By Eunice Kilonzo

Doctors are now training their guns on Health cabinet and principal secretaries, demanding their immediate resignation or sacking.

The doctors Monday said their strike had dragged on because Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu and Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri did not have the interest of poor Kenyans at heart.

Prof Omondi Oyoo, a rheumatologist and member of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union demanded the two officials’ replacement “with people who can negotiate with us so that the strike comes to an end”.

He insisted that Dr Mailu and Dr Muraguri were not ready for negotiations.

“Those with the interest of this country at heart should demand for the immediate removal from office of Doctors Mailu and Muraguri,” he said.

“They play games with us then issue offensive press statements.”

The associate professor at the University of Nairobi’s School of Medicine said his peers acknowledged that the government was committed to ending the strike — as President Uhuru Kenyatta met with the union officials in Mombasa early this month — but the two men at the helm of the ministry are out to reverse the efforts.

“But the issue is with the government agents who have been tasked with negotiating with us to end the strike. They are colleagues but have forgotten our plight and look at doctors with contempt,” Prof Oyoo said at Kenyatta National Hospital where doctors convened to address journalists.

The doctors maintained — as they have since the strike began on December 5 — that they would only discuss issues related to the 2013 collective bargaining agreement they negotiated and signed with the government “which is legally binding”.

During an interview on Sunday evening, the cabinet secretary said he would continue talking to doctors’s representatives with the hope of ending the long strike by Thursday.

At the same time, KMPDU Nairobi branch Secretary-General Thuranira Kaugiria said seven of the union members, who are part of the negotiating team with the health ministry, were ready to go to jail for a month for defying a directive to end the strike.

On January 12, the Industrial Court gave the union 14 days to call off the strike. The deadline is January 26, just two days away.

“We are ready to go to prison. We shall escort them to the courts for the ruling and to jail,” Dr Kaugiria said Monday.

“We shall conduct night vigils in the jails for the 30 days they will be held,” he said.

Dr Kaugiria added that KMPDU members would congregate in Nairobi today “ahead of the imprisonment of our leaders”.

By Deogratius Kamagi

Dar es Salaam — President John Magufuli yesterday confirmed that Turkey will be participating in the construction of the central railway project, living open China’s role in the huge infrastructure projeEct.

The President who hosted his Turkish counterpart Mr Recep Erdogan at bilateral talks at State House in Dar es Salaam revealed Turkey had been invited to construct 400 kilometres of the facility.

Magufuli said he had asked President Erdogan for a loan to help build the railway to link Dar es Salaam with neighbouring countries including Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

“President Erdogan has accepted my request, saying it’s a small issue to him… however, we have also received a bid from a Turkish company that is keen on executing the project,” President Magufuli revealed, in his first public remarks on the alleged behind the scene lobbying between Turkey and China to lead in the investment.

The Tanzanian leader said they were sourcing for the funds from the Turkish Exim Bank. He however did not say how much money the deal would cost. The government plans to overhaul the nearly 1300 kilometres railway into a modern standard gauge railway as part of the industrialisation stratergy.

Initially, China appeared to have won the deal to assume construction through a consortium of its companies and pledged $7.6 billion for the entire project. A signed deal with Beijing however was thrown into doubt after the new governemnt overturned it following corruption concerns. A number of government officers are facing abuse of office charges over the claims.

President Magufuli and President Erdogan did not allude to the Chinese role but the public acknowledgement means Turkey is almost assured of its participation. All may not be lost for China, however, as nearly 900 kilometres of the railway will be up for grabs, if the specific reference of the 400kms by Dr Magufuli is anything to go by.

Efforts since last week to obtain comment from the Chinese embassy in Dar es Salaam have been futile. A source at the embassy told The Citizen that the embassy would not be immediately issuing statement on its involvement in the project. Tanzania’s turning to Turkey for participation would appear to confirm Dar policy change to seek for concessional loans from China, South Korea, India and Turkey after failing to get funding from the traditional western markets over stringet conditions and donor conditionalities.

Opposition leader Zitto Kabwe recently raised concern on what Turkey’s forey would mean for China-Dar bilateral relations but some analysts have dismissed such fears, saying the country was free to extend its tentacles in bilateral relations with more friendly nations.

Yesterday, the two presidents pledged to work together to enhance bilateral relations. President Erdogan also reached out to Tanzania to help him fight what he said was his administration’s enemies with establishments in Tanzania.

Tanzania needs to raise its stake as the balance of business was in favour of Turkey. The business volume between Tanzania and Turkey has increased from $66 million in 2013 to $190 million in last year.

Said Dr Magufuli: “They are also doing very well in the agriculture sector, holding the 7th position worldwide, therefore we have from them the right platform for learning.”

For his part, the Turkish President pledged continued support, saying his country is set to further its investments in Tanzania.

He said his government aims to increase investment volume in Tanzania from $150 million to $500 million.

President Erdogan promised to increase the number of scholarships offered to young Tanzanians to study in Turkey.

“We shall also increase opportunities for training of members of the Tanzania Peoples’ Defence Forces in Turkey,” he said.

He also asked the Tanzania to support his government in the fight against terrorist group, Fetto, led by exiled Turkish preacher Ferthullah Gulen.

“We ask our friends from Tanzania to support us in our the fighting against terrorism in our country… it the same group that staged a coup d’etat against the government on July 15 last year, but the attempt failed after forces loyal to the democratic government defeated them,”

“The group is dangerous and is active in many countries under an umbrella of investing in social services including education and health, we want you to be carefully with them,” he said

Meanwhile, Tanzania and Turkey has inked nine Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on different areas of cooperation.

These MoUs cover sectors such as tourism, education, small and medium industries development, aviation, broadcasting, defence, industry, health as well as the cooperation between the Tanzania’s Centre for Diplomacy and the its counterpart in Turkey.

