It is time to move past diagnosis of why African countries do not trade with each other nearly as much as they should, World Trade Organization director-general Pascal Lamy told participants at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday.

The issue was not about diagnosis of what needed to be done, but on how to do it, Lamy said a conference session on intra-African trade.

"We know that the necessary initiatives have to happen at the regional level. Regional organizations have to address these problems one by one. The key to removing these bottlenecks lies in the political energy of regional leaders to do it."

Obstacles to intra-African trade, delegates were told, include inadequate or non-existent infrastructure, complex bureaucratic procedures, inefficient border administrations, regulatory discrepancies that hamper trade and economies of scale - and, more recently, the tightening up of trade finance.

"Trade finance is the oil of trade, and there is a potential problem given new financial regulations that have been developed worldwide since the [2008-09 global] financial crisis," Lamy said.

Regulatory environment 'must be harmonized'

Africa's trade landscape is characterized by a patchwork of trade rules and regulations that make cross-border trade cumbersome and, at times, impossible, delegates heard. The regulatory environment across the continent would have to be harmonized before Africa could realize its potential as a global trade powerhouse.

If national governments could get their priorities clear on this, Lamy said, they would find there was plenty of funding available to help them achieve it.

"African countries and regions need to set up a list of priorities of what needs to be done, and do it. It is not a problem of resources - we have the resources. The Aid for Trade lesson is that once countries have their priorities clear, money is not a problem."

African companies would not become global players until they captured regional markets, warned Jaidev Shroff, chief executive of United Phosphorus of India.

"There is a lot of talk about Africa becoming a global supplier of food, energy, minerals, etc," Shroff said. "But until governments make the business environment more competitive, it is going to be very difficult to achieve."

Increasing, diversifying productive capacity

For Ethiopian Industry Minister Mekonnen Manyazewal, infrastructure and the capacity to manage and facilitate trade was "a basic", but the need to reduce costs and diversify countries' economic base was also paramount.

"The issue of increasing our productive capacity and diversifying our products are key for trading," Manyazewal said. African countries also needed to diversify their economic bases, he said.

"It is time to look for quick wins by analysing the value chains from production to the markets and find the constraints that can be overcome through better coordination, better administration and efficiency."

Manyazewal called on the private sector to invest in Africa's productive capacity, echoing calls by both Lamy and Jean-Louis Ekra, president of the African Export-Import Bank, for the private sector to mobilize and create "bottom-up pressure" on politicians to address the issues of trade openness and competitiveness.

Call for private sector to engage

"A few African entrepreneurs understand trade issues," said Ekra. "It is important that they build capacity on these issues so they can put pressure on the government to negotiate in their favour."

In the wake of the global financial crisis, many national banks are cautious, which is why one of the roles of the African Export-Import Bank was to allow banks to feel more secure about instrument issued by other banks, Ekra said. The private sector needed to engage in this issue.

"Once the African private sector talks to itself and speaks with one voice, there are grounds to improve and increase the level of transactions among them."

Mahmoud Eisa, Egypt's minister of industry and foreign trade, pointed out that Africa should have a target to increase its percentage of global trade from 4%, and should set a target for intra-African trade.

But trade without infrastructure "will always be an intention rather than an accomplishment", Eisa added. Transport and communications were critical, but so was infrastructure such as laboratories, regulation and trade policies.

Eisa pointed to the European Union, where trade regulations are harmonized, as a model. He also called for stronger standardization in the light of a "weak" African Regional Organization for Standardization.

Source: World Economic Forum

Open for business

First-world infrastructure plus a vibrant emerging market equals huge investment potential!

Brad Morgan

Former Proteas wicketkeeper Dave Richardson has been selected by the International Cricket Council (ICC) board to succeed fellow South African Haroon Lorgat as chief executive. Richardson's name will be recommended at the ICC's annual conference in June.

