Wednesday, July 7, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Schalk Burger.

Making headlines:

Africa's infrastructure currently amounts, in monetary terms, to $1,5-trillion, African Development Bank (AfDB) vice-president and CE Professor Mthuli Ncube said on Tuesday, adding that the continent probably cannot afford to finance all the required development from its own resources and that foreign direct investment is needed.
Speaking at the launch of the AfDB's African Economic Outlook in Johannesburg, Ncube said that railway development is very important for Africa, as it is the cheapest way to move freight from the interior to the coast, but many ports also need development or refurbishment, particularly in West Africa. He added that the airline industry is in need of development, as well as the entire power generation sector. Oil infrastructure has to be expanded, and gas infrastructure developed. There is also a need for more dams, for water supply and hydropower, he said, concluding that "all regions of Africa need more infrastructure."

Africa offers among the world's best investment prospects as emerging markets grow ever more important, although its economies risk being destabilised by the slew of capital they stand to attract in the coming years.
Africa withstood the global financial crisis better than many predicted, and the region's economic growth is forecast at 4,75% in 2010. Next year, one-half of the world's ten fastest growing economies are expected to be in Africa, and it is now attracting more than just the most intrepid investors. Africa's advocates say that inflows stand to accelerate rapidly as a dearth of attractive returns in the developed world pulls investors in, while a more stable political and economic environment indicates diminishing risks. However, most African countries have small, illiquid markets and little financial infrastructure, raising the chances of economic distortions and asset bubbles that could lead to currency crises and long-term damage.
Energy-producing continental giant Nigeria has been identified as a top pick by some of the most influential figures in emerging markets finance owing to its market of about 140-million people - nearly three times bigger than South Africa's - as well as its energy resources and bigger, more liquid markets.

School children now have the option of learning in their mother tongue for the first three years of schooling as part of the new curriculum, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday.
Briefing the media on the Basic Education Department's new curriculum Schooling 2025, Motshekga explained that the language chosen by the learner as a language of learning and teaching shall be taught as a subject, or as a first additional language from Grade 1.
The new curriculum will replace the highly criticised outcomes-based education (OBE) system introduced in 1998. However, the system will not be completely scrapped but will be modified to improve the performance of school pupils. Admitting that the old curriculum had major problems, Motshekga said that her department was reviewing the design and methodology of the OBE system. Basic Education director-general Bobby Soobrayan said that the department is comfortable with the curriculum as it now stands and that it will ensure that pupils sufficiently understand key areas such as basic literacy and mathematics.

Also making headlines:

Staffing solution group Adcorp's latest ‘Employment Survey' shows that about 39 000 South African job seekers have returned from foreign countries over the past year, suggesting a reversal in the ‘brain drain' trend.
South African President Jacob Zuma tells the Investec Asset Management Global Investment Conference in Cape Town that the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been an economic success with good returns on investment.
And, the Developing Eight countries Iran, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey near agreement on measures to reduce trade barriers, protect migrant workers' rights and support the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.