Thursday, June 10, 2010

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

Making headlines:

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan this week met with key manufacturers to discuss their calls for the government to weaken what they say is an overvalued domestic currency.
South Africa's government and the central bank have expressed concern that the strong rand currency could hamper a recovery among both exporters and importers following last year's recession.
The government has previously said that it will not fix the currency, which gained some 30% against the dollar last year, but would let markets determine the exchange rate. But last month, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said that the rand needs to be weaker to support producers in Africa's biggest economy.

Economic growth in the sub-Saharan Africa region is expected to continue its gradual postcrisis recovery between 2010 and 2012, driven by rising commodity prices and stronger external demand, states the World Bank's ‘Global Economic Prospects 2010' report.
But the report also warns that Europe's debt crisis makes it difficult to forecast the medium-term growth outlook, and acknowledges that the latest projections are based on the assumption that European sovereign debt restructuring will ensure that defaults are avoided. The report cautions that even if the restructuring is successful, developing countries with close trade and financial connections to highly indebted high-income countries might still feel serious ripple effects.
The report argues that developing countries will benefit more from a rapid unwinding of the fiscal challenges in rich countries than from protracted solutions. Overall, sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to grow by 4,5% in 2010, 5,1% in 2011 and by 5,4% in 2012, a material rebound from estimated gross domestic product growth of 1,6% in 2009. South Africa is expected to expand by 3,1% in 2010, 3,4% in 2011 and 3,9% in 2012. This, too, represents a relatively solid recovery from the estimated contraction of 1,8% in 2009. But it is still well below the levels required to ensure that the economy begins to deal with its chronically high rate of unemployment.

Many developing nations insist at ongoing United Nations (UN) climate talks in Bonn, Germany, that a full UN treaty should be agreed in 2010, while others are resigned to a far longer haul to tackle global warming.
Collin Beck of the Solomon Islands insists that a treaty should be agreed at the next annual meeting of environment ministers in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10. But many rich nations and some major emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil reckon that a legally binding deal may have to wait, perhaps until the 2011 meeting in South Africa. Many other delegates believe that a treaty is impossible in 2010 and that a more practical approach may be to focus on issues such as green technology, ensuring aid to the poor and protecting forests, rather than an elusive new treaty.
Costa Rican Christiana Figueres, who will take over from UN climate chief Yvo de Boer from July 1, said that her focus for Cancun is for delivery on promises already made. "I don't believe that we will ever have a final agreement on climate, certainly not in my lifetime," said Figueres, explaining that advances in understanding climate science will always mean a need for adjustments.

Also making headlines:

US Vice-President Joe Biden reiterates strong US backing for a credible and timely referendum on South Sudan's self-determination.
President Jacob Zuma's legal counsel argues that the Democratic Alliance cannot force the prosecution of the President as it is unconstitutional to prosecute a sitting State President.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees wants to talk with Libya about resuming work in the country after it was kicked out last week.
And, musician Angelique Kidjo calls on African leaders to focus the same attention on health and education as the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.