There were four candidates for the position, but it came down to a choice between Richardson and England and Wales Cricket Board CEO David Collier, with Richardson cracking the nod after a meeting of the ICC nominations committee in Mumbai, India this past weekend. He will become the first former test cricketer to hold the position.

On hearing of his nomination, Richardson told the ICC: "It is a great honour to be nominated to be chief executive of the ICC. I am delighted with this opportunity and thank the ICC board for their approval.

'A privilege'

"It has been a privilege to serve as ICC general manager of cricket, and that work will continue until such time as the ICC annual conference ratifies my nomination," Richardson said. "I am looking forward to working closely with all the membership and stakeholders in the game.

"It is an honour to be following a fellow South African, Haroon Lorgat, in this role. I have learnt a lot under his leadership and thank him for his support in the last four years."

Richardson, a qualified lawyer, has served as the ICC's general manager for the past decade, and that experience played a big role in his selection to the post of CEO.

'The most important thing'

ICC president Sharad Pawar told ESPN Cricinfo: "What made Richardson the most suitable candidate was his knowledge of the ICC, and that was the most important thing.

"He was an internal candidate. He is a former test player and brings a lot of international cricket experience to the table," Pawar said.

"In addition, he has been working with the ICC for quite long and is completely aware about the ICC operations and the members. All this only made it a unanimous decision."

Cricket career

Richardson played 42 tests for South Africa, claiming 150 catches and two stumpings.

He scored 1 359 runs at an average of 24.26, including one test century, 109, against New Zealand in Cape Town in January 1995, when he was named man of the match and man of the series. He had missed out on a century in the first test by only seven runs.

Richardson also played in 122 one-day internationals in which he made 148 catches and 17 stumpings. He scored 868 runs at 19.72.

His son, Michael, is also a wicketkeeper and plays for English county Durham.

US independent power provider Hydro Alternative Energy is in talks with the City of Durban on plans to develop a world-first project that would harvest hydrokinetic energy from the fast-flowing Agulhas current off South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coastline.

Senior company representatives were currently holding talks with eThekwini Municipality officials on the project, Florida-based Hydro Alternative Energy (HAE) said in a statement on Monday.

HAE said the municipality had given its in-principle support for the project, which would be undertaken in stages, the first stage involving the identification of suitable sites for mooring offshore power generation systems, followed by requests for the necessary environmental permits and power generation licences.

The plan is to develop a US$20-million 1-megawatt demonstration unit, after which additional units 8 MW units would be built "and likewise submerged, approximately 30 metres (98 feet) below sea level, to prevent interference with shipping", the company said.

'One of the most consistent currents in the world'

"The Agulhas is one of the most consistent currents in the world," Derek Morgan of eThekwini's energy unit told The Mercury newspaper. So, if the ocean current generation was to happen, Durban would be an ideal location to start harnessing it.

"If we can get it right, it has the potential to completely transform the city into a green energy location for investment," Morgan said.

'Never been done before'

Company co-CEO Mark Antonucci said that generating electric power from sea currents had never been done before. "All previous sea and wave generation technologies have been tidal based.

"We are very excited about our continued meetings and discussions with our Municipality of eThekwini partner to move this project forward to reality," Antonucci said.

"We again note the commitment of Durban and the eThekwini Municipality to substantially reducing their carbon footprint and becoming 'greener', with the eThekwini Municipality having recently hosted the 17th Conference of the Parties [COP 17] to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change."

SAinfo reporter

South Africa's drinking water is among the best in the world, and the country remains one of few in which water can still be consumed from the tap, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said in Cape Town on Monday.

Releasing the 2012 Blue Drop report during the Water Institute of Southern Africa Conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Molewa said 98 of the country's municipalities were awarded Blue Status this year, up from 66 last year.

The average national Blue Status score jumped from 72.9% last year to 87.6% this year.

The scores have increased year-by-year since the first Blue Drop report was released in 2009, when municipalities notched up a national average of 51.4%.

