Ambasciata D'italia

Ambasciata d’Italia Addis Abeba

SERVIZIO NEWS 04.04.2014

INDEX

ETHIOPIA  Egypt: fm - egypt offers to finance Ethiopia's renaissance dam ...... 3

 Ethiopia: using Ethiopia's healthcare gaps to do good and make a profit ...... 4

 Authority collects 204 bln birr revenue ...... 6

DJIBOUTI  Djibouti: un envoy hails djibouti for its commitment to peace and stability in Somalia ...... 7

SOUTH SUDAN  Sanzioni USA per governo e ribelli se non tornano a negoziare ...... 8

 UN officials cite 'race against time' to prevent humanitarian catastrophe in South Sudan ...... 9

 UNHCR, wfp leaders witness shocking state of South Sudanese refugees during Ethiopia visit ...... 10

AFRICA  Human 'trade' irks Africa, EU ...... 12

 Europa-Africa: dal vertice di Bruxelles impegni rinnovati e questioni irrisolte ...... 14

 Lago chad, a Bologna e Rimini con prodi per conferenza internazionale ...... 16

 Crimea: what lessons for Africa? ...... 17

 Bob Diamond invests in Africa’s financial services sector ...... 20

 Azienda friulana vince importanti commesse in Algeria e Mozambico ...... 22

ETHIOPIA

EGYPT: FM - EGYPT OFFERS TO FINANCE ETHIOPIA'S RENAISSANCE DAM

(03.04.2014 – AllAfrica)

During his speech before the Royal Institute for International Relations, Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said that Egypt offered to finance the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance dam and suggested that the dam would be run by a joint committee from the two countries. He also emphasized the importance of serious negotiations to find out solutions that serve the interests of the Nile Basin countries without harming any country. He also asserted that Egypt would resort to all legal measures to protect its historical rights in Nile water and national security.

ETHIOPIA: USING ETHIOPIA'S HEALTHCARE GAPS TO DO GOOD AND MAKE A PROFIT

(01.04.2014 - AllAfrica)

For a while now, Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI scanners have typically been a luxury that both government and private hospitals in Ethiopia have struggled to afford to purchase for in-house use. Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital with an ever-growing population of around 3.8 million, currently has only four stationary MRI scanners that provide services to 30 government and private hospitals, according to Zelalem Molla, a surgeon based in Addis Ababa. Outside of the capital, only two MRI scanners exist. But the six scanners -- in this Horn of Africa nation of some 92 million people -- are old fashioned and far behind the technological curve in the West.

"It would be wrong to claim that the mobile MRI scanner would save lives," says Zelalem, whose lunchtime chat with American entrepreneur Peter Burns III about the paucity of scanners sparked a business idea. "[In a developing economy] a government's focus on financial market stability and security issues can result in healthcare issues remaining on the side-lines." -- Alayar Kangarlu, MRI research centre, Columbia University

But, Zelalem notes, more MRI scanners -- which use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate images of the inside of the body that can be analysed on computers -- would crucially allow more doctors to diagnose illnesses far earlier when they are operable and potentially curable. "Often it is not possible for doctors to diagnose illnesses such as tumours until they physically appear at a stage when the chances of saving a patient are slim -- or it is too late," Zelalem tells IPS.

However, actual figures about the number of people directly affected here by the lack of MRI scanners do not exist.

In the past, some Ethiopians have needed to travel to other African countries such as Kenya and South Africa, or to Europe to have scans. This even included Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's track runner, who used to go to Munich, Germany for scans to help diagnose running injuries.

Ethiopia technically has free healthcare for all, which is provided by government-run hospitals. The reality, however, is that "there are not enough hospitals and most suffer from inadequate staffing, budgets and machinery," Zelalem says. Private hospitals exist but as an option affordable to very few Ethiopians.

AUTHORITY COLLECTS 204 BLN BIRR REVENUE The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) said it has earned 204 billion birr revenue during the past three and half years of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) period.

