New York - NATO ships have arrived off the Somali coast to begin escorting relief convoys for Somalia, which has lost critical food supplies from the World Food Programme (WFP) to pirates in the past year, the UN said Wednesday. WFP, backed by the Somali government, requested military vessel escorts to thwart future hijacking of cargo ships carrying food and medicine supplies for Somalia.
The UN Security Council earlier this month authorized use of force by UN members to fight the wave of piracy and armed robbery endangering cargo ships as well as luxury cruise ships plying the waters off Somalia.
The Netherlands announced Wednesday it will deploy the HMS De Ruyter naval ship at the request of Somalia's transitional government. The Dutch government has decided to provide escort to replace Canada, which was to withdraw its own vessels on Thursday.
WFP said NATO vessels have arrived in the area, but have not yet begun escorting duties. Talks were being held to agree on terms of collaboration from the two sides, WFP said.
It said it will start delivering emergency supplies of highly nutritional peanut-based food in the next six months to 64,000 Somali children suffering malnutrition.
Somali officials said in Mogadishu on Wednesday that security forces in the semi-autonomous Puntland region freed a hijacked Indian ship after a gun battle, capturing four pirates in the process.
"Our forces successfully concluded an operation to free the Indian dhow without any casualties," Ali Abdi Aware, state-minister for the northern breakaway region of Puntland, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The ship and its crew were due to arrive in the port of Bosasso Wednesday morning, Aware said.
The Indian vessel was the 30th ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia this year, as gunmen look to cash in on increasingly large ransoms
Another ship, Ukraine's MV Faina and its cargo of 33 T-72 tanks and other military equipment bound for Kenya, is still being held by pirates.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Peace Corps returns to Liberia after long absence
DAKAR, Senegal - The Peace Corps will return to war-ravaged Liberia on Sunday for the first time since fighting erupted nearly two decades ago, its goal to help rebuild the West African nation's shattered education system.
Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century, has struggled to turn itself around since the brutal war ended in 2003 and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office two years later. The return of the Peace Corps, which pulled out shortly after rebels invaded the country in late 1989, is a sign of confidence in Sirleaf, a Harvard-edcuated economist and Africa's first elected female head of state.
"Sirleaf has done a tremendous job of bringing this country back from chaos and we want to be part of moving her country forward as rapidly as possible," Peace Corps director Ronald A. Tschetter told The Associated Press in an interview from Washington, D.C. "This is a huge step for us to go back."
Liberia's back-to-back wars, which lasted from 1989 to 2003, sparked vicious factional fighting that killed an estimated 250,000 and displaced millions. Charles Taylor, who launched the 1989 invasion, is now jailed in The Hague facing war crimes charges.
Tschetter said Sirleaf had been calling for the Peace Corps to return and urged it to focus on what she saw as the most crucial need: education.
Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century, has struggled to turn itself around since the brutal war ended in 2003 and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office two years later. The return of the Peace Corps, which pulled out shortly after rebels invaded the country in late 1989, is a sign of confidence in Sirleaf, a Harvard-edcuated economist and Africa's first elected female head of state.
"Sirleaf has done a tremendous job of bringing this country back from chaos and we want to be part of moving her country forward as rapidly as possible," Peace Corps director Ronald A. Tschetter told The Associated Press in an interview from Washington, D.C. "This is a huge step for us to go back."
Liberia's back-to-back wars, which lasted from 1989 to 2003, sparked vicious factional fighting that killed an estimated 250,000 and displaced millions. Charles Taylor, who launched the 1989 invasion, is now jailed in The Hague facing war crimes charges.
Tschetter said Sirleaf had been calling for the Peace Corps to return and urged it to focus on what she saw as the most crucial need: education.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Minister’s Altech appeal to be heard early next month – Icasa
Communication Minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's appeal against the August 29 Altech value-added network service (Vans) judgement would be heard in November, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) said on Tuesday.
