Friday, September 18, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
South Africa, which recorded a strong rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2008, might still show increased inflows for 2009, despite estimates that global investment flows would slump this year on the back of the global economic crisis.
The latest United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) World Investment Report (WIR) indicates that South Africa recorded FDI inflows of $9-billion during 2008, a substantial increase on the 2007 figure of $5,7-billion. The 2008 inflows were, however supported materially by one large deal: the $5,6-billion investment by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Standard Bank.
But somewhat surprisingly, the Unctad's survey of prospects for 2009 still forecasts that flows into South Africa could rise in 2009, despite the country's retreat into recession and the emerging consensus among economists that the country could take longer than many other countries to emerge from the downturn.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has called for increased aid for poor countries that are innocent victims of the global financial crisis. Speaking to the Centre for Global Development a week before the Group of 20 leaders' gathering in Pittsburgh, the IMF MD estimated that low-income countries need another $55-billion in financing for this year and next.
Strauss-Kahn said that the IMF could provide about one-third of the needed additional financing for poor countries through new resources that its member countries have pledged, but donors need to help.
During times of crisis, Strauss-Kahn says that there is always a temptation for countries to retreat inwards and respond primarily to domestic political needs and demands. But he warns that if this happens, years of progress might be unwound and democracy in some of the poorest countries would be put at risk. The IMF is also taking steps to make its financing for the poor cheaper, charging no interest through to the end of 2011 on so-called concessional financing.

President Jacob Zuma yesterday expressed concern about what he termed a "culture of extremity" in South Africa and warned striking workers and other protesters to respect the law. "The extreme manner in which some of our citizens tend to express their grievances lately is totally unacceptable," the President told a media briefing at Tuynhuys.
Zuma condemned the violent salary protest by soldiers at the Union Buildings last month as "despicable in the extreme" and warned other citizens to express their grievances in a peaceful manner.
Zuma said that the government had ordered the police to deal "harshly and firmly" with anybody who broke the law.

Also making headlines:
Minister of Correctional Services Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula concedes that South Africa's medical parole system needs work.
Madagascar's diplomatically isolated President Andry Rajoelina is invited to next week's United Nations General Assembly meeting.
The Democratic Alliance states that President Jacob Zuma is not above the law after his lawyers said that a sitting President could not be prosecuted.
And, Zimbabwe expects to see $16-billion in mining investment by 2018.
That's a roundup of news making headlines today.