| Daily Press Cuttings |  |
| Daily Press Cuttings | |
Friday 18th August 2000
FT: Kenya: Focus on the role of micro-finance in Kenya, which is keeping Kenya's poor from destitution. Since its foundation in 1984, backed by the US development agency USAid and later the Ford Foundation and the British government's development arm, K-Rep has proved one of Africa's most dynamic micro-finance institutions. It now services more than 600 micro-finance groups and has 15 000 clients. Brazil/digital divide: Article looks at the potential impact of the internet on Brazil. The country, which has placed little importance on providing even a basic schooling for the majority of its population, the internet poses an enormous challenge: without substantial and rapid improvements in the skills needed to use computers, the internet could erect social barriers, not tear them down. Oil: Crude oil futures rose sharply yesterday following remarks by the president of OPEC that members would not act to increase oil production in advance of their September 10 meeting in Vienna. Prices closed just under $32 a barrel.
IHT: Africa/Asia: David Dichter of the NGO “Technology for the People” argues that the case for transferring a wide range of production technologies from companies in South and Southeast Asia and China to prospective collaborators in sub-Saharan Africa is overwhelming. Given the proper encouragement, such transfers could be Africa's wave of the future. Nigeria: Official corruption remains a critical problem as Nigeria strives to repair its economy. but for the first time in recent memory, some senior government officials are being held publicly accountable for malfeasance. The House of Representatives removed its speaker for faking a university degree and the Senate impeached its president amid allegations he had concealed a criminal conviction.
Times: South Africa: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a strong critic of apartheid, is retiring from public life because of ill health. Immigration/Spain: Report on a new electronic warning system to be installed along Spain's southern sea border to repel illegal immigrants from Africa. The radar technology is designed to make Europe's southern border impenetrable to the record number of immigrants arriving this year, especially from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Mali and Senegal.
Guardian: Arms/UK: Comment by Ewan MacAskill under the headline “No Defence” which questions whether arms sales to dubious regimes are worth the damage caused to Britain's reputation. The Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday that Britain is the second biggest exporter of arms and responsible for 22 per cent of arms sales world-wide. Halting sales to contentious countries such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe, which account for about a third of the total, would mean the loss of about 40 000 jobs. The writer suggests that this would be a relatively small loss compared to the damage to Britain's image.
Wall Street Journal: Mexico: President elect Vicente Fox Quesada has announced that the economy is not overheating. Rapid economic growth of 7.8 per cent in the first half of the year has led some advisors to urge a curb on government spending.
The Economist: Commodities: The World Bank is looking to promote an initiative to help poor farmers use financial hedging techniques to secure a minimum price for their harvests. The initiative is known as the International Task Force on Commodity Risk Management in Developing Countries (ITF). Pilot projects are now planned for countries such as Uganda.
FT: Kenya/IMF: The IMF is to review the terms of its poverty reduction and growth facility with Kenya to take account of the country's most serious drought in years, a senior IMF official said yesterday. The IMF announced last month that it had approved a $198 million three-year PRGF to Kenya, almost exactly three years after it had suspended an ESAF due to concerns over corruption and the slow pace of reform. The new loan does not take into account the drought which is threatening the lives of more than 3 million people—graphically highlighted by an influx of desperate Masai pastoralists into central Nairobi. Most analysts believe that the economy is not likely to grow this year—a disaster for a country whose population is growing at more than 2 per cent a year.
Wall Street Journal: Congo (Kinshasa): Report on the collapse of peace talks aimed at ending conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Heads of state from southern and eastern Africa were unable to reach agreement at a meeting in Lusaka. One stumbling block is that Congolese President Laurent Kabila has refused to allow unhindered deployment of UN peace-keepers. Failure to revive the peace process may deter foreign investment and also threatens the stability of the whole continent. Brazil: Last week Brazil posted its fastest quarterly economic growth in three years and is recovering from the harsh effects of the 1999 currency devaluation. Mexico: GDP rose 7.6 per cent for the period Apr-Jun 2000.
IHT: UN/Congo (Kinshasa): UN Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Wednesday that he wanted to re-evaluate the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo because the cease-fire that UN troops were supposed to help implement was being regularly broken.
The Independent: Zimbabwe/environment: Zimbabwe's population of black rhino and other endangered species could be at serious risk because of an increase in poaching amid the country's political unrest, the World Wide Fund for Nature said yesterday. Turkey/UK/Environment: Balfour Beatty, the construction group, raised the stakes yesterday in the debate over official British involvement with Turkey's controversial Ilisu Dam project, saying it would pull out of the venture if export aid is not granted.
