Friday, June 25, 2010

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

Making headlines:

South African President Jacob Zuma declared Africa "open for business" in an address to business leaders before the Group of 20 meeting in Toronto, Canada, on Thursday.
Speaking at a meeting attended by Stephen Hayes, president and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa and Lucien Bradet, president and CEO of the Canadian Council on Africa, Zuma said that Africa, as the third-fastest growing region in the world - after China and India - surprised many as it fared better than most regions during the global financial crisis and registered growth. The average growth last year for advanced economies was about minus 2,5%, while that of Africa was 2%, and low-income countries in Africa grew at over 3%.
Africa must not be viewed only as a destination for development aid, Zuma said, adding that Africa calls for fair trade. The continent's movement forward will be greatly enhanced by the speeding up of economic reforms to enable more inclusive and faster growth, he said.

Regulators from 70 countries failed on Thursday to agree to suspend trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe after calls by civil society groups to address rights abuses in the African country's Marange diamond fields.
The Kimberley Process (KP) meeting ended late, but delegates could not reach consensus regarding the work carried out by the KP Monitor to Marange.
The KP angered human rights groups and diamond traders this month, when a monitor that it had appointed to assess the mining operations at Marange said that Zimbabwe had met the minimum conditions set by the regulator and could start gem exports. However, human rights groups allege serious abuses by security forces deployed by the Zimbabwean government to stop illegal diamond digging, after up to 30 000 panners descended on the poorly secured fields in 2006.

South Africa's State-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), which is a key financier of municipal infrastructure, reported a 11,3% fall in loan and equity disbursements to R8,26-billion for the year to March 31, 2010, from the R9,31-billion disbursed in the previous year. The value of DBSA's approvals also fell to R18,8-billion during the period under review, from the R20,5-billion approved in 2008/9.
However, CEO Paul Baloyi insisted that, in the context of difficult market conditions, which placed strain on the bank's "sustainable" earnings and surpluses, it had "not compromised" on its developmental mandate.
The DBSA's "development impact" was calculated at R8,9-billion for the period, reflecting both the loan and equity approvals and a record R550-million having been spent on so-called "developmental initiatives", up from the R464-million reported in the previous year.

Also making headlines:

State-owned power utility Eskom says that workers will not be allowed to strike, even if a nonresolution certificate is issued, because electricity is an essential service.
Guinea goes to the polls on Sunday in a test for democracy in West Africa's "coup belt".
Parliament has confirmed that the Congress of the People's Parliamentary funding has been frozen after allegations of financial irregularities.
And, Kenya opens a special court to try suspected pirates arrested by foreign navies patrolling the coast of Somalia and the busy Gulf of Aden.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.