Emerging powers news

Emerging Powers news roundup

2010-09-10, Issue 495

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/66883

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China in Africa
Community up in arms over R1bn BEE deal
As President Jacob Zuma cemented relations with China, the community of Baphalane at Ramokokastad in North West wants him to reverse a R1 billion black economic empowerment deal with the Chinese because it is "fraudulent".
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Zijin Mining drops Platmin Congo acquisition plan
China's Zijin Mining said on Tuesday it had terminated a plan to acquire Congolese copper miner Platmin Congo Limited after the agreement expires. The agreement on the deal expired on August 30, but the conditions for the acquisition had not yet been met, and the involved parties failed to reach an agreement on further extension of the agreement, the company said in a statement posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
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New centre offers sounding board for Chinese firms pursuing African investments
In a move designed to improve Sino-African economic and trade cooperation, the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, an institute under the Ministry of Commerce (MoC), opened the China-Africa Research Centre in August. President of the Academy Huo Jianguo says that the centre aims to provide a theoretical basis for the Chinese government’s Africa-related decision-making. It will also provide consultation services for companies with plans to expand their businesses to Africa.
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China holds workshop on investment in Africa
A sensitization workshop on China's investment infrastructure to promote Chinese projects in Africa was held in Accra on Tuesday. The workshop, which brought together participants from Ghana, South Africa, Mali, Liberia, Uganda and Sierra Leone, served as a platform to exchange views to facilitate deeper understanding of China's investment infrastructure in Africa and discuss how China could improve upon development projects on the continent. Dr. Edward Brown, Director, Policy Advisory Services of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), said the workshop would prepare the minds of African participants towards this year's Beijing Summit scheduled for September 29.
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China-Africa investment forum opens in Hangzhou
A China-Africa investment forum opened Thursdayin Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang province, to push forward the business co-operation between China and African countries. The three-day forum, sponsored by Touchroad International Holdings Group, has more than 100 government officials from 43 African countries and more than 500 Chinese entrepreneurs in attendance.
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S.Africa looks to China for agriculture deals
South Africa will continue talks with China on Tuesday to attract new investment into agro-processing plants and find a market for the country's surplus maize, the agriculture minister said on Monday. South Africa, the continent's largest producers of maize, produced a surplus of about 4 million tonnes for the 2009/10 season, but with limited markets and poor prices has struggled to sell the surplus internationally.
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Standard Bank disappointed by ICBC deal
South Africa's Standard Bank has been disappointed by the revenue so far from its tie-up with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the head of Africa's largest lender told Reuters on Wednesday. Jacko Maree, Standard Bank's group chief executive, also said in an interview at the Reuters bureau in Johannesburg that the bank was in "hiring mode" for skilled bankers, and aimed to double its Nigerian branch network this year. Standard Bank, which is 20 percent owned by ICBC, is targeting the increasing trade flows between Asia and the resource-rich continent. It currently has about 40 bankers working in China with ICBC, but has struggled to generate revenue from the fast-growing Asian country, he said.
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Nigeria embarks on vast free trade zone with China
Nigeria is building a multi-billion dollar free trade zone with Chinese investors on the edge of its commercial capital Lagos to try to develop a local manufacturing base and help reduce its import dependence. The $5 billion first phase of the Lekki Free Zone, a 3,000 hectare site on the eastern fringe of the city, is 60 percent held by Chinese investors and 40 percent by the Lagos state government, the deputy head of the project told Reuters.
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China surges to 5th largest global investor
China bucked international trends in both outbound and inward investment, official figures have revealed. China now ranks as the fifth largest global investor in outbound direct investment (ODI) with a total volume of $56.5 billion, compared to a ranking of 12th in 2008, the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.
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India in Africa
SA and India to team up for business into Africa
Speaking after the India-South Africa CEO forum in Johannesburg, Ratan Tata, the chairperson of India's largest industry group Tata, said that the two emerging economies had an opportunity to form partnerships to grow into Africa. "South Africa can be used as a gateway to distribute products to the rest of the continent, owing to it strategic location and knowledge," he said.
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SA and India could reach $10bn trade target early
Speaking at the India Show in Johannesburg, South African President Jacob Zuma said that it was clear that South Africa's relationship with the world's largest democracy was starting to "bear fruit", especially after his official State visit to India in June. During the visit, over 200 business delegates accompanied Zuma and three different memorandum of understanding towards the strengthening of trade ties were signed.
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India may sign trade agreement with SA
India may enter into a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with South Africa to bolster bilateral trade that has grown strongly despite the global slowdown. “We are going to examine a comprehensive economic co-operation agreement with South Africa as it is now our strategic partner,” commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said at an ’India Show’ organised by industry body CII in Johannesburg.
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India pitches for a stake in Ghana's energy sector
India has sought a greater role in Ghana’s energy sector, pitching for more tie-ups between ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas exploratory and acquisition arm of the state-run upstream major, and oil companies of the African nation. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, who visited Ghana as part of India’s “Focus Africa” policy, discussed this in his talks with Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills and ministers. Mr Sharma also asked the Ghanaian leadership to ensure gas supply for a 1.15 million tonne per annum ammonia-urea fertiliser plant in India, which is being built at a cost of $1 billion. The project is expected to be completed by 2014.
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India keen to add remedial clause in trade agreements
Wary of third party free trade agreements (FTAs) impinging upon the country’s interests, New Delhi is keen on inserting a remedial clause in all its extant and future FTAs. According to top government sources, India is looking to send out a stern message to its trading partners that if they enter into similar trade agreements with third parties it should not compromise the country’s interests.
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Bank of India seeks go-ahead to buy Kenyan firm
Bank of India has made applications to regulators to be allowed to incorporate as an independent Kenyan bank to pave way for a buyout of a local rival as it races to increase its footprint in the region. The deal will also enable it tap into the growing number of Indian companies with investments in the country.
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In Other Emerging Powers News
Biofuels Companies Buy African Land, Cause Deforestation, Food-Output Loss
Biofuels companies from the U.K. to Brazil and China are buying up large swaths of Africa, causing deforestation and diverting land from food to fuel production, the environmental group Friends of the Earth said.
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Brazil and Africa Rainbow jointly start mining operations at Konkola North
Despite resentments from the miners unions over its investment in Africa’s leading copper producer, Brazil’s and Africa Rainbow Minerals Limited have jointly started mining operations at Konkola North in Zambia with an initial investment of USD 380 million.
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$400m Africa-Brazil cable on its way
Emerging undersea cable operator eFive Telecommunications has appointed Alcatel-Lucent to build a system that will connect the west coast of Africa to South America. It is raising the $400 million (R2.9 billion) needed for the project. eFive Telecommunications was started less than two years ago. Its five major shareholders are young black South Africans, most of whom worked at the Department of Communications at one stage.
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Nigeria May Give Brazil Access to Oil, Gas Deposits Under Hydropower Deal
Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, may grant Brazil access to its oil and gas industry in return for the South American country’s participation in two hydropower projects, the Nigerian vice president said.
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Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

