• Chinese, Nigerian presidents satisfied with bilateral ties • Pang Yuliang Acquired German Parchim Airport

Chinese oil workers have also been targeted in Nigeria by armed militants seeking a greater share of that country's oil wealth. Hostages are normally released unharmed after a ransom is paid.
In March, two Chinese workers were kidnapped in Nigeria. In January, nine Chinese oil workers were taken when gunmen stormed the government-owned Chinese National Petroleum Co. office in Nigeria's state of Bayelsa.
In another incident in southern Nigeria's Rivers state the same month, five Chinese telecommunication workers were kidnapped but safely returned within two weeks.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-24-07 0723ET
Document OSTDJ00020070424e34o00155

Gunmen Attack Chinese-owned Oil Field In Ethiopia - Embassy
431 words

24 April 2007

07:20 AM

Dow Jones International News

DJI

English

(c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)--Unidentified gunmen attacked a Chinese oil company's field in Ethiopia Tuesday, an embassy official said, injuring several workers.
A Chinese Embassy official in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, said the attack took place early Tuesday morning but had few details.
"We think there are people injured in the attack but we do not know the exact number. Chinese workers were injured," said Sun Qing, a political officer at the embassy. "The attack happened in a remote area, the situation is not clear and we are working to get more details," she told The AP.
"We expect the ministry of foreign affairs in China to make a statement in the next few hours. We are not authorized to talk from here."
Ethiopian government officials weren't immediately available for comment.
China has increased its presence in Africa in recent years - including in areas seen as politically unstable - in a hunt for oil and other natural resources to feed its rapidly growing economy.
The oil field is in Ethiopia's eastern state, bordering Somalia.
In December, Ethiopian troops crushed an Islamic movement that ruled the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and much of the south of the country. But it is now fighting an increasingly bloody insurgency. Militants have vowed to wage an Iraq-style insurgency against Ethiopia and the interim Somali government it backs.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, last year an Ethiopian rebel group issued a warning to companies that are looking to develop in the contested area of Ethiopia, saying any investment that benefits the Ethiopian government "will not be tolerated."
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, which wants an independent state in Ethiopia for ethnic Somalis and has been waging a low level insurgency against the Ethiopian government. It is also fighting against the Ethiopian forces inside Somalia.
Somalis lost a war in 1977 for control of Ethiopia's Ogaden region, which is largely inhabited by ethnic Somalis.
Chinese oil workers have also been targeted in Nigeria by armed militants seeking a greater share of that country's oil wealth. Hostages are normally released unharmed after a ransom is paid.
In March, two Chinese workers were kidnapped in Nigeria. In January, nine Chinese oil workers were taken when gunmen stormed the government-owned Chinese National Petroleum Co. office in Nigeria's state of Bayelsa.
In another incident in southern Nigeria's Rivers state the same month, five Chinese telecommunication workers were kidnapped but safely returned within two weeks. [ 24-04-07 1123GMT ]
Document DJI0000020070424e34o000qy
University of Rochester, U.S. University of Rochester, U.S., has provided details on its latest developments
1,114 words

