turn up. The pastoralists will have to set-tle for CFA F1,250,000 (US$2,500) for acamel, if they manage to find buyers inDiffa, whereas Nigerian traders wouldhave paid almost double that.

People will run out of food by April,according to government assessments.The authorities and aid agencies sayhelp is on its way: Djibo said the gov-ernment will be providing millet andsorghum at half the market price topeople in Diffa. Feed for animals isalso planned. Whether this assistancewill be sufficient for eight months, noone can say. (IRIN 20 ⁄ 2)

Meanwhile hundreds of trucks trans-porting commodities between Nigeriaand Chad have been stranded along theborders of the two countries followingthe closure of the borders after the dec-laration of emergency in some localgovernment areas of Borno State dueto the violent activities of Boko Haram.(Daily Trust 6 ⁄ 3)

SOUTH SUDAN –SUDANNo Quick End to Oil Row

China is caught in the escalatingfight over revenue, as the Southdeclares it prefers to keep its oil inthe ground.

In an escalation on March 1st of thetension and fighting between the twoneighbours, the South alleged SudaneseMiG warplanes bombed oil and waterwells 74km (46 miles) inside its frontierwhile ground troops moved 17 kilome-tres into oil-rich Unity State. Khar-toum denied the claims, but the USexpressed alarm, AFP reported (3 ⁄ 3).The government of Sudan has severelyrestricted access to the war zone for jour-nalists, diplomats, and aid agencies, butthe UN says more than 360,000 peoplehave been internally displaced or severely

affected by fighting in South Kordofanand nearby Blue Nile state. Internationalconcern has risen over malnutrition andfood shortages in the area.

Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the RiftValley Institute, sees the fighting as partof the ‘‘bargaining process’’ between twonations which are engaged in a major dis-pute over oil fees and other issues relatedto the South’s separation.

The United Nations (UN) SecurityCouncil and the European Union (EU)have urged both countries to end theiroil row. Oil is the lifeline of both econ-omies, and some analysts fear the dis-pute could lead to outright war.

When South Sudan gained its indepen-dence it took about three-quarters ofSudanese oil production but it has nofacilities of its own to export the crude.The two countries have been unable toagree on how much Juba should pay touse the northern pipeline and port,points out BBC News (22 ⁄ 2).Sudanese State Oil Minister Ishaq AdamGamaa insisted Sudan was under nopressure to rush any deal because itseconomy could still survive without oil,a veiled warning to Juba, which dependson oil revenues for 98% of its income.

The African Union (AU) was trying ina new round of talks in Addis Ababain the second week of March to brokera deal, but Gamaa accused Juba ofblocking a compromise.

‘‘They have insisted not even to talkabout proposals by (the AfricanUnion),’’ he told Reuters in an interview(11 ⁄ 3) in the Oil ministry, adding it wasup to Juba to choose whether it wanteda deal or not. Gamaa said Sudan waswilling to look with ‘‘flexibility’’ at acompromise over pipeline fees but thatJuba’s proposal to pay less than $1 abarrel would lead to no compromise. Healso countered southern statements thatoil exports could resume quickly after adeal, saying it would take at least onemonth to restart the pipeline, which wasnow fully flushed with water to avoidgelling.

Sudan hopes to resume oil exportsfrom 2013, when production wouldreach 180,000 bpd from 115,000 bpddue to a better recovery rate and pro-duction from new fields within existingblocks, he said.

‘‘By the end of the year we will have180,000 barrels,’’ continued Gamaa.Sudan signed a technical agreement withNorway in February to boost the recov-ery rate to around 45% from 23%.

South Sudan announced on February22nd that it was reviewing all oil con-tracts that were signed before it becameindependent.

Beijing’s Involvement

China has been caught up in the escalat-ing fight over oil revenues betweenSudan and South Sudan, reports Africa-Asia Confidential (March). On February20th, Stephen Dhieu Dau, Juba’s Petro-leum Minister, expelled Liu Yingcai, thePresident of Petrodar, a consortium ofmainly Chinese and Malaysian compa-nies that operates the Melut Basin oilfields and export pipeline. After parti-tion, South Sudan took control of overtwo-thirds of Sudan’s oil reserves. Butoil exports must travel 1,600km north-wards through Petrodar’s pipeline toPort Sudan for shipment to the maincustomers: China, Malaysia (whosenational oil company Petronas owns40% of Petrodar), Japan and India.

