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Indian Bank Opens First Branch in Johannesburg

{{India’s Canara Bank has opened its first branch in South Africa’s Johannesburg and has plans to expand to other African countries as well.}}

Rajiv Kishore Dubey, MD of Canara Bank, said, ”We have wanted to open the South Africa branch for a very long time but didn’t get the required approvals. Now, we wish to open another branch in Durban.”

Canara Bank, headquartered in Indian city of Bangalore, has 4,750 branches across India and has offices in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bahrain, the UAE and Russia.

The bank is keen to invest in sectors like mining, agriculture and retail in Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique and Rwanda.

Brazilian and Nigerian markets have been earmarked too. Much like in India, rural and semi-rural areas of Africa are on the bank’s radar for expansion, sources said.

Though the bank admitted that positive relations between South Africa and India partly influenced the bank’s move to open a branch in the African continent, Dubey said that raising capital was one of the biggest challenges they faced.

He also added that the survival of any bank is determined by the resilience of an enterprise, given the tough financial environments in hubs like London and Hong Kong.

wirestory

May 22, 2014
Blackthorn Resources Starts Feasability Study on Kitumba Copper Project

{{Australian mining firm Blackthorn Resources plans to begin a definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Kitumba copper project in Mumbwa, Zambia}}

Mark Mitchell, CEO of Blackthorn Resources, said, ”The company will explore a range of asset-level funding options for financing the development of the Kitumba project. Blackthorn Resources will actively explore all avenues to realise shareholder value for the Kitumba project.”

The company is currently planning the DFS and is expected to begin the process in Q2 2014.

Blackthorn Resources aims to establish the critical path-drilling programme, identify a study manager and prepare a mining licence application in July 2014.

The CEO added that parellel to the DFS process, the company can hold fully informed discussions with potential partners for the development of the Kitumba project, including funding to complete the work programme.

An Optimised Prefeasibility Study conducted in April 2014 stated that copper recovery from the mine increased to 92 per cent, with annual metal production of upto 70,000 tonnes and an average of 58,000 tonnes per annum.

With the Optimised PFS, Kitumba is being perceived as an underground operation, set to produce three million tonnes of ore per annum, with an average head grade of 2.03 per cent copper for 11 years.

The estimated development cost of the project is US$680mn, including US$185mn for EPCM contractors, owner’s costs and contingencies, added Blackthorn Resources.

{africanreview}

May 22, 2014
Uganda Wants Regional Force Deployed in S.Sudan

{{Fighting is likely to continue in South Sudan without the deployment of an east African regional force to pressure both sides to respect a ceasefire, Uganda’s army chief said Tuesday.}}

Uganda already has troops in South Sudan fighting alongside government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir against rebel leader Riek Machar, but the country’s army chief said a larger regional force was needed to halt the five-month-old civil war.

“Is the ceasefire holding? It would need an IGAD intervention force to be in place,” General Katumba Wamala told a briefing at the army headquarters.

“If IGAD forces are not deployed to compel the two parties to respect the ceasefire, there is a possibility of the clashes happening again,” he added.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional bloc that has been brokering peace talks between South Sudan’s government and rebels, but two ceasefire deals — one signed in January and the other earlier this month — were quickly violated.

IGAD leaders have called for the deployment of a force to protect ceasefire monitors, but no date has yet been set for putting such a force in place.

General Wamala said that when an IGAD force is deployed and “there is no vacuum, we shall pull back to our borders” — but did not rule out taking part in an IGAD mission.

South Sudan’s government has been at war with rebel groups since December 15, when a clash between troops loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to Machar, who was sacked as vice president, escalated into full-scale fighting.

NV

May 22, 2014
Pope to Take Part in UN Food Conference

{{Pope Francis will take part in an international conference on nutrition hosted by the UN food agency and the World Health Organisation in Rome in November, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday.}}

FAO chief Jose Graziano da Silva in a statement praised the Argentine pope’s “commitment to the future we want”.

The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) follows one held in 1992 and is aimed at bringing together world leaders to find “new ways to boost national and global efforts that improve diets and health”, FAO said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also expected, FAO said, along with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

The Rome-based food agency said that 842 million people in the world were chronically hungry but “many more die or suffer the ill effects of inadequate nutrition”.

FAO and the WHO estimates 162 million children under the age of five are stunted while at the same time 500 million people are obese due to unhealthy diets.

In a message for World Food Day in October 2013, Pope Francis called for solidarity and an end to indifference to the plight of the hungry.

“It is a scandal that there is still hunger and malnutrition in the world,” the pope said, adding: “Something has to change in ourselves, in our mindsets and in our societies”.

