BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali has produced 2,451,321 tonnes of rice as it approaches the end of the 2015/16 harvest, up 13 percent from last season but short of an initial forecast, government statistics showed on Thursday.
The landlocked country, the second-largest rice producer in Africa behind Nigeria, will largely finish harvesting this month and continue marketing its production next year.
The remaining harvesting is unlikely to add significantly to the season’s total output.
“The increase this year is generally explained by good rain, an increase in planted land, new strains like ‘Nerica’, the use of more fertiliser especially with the help of subsidies,” said Balla Keia, head the rural development ministry’s statistics division.
Last season, the West African country produced 2,166,830 tonnes of paddy rice and had projected a record 2,599,450 tonne rice crop, with a surplus of 285,000 tonnes above expected domestic consumption.
(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; writing by Makini Brice; editing by Joe Bavier and Jason Neely)
Liberian American Saran Kaba Jones believes assuring access to clean water is the essential first step to rebuilding the war-torn West African nation.
At times recovery from the devastation of war seems intractable, even hopeless. But a 33-year-old woman whose family fled the civil war in Liberia when she was a child is proving otherwise.
Saran Kaba Jones, a Liberian American woman, founded FACE Africa in 2009 to help Liberians gain access to clean drinking water in the wake of her native country’s 14-year civil war. By the time the conflict ended in 2003, Liberia was in ruins – roads, schools, factories destroyed and no electricity or running water.
Jones believes providing access to water is an essential first step in addressing other problems such as lack of education and employment and rebuilding the shattered nation.
Water unlocks opportunity
“We view water as a true catalyst for change and it doesn’t just solve the issue of health, but it’s a holistic sort of development issue,” said Jones, who is the nonprofit organization’s executive director.
In its nearly seven years of existence, FACT Africa has worked with local residents to build 50 well projects that serve 25,000 people in 35 communities in Liberia. The organization has also trained 300 local pump mechanics.
A more recent effort is WASH, a project to provide water, sanitation, and hygiene awareness to local schools in response to the West African country’s Ebola outbreak.
According to UNICEF, 55 percent of Liberia’s schools do not have access to water, 43 percent do not have functional latrines and 80 percent do not have hand-washing facilities.
Local community engagement boosts success
A key aspect of FACE Africa’s effort is that local residents are engaged from the outset and communities take ownership of the water projects once they are operational. All of the projects so far continue to be fully functional, according to FACE Africa.
“Our projects utilize local materials, local labor and ingenuity and ownership is transferred to the communities upon completion. More importantly, we focus on optimizing sustainability of our water projects by forming long-lasting, collaborative relationships with communities,” FACE said.
Jones said she realized the importance of access to clean water in 2008 when she returned to her native country for the first time since her family fled the war when she was 8 years old. The family lived in Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt, France and Cypress before she attended college and settled in the United States.
Priority was education
She was initially focused on education, having contributed small scholarship assistance to a family friend in Liberia. But the visit convinced her that access to clean drinking water had to be addressed before significant improvements could follow in other areas.
“My interest at the time was education, but when I got to Liberia, one of the things I started to see was that one of the major impediments to education was the lack of clean drinking water,” she said. “Kids were getting sick and not showing up to school for long periods of time because they were drinking contaminated water.”
Empowering women
Jones also saw a connection between water and the empowerment of women and girls, who may spend as much as 60 percent of their day walking to collect water, robbing them of opportunities to work or go to school.
“One of the biggest impediments to women’s growth and development is the lack of clean water. Women and girls are the ones responsible for walking long distances to fetch water. I came to the realization that the basic necessity of clean water had to be met before any other area of development can be tackled. That’s what led me to focus on water, rather than education.’’
The UN estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses 40 billion potential work hours per year collecting water. FACE Africa estimates its 50 projects have saved 1 million work hours to date.
