Trade and investment - New priorities for Asian-African ties

At a summit in Indonesia, leaders of Asia and Africa have pledged to cooperate more closely and called for a financial world order more open to their emerging economies. But is this a relationship between equal partners?

Deutsche Welle, 23 April 2015

Indonesian President Joko Widodo addresses the opening of the Asian-African
Summit in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, on April 22, 2015

"The view which says that global economic problems can only be solved by the World Bank, the IMF, the ADB, is an obsolete view that needs discarding," Joko Widodo told delegates on April 22 at the start of this year's Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the gathering between leaders from both regions. "There needs to be change," Jokowi said, adding it was imperative that "we build a new international economic order that is open to new emerging economic powers."

A similar comment was made by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said that "a new type of international relations" was needed to encourage cooperation between Asian and African nations, according to China's state-run news agency Xinhua.

While no mention was made of the new China-led financial institutions such as the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the Silk Road Fund, analysts agree that both Asia and Africa want a reform of the international financial architecture to reduce their reliance on the Bretton Woods multilateral financial institutions.

Created by the United States and Europe after World War II, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have been at the centre of the post-World War II monetary order. The Asian Development Bank or ADB is viewed by some as dominated by Japan.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Chinese
President Xi Jinping met on the summit
sidelines

In this context, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said in the conference that "African and Asian countries are a formidable force... yet that numerical strength counts for little when it comes to the running and control of the multilateral system."

A new model?

While the China-led initiatives have been criticized by some as a way for Beijing to challenge Western-backed institutions, there are others who believe these new development banks may have a positive impact on emerging economies.

In fact, more than 40 countries have already announced their intention to join the AIIB - set to be launched by the end of 2015 - as founding members, including some of Europe's largest economies, with the US and Japan being notable absentees.

"While the IMF, World Bank, and ADB have a vital role to play, they cannot meet the needs of the 21st century global economy by themselves, especially in light of the refusal of the US Congress to allow China and others a greater voice in them," Gregory Poling, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) told DW.

At the same time, the statements made by Asian and African leaders at the two-day conference highlight just how much the relationship between the two regions has changed since 1955, when the first Asia-Africa Summit took place in the city of Bandung on Java island. At the time, several of the 30 participating countries had just gained independence from colonial rule and were seeking to forge a common identity. And other colonies were trying to rally international support to obtain independence.

From independence to investment

Six decades later, however, priorities have changed. First of all, there is no longer a Cold War and therefore no longer a Third World to which Asian and African non-aligned states belong – an aspect which fundamentally changed the politics of the states involved in this year's summit. But perhaps most importantly, the summit has become a key as a platform for diplomacy and boosting ties among participating states, as the meeting between the leaders of Japan and China on the sidelines of this year's summit shows.

"The Asia-Africa Summit has become a major chance for Asian leaders to send a message that we now live in a multi-polar world, in which Asia's political and economic clout must be seen as at least as important as that of the US and Europe," Poling told DW.

Some of the summit participants are even G-20 members such as Indonesia, China, India and South Africa. This is perhaps also a reason why Indonesian President Widodo has touted the forum as the place to realize the Bandung spirit by lowering trade barriers and thus strengthening trade and investment cooperation.

Analyst Poling is of the view that "whereas 1955 was an American- and European-driven global economy, 2015 is a world driven economically by Asia, with African states themselves of growing economic importance."While participating states made up only a quarter of the world economic output 60 years ago, they are now responsible for more than half of global GDP."

Strengthening ties

In light of this development, Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific Chief Economist at IHS, a global analytics firm, argues that the current focus of the Africa-Asia relationship is more about economic and investment ties. In fact, the analyst points out that trade ties between Asia and Africa have been completely transformed since 1955, notably led by China's economic ascendancy to become the world's second largest economy.

"The rise of China as an industrial power has generated tremendous growth in demand for imports of commodities, and Africa has become an increasingly important source," he told DW.

According to IHS, bilateral trade between China and Africa has increased from $12 billion in 1955 to $200 billion by 2014. China's bilateral trade with Africa is far greater than that of Asia's second largest economy, Japan, which is in the order of $30 billion.

