BLADE

Financial crisis strengthens China in Africa

- The global financial crisis has strengthened the belief in many African countries that China's development model is the way to go, according to programme director Nhamo Samasuwo from Zimbabwe. He was recently in Oslo in connection with the launch of the annual anthology published by the Norwegian Council for Africa, "Arena Afrika - kappløp om makt og ressurser" - Arena Africa - a race for power and resources. We asked Nhamo Samasuwo, one of the contributors on how countries in the North should regard China's rope in Africa. Listen to his response.

 

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Norwegian development policy to focus on climate, conflict and capital

 

(Photo credit: Amila de Saram Larssen)

 

Amila de Saram Larssen

 

White Paper (#13) on Norwegian development policy was presented by Minister of Development and the Environment, Erik Solheim, in Oslo today.  

The title of the paper loosely translates as, “Climate, conflict and capital: Norwegian development policy in a new environment.”

 

The document seeks to address the new challenges facing the world today such as climate change, conflict and capital. Minister Solheim underscored the fact that the White Paper was not about development aid, but rather about forces driving development in general.  The paper addresses the important role of private investment, remittances, economic crises, etc. in addition to development aid, in bringing about development.

The policy paper has been approved by the government and will be up for debate in parliament at a later date.

The document is not available in English for the moment. 

 

You can watch a webcast of the launch here.

Disappointed by Norwegian voluntary code of conduct

A recent conference in Oslo on Corporate Social Responsibility organized by the Norwegian Forum for Environement and Development, was opened by the Minister for International Development  Erik Solheim. He briefly presented the governments new White Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility.  Author and consultant Mark Curtis was not impressed. At the end of a presentation on the impact of multinational mining companies in developing countries he expressed his disappointment. Hear what he had to say:

 

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Water rich Nepal plagued by poor power supply

Navin Singh Khadka 

Hydropower development has always been a favourite slogan of Nepalese politicians.

For years they have cited the country’s more than 6,000 gushing rivers and rivulets and sold the Nepalese people the dream of becoming rich by exporting hydroelectricity to power starved India, its neighbor to the South.

Nepal’s water resources indeed have the estimated potential of generating more than 80,000 megawatt of power.

Guyana offers a model for forest preservation for development

(Poul Engberg-Pedersen, Director, NORAD (left) greets President Jagdeo of Guyana (right))

Amila de Saram Larssen

President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana is currently in Norway promoting a national forest initiative to mitigate the ill effects of climate change.

President Jagdeo presented Guyana as a national-scale pilot and put forward a strong economic case for preserving the world’s forests. 

President Jagdeo sees the preservation of the world’s forests as an opportunity for low-carbon sustainable development for his country, and countries like his.  He intends to use money generated from a proposed carbon trading mechanism to finance hydro power initiatives, education, healthcare and income generating activities for the poor and in particular the indigenous, forest dwelling communities of Guyana.

Journalist Ahmed Rashid paints bleak picture of Pakistan’s future

Amila de Saram Larssen

Ahmed Rashid, well known Pakistani author and journalist, is in Oslo and presented his thoughts on “What next for Pakistan? Domestic and Regional Challenges” at a standing-room only talk at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) this morning.

Rashid listed some of the most pressing challenges facing Pakistan including its history of poor civil and military relations, an economic meltdown, the growing threat of extremism and worsening relations with India.

Aid to fight corruption in developing countries not effective

In the mid-nineties, donors started to place more emphasis on anti-corruption efforts in aid. Norad’s Evaluation Department, in cooperation with five other evaluation offices, commissioned a literature review that looks at how effective this effort has been. 

 

The review indicates limited success in  aid funded anti-corruption efforts.  Major findings include:

• There are few evident successes, and the results of specific anti-corruption efforts have been limited.

• Fight against corruption requires political support, good laws and a functioning court system - all of which are often lacking in poor countries.