Even Amid Global Slowdown, Southern African Growth Prospects Good

(HN, June 26, 2010) – CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Southern Africa's growth prospects appear good even amid the global economic slowdown.

However with about a quarter of adults of working age out of work in South Africa, the nation's trade minister Rob Davies said more needs to be done.

South African Trade Minister Rob Davies at Fortune Global Forum

"It’s not where it needs to be...it’s not just the percentages of growth, we need to produce more labour absorption," he said, adding that structural changes also need to happen. Without being specific, he said the structural changes include enhancing "employment drivers."

Davies said recently forged trade agreements with various trading blocks and bilateral agreements are bringing mutually positive results.

In response to a question from HUMNEWS on whether neighbouring countries have benefitted from the hosting of the World Cup as much as they had hoped, Davies said host nation South Africa has "done as much as it could" to make the games a positive catalyst for its neighbours. This included easing border controls. He said it was up to nearby countries to create opportunities to benefit from the games.

 (Some of South Africa's neighbours like Lesotho complain that the reverse has happened: tighter border controls imposed for the Games has actually hurt them.)

In other comments, Davies said the clothing industry is an important sector in South Africa and in neighbouring countries. However more value would be created if the sector "upscaled" itself through, for example, the introduction of new technology. He also wants to see a clampdown on illegal imports of clothing.

The minister made the remarks at an opening media briefing of the Fortune Global Forum, which starts today in Cape Town.

--- Reporting by HUMNEWS’ Michael Bociurkiw, at the Fortune/TIME/CNN Global Forum in Cape Town, South Africa

“SAME AND DIFFERENT: Returning to South Africa” (COMMENTARY)

By Sienna Reynaga

Sixteen years separates South Africa from Apartheid, yet color remains a dominant dividing point of a country that has branded itself on progressive diversity.  Being here during the world's celebration - The World Cup - has showcased the country, as host, in its struggle to introduce its newly defined "integrated" culture to the world.

Growing up as a Mexican, Indian, Black in California has provided me an interesting perspective on race, culture and identity.  I cook Mexican, I am fascinated by Indian and I appear black.  At age 13 I counted the pictures in my Mexican/Indian grandmother's house convinced that she loved me less because I was too dark ... in normal teenage struggles with my mother I was convinced I had a "black" mother somewhere out there that would get it ... identity has been my life’s curiosity.

So with that perspective I came to South Africa.  The white South Africans notoriously have not followed football, as we call it here, and have separated themselves from sport that is glorified by people from the slums.  At the same time, the black South Africans understand they are shut out.  With a 6.7% internet usage rate, they were not able to access tickets to watch their heroes play in action.  It is a bizarre dynamic.

Struggling for years with the term "African American" I look at people with European heritage deny the continent and it is tragic.  They are African!  Watching the Brazil v. Cote d'Ivoire game, White South Africans actively cheered against the African team.  Why?  It is an endless cycle of denial and lack of pride in the continent.

The service here, predominately by Black South Africans is atrocious and they don't seem to help themselves from the outside view.  They seem to be in this mode of ineptitude.  The White managers almost encourage it and with their low expectations, keep their Black employees down below.  I struggle because I constantly am considering issues of “same and different” - and wonder who is helping or hindering who.

The places I like are filled with people that look different than me.  The people that look like me are not doing what I like.  Are our differences genetic or otherwise?  The glory of the World Cup is not touching the people in the township, the average South African worker (80% of the population) and instead is creating a party atmosphere for the 20% who are seeking to be acknowledged on the worldwide globetrotter scene.

Has South Africa really opened up since Apartheid?  Not yet.  The five years since my last visit here is a noticeable change in tone.  The hope that I saw in 2005 is now replaced by the lethargy found in American urban centers.  Crime seems easier than an education, doing the least possible to get by seems like the best way - it is sad.  The World Cup has meant a longer shift for most - not a new opportunity.  Weeks from now the South Africans will be left with the same issues of corruption and division they had a month ago.  So what is the benefit?

Will we all come back to visit this beautiful land?  Do we all just sit back and watch the whites and blacks continue to settle in to their expected roles?  There is no clear answer a week in to the trip and the reality is you have a nation that is suffering behind a facade that is the World Cup.  We can't leave when the games leave - we must use this country as the springboard to saving a continent that is seemingly left behind in the global shift towards the world being flat.

Beyond the games and hoots of the vuvuzelas this is predominant on my mind.  From the first World Cup on African soil, I write.

---Sienna Reynaga is the Founder of the SOLHO GROUP, a marketing  firm specializing in next generation companies.