AFP

May 22, 2014
Putin Tells Investors Russia Wants Good Ties, Respect

{{ Russian President Vladimir Putin told foreign businessmen on Thursday that Russia wanted to improve ties with other countries but must be treated as an equal and its interests respected.}}

“Russia is ready to broaden multi-faceted contacts with all partners on the basis of true equality and respect for one another’s interests,” Putin said in a telegram welcoming participants to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

He is due to attend the forum, Russia’s answer to Davos, on Friday. A showcase event that is meant to tell investors and governments that Russia is open for business, the conference is being held this year during a standoff with the West over the future of the former Soviet republic of Ukraine.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on officials, lawmakers and companies close to Putin over Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and could impose more if Moscow disrupts Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday.

Putin’s statement reiterated a main plank of Russia’s foreign policy by demanding equal treatment from the United States and others, and saying it will not sacrifice its interest for the sake of better ties.

Putin suggested that Russia does not want to be isolated.

“Only by acting together, taking account of mutual interests and building on the constructive ties that have been established over decades can the international community move forward and provide for further global development,” he said.

May 22, 2014
China to Begin Internet Security Checks

{{China will begin checking computer systems used in government departments to protect “sensitive data”, the official Xinhua news agency said via its microblog on Thursday, amid a row over cyberspying with the United States.}}

The checks would target technology that is important to national security and the public interest, Xinhua said, citing the State Council Information Office.

A small number of governments and businesses “take advantage of technological monopolies to collect sensitive data on a large scale” from the Chinese government, business and institutions, it added, and there have been large-scale security breaches.

Xinhua did not give details of which governments or businesses it was referring to.

The U.S. government recently charged five Chinese army officers with cyberspying and stealing trade secrets, sparking outrage from China.

Xinhua

May 22, 2014
Rwandan Fugitive Ordered to Leave Canada

{{Canadian government has ordered a Rwandan national Jean Berchmans Habinshuti 59, to leave Canada soil and find somewherelse to go.}}

The Immigration and Refugee Board has ordered Habinshuti to leave Canada.
Habinshuti has been given until May 29 to leave Canada voluntarily. Failing that, he will be put on a plane destined for Rwanda.

Canadian officials believe Habinshuti a native of Rwanda was in a position of power and influence leading up to the genocide that lasted over 100 days.

“I was not a senior official,” Habinshuti said during an interview in the living room of his family’s modest semi-detached home in this southern Ontario city.

“I was a civil servant — private secretary to the prime minister.”

The distinction is integral to his case. Canadian immigration law forbids anyone who was a senior official in the Rwandan government between 1990 and 1994 from entering the country.

Habinshuti’s lawyer, Lisa Winter-Card, said she filed an application for leave and judicial review to the Federal Court.

She said she is going to file a motion to stay the deportation and expects it to be argued May 26.

Winter-Card said she will cite the Supreme Court case of Rachidi Ekawza Ezokola, in which the court allowed the former Congolese diplomat to appeal the Immigration and Refugee Board ruling that said he may have been complicit by association to crimes against humanity.

“To exclude a claimant from the definition of ‘refugee’…there must be serious reasons for considering that the claimant has voluntarily made a significant and knowing contribution to the organization’s crime or criminal purpose. Decision makers should not overextend the concept of complicity to capture individuals based on mere association or passive acquiescence,” justices Louis LeBel and Morris J. Fish wrote.

additional info SunNews

May 22, 2014
BRD and FAGACE sign cooperation agreement to support the private sector

{This Wednesday 21st May 2014, Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) signed a cooperation agreement with the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE) to facilitate the financing of the short and medium term investment projects through the provision of financial security – particularly to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Rwanda.}

The signing took place in the BRD boardroom, with – the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BRD, Mr. Alex Kanyankole, and the Managing Director of FAGACE, Mr.Henri-Marie Dondra- representing the two parties.

In his remarks, Mr Kanyankole said, “Our cooperation focuses on two financial products – the guarantee line and the projects’ co-financing; which will facilitate BRD to effectively finance productive investments with special emphasis on SMEs.”

Kanyankole further explained: “The co-financing arrangement offers owners of medium and long term investment project with attractive financial conditions such as lower average interest rates and financial security to enhance their credit worthiness”

On his part, Mr DONDRA expressed his immense pride and commitment to supporting DFIs with financial support in FAGACE member countries which is crucial in ensuring access to funding for development projects.

“The private sector in Africa faces enormous challenges such as access to finance due to lack of collateral. Therefore, FAGACE works with DFIs such as BRD, to provide financial capital and security to the private sector aimed at contributing to poverty reduction through job creation” said Dondra.