India has strong trade ties with Africa, with bilateral trade between having reached $70 billion in 2014, according to IHS. Indonesia's bilateral trade with Africa has reached $11 billion. However, most investment flow in one direction – from Asia to Africa, a fact that highlights the nature of Asian-African ties for the time being.

Equal partners?

Although the math suggests that development gap between Asia and Africa will narrow as the century progresses, Asia clearly has a greater weight today than does Africa - a fact which is reflected to a large extent in the size and structure of their respective economies.

'There needs to be change,' Indonesian
 President Jokowi said during the conference

Moreover, Asia's trade with Africa generally reflects the comparative advantage of each region, with Asia being the factory of the world for manufactures, and Africa being a major exporter of agricultural and mineral commodities, as economist Biswas pointed out.

"These strengths are reflected in the composition of bilateral trade, with Asian exports to Africa dominated by manufactures, while African exports to Asia are dominated by mineral and agricultural commodities. Also Asia is a major source of private sector investment as well as government development finance, so Asian countries such as China and Japan tend to be large sources of investment flows into African countries," he said.

But while Asia expands its relations to other parts of the world on an institutional level – such as the Asia-Europe-Meeting (ASEM) or the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) - there are few such institutions in place between Asia and Africa.

Ten years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the Bandung conference, leaders from both regions agreed to forge a "new Asian-African strategic partnership." However, this has only resulted in technical cooperation, exchange programs and non-binding economic forum. This year the summit participants emphasized what they have in common, but it seems that the differences between the two regions are bigger than 60 years ago.

President Joko Widodo, center, chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, as

 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, looks on at the opening of the

60th Asian-African Conference in Jakarta on Wednesday. (AACC2015/Prasetyo Utomo)

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Japan to transform Africa aid into investment

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2013

Japan has promised Africa 10.7 billion euros (14 billion dollars) over the next five years as government and private-sector aid. Japan's Asian rival China has already invested heavily in Africa.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told leaders and delegates from 50 African nations while opening a conference in Yokohama on Saturday that Japan intended to "revolutionize" its investment in Africa by focusing on private-sector investment in infrastructure.

Abe, who took office late last year, said nearly half the sum would be offered for projects in Africa such as transportation, education, farming, energy projects and water sanitation.

Japanwould invite 1,000 students to study at universities and gain experience as interns at Japanese companies, Abe said. Japan would also strive to find jobs for 30,000 people in Africa.

"Japan will also construct hubs for human resource development at 10 locations in the field in Africa, including in Ethiopia and Senegal. We will send experts in vocational training to these hubs," Abe said.

Abe's initiative follows his pledge last month to treble Japan's infrastructure-related exports by 2020 as part of his plan to reanimate a Japanese economy hit by slowing consumer demand, partly due to demographic aging.

African leaders hopeful

Djibouti's President Ismael Omar Guelleh told the conference that a dearth of roads and ports across Africa was costing African nations two percent growth each year.

South African President Jacob Zuma said Africa must diversify from "a path driven by commodities export to one led by industrialization."

"Three points are crucial: market integration, industrial development and infrastructure development," said Zuma.

"Africa could be the next global growth pole," said Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

The three-day conference in Japan – held every five years since 1993 and showcasing Japanese firms and their products - is co-organized by international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and, for the first time, the African Union.

Japan aims to transform ties

Japanese officials stressed that Tokyo wanted to transform its relationship with Africa from that of donor-recipient to a business partnership.

In an apparent reference to China, Abe said Tokyo's commitment to Africa differed from that of other nations.

State-owned Chinese oil and mining companies have multibillion-euro investments in Africa as well as Australia and Latin America. According to the Washington-based Center for Global Development, Beijing has invested $75 billion (57 billion euros) in Africa over the past decade.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said during the conference in Japan that the merits of investing in Africa were clear.

"Millions of Africans still lack jobs, health care and food," Ban said. "Too many suffer in conflict. To find solutions, we must address the links between peace, security and government."

slk/ipj (AP, AFP, dpa)

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"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text-Version)

" .... Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit.. ...."