*THE PERSPECTIVES OF HUMNEWS CONTRIBUTORS ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT REPRESENT IN PART OR IN WHOLE, THE VIEWS OF ITS EDITORS. 

Number of Orphans in Lesotho Continues to Grow

(HN, June 24, 2010) -- MASERU, Lesotho -- The number of orphans in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho continues to surge, with the latest data indicating as many as 270,000 - up from 180,000.

The figures were derived from the 2006 census and this newest number was recently released. However some sources put the number of orphans as high as 400,000.A woman in Maseru selling World Cup t-shirts (HN, 2010)

Most of the orphans come from families devastated by HIV AIDS. Lesotho has the third highest HIV AIDS rate in the world - with almost 30 percent of the adult population affected - according to the charitable organization Sentebale. It estimates that every day, 100 children in Lesotho are devastated by the death of a parent. With so few orphanages in the country only about one percent have access to institutionalized care.

In order that orphans and vulnerable children receive proper services several months ago, the country's Department of Social Welfare started a project to register all children that fall into this category. And in order to improve the well-being of vulnerable children, the government recently launched a "Child Grants" programme that provides a regular and unconditional quarterly payment of about $38 to orphans and other vulnerable children.

According to UNICEF: "The nexus of significant levels of poverty, chronic food insecurity and a high prevalence of HIV has dealt a serious blow to child survival, development and protection in Lesotho."

So ravaged is Lesotho by HIV AIDS and poverty that earlier this month several hundred people marched through the capital, Maseru, pleading for the landlocked country to be annexed by its wealthier neighbour, South Africa. Indeed, one South African immigration officer today, referred to Lesotho as the "tenth province."  She said thousands of people cross the border every day for work, though numbers are said to have dropped due to tighter movement restrictions imposed for the ongoing World Cup matches in South Africa.

--- Reporting by HUMNEWS’ Michael Bociurkiw.

Amid humiliating African Losses, South African team told to "storm the Bastille"

(HN, June 22, 2010) -- Today all eyes on the continent will be on the South African team at the World Cup to reverse a string of humiliating losses chalked up by African teams Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire.Johannesburg fan Tamara Sutila shows her support for "Bafana Bafana"

In a few hours Bafana Bafana (the boys, the boys) meet France in a do or die soccer encounter in the South African city of Bloemfontein. The South Africans need several goals in order to stand a chance at progressing into the second round.

One local newspaper today instructed South African players to "storm the Bastille" in their meet-up with France. The South African team tied with Mexico in the opening match of the World Cup, but lost to Uruguay a few days later.

Should South Africa be defeated today, it would signify the first time a host nation fails to make it to round two.

The hopes for an African win is palpable in the country's airports, shopping malls and streets. After all, this is the first World Cup to be played on African soil and the poor performance thus far by the continent's teams has thrown fans into a collective depression.

This morning at Johannesburg International Airport dejected fans from Cameroon were headed home, unable to afford a longer stay in South Africa.

Asked what he thought about the poor performance of the Cameroonian and other African teams, one departing fan said: "I think it has to be back to the drawing board for our teams. They havent been communicating well internally."

Ghana, and to a lesser extent Algeria and Nigeria, are among the other African teams that still stand a chance at progressing to the second round.

South African political and sports leaders are reminding their countrymen that no matter what the outcome of today's match, the host country must continue to play the perfect host to the world.

"Over the past few weeks South Africa has undergone an extraordinary revival of its national spirt," said Archbishop Emeritus Demond Tutu. Observers here say the Cup has been extremely helpful in boosting the spirits of South Africans - many of them concerned about poverty, crime, unemployment, and factionalism within the African National Congress.

Of the more than 400,000 foreign tourists who have come for the World Cup, there are only about 50,000 African fans who bought tickets. The difficulty and cost of acquiring tickets, and the expense of flights and accommodation have been factors in keeping African fans at home.

In hosting the World Cup, some South African opinion leaders are hoping that it will bring a change in the mindset of the political, business and sports elite. Said columnist John Carlin: "South Africa...is at a crossroads. Either the spirit imposes itself of those who have contrived to get the country ready for the World Cup, whose hard and honest toil is ensuring that so far everything is going well or, after the World Cup has come and gone, the spirit of the Bafana 'black elite' reigns in the land. At which point we might as well forget all notion forever of this country re-establishing itself - as it did during the Mandela glory years - as a light and example to Africa, let alone the world."

-- Reporting by HUMNEWS staff in Johannesburg, SA. 