Speaking shortly after the event, the minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe, said the MoUs will deepen cooperation on the sector by increasing number of tourists to the country from Turkey.

The Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children Ms Ummy Mwalimu said the agreement will help to upgrade the Integrated Hospital Management Information System (IHMS) in public hospitals.

By Dunstan Mhilu

Dar es Salaam — At least 87 public servants in the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance) will be moving their offices to Dodoma effective yesterday.

This was revealed by the minister charged with public service management and good governance, Ms Angellah Kairuki, at a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

“We are moving to Dodoma. From now on our offices will be based in Dodoma. Officially, our offices will be opened on January 30,” Ms Kairuki stated.

According tot he minister, those packing ready for shirting to Dodoma include, herself, the deputy minister, permanent secretary, deputy permanent secretary, directors, their assistants, senior officers and other staff.

However, she said that some ministry employees will remain in Dar es Salaam to deal with administrative issues, including management and finance, until their offices were completed in Dodoma.

She stressed that all serious matters concerning the ministry, including those on policy, would be taken care of in Dodoma.

According to Ms Kairuki, temporary offices of the ministry will be at the University of Dodoma’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences until the construction of ministry building is completed.

The shifting to the designated capital of Ms Kairuki and her ministry’s top brass follows the directive by President John Magufuli who ordered on July 25 last year that all government offices must be moved to Dodoma by end of next month.

The Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has already implemented the directive and moved to Dodoma in September last year.

Other ministries are expected to shift before the February 28 deadline.

“Eskom, accused of overly cozy ties with the Guptas featured heavily in the report, with 916 mentions. … it’s Eskom’s chief executive, Brian Molefe, who comes out looking the worst. According to cell phone records, Molefe had 58 phone calls with the eldest of the Gupta brothers, Ajay Gupta, between August 2015 and March 2016, just before the Guptas purchased South Africa’s Optimum coal mine for 2.15 billion rand ($160 million). Eskom, which prepaid the Gupta’s Tegeta Exploration and Resources 600 million rand for coal, had been accused of helping to finance the Guptas’ coal mine deal through preferential treatment.” – Quartz Africa

In South Africa, as elsewhere in countries both large and small, the debates about government energy policy are often framed in terms of what is best for the “national interest.” But few doubt that behind these choices between renewable energy options and others (fossil fuels or nuclear energy), there are also private interests, whose roles in the management of the state are not new but are becoming more and more blatant (see below on links on the common stakes of the incoming Trump administration and Russia’s Putin in promoting fossil-fuel interests).

Concentrating on this aspect of what is termed “state capture” in South Africa, this AfricaFocus Bulletin includes (1) brief excerpts from the 355-page report on “State of Capture” from Public Protector Thuli Madonsela; (2) an article with a summary of the report from Quartz Africa, and (3) an article from The Conversation on the state capture issue and its effects on plans for nuclear energy.

Two recent articles with background on the energy debate include:

le Cordeur, Matthew, “5 reasons why Eskom is wrong about renewables costs – CSIR,” Jan 12, 2017 http://www.fin24.com – direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/jmpts84

“Eskom delaying R50 billion renewable energy plan to push nuclear goals,” Jan 10, 2017, http://businesstech.co.za – direct URL:http://tinyurl.com/zcqku94 – Editor’s Note

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Just Announced re State Capture in Mozambique

Watch live on youtube January 25 Zitamar News and Africa Research Institute present: A Webinar on Mozambique’s Debt Crisis Wednesday 25 January – 15:00 Maputo / 13:00 London / 08:00 New York https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h62LLithnV4

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The Trump Election: Intersecting Explanations http://www.noeasyvictories.org/usa/trump-win-reasons.php

Observations (second installment), Jan 23, 2017

In the period between the election and the inauguration, the highest profile debate about reasons for the Trump electoral win was about Putin’s intervention. But that debate produced more heat than light, while key issues such as the common interests of Putin and the Trump administration in promoting the fossil-fuel industry received only marginal attention.

See http://noeasyvictories.org/usa/putin-intervention.php for short observations and database entries for 31 sources to date.

Articles on the fossil-fuel connection in particular include:

Joe Romm, “Did Putin help elect Trump to restore $500 billion Exxon oil deal killed by sanctions?,” ThinkProgress, Jan 8, 2017 http://tinyurl.com/z6d45ub

Rachel Maddow, 5-minute video on ExxonMobil & Russia deal, Dec. 20, 2016 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n60SzMzjXog

Alex Steffen, “Trump, Putin and the Pipelines to Nowhere You can’t understand what Trump’s doing to America without understanding the ‘Carbon Bubble’,” Dec 15, 2016, http://medium.com – Direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/hb2xnc6

“State of Capture”: A Report of the Public Protector

14 October 2016

Full 355-page report in pdf available at http://tinyurl.com/jffpskt

5. Evidence and Information Obtained

Introduction

5.1. The Gupta family, originating from India, arrived in South Africa in 1993. They established businesses in South Africa with their notable business being a computer assembly and distribution company called Sahara Computers. The family is led by three brothers Ajay Gupta who is the eldest, Atul Gupta and Rajesh Gupta who is the youngest. Rajesh is commonly known as “Tony”. According to a letter submitted to my office, total revenues from their business activities for the 2016 financial year amounted to R2,6 billion, with government contracts contributing a total of R235 million of the revenues.

5.2. They later diversified their business interests into mining through the acquisition of JIC Mining Services, Shiva Uranium and Tegeta Exploration and Resources, Optimum Coal Mine and Koornfontein Coal Mine. They also started a media company called TNA Media, which publishes a newspaper called The New Age and owns a television channel called ANN7.