23 April 2007

Health & Medicine Week

HAMW

3703

English

(c) Copyright 2007 Health & Medicine Week via NewsRx.com
2007 APR 23 - ( NewsRx.com) -- University of Rochester, U.S., has provided details on its latest developments.
This trend article is an immediate alert from NewsRx to identify the most recent news developments at University of Rochester, U.S.
Report 1: The number of individuals with Parkinson disease in 15 of the world's largest nations will double over the next generation, according to a study published in a recent issue of the journal Neurology. The study highlights the significant challenge facing countries with rapidly growing economies, particularly in Asia, many of which are ill prepared to meet this impending public health threat.
In recent years, a great deal of resources and energy have been focused on confronting infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. This is highlighted by high-profile private investments in these areas by organizations such as the Gates Foundation. However, while infectious diseases have attracted the greatest attention from international donors, it is non-communicable chronic diseases, such as Parkinson, that represent a far greater burden in terms of economic and social cost to developing nations.
University of Rochester neurologist Ray Dorsey, MD, and a team of researchers examined the projected population growth in the five largest countries in Western Europe (France, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy) and the 10 most populous nations worldwide (China, India, Indonesia, the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Japan, and Russia). They then projected the prevalence of the disease by age group in each country. Their research estimates that the number of individuals with Parkinson disease in these 15 countries will grow from 4.1 to 8.7 million by the year 2030. While the number of individuals with the disease will nearly double in the United States to 610,000, the greatest growth will occur in developing countries in Asia. By 2030, an estimated 5 million people in China will have the disease.
"The bulk of the growth in Parkinson disease in the next 25 years will not be in the United States and Europe but in other places, namely China, where Parkinson may not be viewed as a major public health problem," said Dorsey. "Moreover, this growth will occur in societies where there is very limited infrastructure in place to diagnose individuals, much less address their medical needs or the societal impact."
Parkinson disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that impairs motor skills and walking. Despite the fact that the disease is treatable with a combination of medications, therapy and exercise, many individuals in the developing world do not receive appropriate care and may not even be aware of their diagnosis. Dorsey and his colleagues noted that in door-to-door surveys in Bolivia, for example, none of the individuals who were found to have Parkinson disease had ever seen a physician for their problem.
The growth in chronic diseases such as Parkinson is one of the unfortunate byproducts of development. Economic growth and the corresponding improvements in health care and education are increasing the life expectancy of individuals in the developing world. In terms of the rise in chronic diseases, the key factor is not overall population growth but rather the number of people over age 65 and thus at risk of developing Parkinson and other chronic conditions. Furthermore, as income grows, so too does health care spending which, in turn, increases the duration of illness and the overall number of people with a particular disease.
Report 2: According to recently published research from the United States, CD8+ T cells activated locally within the transplanted liver are completely differentiated.
"The transplanted liver elicits systemic tolerance, and the underlying mechanism may also account for the persistence of liver infections, such as malaria and viral hepatitis. These phenomena have led to the hypothesis that antigen presentation within the liver is abortive, leading to T cell tolerance or apoptosis," wrote I. Klein and colleagues, University of Rochester.
They continued, "Here we test this hypothesis in an optimized orthotopic liver transplantation model. In direct contradiction to this model, the liver itself induces full CD8+ T cell activation and differentiation.
"The effects of microchimerism were neutralized by bone marrow transplantation in the liver donor, and the lack of liver-derived antigen-presenting cells was documented by eight-color flow cytometry and by sensitive functional assays," reported the authors.
The researchers concluded, "We conclude that local antigen presentation cannot explain liver tolerance. On the contrary, the liver may be an excellent priming site for naive CD8+ T cells."
Klein and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (Complete differentiation of CD8(+) T cells activated locally within the transplanted liver. J Exp Med, 2006;203(2):437-447).
For more information, contact I. Klein, University of Rochester, David H Smith Center of Vaccine Biology & Immunology, Aab Institute of Biomedical Research, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
Report 3: Recombinant adenovirus type 5 vectors that target DC-SIGN, ChemR23, and alphaVbeta3 integrin efficiently transduce human dendritic cells and enhance presentation of vectored antigen.
"Recombinant adenoviruses (rAds) represent a promising system for vaccine delivery but transduce dendritic cells (DC) relatively poorly. To address this concern, we used a biotin-avidin linkage to conjugate rAd vectors to ligands which bind with high affinity to selected receptors on DC (CheniR23, alphavbeta3 integrin, and DC-SIGN)," investigators in the United States report.
"The targeted vectors had an enhanced ability to transduce human monocyte-derived DC compared to untargeted virus," said Casey A. Maguire and colleagues at the University of Rochester. "In addition, DC transduced with targeted rAd vectors were more efficient at stimulating cytokine production by autologous memory CD8+ T cells, against a vector-encoded antigen."
The investigators concluded, "These results expand the range of cell surface receptors that can be used to target rAd5 vectors to DC, and may facilitate future development of rAd-based vaccines."
Maguire and associates published their study in Vaccine (Recombinant adenovirus type 5 vectors that target DC-SIGN, ChemR23 and alphavbeta3 integrin efficiently transduce human dendritic cells and enhance presentation of vectored antigen. Vaccine, 2006;24(5):671-682).
For additional information, contact Stephen Dewhurst, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. [e-mail].
Keywords: Rochester, New York, United States, Dendritic Cell Vaccine, Vaccine Vector, Vector Development, Vaccine Development, Adenovirus Vector, Antigen Presentation, Recombinant Technology, Immunology, Immunotherapy, Virology.
This article was prepared by Health & Medicine Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Health & Medicine Week via NewsRx.com.
Document HAMW000020070420e34n0030i

