Eight leaders are attending the ongoing Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) talks in Nairobi Kenya ending today March 23, 07. The leaders are expected to ratify recommendations by the councils of Trade and Foreign Affairs ministers from the trading bloc. The heads of state are expected to give a green light to the formation of a customs union recently endorsed by the council of ministers.

CNBC Africa to Broadcast from SA

Africa's first international business and financial news channel, CNBC Africa, will start broadcasting from Sandton, Johannesburg, on 1 June 2007 at 7pm on DStv's Channel 54. The event will be duly graced by South African President, Thabo Mbeki. CNBC Africa's CEO, Trevor Ormerod, and head of news and programming, Gary Alfonso, spoke exclusively to Bizcommunity.com about the channel's readiness, challenges and future prospects. The investment has created 150 jobs, 130 locally and 20 in Kenya and Nigeria.

Africa Should Increase the Integration Pace

South African Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Aziz Pahad, emphasized the importance of integrating Africa's regional bodies for mutual development benefits. Speaking to West and Central African diplomats accredited to South Africa, Mr Pahad said Africa needed to increase the pace at which its integration was happening in order to achieve its development objectives. Africa has to collectively deal with the existing economic and political imbalances and make its position clear to the international community on matters important for the continent's development.

WB and China's Exim Bank Sign an MOU of Cooperation

The World Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China signed a memorandum of understanding to improve cooperation. World Bank Vice President for Asia, Jim Adams, said initial cooperation would focus on road and energy investment projects by China's exim-bank in Africa. The exim-bank is China's state bank that provides financing for exports, overseas construction and investment projects, and the only arm to issue low-interest loans. "This is a way to begin to work within that donor system," Adams said, referring to the agreement with the World Bank.

Meanwhile, in the latest push to strengthen economic cooperation between China and Africa, a business conference was held in the Egyptian capital on Monday, with the attendance of China's top legislator Wu Bangguo and Speaker of Egypt's People's Assembly Ahmed Sorour. Senior officials and diplomats from both China and Egypt attended the one day conference. More than 400 entrepreneurs from both China and African nations participated in this conference.

Compiled by Anne Mugoya
Inter Region Economic Network