(03.04.2014- Walta Information Center)

Authority Education and Communication Directorate Director, Ephrem Mekonnen, told WIC that the revenue was collected from domestic tax, foreign trade and lottery sales. The revenue collected in the reported period surpassed it target by 2 billion birr, he said. According to Ephrem, the authority had collected 50 billion birr in the first year of the GTP period. The plan was to collect 45 billion birr. During the second year of the GTP period, the authority fully attained its target of collecting 70 billion birr, he said. Though the authority’s plan was to collect 87 birr during the third year of the GTP period, it managed to rake 84 billion birr, he said. Ephrem, the authority has set a plan to collect 101 billion birr and 420 billion birr this Ethiopian budget and at the end of the GTP period, respectively.

DJIBOUTI

DJIBOUTI: UN ENVOY HAILS DJIBOUTI FOR ITS COMMITMENT TO PEACE AND STABILITY IN SOMALIA

(01.04.2014 – Enca)

Mr. Nicholas Kay, United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia, paid tribute on Sunday (March 23) to Djiboutian soldiers killed in an Al-Shabaab suicide car bomb attack in Buulo Burte last week. In a visit to Djibouti, he commended Djibouti's dedication and unremitting support to the people of Somalia in their march towards creating a stable, unified and prosperous country, including its sustained assistance to eliminate Al-Shabaab extremists. During his visit he held talks with President Ismail Omar Guelleh, focusing on ways to support the efforts made by the Somali people and Government to reconstruct and stabilize their country. President Guelleh reiterated Djibouti's support for the people of Somalia to establish peace, stability and prosperity. He underlined that Djibouti would continue to assist the Somali National Army under the auspices of AMISOM in the fight against Al-Shabaab. Mr. Kay applauded Djibouti for its dedication and support to consolidate peace and security in Somalia.

SOUTH SUDAN

SANZIONI USA PER GOVERNO E RIBELLI SE NON TORNANO A NEGOZIARE

(4.4.2014 – Notiziatrio Infoafrica)

Con un decreto del governo degli Stati Uniti, il presidente Barack Obama ha aperto la strada ieri a sanzioni statunitensi contro qualsiasi persona in Sud Sudan minacci gli sforzi regionali e internazionali in corso per riportare la pace nel paese, dallo scorso dicembre in preda a un grave crisi politica, economica e sociale.

Lo si apprende da una nota della Casa Bianca nella quale si precisa che il decreto firmato dal capo di Stato USA autorizza a procedere con il congelamento dei beni e il divieto di visto sia per i funzionari del governo del Sud Sudan che per i ‘ribelli’.

Presentando alla stampa il decreto, un portavoce americano ha detto che sia il governo sud sudanese che i ribelli dell’ex-vicepresidente Riek Machar devono riprendere immediatamente i negoziati e aderire al processo di pace.

È proprio di ieri la notizia della sospensione, fino alla fine di aprile, dei colloqui iniziati nelle scorse settimane ad Addis Abeba tra le delegazioni del governo sud-sudanese e delle forze ribelli.

Le parti non si accordano su chi possa partecipare ai negoziati.

Le due fazioni in lotta avevano siglato un accordo per il cessate-il-fuoco a gennaio, ma nonostante tale accordo i combattimenti non si sono mai interrotti. Secondo le agenzie delle Nazioni Unite, dall’inizio del conflitto sarebbero già più di 10.000 le vittime, un milione le persone costrette ad abbandonare le proprie abitazioni e circa 3,7 milioni di persone sono in una situazione di grave insicurezza alimentare.

UN OFFICIALS CITE 'RACE AGAINST TIME' TO PREVENT HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE IN SOUTH SUDAN

(03.04.2014 – AllAfrica)

With no political solution to the conflict that has torn South Sudan apart in sight, senior United Nations officials working in the country stressed today that they are in a "race against time" ahead of the rainy season to help prevent a health and hunger catastrophe. Hilde Johnson, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), told a news conference in the capital, Juba, that plans are under way to establish alternative sites for tens of thousands of civilians who sought protection in UN compounds. It is estimated that 70,000 civilians are currently sheltering at UN compounds around the country which opened its gates to offer protection when the fighting between Government and opposition forces began in mid-December 2013. Overall, about a million people in South Sudan have been forced from their homes due to the conflict. "It was always clear to us that our UN compounds were never designed to accommodate such huge numbers of people for such a length of time," Ms. Johnson stated. "The conditions have been very difficult from the outset. The sites are alarmingly over-crowded and basic services not more than rudimentary. "With the rainy season now settling in, conditions are getting worse," she said, warning that the sites in Tomping and Malakal, in particular, are at imminent risk of turning into "death traps." These areas are likely to get flooded during the upcoming rainy season, and have to be closed before there is an outbreak of deadly water-borne diseases, such as cholera and typhoid. Following the violent rains that raged over Juba a couple of weeks ago, half of the latrines in the Tomping protection site collapsed and the drainage systems were severely damaged. "As the rains increase, we all may find ourselves with a health catastrophe on our hands," said Ms. Johnson. As such, the Mission has decided to close the Tomping protection site in May. Several hundred internally displaced persons from that site have already been relocated to a new site in the Jebel area adjacent to the UN House. Once the construction of the new site is complete, all of the displaced will be transferred there. "We are in a race against time to establish the alternative sites," said Ms. Johnson.

