Emerging powers in Africa news roundup

COPENHAGEN

While top negotiators of the Africa Group at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen remain positive, there are indications that the continent is disagreeing on several key issues.

“A rise in global temperatures by two degrees Celsius means effectively a rise of 3.7 degrees in Africa”, said Sudanese G77 China group chair Lumumba Di-Aping yesterday. “There is no scientific basis for these two degrees, it’s only being proposed for reasons of feasibility, but for whom and at what cost? If you choose two degrees, you choose a certain death for Africa.” More

African countries were reported to be in around-the-clock consultations to hammer out a common position to counter a proposal by the developed countries, led by the host nation Denmark. The troubling clause in the Danish proposal leaked this week. It proposes holding the global temperature rise at 20c. The counter proposal by Tuvalu and other nations proposes a target of 1.50c. ">More

At the same time, the world’s major emerging economies led by China are calling for a “binding” amendment to the Kyoto Protocol requiring rich countries to slash carbon pollution by more than 40 percent compared to 1990, according to a document seen by the French news agency AFP
The previously unseen 11-page draft “Copenhagen Accord”, to be posted on the website of French daily Le Monde, was finalised on November 30 after a closed-door meeting in Beijing between China, India, South Africa and Brazil.

The initiative, led by Beijing, was conceived as a rebuttal by developing countries to another backroom accord hammered out by Denmark, host country for the December 7-18 climate change summit.

The text embraces the objective of limiting the increase by 2100 of global temperatures to 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times, a goal shared by developed countries.More

China's carbon emissions will peak between 2030 and 2040, the country's science and technology minister told the Guardian as the global climate change summit began in Copenhagen. In an exclusive interview, Wan Gang said he hoped the maximum output of Chinese greenhouse gases would come as soon as possible within that range, and spelled out the steps that needed to be taken to achieve this. More

Chinese officials give more details on carbon intensity targets at their first ever dedicated space at a major climate meeting. Senior Chinese climate statesman He Jiankun, speaking at the Chinese Pavilion at the Copenhagen Climate Talks, announced yesterday that the Chinese carbon intensity would be introduced as legislation to be passed by China’s National People’s Congress, its highest law-making body.

Professor He emphasized that China’s commitment to making the 40-45% reduction in carbon intensity between 2005 and 2020 will be binding domestically, and that the government would also focus on implementing specific programs to meet it. He argued a carbon intensity goal is the best way to measure progress on climate change mitigation for a country in the midst of rapid industrialization and urbanization. More

China earns billions in carbon-offset sales. But there are claims that by taking credit for projects that would have been built anyway, it may not be playing by the rules. More

The Chinese government, battling severe over-capacity and high pollution levels in the country’s steel industry, plans to eliminate mills with a capacity of less than 1m tonnes per year, according to a draft policy document released on Wednesday.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also said it will force mills that do not meet environmental standards to upgrade equipment or lose their licences. More

China has said it will agree to concrete emissions reduction targets by 2050 if the US offers greater cuts now. But, with Republicans at home railing against any agreement, Obama has little wiggle room. More

The Financial Times reports that China will receive no significant funding from the US to combat climate change, according to the US delegation leader at the Copenhagen conference. The statement, which shocked many negotiators, was part of a broader US attack on China and other developing countries for not promising deeper concessions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More

Copenhagen: China's Oppressive Climate
But on the New York Review of Books blog, Perry Link argues that The best Chinese partners for the international community would be the environmental activists and the large and growing number of ordinary people in China who are concerned about pollution. As long as their voices are repressed, it will be difficult for the most populous country to take effective action on global warming’. More

CHINA’S AFRICA DEALS

Chinese companies have proposed investing $50 billion to buy 6 billion barrels of oil reserves in Nigeria, the African nation's presidential adviser on energy said Tuesday.
"Chinese companies have made proposals to buy reserves in Nigeria. Specifically, their application is to acquire 6 billion barrels of oil reserves, which we are currently discussing," Emmanuel Egbogah told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. More

China will triple its manganese ore imports from Ghana, according to information from global steel industry sources. Manganese ore which is an important raw material for the production of steel is in high demand following the rising demand for steel and the decline in manganese ore stocks.China which imports about 80% of its manganese ore from Gabon, South Africa, Australia, the ASEAN region and Ghana is intent on doubling the overall import figure. More

China is in partnerships with African countries principally Mozambique to introduce modern farming grounded in innovation, research and development. This is good news for Africa for lately China is venturing into agricultural investments in Africa not just in Mozambique but in Nigeria, Angola, Malawi and Zimbabwe. More

The Chinese government has shown "strong interest" in setting up factories in Africa, helping the continent develop a manufacturing base and boost its economy, according to the president of the World Bank.

