Malawi coaxes tobacco producers to fight G20
By Nyasa Times
Published: August 4, 2010
Malawi has called on all Barley tobacco producers in the Sothern Africa Development Community (SADC) region to jealously defend their tobacco against stiff restrictive regulations by some G20 countries.
Deputy Minister of agriculture Margaret Mauwa said this in Lilongwe when opening a high-profile International Conference on World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control-FCTC.
Mauwa said it is unfortunate that despite the high taxes that already rock the tobacco industry, problems in the industry are worsening due to anti-tobacco laws being advanced by the FCTC protocol.
About 1.5 Million Malawians depend on tobacco for their employment as peasant farmers, service providers and processors according to official figures.
Besides the heavy taxes on tobacco products, the world health organization’s framework convention on tobacco control protocol has several articles that haunt barley tobacco growing countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia.
Canada has been in forefront in speaking against Burley leaf on its soils.
A Swiss consultant in the industry from Universal leaf Tobacco Barbara Martellini feels that tobacco producers should embrace health regulations while diversifying their economic survival lines.
Tobacco is the number one forex earner for agro-based economies like Malawi, with its tax revenues driving most government operations.
On his return from African Union summit in Kampala, Uganda Malawi President Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika quashed out fears from the west on Malawi’s Burley Tobacco saying alternative markets need to be explored. – Nyasa Times
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, G20, MARGARET MAUWA, TOBACCO
Read more...
Finance Africa’s development, Ezekwesili advises G20 nations
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Thursday, May 14, 2009 3:50:39 PM
WORLD Bank vice-president for Africa Obiageli Ezekwesili has said the next summit of the group of 20 (G20) nations must focus on financing development to minimise the negative impact of the global economic crisis on Africa.
And Ezekwesili has warned that those who may be tempted to view Africa as a case of charity will regret because the continent has become a vital and strategic business destination with many companies boasting of some of the best profit margins.
Addressing the 2009 Annual Conference on Tuesday organised by the Washington-based Society for International Development under the theme ‘Finding Common Ground on Foreign Aid’, Ezekwesili stated that despite being severely affected by the crisis, rich countries must resist the temptation to slash foreign aid and resort to protectionist policies.
“Aid cannot be the panacea (solution) either, but must act as a catalyst to trade and development because the continent now has a leadership even more committed to reforms, governing more responsibly and making the right kinds of policy choices to use any resources in transparent, efficient and accountable ways,” Ezekwesili stated. “But the United States and other rich countries should continue to provide leadership in ensuring that pledges to double aid to Africa by 2010 are honoured and this is why the next G20 summit should focus on financing infrastructure development since developing countries will be able to take advantage of trade opportunities.”
The US pledged contribution of US $3.7 billion to last year’s record US $42 billion 15th replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), the soft lending arm of the World Bank that provides grants and interest-free credits to poor countries, is pending authorisation and appropriation before the US Congress.
But Ezekwesili argued that initiatives to stimulate the economies of developed nations should not focus exclusively on national challenges, if a truly sustainable and global recovery from the crisis was to be achieved.
She cautioned against those who may be tempted to view Africa as a case of charity.
“The continent has become a vital and strategic business destination and firms investing there boast some of the best profit margins,” stated Ezekwesili.
Before the global economic crisis, Africa was generally perceived as turning the corner. Average annual growth rates were 5.7 per cent over a decade before a ‘crisis’ that was not even of Africa’s making triggered a collapse in commodity prices, a decline in private capital flows, a decrease in remittances and a fall in foreign aid.
As a direct result of the crisis, Africa’s GDP growth is now expected to be a mere 1.7 per cent in 2009, down from earlier forecasts of 6.4 per cent and way below the average population growth rate of 3.3 per cent.
Labels: DEVELOPMENT, G20, OBIAGELI EZEKWELISI
Read more...
COMMENT - Now even the 'donors' need a bailout.
Soros calls G20 deal "a turning point"
Written by Reuters
Saturday, April 04, 2009 3:49:28 PM
(Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros on Thursday said G20 leaders had taken decisive action to combat the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s was a success.
"This could well be a turning point because the authorities got together and they have taken the steps," Soros said in an interview on BBC television.
The investor, who said last week that the G20 meeting in London would be a "make or break event" for global markets, added: "I think it has definitely made it."
World leaders clinched a $1.1 trillion deal to boost the global economy and said financial rules would be tightened to prevent a repeat of the crisis.
Hungarian-born Soros said the leaders had "anticipated there is a very serious problem facing the developing world".
"If it hadn't been addressed today, we would have another very serious deterioration in what I call the periphery countries, including Eastern Europe. They have definitely prevented it by the measures they have taken," he said.
Labels: G20, GEORGE SOROS, GREAT DEPRESSION II
Read more...