5.3. The Gupta family are known friends of the President Zuma. President Zuma has openly acknowledged his friendship with them, most notably during a discussion in the National Assembly on 19 June 2013 where he admitted that members of the Gupta family were his friends. Mr Ajay Gupta (“Mr A. Gupta), also admitted to being friends with President Zuma when I interviewed him on 4 October 2016.

5.4. President Zuma’s son, Mr Duduzane Zuma (“Mr D. Zuma”) is a business partner of the Gupta family through an entity called Mabengela Investments (“Mabengela”). Mabengela has a 28.5% interest in Tegeta Exploration and Resources (“Tegeta”). Mr D. Zuma is a Director of Mabengela.

5.5. Members of the Gupta family and the President Zuma’ son, Mr D. Zuma, have secured major contracts with Eskom, a major State owned company, through Tegeta. Tegeta has secured a 10 year coal supply agreement (“CSA”) with Eskom SOC Limited (“Eskom”) to supply coal to the Majuba Power station. The entity has also secured contracts with Eskom to supply coal to the Hendrina and Arnot power stations.

5.6. Eskom CEO, Mr Brian Molefe (“Mr Molefe”) is friends with members of the Gupta family. Mr A. Gupta admitted during my interview with him on 4 October 2016 that Mr Molefe is his “very good friend” and often visits his home in Saxonwold.

5.7. The New Age newspaper has also secured contracts with some provincial government departments and state owned entities, most notably Eskom and South African Airways (“SAA”).

5.8. The Gupta family recently purchased shares in an entity called VR Laser Services (“VR Laser”). VR Laser has major contracts with Denel SOC Limited (“Denel”), a State owned armaments manufacturing company. VR Laser has also partnered with Denel to apparently seek business opportunities abroad.

5.9. During March this year, Mr Jonas issued a media statement alleging that he was offered the position of Minister of Finance by members of the Gupta family in exchange for executive decisions favourable to the business interests of the Gupta family, an offer which he declined. The Gupta family has denied the allegations made by Mr Jonas.

5.10. At the time Mr Jonas is alleged to have been offered a Cabinet post as Minister of Finance, Mr Nene was occupying the post. Mr Nene was removed from his post on 9 December 2015 by President Zuma and replaced with Minister Van Rooyen. Minister Van Rooyen was replaced by Minister Gordhan on 14 December 2015 as Minister of Finance, 4 days after his appointment.

5.11. Following Mr Jonas’ statement, Ms Mentor also issued a statement to the press alleging that she was also offered a Cabinet post by members of the Gupta family in exchange for executive decisions favourable to their business interests, an allegation denied by the Gupta family.

5.12. The former CEO of Government Communication and Information System (“GCIS”), Mr Themba Maseko also issued a statement alleging that members of the Gupta family pressured him into placing government advertisements in the New Age newspaper. Mr Maseko further alleged that President Zuma asked him to “help” the Gupta family.

What the “State Capture” report tells us about Zuma, the Guptas, and corruption in South Africa

Lynsey Chutel and Lily Kuo

Quartz Africa, November 2, 2016

https://qz.com/825789

It’s the report that confirms South Africa’s worst fears about corruption: that the state has been captured. In 355 pages, former public protector Thuli Madonsela and her team of investigators outline in detail just how much control the Gupta family, a wealthy Indian immigrant family, has over South Africa’s resources. The Guptas’ close friend, president Jacob Zuma, as well as two ministers implicated in the report, went to court to stop its release. But it was finally released on Nov. 2, after protests and a court battle.

The report is potentially damning for Zuma, offering proof that he sanctioned the use of state companies for personal enrichment. But now the real reckoning begins, as a web of corruption around Zuma, the Guptas, and at least three ministers begins to unravel.

Hiring and firing ministers in the Guptas’ house

The report contains a detailed interview with deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, who alleges that the Guptas offered him the finance minister’s post weeks before Zuma was to shuffle three finance ministers in one week. Jonas was driven to the Guptas’ home by the president’s son Duduzane Zuma, where he was met by Ajay Gupta.

Ajay Gupta allegedly told Jonas they’d been keeping tabs on him and wanted him to be their man in the treasury. Ajay Gupta revealed that they’d already made 6 billion rand ($443 million) from dealings with the government, and wanted to make at least 2 billion rand more (about $147 million). When Jonas refused, they tried to sweeten the deal with 600 million rand (about $44 million) and an extra 600,000 rand ($44,318) in cash, right there. Jonas declined the money, and months later became the whistle-blower that launched this investigation when he revealed his story in March.

Vytjie Mentor, who came out after Jonas with an account of how the Guptas tried to offer her the job of minister of public enterprises, in charge of state-owned companies, also details her exchange with the family. According to the report (p.89), Mentor was told during a meeting in October last year at the Guptas’ home that she would go from an ordinary parliamentarian to cabinet minister in a week. All she had to do was make sure South African Airways dropped their route between Johannesburg and Mumbai, making way for the Guptalinked carrier Jet Airways. Mentor declined. She was surprised to see the president himself emerge from an adjacent room, who said “it’s okay girl…take care of yourself,” as he personally escorted her out.

According to the report, the Guptas also have the power to fire ministers seen as stumbling blocks to their plans. Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene’s insistence on sticking to the rules cost him his job. As did Barbara Hogan, former minister of public enterprises, who refused to allow outside influence in appointments of board members of state-owned South African Airways, Transnet, the national rail, and Eskom, the state power utility (p. 89, 90). On an official visit to India, Hogan said she was shocked to find the Guptas running proceedings. She was relieved of her duties a few months later.

