Friday, July 23, 2010

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

Making headlines:

South Africa was the largest "developing country" foreign direct investor (FDI) in Africa between 2006 and 2008, with South African companies investing $2,61-billion over the period, higher than FDI flows from China. This is according to the ‘World Investment Report' (WIR), released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) on Thursday.
Speaking at the South African launch of the publication in Johannesburg, University of Johannesburg development economics professor Stephen Gelb, whose Edge Institute contributed to the compilation of the WIR 2010, said that South African companies participated in 2 250 African projects in 2009. It is reported that South African FDI stock on the continent had climbed to $10,8-billion by 2008, covering sectors such as telecommunications, construction and infrastructure, financial services, retail, hospitality and tourism and mining.
Further, South African FDI, along with flows from transnational corporations (TNCs) in other developing countries, such as China and India, have proved less volatile during the recent economic crisis than had been the case with flows from developed economy TNCs, which slumped markedly.

Burundi is East Africa's most corrupt nation, according to an antigraft watchdog, while Kenya, which usually tops Transparency International's (TI's) annual list of graft-prone countries in the region, is third.
Burundi and neighbouring Rwanda were included in the East African Bribery Index survey 2010, commissioned by TI-Kenya for the first time this year. Burundi has a bribery rate of 36,7%, Uganda 33%, and Kenya registered an improvement with a 31,9% prevalence of bribery this year from 45% in 2009. Tanzania was fourth with a 28,6% rate while Rwanda has a bribery rate of just 6,6%.
TI-Kenya executive director Samuel Kimeu says that Burundi's revenue authority is the most corrupt institution in the region, with a prevalence of 90,2%, dislodging the Kenya Police, which topped the ranks in 2009.
The World Bank says that higher costs for businesses owing to corruption, as well as poor infrastructure or insecurity, are "invisible costs" that can hit competitiveness with other regions.

Lawmakers were warned again on Thursday that the Protection of Information Bill will not survive Constitutional Court scrutiny because it rides roughshod over media freedom and the democratic values of transparency and accountability.
Making a representation on behalf of Print Media South Africa, Webber Wentzel partner Dario Milo noted that the bill could see investigative journalists facing up to 25 years in jail for publishing information of public interest. Milo argued that the bill seeks to create a climate of secrecy by defining national interest and national security so widely that information could arbitrarily be classified.
Also addressing the ad hoc Parliamentary committee on the bill, South African National Editors Forum chairperson Raymond Louw said that the bill gives the State excessive powers to shroud information in secrecy, and has extended the powers of politicians over the classifying of information.
Members of Parliament, however, repeatedly argued that the bill was essential to ensure the smooth functioning of South Africa as a democracy.

Also making headlines:

Médecins Sans Frontières says that treating HIV patients in rural areas of Africa with community care teams can cut costs and help people live longer than those treated later at hard-to-reach clinics.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says that South Africa's economic growth is 1% higher than it would have been without the spending and infrastructure development that went into the FIFA World Cup.
Presidential candidate Sidya Toure bows out of Guinea's Presidential race, accepting his loss in the first round of elections.
And, Former Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad launches a new national daily newspaper, The New Age, which will be "critical but constructive" and tell the story of South Africa from a positive angle.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.