In all, 153 of South Africa's 287 municipalities and 931 water systems were audited for this year's report.

Not just a quality audit

Molewa stressed that just because a municipality was not awarded Blue Drop status, it did not mean that their water remained unfit for human consumption.

This is because Blue Drop certification goes beyond the quality of drinking water to include aspects such as risk management, operations and asset management of water services.

The programme is not a voluntary programme but an incentive-based regulatory initiative which requires water services institutions to provide information in line with the legislative requirements of Section 62 of the Water Services Act.

Top performing municipalities

In this year's Blue Drop report, Ekurhuleni came out as the top municipality with a score of 98.95%, followed by the City of Johannesburg with 98.92% and Mogale City with 98.79%.

Ethekweni (Durban), Tlokwe in North West province and the City of Cape Town were the next highest scoring municipalities respectively.

Molewa commended the Victor Kanye Local Municipality (formerly Delmas) in Mpumalanga province, which increased its score from 18.26% last year to 80.07% this year.

She also congratulated the Thembisile Local Municipality, also in Mpumalanga, which increased its score from 27.77% to 78.30%.

15 municipalities warned

However, Molewa said she was concerned about the worst scoring municipality - Koukamma (5.6%) - and iKwezi (7.9%), both in the Eastern Cape, which are among 15 municipalities that have received warnings over the quality of their water.

People living in these municipalities "have been informed not to drink the tap water without improving the quality first by either boiling or using other methods of purification," Molewa said, adding that her department was working closely with these municipalities to bring their water quality up to standard.

Molewa said that, despite the 15 warnings, her department now knew where the problems were and would be attending to them.

Water board, private sector involvement 'key'

Helgard Muller, acting deputy director-general of policy and regulation in the department, said the involvement of water boards and the private sector were key to improving the management of South Africa's water services.

While other countries which had water audits only looked at the quality of water, the department also considered risk management and asset management in the Blue Drop report.

Of the 98 municipalities that achieved Blue Drop certification, 38 were serviced by water boards and about 20 by the private sector.

The top performing province was Gauteng with a score of 98.1%, followed by the Western Cape (94.2%) and KwaZulu-Natal (92.9%).

The remaining six provinces all notched up scores below the national average of 87.6%, with Mpumalanga the worst performing province at 60.9%, followed by the Northern Cape (68.2%).

Source: BuaNews

Mobile Money Africa 2012, the largest industry gathering of its kind on continent, takes place at Johannesburg's Southern Sun Montecasino from 14 to 17 May, promising the latest angles on a highly competitive and fast-developing market in which South African companies are closely involved.

Sonum Puri, programme director for Mobile Money Africa, believes South Africa is not only a competitive mobile money market, but a good representation of the different business models that are transpiring from banks, mobile network operators, third-party operators, social media and online retailers and payment providers.

'A great chance'

"The event will be a great chance to show the mobile money ecosystem can grow to encompass many new stakeholders in the marketplace, which means that people can take lots of examples from the South African market and apply them to their own businesses," Puri said in a statement this week.

"Much has been documented about the potential of mobile money in East Africa, but for the first time, the Mobile Money Africa conference will be exploring the rise of mobile financial services in West African countries such as Senegal and the Ivory Coast," Puri added.

"The event will also be looking at the integration of mobile money with online channels to penetrate the e-commerce market and tap into a new customer base."

Nigerian market

Nigeria, in particular, is predicted to be another big market for mobile money, as research shows that only 25 percent of the Nigerian population hase bank accounts or access to financial services.

"Last May, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued licenses to 16 mobile money operators, and in the last couple of months we have seen a number of providers such as Monitise, Pagatech, eTranzact, and United Bank of Africa announce the launch of new mobile money services," Puri said.

"The Nigerian mobile money market is already valued at US$25-billion, and mobile money users are expected to reach 709-million by 2015."