GULF STOCKS - Factors to watch - Saudi Arabia - April 21
431 words

21 April 2007

03:49 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2007 Reuters Limited
(Adds first factor)
RIYADH, March 21 (Reuters) - Here are stories, press reports and analysts' views of factors that may affect Saudi Arabia's stock market on Saturday.
NEWS
Saudi Mobily Q1 surges, but misses forecasts
Etihad Etisalat , which operates Saudi Arabia's second mobile phone network, posted a nearly seven-fold jump in first quarter profit on higher revenues, but still fell short of analyst forecasts. [ID:nL21498964]
Bahrain Telecom says no Saudi nod to start ops
Bahrain Telecommunications Co. said on Thursday it had not received approval to start Saudi fixed-line services, a day after it said it won the necessary licence. [ID:nL1914948]
Saudi Electricity Q1
Saudi Electricity Co. , the Gulf's largest utility by market value, posted first-quarter losses within range of analyst expectations. [ID:nL18700936]
Saudi Telecom Q1 drops
Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), the largest Arab telecom company by market value, made its smallest quarterly profit in more than two years as competition eroded the former monopoly operator's margins. [ID:nL18152074]
Gulf markets on Wednesday
The Saudi bourse climbed on Wednesday for the third time this week as investors bought into Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) on expectations it would benefit from higher chemical prices this year. [ID:nL18428628]
Kuwait c.bank foreign assets jump on revaluation bets
Foreign assets of Kuwait's central bank posted their sharpest monthly increase in at least five years as speculators piled into the Kuwaiti dinar betting on a revaluation. [ID:nL18302475]
Rice open to talks with Iran at Iraq meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend a meeting of Iraq's neighbours in Egypt next month and is open to direct talks with Iran over Iraq, the State Department said on Friday. [ID:nN20443258]
Iran, EU to meet on nuclear stand-off on April 25
Iran's top negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet on Wednesday for talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear activity, their first since more U.N. sanctions were slapped on Iran last month. [ID:nDAH029005]
Oil down for second day, watching Nigeria vote
Oil prices fell for a second day on Friday as traders adjusted to rising U.S. supplies and fretted over the speed of Chinese economic growth, but elections in Nigeria and anxiety over Iran limited selling. [ID:nSP265658]
Q1 earnings forecasts
Reuters has compiled first-quarter earnings forecasts for 90 Gulf Arab companies. Click on the code within square brackets for details. [ID:nFORECAST]
MARKETS-FACTORS-SAUDI|LANGEN|GFN
Document LBA0000020070421e34l00033