G20 to bulk up IMF in response to crisis
Written by David Ljunggren and Lesley Wroughton
Friday, April 03, 2009 6:59:33 PM
LONDON (Reuters) - World leaders will triple the war chest of the IMF to fight the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and impose new curbs on financial markets, monetary sources at the G20 summit said. The communique drafted for the meeting, obtained by Reuters, said leaders would submit large hedge funds to supervision for the first time and enhance regulation through a new agency and a beefed-up International Monetary Fund.
Stocks, battered by the crisis, rose on hopes a strong agreement would add to some signs that the downturn may bottom out. The index of top European shares was up 3.3 percent after Japan's Nikkei gained 4.4 percent.
Monetary and developing country sources said the latest draft summit communique provided for a $500 billion boost to the IMF's resources, raising to $750 billion the funds it can make available to countries worst hit by the global crisis.
"I think we are going to have some pretty impressive figures," British foreign minister and G20 envoy Mark Malloch-Brown told BBC Radio.
The IMF would also be able to borrow money on international markets if needed, the sources said. Another British minister said leaders would discuss possible sales of IMF gold reserves, which could raise yet more cash, although he did not expect an immediate decision on Thursday.
The G20 were also close to agreeing a trade finance package worth $250 billion to support global trade flows, a source at the summit in London told Reuters. Brown had been targeting at least $100 billion to help reverse the decline in trade following the credit crunch.
"This is a positive step to jump start global trade flows. It is a significant contribution toward solving the problem," said Eoin O'Malley, senior adviser on international trade at BusinessEurope, Europe's top business group.
"But the key now is implementation. G20 governments must act quickly to provide this finance to companies that need it urgently," he told Reuters.
The world economy will shrink this year for the first time since World War Two and tens of millions of people are expected to lose their jobs.
G20 leaders agreed that blacklists of tax havens should be published in the near future, a European diplomat said.
"The G20 has agreed that it will be the OECD which will publish the tax haven list imminently," said the diplomat, who is attending the summit in London.
But it was unclear whether the vague timing would satisfy France and Germany, which have led demands for a crackdown on tax havens they blame for allowing the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share at a time of growing economic hardship.
Paris said on the eve of the summit it would refuse to sign any concluding document that failed to satisfy its demands.
The draft communique included a pledge to deliver "the scale of sustained effort necessary to restore growth," but without making any commitments beyond the trillions already being spent to stabilize banks, shore up demand and limit job losses.
Analysts said Thursday's stock market gains would vanish if the summit does not deliver.
"A good rally is coming through, particularly from Asian markets overnight on hopes for a decent stimulus package from the G20 to lift confidence, especially with regards to emerging economies and a boost to the International Monetary Fund," said Henk Potts, strategist at Barclays Wealth.
Keen to secure a confidence-boosting message as the world succumbs to recession, U.S. President Barack Obama has said there are no substantive differences with Europe, despite the hardball stance taken by France and Germany over regulation.
"The most important issue is that we agree ... on the principle that no financial market product, no financial market participant and no financial market can remain without regulation and without supervision," German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told Deutschlandfunk radio.
The global economy is expected to contract in 2009 by between 0.5 and 1.0 percent, according to the IMF, whose head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is calling it a "Great Recession."
"They are not yet moving quickly enough in doing the cleaning up of the financial system," the Financial Times quoted Strauss-Kahn as saying.
The draft communique contained a pledge by the G20 nations to allow "candid, even-handed and independent" surveillance of their economies and financial sectors by the IMF, which will take an increasingly central role in global oversight.
It also unveiled a new Financial Stability Board to work with the IMF to identify economic and financial risks and measures needed to address them, revamping an existing body called the Financial Stability Forum.
Some 400 protesters gathered outside the summit, but were kept well away by police.
Labels: G20, GREAT DEPRESSION II, IMF
Read more...
G20 leaders craft crisis response
Written by David Ljunggren and Lesley Wroughton
Thursday, April 02, 2009 3:46:37 PM
LONDON (Reuters) - World leaders are set to declare an end to unfettered capitalism at a G20 summit on Thursday after France and Germany demanded they act fast on promises to prevent a repeat of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
A communique drafted for release at a G20 summit in London, obtained by Reuters, signaled that leaders would submit large hedge funds to supervision for the first time and enhance regulation through a new agency and a beefed-up International Monetary Fund.
However, there was still debate over enhanced funding for the IMF to tackle crises in emerging economies, precisely how to police tax havens and the amount of money to boost trade.
G20 leaders were preparing a major expansion in resources available through the IMF, possibly including a tripling of its war chest to $750 billion, officials familiar with negotiation of the issue said.
The draft included a pledge to deliver "the scale of sustained effort necessary to restore growth" without making any commitments beyond the trillions being spent to stabilize banks, shore up demand and limit job losses.
Keen to secure a confidence-boosting message for voters and frazzled financial markets as the world succumbs to recession, U.S. President Barack Obama said there were no substantive differences with Europe, despite the hardball stances taken by the French and German leaders.
Washington wanted tougher regulation too, Obama told a news conference on Wednesday with Britain's Gordon Brown, summit host, saying he was at the summit not just to lecture but to listen and to help lead the way out of trouble.
