Nigeria's GDP growth among world's best in 2010, says Aganga

Nigeria's economy fared better than those of most advanced economies of the world last year, with her gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 7.85 percent, compared to a global average of 3.9 percent, according to the World Economic Outlook. Minister of Finance, Segun Aganga said in his presentation at the Institute of Directors (IOD) in Lagos at the weekend that Nigeria's GDP growth rate is among the highest in the world, behind those of China and India.

While average GDP growth rate for Sub-Saharan Africa is put at 4.7 percent, the minister said the GDP of South Africa, the biggest economy on the continent, grew by a mere 2.7 percent.

Indonesians Go Back to Dirham, Dinar

Seeing it as a source of security amid global economic instability, Indonesians are returning back to traditional Islamic currently in their daily transactions.

“I’ve chosen dinar because of it is safe and stable,” Hardjito Warno told OnIslam.net on Saturday, February 26.

The Indonesian man has been collecting gold dinars as a long-term investment since 2006.

An ‘economic president’ who’s bad with politics

Three years ago today, President Lee Myung-bak took office vowing to be an “economic president.” And he proved true to his word, guiding Korea through the global economic crisis and bringing it back to strong economic growth. His approval ratings are high.

But the lowest mark on the Lee administration’s report card is how he plays politics. And in the remaining two years of the former business executive’s term, he’ll need sharper political skills than before - particularly an ability to communicate with the public and negotiate with the opposition - to avoid becoming a lame duck.

Japanese shares down on unrest in Middle East

Japanese stocks declined in Wednesday morning trading as investor sentiment was hurt by turmoil in the Middle East.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 20.9 points, or 0.2 percent, to trade at 10,643.8 while the broader Topix index was down 1.39 points, or 0.15 percent, at 955.31.

Korean Won Drops on Concern Mideast Tensions Will Derail Global Recovery

South Korea’s won fell to its lowest in more than a week on concern rising fuel prices caused by escalating tensions in the Middle East will derail the global economic recovery, hurting exports. Government bonds advanced.

Foreign investors sold more Korean stocks than they bought for the first time in four days as security forces in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, attacked anti- government protesters following ousters of leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. The Kospi index of shares sank to a two-month low as crude oil climbed to the highest level since September 2008. Stock prices of builders slumped the most since 2009, led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., on concern orders will fall as Korean construction sites were attacked in Libya.

G-20 ministers reach compromise deal to correct economic flaws

G20 finance ministers have reached a compromise deal to correct global economic imbalances and expressed concern over excessive commodity price volatility impacting the world food security, an issue pressed by India.

After two days of hard bargain by their finance ministers, major economies faced with uneven recovery and downside risks reached a text on guidelines for removal of structural flaws in the global economy.

Toyoo Gyohten: G-20 should urge U.S. to cut deficits, press China to end its opaque dealings

We are in the middle of a currency war.

The only means left for the United States to pull itself out of the economic slump caused by the global financial crisis is the unconventional tactic of "quantitative easing." That means the central bank directly pumping money into the economy through various measures.

Due to a shortage of attractive investment targets at home, surplus dollars have been flowing out of the United States and pouring into emerging economies, pushing up their currencies and raising concerns about inflation.

Skyrocketing Food Prices Threaten Global Security

As G-20 finance ministers met in Paris today, warnings that food riots could erupt in the face of steeply rising prices are resounding around the world. Members of the European Parliament called on the G-20 to take action. Many leaders are identifying extreme weather patterns and climate change as primary factors in poor crop yields.

"Global agricultural production is coming up against the increasingly apparent effects of climate change, increasingly severe climate disruptions which require more efficient production and which lead to instability in agricultural production," France's Agriculture Minister Bruno LeMaire told the United Nations General Assembly in a closed-door session Thursday.

Willard Cites Need for Asia-Pacific Stability

The Asia-Pacific region is the engine of global economic growth now, and the U.S. Pacific Command is a strong force for stability in the area, Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard said at a Foreign Press Center news conference here today.