This new area of cooperation is a revision of an earlier agreement signed in 2007, in which FAGACE extended a guarantee line of 1.1 Billion Rwandan francs to BRD.
Known by its French acronym, FAGACE (Fonds Africain de Garantie et de Cooperation Economique) is an International public institution for Economy and Finance, that has a mission to contribute to the economic and social development of its 14 member states including Rwanda.

The Development Financing Institutions (DFIs) – such as BRD – benefit from FAGACE’s different financial products that include financial security, interest subsidization, extension of the loan duration, direct financing equity participation and funds management on behalf of third parties.

May 22, 2014
Lina Keza’s Killer Sentenced to Life in UK Prison

{{A British court has handed a life sentence to David Gikawa for the murder of Linah Keza a Rwandan model. The Couple had shifted to the UK after living in Rwanda for some time.}}

Asiimwe Susan the elder sister to Linah told IGIHE in a statement, “Today around 3:30 pm that’s when we had the News from Central criminal court of Justice the Jury awarding their verdict convicting Kikawa of murder thus requesting life sentence.

Life sentence in prison will not bring our Linah back but atleast Justice is served and I can say I am happy for thatWe leave our plight to the grace and mercy of God almighty. We would like to thank the endless list of people who have provided us with physical and emotional support.

Thank you to the British Justice system, UK police liaison officers, the social services, The Government of Rwanda through My employer who stood with me since the loss of my sister until now and the many friends that have supported us.

God bless you all”

{{Background to the Murder}}

Linah Keza, 29, was stabbed to death after David Gikawa, 39, used a key she gave him to sneak into her flat at 4.20am before launching into a ‘brutal stabbing’. the Old Bailey was told.

The cause of death was given as stab wounds to the chest, the jury heard.

However, Gikawa had repeatedly denied murdering Ms Keza while she was with her young child at her flat in Leyton, east London on July 31 last year.

He used to live with Ms Keza in the flat, but that she had kicked him out the night before and was planning to change the locks, prosecutors said.

Jurors later heard from a witness how Ms Keza screamed and begged a neighbour to kick the door down as she was stabbed to death, while her young daughter shouted ‘leave my mummy alone’.

The ‘systems in place failed to prevent’ the death of Ms Keza, who had been in contact with both the police and social services, Peter Finnigan QC, prosecuting, told the court.

Mr Finnigan said Gikawa drove from a bar where he had been drinking with friends to Ms Keza’s flat where the ‘brutal stabbing’ took place.

The incident was described by neighbour Gideon Bello, who told the court he went to investigate after hearing the shouts from the flat.

He told how he knocked on the door after hearing a young girl saying: ‘Leave my mummy alone’.

Mr Bello said he then heard Ms Keza shouting: ‘Please kick down the door, please kick down the door.’

He said: ‘[Gikawa] was holding her with his arm around her neck. I saw his hand moving around as if he was hitting her.

He then told how a blood-stained Gikawa ran away after he challenged him.

Mr Finnigan earlier said the victim wanted to start afresh and be ‘free from the fear, threats and control’.

But, he said, Gikawa was ‘determined to prevent it’ claimed he would rather kill Ms Keza and himself than see her go out with another person.

May 21, 2014
Kenyan Children Rated Among Most Active in the World

{{Kenyan children have been ranked among the most active in the world while Aussie kids trailed as the least active.}}

A study released Wednesday, which compared data taken from 15,000 young Australians with that from 14 other countries, found that the most active youngsters overall were in Mozambique and New Zealand followed by Mexico.

Next came Kenya, Nigeria, England, Colombia, Ghana, Finland and South Africa while Australia was grouped with Canada, Ireland and the United States just above bottom-placed Scotland.

The study showed that more than 80 percent of Australian children aged 5 to 17 failed to get the recommended 60 minutes of moderate physical activity a day, despite most playing a sport.

Australian children are among the least active in the world, ranking behind those in Britain and New Zealand, researchers say warning that the sports-mad nation was raising a “generation of couch potatoes”.

“We do rank quite highly on organised sport participation and we are a sporting nation as we like to say,” Natasha Schranz, a researcher from the University of South Australia, told AFP.

“But this has clearly shown that it’s not enough because we still rank poorly for overall physical activity levels.”

Australia’s report card, drawn from data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and a national survey of secondary school students, found that less than 30 percent of children met Australian guidelines of no more than two hours of screen time per day.

Fellow researcher Grant Tomkinson, also from the University of South Australia, said many youngsters were spending so much time being sedentary they were likely to hurt their health, growth and development.

Trevor Shilton, from Australia’s Heart Foundation, said the result was a “wake-up call”.

“We’re raising a generation of couch potatoes,” he said. “Far too many kids are being driven to school and spend most of their time sitting when they get there.

“What we’re facing is a potential future health crisis where heart disease, diabetes and obesity rates will rise,” he added.

capitalfm

May 21, 2014