Wednesday, May 5, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Sheila Barradas.

Making headlines:

The vaunted 2010/11 to 2012/13 Industrial Policy Action Plan, or Ipap2, has moved beyond the realm of public debate and is now firmly in implementation mode, said Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies yesterday.
Briefing the media ahead of his budget vote speech in Parliament, Davies said that Ipap2 had received broad support from the majority of stakeholders.
Ipap2 was premised on the principle that its true value would be found in the outcomes of practice and, therefore, on the principle of "learning by doing", Davies said. He added that the "rolling Ipap" initiative would be bound to certain performance deliverables, including quarterly reports, which would be delivered to the cluster of economic Ministers, as well as biannual progress reports, which would be delivered to Cabinet. Ipap2 is also bound by a performance agreement, which was signed between Davies and President Jacob Zuma on April 30, which required the department to work with other Ministers in the economic cluster to produce a clear, detailed, costed and multipronged strategy to reduce youth unemployment.

Sub-Saharan Africa will grow by up to 4,2% in 2010 after an expansion of 1,7% last year, helped by booming telecommunications and commodity sectors, said World Bank vice-president for Africa Obiageli Ezekwesili yesterday.
Earlier World Bank forecasts projected growth of 3,8% this year before reaching 4,6% in 2011. Ezekwesili said that Africa is now focused on the rebound for growth and should be posting between 3,8% and 4,2% growth in 2010. But she cautioned that the reform of key economic sectors would be pivotal to increasing global competitiveness and sustaining higher growth rates.
Speaking in an interview in the Ugandan capital Kampala, Ezekwesili said that many of the region's economies would benefit from boosting private sector involvement in key sectors.

South Africa has become a "vampire State" under the African National Congress (ANC), said Western Cape Premier and Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille yesterday. Speaking during a Freedom Day debate in the provincial legislature, Zille said that a "parasitic elite" had been granted the freedom to loot and freedom from accountability.
Zille said that it is crucial for the rest of the country that the Western Cape, under DA control, succeeds in building an open opportunity society, thereby establishing a "living example of our constitution in action for our country".
She added that the constitution gives South Africans the power to change the current government through the ballot. If voters consistently return an elite kleptocracy to power, then they should be honest and admit it was themselves, the voters, who were failing the Constitution.

Also making headlines:

South Africa's unemployment rate rose by 0,9 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 25,2% in the first quarter of 2010.
Tanzania will plug a financing deficit by raising between $500-million and $700-million through syndicated loans, infrastructure bonds or domestic borrowing.
South Africa's Transport Department pitches a multibillion-rand transport master plan, which includes linking Johannesburg to Durban and Polokwane via rapid train networks.
And, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa says that legislation to improve the functioning of the Independent Complaints Directorate, which monitors the police service, is being finalised.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.