South Africa

JOHANNESBURG – Wal-Mart Stores hopes that food and conversation can win over shoppers and companies in sub-Saharan Africa as soon as the ink dries on its deal to buy Massmart. Wal-Mart's rocky mission to buy Massmart Holdings went from a full-out acquisition unveiled in September to Wal-Mart switching its stance two months later to buy a 51% stake in the South African retailer. A government tribunal granted approval earlier this week, paving the way for Wal-Mart's purchase to close by the end of June. The company wants to use its merchandising and logistics expertise to grow Massmart's sales, particularly in fresh food, where Massmart is not yet a big player. At the same time, it must calm the critics who worry that Wal-Mart's presence will stifle local retailers and suppliers. "Our actions will end up determining what our reputation is," Walmart International Chief Executive Doug McMillon says. "We're anxious to move as quickly as we can to do some things to give people confidence that we are who we say we are." Massmart will give the world's largest retailer a foothold in 14 more countries, nearly doubling its tally to 29. Wal-Mart has been bringing its strategy to other countries since the early 1990s, and has made missteps along the way. It pulled out of Germany and Korea, and decided to leave Russia late last year after a few years of research there proved fruitless.

PRETORIA – South Africa's "stability and predictability" of its institutions, free press and transparent Constitution and government, give it an advantage over many developing countries in attracting investment. However, government must continue in its efforts to stamp out corruption, which does not bode well for investment, according to Goldman Sachs International MD Colin Coleman says addressing the International Entrepreneurship and Investment Conference on the challenges and opportunities facing African countries in terms of economic development. Africa, despite challenges like infrastructure shortages, political instability and health issues, is attracting foreign investment. According to Coleman, Brazilian investors are active in West African countries and the Chinese are involved in economic projects all over Africa. India and some large South African companies are also making their presence felt to boost economic growth. Indian companies are active in the manufacturing, tourism and property development sectors, while China's investment lies in infrastructure and resource extraction across Africa. Coleman draws attention to the positive economic impact by South African companies MTN, Standard Bank and Shoprite in other parts of the continent. He says for now, South Africa is one of the leading economies on the continent, given its admission into Brics and other important international institutions.

JOHANNESBURG – Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has called on researchers and academics to help government improve South Africa’s labour market statistics, which he believes remain distorted by the flawed information gathering processes of apartheid and possibly also by the increased deployment of labour broking. Speaking at the inaugural Development Conference on the New Growth Path, in Boksburg, last week, Patel said it was well known that the labour-market information relating to South Africa’s ‘African’ workforce, prior to the democratic era, had been highly “distorted” – a fact that made an analysis of historical trends difficult. Since 1994, the statistical authorities have improved their coverage of the African population, using new instruments. But these continue to throw up anomalies. He notes, for instance, that results from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) – a household survey, covering both formal and informal employment areas – did not gel with the results of the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), a survey of businesses, excluding the informal and agriculture sectors.

CAPE TOWN – Nuclear energy is not a quick-fix solution for South Africa’s energy shortages, says Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters. “We in South Africa have to understand that nuclear is not a quick-fix solution but a long-term method to address the energy crisis and climate change challenge,” she said in a speech prepared for delivery at the second regional conference on Energy and Nuclear Power in Africa, held in Cape Town. “Considering long-term commitment to nuclear, countries interested in embarking on this programme will require at least 100 years to maintain the sustainable and safe operation of nuclear power, decommissioning and waste disposal,” she added. Nuclear energy forms part of the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), which sets out the country’s energy mix up to 2030. Nuclear will contribute 23% of the energy supply. Peters says that South Africa should work with its regional neighbours on projects to secure energy supply. “We have seen this in regional blocs, such as the European Union countries, joining forces to share strengths and mitigate weaknesses. As you are all aware, the African Union is just that platform.”

DURBAN – The African National Congress (ANC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) breakaway party, the National Freedom Party (NFP), will work together in all hung municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. “The ANC and NFP have agreed to enter into a cooperative relationship to constitute a governing partnership to [run] the identified municipal councils wherein the two parties have demonstrated voter support,” ANC provincial chairperson Dr Zweli Mkhize says. The May 18 local government elections resulted in 19 hung municipalities in the province. The ANC had a majority in 14 of them, the IFP in four and the NFP in one – Nongoma. If the ANC-NFP pact worked, the IFP would be left in control of only Ulundi and Umsinga. The IFP had the highest number of municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal after the 2006 local government elections. The agreement was concluded after days of negotiations between the two parties. The IFP had approached the NFP to form coalitions, but the latter says that it will not start coalition talks with the IFP until it publicly apologised for comments about the splinter group before the elections.

Africa & the world

PARIS – France says that it is working with those close to Muammar Gaddafi to try to convince him to leave power; and is also stepping up military pressure at the start of a second three-month North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato)-led mission in Libya. "He is more and more isolated," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says. "There have been more defections around him and we have received messages from his close entourage, which has understood that he must leave power." "We will increase the military pressure as we have been doing for several days . . . but, at the same time we are talking with everyone who can convince him to leave power," he says, speaking by telephone during a visit to Israel. A Nato-led military alliance extended its mission to protect civilians in Libya for a further 90 days this week, after Gaddafi made it clear he will not step down in the face of a four-month-old uprising that has left thousands dead. Libyan rebels and Nato have made Gaddafi's departure a condition for a ceasefire; however, he emphatically told visiting South African President Jacob Zuma this week that he will not leave Libya. Libya's top oil official, National Oil Corp head Shokri Ghanem, became the latest figure to desert Gaddafi, two days after the defection of eight army officers including five generals and those in earlier weeks of senior diplomats and former ministers.

WASHINGTON – The World Trade Organisation (WTO) reports that the value of world merchandise trade for the first quarter of 2011 was up 22% when compared with the first quarter of 2010. The WTO shows that trade values for the first quarter of 2011 are reaching highs last seen in the second quarter of 2008, just prior to the global economic crisis. Commodity prices are shown to have increased significantly quarter on quarter, and even more so year on year. The WTO notes that the value of trade is not to be confused with volumes of trade, which the organisation expectes to increase by a more modest 6.5% in 2011. The WTO also says that short-term merchandise trade values were not seasonally adjusted, and seasonal patterns therefore considerably affected the quarter-on-quarter and month-on-month developments in world trade. This, in turn, affected comparisons between the trade developments in individual regions and economies.

TRIPOLI – Under pressure from a new round of defections, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has renewed a ceasefire call in talks with an African mediator but gives no sign that he will heed Western-led demands that he step down. The mediator, South African President Jacob Zuma, says, after a whistlestop visit, that Gaddafi wants a ceasefire including an end to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) bombing – terms already rejected last month after an earlier mediation mission by Zuma. He adds, without elaborating: “We discussed the necessity of giving the Libyan people the opportunity to solve their problem on their own.” Within hours of his departure, Libyan television reported that Nato aircraft had resumed attacks, striking what it called civilian and military sites in the desert settlement of Al Jufrah, 460 km south-east of Tripoli.