In Selling World Cup Tickets, FIFA Belatedly Grasped Realities of Africa (Updated June 20)

(HN, June 19, 2010) -- Alhassan Rano is technologically advanced compared to the average resident of Nigeria’s Kano state. With an advanced laptop and Nokia phone - and with accounts on Gmail and Facebook - he is able to communicate with the outside world with ease.Two boys blowing on the iconic vuvuzela at a public fan park in Soweto

But with 20-plus hours of daily power outages and dial-up connectivity speeds, it’s often a challenge to surf the web, let alone attempt online shopping. Moreover, the health worker has no credit card to divert part of his meager wages to online shopping.

When FIFA announced that the first-ever World Cup to be held on the African continent would be in South Africa in June 2010, soccer-crazed Africans greeted the news with a collective glee. Many - like Alhassan - dreamed of traveling to the wealthiest country in Africa to catch some of the matches.

Tickets for the World Cup 2010 first went on sale on February 20, 2009, followed by four additional sales phases.

Speak to most Southern Africans and the common refrain is that FIFA “didn't take into account the needs of the locals,” as put by Mboni, a young male soccer fan from Johannesburg who spoke to HUMNEWS today at a mostly empty public fan park in the centre of town.

Despite pronouncements by South African FIFA organizing chief Danny Jordaan that “we want this to be a World Cup for Africa,” selling tickets almost exclusively online froze many Africans out of the action and out of the stadiums.  According to Internet World Stats, Internet penetration in Africa was only 6.7% in the second quarter of 2009 - compared to a worldwide average of 24.7%.

Even in host country, South Africa, there are less than 5-million Internet users in a country with a population of almost 50-million.

Aside from the difficulty of obtaining even one of the some 3-million tickets made available - many matches sold out within hours - the cost of intra-Africa flights (a weekend flight to Johannesburg clocks in at $2600) and accommodation in South Africa would have made a trip to the World Cup out of the question for someone like Alhassan in Nigeria.

Indeed, at Saturday's matches with teams from Cameroon and Ghana, few fans from either country were visible in the stands, even with sizeable Diaspora communities in Johannesburg.

Not being able to afford World Cup tickets is not limited to out-of-towners. Many expatriates in South African complain of ticket prices as high as $900 (for the Category One final) - IF they are available. Those with resident cards have had access to as many as 15,000 discounted tickets - some as low as about $20.

One Johannesburg-based business writer said that even in South Africa, credit cards are out of reach of millions. Those who have them either distrust submitting their credit card details or do not know how to use online purchasing. “We are about as inclined to give our credit card details as going to live on the moon,” she said.

While the several fan parks in host cities have become popular free venues to take in the games via huge screens, some fans say FIFA didn’t take into account that the World Cup would be taking place in winter. Indeed, this evening, there were only a hand full of fans at the free fan park in Newtown in Johannesburg - many driven away by temperatures hovering around freezing.

One retired resident of Soweto told HUMNEWS that, with a pension of only about $150-a-month, there was no way he could afford tickets to any of the games. "If I take 150 Rand out of the 1,000 Rand I don’t have anything left for essentials,” he said.

Many tickets were put onto the local market closer to the opening day of the World Cup, but by then it was too late for many South Africans. “We have a tendency to leave things to the last minute,” said Mboni. “It’s hard to change plans at the last minute.”

--Reporting and photo by HUMNEWS staff, Johannesburg, SA

`Soweto’s Children Find Play, Protection - and Food - Amid World Cup Uncertainty’

(HN, June 17, 2010) - The winter sun is blazing outside as about 20 children draw, play and chat inside a huge white tent in the middle of Johannesburg’s sprawling Soweto Township.A young boy at the Safe Play Area in Soweto shows off his drawing

The set-up is one of several so-called `Safe Play Areas’ supported by UNICEF and other organizations to keep vulnerable children protected from those who prey on young victims. They are situated in remote, fenced off areas of the public fan parks for the month-long World Cup here in South Africa. 

Visiting the historic township yesterday was highly symbolic as it coincided with International Day of the African Child - a public holiday to mark the June 16, 1976 Soweto Uprising, when mass protests were sparked over a government decision to enforce education for Afrikaans.

But yesterday a festive atmosphere could be seen everywhere in Soweto’s public fan park. Children blew the iconic vuvuzelas in unison, while gigantic loudspeakers and videos screens relayed key moments from a match the previous evening.

The `Safe Play Areas’ have also served an unintended purpose: to keep children fed during the four-and-a-half weeks that they are out of school. Because schools are closed nationwide for the World Cup, many students are missing out on the daily crucial hot meals that are routinely provided at many educational institutions.