Africa hard hit
Lack of access to water is a global problem and Africa is particularly hard hit. According to FACE Africa, 663 million people globally do not have access to safe water supplies and more than half of them are in Africa. Globally, two million people die each year from water-related diseases. According to the World Bank, water-related diseases kill more African children less than five years of age than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
FACE Africa, based in Cambridge, Mass., raises money through donations, grants from foundations and corporations, and fundraising events, raising about $150,000 annually. The money can accomplish a lot: It costs FACE Africa $7,500 to build a hand-dug well and install a hand pump, for example.
Jones has been recognized for her work, including being named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and one of The Guardian’s Africa’s 25 Top Women Leaders in 2013.
From depression to determination
Jones said the harsh realities she found in Liberia on her first visit left her “depressed and disheartened.” But she was determined to make a difference and she has.
“There’s nothing more pleasant or fulfilling than seeing the smiles on the faces of women and children who no longer have to travel miles every day to fetch contaminated water and can now drink water without worrying about getting sick from it,” she said.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s currency weakened on Thursday after the United States central bank raised its key lending rate, while Moody’s decision to change its outlook on Pretoria’s credit rating to negative also pressured local assets.
By 0700 GMT the rand had weakened 0.27 percent to 14.9750 per dollar, giving up some of the gains of the previous two sessions sparked by the naming of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.
Government bonds firmed, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 shedding 12 basis points to 9.4 percent.
On the equities market, the benchmark Top-40 index opened up 1.3 percent at 44,305 points.
While markets had anticipated the 25 basis points rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, emerging market assets still suffered, put under pressure by the hawkish tone of Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech.
“After knee-jerk weakness the dollar has gained significantly,” Rand Merchant Bank currency analyst John Cairns said in a note. “We suspect this will pressure USD/ZAR to the upside through the course of the day.”
Yellen said further monetary tightening would be gradual and data-dependent, while pointing out an improved economy and labour market, raising the likelihood of more hikes in 2016.
Moody’s cut its outlook on South Africa to “negative” from “stable” late on Tuesday, citing structural challenges in the mining industry and increasing political pressures on the budget.
In local data, South Africa’s statistics agency publishes producer price inflation data for November at 0930 GMT.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Ed Cropley)
BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) – China’s state-run Sinochem Group said on Wednesday it had signed a deal with Angolan state-owned producer Sonangol to buy crude oil for more than 10 years.
The statement on the Chinese company’s website did not give details of the supply amount or other financial details, but trading sources said the agreement was for four or five cargoes per month, which would make the company one of the largest holders of monthly contracts to buy Angolan crude.
There are currently around 15 cargoes given to these so-called term buyers each month from Angola’s export programmes of roughly 55 cargoes.
The deal is a coup for Angola, as OPEC members fight for market share, particularly in China, the world’s largest energy consumer.
While payment terms were not disclosed, sources said the deal directly related to loans that the Chinese government has given to Angola as its commodity-reliant economy struggles with the more than 60 percent drop in crude oil prices over the past year.
Along with the chairman of Sonangol, Angola’s financial minister, Armando Manuel, was present at the signing of the deal, as was Zheng Zhijie, president of China Development Bank.
A year ago, China agreed to lend Sonangol $2 billion to expand oil and gas projects, and Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos was in China in June seeking a two-year moratorium on debt repayments along with financing for a variety of projects, including a $4.5 billion hydropower scheme.
But the deal is also likely to push out another term contract holder, sources said. Sonangol has to trade some of its oil on a spot basis in order to establish prices for term agreements.
(By Chen Aizhu and Libby George. Editing by Christian Schmollinger and David Holmes)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African assets remained in favour on Tuesday with local markets extending the previous session’s rally after Pravin Gordhan was named as finance minister, which stemmed last week’s sell-off.
The rand firmed to well below the 15 mark against the dollar, while banking stocks climbed again after surging almost 9 percent on Monday.
By 1500 GMT, the rand had gained 0.9 percent to 14.9595 per dollar, just off its firmest since Nhlanhla Nene was unexpectedly axed as finance minister by President Jacob Zuma last Wednesday, a move that triggered a market meltdown.