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version) 

“… The Future of the Illuminati

Now, I want to tell you something that you didn't expect and something I've reported only one other time. What about all of the money that the Illuminati has? There are trillions and trillions of euro in banks, under their control, waiting. What are they going to do with it and where are they going to use it? It's still here. They're waiting.

This group is waiting for something to happen that they know is going to happen, for they see it coming as much as I do. However, I would like to tell you something that they don't expect. With awareness comes generational shift. Those in charge of this money will not always be elders. The indigos eventually will have it.

They are waiting for something to happen in Africa - the building of a new civilization, a continent that has nothing to unlearn. Once Africa is cured, once it's ready, a new civilization can be created from the ground up. Africans will be ready to learn everything about building a foundation for the most advanced civilization ever and will do it with the most modern and inventive systems available. Eventually, this new continent will even beat the economics of China.

This is the prediction and always has been, and the Illuminati's money will fund it. Did I say the Illuminati will fund it? [Kryon laugh] The Illuminati's money will fund it, but there is a difference from the past, dear ones. The ones who inherit the positions in the Illuminati will be a different consciousness. Listen, they are not suddenly going to be the ones who have the good of everyone in their hearts - hardly. They want to make money, but what they will see instead is a way to make a great deal of money through this investment. In the process, it will automatically help hundreds of thousands, and they will be at the beginning, the foundation, that builds the new Africa. The new African states of unification eventually will create a continent stronger than any of the others, and it will have one currency. The resources alone will dwarf anything in the world. ...”

BRICS Wrangle Over New Development Bank

Jakarta Globe - AFP, March 26, 2013

Image provided by the South African government shows President Jacob
Zuma speaking in Pretoria on March 24, 2013. (AFP Photo) 

    

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Durban, South Africa. BRICS emerging powers on Tuesday sought a deal on setting up a development bank that would rival Western-backed institutions, trying to iron out significant differences ahead of a leaders' summit in Durban.

The grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and hosts South Africa are racing to flesh out proposals for an infrastructure-focused lender that would challenge seven decades of dominance by the World Bank.

Just hours before leaders kick off the summit at 17:30 GMT, finance ministers were still working to agree key elements of the plan.

Disputes remain over what the bank will do, with each side trying to mold the institution to their foreign or domestic policy goals and with each looking for assurances of an equitable return on their initial investment of around $10 billion.

Failure to secure a deal would be a major embarrassment for many of the participants and would play into the hands of those who argue the BRICS have little to bind them together.

Xi Jinping, who has underscored the growing importance of the group by making Durban his first summit as China's president, earlier expressed hopes for "positive headway" in establishing the bank.

In a keynote speech in Tanzania on Monday Xi vowed Beijing's "sincere friendship" with the continent, and a relationship that respects Africa's "dignity and independence."

Meanwhile host President Jacob Zuma has lauded the summit as a means of addressing his country's chronic economic problems including high unemployment.

"BRICS provides an opportunity for South Africa to promote its competitiveness," Zuma said in a speech on the eve of the summit.

"It is an opportunity to move further in our drive to promote economic growth and confront the challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment that afflicts our country."

A failure to take concrete steps would raise questions about whether the BRICS grouping can survive.

"Ironically it may be the cleavages within the BRICS grouping that more accurately hint at the future of the global order: tensions between China and Brazil on trade, India on security, and Russia on status highlight the difficulty Beijing will have in staking its claim to global leadership," said Daniel Twining of the German Marshall Fund.

But if the leaders succeed it would be the first time since the inaugural BRICS summit four years ago that the group matches rhetorical demands for a more equitable global order with concrete steps.

That would send a loud message to the United States and European nations that the current global balance of power is unworkable.

Together the BRICS account for 25 percent of global GDP and 40 percent of the world's population.

But members say institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Security Council are not changing fast enough reflect their new-found clout.

Diplomats say it could start with $10 billion seed money from each country, but the exact role of the bank is up for debate.

