Deputy Secretary General of the U.N , Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, has pledged for world peace, security and equality

The newly appointed Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, has pledged to push for world peace, security and equality among rich and poor countries.

Dr. Migiro, who was speaking to journalists yesterday on arrival at Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, said she would also fight for abolition of the death penalty in countries that still embraced capital punishment.

Thousands of Dar es Salaam residents, cabinet ministers, members of parliament and diplomats turned up at the airport to give her a hero�s welcome when she arrived from Botswana.

Dr Migiro was appointed last week by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as his deputy.

I was shocked when I received a call from President Jakaya Kikwete informing me of the appointment. However, I received the message with calmness and confidence,� she said.

Dr. Migiro said one of challenges she would face in her new post was to ensure that peace and tranquility prevailed in the world.

�This is the major task of the United Nations. Without peace and security, there will be no development.

I have many experiences concerning United Nation activities. I understand problems of various nations because of my previous position in the government.

Before her appointment, Dr Migiro was the minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation.

She said that the fact that she grew in abject poverty would give her courage to collaborate with her colleagues to set up programmes that would help end the problem.

�I am extremely happy to have a woman from Tanzania as a Deputy UN Secretary.

Her appointment is a testimony of the important role which she has played at international level,� said Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, the UN Resident Coordinator for Tanzania.

Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Abasi Kandoro said Dr. Migiro�s appointment had brought great hope to Tanzania. * SOURCE: My Africa Today

East Africa: European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed 25 Million Euros to Boost SME Businesse

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a 25million euro credit line agreement with the East African Development Bank (EADB) to finance small and medium sized investment projects.

EIB’s credit line provides EADB with the resources required to provide long-term loans in euros or US dollars with a variety of lending conditions to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in East Africa.

Mr. Godfrey Tumusiime, the director general of the EADB signed on behalf of his bank while Mr. Carmelo Cocuzza, the head of regional representation East and Central Africa signed on behalf of EIB.

Africa : Tanzania to Attract more Foreign Investments

Africa: Korea Seeks Better Africa Ties

The government Wednesday confirmed its earlier pledge to triple its development aid to Africa by 2008 and invited 1,000 Africans for technical training.

The confirmation was contained in the Seoul Declaration adopted at the end of the Korea-Africa Forum in Seoul, attended by leaders from the Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Ghana and Benin and 27 Cabinet-level officials from 25 African countries.

Earlier in the day, President Roh Moo-hyun held separate summits with the African heads of state and agreed to expand mutual cooperation, especially in infrastructure, energy and resources.

With the aim of building new economic links by sharing South Korea’s economic development experience and Africa’s energy and resources, the inaugural forum began on Tuesday with a banquet.

Africa: Africa’s Big Opportunity

New Vision (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
November 5, 2006
Posted to the web November 6, 2006
Kampala

AFRICAN leaders are winding up landmark a visit to China that is expected to raise the relationship to greater heights.

Since they arrived in Beijing last Friday, the forty-odd African leaders have been informed of a major debt cancellation, and of the offer on fresh loans and credit.

The one great advantage of the bigger Sino-Africa relationship is the new development model that China offers. As a developing country that is fast transiting into a developed one, China’s growth pattern is more relevant to the Third World economies of Africa.

In trade and investment, the Sino-African relationship is much more straight-forward than the Western model that has dominated in the last few decades. Loans and credit, as illustrated by the newly announced offer, are more readily available for economies that need them desperately.

But equally critical is the investment that many sub-Saharan economies are benefiting from Chinese capital. Where foreign investment has traditionally been narrow, limited to a single project or cause, China is wont to spread quite widely, putting money in infrastructure development on top of the primary investment. Uganda’s own Mandela National Stadium is an example of this.

Trade between Africa and China has grown from $3b in 1995 to $32b in 2005, which is 10% of the continent’s total trade. The trade is also growing. For it to be beneficial in the long run, Africa must ensure that the terms of trade do not tilt too heavily against it. It is important to maintain a healthy balance of trade deficit, and work towards a surplus, wherever possible.

This would call for addition of more value to exports, in the form of manufactured goods that can compete in the Chinese economy.

To this end, Africa must negotiate for lower tariffs on its exports the way it is doing with the European Union on agricultural commodities, and in the form that the US’s AGOA regime guaranteed preferential treatment. China has shown tremendous goodwill to Africa in giving our exports more access, so this should simply be concluded.

This is Solar TECHNOLOGY

Photovoltaics (PV) convert sunlight directly into electricity. Photons in sunlight interact with the outermost electrons of an atom. Photons striking the atoms of a semiconducting solar cell free it’s electrons, creating an electric current. The Photovoltaic effect was first discovered in the 19th century, and was used by Bell Labs in 1954 to develop the first PV solar cell. PV found its first applications in space, providing electricity to satellites. These early PV cells were produced in small quantities from exotic materials. While early cells were inefficient, converting less than 1% of the incident sunlight into electricity, they quickly increased to 6% when researchers experimented with crystalline silicon, the principal component of sand. Current conversion efficiencies have surpassed 30% in the laboratory, and 15% in

East Africa: Presidents Seek Political Union

By Mugo Njeru
Nairobi

The three East African presidents will tomorrow embark on a campaign to seek the green light from their citizens on the formation of a regional political federation.

Presidents Kibaki of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania will simultaneously launch their campaigns in Nairobi, Kampala and Dodoma respectively, it was announced yesterday.

Kenya’s minister for the East African Community, Mr John Koech, said the campaign would entail sensitising wananchi at the grassroots level on the benefits expected from the East African federation, which is expected to be in place by 2013.

“The East African Community is a vehicle that is going to free our people from poverty because it comes with numerous opportunities for economic growth,” Mr Koech told a media briefing in Nairobi.

He said the need for the campaign had been necessitated by the realisation that the majority of people in the three partner States lacked enough understanding on the importance of the community and its operations.

East Africa: Global Business Leaders to Meet At Comesa Summit

Business in Africa (Johannesburg)
NEWS
October 10, 2006
Posted to the web October 12, 2006
Kigali

Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) chiefs would meet business leaders from across the globe in Djibouti, said Djibouti’s foreign minister.

Mouhamoud Al Youssouf was in Rwanda to officially invite Rwandan President Paul Kagame to the Djibouti summit to be held on October 15. Kagame was expected to handover chairmanship to Djibouti leader Ismaël Omar Guelleh during the summit.

African, Asian and Arab business leaders would meet to discuss opportunities for investment and collaboration.

Comesa is made up of Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.