Thursday, March 4, 2010

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

Making headlines:

Nationalisation of South Africa's mines is not government policy and is unlikely to become so, at least in the immediate future, said Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies on the sidelines of a UK-South Africa business forum in London yesterday.
A dozen Cabinet Ministers and 200 business executives are accompanying South African President Jacob Zuma on a State visit to Britain. Zuma also said on Tuesday that it was not African National Congress (ANC) policy to nationalise the mining sector.
Mining Minister Susan Shabangu added that nationalisation is not government policy and said that ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema must present his position at the ANC's national general council.
British Trade Minister Mervyn Davies said that he sees huge opportunities for growing British trade with Africa, and particularly with South Africa.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may upgrade its assessment of Africa's economic growth prospects because some countries fared better than expected in a global recession that many feared would undo decades of poverty-fighting progress.
Director for the IMF's Africa Department Antoinette Sayeh says that the more optimistic outlook for the region is owing to stronger-than-expected performances by economies such as those of South Africa and Nigeria.
She said that the fund could revise up its 2009 growth forecast to close to 2% from an earlier projection of 1%. Further, it may also raise its projection for 2010 to around 4,5% from a January outlook of 4,3%.
However, despite the stronger outlook, this is still a significant drop from the 6% growth rates of the past decade.
Sayeh added that IMF lending to Africa will probably be lower this year as global demand for African goods recovers after the global recession.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe yesterday dismissed calls for life-style audits of politicians as populist, and declined to comment on the furore over tenders given to companies linked to African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema.
Answering questions in the National Assembly, Motlanthe stressed that life-style audits were a special measure used by the South African Revenue Service to investigate more than 10 000 individuals in the past two years. Existing corruption laws and regulations on the disclosure of assets and interests for Cabinet members, Members of Parliament and their spouses, do not need to be backed up by routine audits, he said.
Motlanthe's reply echoes a recent rebuff by President Jacob Zuma to calls by alliance partner the Congress of South African Trade Unions for life-style audits to target politicians who are enriching themselves.
While refusing to comment on Malema's business interests, Motlanthe defended the ANC's investment company Chancellor House's right to pursue profitable deals.

Also making headlines:

World Bank vice-president for Africa Obiageli Ezekwesili says that the next giant developmental leap in Africa after telecommunications, is in the power sector.
Togo votes in a Presidential election today against a backdrop of violence in earlier polls and allegations of election fraud.
The US envoy to Tanzania urges African nations to prosecute Somali pirates.
And, UN Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner says that African governments need to set clear rules in order to attract more projects under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.