Indian officials have pressed for a BRICS-led South-South development bank, recycling budget surpluses into investment in developing countries.

Many developing nations inside and outside BRICS will hope that is a way of tapping China's vast financial resources.

Meanwhile China would no doubt like the bank to invest in trade-multiplying projects.

Aside from the development bank, the group will also try to establish a foreign exchange reserve pool worth as much as $240 billion to be drawn on in financial crises.

China has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, worth $3.31 trillion at the end of 2012, and establishing currency swap lines could help other BRICS tap that massive resource.

Later on Tuesday Brazil is to sign a bilateral accord with China to promote trade in their national currencies.

BRICS leaders will also establish business and think tank councils.

With Syria's two-year long civil war escalating through the suspected use of chemical weapons, BRICS leaders will also have to weigh a call from President Bashar al-Assad to intervene.

In a message to the summit leaders Assad asked "for intervention by the BRICS to stop the violence in his country and encourage the opening of a dialogue, which he wishes to start," said his senior adviser Bouthaina Shaaban after he delivered the message to Zuma.

Agence France-Presse

This handout photo on March 26, 2013 shows South African Finance Minister

 Pravin Gordhan (C) poses with his counterparts (L-R) Minister Chidambaram 

Palaniappan of India, Minister Xiaochuan Zhou of China, Minister Guido Mantega

 of Brazil and Minister Anto Siluanov of Russia on the margins of the 5th BRICS

 summit held at the Inkosi Luthuli International Conference Centre in Durban,

on March 26, 2013. AFP PHOTO / GOVERNMENT HO/ ELMOND JIYANE

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"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on Earth, Old Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

China offers $20bn in loans to Africa

Hu Jintao pledges to 'expand aid to Africa, so that the benefits of development can be realised by the African people'

guardian.co.uk, Reuters in Beijing, Thursday 19 July 2012

Chinese president Hu Jintao with South African president Jacob Zuma at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photograph: Andy Wong/AFP/Getty Images

Chinese President Hu Jintao has offered $20bn (£12bn) in loans to African countries over the next three years, boosting a relationship that has been criticised by the west and given Beijing growing access to the resource-rich continent.

The loans offered were double the amount China pledged for the previous three-year period in 2009 and is the latest in a string of aid and credit provided to African countries.

The pledge is likely to boost China's good relations with Africa, which supplies it with oil and raw materials such as copper and uranium.

But the loans could add to discomfort in the west, which criticises China for overlooking human rights abuses in its business dealings with Africa, especially in Beijing's desire to feed its booming economy.

Hu brushed off such concerns in his speech at the Great Hall of the People, attended by leaders including South African president Jacob Zuma and Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a man widely condemned by rights groups as one of the world's most corrupt leaders.

"China wholeheartedly and sincerely supports African countries to choose their own development path, and will wholeheartedly and sincerely support them to raise their development ability," Hu said.

China will "continue to steadfastly stand together with the African people, and will forever be a good friend, a good partner and a good brother", he added at the summit held every three years since 2000.

Hu also pledged to "continue to expand aid to Africa, so that the benefits of development can be realised by the African people". He did not provide an amount.

Hu said the new loans would support infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and development of small and medium-sized businesses in Africa.

Aid history

Critics say China supports African governments with dubious human rights records as a means to get access to resources.

The EU has rejected what they call China's cheque book approach to doing business with Africa, saying it would continue to demand good governance and the transparent use of funds from its trading partners.

Such criticism draws rebukes from China that the west still views Africa as though it were a colony. Many African countries say they appreciate China's no-strings approach to aid.

"Africa's past economic experience with Europe dictates a need to be cautious when entering into partnerships with other countries," Zuma told the forum.

"We are particularly pleased that in our relationship with China we are equals and that agreements entered into are for mutual gain," Zuma added.

"We certainly are convinced that China's intention is different to that of Europe, which to date continues to intend to influence African countries for their sole benefit."

China's friendship with Africa dates back to the 1950s, when Beijing backed liberation movements in the continent fighting to throw off western colonial rule.