Investors were deeply troubled by Zuma’s appointment of the untested David van Rooyen to the crucial Treasury post, forcing an abrupt U-turn on Sunday when the president gave the job to Gordhan, who was finance minister from 2009 to 2014.
The rand also benefited from greenback selling as local traders sought to unwind long-dollar positions ahead of a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, whose policy committee (FOMC) is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday.
“The local markets definitely don’t want to run the massive risks over the holiday and the FOMC, so we’re seeing large profit-taking from long-dollar positions today,” said the chief trader at Bidvest Bank’s currency desk, Ion de Vleeschauwer.
South African markets will be closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.
The dollar slipped to a seven-week low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday amid growing jitters over the message the Fed will seek to send on interest rates on Wednesday, buoying most emerging market currencies.
South African government bond yields fell across the curve on Tuesday, extending the previous session’s rally. At 1500 GMT, the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 had shed 45 basis points to 9.55 percent.
On the equities front, banking stocks added another 2.94 percent, bringing the Banks’ Index to 5,966.64. It remains about 9 percent below the levels it had reached before Nene’s shock sacking last week.
The banking rally helped pull the benchmark Top-40 Index up 0.66 percent to 43,701 while the wider All-share index added 0.72 percent to 48,429. Trade was robust with around 322 million shares changing hands.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana and Ed Stoddard; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe should reduce the royalty fee levied on platinum producers from the current 10 percent to help mining firms offset the impact of low prices, the country’s mining chamber has said.
Zimbabwe has the world’s second largest known deposits of platinum after South Africa but mines have struggled with low prices, a black empowerment law forcing mines to sell more than 50 percent of the business to locals, and power shortages.
In a commentary on the 2016 budget presented to parliament in November, the Chamber of Mines said royalty fees charged on the local divisions of Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum should be cut.
“The platinum sector requires support in the form of royalty reduction to restore viability, especially during this period of depressed prices,” the mining chamber said in a statement seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Platinum prices are near seven-year lows of about $850 an ounce, hobbled by slowing demand in top consumer China and as the Volkswagen’s emissions-cheating scandal weighs on market sentiment.
Zimbabwe charges the 10 percent royalty rate on gross platinum sales. The government expects platinum production to increase to 468,791 ounces next year from 423,288 this year.
A 15 percent platinum levy on raw exports was deferred to January 2017 to allow mines to build smelters and base metal refineries, a move the mining chamber welcomed.
“In 2016, the sector will continue to be weighed down by depressed commodity prices, power shortages, inadequate capital and an unsustainable cost structure, compounded by high electricity tariffs, high cost of funding and sub-optimal royalty,” the chamber said.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Ed Stoddard and David Clarke)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand strengthened more than 4 percent in early trade on Monday after President Jacob Zuma named widely-respected Pravin Gordhan as finance minister in a bid to draw a line under days of market turmoil.
Zuma gave Gordhan the job late on Sunday, in a dramatic U-turn that gave Africa’s most industrialised economy its third finance minister in a week.
Just four days earlier, the president had sacked Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister and given the job to David van Rooyen, a relatively unknown lawmaker and Zuma loyalist – a move that had triggered a wave of criticism and a sell-off on the markets.
Gordhan, who last held the post from 2009 to 2014, was due to address the media at 1pm local time (1100 GMT), a statement from the Treasury said.
South Africa is gearing up for local elections next year where the ruling African National Congress (ANC), is expected to face stiff competition from the opposition Democratic Alliance in urban areas, including the economic hub of Johannesburg. The countryside remains an ANC stronghold.
Even some supporters of the ANC, Nelson Mandela’s erstwhile liberation movement that has ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994, expressed dismay about Wednesday’s appointment of a Zuma loyalist to the crucial post. They also described his latest appointment as a sign Zuma was losing control.
“It may not be his death knell, but it’s certainly the turning of the tide,” a former senior anti-apartheid activist and ruling ANC legislator Ben Turok.
The currency fell nearly 9 percent last week following the removal of Nene, a civil servant veteran who was keen to rein in government spending.