It was not clear whether the flashpoint, which appeared to focus primarily on Sarkozy's demands for blacklisting of tax havens, would be enough to derail a message of unity.
"The most important issue is that we agree ... on the principle that no financial market product, no financial market participant and no financial market can remain without regulation and without supervision," German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told Deutschlandfunk radio from London.
World stock prices, battered by the crisis for months, have recovered some of the lost ground in the last month, but analysts were skeptical whether Thursday's would generate much more optimism.
"People will look at this and it won't inspire confidence in financial markets," Colin Ellis, European economist at Daiwa Securities, said of the draft .
"Everyone knows there is a lot of friction behind the scenes and while that exists there will be doubts about the sustainability of any recovery."
The global economy is expected to shrink more in 2009 than any year since World War Two, dropping between 0.5 and 1.0 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund, whose head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is calling it a "Great Recession."
The International Labor Organization says the crisis could cost 50 million jobs by the end of the year.
"They are not yet moving quickly enough in doing the cleaning up of the financial system," the Financial Times' front page quoted Strauss-Kahn as saying on Thursday.
Police said one person died during protests on Wednesday which saw several hundred demonstrators clash with riot police and bank windows smashed in London's financial center.
A police source said it was likely the man died from a medical condition although that would not be confirmed until a post-mortem.
More protests were planned for Thursday, the main day of a summit involving the world's biggest economies, developed and up-and-coming, in all accounting for more than 80 percent of world trade and economic output.
The draft communique contained a pledge by the G20 nations to allow "candid, even-handed and independent" surveillance of their economies and financial sectors by the IMF.
It also unveiled a Financial Stability Board to work with the IMF to identify economic and financial risks and measures needed to address them, revamping an existing body called the Financial Stability Forum.
The G20 leaders hope around two trillion dollars governments are pumping into the economy in tax cuts, building projects and green investments, according to summit host Gordon Brown, will limit the depth and duration of recession and maybe create 20 million or so new jobs.
But Paris and Berlin, fearing the summit would fall short of the mark on regulation of tax havens, hedge funds and markets in general, went in gunning for concrete announcements.
"Any regulations we don't agree here, won't be agreed for the next five years," Merkel told a joint news conference with her French counterpart on Wednesday. "The summit is not about horse-trading between regulation and economic growth programs."
"In the results, we want the principle of new regulation to be a major objective ... This is not negotiable," French President Nicolas Sarkozy added.
Obama, making his first official visit to Europe, said G20 nations were not going to agree on every point but brushed aside suggestions the summit would falter because countries were split over the importance of regulation versus new stimulus packages.
Labels: G20, GREAT DEPRESSION II
Read more...
Exert economic influence at G20 summit, Fidel tips China
Written by Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Wednesday, April 01, 2009 4:37:22 PM
FORMER Cuban president Fidel Castro has tipped China to exert enormous economic influence at the forthcoming G20 summit in London. And Fidel wondered how much Christianity remains in the political thinking of US Vice-President Joe Biden who has ruled out lifting the American embargo against Cuba.
In his regular column, Reflections by Comrade Fidel published on Monday, Fidel said China was the future great economic power.
"As one can see, the influence of the Peoples' Republic of China at the London meeting will be enormous from the economic point of view vis-à-vis the world crisis," Fidel stated. "That would have never happened earlier when the power of the United States used to prevail totally in this field. On the other hand, it is amusing to see the unrest at the entrails of the empire, full of insurmountable problems and contradictions with the peoples of Latin America which it intends to dominate forever and ever."
The G20 comprise Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the USA and the European Union.
The G-20 is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies, that is 19 of the world's largest national economies plus the European Union.
Last year in November, the G20 met at heads of government level in Washington DC, USA following the financial meltdown. The grouping of these countries that represent 85 per cent of the global national product, 80 per cent of world trade including EU intra-trade and two-thirds of the world population is a forum for cooperation and consultation on matters of international financial system.
The London meeting is expected to further come up with initiatives or measures to curb the ongoing global economic crisis whose epicentre is the US.
The agenda for the London G-20 leaders summit billed for tomorrow include; coordinated macro-economic actions to revive the global economy, stimulate growth and employment, reform international financial institutions [the International Monetary Fund, Work Bank and Financial Stability Forum], and reforming and improving financial sector and systems.
And Fidel stated that he was saddened by US Vice-President Biden's pronouncements.
He said Vice-President Biden while in Viña del Mar ruled out the lifting of the economic blockade against Cuba.
Fidel also noted that Vice-President Biden said he longed for an internal transition in Cuba.
He stated that what Vice-President Biden was wishing for amounted to counter-revolution.
"It is so sad to hear his plaintive laments especially when there is not a single Latin American and Caribbean government that does not perceive a millstone from the past in that antediluvian measure," stated Fidel. "What kind of ethic subsists in United States policy?
How much of Christianity remains in the political thinking of Vice-President Biden?"
Labels: FIDEL CASTRO, G20, SUMMIT
Read more...
