Eastern Europe starts repaying Africa

The fall of the Iron Curtain cost Africa much in terms of reduced investments and development aid, which in the 1990s was redirected to Eastern Europe. But now, following EU demands and increased wealth, country after country in the region is setting up development cooperation agencies focusing on Africa, with booming budgets.

Slovenia, an ex-Yugoslavian republic bordering Austria and Italy, was the richest of the eight formerly Communist countries that entered the European Union (EU) in 2004, priding itself with a GDP per capita at US$ 17,700. But as a moderately rich nation, not even Slovenia came close to EU goals of spending 0.39 percent of GDP in development aid - let alone the UN recommendation of 0.70 percent of GDP.

As most other formerly Communist nations in East and Central Europe, Slovenia had benefited from generous EU programmes during the 1990s to reshape its economy, boost economic growth and make it fit for entering the common market. At the same time, analysts were complaining about the reduced efforts by rich, Western countries to assist African development.

Both investments and development aid for Africa were cut dramatically in real term during the 1990s, something analysts blamed both on an "aid fatigue" following the poor performance of African economies in the 1980s, but also on the new, large investments in Eastern Europe.

But in the longer run, Eastern Europe's growth and EU membership is set to pay off for African countries. Indeed, among the demands made by the EU to applying countries were their definition of an international development aid policy, plans to set up development aid agencies and adopting the long-term goal of spending at least 0.39 percent of GDP in development aid.

This is what is happening in country after country right now, as in Slovenia. After independence from Yugoslavia, foreign aid was unsystematic, amounted to a microscopic percentage of GDP and was mainly given as ad hoc humanitarian aid to nearby countries, mainly war-ravaged ex-Yugoslavian republics. With the start of EU membership negotiations, however, aid turned more systematically.



By 2004, Slovenia's foreign aid had reached 0.10 percent of GDP and by 2007 it is estimated at 0.14 percent of GDP. This comes at the same time as a rapid growth in Slovenian GDP.

While the development aid budget is steadily growing, so is also the governmental development cooperation agency, which still is an integrated department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Like most other new EU members, Slovenia receives capacity building assistance from the EU and other countries with longer development aid traditions to make sure well functioning development aid agencies and programmes are established.

Also, as new funds emerge and the new agencies have received training, the geographical focus of these Eastern European aid agencies start shifting. Still, the poorer parts of South-eastern Europe "remains the priority of Slovenia's bilateral development cooperation," according to a whitepaper by the Ljubljana Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But, "development policy which aims at poverty reduction must also be effective in Africa," the same document emphasises. "Slovenia's development cooperation will therefore also focus on Africa to a certain extent, in accordance with the EU development policy." There are already plans to co-finance projects carried out by Slovenian NGOs in Madagascar, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Malawi.

The Czech Republic, also among the richest new EU members, has already come a bit further. In 2006, according to preliminary data by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prague government spent 0.11 percent of its considerable GDP on foreign aid. The government has promised to increase this percentage to 0.17 by 2010 and to 0.33 by 2015. Much of this will go to Africa.

Among the Czech development agency's eight - mostly European and Asian - priority countries, there are already two African ones; Angola and Zambia. According to Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, "in 2006, we implemented 18 bilateral development projects and 11 small local projects in eight countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2007, we expect to launch six new bilateral projects."

In 2006, the total value of the bilateral assistance projects in Sub-Saharan Africa by the Czech R
Medical aid provided by Polish medics from PolishAid to Angolans:
«Development aid is to more than triple by 2015.»

© afrol News / PolishAid
epublic nevertheless was only at about US$ 3 million. But according to Mr Schwarzenberg, this was only the beginning. "Encouraged by the good results of the pilot programmes, we have decided to allocate more funds and increase the number of what is known as micro-projects, projects bringing immediate and tangible results," he told African ambassadors in Prague in late May 2007.

Neighbouring Slovakia has even had time to set up a full-fledged development aid agency, Slovak Aid, on 1 January 2007 with the aim "to support implementation of the Slovak Republic's international commitments in the field of official development assistance." But the poorer half of former Czechoslovakia so far only has implemented one project i Africa (Kenya) and it lags behind in development aid spending (0.07 percent of GDP in 2006).