“The markets will welcome back Gordhan to National Treasury,” Rand Merchant Bank’s currency strategist John Cairns said. “He is a known entity, is his own man and did well when in the post previously. But it is certainly unreasonable to expect all of last week’s losses to be reversed — a huge amount of uncertainty has been created in the past few days.”
By 0716 GMT, the rand had strengthened 4.53 percent against the dollar to 15.1700, recouping some losses suffered last week. The rand had traded at 14.4320 per dollar before Nene was fired.
Yields on government bonds recovered sharply in early trade, with the benchmark paper due in 2026 down 101 basis points at 9.37 percent.
MARKETS CHEER GORDHAN
The rally may also be limited if the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, raises interest rates on Wednesday – a move set to put emerging markets like South Africa under strain.
“Markets should rally back very strongly but I would not expect a total retracement with a permanent loss of trust in leadership even if we are in a better place,” said Peter Attard Montalto of Nomura in London.
The removal of Nene also led to a selling frenzy in South African banking stocks, which dropped nearly 20 percent on investor worries that the country’s credit rating would slip into “junk” status.
On the bourse, the banking index shot up 12 percent, having dropped nearly 20 percent after Nene was removed.
The Johannesburg Security Exchange’s broad All-Share index was up 2 percent to 49,051 points by 0734 GMT.
Zuma said the about-face decision was prompted by many calls to rethink his decision.
South Africa’s Beeld newspaper, citing an informed person, said Gordhan’s appointment was preceded by a crisis meeting between Zuma, politicians and representatives of the private sector on Sunday afternoon.
(By Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Nqobile Dludla. Additional reporting by James Macharia and Zandi Shabalala; Writing by James Macharia)
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling was steady in early trading on Monday, with most importers holding off from dollar purchases to see if the currency would strengthen below the 102 level.
By 0715 GMT, the shilling was quoted at 102.05/25 to the dollar, little changed on Friday’s close of 102.10/102.20.
The shilling had strengthened below 102 last week before demand for dollars from energy importers made it weaken.
“Most other importers are waiting to see if the market will dip again below 102 before they come into the market,” one trader at a commercial bank said.
Investors were also acting cautiously before a rate decision on Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve, when it could raise rates. “That (decision) will probably give the market direction,” the trader said.
SALY, Senegal (Reuters) – The European winter is the high season for tourism in Senegal as visitors flock to its sea and sun to escape the cold, yet since last year the doors of the luxury Hotel Espadon have been closed.
Its swimming pool has turned a swampy green. The skeletons of old parasols poke out from the sand and the sea gnaws at the foundations of its pretty beachfront rooms.
The problem is not high prices or mismanagement but coastal erosion that is blighting the West African country’s coast.
The Atlantic has washed away beaches, forcing hotels to make a drastic choice: save their property by building sea walls that block the view or let the water rise and risk losing everything.
“Every day I receive tourists who come to see if it’s true what they say about the Hotel Espadon’s current state,” said Sonore Khadim Tall, the building’s superintendent. “They can’t believe their eyes and some of them even cry.”
As a Paris summit focuses on climate change it is tempting to place the whole blame for Senegal’s erosion on rising sea levels but reckless building on beaches compounds the problem, said Papa Goumbo Lo, head of Senegal’s national institute for scientific research.
The problem arises when builders construct too close to the beach or extract coastal sand for projects, exacerbating erosion and rendering buildings vulnerable to tides.
POSTCARD OF BEACH
Tourism accounts for 11 percent of Senegal’s economy, but over time erosion could affect the country as a whole, given that two thirds of the population live in the coastal region around the capital Dakar.
Other countries in the region are affected. Gambia’s 15 coastal hotels are at risk due to erosion. Nigeria’s environment ministry has launched a programme to fight erosion and Ghana, which has 1 million annual visitors, has built a 30-km sea wall.
Around 1 million people also visit Senegal every year and in 2014 the government set itself the goal of tripling that number.