Des van Rooyen, the unknown parliamentarian who became finance minister for a few days after Nene, went to court in a bid to delay the report, fearing it would implicate him. And it has. His phone records show that van Rooyen visited the Guptas’ home seven days in a row before he was appointed as finance minister. He was later moved to a less prominent ministry. Van Rooyen has denied any wrongdoing.

Negotiating on behalf of the Guptas

Mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane also tried to have the report delayed, saying it was hastily prepared and that he had not been given time to respond. According to the report (p. 124, 125), Zwane travelled to Switzerland on behalf of the Guptas to smooth over their acquisition of a troubled coal mine from multinational commodity trader Glencore, helping the Guptas become one of the main coal suppliers for state utility Eskom. Zwane allegedly helped facilitate the deal by accompanying delegates from a Gupta resources company, Tegeta, to Zurich, according to a flight itinerary obtained by the public protector. Zwane could not be interviewed in time for the report, but should be allowed to give his version in subsequent investigations, the report says.

Eskom: Keeping the lights on for the Guptas

Eskom, accused of overly cozy ties with the Guptas featured heavily in the report, with 916 mentions. Lynn Brown, who became the minister in charge of South Africa’s state owned enterprises, is implicated in the report for allowing the appointment of a lame-duck board that turned a blind eye to murky deals made at the energy monopoly.

But it’s Eskom’s chief executive, Brian Molefe, who comes out looking the worst. According to cell phone records, Molefe had 58 phone calls with the eldest of the Gupta brothers, Ajay Gupta, between August 2015 and March 2016, just before the Guptas purchased South Africa’s Optimum coal mine for 2.15 billion rand ($160 million). Eskom, which prepaid the Gupta’s Tegeta Exploration and Resources 600 million rand for coal, had been accused of helping to finance the Guptas’ coal mine deal through preferential treatment.

The report concludes (p, 20), “it appears that the sole purpose of awarding contracts to Tegeta to supply Arnot Power Station, was made solely for the purposes of funding Tegeta and enabling Tegeta to purchase all shares in OCH [Optimum Coal Holdings]. The only entity which appears to have benefited from Eskom’s decisions with regards to [the Optimum coal mine deal] was Tegeta.” Cellphone records also put Molefe in the Saxonwold area, where the Guptas live, 19 times between August and November 2015 and phone calls between Molefe and Ronica Ragavan, head of the Gupta’s holding company, Oakbay Investments. Justifying these calls and visits, Ajay Gupta told Madonsela in an interview last month that Molefe is his “very good friend” who often visits the Gupta compound. But Madonsela says these records show “a distinct line of communication between Molefe of Eskom, the Gupta family and directors of their companies… These links cannot be ignored as Mr Molefe did not declare his relationship with the Guptas.” Eskom hasrefuted any allegations of wrongdoing. “We do believe everything that we’ve done so far was above board,” spokesman for the utility, Khulu Phasiwe, told a local radio station.

Advertising with the Guptas

Themba Maseko, former chief executive of government’s communications agency, in charge of a media buying budget of 600 million rand a year, said he was pressured by the Gupta family to place government ads in their newspaper the New Age. Maseko was also one of the whistleblowers who took his story to the media in March.

In an interview with Madonsela in August, Maseko said he was on his way to a meeting with the Guptas in late 2010 when the president called him on the phone to say, “The Gupta brothers need your help, please help them.” During the meeting with Ajay Gupta, Gupta told Maseko that he wanted government advertising channeled to his new newspaper, the New Age. According to Maseko’s account, the government official told Gupta that he could not decide where government departments advertise. Gupta responded that this was not a problem. He would instruct the departments to advertise in the newspaper

According to Maseko’s account, Gupta instructed Maseko to tell him “where the funds are and inform the departments to provide the funds to you and if they refuse, we will deal with them. If you have a problem with any department, we will summon ministers here.” Later when Maseko refused to take a meeting with a New Age staff, Gupta told Maseko, “I will talk to your seniors in government and you will be sorted out.” Maseko was fired a few months later.

A bright spot: Integrity in the Treasury

The report shows how the Guptas’ plans were repeatedly thwarted by officials in the treasury (p. 131, 132, and 94). The National Treasury, in charge of approving deals linked to state-owned enterprises, stuck to the rules of procurement and public finance. Treasury officials questioned the Eskom coal deal with Tegeta. Unable to stop the initial deal, they succeeded in blocking an extension of the Tegeta contract. These obstructions appear to have frustrated the Guptas and cost Nene his job. Many speculate that current finance minister Pravin Gordhan’songoing legal battles are related to the treasury’s resistance to the Guptas influence.

What next?

Zuma, the ministers, and the Guptas have yet to respond to the damning allegations in the report. Madonsela has since left office, with state capture report serving as her parting shot in a sevenyear battle against corruption. Still, she’s left instructions on how to use with her findings. Her successor, who has already started, should bring potentially criminal accusations in the report to the National Prosecuting Authority and the police’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, better known as the Hawks.

Madonsela has also recommended that the report be taken further by a commission of inquiry, headed by a judge appointed by the chief justice of South Africa’s constitutional court, Mogoeng Mogoeng. There are concerns that the prosecuting authority and the Hawks have been compromised. (They have spearheaded the fraud case against finance minister Gordhan.) But the public’s hopes lie in the chief justice, who has spoken out harshly against the abuse of power before.

“Public office bearers ignore their constitutional obligations at their peril. This is so because constitutionalism‚ accountability and the rule of law constitute the sharp and mighty sword that stands ready to chop the ugly head of impunity off its stiffened neck,” Mogeng said in March when he ruled against the president over his use public funds used to renovate his personal compound in Nkandla.

