he added. Urundi? he asked. Because he had problems pronouncing the word Burundi he kept asking. Urundi? “Uru ni Urwanda rurya harya naho ni Burundi” (This is Rwanda and that’s Burundi) he said. The german official not able to get the difference between Burundi and Urundi and knowing already the meaning of Urundi(an other), concluded that there were 2 Rwanda. The one they already controlled and the other they are still fighting for. Later when they learn their mistake, instead of correcting it, they changed the name of Bujumbura into Usumbura and we thought it was a german word.

Dear CIA agents, Urundi is neither a former name of Burundi nor is Usumbura a former name of Bujumbura. Burundi is Burundi and Bujumbura is Bujumbura, Kumukaza if you want a synonym. But unless your are site is in the german version.

2.The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population :

According to what I know, the 2005 elections put CNND-FDD at the power. CNDD-FDD was a hutu militia and won the 2005 general elections. According to the constitution, Tutsi are no more than 40% in the government. About the coffee trade, I don’t know much about that. but saying that it’s “at the expenses of Hutu majority”, I don’t catch what they mean. Should the ethnic proportions in the government be also in the trade? According to what I know, in USA, the trade is a free business open to everyone.

3.National Defense Force (Forces de Defense Nationales, FDN): Army (includes Naval Detachment and Air Wing), Gendarmerie (2008):

For the sake of goodness, please stop lying, Burundi doesn’t have Gendarmerie.

4.Airports: 8 (2007):

Burundi doesn’t have 8 airports. We just have one small airport : Bujumbura.

5.Only one in two children go to school:

Ok, that’s right if you keep it on your site. But make sure Nkurunziza won’t see it. if you think I m lying by saying that more than one child in two are going to school, it’s alright, go and ask Nkurunziza (the president) and come back if you can to tell me what he said. For sure he will say you are pro Nyangoma and you will be treated like that. But thanks God you have Guantanamo, he will think twice.

6.children as young as 10 years of age have been conscripted into the armed forces; the enrollment of children is still not prohibited (2007):

This is false, false, and false. Burundi doesn’t allow 10 years old children in the army. If there is a case about that, it’s an isolated one like the American soldier I saw once pulling an Iraqi prisoner like a dog? Is that allowed in USA?

7.Hutu and Tutsi militias (loosely organized) :

unfortunately, they don’t name them. There is currenntly one hutu militia and it had signed the ceasefire. What are those loosely organized tutsi militias : the answer is no one. CIA is more than wrong.

…………………………………………………………………………

I can’t count how many mistakes are in their statistics, but I wonder if they can’t see what is not hidden, how will they know the hidden secrets about Iran nuclear program ?

For the sake of goodness I ask them to change it.

Daniel Hakizimana

Shanghai, china

Quand elles se souviennent du mariage, les femmes parlent de la cérémonie. Les hommes de l’enterrement de leur vie de garçon.

Une femme épouse un homme en espérant qu’il changera, et il ne change pas. Un homme épouse une femme en espérant qu’elle ne changera pas, et elle change.

Une femme s’inquiète pour l’avenir jusqu’à avoir un mari, et un homme ne s’intéresse pas à l’avenir jusqu’à ce qu’il ait une femme.

Il y a deux périodes pendants lesquelles un homme ne peut comprendre sa femme : avant le mariage, et après le mariage.

La plupart des jeunes filles de 17 ans peuvent se comporter comme des adultes.

Les garçons de 17 ans continuent d’échanger des cartes de jeux à collectionner, ou à jouer à divers jeux, et à se battre après le cours de gym. C’est la raison pour laquelle les amours de lycée marchent rarement.

Let’s talk again about the beautiful country, the mountainous green villages in the heart of Africa, the country of Rugamba Rutaganzwa, Runyonga et Samandari, the home of Gustave and world most beautiful girls ever: Burundi.

This time about internet. According to the world internet statistics, Burundi is one of the countries still far behind in scene about internet usage. Do You know what internet have changed in the world? If you’ve heard about that monster called ” Globalization ” or maybe you may have head it in french “Mondialisation”, that is eating all the poor guys on this planet and making the already rich even richer ,I want to tell you that internet is its feet and mouth.