GULF STOCKS - Factors to watch - Kuwait April 21
609 words

21 April 2007

02:04 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2007 Reuters Limited
(Adds first five factors)
KUWAIT, April 21 (Reuters) - Here are stories, press reports and analysts' views of factors that may affect the stock market in Kuwait on Saturday.
NEWS
Agility to post Q1 EPS of 60 fils
Logistics provider Agility should a first-quarter earnings per share of 60 fils, unidentified sources told al-Qabas.
Kharafi boosts stake in MTC
The Kharafi Group boosted its stake in Mobile Telelcommunications Co. (MTC) to 30 percent from 27 percent in heavy trading in the firm's shares last week and there are plans by an unidentified Saudi investor to buy 10 percent of the company at up to 7.5 dinars per share, unidentified sources told al-Seyassah.
Dar to expect 34 mln dinars from property sale
Investment Dar is in the final stages of talks to sell a UK property and is expected to make profit of up to 34 million dinars from the sale, unidentified sources told Alam al-Yawm.
Kamco makes 24 mln dinars profit from stake sales
KIPCO Asset Management Co. (KAMCO) made a profit of nearly 24 million dinars since the beginning of the year from selling stakes in four companies, al-Watan reported.
KFIC buys 70 pct of Ahlia Financial
Kuwait Finance and Investment Co. (KFIC) has bought 70 percent of al Ahlia Financial Brokerage Co. for nearly 13 million dinars, unidentified sources told the paper, al-Watan reported.
Kuwait bourse probes record MTC trading volume
Kuwait's stock exchange said on Wednesday it was investigating a record volume of trade in shares of Mobile Telecommunications Co. (MTC), the country's largest firm by market value. [ID:nL18316617]
Combined Group to sign $284 mln power deal
Combined Group Company for Contracting said on Wednesday it is to sign a deal worth 82 million dinars ($283.6 million) with the Ministry of Electricity and Water. [ID:nL18320120]
Gulf markets on Wednesday
The Saudi bourse climbed on Wednesday for the third time this week as investors bought into Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) on expectations it would benefit from higher chemical prices this year. [ID:nL18428628]
Kuwait c.bank foreign assets jump on revaluation bets
Foreign assets of Kuwait's central bank posted their sharpest monthly increase in at least five years as speculators piled into the Kuwaiti dinar betting on a revaluation. [ID:nL18302475]
Rice open to talks with Iran at Iraq meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend a meeting of Iraq's neighbours in Egypt next month and is open to direct talks with Iran over Iraq, the State Department said on Friday. [ID:nN20443258]
Iran, EU to meet on nuclear stand-off on April 25
Iran's top negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet on Wednesday for talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear activity, their first since more U.N. sanctions were slapped on Iran last month. [ID:nDAH029005]
Oil down for second day, watching Nigeria vote
Oil prices fell for a second day on Friday as traders adjusted to rising U.S. supplies and fretted over the speed of Chinese economic growth, but elections in Nigeria and anxiety over Iran limited selling. [ID:nSP265658]
Q1 earnings forecasts
Reuters has compiled first-quarter earnings forecasts for 90 Gulf Arab companies. Click on the code within square brackets for details. [ID:nFORECAST]
VIEWS On Kuwait:
JASSEM AL-ROUMI, MANAGER OF LOCAL AND GCC INVESTMENTS, GLOBAL INVESTMENT HOUSE
"Earnings will be the driver in the coming weeks. Expectations have been positive and the actual results have supported this positive outlook."
MARKETS-FACTORS-KUWAIT|LANGEN|GFN
Document LBA0000020070421e34l0002u