Willard has been in command of U.S. Pacific Command for 16 months. He said the same issues that confronted the command when he arrived still exist.

Egypt and the global economic order

When an online petition urged Egyptians to protest on January 25, the call was not only taken up by an internet savvy minority. The demonstrators who took to the streets on that day - many of whom remained there until they forced Hosni Mubarak, the country's autocratic ruler, to step down - transcended the divisions of class, age, religion and political affiliation. The true force behind the Egyptian people's uprising rested in its leaderless and spontaneous nature. A widely-felt wound had been poked and festering at the centre of that wound was decades of economic exploitation and corruption made tenable by police violence against any form of public dissent.

India can be global economic leader in the 21st century: US

India could lead the world economy in this 21st century if it continues to take additional measures on economic reforms and opens up more sectors to the overseas players, according to the US commerce secretary Gary Locke. He also said that if India would further follow the road of reforming, and if it continues to become more open to the investments as well as the innovations of foreign companies, then it stands a much better chance of being the leader of the world economy in this century. Gary Locke was in Mumbai on Thursday when he said all this.

Additionally, he brought up the concerns regarding reciprocity in business among the two nations, and the necessity to do away with cross-border restrictions, adding that India was still being ranked low on ease of doing trade because of such barriers.

SA BRIC membership a milestone for Africa: Zuma

Cape Town - South Africa's return to the powerful UN Security Council and the country's invitation to join the economic coalition that includes Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) will go a long way to position the African continent amongst the global economic players, President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.

Speaking to the SABC following the State of the Nation Address he made on Thursday, Zuma said both the UNSC seat and BRIC were a milestone for the African continent and an indication of how the world was changing.

China Oil Demand Growth May Slow ‘Noticeably’ in 2011, IEA Says

China’s oil demand growth may slow “noticeably” this year as the economy expands at a reduced pace and the country improves energy efficiency, according to the International Energy Agency.

China, which consumes more oil than any country except the U.S., may boost efficiency as it burns more natural gas and restricts car use, according to the energy security adviser to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Fuel demand may increase 6 percent this year, from 12 percent in 2010, the IEA said today in its monthly Oil Market Report.

Gas prices will keep going up, but there are ways to keep the costs down

With tensions rising in Egypt and throughout the Middle East, the price of oil this week broke through $100 a barrel, its highest level for nearly two years. It's a development that has already raised concerns about the impact on global economic recovery.

But beyond these regional geopolitical influences, commodity prices are rising across the globe. Everything, from food to raw materials, appears to be on an inflationary path. Gas is no exception. Wholesale prices on the UK spot market doubled from 30p a therm in March 2010 to 60p by December. Forward prices for 2011 rose by nearly 50% over the same period. This dramatic shift triggered the recent increase in domestic UK energy prices.

Middle East Situation Driven by Human Insecurity: Poverty, Dashed Hopes, Democracy Deficit, Lack of Good Governance, Secretary-General Tells Security Conference

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s address to the Munich Security Conference, in Germany, 5 February:

Good morning. Guten Tag. Guten Morgen. It is a great pleasure and honour for me to participate in this very prestigious forum to discuss our security — world security. Your participation in this Munich Security Conference is a measure of its enduring importance. And this year, I think you will agree: your gathering could hardly be better timed. Together in partnership, we are the world’s vanguard for collective security — security in all its aspects: military; political; economic; social and environmental.

A shared vision for homeland and economic security

On Friday, President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed an historic statement - the "Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness" - that sets forth how our two countries will manage our shared homeland and economic security in the 21st century.

The United States and Canada not only share the longest geographic border in the world, but also the largest and most integrated economic partnership, with over $1 trillion in annual trade and foreign direct investment between our countries. In fact, Canada is a larger market for U.S. goods than all 27 countries of the European Union combined. Both sides recognize that, to sustain this productive economic relationship, we must work together to protect our borders and shared critical infrastructure from terrorism and transnational crime, such as drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Global economic progress overlooking state of Human Rights: Wajid

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan pointing out the irony of globalization and said that on the one hand there is a talk of global village whereas on the other hand visa regimes are becoming more restrictive day by day resulting in restraining movements of people from country to country. He further added that though economic growth is being ascribed to globalization, the ever increasing gaps between rich and poor and disparities between urban and rural populations glaringly reflect that fruits of economic progress were not being shared equally by various segments around the world.

