Weekly ANB0918_01.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-09-2003      PART #1/7

* Africa. Australian hunt for African oil  -  An Australian consortium has 
started exploration drilling at the Chinguetti oilfield off the coast of 
Mauritania, Perth-based company Hardman Resources has announced. The 
drilling is expected to confirm the presence of 95 million barrels, the 
company said - a significant find for a small explorer and impoverished 
country but a relatively small field by international standards. Chinguetti 
4-5 is the first of four wells to be drilled this year. The consortium 
consists of five companies: Hardman, which has a 21.6% stake, Woodside 
Mauritania (35%), AGIP Mauritania (35%), Fusion Oil & Gas (6%) and Rock Oil 
(2.4%). Hardman managing director Ted Ellyard said results from the 
drilling would be available next week. Meanwhile, Hardman is also due to 
begin oil exploration on Lake Albert in Uganda this month. "Hardman should 
have started their seismic studies in April but the boat they had was not 
good enough. But now they have a better boat and within the month they 
should have started their seismic studies," head of oil exploration at 
Uganda's energy ministry Reuben Kashambuzi said. He said Hardman was first 
licensed to explore for oil in Uganda in 1997 but pulled out three years 
later because of a drop in world oil prices. It returned when prices 
stabilised and was relicensed in October 2001. Australian oil companies are 
showing increasing interest in African oil, say experts. "They tend to be 
small companies involved in high risk exploration -- if they're successful 
a major would usually be offered stakes in their operations," said Paul 
Gamble from the Economist Intelligence Unit.   (BBC News, UK, 5 September 2003)

* Afrique. La conférence de Cancun  -  10 septembre. La 5ème conférence 
ministérielle de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) se déroule du 10 
au 14 septembre à Cancun (Mexique). Le premier jour a été marqué par 
l'issue tragique d'une manifestation, où un Coréen en 54 ans, Lee Kyang 
Hee, président de la Fédération des pêcheurs de Corée, s'est suicidé par 
hara-kiri. En ce début de conférence, les négociations sont bloquées en 
particulier par le "groupe des 21" pays du Sud, qui proposent un mécanisme 
de sauvegarde protégeant les productions agricoles du Sud contre la 
concurrence déloyale des Etats-Unis et de l'Union européenne. La méfiance 
des pays pauvres s'est exacerbée encore par le choix des présidents des 
groupes de travail; le pilotage des trois sujets les plus brûlants a été 
confié à des pays favorables aux thèses des nations industrialisées. -- 14 
septembre. Au dernier jour de la conférence, les ministres, profondément 
divisés, s'efforçaient toujours de rapprocher les points de vue afin de 
trouver un accord. Mais finalement, la conférence de Cancun s'est conclue 
sur un échec, les pays riches et les pays pauvres n'étant pas parvenus à 
surmonter leurs profondes divisions sur des dossiers allant de 
l'agriculture aux nouvelles réglementations du commerce. L'agriculture a 
été la principale pierre d'achoppement, mais l'échec a été concrétisé par 
le refus des pays en développement de discuter de nouvelles règles visant à 
réduire la bureaucratie qui freine de commerce. Ces règles seront coûteuses 
à appliquer et elles réduiront la marge de manoeuvre des pays en matière de 
politique économique, ont estimé les pays en développement. Les 
responsables de l'OMC ont déclaré qu'ils se réuniraient à Genève, une fois 
que les tensions seraient retombées, afin de voir s'il est possible de 
préparer une conférence spéciale en décembre. Mais il sera très difficile 
de parvenir à un accord d'ici à la date butoir de fin 2004, pour la 
conclusion d'un accord sur la levée des barrières commerciales. L'échec de 
la conférence illustre en tous cas l'influence croissante des pays en 
développement qui représentent les trois-quarts des membres de l'OMC. Les 
délégués de nombreux pays pauvres ont célébré ce qu'ils ont qualifié de 
victoire contre l'Occident. Une victoire amère...   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 15 septembre 2003)