How the state capture controversy has influenced South Africa’s nuclear build

Harmut Winkler

The Conversation, May 26, 2016

http://tinyurl.com/jgrjcz8

South Africa is facing a critical decision that could see it investing about R1 trillion – or US$60 billion to $70 billion – in a fleet of new nuclear power stations. Proponents argue that it will greatly increase electrical base-load capacity and generate industrial growth. But opponents believe the high cost would cripple the country economically.

What should be an economic decision has now been clouded by controversy, with political pressure to push through the nuclear build and the increasingly apparent rewards it would bring to politically linked individuals.

The nuclear expansion programme needs to be considered exceptionally carefully given that the required financial commitment is roughly equal to the total South African annual tax revenue. Loan repayments could place a devastating long-term burden on the public and on the economy as a whole.

South Africa’s energy needs

South Africa is in the process of massively expanding and modernising its electricity generation capacity. The governmentdriven Integrated Resource Plan aims to increase total capacity from 42,000MW (peak demand of 39,000MW) to 85,000MW (peak demand of 68,000MW) in 2030. A key component of this plan is the construction of facilities to produce 9,600MW of nuclear power. However, this aspect of the plan has been challenged.

The biggest concern is that nuclear power is too expensive for the country. The debate gained momentum when the 2013 update to the 2010-2030 electricity plan found that electricity demand is growing slower than originally anticipated. Peak demand in 2030 is now expected to range between 52,000 MW and 61,000 MW. There is consequently widespread belief that new nuclear power stations can be delayed considerably.

South Africa’s energy generation options

South Africa has had remarkable success with speedy, cost-effective installation of renewable energy power plants. In addition to this, technologies for harvesting South Africa’s plentiful wind and solar energy resources are rapidly becoming cheaper, raising the question of whether the country should not invest more in these options rather than in going nuclear.

The argument that nuclear energy provides a stable base load, independent of weather conditions, is mitigated by improvements in energy storage technologies. But also by the fact that South Africa, with its large coal power production, has a proportionally higher base load than many highly developed industrialised countries. The pro-nuclear option is therefore not unavoidable, as nuclear proponents suggest, but rather a matter for thorough economic consideration.

Zuma and the Russians

The nuclear debate gained a political dimension when President Jacob Zuma and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, started to develop an unusually close relationship. It culminated in an announcement that the Russian nuclear developer, Rosatom, had been awarded the potentially highly lucrative contract to build the new reactors. The agreement was later denied.

Rosatom was considered the preferred contender, with other bidders only there to lend the process legitimacy, according to some observers. The lack of transparency surrounding the process, coupled with a history of corruption in South African mega-projects like the arms deal, has made the whole scheme seem suspicious to the broader public.

A thickening plot

A crucial thread in this saga involves the Shiva uranium mine, about 30km north-west of Pretoria, the country’s executive capital. It originally belonged to a company called Uranium One, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom. It was sold in 2010 to Oakbay Resources, a company controlled by members of the politically connected Gupta family and the president’s son, in a deal that greatly surprised economists.

The mine was deemed unprofitable and thus unattractive to other mining companies. But it was still considered worth a whole lot more than the R270 million paid by Oakbay. The mine would, however, become highly profitable if it became the uranium supplier to the new nuclear power stations. Oakbay and its associates therefore have a very strong incentive for this nuclear build to happen.

It is here that the nuclear build drama feeds into the recent major controversy surrounding alleged state capture, meaning a corrupt system where state officials owe their allegiance to politically connected oligarchs rather than the public interest. This was highlighted by the shock dismissal of Finance Minister Nhanhla Nene, a reported nuclear build sceptic, but also by subsequent allegations of ministerial positions being offered to people by members of the Gupta family.

Political, legal and civil opposition

The nuclear build’s association with the Zuma faction in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will be a political hot potato for decades to come. The whole scandal also offers potential opportunity to opposition parties. With increasing evidence of individuals benefiting, opposition parties have found another spot to exploit, as they did with Nkandla. A post-Zuma government would find it most convenient to simply dissociate itself from the whole scheme.

The South African courts have been used very effectively by pressure groups in the past. Already a number of environmental groups have initiated legal applications, and these might end up being escalated to the Supreme and Constitutional Courts. This will delay any building initiative by years.

The South African experience with the 2010 World Cup has shown that mega-projects can come to fruition when there is broad overall support for the initiative. At the same time, South Africans can be very disruptive and obstructive when this is not the case. For example, the public opposition to e-tolling, an electronic toll collection on certain roads.

The two leading opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters, have already expressed their strong criticism of the planned nuclear build. Their supporters and civil society in general have demonstrated their capacity for mobilisation around specific issues. So the potential for an anti-nuclear protest movement cannot be discounted.

A negative nuclear outlook

Building these plants is a risky business proposition, especially for Rosatom, which is implicated in the developing scandal. The recent political mood swing against state capture and a likely credit rating downgrade add to the risk.

Rosatom has suggested a nuclear build financing option that effectively amounts to it providing a loan. It is, however, conceivable that a future government may not honour debt repayments if there is a view that the construction deal was secured irregularly.

The narrow public support base and downright hostility in some quarters to a nuclear build has already effectively stalled local nuclear construction plans. The level of controversy, high costs and potential for further disruption mean that the planned implementation could only proceed under severe social strain.

Such a scenario could very well cost the ruling ANC the 2019 national elections. And the party is becoming increasingly aware of this. As such, it is posited that the nuclear build will not happen any time as soon as planned.

Pretoria — Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has expressed support for Eskom’s debt recovery strategy.

Speaking at the utility’s Quarterly System Status media briefing on Tuesday, Minister Brown said Eskom’s strategy has thus far yielded positive results.

“It is critical that Eskom recovers all its revenue to be able to honour obligations to its creditors in order to remain sustainable.