Tanzania is one of the fastest growing mobile money markets in the world. Puri says the country currently boasts mobile phone penetration of 49%, with four active mobile money businesses, the largest of which is Vodacom’s M-PESA, which has over two-million active users.

MTN offering

"Visa recently unveiled a mobile prepaid product, which will be offered by MTN in Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda, and other big growth, markets especially for remittances," Puri said.

"The central bank of West Africa is playing an active role in encouraging private sector players to roll out mobile money services, and the central bank has also promoted the launch of the new Gim mobile service in West Africa."

Mobile Money Africa 2012 forms part of the Connected Africa Forum, which will showcase the evolution of mobile lifeline services and applications in Africa, and highlight the evolving intersection between mobile money, mobile health and mobile agriculture.

Speakers

The speakers include: Yolande van Wyk, CEO, eWallet Solutions, First National Bank; Neil Ahlsten, New Business Development Director, Google; Francis Matseketsa, Mobile Money Executive, Econet; Lowell Campbell, Head of Agent Banking, Standard Bank; Stanley Jacobs, Group Head of E-Business, Fortis Mobile Money; Stanley Henning, COO/DMD, Uganda Telecom; Kelvin Twissa, M-Commerce Director, Airtel Tanzania; and Yinka Adedeji, CEO, Afripay/United Bank Africa.

A pre-conference workshop takes place on 14 May. The conference itself will be held on 15 and 16 May, to be followed by a post-conference site visit on 17 May.

SAinfo reporter

Joburg is the City of Gold, Cape Town the Mother City, PE the Friendly City ...

South African President Jacob Zuma, speaking at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea on Monday, stressed the importance of remaining alert to the risks posed by nuclear terrorism.

"We should remain vigilant of the continued risks posed by nuclear terrorism, the illicit nuclear network and criminal acts, and the use of nuclear or other radioactive material for malicious acts," Zuma said during a Leaders' Working Dinner at the summit.

"We can, through a cooperative approach in the relevant multilateral organisations, effectively deal with these risks."

'Elimination ultimately the only prevention'

Zuma noted that the leaders were meeting at the summit with the common aim of achieving a world free of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons.

"In our desire to create a forum to raise awareness on nuclear security, we cannot ignore the reality that only the verifiable and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons will ultimately prevent the use of such weapons."

Zuma also noted the need to fully implement the relevant international legally binding obligations on nuclear security and nuclear safety.

Such an approach had proved invaluable when South Africa hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup, Zuma said, thanking the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the US government for their assistance with nuclear security measures at the different World Cup venues.

Highly enriched uranium 'for peaceful uses only'

On the issue of highly enriched uranium (HEU), Zuma acknowledged that HEU and separated plutonium required special precautions, adding that South Africa had taken such precautions.

"Our international legally binding obligations on nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation allow for the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes only, irrespective of the enrichment level," Zuma said. "In this connection, South Africa has adopted a policy on the beneficiation of our mineral resources, including uranium."

South Africa believed the focus on minimising the use of HEU to peaceful applications - which represented a tiny fraction of the HEU used for military purposes - should come to fruition in the long-outstanding negotiations on a fissile material treaty, Zuma added.

These negotiations should commence in the Conference on Disarmament without further delay.

"Going forward, we believe that the best approach would be to address the issues of nuclear safety and nuclear security in a coherent manner," Zuma said. "Therefore, our future emphasis should be on supporting the work on nuclear safety and security undertaken by existing multilateral organizations such as the IAEA."

Source: BuaNews

South Africa and Lesotho will show off their jointly managed Lesotho Highlands Water Project - one of the biggest engineering projects of its kind in the world - at the world's biggest gathering of water experts in Marseilles this week.

The World Water Forum (WWF), held every three years, is set to get under way in France's second-largest city on Monday.

The event -expected to attract 25,000 delegates to its sixth gathering since 1997 - will also likely serve as an opportunity to attract funding for South Africa's big water infrastructure building plans.