UNHCR, WFP LEADERS WITNESS SHOCKING STATE OF SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES DURING ETHIOPIA VISIT

(02.04.2014 – All Africa)

As tens of thousands of South Sudanese continue to flee their conflict-torn homeland, the heads of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) travelled to Ethiopia's border region of Gambella from neighboring South Sudan to meet refugees who recently fled the conflict. The refugees, mostly women and children, reported walking up to three weeks before reaching the border. Many described surviving on grass, wild fruits and leaves. They were visibly exhausted, traumatized and famished, and scores of young children are registering an alarmingly high malnutrition rates.

During their visit to Gambella, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres and WFP's Executive Director Ertharin Cousin, together with humanitarian partners and Ethiopian officials, visited the newly-built Kule Camp which houses over 23,000 South Sudanese refugees and the Pagak border entry point, where hundreds of people cross daily from South Sudan. "The physical and psychological condition of these people is shocking. This is a tragedy I had hoped I would not see again," Guterres said. "Many of these people are becoming refugees for the second time." Altogether, over 88,000 South Sudanese have sought refuge in Ethiopia since the conflict erupted in mid-December 2013. The two agency chiefs expressed concern that the numbers could climb sharply in the coming months if the conflict does not come to an end, and worry that lack of funds could thwart an adequate humanitarian response.

"Today we witnessed a mother arrive in Ethiopia where help was available, only to lose her youngest child, who was too weakened by their journey. This is a political crisis that is now evolving into a humanitarian catastrophe," Cousin said. "We must work together and redouble our efforts to ensure that people receive nutritious food, clean water and other basic services on both sides of the border, so that not another mother cries like she did today because she loses her child."

WFP delivers high energy biscuits and other food (sorghum or wheat, pulses, vegetable oil, sugar and salt) at the border points and in camps, along with fortified nutritional supplements to those malnourished, particularly children under five years old, pregnant women and nursing mother.

AFRICA

HUMAN 'TRADE' IRKS AFRICA, EU Brussels — AFRICAN and European leaders have pledged more effort in combating human trafficking by strengthening partnership and cooperation in the fight.

(4.4.2014 – All Africa)

The pledge was made at the end of the fourth European Union (EU) and Africa summit at which Tanzania was represented by President Jakaya Kikwete. In a joint statement issued shortly after the meeting, the leaders agreed to specially focus on prevention, protection and prosecution as well as fighting all those who are taking advantage of such forms of exploitation. The leaders of the two continents also agreed to fight irregular migration by promoting comprehensive and efficient cooperation to reduce the consequences of irregular migration and to safeguard the lives of migrants. The leaders committed themselves to addressing all relevant aspects in fight including prevention, strengthened migration and border management, the fight against smuggling of migrants, returns and readmission and the root causes of irregular migration. "We commit to strengthen the nexus between migration and development, including stepping up efforts to reduce the costs of remittances, consolidate the African Institute for Remittances and strengthen policy frameworks for enhancing Diaspora engagement," the joint communiqué read in part. The leaders, drawn from a number of European and African countries, also agreed to advance legal migration and mobility by better organising legal migration and fostering well managed mobility between and within continents. They further agreed to strengthen international protection through the implementation of international and regional instruments for the protection of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons. The leaders also recalled that respect for fundamental human rights of migrants, irrespective of their legal status, constitutes a cross-cutting issue of cooperation between the two continents.

They also agreed on the roadmap for the implementation of the joint strategy that focuses on five priority areas, including Peace and Security, Democracy and Good governance and Human Rights, Human Development. Others are Sustainable and Inclusive Development and Growth and Continental Integration and Global and Emerging Issues.