Listen, see what could happen if people from Mugamba in Bururi were computer guru. With internet, I mean a computer connected to the internet in those small bamboo trues and a brain able to handle it, they could work at Tokyo from there and earn within a month more than their annual income.

An other example if you think it’s dream thinking that Mugamba people will work once in Tokyo and sleep in Rugo of Bamboo.

A guy started a networking website in 2005 and now his website is worth 15billions USA dollars. That’s the budget of more than 30 years for Burundi to give you an idea. I m not going to tell you his website, because he didn’t pay me for advertisement but if you want to know him, make a search of the the youngest billionaire in the world. That was 101% impossible 20 years ago.

What that mean ? With globalization, the world is going, if it has not already ,to be a single city you can cross within a minute or two or even less, the time will depend not on the BOIENG you are flying with but the connection speed of your Internet. Having minerals and oil in a country is going to be less profitable than having well educated people. Starting a company now means thinking from the beginning going global or you are bound to failure when tomorrow those big international monsters will get in.

Let’s come back to our topic, I m not the right person to discuss globalization with. It’s a big and difficult to understand concept and there are those big, tall, fat and smart economists you can ask out there ,but make sure you learn something about it if u want to survive in coming days.

Internet usage in Burundi: Burundi according to the world statistics has 60.000 internet users, that’s 0,7% of the population. “That’s not bad if you remember that we just came from a civil war (hopefully it’s over) which affected all the sectors of our economy. ” you are going to say and that’s an excuse.

Let me compare Burundi to two other African countries : Congo (RDC) and Rwanda. From 2000 to march 2008, Burundi, Rwanda and Congo went respectively from 3000 users -60.000 users, 5000-150.000 users, 500 users - 230.000 users, , that is a growth of 1900%, 2900% and 45.980% respectively.

Yes it’s obvious that the country of the smartest guy Samandari is the last on the list. Where is he by the way? Where did he go ?. Does anyone know?

Who shall we blame for that ? Burundian government for sure you will say and it’s reasonable. But in this article I don’t want to talk about that. I won’t to demonstrate that, we burundians , I mean burundians who are not decision makers have also not played well our role in internet usage growth in our country.

How and why? You are going to ask. But tell me first, because if you are reading my article, you are most probably reading it from my blog (www.gakiza.com or daniel.rugamba.com) or somewhere else it has been posted and that’s mean u are on internet. Tell me then, why are you on internet.

If u are like me maybe, u have that 24hours 200Mbps connection at home, and at the work u are always connected and reading some stuff from here and there, about that and this , and surfing internet is a good way to keel your time. Yes that’s a good answer, and bye bye. I now want to ask to that guy who is paying 20 fbu /min for the connection.

Why are you here guy ? Maybe she has got a Boyfriend in Europe or wants to write or read an email from that old schoolmate. It’s good reason too. Remember, humans, in our nature are always looking for profit. Yes profit. Don’t tell me about the so called non-profit organizations. Even when u give money to a bagger in the street, you do it because you learn it is a good charitable gesture and that gives you peace and it’s the profit, if I don’t mention the promised haven we all want to join. If you pass around him/her, your conscience accuses you and feel guilty.

Believe it or not, I m not going to argue about that, what I mean is that, unless people can get a profit from internet, they are not going to pay money or spend time on it. May it be friendship, services or cash, Burundians need the money they spend in those internet cyber-cafe back in their pockets. It doesn’t matter how expensive it is, what matters is to get back more than they gave. Yes they need it back or they will stop going there. That’s a true truth.

Back to our statistics: I may tell you one thing , witch is no longer available at the world statistics page : Just last year, in 2007, the same statistics showed Burundi and Rwanda at the same Rank with 60.000 users each. After one year, Burundi remained at 60.000 users and Rwanda added 90.000 users making 150.000 users in all. Yes you gonna tell me that Rwanda government have been investing a lot in ICT infrastructures and promoting internet.

That’s true, I know that ICT for Kagame is what Football and Choir are for Nkurunziza. However that’s not where I want to go. Wait a bit and look at Congo.

According to the statistics, Congo internet usage is growing at nearly 49.000% ( from 2000- March 2008). I know we all heard that Rwanda invaded Congo in 1998 but I do doubt that Kagame is the one who taught Congolese, who at the time nearly knew nothing about internet (about 500 users in 2000) the benefits it can bring to them.

