Finally: Zim deal signed

Article By:

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:30

Zimbabweans on Friday waited to hear details of a power-sharing deal reached by the country's political rivals in a bid to end a bitter crisis after marathon talks that centred on how much authority President Robert Mugabe would cede.
South African President Thabo Mbeki — who has long served as mediator in the talks — announced the agreement in Harare on Thursday, where he had been since earlier in the week to try to overcome a deadlock in the negotiations.
"An agreement has been reached on all items on the agenda... all of them endorsed the document tonight, signed it," Mbeki told reporters. Details of the deal were not released and Mbeki said the agreement would be made public only after a formal signing ceremony scheduled for Monday.

http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/1146400.htm

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Warns of Faltering Goals on Aid, Trade

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 4 (IPS) - When the United Nations approved a set of development goals on poverty, health, gender empowerment, and sustainable environment back in September 2000, it laid down a deadline of 2015 to reach these targets.

Of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) endorsed by the General Assembly, seven had a clear-cut deadline of 2015 as the target date.

But the eighth goal -- a North-South partnership for development, mostly underlying the obligations of Western industrial nations -- did not carry a rigid deadline.

"The deadlines were meant for the poor, not for the rich," says one cynical Third World development expert, who has been tracking the status of MDGs since their inception.

The eighth goal (MDG8) calls for a substantial increase in development aid; reduction or cancellation of developing countries' debts; removal of protectionist barriers for agricultural products; and access for developing nations to western markets.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43793

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Why The Richest Continent Is Also The Poorest

By Miriam Mannak

ACCRA, Sep 5 (IPS) - The ecological impact of natural resource exploitation on the lives of the poor in Africa and other regions is not being addressed sufficiently in aid effectiveness and development discussions, aid experts say.

"Africa is known as one of the richest parts of the world when it comes to natural resources, yet it is also the poorest region -- despite the natural wealth and the aid flow," said Charles Mutasa, executive director of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) – a Zimbabwe-based NGO working on Africa's debt problem.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43808

Denel seeks more equity partnerships

September 12, 2008

By Roy Cokayne

Pretoria - Denel is in negotiations with local and international defence firms to conclude equity partnerships for some of the defence parastatal's other businesses.

Talib Sadik, Denel's acting group chief executive, said the company was looking for an equity partnership for its missiles business and the broader Denel Dynamics entity.

"We are in discussions with an interested party. Those discussions are at an exploratory stage," he said this week at a presentation of Denel's latest financial results

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_&fArticleId=4606522

RMB seeks room to grow in east and west Africa

September 12, 2008

By Serena Chaudhry

Johannesburg - Investment banking and asset management group Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) would seek to grow into east and west Africa and was currently in exploratory talks with a Nigerian party, newly appointed chief executive Alan Pullinger said yesterday.

Pullinger said that his focus for RMB would be on growth opportunities. He singled out Kenya and Nigeria as countries where the company could seek to expand its investment banking business.

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_&fArticleId=4606560

Slowdown in local economy forecast to be over by 2010

September 12, 2008

By Tom Robbins

The local economic slowdown, which had "no dramatic implications at all", was expected to be over by 2010, resulting in a return of buoyant consumers, according to a report by researcher Planet Retail.

In a report titled Sizing Up the Crunch: World Retail Outlook 2008, released this month, authors Boris Planer and Sarah Herrlein say that consumer price increases should slow down markedly from next year.

This, coupled with rising employment due to high commodity export prices, would lead to economic growth picking up from about 4 percent to "closer to 5 percent" in 2010.

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_&fArticleId=4606561

Blackouts, strikes put mines into a tailspin

September 12, 2008

By Ethel Hazelhurst

Johannesburg - Strikes and disrupted electricity supply contributed to a disastrous performance by the mining sector in the second quarter. The loss of production has implications not just for mining companies' profits but for the whole economy, possibly leading to job losses.

Figures from Statistics SA, released yesterday, show that mining production was 6.6 percent lower in the second quarter than it was a year earlier, and 12.6 percent lower in July than in the same month last year

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_&fArticleId=4606513