National Africa Network Newsletter
For the week of July 14, 2006
CONTENTS:
- Debt Relief Lands Country $180 Million Savings
- Gov't Pays Internal Debts Worth 11 billion
- Liberia: On the Road to Debt Cancellation
- Paris Club Debt Deal - Usman Explains $2.3bn Refundy
- D.R. Congo: As Vote Nears, Abuses Go Unpunished
News and Background
1. Debt Relief Lands Country $180 Million Savings from The Times of Zambia, Ndola on July 25, 2006
ZAMBIA will save approximately K600 billion (US$180 million) in debt service following the decision by donors to write off the country's debts.
This came to light yesterday when Government unveiled the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and vision 2030.
Finance and National Planning Minister, Ng'andu Magande said the K600 billion was a significant amount of additional resources, which would make a difference in efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Mr Magande was speaking yesterday when he opened a four-day national stakeholders conference at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.
He said Government was determined to focus its policies and programmes through the FNDP to take opportunity of the generous external debt relief schemes.
He said Zambia had greatly benefited from the debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and that due to this initiative and debt service payments, Zambia's debt stock had reduced significantly from US$7.1 billion at the end of 2004 to $4.5 billion at the end of 2005.
This was after the country attained HIPC completion point in April 2005 and got some debt relief. He said that under the new Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) advocated by the G-8 countries, the African Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank cancelled 100 per cent of debts owed to them at agreed dates.
The IMF and ADB decided in December 2003 while the World Bank's cut-off date was December 2004 and at the conclusion of the implementation of the HIPC initiative and MDRI on July 1, this year, reducing Zambia's external debt to an estimated $502 million.
The minister said the implications of the debt write off for both Government and private sector were tremendous and that the country's sovereign rating had gone up in global capital markets, opening opportunities for foreign private sector investments.
The successful implementation of the stringent conditions of the HIPC initiatives had generated great confidence and trust in the Zambian Government among the cooperating partners.
In light of this policy stance, Mr Magande said, Government in 2006 continued to channel more resources into economic growth and poverty reduction programmes adding that this would include hiring of 10,000 teachers and 800 core health workers to enhance service delivery in the two sectors.
About 3,074 teachers had already been recruited while about K1.6 trillion had been allocated to the education sector representing 26.6 per cent of the discretionary budget as compared to 24 per cent in 2005.
The health sector was allocated K1.1 trillion representing 18 per cent of the discretionary budget as against 12 per cent in 2005.
On agriculture, the minister said Government this year continued to enhance food security by implementing programmes that supported small-scale farmers while allocation to the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP) had been increased from K138 billion to K193 billion to cover more farmers.
Under the agricultural commercialisation programmes, Government continued to support out-grower schemes for the production of most cash crops and in the livestock sub sector, substantial amounts had been allocated for disease control and restocking programmes. Continued on Page 3
Mr Magande said recognising the key role of infrastructure in enhancing economic development; government scaled up its allocation towards building roads, rehabilitation of culverts and bridges, rehabilitation and expansion of airports.
He said Livingstone, Lusaka and Ndola International Airports were being attended to and that great efforts had been made to ensure that agreements entered into with cooperating partners for financial assistance targeted infrastructure projects. This was one way of increasing the country's economic activities and capacity to pay back.
On the national economic performance, Mr Magande said during the few years Zambia had shown considerable improvements, with real growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an average of 4.7 per cent per year in the period 2002 to 2005 as opposed to an average of 2.2 per cent in the corresponding 1998 to 2001 period.
The overall inflation and interest rates during the period 2002 to 2005, also assumed a declining trend, as inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell from 26.7 per cent at end of 2002 to 15.9 per cent at end of 2005.
The monthly average inflation rate, for the first half of 2006 had fallen to below 10 per cent with a single digit inflation rate being witnessed for the first time in more than two decades.
Interest rates, have exhibited a downward trend as a result of vigorously pursued policy of reducing government borrowing and credit to the private sector, in real terms, doubled from K50 billion in 2002 to K102 billion in 2004. Preliminary indicators are that this trend would continue this year.
He said the draft of the FNDP follows an extensive consultative process that started at all district levels and in addition of the instrument presented, there were 74 district development plans while some elements of the vision 2030 were extracts from the district plans.
The first three national development plans produced some positive results, notably in the area of social services and infrastructure development but said some plans had some weaknesses, such as the inadequate development of a monitoring and evaluation framework.
Speaking on behalf of cooperating partners, Mr Henry Sprietsma said donors were committed to support the FNDP effective implementation through a Joint Assistance Strategy for Zambia (JASZ).
Mr Sprietsma who is European Union (EU) Head of Delegation, however, said broad-based participation would play a part in fostering deeper national ownership over the development process in Zambia.