The eastern country that so far has come furthest in developing its aid policies is the region's most populous country, Poland, which also has the largest total GDP among the newer EU members. In Warsaw, the agency PolishAid has been set up as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Angola has been Poland's only African "partner country" for several years, but since 2004, PolishAid has also given assistance through its Small Grants Fund for the African continent. Still, in 2005 only 2 percent - or US$ 1 million - of PolishAid's bilateral aid went to Africa. More than half went to Europe's poorest countries. But the Warsaw government plans to change this as development aid is to more than triple by 2015, as percentage of GDP. Tanzania is already set to become Poland's next African "partner country".

Also Hungary, the second most populous of the countries joining the EU in 2004, is slowly discovering Africa. "We intend to pay greater attention to Africa," promised Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz during the first celebration of Africa Day on 25 May 2007 in Budapest, meeting African ambassadors.

While Hungary reached a 0.1 percent of GDP spending in development aid in 2006, national humanitarian agencies complain that growth in spending is now all too slow. Given the country's current economic crisis, the development aid budget for 2007 was cut considerably. "Our goal is not only to keep the cooperation at the present level, but also to develop further the relationship that we established in the past decades," Minister Göncz nevertheless promised African ambassadors. His Ministry currently receives training from the Canadian development aid agency CIDA to empower it to launch projects in Africa.

Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia are among the fore-riders in setting up national development aid agencies and reaching EU spending targets among the new member states. But also poorer countries, like the Baltic ex-Soviet republics, are making steady advances.

Estonia, for example, only spent 0.01 percent of GDP on foreign aid in 1998, which steadily increased to 0,05 percent in 2004 and aims at reaching 0.10 percent in 2010 and 0.35 percent in 2015. Equally, Estonia still has no African development projects, but foresees this for the coming years.

In 2007, two new big eastern countries joined the EU, Bulgaria and Romania, both the poorest current member states. But the year before joining the EU, Romania had already started to adhere to EU demands and spent 0.04 percent of GDP on development assistance. Like other EU newcomers, Romania and Bulgaria have pledged to increase this percentage to 0.17 by 2010 and to 0.33 by 2015 - meaning an almost tenfold increase in just one decade.

At the moment, development aid for African countries is still very modest from the EU's new members. But the tide is just about to turn as most countries will have to double their aid by 2010, and then again triple it by 2015. In this process, the most advanced eastern donors have already shown, new relations with Africa have to be made. And African governments could start finding key partners in Eastern Europe right now, as the window is wide open.




By staff writers

© afrol News

Nigeria to press SA for compensation

28 May - Nigeria will press for compensation from the South African government, for its citizens victimised and chased away from their homes in the xenophobic violence that broke out two and half weeks ago.

At least 56 people have been reported dead and tens of thousands left homeless, mainly in South Africa's Gauteng province, since the attacks started. The situation has calmed down since humanitarian crisis agencies took centre stage in the country.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, announced late yesterday that his government would press South Africa for compensation for its citizens affected by the xenophobic attacks in that country.

Mr Maduekwe said the Nigerian Mission in South Africa was busy compiling a comprehensive list of Nigerians who lost properties during a wave of violence and also to evaluate adequate amount sought for compensation.

The Nigerian government has condemned the unjustified attacks that have been perpetrated on fellow Africans.

He said violence on other Africans would be a major setback for Africa to integrate and form one unified block, calling for a better education of South Africans to realise that other Africans were instrumental to their independence.

The violence has now spread to the Eastern Cape Province with a Tuesday petrol bombing of a Chinese-owned business negating claims by government just a day before that the unrest was contained.

South African opposition parties have lashed on President Thabo Mbeki's political decision to attend an international conference in Tokyo, Japan while his country was in crisis, saying he should have stayed in the country to visit and console the victims.

The xenophobic attacks which are a result of South African citizens complaining that foreigners were to blame for high crime rate and lack of employment opportunities, have opened new questions on the integrity and capability of South Africa in hosting the 2010 World Cup as well as a 'big brother' looked up by the smaller regional neighbours.



By staff writers

© afrol News

MOZAMBIQUE: Returnees at a loss after fleeing South Africa

MAPUTO , 27 May 2008 (IRIN) - Orlando Pereira and Agostino Antônio Bila are two of the more than 26,000 Mozambicans who have fled South Africa and returned to their country of origin with little more than stories of hatred.

Pereira, 20, hawked washcloths and dishtowels in Jamestown, a small town in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, while Bila, 17, sold CDs in Pretoria, about 50km north of Johannesburg.

