Africa Report

Chinese top legislator Zhang Dejiang pledged to build stronger bilateral relations withNigeriaduring his official visit to the country on September 17-19. Zhang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), said, “China is happy to see Nigeria’s achievements in economic and social development,” adding that China supports Nigeria as it strives to play an increasingly active role in African and international affairs. Noting thatChinais a reliable friend and partner of African countries includingNigeria, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said the two countries enjoy broad common interests, great potential for cooperation and bright prospects.

During his stay inNigeria, Zhang also participated in a series of cultural activities under the theme of Approaching Chinese Culture. He unveiledNigeria’s newly-built Chinese Culture Center, and attended a ceremony marking the establishment of a Chinese room at the Nigerian National Library.

Zhang also paid a two-day visit toUgandastarting from September 16 and talked with Ugandan leaders.CA

Africa

Food Security Improves

Overall food security has improved in many parts of East Africa as household food supplies increased following the end of the favorable March-to-June agricultural season. Citing a report from the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group for the Eastern and Central Africa region, the UNOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)said the number of food insecure people in East Africa has reduced from 14.9 million in December 2012 to 12.9 million as of June. The majority of the 12.9 million food insecure people are to be found in parts of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, conflict-affected areas of Somalia, Sudan, north Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Tanzania, OCHA said in its latest report.CA

Liberia

Minimum Wage Raised

The Liberian Government has passed the Minimum Wage Bill that will ensure the rate of $6 a day earnings promotes poverty reduction and sees unskilled labor gaining in the improvement of the state welfare. The bill was passed in September 2013 by unanimous vote. Despite the bill being passed, the issue of setting up of a Minimum Wage Board across all sectors of the country remains a contentious issue.Liberia’s current minimum wage of $0.25 per hour, has long been criticized by media reports as being inhumane.CA

Kenya

Increased Route Expansion

Kenya Airways is due to receive the first of three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in October to begin service in November as the airline boosts its fleet to meet increased route expansion. “The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft is a perfect fit for our network expansion plans as it will enable us to serve our existing markets much more effectively and facilitate the opening of new long-haul routes in the near future,” said the airline CEO Titus Naikuni.The move comes as the national carrier plans to launch direct flights in November to China’s commercial city of Guangzhou to take advantage of the growing Sino-African relations. CA

China

Air Pollution Battle Plan

China has vowed to use a multi-pronged approach to tackle the country’s air pollution, according to a government action plan unveiled in September. China aims to cut its total coal consumption to below 65 percent of its total primary energy use by 2017, part of the country’s efforts to accelerate adjusting its energy structure and increase clean energy supply, according to the plan. New projects set to be constructed in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and both the Yangtze Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions will be banned from setting up their own coal-fired power plants. Under the plan, the country is also eyeing a roughly 20-percent cut in energy consumption per unit of industrial value added by 2017, compared to 2012. CA

Madagascar

Informal Sector Grows

The informal sector increased by 92 percent in 2012 in Madagascar amid the political crisis in the country since December 2008, according to the data released recently by the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the country. Small informal businesses rose 92 percent in 2012 against a 17 percent growth for formal firms. Among the job generators were karaoke clubs, cyber cafe and multi-service centers, commercial enterprises and companies making artisanal or semi-artisanal products. .CA

South Africa

Employment Prospects Stable

The employment outlook in the fourth quarter is expected to be steady inSouth Africa, a survey showed recently. Among more than 700 employers surveyed, approximately 80 percent said they expect no change in the employment levels in the last quarter of the year, the independent employment services firm Manpower said in a report. Seven economic sectors are planning to increase their employment levels, including agriculture, mining, forestry and fisheries, while 10 sectors are mildly optimistic about their employment outlook, such as electricity, transport, gas and water supply, communication, wholesale and retail.CA

Ghana

New Film Series  on Art Released

A series of film interviews with Ghanaian contemporary visual artists was recently released by Berlin-based production and curatorial platform Showcase together with their colleagues and partners from Bureau Africa.

The video project is now internationally launched under the title “The Black Stars of Ghana - Art District” and comprises a series of documented conversations with a group of leading and upcoming contemporary visual artists inGhanaincluding Ablade Glover, Kofi Setordji and Wiz Kudowor. All episodes will simultaneously be broadcast onThis Is Africaand on Bureau Africa TV’s Youtube Channel.

This interview project is part of Showcase’s initiative to feature exciting contemporary art from regions which are too often disregarded when Eurocentric art professionals are debating and deciding among themselves about who is who in the art world.CA

China

Teaching Criteria Raised

Ten provincial-level regions have been put under a pilot reform program that raises the threshold of becoming a teacher, the Ministry of Education said in September. Under the program, all teachers could be subject to taking a unified national exam and graduates from teachers’ training schools or colleges will no longer be acknowledged straight away as qualified for teaching after graduation. In addition, life tenure will be scrapped in order to get rid of the safety net allowing under-performing teachers to stay in the education system, and all teachers have to register to stay active educational practitioners every five years. Initiated in 2011, the program will be expanded toall 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland by 2015, according to the ministry.CA

China

Trademark Law

China’s top legislature recently passed a new intellectual property law to crack down on copyright infringements and ensure a fair market for trademark holders. The new law, which will go into effect on May 1, 2014, raises the compensation ceiling for trademark infringement to 3 million yuan ($500,000), six times the previous limit. It also mitigates the responsibility of trademark holders in providing proof of infringement, saying the alleged offenders shall provide their accounting books or other materials for investigation. Otherwise, compensation could be determined according to the amounts proposed by trademark holders.CA

China

Monitoring Network

China has built the world’s largest network for reporting instances of infectious diseases and public health emergencies so as to ensure timely and accurate monitoring and treatment, said Li Bin, Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission. All disease control and prevention centers, 98 percent of medical institutions above county level as well as 94 percent of local health agencies have set up systems for real-time reporting on infectious diseases, Li said. It now takes only four hours for local agencies to detect epidemics and report them, compared with the five days it took before the network was established, Li said. Stations for the surveillance of infectious diseases for people entering and exiting the country have been built at 285 ports open to foreign countries and 168 healthcare centers for international travelers.CA

Bankable Jazzy

Nigerian prolific music producerDon Jazzyis listed first inNigeriaand second in Africa as the most bankable African artist in a recent survey released by Channel O andForbes Africain September. The list is based on artist sales, endorsement value, popularity, show rates, awards, YouTube views, investment, influence, appearance in newspapers and social media presence. Senegalese American Akon tops the coveted list.

New WTO Official

Yi Xiaozhun,China’s Permanent Representative to the WTO, was appointed as its deputy director general recently, the first Chinese to assume the role. Yi has worked on international trade issues since the 1980s. He wasChina’s vice minister of commerce before taking office inGenevaas the country’s permanent representative to the organization in 2011. Yi will begin his term on October 1.