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Consultancy Africa Intelligence Monthly Newsletter As Africa’s integration into global affairs accelerates, so too does the need for up-to-date, informed analysis and insight into the continents political, economic, financial and social happenings. Exclusively focused on Africa, Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s suite of products are formulated to complement today’s ever rapid operating pace and the need for information, and are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of business, academia, and policy makers in public and private spheres across the globe. With presence in South Africa and the United States, as well as associates situated in Europe and Asia, Consultancy Africa Intelligence is strategically positioned to meet client requirements for knowledge and intelligence in the African domain. Designed to act as the definitive portal for African information, we offer a range of solutions including subscription-based reports as well as ad-hoc and tailored research. |
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Evaluating the Challenge of Climate Change: Southern African Adaptation Measures
Climate change has recently shifted from being a purely environmental concern to being a threat to security, economic growth and prosperity, and therefore requiring the attention of all sectors of any Government. The effects of climate change are no longer limited to predictions, but are currently being experienced - temperatures are rising, icecaps and glaciers are melting and extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent and more intense. For Southern Africa, sub-continental warming is predicted to be greatest in the northern regions. Temperature increases in the range of between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius can be expected by the mid 21st century, with the highest rises in the most arid parts of the country.
The economic prospects of coastal zones, home to about one-fifth of the world’s population, face a serious threat from the rise in sea-level and the increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. A one metre rise in sea-level would bring about extensive flooding in the Nile Delta, as well as damage to other coastal cities and ports. At this rate of sea-level rise, the cost of adaptation could amount to at least 5% - 10% of gross domestic product (GDP)(1) and would eventually lead to much greater damage to coastal regions, city and transport infrastructure. Climate change, including extreme events such as storms, floods and sustained droughts, is already having an impact on settlements and infrastructure in Africa, especially in coastal regions. Three of the five global regions most at risk of flooding are located in Africa: in the Nile delta of North Africa, in the long coastal belt along the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, and at the large cities of Maputo, Beira and Cape Town in Southern Africa. The UN has also predicted that there will be millions of ‘environmental’ migrants by 2020 with climate change as one of the major drivers of this phenomenon. Those parts of the population that already suffer from poor health conditions, unemployment or social exclusion are rendered more vulnerable to the effects of climate change which could amplify or trigger migration within and between countries. Read More |
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The DRC - A Return to War and the Failure of Preventative Diplomacy…Again
An estimated 250,000 Congolese have been made homeless since August 2008 because of the fighting - centred in North Kivu province, near the border with Rwanda and Uganda - between DRC defence forces (FARDC) and the militia known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), led by former general Laurent Nkunda.
DRC President Joseph Kabila named a new Government of “Combat and Reconstruction” in a bid to pacify the giant Central African country, shaken by an upsurge in rebel violence. Kabila dismissed his Defence and Interior Ministers in an apparent attempt to shake up the military’s response to the increasing threat posed by rebels in the eastern DRC, close to neighbouring Rwanda. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) had come out to strongly condemn the deteriorating security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, terming it a major setback to the regional peace process. War often leaves behind unresolved power struggles, particularly if a ceasefire was imposed on an unfinished civil war. The conflict in the DRC has served as a prime example of this phenomenon. Seven months since the signing of the January 2008 peace agreement, horrendous violence continues to plague eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and provided ample signals to the international community of yet another catastrophe in the making. United Nations officials reported at least 200 ceasefire violations in less than 180 days between January and July. Those newly displaced add to the 1 million people displaced from earlier waves of violence in North and South Kivu. At least one ceasefire violation, albeit difficult to monitor should have led to far greater efforts to prevent the outbreak of further violence, yet regrettably preventive diplomacy has failed…yet again. Read More |
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International Day for Rural Women - A focus on rural women’s lives
It is well known that of all women, those in rural areas often face the greatest challenges. 15 October marked the International Day for Rural Women, and several agencies and organisations held meetings to discuss efforts around improving these women’s lives. Such efforts face multiple obstacles in their implementation and it is not easy to change people’s lives in a manner that is sustainable, compatible with context, and open to expansion simultaneously. The improvement of rural women’s lives will, in fact, also contribute significantly to reaching at least some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), most of which are related to gender issues. The need for skills development and other programmes in many African countries can hardly be overlooked, when 50% or more of some populations are based in rural areas. Life in rural settings usually poses a particular set of challenges to women throughout their lives.