He commended Government and other stakeholders for contributing towards the FNDP and that the cooperating partners would look forward towards the sustainable progress towards the MDGs and other national development targets.
"We recognise that now is the time to shift focus from intentions to consequences or, to put it in another way, from planning to implementation and from prioritising to achieving tangible, measurable results," he said.
Secretary to the Cabinet, Joshua Kanganja said in early 2005, district consultative tours were undertaken in all the 72 districts with major focus on identification of growth areas in the districts as well as obtaining key recommendations that would ensure economic growth and poverty reduction.
Dr Kaganja said some of the consultations included district vision, development programmes and activities in all areas of the economy, ranked in order of priority in the five years of the plan and based on growth areas and comparative advantages.
Others included policy recommendations aimed at successful implementation of the plan and prioritising the programmes and costing them.
2. Gov't Pays Internal Debts Worth 11 billion by Fred Vubem for The Cameroon Tribune in Yaoundé on July 27, 2006
With the State now free from the burden of external debts following the attainment of the completion point of the HIPC initiative, the government is devoting efforts towards the payment of internal debts. The Minister of the Economy and Finance, Polycarpe Abah Abah, on Tuesday July 25 announced the payment of internal debts to private entrepreneurs to the tune of some CFA 11 billion. The payment, coming on the heels of the third extra-ordinary congress of the CPDM, demonstrates the determination of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, to promote the private sector as generators of wealth to foster devlopment.
The payment is in terms of the value added tax, VAT arrears for December 31, 2005 and reimbursement of VAT credits for the 2006 financial year. "This is aimed at translating into concrete actions, the engagements made by the President of the republic to clean up the business atmosphere notably through protection and just remuneration for investments," said the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Polycarpe Abah Abah, in a communiqué that accompanied the announcement. The Minister added that government would create the best conditions to re-launch private investment "the essential motor for a strong and sustainable growth that would enable hierarchy implement policies to fight poverty and improve the condition of living of the population."
The procedure of payment has been explained in a manual in order to ensure transparency and fluidity in the exercise. It is worthy to note that the budget for the reimbursement of VAT credits witnessed an increase from four to six billion in 2006. The measure comes as a welcomed relief for the private sector, that has had to bear the brunt of structural reforms over the years amidst fiscal pressure and rising cost of energy. 45 companies are concerned in this exercise.
For some time now, government has been making efforts to involve the civil society and private sector in the running of the country. The climax being the expected government/private sector meeting to take place from the 9th to 11th August under the patronage of the Prime Minister and head of government.
3. A Country And People 'On the Move,' Just Not Very Fast for the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks in Monrovia on July 26, 2006
Liberia is "on the move" according to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz who foresees large-scale debt relief for the war-shattered country
And its nationals too are moving, according to the UN's refugee agency. Liberians are leaving the refugee camps that have sheltered them for up to a decade and a half to return to their villages and begin the enormous task of rebuilding.
But these moves are taking place slowly.
On his first visit to Liberia last week, Wolfowitz said that Liberia has emerged from 14 years of civil war to the threshold of large-scale debt relief under the International Monetary Fund's Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative, HIPC.
"I believe that Liberia is on the right track for interim debt relief and for cancellation of the entire debt," said Wolfowitz before leaving Liberia on Saturday.
Liberia has a US $3.7 billion debt burden, equivalent to over US $1,000 per person. Almost half of that debt is with multi-lateral lenders like the IMF and World Bank. Clearing some of the debt is essential to the future economic development of a country in tatters after a generation of fighting and political instability.
But according to Wolfowitz, it could take Liberia so long to meet the HIPC requirements that the HIPC initiative may have to be extended beyond its end of 2007 cut off date.
And as Wolfowitz talked of debt relief, UNHCR trumpeted the return of Liberian refugees from Guinea, two years after the guns fell silent.
Liberia's peacetime government has urged Liberians to retun home to help rebuiild the country and on 14 July, a UNHCR convoy returned 761 refugees from camps in Guinea. A week earlier, 755 refugees took the same route home to the northern Liberian border town of Voinjama.
This year alone UNHCR has helped over 17,500 Liberian refugees make thier way home from Guinea. That's more than in previous months but still leaves over 20,000 more Liberian refugees in the country, with more in other camps across West Africa.
Donors, led by the US, have said that they will no longer support camps that are sheltering Liberian refugees as the war is over and they should return home. At the end of the year, food distributions will stop.
Wolfowitz urged donors not to forget about Liberia and to channel their support for the country into reconstruction tasks that include restoration of 95 percent of the country's health centres damaged in the war.
"After many years of terrible suffering and horrible wars, this country does have a chance to walk into a brighter future," said Wolfowitz.