As announced in the recent national budget, the country is aiming to spend well over R60 billion constructing new and renovating old water supply and sanitation systems over the next three years.

Representatives from more than 180 countries - including 140 ministerial-level delegations - are set to attend the gathering in Marseille.

The city - home to the headquarters of the international World Water Council, which organises the WWF - bills itself as "the world's water capital".

South Africa's water minister, Edna Molewa, as well as her deputy, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, are expected to attend the five-day forum, which ends on Friday.

On Sunday afternoon, officials from both South Africa's Department of Water Affairs and the joint Lesotho Highlands Water Commission were working to complete their combined display stand, located in an exhibition hall next to Marseille's Parc Chanot conference centre.

Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project was signed last year. It includes, among other things, the construction of the Polihali Dam in eastern Lesotho, and the boring of a 38km-long tunnel to connect it to that country's giant Khatse Dam.

The total cost of the second phase - at 2010 prices - is estimated to be over R15.4-billion, including R7.6-billion for a pump storage facility and transmission lines.

The estimated completion date is July 2020, at which time the LHWP will deliver an additional 17 cubic metres of water a second to South Africa's thirsty industrial heartland of Gauteng.

South Africa is also set to showcase a real-time water quality monitoring system at the WWF.

An international first, the system is able to keep tabs on water flow and quality across a wide geographical area, allowing planners to better manage the resource.

Sapa

Opportunities, incentives, regulations, assistance.

South Africa is fast becoming one of the world's favourite destinations for big events, meetings, conferences and exhibitions, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk told delegates at the Meetings Africa expo in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

According to Van Schalkwyk, the country has already secured over 200 international conferences over the next five years, which are expected to attract around 300 000 delegates and provide an economic boost of more than R1.6-billion.

"We will encourage business travellers to stay longer to explore our country's tourist offerings and, of course, to return with their families," Van Schalkwyk said.

Van Schalkwyk said South Africa's capability and infrastructure for business tourism was superb.

"Besides the three big national convention centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, our destination is home to numerous other facilities that give the world's meetings and conference organisers the same quality, variety and choice that South Africa offers across the larger tourism sector."

National Convention Bureau of South Africa

Meetings Africa is the biggest business-to-business tourism exhibition on the continent.

This year's event introduces the industry to the National Convention Bureau of South Africa, an entity that will give the larger industry a strategic and operational platform from which to boost the country's business tourism global competitiveness.

The National Convention Bureau, which starts operating in April, will be central to South Africa's ambition to leverage the global opportunities to remain Africa's number one host of meetings and conferences.

Established in November and headed up by executive manager Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, the Bureau will act as a "one-stop shop" for independent information and assistance, giving neutral advice on all aspects of hosting and organising any business tourism-related event in South Africa.

The Bureau has set a target for 2012/13 of supporting at least 30 bids for new international meetings, with a potential of 18 000 delegates and R162-million in direct economic spend.

More than 200 international hosted buyers are attending Meetings Africa this year, engaging with the South African and regional industry to conclude deals which seek to grow business tourism arrivals.

The buyers, hosted by South African Tourism, come from 18 markets which include the United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Kenya, Germany, Netherlands, China, Brazil and Nigeria.

Source: BuaNews

Four key players in South African mining, taking part in a debate hosted by the Financial Times and facilitated by Brand SA, acknowledged that the sector is faced with major challenges, but agreed that SA mining is "open for business".

Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant, Chamber of Mines CEO Bheki Sibiya, BHP-Billiton chair Xolani Mkhwanazi and SA Mining Development Association (Samda) chair Peter Temane took part in the debate in Cape Town on Sunday on the eve of the 2012 Investing in African Mining Indaba conference.

Samda's Temane said infrastructure development and the opening up of the Sishen-Saldanha railway line to all mining companies would assist with the development of small miners - especially in the mining of manganese, of which South Africa holds 80% of the world's reserves but only contributes 20% of worldwide production.

