Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called on rich and middle-income nations on Friday to stop wasting Africa's time with aid pledges and instead open their markets to African products. Fair trade campaigners say rich nations such as the United States and European Union countries give aid with one hand whilst refusing to cut subsidies and tariffs with the other, making it impossible for poor countries to compete. "The Europeans waste a lot of our time coming here talking about aid," he said. "We told them: if you talk about aid, I go to sleep. What we need is market access -- open your markets to our products." Museveni was speaking at a meeting on India-Africa trade in Kampala, hosting delegates from African countries and 30 Indian multinationals investing on the continent

Africa, Close to Wolfowitz’s Heart

Paul Wolfowitz, former World Bank boss, has joined the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) as a visiting scholar. Wolfowitz will focus on development issues, particularly in Africa, and on public-private partnerships. "I really have developed such strong feelings about the importance of Africa, the opportunity in Africa, and such enthusiasm for so many Africans that I've gotten to know.  That’s really where I'd like to focus for the next few years," says Wolfowitz.

Migiro Sympathizes with Women

Deputy UN Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, in an address to the AU summit in Accra noted that Africa has made progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She however decried maternal mortality, pointing out that a woman in Africa has a 1 out of 16 chance of dying in childbirth or from complications in pregnancy, compared with a likelihood of 1 in 3,800 in the developed world. Noting that this year marks the midpoint between the adoption of the Goals in 2000 and the target date of 2015, Ms. Migiro said called for "more resolute efforts, and deeper partnerships, to reduce poverty, to address the needs in health, education and other sectors, and to promote gender equality."

AU Should not Gag African Diaspora

The African Diaspora needs a voice in the African Union, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson said. But while he supported a push for greater African integration, Jackson said issues like the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region and the crisis in Zimbabwe must be tackled if unity was to carry moral authority. "Its moral authority would be determined by its ability to resolve conflicts, in Somalia, Darfur or Zimbabwe. They must in a meaningful way use their strength to fight for democratic principles and human rights."

Africans Should Chart their Own Future, EU Envoy Says

The European Union's growing pains serve as a reminder that efforts to forge a closer union in Africa will not be easy, says the EU’s envoy to the African Union, Valerie Amos. "I think this is a big agenda for the African Union and African presidents. We have been having similar discussions about where the EU is going: how to structure an organisation that started with a very small number of countries but now has 27 and how to retain a degree of flexibility where countries can choose to engage in aspects they think are more appropriate," Amos said. Amos, who is heading the British government delegation to the AU summit, said it was for the AU and no one else to determine the outcome of the talks.

In another development, a European Union (EU)-Africa strategy that outlines a long-term partnership has been unveiled. The partnership will focus on trade, aid and position the 27-member EU bloc to access energy and oil resources from Africa that are also being eyed by China. Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, said the strategy would be adopted during the second EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon in December. “The Lisbon summit will offer the best opportunity to demonstrate that Europeans stand ready to launch audacious initiatives and to reaffirm our commitment towards Africa,” Michel explained. He said the Lisbon summit would take the EU-Africa dialogue back to the highest political level. “The emergence of a genuine strategic partnership between our two continents is a priority for the EU.

Prepare for Drought! SADC Warns

Drought will result in a devastating shortage of the staple maize crop in Southern Africa in the 2007/2008 season although some countries will have bumper harvests, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) predicted. Agriculture and environment ministers from the 14-nation SADC meeting in the Zambian capital Lusaka urged member countries to put in place measures to avoid critical food shortages next year. SADC deputy executive secretary Joao Caholo said southern Africa was expected to experience a shortage of 4.35 million metric tons of maize due to drought in the 2007/2008 season, compared with a shortage of 2.18 million metric tons in 2006/2007.
The forecast was not gloomy for all countries, however: Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia were expected to record cereal surpluses.

Journalists Tell their Story

The African Editors Forum (TAEF), Highway Africa and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) earlier this year published "50 Years of Journalism: African Media Since Ghana's Independence." Copies of the book were presented to the 1500 delegates in the World Editors Forum and the World Association of Newspapers congress in Cape Town. It celebrates leading figures of African journalism over the past five decades, as well as its fallen heroes such as the late Mozambican investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso.

China Finances Uganda

Chinese enterprises and projects in Uganda are to benefit from $1 billion African Trade and Investment Fund. The fund is part of Chinese aid and loans to Africa promised by President Hu Jintao at a November meeting with dozens of African leaders in Beijing. It is also part of efforts to nurture commercial ties with the resource-rich continent. "The China-Africa Development Fund will support the strategic cooperation in the political, economic and diplomatic fields. Unlike other profit-making organizations which seek to maximize profits, the objective of the fund is to avoid losses and earn just enough profit to enable the running of the fund," The vice-governor of the China Development Bank (CDB) Gao Jian, said at the Fund's opening ceremony.  This is the first phase of the $5 billion China-Africa Development Fund, promised by President Hu Jintao at the summit last November. The fund, financed by CDB, one of the country's three policy lenders, will expand to $3 billion in the second phase and eventually grow to $5 billion, said Mr Gao.

Bridget Mabandla Feted

South Africa's Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Bridget Mabandla, is the first woman in 51 years to hold the seat of President of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization. At its 46 session held in Cape Town, Minister Mabandla was unanimously elected as president for the 46th session, setting the trail ablaze for women on the two continents. Minister Mabandla said she hoped to focus attention on the African continent during her tenure as President. "I would like us to look at law and law reform in Africa and in particular in the continent's post-conflict countries," she said. Since its inception in 1956, no woman has ever held this position. The 46th session also marked the first time a session has been held on the African continent.

Compiled by Anne Mugoya
Inter Region Economic Network