Friday, October 29, 2010

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

Making headlines:

The South African government has no target for foreign exchange reserves and will accumulate reserves as and when it can afford to, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday.
Briefing a Parliamentary committee a day after his delivery of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Gordhan said that government would allocate more funds to allow the central bank to build up reserves, as it is under pressure from exporters and unions to tame the strong rand.
The Treasury says that it has spent R43-billion so far this year to support the central bank's reserve-building efforts and will continue to do so. The bank started using currency swaps in August to shore up its reserves.
Treasury director-general Lesetja Kganyago reiterated that the rand is overvalued, by up to 20%, but also said that its strength had had its benefits for a country that is investing in infrastructure.

World agriculture urgently needs billions of dollars in additional annual investment to boost output and reduce its negative impact on the environment, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday.
Farms need to increase output by 70% by 2050, when the global population is expected to rise to nine-billion, and simultaneously reduce their environmental footprint. The FAO says that agriculture, especially in developing countries, needs between $30-billion and $100-billion a year from 2010 to 2050 to meet these challenges. But the resources available are estimated at $2,2-billion to $2,5-billion a year from 2010 to 2012, excluding private finance which could add $15-billion a year if previous international agreements are fulfilled.
Private and public funds, including those earmarked for food security and climate change, should be combined to help agriculture make a much-needed transformation into a "climate-smart" sector, the FAO said.

Environment ministers from around the world will today try to wrap up a United Nations meeting to preserve nature, but remain split on targets to fight losses in animal and plant species that support livelihoods and economies.
Delegates from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Nagoya, Japan, for a two-week meeting to map out goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers, as the world faces the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65-million years ago. The meeting has aimed to push governments and businesses into taking sweeping steps to protect ecosystems long taken for granted, but worth trillions of dollars by providing sources for food, water, tourism and industry. But envoys in Nagoya have been split on how ambitious they should be in the new conservation targets, after they failed to meet a goal for a "significant reduction" in losses of biological diversity by 2010.
A 20-point strategic plan aims to protect fish stocks, fight the loss and degradation of natural habitats and to conserve larger land and marine areas, but delegates have squabbled on numerical targets and details on wording.

Also making headlines:

The five-nation East African Community will likely miss a November deadline to sign a trade deal with the European Union.
Malawi President and African Union chairperson Bingu wa Mutharika says that Africa should fight for subsidies for its poor farmers so as to achieve food security on the continent.
National Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelane says that the police and prosecutors both need training on how the criminal justice system works.
And, the United Nations sends an extra 500 peacekeepers to the Côte d'Ivoire to beef up security before Sunday's election.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.