Thursday, May 20, 2010

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

Making headlines:

Industrial competitiveness emerged as a key topic for debate on the second day of the Green Economy summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday, as delegates started to grapple with the issues involved with the transition to a so-called green economy. Industrial Development Corporation head of research and information Jorge Maia explained that the South African industry is faced with diminishing competitiveness, particularly should the country face sanction in the context of possible future environmental levies and standards. Business Unity South Africa deputy chairperson Raymond Parsons acknowledged that there would be winners and losers in the transition to a green economy, and stressed that these needed to be carefully managed. National Planning Commission (NPC) representative Ashraf Kariem said that as it draws up long-term plans, the NPC will look at how the green economy would assist South Africa in reaching its goals of employing more people and reducing inequality.

Sub-Saharan Africa needs a "Green Revolution" of investing in agricultural technology to boost food security after decades of under-investment, said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at the launch of the ‘Technology and Innovation' report on Wednesday.
Technology and innovation must be targeted at the needs of Africa's millions of smallholder farmers and reflect varying climate conditions, rather than being simply copied from advances made in Asia and Latin America.
Sustained lack of public investment, exacerbated by the virtual exclusion of the private sector from agriculture, has left many States in Africa, once a net food exporter, dependent on imports for food. Agriculture is also the key to tackling poverty in Africa, where it makes up a bigger share of the economy than in other regions and accounts for most employment.
UNCTAD secretary-general Supachai Panitchpakdi said that Africa's capacity to provide food has declined by one-fifth over the past 40 years and that the critical task is to increase yields.

Sub-Saharan Africa could see economic growth of close to 5% in 2010, compared with a mere 2% in 2009, while South Africa's economy might grow faster than initial predictions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday. Speaking at a Johannesburg Media Club breakfast, IMF African division chief Abebe Selassie said that most countries in the region are now bouncing back from the growth slowdown or contraction in output experienced during the global recession.
The IMF predicted growth of around 2,6% for South Africa in its latest regional economic outlook survey, but Selassie indicated that the growth trend could be closer to 3% by the end of the year. Looking ahead, the IMF envisaged accelerated growth for the region of 5,75% in 2011, provided that the global economy continues to improve.

Also making headlines:

The International Committee of the Red Cross says that Somalia has the most worrying humanitarian crisis because of the scale of the needs and the limited scope for relief owing to insecurity.
South Africa moves up to forty-eighth position in global economic competitiveness rankings.
Burundi expels a Human Rights Watch researcher for allegedly disparaging the government's efforts to restore peace and security ahead of elections.
And, experts say that a large but limited amount of land can reasonably be used to provide biofuels without cutting the world's food supply.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.