Downstream beneficiation was another priority for South Africa, as this could help with spreading wealth, Temane said. "Let us rather create a thousand millionaires than one billionaire."

Deputy Minister Oliphant agreed that lack of infrastructure was a key constraint for mining in SA, and pointed out that a government inter-ministerial task team was currently investigating how this could be alleviated.

Public-private partnerships 'the way forward'

On the issue of nationalisation of mines, Oliphant said the debate has been going on for many years and would continue. But he said the government would not act recklessly, noting that South Africa was "a rule-based society".

He also pointed out that, should the state's mining interests be consolidated into one company, it would be run like all other state-controlled institutions.

The four participants agreed that partnerships between public and private sector players in the industry were the best way to ensure that South Africa became an investment destination of choice for international mining companies.

On the question of transformation in the industry, the Chamber of Mines' Sibiya said he was unapologetic about the issue, adding: "We are second to none when it comes to transformation and standing head and shoulders above the rest of the industry."

For him, the challenge was more about wealth creation.

Training, development, safety

On the challenge of training and development in the industry, Sibiya said the sector was spending 3.5% of its payroll on human resource development. "At the Chamber of Mines we are committed to addressing the issue and we are also looking at creating a development fund at the Chamber."

Oliphant said health and safety was a major priority for the industry, and that the Department of Mineral Resources had consistently maintained that if mines could not maintain mine safely then they should not mine at all.

Sibiya pointed out that the Chamber of Mines was in a major drive to achieve zero fatalities and was following the Australian model, which was a world-leader in this field.

Oliphant said the Department of Mineral Resources had embarked on several projects for responsible management of the environment, including acid mine drainage and the rehabilitation of derelict mines.

SAinfo reporter

Open for business

First-world infrastructure plus a vibrant emerging market equals huge investment potential!

South Africa's world-renowned events and lifestyle offerings have proven to strike a chord with the Indian traveller who is eager to experience a unique and varied destination with a wide range of choices to suit every budget, says Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

The minister was recently on a two-day visit to India to promote South Africa as a tourism destination and highlight the potential and importance of India as a source market for tourism to South Africa.

"The number of Indian tourists travelling from India to South Africa has steadily increased by over 122% between 2005 and 2010, and South Africa is continuing to attract Indian tourists in great numbers," he said at a networking event in Mumbai on Sunday.

Some 67 039 Indian tourists travelled to South Africa between January and September 2011, 29% more than over the same period in 2010.

'Massive growth potential'

"The importance of India as a source market for South Africa cannot be underscored as India is an emerging travel market with massive growth potential," Van Schalkwyk said. "India's economic growth is also expected to continue over the next 40 years and by 2050, India is expected to be among the top-three global economies."

India is ranked 7th in overseas top 20 source markets for South African Tourism. Rising incomes, changing attitudes and a desire to travel abroad increase demand for outbound travel.

Since 2005, South African Tourism has been promoting the destination very successfully in India.

Air connectivity between the two countries is also good, with South African Airways operating four frequencies a week, while Jet Airways operates five times a week. There are also daily flights from eight different cities via Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.

Travel agents convention

South Africa also recently won the bid to host the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Convention, which attracts an average of 1 000 delegates, excluding accompanying parties. This will be held in KwaZulu-Natal in November this year.

The conference serves as a platform for professional development, tourism information and intelligence exchange as well as a super familiarisation trip where delegates get to explore the tourism potential and attractions of the hosting region.

The TAFI Convention is a major milestone and the first of landmark events following the alliance formed between TAFI and Southern Africa Tourism Association (SATSA), and it will give the Indian Travel fraternity great exposure to South Africa.

South Africa is also bidding to host the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Convention in 2013.

SATSA is currently in the process of training over 1 000 Indian travel agents and tour operators to ensure they have the necessary skills and experience to sell South Africa.

Source: BuaNews