* Africa. WTO meeting collapses  -  10 September: The World Trade 
Organisation (WTO) Summit in Cancun, Mexico, opens with stern words from 
the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, read on his behalf. "We are told that 
free trade brings opportunities for all people, not just a fortunate few. 
Sadly, the reality of the international trading system today doesn't match 
the rhetoric". Mexico's President Vicente Fox formally opens the Summit. He 
says: "We can no longer allow well-being to be limited to a few nations. We 
can no longer risk continuing in a world marred by exclusion and injustice; 
we can no longer postpone the battle against poverty and marginalization". 
An example of the current situation is presented by four poor African 
cotton-producing countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, who are 
asking that subsidies given by rich countries to their cotton farmers 
should be phased out. The USA hopes to persuade the Africans to drop their 
demands in return for promises of US investment in their budding textile 
industries and a pledge of support for a sectoral market-opening package in 
the WTO negotiations. This would apply not only to cotton but to man-made 
fibres, textiles and clothing as well. However, the US proposals meet a 
cool reception from the four African nations. 11 September: More than 70 
developing countries announce their refusal to go ahead with WTO 
negotiations on investment and other new issues. The EU and Japan have made 
negotiations on investment, competition rules, transparency in government 
procurement and trade facilitation a central demand at the Cancun meeting. 
The 70 developing countries are represented at the talks by a group of 16 
nations including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Jamaica, Indonesia, 
Nigeria, the Philippines, Tanzania and Venezuela. -- The ministers gathered 
at Cancun approve the adhesion of Cambodia and Nepal to the WTO. 12 
September: Leading trade powers warn that the meeting risks failure unless 
countries immediately abandon entrenched positions and hold serious 
negotiations over the next two days. Senior US and European officials step 
up accusations that progress is being blocked by a newly-formed coalition 
of more than 20 developing countries led by Brazil, India, China and South 
Africa. Another deep rift has opened over proposals for WTO investment 
rules since the 70 developing countries led by Malaysia, flatly refused 
this week to allow negotiations on the issue to go ahead. 14 September: The 
world trade talks in Mexico collapse amid serious differences between the 
rich and poor nations. After four days of wrangling, there is deadlock over 
proposed new rules on how countries treat foreign investors, on competition 
policy and trade procedures. These proposals are seen by many developing 
countries as a diversion from the main issue -- their demand that farm 
subsidies in the European Union and the United States should be eliminated. 
The US trade representative at the talks, Robert Zoellick, says the 
collapse has been caused by too many delegates pontificating, rather than 
negotiating. "The differences were very wide, and it was impossible to 
close the gap," says Kenyan delegate George Odour Ongwen. There is to be 
another conference in December to assess how dialogue can resume. 
Recriminations came quickly. Ugandan delegate Yasphal Tondon says: "The 
blame for the collapse must go to the Western countries, because they 
insisted on putting their issues first." 15 September: Rich countries have 
expressed their regret at the failure of the Cancun global trade talks, 
with many calling for reform at the WTO. The WTO's cumbersome structure, 
with 146 member governments and a decision-making system based on reaching 
consensus, made failure inevitable, many are now arguing. But in the 
developing world, where a united front formed to oppose American and 
European trade policies, many commentators have welcomed the collapse in 
Cancun. Some governments of poor countries are concerned that it may be 
years before they gain access to markets in the rich world. But most have 
said the unprecedented consensus among large developing economies can only 
be healthy. The main tone among post-Cancun comments is, however, gloomy. 
The summit was not the final chance to hammer out a global trade deal, but 
was a major stepping-stone on the Doha round of global trade negotiations, 
launched in November 2001. The plan had been to reach a deal -- satisfying 
the sharply polarised views of rich and poor countries -- by the end of 
next year. After Cancun, many say that target is now 
unrealistic.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 15 September 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Botswana: On 16 September, the Media 
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) reported that on 6 September, the 
paramount chief of the Batawana tribe, Tawana Moremi, physically attacked 
Booster Galesekegwe, a photojournalist from the weekly Mmegi newspaper, and 
broke his camera. Moremi also attacked Kagiso Sekokonyane, acting editor of 
Mmegi Monitor, Mmegi's sister newspaper. Burundi: On 16 September, MISNA 
reported that Burundi's independent media has protested against the 
shutting-down on 13 September of Radio Insanganiro, a private radio station 
in Bujumbura. The following day, MISNA said that another radio station has 
met the same fate -- Radio Publique Africaine. Central Afr. Rep.: In a 10 
September letter to President Bozizé, the Committee to Protect Journalists 
(CPJ) said: "At the start of your government's "National Dialogue," which 
opens today and runs through to September 20 and is aimed at reconciling 
the Central African Republic after years of war, the CPJ writes to 
respectfully remind you of the many challenges facing Central African 
media, in the hope that they may be addressed at this forum. This is 
especially important in light of Your Excellency's plans, according to 
local and international press, to have a new constitution drafted and 
approved by 2005. The CPJ is deeply concerned about the state of press 
freedom in the Central African Republic. One journalist, Michel Ngokpele, 
publication director of the privately owned French-language daily Le 
Quotidien de Bangui, is languishing in prison after receiving a six-month 
sentence on June 26 for defamation and "inciting ethnic hatred," both 
deemed offenses under the Central African Republic's Press Law". South 
Africa: On 16 September, MISA said that on 2 September, a camera operator 
from e-tv, a commercial station, was assaulted and a colleague of his was 
threatened in an allegedly racial attack in upmarket Sandton, Johannesburg. 
Lensman Shabani Ramenu and producer Debbie Meyer were accosted while on 
assignment for the current affairs series "Third Degree". Sudan: On 16 
September, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) called for the immediate 
reappearance of the Khartoum Monitor. The paper's publishing licence was 
cancelled on 12 July, but on appeal, this decision was cancelled and the 
National Press Council said it could reappear. However, it failed to come 
out on 13 September as planned, after pressure by the government prosecutor 
in charge of subversion blocked it under article 130 of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure until investigation of the case was complete. Zimbabwe: 
On 12 September, the BBC reported that police in Zimbabwe have shut down 
the offices of the country's only private newspaper, the Daily News, a day 
after a court ruled that it was operating illegally. One of the newspaper's 
publishers, Francis Mdlongwa, said that staff had been ordered out of the 
building in the capital, Harare, and the paper closed. Correspondents say 
it is not clear if the closure of the Daily News -- which is highly 
critical of President Robert Mugabe -- is intended to be permanent. On 11 
September, Zimbabwe's Supreme Court had said that the newspaper was 
operating illegally because it had refused to register with the state Media 
and Information Commission (MIC), as required by the county's tough media 
law. On 15 September, the Daily News filed an application to register with 
the MIC. However, the MIC's chairperson says the Daily News will stay 
closed indefinitely even if the newspaper registers with his commission. 
The following day, police raided the newspaper's offices and started 
confiscating equipment.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 September 2003)