EUROPA-AFRICA: DAL VERTICE DI BRUXELLES IMPEGNI RINNOVATI E QUESTIONI IRRISOLTE

(4.4.2014 - Notiziatrio Infoafrica)

DA BRUXELLES – “L’Africa è un continente aperto, pieno di opportunità, ma le opportunità non sono abbastanza” se non sono sfruttate: le parole di Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, presidente della Commissione dell’Unione Africana, riassumono bene le sfide che il quarto vertice tra Unione Europea e Africa, intitolato “Investire nelle persone, nella prosperità e nella pace” e terminato ieri a Bruxelles, ha dovuto affrontare. Per gli oltre 60 capi di Stato e di governo e le più di 90 delegazioni partecipanti, in gioco c’era il rapporto tra due continenti che, nei quattro anni trascorsi dall’ultimo incontro, quello di Tripoli nel 2010, si sono trovati alle prese con sviluppi quasi speculari. Se l’Africa “ha sperimentato una crescita economica notevole”, come si legge nel documento finale del summit, i progressi fatti per quanto riguarda “la democrazia, la governance e i diritti umani”, restano “da consolidare”. L’Europa ha invece rafforzato le sue istituzioni, ma non ha ancora concluso il difficile percorso di uscita dalla crisi economica. Pur nella loro differenza, Africa ed Europa restano strettamente legate e “complementari”, ha sostenuto ancora Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, invitando l’Unione Europea e il continente africano a sfruttare questa caratteristica in tutti i campi: dall’agricoltura, settore in cui l’Africa possiede “il 60% della terra arabile ancora disponibile nel mondo” e l’Europa competenze importanti per il suo sfruttamento, alla formazione di giovani professionisti africani, passando per infrastrutture, turismo, commercio ed energia. Proprio su questa possibilità, però, alcuni osservatori erano meno ottimisti: “fatti i discorsi, vedremo i risultati”, è stata una frase molto ripetuta nei corridoi del Justus Lipsius, il palazzo sede del vertice. E i risultati, almeno dal punto di vista economico, dicono che è l’Europa ad aver preso gli impegni di spesa: 3 miliardi di euro in 7 anni per l’agricoltura, 1 miliardo per l’integrazione panafricana e 350 milioni in borse di studio per studenti e ricercatori africani. In tutto saranno 28 i miliardi di euro che l’UE destinerà all’Africa tra 2014 e 2020, a cui andranno aggiunti quelli stanziati dai singoli Stati per la cooperazione bilaterale. Nei giorni che hanno visto il lancio della missione europea Eufor in Repubblica Centrafricana – 800 uomini con un mandato di 6 mesi, sotto il comando del generale Philippe Pontiès – è stato ribadito che fondi europei arriveranno anche nel settore della sicurezza: in questo campo l’Africa, ha riconosciuto il presidente di turno dell’UA, il mauritano Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, ha ancora “un

