November 11, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Petronel Smit.

Making headlines:

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner insists that Washington would never resort to weakening the dollar to spur growth, seeking to cool tensions as Group of 20 (G20) nations struggle to bridge chasms over currencies.
World leaders are gathered in Seoul for a two-day summit hoping to move beyond broad promises of economic cooperation, but days of rancorous debate appear to have undone much of the G20 unity forged in the throes of a global crisis two years ago. The G20 club of rich and emerging economies hopes to use the summit to soothe tensions over foreign exchange rates that have been created by sharply divergent growth rates. US President Barack Obama urged his peers to put aside differences and follow through on previous agreements to even out imbalances between cash-rich exporting nations and debt-burdened importers.
A draft of the final communiqué shows that the leaders will back the idea of "indicative guidelines" for the reduction of current account imbalances. However, they are undecided on whether these would be based on "measurable" indicators or more vaguely "quantitative and qualitative."

Stalled trade negotiations between the European Union (EU) and African States have soured relations between the two continents, said European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on Wednesday.
Regional groupings of African, Caribbean and Pacific States have resisted signing trade agreements with the EU despite years of negotiations, frustrated by EU demands to cut tariffs and by the wealth of EU commercial regulation. This has allowed China, India and Brazil to move in and secure access to bountiful African resources and markets.
To break the deadlock, Europe may scale back calls for free trade in banking and other services sectors, and drop demands that African, Caribbean and Pacific States quickly adopt European rules on competition and the environment.
Another hindrance to better EU-Africa relations is Europe's insistence on African guarantees of good governance and human rights, he said. China, which makes no such demands, has made rapid inroads in signing trade deals with African States.

British officials urged Zimbabwe on Wednesday to comply with global diamond trade regulations and said that most of the finest stones are being smuggled out of Zimbabwe's rich Marange fields.
Zimbabwe stated last week that it would soon start selling millions of carats of diamonds from the Marange fields, even though the global body that regulates conflict diamonds, the Kimberley Process, said that it had not yet approved the sales. Speaking at London's Chatham House think-tank, Britain's Africa Minister Henry Bellingham said that Zimbabwe should "do all it possibly can to become compliant with [the] Kimberley [Process] and that will mean that it would get much more money coming into the Zimbabwe Exchequer." He said that the rich diamond deposits at Marange were funding "hardliners" when they should be benefiting the people of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Moses Mpofu, however, insists that there is an agreement for Zimbabwe to sell diamonds from Marange.

Also making headlines:

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says that confronting China and the US in the debate over global imbalances and currencies will not provide a solution.
A Guinean army chief urges candidates to accept the outcome of Sunday's Presidential runoff, as authorities issue a fresh batch of results amid rising tension.
Newly appointed Communications Minister Roy Padayachie pledges to support the SABC's embattled board members as they try to resolve financial and leadership instability at the broadcaster.
And, US Senator John Kerry says that he is guardedly hopeful following a mission to Sudan that sought to spur crucial talks ahead of two referendums that will determine the future of the oil-producing region.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.