The `Safe Play Area’ in Soweto provides one hot meal to the several dozen children - who average about eight to nine years old - dropping in each day, said Carol Bews, Assistant Director of Johannesburg Child Welfare, which has received funding from UNICEF to run several areas at public fan parks where thousands gather to watch World Cup matches on giant, outdoor screens. “With the schools being closed for four and a half weeks children are going to go hungry during this time.”

At the public fan park in Soweto, there is enough capacity for up to 30,000 visitors and officials worry that in other locations, children can end up separated from their parents and are easy prey for traffickers and others. Those wanting to enter the `Safe Play Area’ are provided with blue wrist bands, with their name and parent’s phone number scribbled on.

 “We need to ensure that children are safe. There is a potential for children getting lost, abused or neglected,” says Bews. She added that amid the festivities of the World Cup, some parents may have had too much to drink and are unable to provide proper supervision of their children.

One group of siblings that dropped in yesterday – a child aged eight and two other’s two six years old - said they only had one living parent.  As in other parts of Africa, HIV/AIDS is a common factor in the premature death of parents, leaving many children orphaned or with just one parent.

The children who visit the `Safe Play Area’ do more than play. Bews said they are offered awareness sessions on such topics as “stranger danger” - to help better equip them for dealing with potential predators - such as child traffickers.

In a place like Soweto - where poverty levels are high - there are many families headed by only one parent. Says Bews: “That means children have to become almost adult-like at a very young age. We see young children looking after younger siblings....children who are way too young to take on that responsibility.”

Bews said grave cases where children require special child protection services are referred to entities that have specialized skills and programs. Many of the child protection services in South Africa are provided by non-governmental organizations such as the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.  

It only takes a short time in South Africa to realize how soccer flows through the veins of almost everybody here - both young and small.

In a place like Soweto - densely populated, containing about one-third of Johannesburg’s population and with high unemployment of up to 50% - soccer provides a glimmer of hope unlike anything else. Many of the drawings created by children the day we visited - on the evening of the crucial match between South Africa and Uruguay - anticipated the competition and included the South African flag with pride.

Bews said that because soccer does not require special shoes or equipment, the game is accessible to anyone. She recalled seeing two groups of children at a squatter’s settlement in downtown Johannesburg play with makeshift soccer balls that were made of metal bottle tops and plastic Coke bottles.

“We have seen that children can really lose themselves in soccer. They become children again, which is really important. And they’ll play with anything at hand,” said Bews.  “They learn how to deal with life through soccer. They learn how to deal with conflict, how to be a team player, how to win, how to lose. And it’s something that equips them for life.”

Of course the Soweto `Safe Play Area’ has its own fenced-in soccer pitch just to add to World Cup excitement.

--- Reporting/photo by HUMNEWS staff in Johannesburg, SA

(EXCLUSIVE) Hugely Outnumbered, North Koreans Bring Own "Fans" to World Cup

(HN, June 16, 2010) -- During the surprisingly durable performance by the North Koreans against Brazil yesterday evening, official broadcasters zoomed in on a group of male fans clad in red outfits, waving the flags of the Hermit Kingdom and banging small bricks together.North Korean fans take cues from a leader at the match in Johannesburg. Credit: Sienna Reynaga

Jarring in a sea of yellow in the packed Ellis Park Stadium were a group of 40 men, appearing to be between the ages of 40-60. Identically dressed with red hats, scarves, brick clappers, flags and sweaters they were there to cheer on the team that has mystified World Cup watchers for the months approaching the games.

In the Tuesday night game, North Korea did not disappoint and ended the 90 minutes only down 2-1 against the World Cup favorite Brazil. It was the first time the team was seen in public as all of their practices have taken place behind closed doors.

Apparently meticulously screened by officials in Pyongyang, the North Korean fans appeared to hardly interact. The red jackets were led by two crowd leaders who prompted them to cheer, chant and clap the bricks together at the appropriate times. The performance was reminiscent of the crowds of trained Chinese fans that were bussed into the Bird’s Nest Stadium during the 2009 Beijing Summer Olympics.

A Korean translator was on hand to handle the throngs of reporters who flocked to the group.  As reporters from Russia to Brazil attempted to ask members of the group questions, it was quickly apparent they did not speak English (or at least were instructed to pretend not to). The translator asked two members of the group select questions about their trip, but refused to ask anything political.

The fan group looked unphazed by the almost zoo-like treatment they received from those attempting to take pictures with them, trying to talk to them, taping them and just plain staring.