“I am encouraged by the manner in which the Interdepartmental Task Team of the department, Eskom, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs with the support of Minister [Des] Van Rooyen, National Treasury, provinces and the municipalities are engaging to resolve the matter,” said Minister Brown.

Last week Thursday, the Minister instructed Eskom to give municipalities until the end of January to clear their outstanding arrears before switching off the lights.

“I have requested Eskom to delay implementing power interruptions until the end of the month to give municipalities a few more days to make agreed payments and avoid negative impacts on local customers and the economy,” said Minister Brown.

The Minister said the country’s power supply dialogue has shifted from that of load shedding and its impact on the economy, to long-term and sustainable energy solutions.

Load shedding was last implemented 17 months ago, with the power system remaining stable. Plant performance has also improved, while maintenance remains on track.

Through Eskom, South Africa has healthy reserves and adequate generation capacity to meet demand until 2021.

This as Eskom said it has surplus energy, even without the use of its open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs).

Eskom’s turnaround

The Minister noted that the utility has turned the corner considering its past history of capacity shortages, excessive diesel usage and the late delivery of new power stations.

“Since the injection of new leadership, Eskom has been able to put together interventions that have been able to steer the company in the direction where we are.”

The Minister said she is pleased with the turnaround at Eskom in line with its five-year design-to-cost strategy to achieve financial and operational sustainability.

Eskom has focused on reducing its cost base, delivering new plants and increasing its sales through cross-border sales, among others.

“The intention in the short to medium term is to lessen the burden on the South African consumer by achieving a moderate electricity tariff. I am assured that the recovery plan on the build program is running a year ahead of schedule,” said the Minister, noting Eskom’s “healthy” profit of R9.3 billion.

Independent Power Producers

Addressing concerns that Eskom has failed to connect additional Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Minister Brown said demand for electricity has been fairly flat for the last decade.

“… The Integrated Energy Plan (IRP) was based on the economy growing over 5% but in reality, the economy has grown below 2% and consequently there has been no growth in the demand for electricity, which was projected at over 2%.

“When Eskom presented its interim results, [it showed] that overall electricity sales volumes only grew 1.2%. As a result, there has to be clear consideration of the rate at which new capacity is added to the grid, [or] else we risk having excess capacity.

“These are the key assumptions underpinning the current IRP2010, which is the basis of the current choices, including the renewable IPPs.

Minister Brown said when South Africa was experiencing capacity constraints, IPPs played a critical role in the energy mix but that this came at a premium price.

“It was more expensive than coal-fired or nuclear power, but it was a price that the country was willing to pay at the time.”

The Minister called on all to allow government to finalise the Integrated Resources Plan, which will inform South Africa’s energy choices going forward.

Coal contracts

Minister Brown said Eskom will continue to radically but fairly transform coal procurement, as this is a non-negotiable national imperative.

From 2010, during its tariff submissions to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Eskom has outlined its concerns relating to the high cost of coal and coal quality from coal suppliers.

“Eskom will continue to source coal, as with renewable energy, at the right quality and the right price.”

By Joseph Mwamunyange

Tanzania plans to construct more compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in Dar es Salaam to provide cheaper, cleaner energy for more of its citizens.

According to the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), the project will be executed in three phases and will involve construction of 15 compressed natural gas stations in the country’s commercial capital.

“This project hasn’t taken off because of lack of funding. We have divided it into four main zones to simplify investment. TPDC is confident that the project will take off and more stations will be constructed,” TPDC acting public relations manager Francis Lupokela told The EastAfrican.

TPDC also plans to undertake a feasibility study.

“The first study was done in 2012 and the locations for the stations were identified. However, TPDC faced financing challenges for the project.”

Mr Lupokela added that TPDC had learnt from current projects implemented in Mikocheni, the CNG plant at Ubungo and from vehicles using both natural gas and normal gasoline. “The use of natural gas has decreased air pollution and curbed diseases caused by the use of charcoal,” he said.

Many Tanzanians are heavily dependent on biomass, leading to the deforestation of 100,000 hectares per year, according to available data.

In 2012, The EastAfrican reported that Tanzania, through TPDC, was going to spend about $55.1 billion to connect homes, industries and institutions in Dar es Salaam to a natural gas system.

The plan was to set up three trunk pipelines of 65 kilometres and 15 CNG stations to meet demand.

TPDC constructed a pipeline worth $2.8 million to the Mikocheni Light Industrial Area with take-offs at University of Dar es Salaam and Ardhi University.

This same pipeline now serves the 70 houses that are presently connected to the natural gas network, which TPDC now wants to expand to the rest of Dar es Salaam.

Minister for Energy and Minerals Sospeter Muhongo has been quoted saying the country aims to transform itself into a gas economy.

He said this would involve increasing electricity production from the current 97kWh to 236kWh per capita by using natural gas effectively.

STATE-owned mobile phone network, NetOne, says it has reintroduced low priced data packages as part of its efforts to offer affordable products. In a statement on Wednesday, NetOne said it had captured many new subscribers in the aftermath of the recent aborted attempts to increase mobile data floor prices.

“A close analysis of NetOne’s data bundles and social media bundles shows that NetOne now offers the most affordable data offers when compared to the other players,” it said.

The mobile phone operator said following the public outcry that led to the reversal of the new data floor prices announced by the industry regulator, it had come up with attractive packages that resonate with the expectations of Zimbabweans in the face of the prevailing liquidity challenges.

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority had directed that all mobile phone operators increase voice and data floor prices to 12 cents per minute and 2 cents per megabyte, respectively from January 9, 2017. Floor prices are the minimum prices operators charge per minute of voice call or megabyte of data.