The latest row started in December whenKhartoum began selling the confiscatedoil on the international market to pay fordisputed transit fees. Dau accused Liu offailing to back Juba’s efforts to stopKhartoum. Beijing’s attempts to playhonest broker between the two sides havecome unstuck. For China, the stoppageis badly timed. Before July, Sudan wasChina’s second-biggest African oil sup-plier after Angola, and its sixth-biggestsupplier globally.

South Sudan’s Information MinisterBarnaba Marial Benjamin refutes anyclaims that the expulsion could damageSouth Sudan’s relations with China.

‘‘Why would it sour relations? Thecompanies are still here and we areworking with them,’’ he told AFP.

One of Beijing’s most experienced dip-lomats, Liu Guijin stepped down asSpecial Representative on AfricanAffairs in mid-February (see below).Liu’s foresight helped Beijing adapt toSouth Sudan’s secession. His replace-ment, Zhong Jianhua, who has beenAmbassador to South Africa since2007, will have to deal with the after-math of the Petrodar debacle.

Juba favours building another pipeline –to Lamu in Kenya. The East Africanreported (14 ⁄ 2) that a high-level delega-tion from South Sudan had been inKenya to initiate negotiations overrights of passage for the 2,000 km crudeoil pipeline the country wants to build toconnect its oil fields to Lamu. Insiderstold The EastAfrican that due to theurgency with which Juba wants the pipe-line, the plan is to have multiple contrac-tors building different sections.

For Kenya, the souring of relationsbetween Juba and Khartoum offers notonly a great opportunity to boost itsgeostrategic significance as the hub ofeconomic activity in the region, butalso an opportunity to achieve itsdream of acquiring a second transport

(Relief Web)

ALGERIA

NIGER

Niamey

MALI

NIGERIA

CHAD

BENIN

BURKINAFASO

Agadez

Tahoua

ZinderDiffa

Maradi

Dosso

100 km

Niger

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and economic corridor. Deepening eco-nomic relations with South Sudan andEthiopia will counterweight the heavydependence that Kenya currently hason Uganda and Tanzania in the region.Indeed, the battle over pipelines andaccess to the sea between Khartoumand Juba has broken out just whenKenya is in the middle of implementingits second corridor project. (see p.19457C). (Sources as referenced in text)Dispute rumbles on p. 19403

IN BRIEFACP: The Secretary-General of the AfricanCaribbean and Pacific Group of States(ACP), Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas in Feb-ruary presented a list of key priorities forthe organisation and declared 2012 as the‘‘year of restoration’’, underlining plans toenhance the ACP as a ‘‘forward-lookinginternational organisation.’’ The Group willfocus on strengthening South-South solidar-ity and collaboration, intensifying attentionon the Millennium Development Goals,advancing sustainable development pro-grammes in ACP communities, and boostingthe collective voice of ACP countries andtheir role as a group in the global arena.(PANA 10 ⁄ 2)Africa: Despite the optimism about Africa’sgrowth and huge investment potential, thecontinent is not attracting high levels of For-eign Direct Investment (FDI), which arenow less than 5% of global FDI. Africa’straditional sources of FDI have shiftedtowards India, China and the Middle East,and intra-African investment is increasing.Professional services firm Ernst & Young hasidentified South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana andEgypt among the 25 ‘‘rapid growth markets’’of the world. While intra-African investmentis the biggest grower of all investment onthe continent, it needs to be boosted in orderto address decades of underinvestment.(TradeInvestAfrica 7 ⁄ 3)Africa – China: The Chinese government hasappointed a new special representative forAfrican affairs, Foreign Ministry spokesmanLiu Weimin said on February 14th. ZhongJianhua, a senior diplomat who once servedas Chinese ambassador to South Africa, hassucceeded Liu Guijin in the role. (Xinhua14 ⁄ 2)Angola – Iran: Angola’s state oil companySonangol announced on February 24th itwas withdrawing from a natural gas projectin Iran because of international sanctionsover Tehran’s nuclear programme. The com-pany, which also reported earnings for 2011of $33.7bn and profits of $3.3bn, toldreporters that operations in Iran were nolonger sustainable.