Icasa spokesperson Sekgoela Sekgoela confirmed that the appeal would be heard on November 5 and November 7.
The Minister announced in September that the government would appeal the High Court's judgement that Altech Autopage Cellular had the right to convert its Vans licence into an individual electronic communications network service (I-ECNS) licence.
This would allow Altech Autopage Cellular to develop and operate its own communications network.
At the time of lodging the appeal, Matsepe-Casaburri had stated that if Vans licensees were allowed to obtain I-ECNS licences under licence conversions, government's managed-liberalisation policy would be seriously undermined to the detriment of the industry.
However, the Minister's appeal had been widely criticised by other telecommunications providers and service providers, as well as political parties.
Meanwhile, the Minister had, on Friday, applied for an urgent interdict to prevent Icasa from issuing Altech with an I-ECNS licence.
Manuel defends inflation targeting, but opens door to Alliance positions
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel strongly defended government's inflation-targeting policy on Tuesday, saying it provided a vital anchor in the context of financial market turmoil.
His remarks, which were made together with the release of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), followed only days after the ruling African National Congress' alliance partners met at an economic-policy summit, during which inflation targeting came in for some heavy criticism.
In his address to the National Assembly, Manuel argued that the moderation of inflation "must remain a central policy objective, particularly as we seek to expand investment and job creation under conditions of heightened business uncertainty".
African cotton farmers granted US$ 4.5 million by the French Development Agency
Panafrica - Mali - France
The French Development Agency has granted US$ 4.5 million to the African Cotton Producers Association (APROCA) to support the development of the genetically-modified (GM) and organic cotton in West and Central Africa, a French diplomatic source has said. French Ambassador to Mali Michel Reveyrand de Menthon will sign the funding agreement Saturday, 18 October.
The project, costing US$ 11.8 million, seeks to have cotton producers from the zone and textile operators from the continent take advantage of the fair trade and the booming biological agriculture as well as maximizing their effects in terms of positive impact on the whole industry. It also seeks to promote African cotton on the global market and to serve as a tool to improve the sustainability and quality of the production.
It will further help devise a regional strategy in an attempt to strengthen and expand GM and organic cotton sub-industries according to the demand and ensure their leverage effect in promoting the Africa cotton and its competitiveness and professionalise farmers’ organisations. The project will also develop market shares for the GM and organic cotton from Africa in textile products on the northern markets to enable more African producers’ organisations improve their revenue generation. (Friday 17 October - 17:56)
The project, costing US$ 11.8 million, seeks to have cotton producers from the zone and textile operators from the continent take advantage of the fair trade and the booming biological agriculture as well as maximizing their effects in terms of positive impact on the whole industry. It also seeks to promote African cotton on the global market and to serve as a tool to improve the sustainability and quality of the production.
It will further help devise a regional strategy in an attempt to strengthen and expand GM and organic cotton sub-industries according to the demand and ensure their leverage effect in promoting the Africa cotton and its competitiveness and professionalise farmers’ organisations. The project will also develop market shares for the GM and organic cotton from Africa in textile products on the northern markets to enable more African producers’ organisations improve their revenue generation. (Friday 17 October - 17:56)
Global village slowly going digital
2008-10-21 10:12:11
By Guardian Reporter
Computers are increasingly ubiquitous in the developing world as software and internet companies create operating systems, computing programmes, and web-based portals in hundreds of indigenous languages.
In Africa the digital divide remains vast, despite the growing numbers of computers in schools, businesses and homes; according to the International Telecommunication Union, only 5 percent of Africa`s estimated 800 million people accessed the internet in 2007, and desktops and laptops still require a basic degree of computer literacy, even in indigenous languages.
Computing technology in local and marginalised languages is another tool with which to address humanitarian issues, such as helping farmers and boosting regional food security efforts.
They also can be a boon to small business creation and economic development, as well as language preservation.