Saly, where the Espadon is located, is one of the country’s biggest tourist hubs but risks missing out. Since 2010, the town 50 km (32 miles) southeast of Dakar has lost 30 metres of beach.
Ousmane Diop, head of environment and client relations at the nearby Filaos Hotel, said visitors who return to the hotel these days are drawn by loyalty to the staff rather than the beach.
Only a postcard of the beach remains and the water is accessible across a ramp beside a sea wall.
“If we hadn’t built the wall, the ocean would have been in the restaurant,” Diop said, pointing at an open-air dining area with a sea view.
MAN DESTROYS NATURE
Tourism in West Africa has already been hit by perceptions of insecurity in countries like Mali, where Islamist militants attacked a luxury hotel on Nov. 20, and disease, after Ebola killed thousands in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Senegal tried to offset the problem in May by scrapping visa requirements and halving airfare taxes.
But numbers from the World Travel and Tourism Council show visits have been flat this year compared to last year and tourism employees in Saly say their numbers are down. Many hotels along the coast closed early last season.
Ibou Sakro Thiandoum, president of Saly’s natural resource commission, called for greater central government action, saying, “We are orphans here.”
For his part, Ernest Dione, national coordinator for the Ministry of the Environment, defended government initiatives, pointing to its study on erosion and an emergency action plan.
It is possible to recover lost beaches through the use of wave breakers and other tools but it is expensive, Lo said.
The work has started in Saly, where boulders line the shore to break waves. Some beaches have already been recovered but the process stands incomplete for lack of funds.
These initiatives are inadequate and to solve the problem beach homes responsible for erosion in the town should be torn down, said Ousmane Diouf, an artist at the Filaos hotel.
“As long as man destroys nature, he destroys himself,” he said.
(By Makini Brice. Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Estelle Shirbon)
On October 15th, the CFAO – a specialized distribution leader and partner of major international companies – published a new, detailed study on consumption patterns in Africa. The conclusion was that the nature of the middle class is changing as it expands and that it could reach as many as 900 million people by 2040.
In recent years, the media has latched on to the notion of an increasing middle class in Africa despite there being a real lack of research in the area. This idea arose from the strong economic growth being experienced in a number of African countries. This has resulted in the construction of large shopping malls and supermarkets, increased housing ownership and increased access to information and communications technology.
Due to the size of Africa, as well as the cultural differences, religions and varied economies, defining the middle class can be quite difficult. To get around this problem the study was based on data accumulated from five countries, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Morocco.
What is the Future of the African Middle Class?
The African middle class is expected to continue growing rapidly. According to Jean-Michel Huet, one of those responsible for carrying out the survey, in 25 years the population of middle class citizens in Africa could exceed that of China and India combined. This is of huge interest to large Western countries who will see this an opportunity. If they can attain a significant share of such a large market, the revenues and profits earned could potentially be enormous. In a global economy still struggling from the economic downturn following the financial crisis, the continued growth of the African economy represents an important opportunity for Western countries and corporations.
Currently, 62% of the population of Africa is under the age of 25. As the middle class grows and access to private health care increases, it is expected that this will lead to an increased life expectancy. This increase in the average age of the population will result in an increase in the size of the workforce.
The trend in recent years in Africa has been towards urbanization and much of the middle class can be found in the continent’s cities. However, increasing numbers of middle class people can be found in rural areas. Hélène Quénot-Suarez, a doctor of political sciences in Sub-Saharan Africa for the French Institute of International Relations has said that “African rural areas are also gradually experiencing the emergence of a middle class.” This is a trend that is likely to continue into the future.
A study conducted by the consultancy firm Deloitte in 2010 found that as the middle classes in Africa grow, people will have more recreational time. This combined with a better standard and higher level of education will result in people becoming more politically assertive. This presents further opportunities to western countries. Increasing education levels will mean greater access to a skilled workforce. When combined with greater levels of political activity this could lead to stronger democracies and free market economies being formed. This would make it easier for corporations from outside the continent to conduct business.
