SOUTH AFRICA-SIERRA LEONE: De Beers
supports embargo on SL diamonds
Diamond giant De Beers has given its
backing to a British proposal for the UN Security Council to impose world-wide
embargo on diamond exports by rebels from Sierra Leone, news reports said
on Wednesday.
"We support any efforts the United Nations is making to stop the illegal sale of diamonds," De Beers spokeswoman, Tracey Peterson, was quoted as saying.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who is to visit Freetown later this week was quoted as saying that only diamonds certified as legitimate by the government of Sierra Leone should be traded.
"The embargo won't make nay difference to De Beers, we don't buy Sierra Leone diamonds," Peterson added.
NAMIBIA: Nujoma backs Angola OAU boycott
Namibia has called on fellow African governments to support Angola's call that the venue for the upcoming Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit be moved from Lome in Togo to OAU headquarters in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, 'The Namibian' said on Wednesday.
The report said that the Namibian government objected to the summit taking place in Lome because Togo's head of state was cited in a recent United Nations report as breaking international sanctions against the UNITA rebel movement.
It said that the government had recently written to OAU Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim in support of Luanda's request for a change of location. The OAU summit is scheduled for 10-12 July.
NAMIBIA: Nujoma denies owning diamond mine in DRC
Namibian President Sam Nujoma on Wednesday denied a local newspaper report that he owns a diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where his troops are helping the government, news reports said.
A statement issued on Nujoma's behalf signed by acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tuliameni Kalomoh, said the report in the 'Windhoek Observer' was "utterly false". The newspaper report on Saturday alleged that Nujoma owned a diamond mine at Maji-Munene, 45 km from the town of Tshikapa in central DRC. The newspaper, which published photographs of the mine, claimed the operation was being run by members of Namibia Defence Force.
Kalomoh said: "President Nujoma has denied the allegation with the contempt it deserves and challenges the author to substantiate or retract such filthy allegations."
He added: "The government of Namibia has stated time and time again that our decision to send to troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo was not motivated by any economic considerations."
His statement said that the presence of Namibian troops in the DRC had "created the necessary conditions for the deployment of UN peacekeeping force in the Congo and to allow the Congolese people to find a lasting political solution through the democratic process".
NAMIBIA: Off-shore gas find
The Namibian government said on Tuesday that it hoped its offshore Kudu gas field would be producing gas by 2005, giving the country security of energy supply and enabling it to export to neighbouring South Africa, 'The Namibian' said.
"By 2004-2005 Kudu will be producing," Jesaya Nyamu, Minister of Mines and Energy was quoted as saying. The Minister said it was crucial for Namibia that the project is successful because the country was heavily reliant on South Africa for its energy needs.
About 50 percent of Namibia's 300 megawatt demand is met by South Africa which produces 40,000 megawatts against domestic demand of 28,000 megawatts.
MOZAMBIQUE: Aid donors meet in Paris
Mozambique's aid donors are to meet in Paris on Thursday and Friday to discuss levels of economic assistance in the coming year to the country which is still reeling under the effects of recent floods, news reports said on Monday.
Donor countries met in Rome last month and pledged US $452.9 million dollars in flood relief, but the Paris meeting will cover wider economic aid. "Mozambique has the economic potential to become one of the brighter spots in Africa," the World Bank, which is hosting the Paris meeting, said in a country brief on Africa.
Mozambique's delegation to the two-day Paris meeting will be headed by Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi and include Finance Minister Luisa Diogo and central bank governor Adriano Maleiane.
MOZAMBIQUE: Investment up
A Southern African regional bank executive says Mozambique could see a 10-fold rise in foreign direct investment in the next few years, news reports said.
The report said the investors were attracted by the government's commitment to privatisation and development. Development Bank of Southern Africa chief executive Ian Goldin was quoted as saying that Mozambique has become Africa's top foreign direct investment destination since 1996, when the government began revamping the economy. Goldin attributed Mozambique's improving foreign direct investment performance to the country's political stability since 1992, when a 16-year civil war ended.
MOZAMBIQUE: Seed shortages in flood zones
Seed shortages have become one of the major difficulties facing farmers in the southern Gaza Province, where floods earlier this year hit the hardest, news reports said on Wednesday.
Chokwe district director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Custodio Macome, was quoted as saying that 2,500 kits of seeds and tools distributed by the government and non-governmental organisations could only cover 60 percent of the needs. "We are worried because the planting season is passing us by and this may have serious consequences for people, whose livelihoods depend on agriculture," he said.
Meanwhile, administrator Albeto Langane of Chibuto district also in Gaza said that his district was also running short of seeds for the second season plantings.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC conflict resolution protocol to be tabled
A protocol on resolving conflicts among the 14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member nations is expected to be submitted to the SADC summit in August, a South African foreign ministry official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Horst Brammer from the foreign ministry's SADC desk said at a briefing to parliament's foreign affairs committee that the protocol would outline a step-by-step approach to resolving conflicts in SADC countries. Brammer said that aim of the protocol was to "prevent such situations as are being experienced in some members states from happening in the future".
The protocol will define "a common approach to prevent conflict changing from dispute to violence," he said. If accepted by heads of government at the August SADC summit in Windhoek, it will have to be ratified by the 14 member states, obliging them to put the interests of the region above their own national agendas, he said.
[ENDS]
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