deficit operativo e logistico”. Sarà infatti l’Unione Europea a stanziare750 milioni di euro per l’African Peace Facility, mentre 17 mila soldati africani saranno addestrati grazie all’UE fino al 2016 in Somalia, in Repubblica Democratica del Congo, in Libia, in Mali e nel Sahel. Una regione, questa, al centro dei lavori anche per un secondo motivo: le “tragedie della migrazione” che il summit si è impegnato a prevenire. I cinque punti della “dichiarazione sulle migrazioni e la mobilità” su cui si è raggiunto un accordo prevedono la lotta al traffico di persone e all’immigrazione irregolare, oltre al rafforzamento del nesso tra migrazioni e sviluppo, riducendo i costi per l’invio di rimesse dall’estero e migliorando i meccanismi per il coinvolgimento politico delle diaspore africane. Il documento cita anche la necessità di organizzare meglio la migrazione legale e l’intenzione di migliorare la protezione internazionale di rifugiati, richiedenti asilo e sfollati, ma la sua applicazione dipenderà di fatto dalle politiche migratorie dei singoli Stati. Alle migrazioni (e alla pace) è legata anche la questione dei rapporti economici: su nessuna delle due questioni – è stato il riconoscimento comune – possono esserci progressi definitivi se non le si affronta insieme a quella dello sviluppo. Ma anche fronte a un’Africa che attira sempre più l’interesse di grandi e medie potenze politiche – Cina, India, Giappone e Brasile sono in prima linea – non sarebbe stato possibile lasciare sullo sfondo l’economia. L’UE, attraverso il presidente del Consiglio europeo, Herman van Rompuy, e quello della Commissione, José Manuel Barroso, ha ricordato che l’Europa rimane il primo partner dell’Africa in termini di commerci, sviluppo e investimento, e ribadito gli sforzi già compiuti. Ma proprio in questo ambito c’è stato il disaccordo più forte: le righe della dichiarazione finale dedicate all’accelerazione della creazione di una zona di libero scambio continentale in Africa non possono lasciare in ombra il fatto che sugli accordi di partenariato economico (Epa) le posizioni restano distanti e i negoziati non sono conclusi. L’opposizione della Nigeria aveva portato prima del summit al rinvio della firma dell’intesa tra UE e Comunità degli Stati dell’Africa occidentale (Ecowas – Cedeao), e il tema è rimasto di fatto irrisolto: alla promozione del libero commercio l’Europa destinerà 844 milioni di euro in sette anni, ma nel corso del summit – ha ammesso lo stesso Barroso – “si poteva fare di più e meglio” sugli Epa, nonostante alcuni “progressi”. Rinviata – alla conferenza di Parigi del 2015 – anche la questione di come affrontare il cambiamento climatico e il riscaldamento globale, un piano su cui gli interessi dell’Europa industrializzata e dell’Africa in crescita restano differenti: l’unico impegno è quello a cercare un accordo “legalmente vincolante” in vista del prossimo anno, ma con la prospettiva che entri in vigore solo entro il 2020. Con ogni probabilità, è questa un’altra delle questioni che dovranno essere affrontate anche nel prossimo vertice, il quinto, annunciato per il 2017 in Africa. [DMag]

LAGO CHAD, A BOLOGNA E RIMINI CON PRODI PER CONFERENZA INTERNAZIONALE

(4.4.2014 – Notiziario InfoAfrica)

Una Conferenza di alto livello sul Lago Chad si apre oggi a Bologna e proseguirà domani a Rimini con la partecipazione dei capi di Stato del Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, del Ciad, Idriss Déby Itno, e dell’ex presidente nigeriano Olusegun Obasanjo. Promossa dalla Fondazione per la Collaborazione tra i Popoli di Romano Prodi, alla Conferenza dei donatori per la Rivitalizzazione del Lago Chad prenderanno parte anche il presidente della Mauritania e presidente di turno dell’Unione Africana, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, il presidente della Commissione Africana, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, il viceministro degli Esteri italiano Lapo Pistelli, il presidente della Regione Emilia Romagna, Vasco Errani, il Questore di BolognaVincenzo Stingone, e il Prefetto di Bologna, Ennio Mario Sodano. A portare il saluto della città di Bologna sarà il sindaco Virginio Merola. Presentando l’iniziativa, Romano Prodi ha detto: “Esaurita la grande risorsa di acqua dolce del lago Chad, la vita degli oltre 30 milioni di persone che vivono nell’area del Sahel è a rischio. Per questa ragione l’impegno assunto dalla Fondazione per la Collaborazione tra i Popoli con la Commissione del Bacino del lago Chad allo scopo di raccogliere fondi per la rivitalizzazione del lago, interpreta nel modo migliore gli obiettivi e i fini della Fondazione stessa”. Il progressivo inaridimento del lago Chad sta cancellando quella che era una delle più importanti riserve idriche dell’Africa. Oggi il lago rischia di scomparire con conseguenze per oltre 30 milioni di abitanti della regione del Sahel. Da Bologna e da Rimini si rivolgerà un appello alla comunità internazionale perché dagli studi si passi finalmente alla fase degli interventi mirati per il recupero dell’ecosistema. L’iniziativa si propone in particolare la realizzazione di imponenti opere idrauliche e interventi di adattamento e miglioramento dell’agricoltura, della cootecnia, delle tecniche di irrigazione e dell’organizzazione del lavoro e della produzione.