China in Africa: Lessons for the Philippines
Walden Bello, columnist

2,334 words

19 April 2007

Inquirer.net

inqnet

English

Copyright 2007 Inquirer Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.inq7.net
MANILA, Philippines -- For many of our technocrats and economists, the salvation of the Philippine economy lies not only in ever increasing money remittances from our overseas workers but ever-tighter ties with China's red-hot economy.
Perhaps a look at China's presence in Africa might serve to temper their optimisms.
At the Seventh World Social Forum (WSF), held in Nairobi, Kenya, in late January, the most controversial topic was not HIV-AIDS, the US occupation of Iraq, or neoliberalism. It was China's relations with Africa.
At a packed panel discussion organized by a semi-official Chinese NGO, the discussion was candid and angry. “First, Europe and America took over our big businesses. Now China is driving our small and medium-scale entrepreneurs to bankruptcy,” Humphrey Pole-Pole of the Tanzanian Social Forum told the Chinese speakers. “You don't even contribute to employment, because you bring in your own labor.”
Stung by such remarks from the floor, Cui Jianjun, secretary general of the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, lost his diplomatic cool and launched into an emotional defense of Chinese foreign investment, saying, “We Chinese had to make the same hard decision on whether to accept foreign investment many, many years ago. You have to make the right decision or you will lose, lose, lose. You have to decide right, or you will remain poor, poor, poor.”
The vigorous exchange should have been anticipated, since many Africans view China as having the potential of bringing either great promise or great harm. If African civil society representatives were hard on China, this was because they desperately wanted China to reverse course before it was too late, so that it would avoid the path trod by Europe and the United States.
Beijing's high profile in Africa
The debate at the WSF took place amid a marked elevation of Africa's profile in China's foreign policy. In early February, President Hu Jintao made his third trip to Africa in three years, following the success of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which took place Nov. 4-5, 2006. Attended by 48 African delegations, most of them led by heads of state, the event was the largest international summit held in Beijing.
At the start of the summit, Beijing unveiled a glittering trade and aid plan designed to cement its “strategic partnership” with Africa. The key items in the package committed China to doubling its 2006 assistance in three years, providing $3 billion worth of preferential loans and $2 billion worth of export credits, and canceling all interest-free government loans that matured at the end of 2005 and were owed by the heavily indebted and poorest African countries. In addition, the two sides agreed to raise the volume of trade from $40 billion in 2005 to $100 billion by 2010 and set up of a China-Africa Development Fund that would be capitalized to the tune of $5 billion to support Chinese companies investing in Africa.
If not yet the biggest external player in Africa, China is certainly the most dynamic. It now accounts for 60 percent of oil exports from Sudan and 35 percent of those from Angola. Chinese firms mine copper in Zambia and Congo-Brazzaville, cobalt in the Congo, gold in South Africa, and uranium in Zimbabwe. Its ecological footprint is large, says Michelle Chan-Fishel of Friends of the Earth International, consuming as it does 46 percent of Gabon's forest exports, 60 percent of timber exported from Equatorial Guinea, and 11 percent of timber exports from Cameroon.
Contrasting images of China
China is popular with African governments. “There is something refreshing to China's approach,” said a Nigerian diplomat who asked not to be identified. “They don't attach all those conditionalities that accompany Western loans.” Adds Justin Fong, executive director of the Chinese NGO, Moving Mountains: “Whether accurate or not, the image Africans have of the Chinese is that they get things done. They don't waste their time in meetings. They just go ahead and build roads.”
An African development specialist working with a western aid organization claimed that Chinese projects are low cost affairs compared to western projects. “Labor costs are low, they integrate African labor, so some transfer of skills takes place, and the Chinese workers live in the village, and this means living like the villagers, down to competing with them for dog meat.”
While they might dispute this characterization of China's impact, most NGOs are nuanced in their assessments. They acknowledge that China has a different trajectory in Africa than Europe and the United States. Whereas the West began by exploiting Africa, China initiated its relations with Africa with “people-to-people” medical and technical assistance missions in the 1960s and 1970s, the most famous of which was the building of the now fabled Tanzania-Zambia (Tanzam) Railway. But with China's rise as a modernizing economic superpower after the definitive decision in 1984 to use capitalism as the engine of growth, the old solidarity rationale has been replaced by a dangerously single-minded pursuit of economic interests -- in this case, mainly oil and mineral resources to feed a red-hot economy.
If African governments were accountable to their people, say NGO critics, Chinese aid could play a very positive role, especially if compared with World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans that come with conditions to bring down tariffs, loosen government regulation, and privatize state enterprises. But with non-accountable, non-transparent governments, such as those in the Sudan and Zimbabwe, say the critics, Chinese loan and aid programs contribute instead to consolidating the rule of non-democratic elites.
Crossing the line in Sudan
Where China has definitely crossed the line is in Sudan. Using its veto power at the UN Security Council, China has prevented the international community from creating and deploying a multinational force to protect people in Darfur who are being killed or raped by militias backed by the Sudanese government. Even one African diplomat sympathetic to China asserts, “China's strong backing for the Sudanese government has discouraged African governments that are trying to push it to accept an African Union solution to the problem.”
China has very substantial interests in Sudan. These are set out in detail in an important collection of studies launched at the WSF titled, "African Perspectives on China in Africa," edited by Firoze Manji and Stephen Marks. China obtained oil exploration and production rights in 1995 when the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) bought a 40-percent stake in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co., which is pumping over 300,000 barrels per day. Sinopec, another Chinese firm, is building a 1,500-kilometer pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where China's Petroleum Engineering Construction Co. is constructing a tanker terminal . Author John Rocha estimates Chinese investment in oil exploration to reach $8 billion.
