Friday, March 5, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Brad Dubbelman.

Making headlines:

The prospects for South Africa's economic recovery are promising, while the country remains an "excellent destination" for investment in all sectors, including the manufacturing and mining sectors, President Jacob Zuma told the British Parliament yesterday.
Zuma, on his first State visit as President, to the UK, says that there is opportunity for South Africa and the UK to deepen bilateral relations and advance common positions on the broader challenge of building a peaceful, stable and more equitable world.
Trade between the countries has grown by 173% between 1998 and 2008, while the UK remains South Africa's largest investor.
Zuma also assured potential UK investors that South African law does not provide for the nationalisation of the country's mineral resources, adding that there is no discussion within government about the nationalisation of mines.

Africans are getting wealthier more quickly than previously believed, according to a new study that also suggests that the poorest continent's riches are spreading beyond the narrow confines of its elite.
The study, by US-based economists Xavier Sala-i-Martin and Maxim Pinkovskiy, finds that growth from the period 1995 to 2006, far from benefiting only the elites, has been sufficiently widely spread that both total African inequality and African within-country inequality actually declined.
The research, which assesses poverty levels and income distribution from 1970 to 2006, lends weight to a belief among local and foreign investors that Africa is finally getting its act together, 50 years after shaking off the colonial shackles. The study also challenges the suggestion that strong African growth over the last decade or more has done little to alleviate grass-roots poverty owing to the countervailing effect of equally strong population expansion.
Going by an inflation-adjusted $1 a person a day yardstick, the study, using statistical analysis pioneered by the two authors, said that 32% of Africans were impoverished in 2006, compared with 42% in 1995 and 40% in 1970.

The Economic Development Ministry will take over responsibility for a host of institutions and regulatory bodies to ensure that they are aligned with the State's vision for growth, according to Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel's strategic plan tabled in Parliament yesterday.
The much-awaited plan sets out a programme of action for Patel's new Department, which was created when President Jacob Zuma announced his Cabinet ten months ago.
After considerable speculation about Patel's mandate, the plan states that his Department will "draft economic planning proposals that promote the coherence and alignment of the State's and the State entities' economic plans and foster South Africa's growth path and the need for substantial job creation". The document gives the Ministry a role in macroeconomic policy in terms of identifying "policy option available to the country" and evaluating these "against development and decent work goals".

Also making headlines:

British International Development Minister Gareth Thomas says that Africa's economic growth could be held back by its unreliable energy networks.
International Criminal Court president Judge Sang-hyun Song says that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will eventually face justice in The Hague.
Zimbabwean octogenarian President Robert Mugabe says that he will stand for re-election if his party nominates him.
And, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warns that South Africa is in danger of becoming a major hub for drug trafficking.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.