The High Commissioner shared these views while addressing scholars at conference on “Asia and the West” in connection with “One World Week” organized by the University of Warwick, Coventry, Thursday.

Speaking on the nature of relationship shared by the Asian countries, particularly Pakistan, with the West in the context of dynamics of politics and economy, Hasan pointed out that in the wake of globalization and economic progress the human rights are also being effected predominantly in a negative way, and concerns for human rights violations must also be taken into account while talking about economic gains and globalization.

Responding to a question on solution of Kashmir issue, the top diplomat said that since it was not an oil rich region the attention of the world is not drawn to this issue the way it should have been. He, however, reiterated that Kashmir is the oldest issue on the agenda of UN and it should be resolved according its resolution.
Focusing on the significance of relationship of Asian Countries with the West the High Commissioner said the politics and economics of Asia and the West no doubt is the lynchpin of the global system.

Talking in terms of security and economic issues faced by his country and the international support needed to address these issues, Hasan asserted that the issues confronting Pakistan, and undercutting its economy and political stability are not of the making of Pakistan itself.

“The watershed of the volatility in our region, the breach of law and international doctrine of peace in Kashmir are matters which underpin a need for security and defence for Pakistan. We inherited terrorism as the Cold war agenda of dismantling Soviet Empire, stem the rising tide of Communism and to promote free market economy.”

He urged that the guardians of the international frontiers of peace, liberty and freedom must come forth to show their sagacity in a broad and transparent manner to bring peace and development to the region.

Hasan said: “Pakistan is now the 28th largest economy in the world in terms of GDP Purchasing Power Parity. We are the 3rd largest English speaking nation in the world. It is a large market of more than 170 people, with an average GDP growth rate of plus 5% during the last eight years with its land mass more than that of France and Germany put together.”

The High Commissioner informed that Pakistan was one of the founding members of the World Trade Organization and it is on the top of the contributors to the United Nations peacekeeping forces worldwide. With an open economy the country is home to more than a hundred British companies. The World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report of 2011 lists Pakistan at number 83, India at 133 and China and 79, he added.

Other speakers on the panel who participated in this debate were John Hancock Senior Policy Adviser World Trade Organization, Ashwini Deshpande Professor of Economics at Delhi University, Ghaffar Hussain, Director of Training and consultancy at the Quilliam Foundation and Ian MacKickham Senior Director, Credit Suisse.

The session was chaired by Bishumpiya Gupta, Professor of Economics at the Warwick University.

Source: http://ftpapp.app.com.pk

Economic recovery is beset by tensions, strains – IMF

THE IMF has warned that international economic tensions and strains will sow the seed for the next global crisis.

Speaking when he visited the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Tuesday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (right) said while the world recorded positive economic growth as it recovered from the recent economic crisis, that recovery was worryingly marred by tensions and strains.

“While the recovery is underway, it is not the recovery we wanted. It is a recovery beset by tensions and strains, which could even sow the seeds of the next crisis,” Strauss-Khan said.

The IMF’s latest forecast, released last week, projects global growth of four and half per cent this year.

Strauss-Kahn said global economic recovery depended on taking a holistic approach to managing the world’s economy that focused not only on standard macroeconomic and financial policies, but also on job creation and social protection.

“Without jobs and income security, there can be no rebound in domestic demand and ultimately, no sustainable recovery,” he said.

Strauss-Kahn warned that the pre-crisis pattern of global imbalances was re-emerging with economies with large external deficits, like the US still being driven by domestic demand and growth in economies with large external surpluses, like China and Germany, still being powered by exports.