Chinese interests go beyond oil. Its investment in textile mills is estimated at $100 million. It has emerged as one of Sudan's top arms suppliers. In one particular barter arrangement, China supplied $400 million worth of weapons in return for cotton. It is active in infrastructure, with its firms building bridges near the Merowe Dam and two other sites on the River Nile. It is involved in key hydropower projects, the most controversial being the Merowe Dam, which is expected to ultimately cost $1.8 billion.
The construction of the Merowe Dam has involved forced resettlement of the Hambdan people living at or near the site and repression and an armed attack on the Amri people who have been organizing to prevent the Sudanese government's plan to transfer them to the desert. Local police and private agencies now provide 24-hour security to Chinese engineering detachments, but civil society observers say the aim of these groups is less protection of the Chinese than repression of growing opposition.
As Ali Askari, director of the London-based Piankhi Research Group, puts it, “The sad truth is, both the Chinese and their elite partners in the Sudan government want to conceal some terrible facts about their partnership. They are joining hands to uproot poor people, expropriate their land, and appropriate their natural resources.”
Chinese and Sudanese officials tend to dismiss such criticism as the machinations of western powers. Such powers are alarmed at China's becoming the top international player in a country long treated as being in the West's sphere of influence. But, according to Beijing and Khartoum, theWest's dismal record of colonial plunder deprives its statements of any moral authority.
Defending its close relations with the Sudanese government, a Chinese foreign ministry official, Zhai Jun, noted the contrast in African governments' reception of China and the West: “Some people believe that by ‘taking' resources and energy from Africa, China is looting Africa...If this was so, then African countries would express their dissatisfaction...they would approach China, as they did...countries that exploited the continent in the past.”
However, Chinese officials are wrong to think that African NGOs are merely parroting the rhetoric of self-interested western governments. In fact, civil society groups also consider such western criticism hypocritical. Commenting on the remark of a World Bank official to the effect that “Chinese handouts without reforms” would not be beneficial to Africa, John Karumbidza, a contributor to the "China in Africa" volume, acidly remarks, “It is the case ... that this same bank and Western approach over the past half century has failed to deliver development, and left Africa in more debt than when they began.”
Other problematic partnerships
These criticisms are unlikely to go away, not only in Sudan but also in many other countries where Chinese involvement with controversial regimes runs deep. With relations with the West and even South Africa deteriorating over his political record, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has increasingly turned to China, which one of his key ministers has characterized as an “all-weather friend.” Chinese investment in mining, energy, telecommunications, agriculture, and other sectors was estimated at $600 million at the end of 2004, with another $600 million pledged in June 2005. The price, however, has been high, according to critics, who claim that Mugabe's government has handed de facto control of key strategic industries to the Chinese. A contract with China to farm 386 square miles of land while millions of Zimbabweans remain landless has come under fire, with rural sociologist John Karumbidza blasting it as “nothing more than land renting and typical agro-business relations that turn the land holders and their workers into labor tenants and subject them to exploitation.”
The Nigerian government is another problematic Chinese partner, according to civil society activists. China has extensive interests in Nigeria, particularly in oil exploration and production. The China National Offshore Corporation (CNOOC), notes researcher John Rocha, has acquired a 45-percent working interest in an offshore enterprise, OML 130, for $2.3 billion; the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has invested in the Port Harcourt refinery; and a joint venture between the Chinese Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and the L.N. Mittal Group, plans to invest $6 billion in railways, oil refining, and power in exchange for rights to drill oil.
These interests have led to an increasingly tight alliance with the faction of the ruling People's Democratic Party dominated by President Olusegun Obasanjo. This relationship has a controversial security dimension. As Ndubisi Obiorah, another contributor to the "China in Africa" volume, who is director of the Center for Law and Social Action in Lagos, notes: “The Nigerian government is increasingly turning to China for weapons to deal with the worsening insurgency in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The Nigerian Air Force purchased 14 Chinese-made versions of the upgraded MiG 21 jet fighter; the navy has ordered patrol boats to secure the swamps and creeks of the Niger Delta.” Not surprisingly, the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta (MEND) has warned Chinese companies to keep out of the region or risk attack.
With their integrated political, military, economic, and diplomatic components, China's “strategic partnerships” with governments such as those of Nigeria, Sudan, and Zimbabwe increasingly have the feel of the old US and Soviet relationships with client states during the Cold War.
Will civil society make the difference?
Nevertheless, many civil society activists do not discount the possibility that things may yet be turned around. Though critical of current Chinese policies, Humphrey Pole-Pole of Tanzania appealed at the Nairobi meeting for a “win-win-win” strategy -- that is, “a win for China, a win for African governments, and a win for African people. This is not impossible.”
The key to such a change may be the growth of Chinese civil society organizations, some of which are increasingly independent of and indeed critical of government policies within China.
But closer ties between Chinese and African NGOs are not enough, says Justin Fong. Mechanisms to ensure Chinese government accountability are needed. One point of vulnerability he identifies is the practice of Chinese government entities, such as the China Export-Import Bank, of going for co-financing for their Africa projects to international banks such as HSBC and Citigroup. When it comes to controversial projects, pressure might be indirectly placed on the Chinese by lobbying these institutions, which are more sensitive about their image than Beijing. Such tactics, which sometimes worked with western governments and firms, may not, however, succeed with China.
But whatever their differences, civil society activists, African and Chinese, agree on one thing. It will be a hard, uphill struggle to change the Chinese juggernaut's direction in Africa.
Walden Bello is professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines and executive director of the Bangkok-based research and advocacy institute Focus on the Global South.
Document inqnet0020070418e34j00002