When asked if they had plans to follow the North Korean team around the country (they play next on Monday in Cape Town against Portugal) a positive nod was the response.

- Reporting and photos by HUMNEWS in Johannesburg

HUM at the World Cup

(HN, June 15, 2010) Starting today, HUM News takes its front row seat at the World Cup in South Africa to report on the backstories surrounding the world’s most watched sporting event.

Four countries that fall within HUM’s definition of a ‘geographic gap' are represented at the World Cup. They are: North Korea, Algeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

(Tonight North Korea competes in the first round against Brazil in a sold out match in Johannesburg. The North Koreans so far have held all of their practices behind closed doors).

Along with a small editorial team now on the ground in South Africa, HUM will utilize a team of writers, editors, stringers and commentators spread across the globe. 

The HUM News site at www.humnews.com will serve as the main portal for World Cup coverage. In addition the news agency will be sharing video, audio, images and text with a variety of media outlets, big and small. Instant updates and links to stories will be posted on the HUM News Twitter feed at @humnews.

The World Cup is the second major global sporting event to be covered by HUM. Earlier this year, the Atlanta-based news service deployed a large team to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, where about a dozen HUM countries competed for the medal stand. Over four consecutive days, HUM’s unique brand of coverage was streamed live to Barcelona, where it was displayed at the Intel booth at the Mobile World Congress.

Star Alliance partners Air Canada and Lufthansa assisted HUM’s journey to South Africa.

World Cup a Chance to Tackle Exclusion - Navi Pillay

(HN, Opinion Piece, June 9, 2010) The Fifa Soccer World Cup kicks off on Friday. This is an opportune occasion to reflect on the fact that sport is meant to foster social cohesion, bring different cultures together in a celebration of healthy competition, and to overcome the diffidence and even contempt that all too often divide countries and communities in the political and social arenas.

The movie Invictus, about how former president Nelson Mandela used rugby to build a common national identity, was one such reflection. And the choice of SA, a country that renounced the institutionalised racism of apartheid, as the host of the World Cup, is a perfect opportunity and platform to renew our efforts to combat discrimination in all its forms.

As a victim of racism and a sports fan, I urge all who play or simply watch sport to use the World Cup as a catalyst to call for global action against intolerance and racism. These are scourges that affect countless women, men and children around the world and that must be challenged at every turn.

Indeed, fear, intolerance and xenophobia can all be combated with the diametrically opposed values of fair play and co-operation that are so central to team sports such as football. The World Cup is perhaps the highest expression of football’s ability to join millions of people from around the world in a common and joyous pursuit.

We all have our favourite team but let us not forget that the World Cup allows us to connect with others whose history, culture and traditions we may otherwise never have been exposed to. We are all enriched by this contact. Our common passion for football reinforces the bonds of community pride, makes explicit our shared aspiration for excellence, and channels and elevates our instinct of competition.

But let us also be vigilant about racism and other manifestations of intolerance that poison sport — particularly football — and that undermine its positive message and bring it into disrepute. This happens all too often when the supporters of competing teams use slurs and even violence to vilify and attack their opponents.

Regrettably, even the players have at times been prone to such despicable behaviour. Professional footballers are rightly obliged to uphold the highest standards of sportsmanship, both ethically and under Fifa’s code of conduct, which includes provisions on nondiscrimination. Yet, on occasion, rich clubs and rich national bodies have escaped more severe sanction by paying derisory fines after serious racist incidents during matches.

National football authorities everywhere must back their strong rhetoric with serious and consistent disincentives. Manifestations of racism or intolerance in or around the stadiums during the World Cup should be swiftly addressed and the perpetrators isolated. The clear message of the World Cup must be that there is no place for racism and intolerance in sport.

At the same time, the World Cup should maximise the potential of this sport to educate ever-expanding constituencies and attract talent irrespective of social status and position in life. For many poor athletes, soccer has offered a way out of exclusion. Their accomplishments have inspired others to follow suit. In every society, successful sportsmen and women are role models whose behaviour is closely scrutinised and even emulated. Young minds are especially influenced by both positive and negative messages received from those they respect, particularly their sports heroes.

Ultimately, the real winners of this year’s World Cup will be those who celebrate and uphold in words and in deeds its values of fair play, honest competition, respect and tolerance both on and off the field. Let’s kick discrimination off the field. Let’s tackle exclusion. Let’s put racism offside.

