Africa News Digest
Clinton Foundation Announces Agreement for Major Price Reduction of HIV/AIDS Tests in Africa, Caribbean
Former President Bill Clinton announced Jan. 15 that his foundation has reached an agreement with five leading medical technology companies for a major reduction in the price of HIV/AIDS lab tests in Africa and the Caribbean, to cut the cost of key tests by up to 80%. The Foundation says that up to 5 million people will benefit from the cheaper tests by 2008. The five companies involved are Bayer Diagnostics, Beckman Coulter, Becton Dickinson, bioMerieux, and Roche Diagnostics.
According to a Clinton Foundation press release, the agreement is expected to save almost $300 million in South Africa alone over five years. The reduced prices will be operative in the 16 countries and territories in which the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative is working with governments and NGOs to set up country-wide integrated care, treatment, and prevention programs.
The agreement covers the cd4 test, which helps determine when antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) should be administered, and the viral load test, which helps measure how effective ARVs are in suppressing the virus, and which can point to the need to adjust dosages or change regimens. The companies will also donate equipment and related products and services to each of the countries.
In October 2003, the Foundation announced a major reduction in the price of ARVs for use in developing countries. The two agreements together will reduce the cost of testing and treatment in countries such as South Africa from $800 per patient per year to about $250, the Foundation says.
In sub-Saharan Africa, about 50,000 people are receiving ARVs, but about 4 million need the treatmentor one person out of every 80.
U.S. Pan-Sahel Initiative in 'War on Terror'?
"A New Front in the War on Terror" in Africa is how the U.S. has characterized its $100-million "U.S. Pan-Sahel Initiative," which will bring troops and defense contractors to the area to train African military units and provide equipment, according to the Jan. 14 issue of the British newspaper The Guardian. The targetted countries are Mauritania, Mali, Chad, and Niger.
A small U.S. force arrived in Mauritania the second week in January to begin the Initiative program of training personnel for border surveillance and so forth.
U.S. Uses 'War on Terrorism' To Increase Its Involvement in Kenya
"All along Kenya's coast, al-Qaeda members have woven themselves into the fabric of the region's Islamic society," declares an Associated Press story of Jan. 9 which takes its cue from unnamed U.S. officials. The officials charge that al-Qaeda has implanted a formidable network throughout eastern Africa, with al-Qaeda members marrying local women or passing themselves off as simple men seeking a quiet place to lead a devout life. And hundreds of new al-Qaeda members have been recruited, the officials say. But "the Islamic terror network has not found legions of Muslims in Kenya who share its religious views. For centuries, a relatively liberal and mystical brand of Islam has dominated the coast, not the rigid interpretation promoted by al-Qaeda."
EIR recalls that the U.S. State Department and Pentagon have been eager to "help" Kenya with its terrorist problem. But one Kenyan view is that Kenya doesn't have a problemthe U.S. is seeking to recruit Kenya to bear the political and physical brunt of the problem the U.S. has created for its own nationals in the country.
U.S. Considering Major New Effort in Somalia
An unnamed senior State Department official told reporters Jan. 9 that the Bush Administration is studying the possibility of providing significant financial, logistical, and diplomatic assistance to Kenyan-mediated negotiations among Somalia's warlords, according to a story in Agence France Presse.
A report on the subject is expected within 60 days. The official said the U.S. effort could be modelled on its support for peace talks in Sudan. The purpose would be to restore peace and deal with terrorists, some of them affiliated with al-Qaeda.
In 1993, a U.S. military mission in Somalia ended in disaster after terrorists belonging to the gangs of Somalian warlords brought down a Black Hawk helicopter, killing Americans whose bodies were later dragged through the streets.
Then, in 2001, U.S. intelligence reports identified Somalia as a location of al-Qaeda terrorist training camps. However, a serious U.S. approach to stabilizing Somalia, or investigating terrorist networks, never took place, and was buried under the Dick Cheney/neo-conservative cabal's drive for its preemptive war in Iraq.
Mbeki Visits Congo, Signs Agreement for Substantial Investments
South African President Thabo Mbeki, with seven Cabinet ministers, paid a two-day state visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo Jan. 13-14. Mbeki addressed the combined chambers of Parliament Jan. 14, making frequent references to Congolese national hero Patrice Lumumba, his vision of sovereignty for Congo, and his murder. In addition to meeting Congolese President Joseph Kabila, Mbeki also met separately with the four vice presidents and presidents of the National Assembly and Senate. The head of the South African Army, Gen. Sifiwe Nyanda, flew in with his own delegation Jan. 14 to play a role in the restructuring of the Congolese Army.
Mbeki and Kabila on Jan. 14 signed bilateral agreements establishing a binational commission and committing South Africa to $2 billion of investments in Congo. Concerning the investments, two versions appeared in the media Jan. 15. Multimedia Congo (digitalcongo.net) reported, "Mbeki emphasized that the $2 billion contained in the bilateral agreements ... will come from South African companies and not from the government.... The group of South African companies ... will invest in the mining, hotel sectors, etc."
The UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) claimed, "South Africa and the DR Congo signed a bilateral agreement worth US$10 billion ... covering the areas of defense and security, the economy and finance, agriculture and infrastructural development."
IRIN says Congo also signed an $8.4-million deal with the South African Chamber of Commerce to rehabilitate the state's giant Gecamines mining concern and a concession of the Kilomoto Gold Mines, and for the management of two hotels.
High-Yield 'Miracle' Rice Developed for Africa
Farmers in nearly a dozen countries in West and Central Africa are now achieving bountiful rice harvests on the basis of a cross between an ancient, hardy African rice variety and a high-yield Asian variety called Nerica. Developed by scientists of an intergovernmental rice research center, the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), Nerica is very hardy and resistant to stresses such as drought, common rice diseases, and pests.
In fact, "It is a miracle crop," WARDA Director-General Kanayo Nwanze told Africa Recovery, which filed the report on the rice Jan. 2.. Unlike traditional Africa rice, but similar to the Asian varieties, Nerica produces significantly bigger harvestsyielding more than either of the two parent varietiesand each grain of Nerica contains more protein than either of the parents. African promoters of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) have identified the new rice as one of the continent's "best practices" and are pushing to expand its use in West and Central Africa and extend it to East and Southern Africa.
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