Altimo evaluated the investment attractiveness of cellular communication markets...
754 words

16 April 2007

WPS: The Russian Business Monitor

RUSBUS

English

(c) 2007 WPS Russian Media Monitoring Agency. All Rights Reserved.
Altimo evaluated the investment attractiveness of cellular communication markets of various countries. Bangladesh took first place and Russia took fifth place. Experts trust the data of Altimo but say that it is necessary to bear in mind that some interesting markets are closed to foreigners.
The Altimo Mobile Development Index (MDI) was developed by an expert group consisting of Professor of the London Business School Chris Higson, Professor of Cambridge University Shaun Holly and researchers of the Russian School of Economics. Financial parameters for the period between 2002 and 2006 for 52 national markets in 11 regions of the world for calculation of the index were taken from Wireless Intelligence agency. Altimo manages telecommunication assets of VimpelCom, 25.1% of MegaFon shares, 13.22% in Turkish cellular communication operator Turkcell, 29.9% in Golden Telecom and 43.5% in Ukrainian cellular operator KievStar.
The goal of the research is helping investors to find their bearing on the market of mobile communication: the higher the index the more promising condition of the mobile industry of the country, says Alexei Goryaev, Professor of the Russian School of Economics and one of the authors of the index. Calculation of the index is based on aggregate analysis of the market size, EBITDA of operators, ARPC (average return per capita), speed of growth in mobile communication penetration, investment costs of operators and GDP per capita in a country.
Altimo promises that the data will be updated once in six months.
Goryaev explained that the top three included countries with rapidly growing markets and a relatively low level of mobile communication penetration, namely Bangladesh, China and India, and poor Nigeria and Tanzania took the last places.
Russia took fifth place and the Ukraine took seventh place.
In the last 18 months of operations on emerging markets of Eurasian countries, Altimo doubled the assets managed by it to $20 billion. According to Managing Director of Altimo, Alexei Reznikovich, the company is going to keep focusing investment activities on the most dynamic mobile communication markets. Altimo does not have very many assets on foreign markets ( Turkcell and KievStar) but it is interested in the rapidly growing markets of Southern and Southeast Asia such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam. They are the most profitable and attractive and in the short term this state of affairs will persist. The research states that the attractiveness of these countries is maintained by forecasts of a big growth of GDP per capita and significant current capital expenses.
The level of penetration is high in developed countries and the EBITDA of the companies decreases except for the US (the 16th place) and Canada (the 14th place). In Central and East European countries, except for the CIS markets, investment opportunities are very modest because the level of penetration is already high and African countries to the south of the Sahara Desert are uninteresting due to low forecasted GDP per capita parameters.
Representatives of Sistema Telecom also seeking promising assets in cellular communication take the index with mistrust: they have developed their own criteria base that they use for the evaluation of potential attractiveness of assets.
Independent experts state that the research is quite objective.
Analyst of Mobile Research Group Eldar Murtazin says such a permanently updated list will enable investors to find their bearing in the macro situation on various cellular markets. Murtazin only thinks that an error of the processed data being mostly estimates may be large.
Andrei Bogdanov, senior analyst of Troika Dialog, is surprised because the list does not include the cellular market of Vietnam. According to Bogdanov, authors of the research used correct criteria for evaluation of the markets and ranked them according to importance quite logically. He presumed that Altimo decided to maintain the "image of a smart investor." Bogdanov feels pity because Altimo has not taken into account the difficulties of entering into this or that market, for example, the Chinese market where the regulator supports national companies.
Goryaev explained that Wireless Intelligence did not have enough information about Vietnam.
Analyst of J'son & Partners, Irina Afanasyeva, points out that there is also a risk of nationalization or destruction during hostilities. She adds that it matters how closely an asset is to the buyer both according to territory and according to economic models and this is not taken into account in the research of Altimo.
Goryaev objects: the research takes into account only the parameters that have digital values.
Vedomosti, April 13, 2007
Document RUSBUS0020070416e34g00003

