Home Page

in this issue:

O'Neill, Touring Africa, Insists All Tariff, Trade Barriers Be Removed

Zimbabwe Government Declares AIDS Emergency

Zimbabwe To Act on 'Indigenization' of Mining

UN Warns: 10 Million Threatened with Famine in Southern Africa

U.S. Posts Diplomat to Sudan, First Since 1996

From the Vol.1,No.13 issue of Electronic Intelligence Weekly
AFRICA NEWS DIGEST

O'Neill, Touring Africa, Insists All Tariff, Trade Barriers Be Removed

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, still on tour of Africa with Irish rock star Bono, insisted May 24, according to that day's SAPA, and the May 27 issue of the Lagos-based This Day, that all Africa's tariff and trade barriers should be removed.

However, African leaders and press outlets increasingly note that President Bush does not believe any of this.

Speaking in Pretoria, O'Neill told reporters: "Economic science tells us that if we can eliminate trade and tariff barriers completely, the world would be better for its inhabitants in the sense that economic productivity would improve and economic life would be better." While in Pretoria, O'Neill also praised South African President Theo "Mbeki's New Partnership for Africa's Development," NEPAD, a pro-globalization, free-trade association.

The night before O'Neill flew into Ethiopia, the country's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, accused the U.S. of hypocrisy for calling on the African countries to open up their markets, while imposing tariffs and subsidizing farmers in the U.S. itself.

Zimbabwe Government Declares AIDS Emergency

The government of Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency over HIV/AIDS, and will allow the importation and manufacture of generic drugs. In a notice published in the latest Government Gazette, made availabe May 28, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, said the emergency order would enable people to have access to the drugs. "In view of the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS among the population of Zimbabwe, the Minister hereby declares an emergency for a period of six months, with effect from the promulgation of this notice for the purpose of enabling the State or a person authorised ... to make or use any patented drugs," Chinamasa said in the notice.

Zimbabwe is the first African country to declare a state of emergency over AIDS. Since last year, the government has permitted the use of anti-retroviral drugs. The drugs are being given free of charge at about 35 centers throughout the country as part of government efforts to reduce the transmission of the AIDS virus to unborn children.

Statistics indicate that at least 2,000 people die of AIDS every week in the country, and that at least 20% of the country's 14 million people are infected with HIV.

Zimbabwe To Act on 'Indigenization' of Mining

According to the May 28 issue of the Harare-based The Herald, in an article headlined "State To Act on Indigenisation of Mining," the government of Zimbabwe will enact legislative instruments if large mining companies continue to resist indigenization of the sector. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Edward Chindori-Chininga, told delegates attending the Chamber of Mines annual meeting in Nyanga that meaningful participation in the sector by indigenous Zimbabweans must be across the board. "We are not satisfied with the window dressing of corporate boardrooms ... what we want is meaningful ownership of the means of mineral production. My intention is to enact appropriate legislative instruments if it becomes apparent that indigenization is being resisted."

President Mugabe has in the past stated that indigenization of the mining industry is long overdue.

UN Warns: 10 Million Threatened with Famine in Southern Africa

The United Nations has warned that 10 million people are threatened by famine in southern Africa because of poor harvests due to drought, economic crises, and—so the UN claims—farm invasions in Zimbabwe. The UN's Rome-based World Food Program says southern Africa has overtaken Afghanistan as the center of the world's worst food crisis.

The WFP estimates that southern Africa needs 4 million metric tons of food imports in the next year, and 1.2 million tons of emergency assistance immediately. The estimate of the number of Africans at risk will rise as assessments for Zambia and Mozambique are added to those for Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. At least 6 million are considered at risk in Zimbabwe currently. The price of white corn, a regional staple, has doubled in the past year, while South Africa's harvest fell to 7.5 million tons from 10.2 million tons a year earlier.

U.S. Posts Diplomat to Sudan, First Since 1996

The United States has posted its first resident diplomat to Sudan since 1996, when the U.S. suspended regular embassy operations because of security concerns. The change in policy is seen as a reward for Sudan's cooperation in the U.S. "war on terrorism." Jeffrey Millington has assumed the post of chargé d'affaires in Khartoum, an indication that the U.S. is trying to forge closer links with Sudan, a country it still accuses of sponsoring terrorism.

All rights reserved © 2002 EIRNS