Wednesday, October 20, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Eleanor Seggie.

Making headlines:

South African President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that there is no doubt that the developing world is poised to play a key role in shaping a new world order.
Speaking at a South Africa-Egypt Business Forum in Cairo, Zuma said that "after Asia and Latin America, Africa is the next zone of economic growth and development." It is estimated that the market size of the developing world will be larger than the developed world by 2020, he told the forum. It is therefore important for developing nations to trade among each other, in addition to trading with the developed North.
South Africa and Egypt's current Memorandum of Understanding on Economic Cooperation "should help unlock the economic potential of the two countries through economic cooperation that includes industrial and technological cooperation, as well as the transfer of skills," Zuma said.

States like Somalia and Sierra Leone could ultimately cost the international community more money if they are destabilised by short-term cuts in Western aid, said Africa's main representative to the International Monetary Fund Samuel Itam on Tuesday, adding that he understood why European governments, trying to reduce deficits, would target aid to Africa. But reducing aid could undo recent gains and create longer-term problems that would be more expensive to solve. "Medium term, if you want stability and peace you have to contribute," he said.
While new investment from China and elsewhere is welcome, it is much more narrowly focused on single investment projects and could not simply replace Western aid, Itam said.
Overall, the IMF representative predicted that Africa will continue to grow by between 5% and 5,5% a year - but significant donor reductions or other shocks could reduce this, and predicted growth remains short of the 7% to 7,5% needed to seriously reduce poverty.

Physical infrastructure remains Africa's most significant constraint as far as economic development goes, however, the backlog also represents big investment and business opportunities, said South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation research and information head Jorge Maia on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Gordon Institute of Business Science Business of Africa conference, Maia said that some $93-billion a year was needed to build infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa alone. With the region expected to show economic growth of 5,5% a year over the next five years, the development of infrastructure creates a wealth of opportunity.
There are several limiting factors that come into play in the development of infrastructure on the continent, the most significant of which, is a large funding gap.

Also making headlines:

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale says that his department will seek to tap the potential that exists to reclaim dilapidated inner-city buildings for affordable housing.
China tries to suppress a United Nations report saying that Chinese bullets were used in attacks on peacekeepers in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region, which would be a violation of a 2005 arms embargo.
African National Congress Eastern Cape provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane says that legal action from within has cost the party R5-million.
And, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says that it is ready to conduct national elections after President Robert Mugabe indicated that a referendum for a new constitution will be held in the first quarter of next year, with elections to follow by mid-2011.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.