"I don't for one minute underestimate the magnitude of the task. This is a country that needs almost everything and needs everything all at once and donors must step up assistance to help Liberia recover," he said.
4. Paris Club Debt Deal - Usman Explains $2.3bn Refund by Erasmus Alaneme for The Daily Champion in Lagos on July 26, 2006
FINANCE Minister, Mrs Nenadi Usman, yesterday explained that the Federal Government, Abia State government and six others had to refund about $2.3 billion, as part of the debt relief payment to the Paris Club, was because their debt stocks were higher than their shares in the Crude Oil Account.
Explaining this in her office while speaking to journalists in Abuja, the Minister stated that the amount represented the extra funds that was borrowed to top-up the shares of the Federal Government and those states involved in order to clear all their debts with the club.
Usman pointed out that about $198 million extra was sourced to make up for the heavily indebted states, which must be re-paid, while revealing that the Federal Government was equally lent about $2.1 billion, which it had to refund.
The breakdown shows that Abia State has $113.022 million to clear. Other state governments still indebted in the Paris Club deal included: Imo State ($16.104 million); Kogi State ($16.932 million); Kwara State ($23.697 milion); Niger State ($59.189); Osun State ($37.223 million); and Plateau State ($34.487 million).
According to her "the true situation is this, when we got the debt relief, we were told to pay $12.4 bilion, but when the actual payment was done, because of the foreign exchange.
5. D.R. Congo: As Vote Nears, Abuses Go Unpunished in Katanga Congolese Army and Mai Mai Commanders Should Be Charged with War Crimes from Human Rights Watch on
July 21, 2006
As the Democratic Republic of Congo prepares for elections, the government's failure to take prompt and effective action against soldiers and others responsible for killing, raping and torturing civilians in Katanga could encourage further violence and insecurity in the southern province, Human Rights Watch said today.
With testimonies, analysis, photographs and video, the multimedia web special entitled "The Triangle of Death: A Place of Horrors in Katanga Province" documents widespread abuses committed by government soldiers and combatants of a local defense force known as the Mai Mai during three years of violence in central Katanga. Hundreds have been killed and more than 150,000 have fled their homes from the zone of military operations that local residents have dubbed "the triangle of death."
Incumbent President Joseph Kabila, himself from Katanga, is the current front-runner in the presidential contest, but with more than 30 other contenders, he may well face a run-off election weeks or even months after the first poll, which is scheduled for July 30. In addition, parliamentary elections require a two-stage process, lengthening the period before a new government is finally installed.
"The electoral period will be lengthy and characterized by uncertainty before a new government takes power," said Alison Des Forges, senior Africa adviser at Human Rights Watch. "During this time, justice cannot wait. Authorities must start holding abusers accountable if they want to discourage others from using similarly abusive tactics now and in the future."
In November 2005, the Congolese army launched a military operation to quell an insurgency in Katanga led by the Mai Mai. Government soldiers rounded up hundreds of civilians suspected of being Mai Mai, and deliberately killed or tortured to death dozens of them. They gang-raped scores of women alleged to have supported the Mai Mai.
Mai Mai combatants under the command of Kyungu Mutanga, known as Gédéon, and another Mai Mai leader, Makabe Kalenga Ngwele, have also killed, raped and otherwise abused civilians since 2002. In some cases, the Mai Mai publicly tortured victims before killing and cannibalizing them in public ceremonies intended to terrorize the local population.
The Mai Mai of Katanga were launched in 1998 as a popular resistance force against the invading foreign armies of Uganda and Rwanda, but later turned against the central government and local communities.
In the web special posted today, Human Rights Watch documents the war crimes committed by both sides to this conflict and urges the government to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.
To date, Congolese authorities have failed to act effectively against abusers. On May 12 Gédéon surrendered to United Nations peacekeepers in Mitwaba, central Katanga. Several days later, he was handed over to Congolese judicial officials who have kept him in detention but have not charged him with any crime.
The current government has appointed former warlords from other parts of Congo, such as Ituri and the Kivus, as generals in the national army, ignoring credible information implicating them in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The most recent appointment was made on July 17, when the government granted the post of colonel in the national army to Peter Karim, a commander from the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI), a murderous armed group in Ituri.
United Nations officials have provided the Congolese government with information about human rights abuses by members of armed groups and soldiers of the national army, including a file about military abuses
submitted to the government in January.
"If President Kabila and other government ministers currently standing for elections are serious about a commitment to justice, they should not appoint suspected war criminals to high military ranks and they must bring to justice their own soldiers accused of such crimes," said Des Forges. "A national army staffed by war criminals is unlikely to provide any security to its citizens whether during elections or after."
For more news on Africa, please go to:
www.allafrica.com
www.africafocus.org
www.bbc.co.uk
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