Chinese state-owned firms in Africa also face criticism for using imported labour to build government-financed projects such as roads and hospitals, while pumping out raw resources and processing them in China, leaving little for local economies.

"Certainly quite a number of us are thinking we need to move into more value addition," South African's trade and industry minister Rob Davies said.

"We need to export mineral products in a more processed form ... We need to bite this bullet very seriously."

Trade has jumped in the past decade, driven by Chinese hunger for resources to power its economic boom and African demand for cheap Chinese products.

China's trade with Africa reached $166.3 billion in 2011, according to Chinese statistics. In the past decade, African exports to China rose to $93.2 billion from $5.6 billion.

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South African campaigners unite against secrecy bill

JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer among those who say bill is country's first attack on democracy since apartheid ended

guardian.co.uk, Stewart Maclean and David Smith in Johannesburg, Wednesday 6 June 2012

Nadine Gordimer: 'The intention of the bill is to aid the government in the
cover up of corruption.' Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

Secrecy laws planned for South Africa fundamentally threaten free speech and investigative journalism, and could have a chilling effect on the rest of Africa, a united front of human rights lawyers, newspaper editors and Nobel prize-winning writers have warned in interviews with the Guardian.

The protection of state information bill – dubbed the "secrecy bill" – envisages draconian penalties of up to 25 years in prison for whistleblowers and journalists who possess, leak or publish state secrets. It has been described as the first piece of legislation since the end of apartheid in 1994 to undermine South Africa's democracy.

Opponents of the bill fear that, with South Africa often regarded as a beacon of democracy and freedom on the continent, it could be used as an excuse by repressive African regimes for renewed crackdowns on journalists and activists.

Among those to attack the proposed legislation is JM Coetzee, the Nobel laureate and double Booker prize winner, making a rare public intervention.

"The legislation is transparently intended to make life difficult for pesky investigative journalists, and generally to save incompetent or corrupt bureaucrats from being embarrassed," Coetzee, born in Cape Town but now resident in Australia, said in an email. "Its sponsors have very likely been emboldened by the push that has taken place all over the western world since 2001 to erect a wall of secrecy around the more dubious actions of the state, and to make it a crime to breach that wall."

Coetzee joins fellow Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer in calling global attention to measures they believe are calculated to help the government conceal evidence of corruption. Gordimer, whose books were banned under white minority rule, said: "It is quite obvious why this bill has come about – the government is making no attempt to hide the truth that its intention is to aid the cover-up of corruption.

"I wrote during the apartheid regime and I fought against the apartheid regime. Three of my books were banned. What we are doing now is going back to apartheid censorship under a new guise."

Today, South Africa boasts arguably the freest press in Africa, with no shortage of revelations about shady deals or satirical cartoons lampooning politicians' foibles. Freedom of expression, including freedom of the press and other media, has been protected under the constitution. But opponents of the bill believe the gains of the past 18 years are under threat and warn that the rest of the continent is watching. In neighbouring Zimbabwe, journalists continue to be harassed and arrested, while state broadcasters remain firmly under President Robert Mugabe's control.

Andrew Feinstein, a former African National Congress (ANC) MP whose exposure of a corrupt multibillion-pound arms deal might have resulted in his prosecution under the new laws, said: "I think that if this democracy continues to weaken – and I believe it has over the past few years – there is no doubt that that has a knock-on effect, because I think for many countries in Africa the comparison is always made with South Africa as this bright shining star of democracy. If that comparison no longer holds, it lets a lot of other countries off the hook in many ways."

Nic Dawes, editor of South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper, said: "We're already hearing from people elsewhere on the continent that their politicians and government officials are saying to them: 'You see, they're even doing this in South Africa, so there's no reason why we shouldn't be doing it here.'

"That's one of the most dangerous things about the bill: the excuse it will give to other countries elsewhere in the region, that had been opening up, to begin to tip in the other direction. It's really very disturbing."

South Africa, in turn, is feeling the repercussions of the phone hacking saga and debate over press regulation in Britain, Dawes added. "Almost every time that I have a discussion with someone about either the protection of state information bill or the ANC's proposals for statutory media regulation, the British phone hacking scandal is brought up as an example of why these kinds of moves are necessary."