RURAL WOMEN FACE MANY CHALLENGES Although generalisation on this matter is not viable, it is safe to say that most women in rural areas on the continent face a multiplicity of challenges that renders their everyday lives a complicated web of negotiation and sacrifice. One of the most well-known and often oversimplified challenges is the one of traditions and cultural practices that undermine women’s rights to make their own choices or to make choices that advances their own well-being. In Uganda last month, parents were warned not to circumcise their daughters and police were instructed to arrest those who encourage female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C), in the Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts respectively. FGM/C is a vivid example of how traditional beliefs, upheld by men and women alike, impede on young women’s lives, damaging their reproductive health systems and even leading to death. Early marriage is a product of patriarchal control and poverty combined – girls as young as nine are married off for material gain, fall pregnant and are later subjected to shame and humiliation when their pregnancies lead to severe and untreated cases of fistula. Sufferers of this condition often do not have access to medical care and are ostracised by their communities in many cases. Widows are often left with nothing when their in-laws manage to grab their inheritance through customary law and loopholes in the legal system. In addition, rural women are usually responsible for food production, and climate change makes this task increasingly difficult, as weather patterns become unpredictable and ruin thousands of crops that would have sustained communities and generated income. The women also have to spend more and more hours looking for water. They have to walk miles every day to supply the household with water for cooking and drinking (2). Read More |
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Uganda’s National Strategic Plan (NSP) - A need for increased and sustainable funding in a time of financial uncertainly
The month of October saw the launch of a new five-year US$ 2 billion strategic plan (2007/2008 – 2011/2012) to address the pressing issue of HIV & AIDS in Uganda. This new National Strategic Plan (NSP), which was launched by the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) on 14 October in Kampala, is entitled ‘Moving Towards Universal Access’, and states from the outset that, “all efforts should be geared towards reducing new infections by 40% in the next five years” (2). According to the plan, this would translate into the prevention of more than 150,000 infections by 2012. The NSP also aims to increase accessibility to care and treatment interventions to 80% of those in need.
The plan lays out a number of very optimistic objectives to be met by 2012 within three thematic service areas, namely: a) Prevention; b) Care and Treatment; and c) Social Support. Some of these objectives include: the reduction of mother-to-child transmission rates by 50%; increasing the number of people on antiretroviral (ARV) medication from 105,000 to 240,000; the integration of prevention into care and treatment services; and to significantly increase the provision of quality psychosocial support. In addition, the plan also outlines a number of goals in the area of system strengthening, which will of course be critical if the objectives of the plan are to be met. The last of the goals put forward for system strengthening is to mobilise adequate resources, and this is an area where some believe Uganda may experience some difficulty. INCREASING LOCAL FUNDING WILL BE ESSENTIAL According to the Director General of the UAC, Dr. David Kihumuro Apuuli, “the annual expenditure required to achieve full coverage by the end of the NSP would climb to over US$ 600 million in the final year of the Plan”. The Commission also announced in October that an estimated US$ 700 million would be required over the next year and a half to finance the country’s HIV & AIDS efforts. Uganda will therefore need to make concerted efforts in the next few years to increase funding targeting HIV & AIDS issues, and this potential obstacle is acknowledged in the NSP: “To meet the goals and targets in the NSP and reverse the trend in the epidemic requires a massive increase in the resources available, rising by over 30% a year from about US$ 263 million in 2007 to US$ 513 million in 2012”. While the objectives set out within the NSP are optimistic, their possible attainment is based on the assumption that future funding will increase, and be sustainable. This cannot, of course, be guaranteed. Read More |
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Contaminated Milk and Africa’s Shadow Economies
Over the course of the past decade Chinese engagement within Africa has ever deepened, extending the range and depth of Chinese products saturating African markets. African consumers have been beset by the dearth of cheap Chinese consumer goods that have found their way into everyday household use. Many of these goods sold throughout the continent have become staples of African life. As a result, over the past decade Chinese imports to Africa continue to rise, reaching US$ 23 billion per year in 2008. The extent of Chinese saturation within African markets has created a number of problems for African states as consumers, retailers and labour organisations have voiced concerns over the dumping of cheap Chinese goods as traditional African retailers and economic sectors are threatened by Chinese products flooding the markets. Recently, another fear has emerged, that of the food and product safety of these Chinese goods. The widespread reports of Chinese milk products contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine have prompted African governments and consumers to re-evaluate their relationship to Chinese products. This has also raised poignant questions as to the lack of regulation and control African governments have over the products consumed within their informal shadow economies. Read More
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