Wednesday, August 4, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.

Making headlines:

The World Bank has launched a probe into its procedures related to the approval of a $3,75-billion loan to South Africa's Eskom, but the loan to the power firm is unlikely to be affected.
The bank in April approved the controversial loan to fund the development of a coal-fired power plant, despite a lack of support from the US, Netherlands and Britain. After residents from Limpopo province, where the 4 800-MW Medupi plant will be built, protested that the project posed health and environmental hazards, the bank's inspection panel recommended that a proper investigation into the allegations be conducted.
Earthlife energy policy officer Tristen Taylor says that the World Bank "got a bit of a wake-up call" when the inspection panel came to South Africa. "The investigation probably won't stop the building of Medupi, but it may make the power plant a lot more environmentally friendly," he said.

US President Barack Obama criticised Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe on Tuesday and warned Africa not to repeat the mistakes that betrayed the hopes of an "independence generation". Speaking at a White House event to discuss Africa's future, Obama said that he was "heartbroken when [he] saw what has happened in Zimbabwe."
As America's first black President, the words of Obama, whose father was Kenyan, carry special weight in Africa, and he did not mince them. He urged greater press freedom, said that corruption sapped support for foreign aid, and aimed harsh criticism at Zimbabwe's long-serving President.
As the event was aimed at young African leaders, Obama said that he had deliberately reached beyond the current generation of African leaders to talk to young people who will shape the region's future and urged them to understand that corruption is the continent's enemy. "If at a time of great constraint, we are coming up with aid, those aid dollars need to go to countries using them effectively," he said. The US President spoke candidly of "huge opportunities" that Africa has missed and urged young leaders to get it right this time.

Education can solve poverty, unemployment and growing inequalities in South Africa, said African National Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday.
Speaking at the inaugural JB Marks Memorial Lecture in Johannesburg, Mantashe said that education enables people to break the chain of poverty and contribute to the economy. Failure or success is a choice in South Africa, he said.
The JB Marks Education Trust, named after former African Mineworkers' Union president John Beaver Marks, provides study fees for members and dependants of the National Union of Mineworkers.

Also making headlines:

A new immigration law proposed in Parliament, states that South Africans that engage in a war "under the flag of another country" that the government does not support, face losing their citizenship.
Zimbabwe summons ambassadors from the US, Germany and the European Union to admonish them for walking out of an event at which President Robert Mugabe told Western powers to go "to hell" for maintaining sanctions.
The South African National Treasury denies a request by the local automotive industry to exempt double cabs and small pick-ups from a new carbon dioxide emissions tax, to be implemented on September 1.

And, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that trade barriers, poor infrastructure and corruption are holding back efforts to boost and diversify Africa's trade.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.