The governing ANC defends the bill as a necessary update to laws made 30 year ago during apartheid. The party claims it will tighten national security and is not aimed at the media. The bill is under review by South Africa's parliament and, following pressure from activists, has already been subject to many revisions.

But hopes of a climbdown on the bill were dashed on Wednesday when the state security department rejected amendments proposed by the ANC. Dennis Dlomo, the department's acting director general, rejected calls to limit the power of the ministry to delegate classification powers, reduce penalties and limit the heavy onus placed on the accused.

Dlomo also shrugged off pressure from campaigners to include a public interest defence clause, saying: "They want a post-disclosure test of public interest. We want a pre-disclosure test. The last point on this is really simple. What if a whistleblower gives away top secret, legitimately classified information?"

In response Alf Lees, an MP for the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, asked: "The department surely does not want to create the impression that it wishes to protect alleged criminals or punish those who earnestly expose corrupt and criminal behaviour?"

Keeping up pressure for reform is vital, according the civil society alliance Right2Know, which has organised protests against the bill. Murray Hunter, one of its coordinators, said: "The secrecy bill has united people across the boundaries of space, race, class and ideology – from leafy suburbs to townships and informal settlements, shop floors and office blocks, university campuses and old-age homes. We can't stop pushing now; in fact, now's the time to start."

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News Analysis: South Africa urged to boost leadership skills for BRIC

English.news.cn , By Ntandoyenkosi Ncube JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 24, 2011-01-25

South Africa's ascension to the BRIC group of major emerging economies will demand greater leadership and management skills for it to keep pace with its partners, the head of a major executive training group said Monday.

BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a forum that provides its members with opportunities to network and to initiate economic arrangements.

"Although the Johannesburg Securities Exchange rose 15 percent last year, compared to China's Shanghai composite which shed 10 percent, overall we have not kept pace with the rapid growth of our BRIC partners," AstroTech Chierf excutive officer Liza van Wyk told Xinhua on Monday.

"China has backed the inclusion of South Africa into this powerful group because China has moved fast to become Africa's dominant trading partner, but we need to ensure that is something that benefits Africans as much as Chinese and the only way to do that is to ramp up our management and leadership skills," he said.

Van Wyk said leadership courses and those for new managers especially around tricky human resource and emotional intelligence issues and export skills were heavily subscribed courses in 2010.

"Early bookings for 2011 show businesses are still concerned about the level of expertise of new managers. And managers in turn are concerned about the skills capacity of staff."

The Johannesburg based management training company said BRIC with its core membership of rapidly growing economic giants, Brazil, Russia, India and China have very hard working, low unionized and highly skilled workers that in most instances earn less than their South African counterparts.

"For South Africa to be recognized as a true partner, and not just a gateway to the continent, we need to become more competitive in prices, wages, productivity and passion passion to succeed and a willingness to endure short term sacrifices for long term growth and development. It is imperative that we reduce the amount of joblessness in our society," he said.

Economic analysts say the key to BRICS is securing the supply of raw materials needed to fire up production. South Africa's potential uranium, coal, iron ore and platinum resources are likely to be vital to meeting both energy and infrastructure needs.

South Africa is also strategically positioned to provide regional financial and services infrastructure to these two economies as they seek opportunities to exploit resources from other African countries.

South Africa, with a 285-billion U.S. dollars economy, and comparatively low growth of about 3 percent lags its BRIC companions. South Africa's economy is less than a quarter of the size of Russia's and only slightly larger than China's sixth- richest province.

However, the four economies have been looking for markets away from the heavily regulated economies of north America, Europe and parts of developed south east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa's economy grew from 322 billion dollars in 2000 to 931 billion dollars in 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund, although it has slowed significantly, in line with international markets, over the last two years.

South Africa is expected to push harder for the 15 nations of the Southern African Development Community to integrate trade and policies, the community has lagged on integrated economic systems to its ongoing disadvantage," South Africa's premier training, consulting and project management service providers said.