What the Congolese government have done, that the Burundian government didn’t do to promote internet usage among congolese. Has Congo been politically more stable than Burundi to explain that gap between 1900% and 49.000% ? . Dear friend I don’t think so. I checked on internet and found no specific policies or program in Congo about that.

So what do I want to say? It’s not the government which is going to do everything. We Burundians need to create money generating services on the internet for our country. Try to go online in all your activities and people will fallow you. How about selling your products online?, how about just telling us the services you can offer online. How about putting your car rental company or just an offer about the availability of your car or house for rental. If that was accessible, people would first compare the prices online before they decide and all those commissioners you normally find at Bujumbura central market will have to know how to use internet or will just disappear.

The truth is that, u don’t do it because Burundians don’t use internet and they will not use it before you do it. You need a ROI (Return on Investment) for your business. Putting all your services online cost money and because they won’t use it, u won’t gain from it. Try looking farther, the future is bright.

What have u done? I know you’ve been murmuring : what this guy, who is giving lessons to others have done? Shut up ! Ok , I won’t answer to that question right now and I shut up for now, give me few weeks and u will see. If u are also asking for few weeks, it’s good, praise God.

But before I leave you alone guys, let me remind you that RUGAMBA is offering free hosting for small businesses in East Africa willing to go online. write to daniel@rugamba.com or rugamba@rugamba.com for more information.

Bye Bye and see you soon.

Shanghai, Ir. Daniel Hakizimana

I wish to every Burundian to live once abroad, may it be for a short period . One of the most frustrating thing is to meet a Muzungu who knows Burundi. Who knows all about that civil war which have ravaged Burundi. Are you a hutu or tutsi ? That’s what he is likely to ask when your attention and all your eyes and heart are focussed on that beautiful girl at left, ignoring everybody else around.

If you are a Tutsi, it may be even more irritating. He is likely to pronounce Tutsi in a way it sounds like igitutsi (insult). And if u dare say Yes I m Tutsi and u are as short as me, u will get more questions than a terrorist being interrogated by American police: why u are u not tall, how come those Hutu got crazy and wanted to kill you … If you are like me and I know some are, you won’t even remember to ask for the phone number of the girl before you leave .

An other nightmare is meeting a Japanese girl who have watched Hotel Rwanda, the famous movie about Rwandan genocide. Make a mistake and say u are Tutsi, the next question is weather u will ever go back home and live at home again. Say again yes and u will never get her on the phone one more time. But that has a very quick efficient solution and don’t forget it: say that you were Kenyan before your father or ur mom(whoever comes in mind )  moved to Burundi and that Obama is your cousin. If u say it without hesitating the next step is to take care of the rest. Who said I don’t know how to catch girls ? It’s just because the priest at church said it’s a sin. Do it in that way and the success is granted.

Do I want to say that Hutu feel more better when abroad than Tutsi? It may be true but that’s not what I meant. The only Burundian enjoying the status of having a burundian citizenship when abroad are girls. Yes I mean girls, les Barundikazi. Burundian girl or Umurundikazi is no more no less than beautiful. Burundi means a country with the world most beautiful girls ever. Either one doesn’t know Burundi or he does know that Burundian girls are beautiful. Say that u are having many little sisters and some are planning to visit you in the near future .Especially if u are talking to a Nigerian, your mouth won’t be dry, if the bar has not got a good champagne, u will be kindly and politely invited to switch to that one which has, no matter how expensive it is.

The question is how to make money from this ? Yes I ask money. We have got that gift and we need to make money. What use to have many minerals in Katanga when Katanga people are among the poorest in the world. Does learning that their area is very rich in minerals make them feel happy ? We need to profit from a gift we have got freely. I m not talking about prostitution, I m a Christian. But we shall find an other way.

Don’t think foreigners are looking ahead to date burundian girl. I asked to a friend who have been to Bujumbura if he would like to have a burundian wife. He said no. Why ? I asked. It would be a problem, I know I would be having visitors all the time. He answered.

But think about it and come up with a solution. Any suggestion is welcomed, you can post it as a comment or send me an email at daniel@rugamba.com

Ir. Daniel