There was a public outcry after some operators effected price increases, in some cases by as much as 500 percent.

However, the steep new floor prices announced by POTRAZ were reversed on Thursday last week following the intervention of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Supa Mandiwanzira.

NetOne said its new $1 data bundle now gives customers about 300 megabytes compared to the industry average of between 220mb and 250mb. This will be good news to the consumers as they are expected to enjoy video action on YouTube and Netflix daily.

NetOne has also introduced weekly offers, which are only exclusive to NetOne,” read the statement.

NetOne said it has unveiled attractive social media bundles, expected to bring cheers to WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter users. The daily bundles for WhatsApp and Facebook have been pegged at 27 cents for 40mb, while the Twitter bundle has been put on 50mb for the same value.

In comparison, other operators’ daily bundle charges average 30 cents for 30mb of WhatsApp and Facebook and they do not offer Twitter bundles.

NetOne said it has also introduced a fair usage policy on its packages such as social media bundles and OneFusion package in line with the global technological trends.

According to the latest POTRAZ sector performance report for the third quarter of 2016, mobile data utilisation increased by 16,1 percent while voice calls declined by 3,6 percent.

The trend might see one of the factors influencing NetOne’s drive of making mobile data more affordable.

By Andualem Sisay

Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Airlines will fly to seven new destinations in the next five months, the firm said on Tuesday.

In its new record expansion plan, the Ethiopian flag carrier says that starting February to June this year, it will fly to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Conakry-Guinea, Antananarivo (Madagascar), Oslo (Norway), Jakarta (Indonesia) Chengdu (China) and Singapore.

The firm’s chief executive said the airline wants to tap into the global aviation market which Africa’s share is only about three per cent.

“As the largest airline group in the continent, we are highly concerned about the low base of air connectivity in the continent and we are setting record expansion to enable Africans to enjoy safe, reliable and economical air connectivity both within the continent and between the continent and the rest of the world,” Mr Tewolde Gebremariam, the Ethiopian Airlines’ Group chief executive officer, said.

“Looking beyond the current economic slowdown especially in the oil export-dependent economies of Africa, we firmly believe that the continent will become the magnet for foreign direct investment, trade and tourism.

“These are the engines of air travel growth and in turn, efficient air connectivity also drives socioeconomic development and we are happy to contribute our share in the 21st century African transformation,” he said.

Last year, the airline launched three international routes – Moroni (Comoros), Windhoek (Namibia) and Newark (United States) – as well as three domestic flights to Hawassa, Kebridahar and Dembidolo cities.

The airline targets to reach 120 destinations worldwide by the year 2025.

Currently, Ethiopian Airlines flies to 98 destinations.

By Isaac Mugabi

The banks wouldn’t give him a loan, so Cameroonian Georges Badjang approached a crowdfunding platform. Although relatively unknown in Africa, this alternative source of finance is helping his firm grow.

Jacques Georges Badjang was never really interested in emigrating abroad. Even when he was a student, he was determined to show it was possible to create and achieve something in his native Cameroon.

As there were several beekeepers in his neighborhood, he decided there was a future in honey. He gave up his history course and went to work.

“It all started at home, in my mother’s kitchen,” said Badjang. This was where he washed the glass jars, filled them with honey, and then went from house to house to sell them.

The one-man operation has since turned into a flourishing business, “Les Mielleries” which markets honey from more than 200 beekeepers.

The honey is filtered and then packaged in Douala, Cameroon’s largest port city. While expanding his firm, Badjang encountered a problem familiar to many small businesses in Africa. The banks would not lend him money because he couldn”t convince them that he would be able to pay it back.

Investors operating from a distance

Last year, Badjang found a new solution to this old problem. He heard about the newly established crowdfunding platform BlueBees. Based in France, it was just about to go online.

This form of financing in which entrepreneurs use internet platforms to ask the general public to invest in their businesses is already well established in Europe and the United States.

Online users decide whether they want to invest in a particular scheme, and how much they wish to contribute. These platforms are often used for art or social projects.

BlueBees specializes in entrepreneurs from developing countries, bringing them together with investors from Europe. “Jacques Georges is a really serious entrepreneur,” said Emmanuelle Paillat, managing director of BlueBees. “He needs us, because he has no access to the banks. In Cameroon, they would ask him for surety and he can’t provide it – despite the fact that his firm has been in existence for ten years,” she said.

“Les Mielleries” was BlueBees’ very first project and was launched in the spring of 2013. Badjang borrowed 20,000 euros ($26,900) for his honey business from more than 100 creditors.

It was a worthwhile investment for all involved. After just six months, Badjang had paid back the loan — plus ten percent in interest. One percent went to the BlueBees platform.

Other platforms for Africa

Meanwhile, the “crowd” – the BlueBees users – is now supporting other projects. They have invested in soybean cultivation in Burkina Faso, in a medicinal herb garden in Peru and in a leeches’ cooperative in Madagascar, to name but a few.

In recent months, other platforms have begun to offer crowdfunding for African small business owners. They include Fadev (Fonds pour le développement Afrique) and Babyloan, which taps the African Diaspora as a source of potential investors.

Babyloan wants to collect 50,000 euros for 50 small business owners in Benin by 15 September, 2014. Other platforms, such as the London-based “AfrikStart” or “SliceBiz” in Ghana, are preparing for launch.

Many obstacles for African platforms

Most crowdfunding sites for Africa operate out of Europe. It is no coincidence, said South African investor Patrick Schofield, because it is not easy to work directly out of Africa. Schofield is building a platform himself in South Africa. “Crowdfundng is very new here, a lot of people don’t understand it, or trust it,” he said. In additional, the payments system in Africa is not as well developed as it is in Europe.