Pillay is United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This first appeared in South Africa's Business Day Newspaper

Funding Countries Guilty of "Moral Betrayal" in Fight Against HIV in Africa - MSF

(HN, June 6, 2010) - A severe drawback in pledges from major donors in the fight against HIV represents a "moral betrayal" of millions of infected people on the African continent, says the respected organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Donor governments, blaming the ongoing global economic crisis, are drawing back support of HIV treatment programmes, such as anti-retroviral treatment (ART). MSF claims that had the international community not provided financial support, about 4-million people on treatment in Africa would not be alive today. Its also helped the scaling up of preventative treatment, such as mother-to-child transmission.

The Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the countries that fund it, the U.S. bilateral PEPFAR program, UNITAID and the World Bank are all beginning to retreat from their commitments to the global HIV response, according to MSF. The Geneva-based organization is currently facing a major funding shortfall of about $5 billion.

The impact is already being felt by frontline organizations like MSF, which provides HIV/AIDS treatment to 140,000 patients in 30 countries. MSF says it is reaching into its emergency buffer stocks of medicines deeper and more frequently.

Africa is Ground Zero in the fight against HIV: two-thirds of the 9 million people in need of urgent treatment live in sub-Saharan Africa. Because of funding gaps, already in South Africa and Uganda, patients are being shuffled from one clinic to another because of limited treatment slots.

Said Dr. Eric Goemaere, medical coordinator for MSF in South Africa: Some years ago, messages to governments in the region were unambiguous. They were told... we want to see ambitious targets because we want to see a population-level impact on the HIV epidemic. We want you to show that you can have an impact to stop this epidemic. And today the message switched to, ‘let's see what you and [we] can afford together.

"If this trend is confirmed, I would call it a moral betrayal. A moral betrayal because we will have failed first our patients, who were told to get tested and all the ones who tested positive. We promised them we'd provide them treatment. We will fail our health staff, who managed to start 4 million people on treatment, an unprecedented effort for the health services in developing countries in such a short time, and who are today told that they cannot initiate patients. And finally we would fail regional governments, with some of them already contributing a substantial amount of their own resources. The economic crisis is happening here as well as in the United States and Europe, and we would fail them if we would tell them that we cannot any more support this effort."

Aside from longer waiting lists, doctors and nurses are now having to face the agonizing choice of whether to prioritize late-stage cases or new cases, where treatment may have more of an impact, MSF says.

Experts say that the importance of international donors cannot be over-estimated: in Kenya, for example, it covers about 95% of HIV programmes and ARVs.

"If the international donors decide to withdraw their funding, the HIV programs will not be sustainable according to the present funding levels by the government," said Jimmy Gideyi, an activist and person living with HIV in Kenya. "We already have so many problems to take on, such as stigma, beliefs,  misconceptions, cultural practices, which contribute to the spread of HIV in the community, without having to worry [about] where more money will be coming from to catch up on our treatment."

Most African governments had committed some years ago to allocate 15% of their national budgets to health, but that has not happened - making the contributions of the donor community even more crucial, MSF says. It adds that the debate on funding is complicated over whether to prioritize preventative (such as distribution of condoms) or treatment programmes.

"African governments need to keep their commitments, but the international community also needs to keep its commitment," said MSF's Emi McLean. He added that even the richest country on the continent, South Africa - which depends only 20% on external aid - will stil need funding to treat millions of AIDS patients.

MSF's comments were made recently with the release of a report called Titled “No time to quit: HIV/AIDS treatment gap widening in Africa." The report builds on analyses made in eight sub-Saharan countries to illustrate how major international funding institutions such as the U.S. President’s Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the World Bank, UNITAID, and donors to the Global Fund, have decided to cap, reduce, or withdraw their spending on HIV treatment and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) over the past year-and-a-half.

Child Labour Concerns Ahead of World Cup in South Africa

(HN, May 17, 2010) - Organizations battling child labour have raised concerns about the vulnerability of children during the upcoming World Cup next month in South Africa.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says the "economic bonanza" brought about by the soccer world's largest competition could draw many children into jobs that exposes them to exploitation.

"There is little experience in organising major international sporting events in settings where the number of poor and vulnerable children are so high," said UNICEF Representative to South Africa, Aida Girma. "Criminal syndicates may thrive during such events and target children in order to fulfil the perceived increase in demand for prostitution and drugs which the event is expected to bring."

Her comments came earlier this week after the International Labour Organisation (ILO) singled out sub-Sahara Africa as the region with the highest number of child labour cases. There had been a 28.4 percent increase in the number of cases - with 65 million, or one in every four children, said to be involved in child labour. The region also account for almost half of the world's out-of-school children.