“As the IMF warned in the years leading up to the crisis and as the G-20 has emphasised these global imbalances put the sustainability of the recovery at risk,” he said. “The global growth gap is also straining the recovery in other ways. Energy prices are rising swiftly, reflecting rapid growth in the emerging economies. Food prices are raising too though here supply shocks are the main reason with potentially devastating consequences for low-income countries.”

Strauss-Kahn also said large and volatile capital flows to emerging economies was another challenging development that was complicating macroeconomic management and in some cases raising concerns about financial stability.

Source: http://www.postzambia.com

USAID Administrator Highlights Private Sector Partnerships to Reduce Hunger and Poverty at the World Economic Forum

WASHINGTON, DC – At the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah gathered with the CEOs of Unilever and Monsanto to support the launch of WEF’s global framework titled “Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture.” The show of support emphasizes USAID’s leadership in creating synergies between the public and private sectors to meet the global food security challenge.

Championed by 17 global companies and supported by key public and civil-society leaders, the New Vision framework outlines priorities and examples to illustrate the role businesses can play in meeting global food and nutrition needs through accelerated, sustainable agriculture-led growth. Through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative, the New Vision for Agriculture will aim to leverage private-sector investment to scale up agricultural growth in food-insecure countries. The 17 global companies that champion the initiative are: Archer Daniels Midland, BASF, Bunge, Cargill, The Coca-Cola Company, DuPont, General Mills, Kraft Foods, Metro, Monsanto Company, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SABMiller, Syngenta, Unilever, Wal-Mart Stores and Yara International.

“We are witnessing an unparalleled opportunity right now for innovative, large-scale private sector partnerships to achieve significant impact on global hunger and nutrition,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said. “USAID is committed to creating new public-private partnerships in Feed the Future focus countries to advance their national investment plans.”

To demonstrate that commitment, Shah announced alongside President Kikwete of Tanzania that USAID is investing $2 million to Tanzania’s catalytic fund this year. The fund is devoted to delivering rapid and sustainable agricultural growth in Tanzania – with major benefits for small-scale farmers and rural communities. Results from this public-private blueprint will potentially triple Tanzania’s agricultural output, generate half a million jobs and lift two million people out of poverty, becoming a “breadbasket” for the region. USAID will join multinational companies like Yara, General Mills, Monsanto, Syngenta and others in support of the investment blueprint for years to come, and hopes to expand the blueprint in the future to at least five additional African countries.

USAID also signed a memorandum of understanding at Davos with DSM, the world’s largest manufacturer of micronutrients and vitamins, to increase the dietary quality in the developing world, starting with rice fortification in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Mali Senegal and Tanzania.

Feed the Future is working to improve agricultural productivity, promote market development, facilitate trade expansion, invest in global innovation and research, promote equitable rural economic growth, and address child malnutrition in 20 food-insecure countries.

Source: http://www.ttkn.com

Cisco focuses on security as it plots cloud expansion

Security is being embedded in the core of Cisco's engineering efforts as the networking company looks to expand upwards and into the cloud, according to chief executive John Chambers.

Chambers, who was speaking at Cisco Live in London after a visit to the World Economic Forum at Davos, told the audience that "economists on a global basis are saying [employee] productivity can grow two, three, four, five percent a year. They’ve never said that before."

"I think the number one challenge facing the innovation and productivity opportunity we set in front of us just then is security," he said.

Digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes said in November that cloud-computing providers must build security into their products to tempt companies into the cloud.

For this reason, security has been placed as a keystone in Cisco's future roadmap by being made a priority of every engineering unit within the company, Chambers said, to prepare for the intersection of the cloud with security architectures.

“Security is an architecture play,” Chambers said and security should be viewed as an end-to-end entity, “almost like the human body”.

The company's current main priorities are, in order, collaboration, datacentre virtualisation and video; security architecture and the cloud; and, at the long way out, the smart grid.

"Networking… will determine our ability to participate in this global economy," Chambers said.

Source: http://www.zdnet.co.uk