African press review 5 September 2013

Sanctions against Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, South Africa's global competitiveness are among the subjects in today's African press...

In Harare, the privately owned NewsDay reports that the ruling party, Zanu-PF, says it is not worried by the United States decision to maintain sanctions against Zimbabwe, and has confirmed President Robert Mugabe’s threats to retaliate.

The United States yesterday announced a decision not to lift the travel and economic embargoes imposed on Mugabe’s regime over a decade ago.

Australia and the European Union, who imposed the same punitive measures against Mugabe and his government, have said they will reconsider their position after going through the full report by the Southern African Development Community and the African Union on the disputed 31 July elections.

In a statement to NewsDay yesterday, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Bruce Wharton said his government did not agree with the Sadc Election Observer Mission report which hailed the 31 July polls as “generally credible” and an “expression of the will of the people”.

Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo yesterday said his party had survived the sanctions for a long time, and was not worried about their continuation.

Shortly after his inauguration last month, President Mugabe threatened to hit back at the West, specifically by targeting western businesses in Zimbabwe, if the sanctions on his government are not lifted.

Meanwhile, the World Bank says the 2014 outlook for Zimbabwe’s ailing economy is increasingly uncertain.

Growth in Zimbabwe is rapidly fading, and after 4,4 per cent in 2012, the growth projections for 2013 have been revised downwards to three per cent, with little prospects for a recovery in 2014. Growth performance has been stymied by continued slowdown of the key sectors of the economy, amidst easing of international commodity prices, low investment, tight credit conditions and policy uncertainty after the July elections.

Concerns over the new government’s economic policies, including extensive implementation of indigenisation legislation, are bound to extend the “wait-and-see” attitude of both domestic and foreign investors that characterised the run-up to elections. The US decision to continue sanctions certainly won't help.

Agriculture’s growth prospects have been revised downwards and the sector is expected to contract slightly. Maize, Zimlbabwe's staple crop, is predicted at 798 000 tonnes in 2013, about one fifth lower than 2012 and falling 56 per cent short of the national requirement of 1,8 million tonnes.

As South Africa struggles to avert strikes in several key sectors, the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness report says the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has overtaken South Africa as the most competitive country in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa's rating has been dragged down by labour discord, a failing education system and poor healthcare provision.

The survey shows South Africa has slipped one place to 53rd out of 148 countries ranked in the 2013-14 index.

South Africa ranked bottom of the list on labour market efficiency, and on labour-employer relations, four places off the bottom in flexibility of wage determination and is the second worst country surveyed in hiring and firing practices.

On the brighter side, South Africa took first place on the regulation of securities exchanges and second place on the availability of financial services. The country ranks 33rd on capacity for innovation and 35th for the quality of its scientific research institutions.

The World Economic Forum says that, in the future, countries will no longer be distinguished as developed or developing economies but by how innovation-rich or -poor they are.

Meanwhile, according to financial paper BusinessDay, two of the seven gold producers affected by the gold industry strike have settled the dispute, raising hopes of an early settlement at other mines. This was announced by the Chamber of Mines on Wednesday morning, as widespread strike action hit productionat South Africa’s other major gold mines.

The settlement at Pan African Resources and Village Main Reef involves an eight per cent increase in the basic wage for rock drill operators, and a 7.5 per cent increase in basic wages for miners and other underground workers.

Initially, gold producers had offered between six per cent and 6.5 per cent. The National Union of Mineworkers started by demanding a 60 per cent increase for entry level workers but this week revised their demand dramatically downwards. However, the NUM has denied reports emerging from the negotiations that it would now be happy to settle for 10 per cent.

A settlement is crucial for the national economy. BusinessDay also reports South Africa's Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, as saying the nation must attract investment into its export sectors, particularly mining, and get the mining industry back to work to reduce currency volatility. The minister was speaking ahead of the Group of 20 summit of the world's leading economies which opens today in St Petersburg, Russia.

In Kenya, the Daily Nation reports that MPs from the Jubilee and Cord coalitions were last evening preparing for a showdown as the National Assembly got set for a special sitting this afternoon to initiate Kenya’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute. That's the legal document establishing the International Criminal Court.

This comes ahead of Deputy President William Ruto’s departure next week for the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s trial, on similar charges and in the same court, starts in November.

Intense lobbying continued late into the night within the coalitions, both of which have planned meetings of their parliamentary groups to craft a united front ahead of the session.