Van Wyk said if the leaders of SADC can show greater commitment to economic integration the region could see the economies of the whole region show much needed growth and real economic clout.

South Africa's rand has strengthened since it was invited to join BRIC, partly in expectation of an inflow of funds from realigning BRIC portfolios.

Eagles, or "emerging and growth leading economies" of which Bric is a key component are tipped to contribute about 50 percent of global growth over the next decade and will have most of the world's consumers.

Eagles include China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, Taiwan and Turkey. South Africa is on an economists watch list of 11 others up and coming states dubbed the "Eagles Nest."

"2011 could be an exceptionally important year for South Africa's economy," Van Wyk said.

The decisions made this year by business and political leaders will have a profound impact on economic growth or stagnation.

"The growing economies of the world, like China, are giving us a shove forward. We already sit on key bodies like the United Nations Security Council, now South African leaders and citizens need to provide the sort of impetus that the country needs to rebound out of recession and back to sustained growth," Van Wyk told Xinhua.

Editor: yan

White farmers leaving SA

iafrica.com, by Johannes Myburgh, Mon, 17 Jan 2011

Thousands of white South African farmers are leaving their homeland to work abroad due to post-apartheid land reforms, a shortage of affordable territory and severe water shortages.

South African farmer Lance Spear stands in his banana
plantation in Mafavuka, Mozambique. AFP

Lance Spear is among those in neighbouring Mozambique who are renting land at a fraction of the cost paid back home and where he can also pay lower wages to workers and make better profits.

"The big incentive is the availability of land and water," the 39-year-old says, as he strolls across the dark brown, rain-soaked soil of his 200-acre (81-hectare) banana plantation in Mozambique.

"South Africa doesn't have any land or water. It's all gone," he adds, watching 20 workers pack freshly-picked bananas into boxes headed across the border to South Africa or to markets in the local capital Maputo.

Although South Africa will soon join the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) group of global emerging nations, talk of the country being a regional economic powerhouse rings hollow to Spear.

Five years ago, the third-generation planter joined a growing group of white South African farmers who have left the rainbow nation.

Around 1500 South Africans have established farms in 23 African countries as far as Egypt and Sudan, most going to Mozambique, in the past decade, according to Agri South Africa (AgriSA), the national trade association.

In the same timeframe, around 4000 others have started afresh in Canada, Australia, South America and the Middle East, farming-hungry countries keen to attract expert producers with tax reductions, subsidies and free imports.

They have felt forced to move because after apartheid ended in 1994, the government launched a project to return 30 percent of the country's 104 million acres to the black majority. At the time blacks, who form more than 80 percent of the population, lived on only seven percent of its land.

Due for completion in 2014, the government project is lagging far behind target, however, with only five percent of territory redistributed by the end of last year, a worrying trend that has made farmers nervous to invest.

Some countries have already benefited from South African expertise. In only four years food-scarce Zambia has become a net food exporter after a group of 34 South African and Zimbabwean farmers turned around its agricultural output.

Only 10 percent of Mozambique's arable land is being farmed, though it has four times more high potential agricultural territory than South Africa.

At a recent conference in the central Mozambican city of Xai-Xai to attract South African farmers, Dikgang Moopeloa, the rainbow nation's ambassador to Mozambique said regional development would be boosted by the migration.

Profitability, however, is the main reason for the exodus, according to Theo de Jager, vice president of AgriSA.

"A farmer in Mozambique will make more money because he has to spend less," says De Jager, alluding to high input costs in South Africa that have driven out all but the largest operators.

"There isn't space to expand," he adds. "The policy to redistribute a quarter of the land aggravates this."

Dairy farmer Tobias Fourie, 36, attended the conference to scout for opportunities to expand the family business, backing up what De Jager says is a trend of South Africans looking abroad to expand.

"Would you invest in land if you know they're going to take it?" Fourie asked, alluding to Pretoria's land reforms.

"I am a positive South African. Only the unfinished land claims make me negative."