Guardian: Environment: Article by science editor Tim Radford on recent research which shows that levels of Greenhouse gases are at their highest for twenty years. Pressure will increase on governments to implement international agreements. Turkey: Report on the aftermath of the earthquake last year which killed more than 17000 people. Victims still seek compensation, nearly 200 000 are still living in temporary accommodation and thousands of criminal investigations have not yet led to any charges being brought. The estimated cost of the earthquake is more than £6 billion.
Daily Telegraph: Zimbabwe: Article by David Blair which suggests that the voice of democracy is now being heard in Zimbabwe's parliament since the election in June. With 57 member of the opposition elected noisy debate and criticism of government policy is now a much more regular occurrence.
FT: Congo (Kinshasa): Regional heads of state yesterday emerged tired and frustrated in Lusaka from a failed 18-hour attempt to revive the now moribund peace accord for Congo. President Laurent Kabila would not move on the crucial issues of allowing Ketumile Masire, the former Botswana leader, to facilitate an inter-Congolese dialogue, and on permitting the secure deployment of UN peacekeepers. Sudan: Humanitarian relief flights to war-torn southern Sudan will resume today after a week-long suspension, Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, announced yesterday. Oil: Crude oil prices hit a 10-year high yesterday amid concerns about low petroleum stock levels in the US and tough talk from a leading member of OPEC, Venezuela. The price in London closed at just over $32 a barrel.
Guardian: Tanzania: The Tanzanian government said yesterday that an estimated 2.8 million people faced serious food shortages because the seasonal rains had failed for almost two years. It added that half the areas in the central, northern and Lake Victoria regions would be dependent on food aid for the next five to seven months.
IHT: Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone said Tuesday that rebel leader Foday Sankoh would be tried in a UN war crimes court for atrocities committed after a peace deal to end the country's civil war was signed in July 1999. AIDS/Zambia: Article looks at the damage AIDS is inflicting on the education sector in Africa. 1300 teachers died of AIDS in the first 10 months of 1998 in Zambia—that is about two-thirds of all teachers trained each year and more than double the number who died in 1997. Dr Peter Piot, the executive director of UNAIDS, said earlier this year that “AIDS constitutes one of the biggest crises and the biggest threats to the global education agenda we have known.”
The Times: Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has nullified all postal votes in the June elections, as the only people allowed to use them were 11000 troops in the Congo. The opposition party said that this would boost its challenge to some seats won by Zanu (PF).
Daily Telegraph: Conflict/Oxfam: Letter from Phil Bloomer of Oxfam argues that humanitarian agencies are the most cost-effective method of dealing with traumatised refugees. He says that it is crucial that agencies such as Oxfam remain neutral and impartial if they are to provide assistance according to need and on both sides of the conflict.
FT: Congo (Kinshasa): African presidents were holding talks last night in Zambia in an attempt to salvage an agreement to end the two-year war in Congo, which has dragged in at least half-a-dozen nations and is destabilising a vast swathe of the continent. Jubilee 2000: (Friday's international edition) Letter from Marlene Barrett, Head of Campaigns at Jubilee 2000 in response to a recent article on debt relief by professors Krueger and Srinivasan. She argues that the professors are looking at the problem of poverty and debt from the wrong end of the telescope. The call for debt cancellation is not about “forgiveness” or letting “bad governments” off the hook, but about recognising responsibility of both lenders and borrowers. There is an urgent need for fairer and more transparent mechanisms to ensure financial flows benefit the poorest people in the world. UNICEF/Jubilee 2000: Letter from Angela Travis of Unicef UK also responds to the article. She challenges the conclusions of the article and points out that it completely ignored the role of lenders in the debt crisis. Reckless lending lined the pockets of Mobutu in Zaire despite documentary evidence that funds were being diverted. “Debt cancellation should not be dismissed in an attempt to argue for increased aid—if we are serious about tackling global poverty, both debt cancellation and increased aid are vital steps.” Somalia: The president of Somaliland, Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, has called for his self-declared republic to be accorded special status by the UN to allow it to pursue separate development outside Somalia. Nigeria: The Nigerian government will be advised by US investment bank Salomon Smith Barney on the possible forced restructuring of the country's commercial debt obligations. The plan forms part of a debt initiative for Nigeria with the IMF and Paris Club of official creditors. The discussions follow a $1 billion loan secured from the IMF earlier this month. Ecuador: Ecuador said it had received tenders from more than 85 per cent of bond-holders to swap a total of $6.65 billion in defaulted debt obligations for new bonds. Hedge funds: Chairman of the Financial Services Authority says that the lessons of the financial near catastrophe caused by hedge funds are being easily forgotten.