‘‘We are out of Iran due to the internationalsanctions imposed by the United Nations,’’board member Mateus de Brito told report-ers in Luanda, adding that the withdrawalwas already underway.

Sonangol has a 20% stake in a project inIran’s South Pars natural gas field. (� AFP24 ⁄ 2)Burundi – Rwanda: Rwanda has signed abilateral agreement with Burundi to establish

a one-stop border post at Gasenyi-Nemba inBugesera District. The move is expected tobolster trade across the two countries byharmonizing border control regulations andprocedures and enabling expeditious andmore effective border control mechanisms.(The East African 13 ⁄ 2)Cape Verde – US: The US Millennium Chal-lenge Corporation has signed a five-year,$66.2m aid agreement with Cape Verde toreform the water, sanitation and land-man-agement sectors and foster economic growth.The $41.1m portion of the new agreementwill focus on helping to make Cape Verde’snational regulatory institutions more finan-cially sound and transparent. It will helptransform utilities into independent, high-performing commercial organizations andimprove the quality and reach of water andsanitation services for Cape Verdean house-holds and businesses. Cape Verde is a highlywater-scarce country. The project is expectedto benefit about 278,000 people, accordingto an MCC press release.

The $17.3m portion of the agreement isexpected to improve Cape Verde’s invest-ment climate for large and small investorsby refining the legal and institutional envi-ronment so land information is more reliableand land transactions more efficient. It willstrengthen protection of land rights andlower land-registration time and costs. Theproject is expected to create about 13,000jobs and increase real estate developmentand tourism. (United States Department ofState 13 ⁄ 2)CAR: The country is facing one of the worsthumanitarian funding shortfalls in theworld, the United Nations (UN) warned onMarch 5th, adding that nearly half the coun-try’s population is in dire need of assistance.‘‘The European Commission has describedCAR as the world’s second most vulnerablecountry after Somalia,’’ said John Ging,Operations Director of the UN Office forthe Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA), who saw first-hand the criticalconditions in which tens of thousands ofpeople live during a visit to the country inlate February. Mr Ging met with govern-ment officials and humanitarian partners todiscuss the funding crisis and ways toimprove humanitarian access and protectionof the most vulnerable people.

‘‘With the recently brokered ceasefires inconflict-affected areas, we are seeing a veryreal opportunity for sustainable recovery inthe Central African Republic, but this isbeing jeopardized by the severe shortfalls inhumanitarian funding. We must do every-thing possible to mobilize an urgent re-engagement by the donor community.’’ (UNNews Service 5 ⁄ 3)ECOWAS: The new President of the ECO-WAS Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogoassumed office on March 1st. ‘‘Let us worktogether against poverty, injustice and badgovernance,’’ he affirmed, during a brief cere-mony to introduce him to staff at the Commis-sion’s Abuja Headquarters. (ECOWAS 1 ⁄ 3)Egypt – France: The volume of tradeexchange between Egypt and France was upby 11.1% during the period from January toOctober 2011, standing at Euros 2408.1mcompared to 2167.8m in the same period in2010. Egyptian exports to France in the

same period stood at €1182.4m in compari-son to 745.9m in 2010, a 58.5% rise. Egyp-tian imports from France amounted to€1225.7m against 1412.9m in the same per-iod the year before. (Egypt State InformationService 17 ⁄ 2)Egyptian Transport Minister Galal Mousta-fa al-Saeed on March 10th said the proposedbridge linking Egypt and Saudi Arabiawould double trade exchange to around$31bn in two years. He said the bridgewould stimulate Arab tourism and facilitatecommodity transport. (Egypt State Informa-tion Service 10 ⁄ 3)Gambia – Libya: Gambia’s Supreme Courthas upheld a request by the government to lifteconomic sanctions imposed on Libyan assetsduring the toppled regime of Muammar Gad-dafy. The move restores tens of millions ofdollars in property invested by the LibyanArab African Investment Company (LAAI-CO) in the west African country to the rulingNational Transitional Council in Tripoli.