"There is not only willingness but strong interest among some in China, and I've discussed with the minister of commerce, Chen Deming, that there may be possibilities of moving some of the lower-value manufacturing facilities to sub-Saharan Africa, toys or footwear," Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, told the Financial Times.

It is thought the scheme might involve creating industrial parks – possibly part-funded by the World Bank and China – so companies could settle in quickly and operate more effectively. More

The heads of Africa’s two largest banks indicated to Dow Jones Newswires in interviews last week from their Johannesburg headquarters that they are staking a key part of their future on China’s unsatiated appetite in trade and investment in Africa. The comments from Jacko Maree, CEO of Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest bank by assets, and Sizwe Nxasana, incoming CEO of FirstRand Ltd., the continent’s second-largest lender by assets, underscore the growing economic relationship between the world’s third largest economy and the resource-rich continent. More

INDIA IN AFRICA

The World Bank and New Delhi are in talks about financing the international expansion of Indian Railways, one of the largest and most profitable networks in the world, to bring transport infrastructure to African countries and other developing nations. Robert Zoellick, World Bank president, said the Washington-based multilateral lender wanted to build on a $2bn commitment to strengthen India’s rail system by helping state-owned Indian Railways to grow beyond its borders.

An ambitious partnership with Indian Railways is at the heart of a World Bank strategy to persuade India and China, two of the fastest-growing large economies, to participate more directly in the development of the world’s poorest nations. India, Asia’s third largest economy, is the largest borrower from the World Bank with about $22bn (€14.8bn, £13.3bn) invested in projects.

“It fulfils what I was hoping to achieve when I first came to the bank, which is to draw in some of the emerging economic development [countries"> into the development process whether by sharing information, sharing business models and expanding investment,” Mr Zoellick said.
“We’ve done it with China. I’d like to do it with India, and I hope to do it with other countries.” More

Indian renewable energy company Praj has signed an agreement with Ethiopia’s Eco Energy, a bio-fuel producing company, for providing consultancy in cultivating thousands of hectares for generating bio-fuels. More

India would invest in Africa’s oil fields and increase purchase of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the continent, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Jitin Prasada said here on Tuesday. “Our objective with Africa has been to build up a strategic partnership of enduring dimension in the oil and gas sector,” the minister said at a conference. As India is hugely dependent on oil and natural gas imports, there is a huge potential of Africa and India coming closer, he said addressing representatives from 15 countries. ONGC Videsh, the international exploration arm of public sector energy giant ONGC has already invested $ 2.5 billion in the Sudanese oilfields, he added. More

EMERGING POWERS IN THE WORLD

A sensitive question loomed this week over celebrations for the 10th anniversary of an international convention aimed at curbing bribery: Where were China and Russia? More

China imposed duties on Thursday on imports of certain specialty steel products from the US and Russia, in the latest sign of trade tensions between Beijing and its main trading partners. More

A significant global financial landmark is passing virtually unnoticed – obscured, perhaps, by the ongoing fallout from the economic and financial crisis in industrialised countries.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), foreign direct investment to emerging markets and developing countries in 2008 amounted to $730bn or about 43 per cent of global FDI receipts. If trends from the first half of 2009 continue, FDI to emerging markets and developing countries, which are sometimes referred to as “the South”, is on track to exceed direct investment in the mature markets of “the North”, according to Columbia University’s Vale Institute. ">More

China's second biggest oil and gas company has secured a 20-year supply of gas from Papua New Guinea. It is the latest in a series of moves by Chinese companies to secure resources to feed the country's growing economy. Sinopec, which is owned by the Chinese government, will buy around 2m tonnes of liquefied natural gas each year. The LNG supply will come from a project being developed by Exxon Mobil and other investors. More