CRIMEA: WHAT LESSONS FOR AFRICA? [Commento pubblicato lo scorso 1° aprile sul sito del sudafricano Institute for Security Studies-ISS a firma di Liesl Louw-Vaudran, consulente dell'ISS stesso]

(4.4.2014 – Notiziario InfoAfrica)

The controversial referendum in the Crimean peninsula on 16 March, and its much-disputed accession treaty with Russia, has opened up a new can of worms in international politics. Russia maintains that it is only respecting Crimeans’ wishes for ‘self-determination,’ but is this true? And what does it say about other minorities who want out? Many African countries are a mosaic of ethnic groups and minorities. Could this happen here as well? Meanwhile, Africa – especially South Africa, which is part of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) grouping – finds itself in a rather delicate situation in the clash between Russia and Western countries regarding the future of Ukraine. Many loyalties lie with Russia – but Europe is still Africa’s biggest funder and a major trading partner. The African Union (AU) has so far kept silent on the matter. Brad Simpson, in a thought-provoking article in Foreign Policy magazine, entitled ‘Self- determination in the age of Putin’, points out that self-determination is ‘one of the most contested ideas of the 21st century.’ While the United Nations (UN) recognises the right to self-determination, it can mean many things to many people – and there are no hard and fast rules about the right to secede. Simpson points out that recent cases of secession, like South Sudan in 2011 and Eritrea in 1991, were the result of years of conflict and human rights abuses, where groups chose to break away because they felt their minority rights weren’t protected. In recent decades, such examples are few and far between. Certainly, none of these cases saw a big power orchestrate events like Russia had done after the recent government changeover in Kiev. ‘While a right to secede does exist, Crimea’s move departs from evolving international norms about secession. Yet that will hardly stop other groups from appropriating the Crimean example to suit their purposes,’ writes Simpson. The question may be asked whether smaller entities in Africa will see this as an opportunity to state their case. What is good for one should be good for the other; after all, the borders of African countries were drawn by outsiders. Meanwhile, there are also isolated cases in Africa where

regional strongmen, like Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, are accused of taking a Putin-like stance towards a neighbouring territory – in this case the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director of the Institute for Security Studies, says the default position of African countries and the AU has always been against secession, and for maintaining existing borders. This is in part due to the threat of break-up that various African states would face if minority regions broke away. This is the case in places like Kenya, where ethnic Somalis claim a region in the north of the country and Mali, where Touaregs claim a large part of the northern region. Internally driven calls for self-determination also abound elsewhere in Africa. Many of these are solved through regional or federal systems, but in places like Senegal, where the southern Casamance province wants more self-determination, it leads to low-level conflicts. Festus Aboagye, Executive Director of the African Peace Support Trainers’ Association (APSTA) Secretariat in Nairobi, agrees that the status quo is likely to remain as it is. He attributes this to pressure from bigger states and the international community, particularly former colonial powers who are not in favour of redrawing Africa’s borders. The Somali expansionist idea – to get Somalis in Ethiopia, Kenya and even Djibouti to form one greater Somalia – will probably not succeed, he says. ‘That is a long shot, which the international community is not going to countenance. Ethiopia is a regional power in East Africa and has managed with alliances in the international community to stop Somalia from achieving this objective. The same applies to Kenya.’ Many of the struggles around ethnic identity in Africa have also of late turned to ‘some semblance of regional terrorism.’ This was, for example, the case in the north of Mali recently. South Sudanese, however, have never resorted to such tactics and have largely gained the sympathy of the international community for their struggle, Aboagye says. It is possible that breakaways based on claims of self-determination could take place in the long term; the map of Africa will probably not stay the same forever. However, it seems unlikely, for now, that African regions would follow the same path as Crimea. The closest example in Africa to what is currently happening in the former Soviet Union seems to be the dispute over the Western Sahara, and Morocco’s claims over the territory. Morocco has encouraged Moroccan settlement of the Western Sahara – the famous Marche Verte organised by King Hassan II in the 1970s – which could influence any referendum held there over whether the territory should belong to Morocco. Old historical claims and counter-claims also play a huge role here. Yet neither Morocco nor any of the surrounding states, including Algeria, is large enough to bully the others into either declaring the Western Sahara independent or accepting it as fully part of Morocco.