* Africa. African Union chairman sworn in  -  16 September: The former 
president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare, takes over as chairman of the 
African Union (AU). Today, Mr Konare formally replaces AU interim chairman 
Amara Essy at a ceremony in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where the 
organisation is based. Mr Konare says the AU will strive to help mobilize 
the continent's resources for development.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 
September 2003)

* Afrique. Konaré à la tête de l'UA  -  Le 16 septembre à Addis Abeba, le 
président par intérim de la commission de l'Union africaine (UA), Amary 
Essy, a officiellement cédé la place à l'ancien président malien Alpha 
Oumar Konaré, à la tête de l'exécutif de l'UA. M. Konaré avait été élu le 
10 juillet dernier à la présidence de la commission, l'exécutif de l'Union 
africaine. Lors de la cérémonie de passation de pouvoir, M. Konaré a promis 
de rendre l'organisation plus accessible et plus transparente, et il a 
souligné l'importance capitale que revêt le maintien de la paix et de la 
sécurité dans tous les Etats membres, parmi d'autres défis à relever par 
l'organisation panafricaine.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 septembre 
2003)

* Africa. UN studies AIDS impact on Africa  -  17 September: The United 
Nations is launching an initiative to deal with the threat that HIV/AIDS 
poses to African states, where 70% of the world's HIV positive people live. 
The Commission on HIV Aids and Governance in Africa will come up with 
policy recommendations that deal with the overall impact of the virus on 
society and not just its impact on people's health. The United Nations now 
says it is no longer good enough to think of AIDS solely as a health issue. 
This new commission will look at what happens to a society when a large 
portion of the population is HIV positive. Simply put, how will children 
learn when the teachers are dying at a faster rate than they are being 
trained? Who will look after the sick when many of the experienced doctors 
and nurses have died? Nearly 30 million people are living with HIV in 
Africa and their premature deaths may rob the continent of vital skills. 
The 20 commissioners, many drawn from leadership positions across Africa, 
will be appealing to the continent's heads of state to help them realise 
that HIV threatens the stability of their country. Over the next two years, 
the commission -- to be launched officially in Addis Ababa, today, -- will 
develop an accurate picture of the impact of AIDS.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 
September 2003)

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