so far in 2014, compared with 80,000 in2013. (BBC News Online 15/9)

NORTH AFRICASmuggling on the Increase

Action is taken to deal with the threatof porous borders.

New concern over the border areabetween Libya, Tunisia and Algeria isleading security officials from the threecountries to work together to stem thethreat.

The issue came to the fore followingclaims in the Tunisian press aboutrecently discovered smuggling tunnelslinking the three countries.

Citing Al Sarih on August 17th, Alge-rie360.com reported that Algerian secu-rity forces had secured and neutralisedseveral of these purported undergroundpassages. However, the Tunisian InteriorMinistry categorically denied therumours, stating that the reports had“no foundation” and were especiallyimplausible given the region’s geography.

The increase in terrorist activities inTunisia in 2014 indicates that extremistsare seeking to establish themselves in the“no man’s land” that the Libyan southhas become.

Along the nearby Algerian border, thearmy has deployed some 14,000 soldiers,but locals remain sceptical, Magharebiareported (5/9).

“It’s an area that thrives on smugglingand nobody except the smugglers knowshow to access both sides. If the armystifles the smugglers, they could ally withterrorists, as was the case in the north ofMali,” warned Amara Bakari, a traderfrom El Oued.

The traffic between Tunisia and westernLibya, in particular, and even in thenorth towards Tebassa, has neverstopped, he added. He went on to saythat it increased every day with manypeople depending on contraband.

In this wide border strip, anythinggoes: drugs, gold, weapons, food, andillegal immigrants. According to BacherMenasria, a taxi driver who used totravel between Algeria and Tunisia,“people have no other economic activity,so they risk their lives.”

In mid-August, Libert�e website ran theheadline: “Fuel trafficking: The haem-orrhage” and reported on the trafficbetween Algeria and Morocco which itdescribed as “exploding”, especiallysince the rise in the price of oil prod-ucts in Morocco approved in June2012. Algeria has, however, steppedup efforts to curb the smuggling offuel to its neighbour. In the first seven

months of 2014 the amount of fuelseized on the western border stripapproached 500,000 litres, comparedwith 320,000 litres for the same periodof 2013.

Units of the National Gendarmerie, incoordination with those of the BorderGuards Group (GGF), with the agree-ment of the judicial services are search-ing all the warehouses and residenceslocated near or inside the border strip.Now a change in methods used by thetraffickers to try to adapt to the systemset up has been noted by gendarmerieofficers. The traffickers find themselvesforced to use donkeys to carry the fuel toMorocco in order to reduce the risks ofseizures.

Meanwhile Moroccan news agencyMAP reported Moroccan Interior Min-ister Mohamed Hassad as saying thatover 143,000 psychotropic pills had beenseized since early 2014 by the securityservices. He stressed that Algeriaremained the primary drug supplier.Underlining the fact that the Algerianauthorities had officially acknowledgedthe development of opium cultivation inAlgeria, the Minister urged Algiers totake the necessary measures to avoid thedrugs reaching Morocco. He also calledon the Algerian authorities to adopt aconstructive approach to combat cross-border crimes. (Sources as referenced intext)

ZIMBABWE – CHINA‘Look East’ Policy

Harare is looking for investment inenergy, infrastructure development andtransport sectors.

President Robert Mugabe, returningfrom a state visit to China from August24–28th, said on the 31st that Beijinghad pledged to assist Zimbabwe’s ailingeconomy “to the best of its ability”.

China will “continue to be as friendly tous as it was before . . . The support wehave asked for in the various areas,China will provide to the best of itsability,” Mugabe said in comments car-ried on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corpo-ration (ZBC) television.

Mugabe made his 13th trip to China todrum up investment for the energy,infrastructure development and trans-port sectors.

Zimbabwe faces a severe liquiditycrunch, high unemployment and mini-mal economic activity. The central banksaid in August that foreign investment inZimbabwe had halved in the first sixmonths of 2014 and called for thecountry to “fight the negative percep-tion” scaring off capital.

Scorned in the West, Mugabe hasadopted a “look East” policy, forgingnew ties and buttressing existing oneswith east Asian countries, includingChina.

Following his state visit, during which hesigned various agreements whose detailswere yet to be released, Zimbabwelaunched a $533m project with Chinato scale up electricity generation at oneof its major power plants in a bid to easeperennial energy problems.

The country produces an average of1,200 megawatts against a peak demandof 2,200 MW and relies on imports tosupplement its production.

Sino Hydro will build two additionalunits at the Kariba Power Station,365km north of Harare, expected toadd 300 megawatts to the national gridon completion in 2017. China is provid-ing $320m towards the expansion dealwhile state-owned Zimbabwe PowerCompany will chip in $213m comingfrom loans sourced from developmentinstitutions.

Energy minister Dzikamai Mavhairesaid the extension would “mark an endto load-shedding.”

China has a long list of business inter-ests in Zimbabwe which span the min-ing, agriculture and constructionsectors. It invested more in non-finan-cial sectors in Zimbabwe than in anyother country on the continent in 2013,exceeding $602m, according to Chinesegovernment figures cited by Xinhuanews agency.

Zimbabwe was forced to slash its growthforecast for the year from 6.1% to 3.1%due to weak economic activity. Investorshave been scared off by Harare’s con-troversial indigenisation law, whichrequires foreign firms to hand over51% of their shares to black Zimbabw-eans. Earlier in 2014, Harare said itwould amend the law.

As Zimbabwe will hold the rotatingpresidency of the African Union (AU)in 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinpingvowed joint efforts with the country topush China-Africa strategic partnershipup to a new stage. Xi also expressedwillingness to participate in Zimbabwe’sconstruction of economic and industrialzones, and vowed to encourage moreChinese companies to invest in thecountry. (Sources as referenced in text)

IN BRIEF

Chad – Nigeria: On August 21st ChadianPrime Minister Payimi Kalzeubet Deubetannounced the closure of the border betweenChad and Nigeria, to prevent the spread ofthe Ebola virus. Neighbouring Cameroontook the decision for the same reasons. TheLake Chad border was the only way to import

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� 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

August 16th–September 15th 2014 Africa Research Bulletin – 20515