The biggest lesson for Africa from the Crimea-annexation drama might be that global power games are changing. Although this crisis harks back to the Cold War era, Cilliers points out that clearly, today, no superpower has the capacity to stop Russia from acting like a regional hegemon in the Ukraine. ‘What we are seeing is the realignment from a bi-polar to a multi-polar world,’ he says. ‘Previously the choice was between East and West. This enforced rigidity and stability, but now we have multiple sources of power,’ Cilliers says. This means that in the longer term, if a big, powerful country in Africa decides to impose itself on others, it could theoretically do so – and get away with it

BOB DIAMOND INVESTS IN AFRICA’S FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR

(3.4.2014 – Ventures Africa)

Former Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Bank, UK, Bob Diamond has acquired ABC Holdings Ltd. (BancABC) and ADC African Development Corp. in a deal worth $265 million, through his investment company, Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd. (ATMA). The deal will see Diamond hold a 9.1 percent stake which ADC holds in Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) and 47.1 percent of BancABC which offers financial services in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Bostwana and Mozambique. “We looked extensively at where the best opportunities would be in Africa and we had our sights on a high-quality, multi-country bank in one of the regions of Africa,” said Diamond to reporters in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital city. Diamond had in 2012 quit Barclays, following a fine slammed on the British bank for manipulating benchmark interest rates to focus on Atlas Mara. Diamond and Ugandan entrepreneur Ashish J. Thakkar had in December raised $325 million for the company in an initial public offering (IPO), which included $20 million each from the duo. ADC’s CEO Dirk Harbecke said in a statement that Atlas Mara shared the company’s vision of “creating a pan-African banking group”, hence the investment. Atlas Mara’s other acquisition, BencABC started in Bostwana in 1956 trades on the bourse of the Southern African country and also on Zimbabwe’s stock exchange. BancABC made a $22.5 million profit last year, according to a March 26 statement. “Our objective is to build Africa’s premier financial-services group leveraging the access to capital, liquidity and funding that we at Atlas Mara can provide,” said Diamond in a statement. After completion of the transactions, Atlas Mara will invest $100 million in BancABC, according to Douglas Munatsi, CEO of ABC Holdings. This, he said, will help in boosting the company’s capital- adequacy ratios. He noted that the money would be disbursed based on returns, with the country which gives the highest out of the five where it operates to receive the most. “Access to capital is part of what this transaction brings and I hope that from now the whole scenario of us being cash-hungry will change,” Munatsi said.

Atlas Mara share price currently stands at $11.40 on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), a 4.6 percent gain since its listing on the bourse in December 2013.

AZIENDA FRIULANA VINCE IMPORTANTI COMMESSE IN ALGERIA E MOZAMBICO

(01.04.2014- InfoAfrica)

Ha cominciato il 2014 con l’ottenimento di due commesse, in Mozambico e in Algeria, l’azienda friulana Pilosio, fra i leader europei nella produzione di strutture provvisionali da cantiere. Nel dettaglio – riferisce il Messaggero Veneto – in Algeria Pilosio fornirà sistemi di casserature modello P300 e Simplex Table per la realizzazione delle strutture portanti in calcestruzzo di due centrali elettriche di potenza pari a 1.200 MW situate a Cap Djenet, nella provincia di Boumerdès, e ad Ain Arnat, nella provincia di Setif, entrambe nel nordest del Paese. La commessa vale 1,6 milioni di euro. L’opera sarà realizzata dalla ditta algerina Inerga, parte del gruppo Sonelgas, con cui Pilosio vanta un rapporto storico. In Mozambico la Pilosio fornirà casseri modello Maximix, P300 e Simplex Table per un intervento di riabilitazione di un tratto stradale fra le città di Lichinga e Litunde e la costruzione di sette ponti nel tratto compreso fra Marrupa e Litunde. A margine dell’annuncio di questi nuovo cantieri, la Pilosio ha ufficializzato l’apertura di una struttura tecnico-commerciale a Durban, in Sudafrica. “In futuro l’Africa può potenzialmente diventare il nostro primo mercato – ha detto l’amministratore delegato della Pilosio, Dario Roustayan – Certo non ci dobbiamo immaginare che oggi sia già completamente maturo per utilizzare tecniche costruttive evolute come le nostre, ma sono sempre di più le aziende occidentali, fra cui anche italiane, che stanno portando in loco una cultura del costruire nuova e un know-how che diventerà strategico per far crescere business, occupazione e sviluppare l’intero Continente.”