While describing South Africa's efforts in addressing the scourge of child labour as "exemplary" - the constitution spells out the need to protect children from harmful forms of work and South Africa has amongst the highest school enrolment rates on the continent - Girma said its cities "serve as poles of economic opportunity in a context of extreme inequality, sub-regional poverty, and catastrophic levels of HIV/AIDS.

"While some child labourers are highly visible, such as street children working in the informal economy in border towns of Musina, others are hidden from view and exploited in the worst forms of child labour, for instance trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation."

UNICEF plans to establish so-called child friendly spaces at the public fan parks where the World Cup competitions will be screened for the general public: Soweto, Sandton, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit. The areas wil be manned by trained social workers.

The child friendly spaces will not only provide recreation for children but will also provide a range of specialised services for vulnerable ones who have been separated from their families and those who have fallen victim to trafficking and exploitation. The staff will also do outreach activities, visiting night spots and other areas where children may be exploited for sex and for commercial activities.

UNICEF and the ILO would also promote adherence to international codes against commercial sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism as well as raising awareness. In addition, a "Red Card" campaign will be launched ahead of the World Cup to help disseminate strong messages about vulnerable children. They will be aimed at children, the general public, tourists and football fans.

Eradicating child labour in countries with large pockets of marginalized families can be challenging. Some countries, such as Turkey, has established vocational homes for children withdrawn from the workforce.

- Staff, files

Click here for Aida Girma's speech on this topic

Digital Divide in Africa Set to Ease This Year With New Undersea Connections

(HN, April 19, 2010) Farida Aziz, a Pakistani aid worker based in Nigeria’s remote northern states, tries to keep in touch with friends and family back home via Skype and Facebook chat. But conversations are often kept short, due to the slow and fickle nature of her Internet connection.

Such stories are commonly heard across West Africa as people in the Sub-Sahara wait for the day to have fixed and wireless Internet connections at faster than dial-up speeds.

The continent has a long way to go - in terms of Internet penetration and broadband access - before it catches up with the rest of the world. A 2009 study by Internet World Stats found that Africa has an Internet penetration rate of only 6.7 percent, compared with the world average of 24.7 per cent. No African country figures on the list of top 49 countries with the highest Internet penetration rate, and nine have penetration rates lower than one percent.

And for the few that do have access, bandwidth costs for Africans are 50 times or higher than in developed countries. The lack of reliable power supplies - in countries like Nigeria - limits the time the average person can spend online - even with broadband access.

“Developing broadband in Africa will reduce our dependence on foreign owned satellite systems,” said Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Communications Commission. “This will help in removing the need to pay exorbitant satellite transit fees.”

But according to a World Bank official change is just around the corner, with massive undersea cables being laid that will connect this side of Africa with the huge broadband backbones that have the potential to catapult many African countries firmly into the digital age. Spurred in part by the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa this summer, various submarine cables are due to go live in 2010, some of them funded by pan-African telecommunications consortiums.

In July 2009, the Seacom submarine fibre optic cable for East Africa went live. Privately-funded and three-quarters African-owned, and is the first to provide broadband to countries in east Africa, which previously relied entirely on expensive, slower, satellite connections.

And by the end of this year, Nigeria’s Main-One Cable System will run 7000 kilometres from Portugal to Nigeria with landings along the route to various West African countries - delivering 1.92Tbps of bandwidth, equivalent to 10 times the available capacity of the existing fibre optics cable serving the West coast of Africa. It will offer about 200 times the satellite capacity currently available across sub- Saharan Africa. Further phases will double the length of the cable, bordering West Africa all the way to South Africa.

Aside from a more robust telecoms infrastructure, regulatory reform in several West African countries are opening the doors to competition - and in turn - driving down costs for consumers. In Nigeria alone, at least a half dozen mobile phone companies compete for customers, especially in the pre-paid mobile phone and wireless data sectors. The availability of better content - especially in local languages and dialects - are expected to drive up demand for value added services.

All this is not to say that the entire population of the continent is benefitting from the increased broadband.  At a conference last year in Russia called “Addressing the Digital Divide for Science in Africa,” experts agreed that vast proportions of people, including academics, have yet to benefit from expanding adoption of information and technologies and access to the Internet in Africa.

“Africa is confronted by problems of Internet penetration,” said the conference paper. “Africa is not only about 16 years behind the rest of the world, but is falling further behind each year. This rising Digital Divide between Africa and industrialized countries means that the potential of African universities to play a key role in national development is largely not being realized.