In KwaDukuza, on the northern coast of South Africa`s KwaZulu-Natal Province, rural farmers flood the local computer lab to use computers in Zulu, one of South Africa`s 11 official languages.
Visitors browse the internet using Google`s Zulu search engine, in which Ngizizwa Nginehlanhla replaces the tab ``I`m feeling lucky`` on the home page.
``A lot of rural farmers are coming all the way into town to access these computers and the internet,`` said Alan Govender, manager of a communications centre in KwaDukuza.
Polokwane airport to attract tourists , grow economy
Date: 22 Oct 2008
By Edwin Tshivhidzo, tel:(012) 314-2454
Polokwane - The new state-of-the art Polokwane International Airport is set to attract more foreign tourists and contribute to growing the province's economy during and well beyond the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
As a host city, Polokwane will benefit tremendously from the new international terminal when thousands of soccer fans from around the world stream into the province.
It is expected that the Polokwane Airport will service about 200 000 passengers per annum. It is also set to become the international gateway to Africa due to its position in southern Africa.
Opening the new building terminal, Limpopo MEC for Roads and Transport Justice Piitso said on Tuesday the airport would become one of the fastest growing in the region, servicing not just the country but the entire Southern African Development Community.
"We will be going all out to woo investors, both domestic and foreign so that they can come and join hands with us, the infrastructure that we are putting in place will be reason enough for those who want to join hands with us in our endeavour to grow the economy and create decent and sustainable jobs," said MEC Piitso.
Polokwane Mayor Thabo Makunyane, expressed delight at the new airport building saying this was a major milestone in preparing to host matches in 2010.
"We will now be able to welcome everybody to our province," he said.
Airport Board Chairperson Laduma Thebe said the new building had already boosted staff morale. The staff would be vital in ensuring the tourists felt welcome on their arrival.
Construction on the new building was started in 2001 and was finally completed this year.
Also speaking at the event, Director General from the National Department of Transport Mpumi Mpofu said the province should take full advantage of the airport, to strengthen its role in the economic growth of the province," she said.
Ms Mpumi expressed confidence that the airport will be able to meet demand as it grows and becomes busier.
Meanwhile, the construction of new stadium in Polokwane is well underway, it was reported at the event. - BuaNews
By Edwin Tshivhidzo, tel:
Polokwane - The new state-of-the art Polokwane International Airport is set to attract more foreign tourists and contribute to growing the province's economy during and well beyond the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
As a host city, Polokwane will benefit tremendously from the new international terminal when thousands of soccer fans from around the world stream into the province.
It is expected that the Polokwane Airport will service about 200 000 passengers per annum. It is also set to become the international gateway to Africa due to its position in southern Africa.
Opening the new building terminal, Limpopo MEC for Roads and Transport Justice Piitso said on Tuesday the airport would become one of the fastest growing in the region, servicing not just the country but the entire Southern African Development Community.
"We will be going all out to woo investors, both domestic and foreign so that they can come and join hands with us, the infrastructure that we are putting in place will be reason enough for those who want to join hands with us in our endeavour to grow the economy and create decent and sustainable jobs," said MEC Piitso.
Polokwane Mayor Thabo Makunyane, expressed delight at the new airport building saying this was a major milestone in preparing to host matches in 2010.
"We will now be able to welcome everybody to our province," he said.
Airport Board Chairperson Laduma Thebe said the new building had already boosted staff morale. The staff would be vital in ensuring the tourists felt welcome on their arrival.
Construction on the new building was started in 2001 and was finally completed this year.
Also speaking at the event, Director General from the National Department of Transport Mpumi Mpofu said the province should take full advantage of the airport, to strengthen its role in the economic growth of the province," she said.
Ms Mpumi expressed confidence that the airport will be able to meet demand as it grows and becomes busier.
Meanwhile, the construction of new stadium in Polokwane is well underway, it was reported at the event. - BuaNews
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