Another challenge is the distance between the platforms and the entrepreneurs. It can be expensive sending money to Africa and there is also uncertainty as well “Our bank cannot say in advance how much it will cost to make a transfer from Europe,” said Emmanuelle Paillat.

Creditors often lack entrepreneurial expertise so the small teams on platforms act as advisors. They can assist with business plans, alert potential investors and online communities to the project, and even help the African entrepreneur recruit new clients.

More creditworthy

Jacques Georges Badjang did not only succeed in arranging a loan, he has also boosted his own creditworthiness as an entrepreneur as well. “Our bank which previously would never listen to us now has a better understanding of what we do,” he said. His company can now draw on an overdraft equivalent to about 7,500 euros.

But if Badjang needs money, it is still cheaper to turn to the “crowd”. He recently received a second loan of 15,000 euros from “BlueBees”. He intends to invest it in a new business: beeswax. This product requires more processing so he will have to employ more people.

By Sophie Mbugua

Kakamega/Kenya — Agriculture is the most important sector of African economies, from the livelihoods it supports to the future jobs it can generate.

The basic recipe for boosting performance is well known: more investment, better access to financial services, improved seeds, and a lot more fertiliser (appropriately applied).

What is less appreciated is the key role played by agricultural extension workers. They link small-scale farmers to new research, helping to improve their knowledge and skills so they can take advantage of market opportunities. In African countries prone to climate shocks, these extension workers have an increasingly important role to play if farmers are to learn to adapt and build their resilience.

There’s just one big problem: governments have tended to ignore extension work.

“The extension service provider’s role is enormous and urgent, especially as [the unpredictability of] climate change has brought a new dimension to agricultural research and development,” Max Olupot, of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services, told IRIN.

In addition, Qureish Noordin, from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), warned that climate variability is distorting “a huge portion of indigenous knowledge”, making the design of “realistic and practical adaptation programmes” even harder.

African agriculture, in general, is massively underfunded. In 2003, African governments agreed to the Maputo Declaration, committing 10 percent of spending to agriculture. But only 13 countries have ever managed to reach that target in any one year.

Two decades of IMF programming had pushed governments to cut spending, diminishing the reach and quality of the assistance provided to small-scale producers.

The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization recommends there should be one extension worker for every 400 farmers. In the rich world, the ratio is roughly one to 200, but in Africa it’s closer to one to 3,000, according to Noordin.

The Kenyan example

Kenya has the largest, most diversified economy in East Africa, and farming is its market-driven mainstay. In 2010, it adopted a new constitution supposed to devolve significant powers to county governments.

But in reality, agricultural policy is still set at the national level and there is a complicated relationship with the counties over responsibilities for the day-to-day running and financing of services and programmes.

Kakamega is a lush county in western Kenya, a seven-hour drive from Nairobi. More than 80 percent of its population is directly employed in the agricultural sector.

The Kenyan government should be stepping up its help for farmers here, but since devolution there’s been a drop in the number of extension workers employed.

Currently, the ratio is roughly one to 3,000-5,000 farmers, according to Johnston Imbira, the county’s director of agriculture.

“The number has decreased due to officers retiring and exiting from the service since devolution,” Imbira told IRIN. “There are no deliberate efforts to support day-to-day extension delivery as it does not appeal to the county legislators compared to roads, which are visible to the electorate [and are a vote-winner].”

The county spends less than 4 percent on agriculture annually, despite the government’s 10 percent target.

“Expertise is dwindling,” said Jacob Masimba, an extension research liaison and training officer. “There is no regular short course training, even with climate change.”

That’s bad news for farmers like Harrison Wesa, a 63-year-old retired teacher who grows bananas on his irrigated, half-hectare plot. “We used to have monthly visitations by government officers,” he told IRIN. “Today, you are lucky to be visited.”

Wesa was forced to abandon vegetable farming due to unpredictable rains and a rise in insect infestation. He soon found he was spending far too much on pesticides, pushed by agro-dealers out to turn a profit.

With losses mounting, his son introduced him to the internet, where he soon found plenty of websites on banana production. “My challenge [now] is too much information that at times confuses me,” he said.

Noordin recognised this problem well. “Even if some farmer can download some of the information, they might require help to interpret some of the messages,” he explained.

Smartphone use is spreading, but not all small-scale farmers can individually afford the data charges for downloading YouTube videos on the latest techniques, few of which are in Kiswahilli, the most broadly spoken language in Kenya.

New approaches

But there are alternatives.

In many countries, extension services are going through profound change, out of necessity. What used to be a centrally controlled, top-down model is increasingly more participatory, farmer-led, and market-orientated.

Farm Africa is an international NGO that has been working with East African farming communities for decades. Its approach includes not only a farmer-to-farmer extension model in which “elite” farmers are trained and pass on the message to their peers, but also partnerships with the private sector.

Geoffrey Nyamota, Farm Africa’s head of market engagement, explained how private businesses buying peas and beans are now providing extension services “directly to the farmers”.

“Public-private partnerships are a win-win,” he told IRIN. “The government is happy, as they know their goals will be delivered on; the private sector is happy, because they get the quality they need.”

Farm Africa has also tested mobile technology in Tanzania, with farmers viewing interactive training modules on tablet computers, as an alternative to traditional demonstration plots. It found that farmers trained using tablets were able to achieve similar increases in knowledge of sesame cultivation, but for about a third of the cost.

And old-fashioned radio still has a role to play, acting as a “megaphone” for extension work. Typically, farmers group themselves into listeners’ clubs and can call in or use SMS to participate in the FM programmes.

And while some governments don’t appear to be getting the message yet, Agriculture for Impact, an advocacy initiative, says a revitalised and expanded role for advisory and information services is now seen “as central to pro-poor agricultural growth”.