To address the problems, groups of concerned scientists have come together in a group called eGY-Africa to advocate for better access and equipment for African institutions. Ironically the Internet was first created to link academic institutions yet the science community in Africa feels it is stuck behind a digital firewall - with some using dial-up speeds as slow as 56kbps.

“Any kind of map of Internet performance shows that scientists in Africa, in general, are not able to partner in such virtual teams and activities due to a lack of ICT infrastructure,” the conference paper said. It adds that in many African communities, “cyber cafes have better Internet connectivity than the neighbouring university.”

Experts say that while more fibre is being laid, other developments - such as Low Earth Orbiting Satellites and WIMAX - will help lessen the digital divide on the continent. More African countries are now directly linked to each other rather than through costly and slow intercontinental connections via Europe and North America.

---Reporting by Michael Bociurkiw in Las Vegas 

Chronic Power Shortages Plunge Sub-Saharan African Cities Into Darkness (Updated)

KADUNA/KANO, NIGERIA (HN March 30) While millions of people around the world observed Earth Hour by switching off lights, residents of many cities and towns in sub-Saharan Africa toiled in 24-hour blackouts Saturday due to a longstanding and persistent power shortages.

In the northern Nigerian city of Kano, for example, the day Earth Hour was observed - Saturday, March 27 - passed like any other day - without a kilowatt of electricity. The lucky homes and business owners have generators, which send plumes of dark diesel smoke into the dusty air.

Earth Hour is a climate change initiative of the  World Wildlife Fund, one of the worlds’ largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries.

Yet in Kano - Nigeria's second largest city - there is no need to switch off the lights at night because there are no lights. The owner of the Moons Hotel says that since about New Years, he has been running his generator 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week. "When I have no guests I switch off the generator to save money," he said, adding that it costs about NGN25,000 ($160)-a-day to run the generator.

A taxi driver who identified himself as Babba Tropicana held up his hand and counted off seven fingers when asked how many days-a-week his family goes without power. He expressed concern about how ordinary people will cope with the upcoming hot season just around the corner.

Ironically, Nigeria is sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest energy producer - yet the country of more than 150 million people wont be able to generate enough electricity until much later in the decade, according to analysts. This is despite the efforts of the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to pump $16 billion into the country's energy sector.

The rolling blackouts in Nigeria are attributed to an acute shortage of petrol at the thermal generation stations across the country, which have idled at least six stations.  The available electricity volume on the national grid dropped from 3, 710 megawatts (MW) in December 2009 to 2, 543 MW in mid-March. The Ministry of Power puts available electricity generation capacity in the country at over 5000 MW per hour. People here hope that the new acting President, Goodluck Jonathan will be able to rise above political squabbles and restore a reliable energy supply.

Nigeria is the continent’s most populous nation and third largest economy - after South Africa and Kenya - but power shortages, rampant corruption, a brain drain and red tape, threaten to slow economic growth. In nearby Ghana, where offshore oil reserves have been recently discovered, people there are reported to be hoping that - unlike Nigeria - the country's newfound wealth will go into infrastructure improvements like new roads and schools.

To be sure, Nigeria is not the only African country to be afflicted by power shortages. In South Africa - host to this year’s FIFA World Cup finals - lack of power has forced gold mines to shut down. One African writer has suggested that power shortages could negatively impact on the World Cup - darkening stadiums and interrupting broadcasts.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2007 alone, nearly two-thirds of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa experienced an acute energy crisis with frequent and extended electricity outages. While conflict and drought can be blamed, the main reason is that demand has simply outstripped supply. Many power generation facilities rely on traditional fuels, which are in short supply, especially in non-producing African nations.

The IMF says that due to the slower-than-expected process of electrification, only about a quarter of the region’s population has access to power. In Angola, only about 15 percent of people have access. However, new, massive hydro-electric projects - such as a $7-billion, 400MW joint Angola-Namibia dam on the Kunene River - will eventually help to alleviate the crippling energy shortage on the continent. The region has a population of over 800-million - 80 percent of which live on less than a dollar-a-day - yet its installed generation capacity is no more than that of Spain.

Many analysts say the power crisis could hold the continent back in achieving ket Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“Electrical energy is not only crucial to commerce and industry, but also holds the key to poverty alleviation,” writes Peter Kagwanja of African Insight. “Energy being critical to the provision of clean water, sanitation, health services, irrigation, telecommunication, industrial development and development of infrastructure, its absence means poverty and therefore, it should be central to transforming the rhetoric of "African Renaissance" into a socio-economic reality.”

Michael Bociurkiw reporting