Both have now returned to Chamanculo, a sprawling township on the outskirts of the Mozambican capital, Maputo, driven home by an outbreak of xenophobia that has left 56 people dead, most of whom are thought to be Mozambicans.

The young men sat at a table in a small bar, passing around a bottle of locally produced gin, and told IRIN how their homes were burnt by mobs, and about their journey to safety.

"They invaded the suburb where we were and ordered us out, saying that there are no jobs for them because Mozambicans accept little money for a lot of work," said Bila, who was staying with his sister-in-law in Pretoria. "They said, 'We only want the Machanganas,'" a slang term used by South Africans for Mozambicans. He has since lost touch with his sister-in-law.

Asked about their future, the men shrugged and said they hoped to find work in Mozambique. "I'm not going back," said Bila. "I'm staying right here."

They invaded the suburb where we were and ordered us out, saying that there are no jobs for them because Mozambicans accept little money for a lot of work
Amid the blind hatred there were incidents of kindness: Donaldo Ramos Paz Amade, 20, said a South African neighbour allowed him to store his possessions at his house before his own dwelling was razed.

"My boss [in South Africa] gave me his phone number and said to call him if things get better and he will come pick us up," said Amade, who worked in construction for two years. "I'll go back to get my things, but to work, no."

Mozambicans have a long tradition of working in South Africa, even during the apartheid years, and are viewing the treatment of their fellow citizens with a sense of betrayal. "Ingratos" (ungrateful people) said the headline of the latest edition of a Mozambican weekly newspaper, Savana.

At a concert in Maputo on Friday, pop singer Stewart Sukuma denounced the xenophobic violence and referred to the high cost Mozambique bore by hosting South Africa's guerilla armies when they were fighting apartheid. The audience applauded when he asked: "Have they forgotten who helped South Africa in its struggle to free itself?"

But beyond the condemnation of South Africa's violence against foreigners, in which some people were burnt alive while those watching laughed callously, there was trepidation that the wave of returnees, who arrived with little more than the clothes on their back, would aggravate the problems at home.

Crime wave fears

The predominant concern of Maputo residents was that crime would increase, particularly in the capital's suburbs, where many of the returnees have arrived.

"It's necessary to know that unemployment is one of the premises that can put people on the path to practicing illicit acts for their survival, and we have to gather our forces so that this doesn't happen," Vice-Minister for the Interior, José Mandra, told the local news agency, MediaFax.

Antônio Bonifacio, spokesman for Mozambique's Institute for the Management of Calamities (INGC), which coordinated the transport for the returnees and set up a resettlement centre, said only 18 people were still there on 25 May. "It's just a transit centre," he said. "People arrive, get in a car and go home. We give them a ride and a meal."

According to MediaFax, even Mozambicans working on South Africa's mines and housed in compounds, fearing invasion by xenophobic mobs, were pleading with their employers to let them return home until the situation calmed down.

MediaFax reported that J.C. Gold Mine, on Johannesburg's East Rand, had suspended its operations and allowed 190 of its Mozambican miners to return home after mobs attempted to assault them at their compound on 18 May.

Mozambican government officials were reportedly in discussions with the owners of the East Rand Proprietary Mine (ERPM), in Boksburg, to repatriate another 700 miners, who were currently under police protection. An estimated 72,000 Mozambicans are employed in South Africa's mining industry.

Malawi and Zimbabwe

Jeffrey Kanyinji, principal secretary in Malawi's ministry of information, reportedly told an international news agency that "As of now, 3,000 Malawians have registered to return home. The number may increase, depending how the situation settles down in South Africa." The first busload of people arrived in Blantyre, the country's second city, on 26 May.

The International Organisation for Migration, quoting estimates by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said about 25,000 Zimbabweans had fled to Zambia to escape the economic chaos and political crisis in their home country, and thousands more were seeking refuge in other Southern African countries.

Estimates of the number of Zimbabweans in South Africa range from one million to more than three million; a consequence of unemployment rates of more than 80 percent and recent post-election violence.

According to reports, about 80,000 to 100,000 foreign nationals are thought to have been displaced by the outbreak of xenophobic violence 16 days ago in South Africa.

em/go/he




Theme(s): (IRIN) Economy, (IRIN) Migration, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

[ENDS]

África do Sul/Violência: Mais de 29 mil moçambicanos fogem de ataques xenófobos - Governo

Maputo, 27 Mai (Lusa) - Mais de 29 mil moçambicanos, que escaparam dos ataques xenófobos na África do Sul, regressaram ao país, contra 27.234 que haviam sido contabilizados até segunda-feira, segundo um novo balanço governamental hoje divulgado.