After the revolution
The success of both India and China in terms of economic growth, technological innovation and their ability to lift millions of people out of poverty, has been met with awe. This being said, neither country boasts a sublime peace between the "haves and have nots". There is still a great deal of social unrest and inequality. But we cannot ignore their achievements and what influenced them writes Saliem Fakir.
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DIANNA GAMES: Rudderless SA risks missing out on new scramble for Africa
President Jacob Zuma ’s visit to China was, by some accounts, a big success. Much was made of the size of the business delegation — about 350 people — and the government team of 13 Cabinet ministers. It was a display of business-government engagement that SA rarely sees. It signalled the type of “SA Inc” image many believe the country should be putting forward in the way most of the countries the president visits are doing. But behind all the warm and fuzzy statements, there is, sadly, no SA Inc. In China, our politicians were calling for the economic giant to invest in South African manufacturing while strikers were pounding the streets.
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Podcasts, Reviews and Interviews
South Africa keen to jump on BRIC wagon
How will the visit enhance China- South Africa economic ties? What are the new features of China's investment in South Africa? Global Times (GT) reporter Yu Jincui talked to He Wenping (He), professor and director of the African Studies Section, Institute of West Asian & African Studies at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Xu Weizhong (Xu), deputy director of Asian and African Studies Section at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, on the issue.
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Compiled by Hayley Herman, programme officer at Fahamu’s Emerging Powers in Africa programme based in South Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

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