In January, the authorities in Tripoli saidthat Libya had recovered $20bn in assetsabroad. The National Transitional Councilhas regularly asked for the return of Libyanassets frozen abroad in order to rebuild thecountry. (SAPA 6 ⁄ 3)Meanwhile Libya announced on February29th that it would provide $100m in human-itarian aid to Syrians in a bid to supporttheir battle for ‘‘freedom’’ against the al-As-sad regime. Libya government spokesmanMohammed al-Harizi said the oppositionSyrian National Council had opened a bankaccount for the funds which will be used to‘‘provide financial support for humanitarianpurposes, equivalent to $100m.’’ (� AFP29 ⁄ 2)Mauritius: The trade deficit widened 10.5% in2011 as the rising value of imports outpacedexport growth and the shortfall is expected togrow further in 2012. Total exports came toRupees 75.92bn, up 9.2% from 2010, whileimports rose 9.8% to Rupees148.08bn, Reu-ters reported (28 ⁄ 2). The rise in the value ofimports was driven by a 24.6% increase inmineral fuels and lubricants and a10.1%increase in manufactured goods.Exports of manufactured articles, mostlyclothing and accessories, rose 6.3% to31.28bn. Sugar exports rose 11.3% whileexports of food and live animals fell 0.1%.

Britain was the leading buyer of goods in2011 accounting for 21.3% of exports whileIndia was the main supplier with a 23.4%share of imports.

‘‘Total exports [for2012] are expected to beof the order of R80bn against 172bn forimports. The trade deficit would be aroundR92bn,’’ Statistics Mauritius said. (Sourcesas referenced in text)

Morocco – EU: Morocco’s free trade zonewith the EU for industrial products becameeffective on March 1st, less than a fortnightafter Morocco and the European Unionapproved an historic trade deal lifting agri-cultural and fish export tariffs. The 27-mem-ber bloc also remains the kingdom’s biggesttrading partner (59%), well ahead of Asia(21%) and the US (13.5%), and Prime Min-ister Abdelilah Benkirane has vowed tomaintain the long-standing partnership.(Magharebia.com 4 ⁄ 3)

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Rwanda: The World Bank has approved$80m to help increase incomes and reducepoverty in rural areas of the country. Thecash is the last instalment of the Bank’s sup-port towards the Rural Sector Support Pro-ject (RSSP3), now going to its third phase.The credit has a 10-year grace period. Themoney will be channelled towards expansionof irrigated areas of cultivated marshlands,sustainable land use practices, and financingof economic infrastructure in selected com-munities. (The New Times 1 ⁄ 3)World Bank: Group President Robert B.Zoellick announced on February 15th hewould step down on June 30th at the end

of a five-year term. A statement quotedZoellick as saying that he would stayfocused on being Bank President andwould continue to drive policy and pro-grammes at a heightened tempo until hesteps down. Zoellick said during his tenurehe had focused on supporting developingcountries to navigate crises and adjust toglobal economic shifts, and that the Bankwas now strong, healthy and well posi-tioned for new challenges. Among otherthings, Zoellick took credit for anexpanded voice of developing countrieswith an additional board seat for sub-Saharan Africa. (PANA 16 ⁄ 2)

Zimbabwe – EU: ZANU PF has dismissedthe European Union partial easing of sanc-tions against the country as of no con-sequence as the party was pushing for anunconditional removal of all the restrictivemeasures.

The EU on February 17th removed 51 peo-ple, including journalists and politicians, aswell as 20 companies from sanctions, butretained 112 other individuals and 11 entitieson the visa ban and asset freeze list foranother six months. (The Standard, Harare19 ⁄ 2)

ECONOMIC TRENDS

CAPE VERDEClimate Change Report

The country is vulnerable bothsocially and economically as it facespressure on scarce water resources.

Climate change is not just a scientificissue for Cape Verde; it is a social andeconomic issue and ultimately it isabout development and survival.