TAKE A LOOK-Africa seeks new power sources as blackouts bite
446 words

13 April 2007

11:32 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2007 Reuters Limited
April 13 - (Reuters) - Countries across Africa are seeking out new sources of power as they grapple with electricity deficits and power cuts, often made worse by high fuel prices or environmental factors.
Here are links to stories on power problems and possible solutions from Reuters reporters across the continent.
LATEST STORIES > Korean KEPCO to operate Nigerian power plant [ID:nSEO353646] > Ivory Coast braces for two months of power cuts [ID:nL0327778]

> Zimbabwe hikes power tariffs [ID:nL02537960]

> China wins $1.46 bln Nigeria hydropower deal [ID:nPEK244360]


> SAfrica starts testing for new reactor programme[ID:nL2985020] > Light at end of tunnel for energy-hungry Luanda[ID:nL28710623] EFFECTS ON INDUSTRY, PEOPLE

> Power cuts to shut Ghana's Valco smelter [ID:nL15340108]

> Niger abandons energy privatisations [ID:nL11449311]

> SAfrica electricity cushion too small -Eskom [ID:nL14524496]

> Zimbabwe power utility warns of more shortages [ID:nL24191338]

> Uganda tackles crisis with energy-saving bulbs [ID:nL08527706]

> SAfrica cuts loom over aluminium,platinum firms[ID:nL19934425]

> Energy crunch looms as southern Africa booms [ID:nL0989307]


> Africa told power shortages inhibit investment [ID:nL11784899]
QUEST FOR NEW SUPPLIES > UN to insure geothermal explorers in East Africa[ID:nL22135111 > Mozambique,China in talks on hydropower project[ID:nL19432315] > Morocco aims to free up power generation in '08[ID:nL16567314]

> Italy and Tunisia consider electricity link [ID:nL09350040]

> India's NTPC may build power plant in Nigeria [ID:nDEL275803]

> Senegal's Wade hopes to build nuclear power plant [nL14390710]

> Hydropower project seen easing Uganda woes [ID:nL28355863]

> Nigeria's new 414MW power plant comes on stream[ID:nL26484127]

> Russia seeks investment in S.Africa nuclear [ID:nL22473369]

> S.Africa to build second nuclear power plant [ID:nL12890042]

> Benin,Nigeria,Togo inaugurate power connection [ID:nL13213526]

> African states can plug into emergency power [ID:nL05570669]

> Nigeria says to build $6 bln nuclear plants [ID:nL0759312]

> Zambia eyes two bidders for power project [ID:nL09780284]

> Giant Mozambique dam to provide power to Malawi[ID:nL28692098]

> Congo takes tentative steps towards power dream [ID:nL1449517]

> Africa nuclear power still seen far off [ID:nL27840832]

> Tunisia plans nuclear power plant by 2020 [ID:nAM2337126]

> Neighbours plan hydro plants on Gambia river [ID:nL22897566]

> Ghana says China to back $600 mln dam project [ID:nL02833142]

> ANALYSIS-Africa scrambles for new energy [ID:nL10819920]

> Pumpkin power dawns for African phone networks [ID:nL11774264]

> Congo OKs hydropower deals for S.Africa firms [ID:nL11794130]

> INTERVIEW-Gas pipe to ease Ghana power crunch [ID:nL04489525]


AFRICA-POWER/ (TAKE-A-LOOK)|LANGEN|Table|G|RBN|ABN|D|E|M|C|GRO|MTL|SOF|O|OIL|ELE|ELN|AFN
Document LBA0000020070413e34d001id

Asia seen as most lucrative mobile market
355 words

13 April 2007

Guardian Unlimited

GRULTD

English

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007. All rights reserved
9am: Investors wanting to make the most of growing telecoms markets should put Bangladesh, China and India top of their list, according to a survey out today. By Katie Allen.