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Segundo o director nacional adjunto do Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades (INGC), Casimiro Abreu, este número representa as entradas registadas nos postos fronteiriços de Ressano Garcia, Goba e Namaacha, na província de Maputo, sul, desde o início dos ataques de cariz xenófobo no passado dia 11.

Abreu indicou que deste total, 26.899 moçambicanos voltaram por meios próprios, enquanto 2.525 regressaram com auxílio do governo, que pagou transporte para as vítimas de xenofobia naquele país vizinho.

O número de moçambicanos mortos mantém-se em oito, das mais de 50 vítimas mortais de várias nacionalidades na perseguição contra imigrantes na África do Sul, protagonizados por grupos de vigilantes.

Aquele responsável afirmou que a violência xenófoba tende a reduzir, depois de as autoridades sul-africanas terem destacado novos reforços policiais nas ruas das principais cidades e dos bairros periféricos, onde a violência ocorre.

Contudo, o número de imigrantes moçambicanos que entram no país, fugindo aos ataques xenófobos "deverá aumentar", segundo o director-adjunto do INGC.

O governo de Maputo continua a manter contactos com o executivo de Pretória no sentido de acabar com a violência naquele território, onde residiam milhares de cidadãos moçambicanos de diversas províncias do país.

O presidente da Assembleia da República de Moçambique, Eduardo Mulembwé, assegurou que aquele órgão legislativo moçambicano vai pedir às suas congéneres da África Austral para pressionarem as autoridades sul-africanas a tomarem medidas para acabar com a violência xenófoba, de modo a "não minar os esforços da integração regional em curso na Comunidade de Desenvolvimento da África Austral".

Uma equipa do Ministério do Trabalho de Moçambique deslocou-se à África do Sul para manter contactos com os responsáveis pela empresa mineira de East Rand Property Mines, localizado na região sul-africana de Boksburg, arredores de Joanesburgo, no sentido de regularizar a situação dos 708 mineiros moçambicanos que lá trabalham.

Uma nota do Ministério do Trabalho de Moçambique hoje divulgada em Maputo sublinha que os referidos mineiros tiveram que pedir protecção da polícia devido aos ataques xenófobos contra estrangeiros.

Outros 190 moçambicanos que trabalham na mina de J.C Gold Mine, na zona de Primrose, foram dispensados do trabalho até à normalização da situação, depois de uma tentativa de assalto da mina na madrugada de domingo, indica a nota do Ministério do Trabalho.

MMT.

Lusa/Fim

Tribalismo Local e' o Fruto do Tribalismo Nacional

Reflectindo e analizando o conteudo da noticia que fala de apresentacao de problemas de tribalismo local em Balama ao PR Guebuza durante a sua visita naquele ponto do pais causou me dar a minha opiniao sobre a origem deste problema.

Resta me saber se o executivo Mocambicano sabe ou consegue identificar a origem do tribalismo local hoje exibita nos nossos governos local, districtal, provincial e nacional. Sim senhor, concordo com a Sua Excia PR Guebuza quando ele disse que a a luta armada cuja libertou o nosso pais das maos dos colonizadores teria sido iniciada na fundacao do espirito da unidade nacional. Ao mesmo tempo nao se pode esquecer que a disparidade dos poderes socio-economico e politico que se verifica em Mocambique e' o fruto do sistema tribalista implementada durante a luta armada por alguns camaradas sejam eles do Sul, norte ou centro do pais .

Depois da independencia nacional o sistema tribalista continuou em Mocambique e ate 1992 a pratica do tribalismo nos servicos publico era quase legal e essa situacao continua ate hoje.

Eu, sendo um cidadao cansado com este topico, acho conviniente que o PR da Repuplica e a Assembleia da Republica deveiam lever estas reclamacoes da populacao do Balama seriamente e pudessem introduzir legislacoes que classificassem as accoes de tribalismo no sector publico e na obtencao dos direitos publicos como um crime.

Por que nao fazer isso? Sim se pode porque qualquer accao que impede o desenvolvimento das condicoes economicas de cidadaos deveria ser considerada um caso serio.

Obrigado.