Cape Verde presents a dual vulnerabil-ity to climate change, both as a smallisland developing state, and as an aridcountry in Africa’s Sahel region, and isalready battling with increased pressureon scarce water resources, and morefrequent extreme events, according tothe UN Environment Programme(UNEP).

The report on the Climate Changevulnerability assessment underlines thechanges that are already taking place asa result of changes in weather patternsand lack of sound management andawareness. The report looks at how cli-mate change, population growth anddevelopment choices could shape andimpact vital sectors such as waterresources, tourism and agriculture, thenature-based assets of the country; andin turn, the changing environment islikely to affect the people of Cape Verde.

The Climate Change VulnerabilityAssessment Summary for Policy Makerswas launched on February 21st in themargins of a special session of the UNEPGoverning Council in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Minister for Rural Development ofCape Verde, in launching the Summarysaid: ‘‘It is a key contribution to thesolid science that will inform andprompt sound policy actions. This

report helps us realise how gaps andinconsistencies in our legal frameworkcan be a source of vulnerability to thecountry. Laws are essential to encour-age good practices and discourageactions that put people at risk.’’

Main Findings and Key Concerns:

• Cape Verde has dual vulnerability to cli-mate change, both as a small island devel-oping State, and as an arid country in theSahel region.

• Water resources are already extremelyscarce with pressures increasing. Renew-able water availability is only 537m3 perperson per year in Cape Verde, the secondlowest of any country in sub-SaharanAfrica. Future rainfall trends areuncertain – increases and decreases areprojected by different models. The popula-tion of Cape Verde has more than dou-bled in the past 50 years, and is estimatedto include 491,875 inhabitants in 2010. Atpresent, nearly half of the populationlacks access to a public water supply, andover half lacks access in rural areas.

• Extreme events have increased in fre-quency in Cape Verde. The Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)has found it is very likely that heavy pre-cipitation events will increase in frequencyglobally in the future, with associatedimpacts including increased risk of deaths,and damage to property and crops.

• 80% of Cape Verde’s population lives inthe coastal zone. Unregulated removal ofsand from beaches for construction iseliminating one of Cape Verde’s mostimportant natural defences.

• The service sector has been the mainengine of growth in Cape Verde, but isvulnerable to climate change. Touristfacilities are concentrated in the coastalzone of low-lying islands such as Sal andBoavista and many are vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal hazards. Beaches onwhich the industry depends are threatenedby sea-level rise and sand extraction.Agriculture, the main source of livelihoodin Cape Verde, could be impacted by vari-ability in rainfall and rising temperatures.Aquifers near the coast have been overex-ploited leading to saltwater intrusion intowells and salinisation of farmlands.

Some of the policy options for actioninclude: increasing water use efficiency;climate change adaptation programmes;focusing on poor and vulnerable popu-lations; reducing vulnerabilities incoastal zones; making climate change apart of development planning. (UNEP,Praia 21 ⁄ 2)

DROUGHT AND FAMINEOxfam Appeal

The international NGO warns of alooming catastrophe in West Africa.

Urgent action is needed to stopdrought in West Africa’s Sahel regionturning into a humanitarian disasteraffecting 13m people, Oxfam says.

The charity says the internationalcommunity waited too long torespond to famine in East Africa in2011. It has therefore launched a£23m (US$36m) emergency appeal tohelp reach more than a million of themost vulnerable.

Launching its appeal, Oxfam said thatmalnutrition rates across Chad, BurkinaFaso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger andnorthern Senegal are hovering between10% and 15%, and in some areas haverisen beyond the emergency thresholdlevel of 15%. More than one millionchildren in the Sahel region are at riskof severe malnutrition.

In parts of Chad, Oxfam says, somevillagers are digging up ant hills togather grain that the ants have stored.The agency says that drought, highfood prices, severe poverty and regionalconflict are causing the crisis.

‘‘Millions of people are on the thresh-old of a major crisis,’’ said MamadouBiteye, Oxfam Regional Director forWest Africa.

‘‘All signs point to a drought becominga catastrophe if nothing is done soon.The world cannot allow this to happen.A concerted aid effort is needed to stoptens of thousands dying due to interna-tional complacency.’’

Policy and Practice

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