IHT: Sierra Leone: The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Monday to set up a war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone, where brutal rebel armies have used torture, amputation of limbs and the destruction of villages to intimidate civilians. Washington Post leader expresses support for the US decision to send soldiers to West Africa to train battalions from Nigeria for peacekeeping in Sierra Leone.
The Times: Pakistan: Pakistan's military regime yesterday outlined a plan for the gradual restoration of democracy beginning with local elections by July next year. Japan: Debt owed by bankrupt Japanese companies soared to record levels and is set to increase further after last week's interest rate rise. Debt owed by failed companies reached a post-war high of Yen 4.26 trillion (£26 billion) in July.
Guardian: UN/environment: Front page report on a crackdown by the UN on illegal fishing which threatens endangered species of fish. Pirate fishing has doubled in the last decade and now accounts for one quarter of the world's fish catch. Internationally agreed controls should be agreed at a meeting in Rome in October.
Independent: Congo: Ten African leaders including President Kabila met in Lusaka yesterday in an attempt to salvage the peace accord and pave the way for deploying UN peace-keepers. Western Sahara: Two letters in response to Peter Hain's comments on Western Sahara which criticise appeasement of the new Moroccan king and point out the severe problems facing the Saharawi people in refugee camps.
Telegraph: AIDS/South Africa: Article by Anton La Guardia reporting on the dispute over President Mbeki's views on AIDS. The president has accused Tony Leon, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, of “entrenched white racism” and criticises his “contempt for African solutions.” Mexico: The new president Vicente Fox has appealed to the US to open the border and urged for closer economic union. Citing the EU as an example the president has called for NAFTA to open borders between its members.
IHT: World Bank/IMF/Prague: Report on preparations in Prague in the run up to the annual IMF & World Bank meetings. The Interior Ministry of the Czech Republic will have 11000 police on duty and major shopping chains are ordering replacement glass or closing. Czech police have been liasing with US police and the FBI. Officials expect 20000 to 50000 demonstrators in the largest protests since 1989 and the largest invasion of foreigners since the Soviets invaded in 1968. Côte d'Ivoire: General Robert Guei, who took power in December after Côte d'Ivoire's first military coup, has decided to run for president despite strong protests from major political parties and traditional foreign allies. World Trade: A UN-appointed study team calls the World Trade Organisation a “nightmare” for developing countries and suggested the body should be brought under UN scrutiny.
The Independent: India: Medical teams with vaccines to help combat the threat of epidemics have been deployed in India's flood-devastated north-eastern states, where more rain is forecast, a government official said yesterday. About 300 people are feared dead and millions have been left homeless by monsoon flooding in north and north-east India, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Congo (Kinshasa)/USA: The revelation that President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the CIA to “eliminate” Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Congo has again turned the spotlight on a country that, 40 years after independence, remains the world's biggest and most anarchic battleground.
Wall Street Journal: World Bank/India: Article by Michael M Phillips entitled “Can World Bank Lend Money Without Hurting the Poor?” which reports on the effect of a World Bank loan of $530 million for expanding or modernising coal mining in India. Despite pledges from Bank officials that the project would do no harm, thousands of villagers have been displaced and now live in a “resettlement colony” with no drinkable water or shops. World Bank staff have conceded disappointment with another massive Third World investment which has exacted a severe toll on citizens. The loan was cancelled in July with only half the money disbursed. However officials have confirmed that the experience with Coal India does not affect the other 79 loans to the country which have a total value of about $11.5 billion.
FT: Brazil: FT leader says that the panic of January 1999 seems a distant memory for Brazil after it successfully persuaded investors last week to buy 40-year bonds. The economy grew by 3.8 per cent in the first six months. However, Brazil's leaders must not forget the lessons of the 1999 crisis. OECD: Rocked by the criticism of a series of independent reports, the OECD is facing one of the biggest challenges in its 39-year history: the reform of its outdated, opaque financial systems and the way it manages its $200 million a year budget.
The Guardian: Senegal/environment: Focus on the world crisis in fish stocks and its impact, which can be a matter of life and death for the fishermen of Senegal. What used to be caught in an afternoon can now take three days, and the main reason for the diminished stocks is the insatiable appetite of the trawlers from the industrialised countries. UK/Africa: Southern African leaders may ask UK prime minister Tony Blair to visit the region to hear their concern about Britain's approach to the Zimbabwe land crisis. Spain/Africa: Article looks at the extraordinary risks being taken by Africans seeking to migrate to the EU.
The Times: Japan/aid: Japan wields its huge foreign aid budget to coerce developing nations into supporting its whaling interests, even threatening to withdraw aid from small countries unless they vote with Tokyo at the International Whaling Commission, a former minister from Dominica alleged yesterday.
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