Widely-publicised farm murders have also contributed to the anxiety of whites, with at least 1,200 farmers killed during violent robberies over the past 20 years.

Yet farmers moving elsewhere on the continent do not leave simply because of political issues, says De Jager.

"If they are negative in South Africa they will not farm in (the rest of) Africa, because the situation there is worse," he adds.

The lion kings?

A more hopeful continent

The economist, Jan 6th 2011 | from PRINT EDITION

MUCH has been written about the rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the shift in economic power eastward as Asia outruns the rest of the world. But the surprising success story of the past decade lies elsewhere. An analysis by The Economist finds that over the ten years to 2010, no fewer than six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa (see table).

The only BRIC country to make the top ten was China, in second place behind Angola. The other five African sprinters were Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda, all with annual growth rates of around 8% or more. During the two decades to 2000 only one African economy (Uganda) made the top ten, against nine from Asia. On IMF forecasts Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years (our ranking excludes countries with a population of less than 10m as well as Iraq and Afghanistan, which could both rebound strongly in the years ahead).

Over the past decade sub-Saharan Africa’s real GDP growth rate jumped to an annual average of 5.7%, up from only 2.4% over the previous two decades. That beat Latin America’s 3.3%, but not emerging Asia’s 7.9%. Asia’s stunning performance largely reflects the vast weight of China and India; most economies saw much slower growth, such as 4% in South Korea and Taiwan. The simple unweighted average of countries’ growth rates was virtually identical in Africa and Asia.

Over the next five years Africa’s is likely to take the lead (see chart). In other words, the average African economy will outpace its Asian counterpart. Looking even farther ahead, Standard Chartered forecasts that Africa’s economy will grow at an average annual rate of 7% over the next 20 years, slightly faster than China’s.

So it should, of course. Poorer economies have more potential for catch-up growth. The scandal was that Africa’s real GDP per head fell for so many years. In 1980 Africans had an average income per head almost four times bigger than the Chinese. Today the Chinese are more than three times richer. Africa’s rapidly rising population still dampens its growth in real income per head but that, too, has risen by an annual rate of 3% since 2000—almost twice as fast as the global average.

For Western firms Africa’s economy still looks tiny, accounting for only 2% of world output. Emerging Asia’s is ten times larger. But Africa’s share is rising, not only because of brisker growth but because GDP has been seriously understated in many economies. In November the size of Ghana’s economy was revised up by a massive 75% after government statisticians improved their data and added in industries such as telecoms. Other countries are likely to revise their GDP levels and growth rates upward over the coming years.

Africa’s changing fortunes have largely been driven by China’s surging demand for raw materials and higher commodity prices, but other factors have also counted. Africa has benefited from big inflows of foreign direct investment, especially from China, as well as foreign aid and debt relief. Urbanisation and rising incomes have fuelled faster growth in domestic demand.

Economic management has improved, too. Government revenues have been bolstered in recent years by high commodity prices and rapid growth. But instead of going on a spending spree as in the past some governments, such as Tanzania’s and Mozambique’s, have put money aside, cushioning their economies in the recession.

Some ambled through the decade rather than sprinted. Africa’s biggest economy by far, South Africa, is one of its laggards: it posted average annual growth of only 3.5% over the past decade. Indeed, it may be overtaken in size by Nigeria within ten to 15 years if Nigeria’s bold banking reforms are extended to the power and the oil industries. But the big challenge for all mineral exporters will be providing jobs for a population expected to grow by 50% between 2010 and 2030.

Commodity-driven growth does not generate many jobs; and commodity prices could fall. So governments need to diversify their economies. There are some glimmers. Countries such as Uganda and Kenya that do not depend on mineral exports are also growing faster than before, partly because they have increased manufacturing exports. Standard Chartered thinks that Africa could become a significant manufacturing centre.

Formidable obstacles to Africa’s continued progress loom, among them political instability, the weak rule of law, chronic corruption, infrastructure bottlenecks, and poor health and education. Without reforms, Africa will not be able to sustain faster growth. But its lion economies are earning a place alongside Asia’s tigers.

from PRINT EDITION | Finance and Economics

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