What We’re Reading 6/23/09

Jun 23rd, 2009 11:52 AM UTC
By Grace Lamb-Atkinson

Financial Times: Vaccine system hampers African efforts
Efforts to make newer and more costly vaccines widely available to the poorest in Africa are being hampered by a long-standing system. The board of the Pan American Health Organisation will this week discuss its “revolving fund” for vaccine purchases as concerns mount that it deters manufacturers from offering deeper discounts on products to the world’s least developed countries. The revolving fund includes a clause demanding that the vaccines are made available at the lowest possible price charged anywhere in the world, making it impossible for producers to propose still lower prices to poorer countries. The principle has come into increasing conflict with efforts by manufacturers to meet international demands for access to the poor through “tiered” pricing tied to local incomes.

Reuters: Annan Optimistic About Climate Change Pact
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday he was optimistic that the world could agree on a climate change accord with the support of the administration of Barack Obama. He also said that economic stimulus efforts in Washington, Brussels and around the world in response to the global economic downturn have pumped investment into low-carbon energy and alternative technologies that could create jobs and boost sustainable projects. Annan’s two-day meeting at the Global Humanitarian Forum has drawn together heads of U.N. agencies with government officials and experts for talks on practical ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions that scientists expect to stoke global warming and cause rising sea levels and loss of food production.

The East African: MFIs Face Collapse as Financial Crisis Bites
The East African newspaper reports that microfinance institutions in Africa have very little chance of surviving the current financial crisis, as loan repayment default soars. A new study says that MFI income sources, like revenue from small businesses or from money sent from families working abroad, have become more erratic. At the same time, people are withdrawing their savings because prices for food and other essentials are rising.

Reuters: UK Pledges New Aid to Zimbabwe, Urges More Reform
Britain pledged 5 million pounds to Zimbabwe on Monday but made clear more reforms were needed before it would start large-scale development aid to the shattered country. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meeting with Morgan Tsvangirai, announced 4 million pounds of food aid and 1 million pounds for school textbooks, bringing total British “transitional support” for the Zimbabwean government this year to 60 million pounds. Brown held out the prospect of more aid if the government pressed ahead with economic and political reforms. Tsvangirai is on the final leg of his tour of Europe and the United States. The trip has yielded few contributions towards the $10 billion Zimbabwe says it needs to rebuild the economy.

UN News: Vast Stretch of African Savannah Ripe for Commercial Farming
Unlocking the potential of a massive stretch of savannah spanning 25 African nations could boost commercial farming on the continent, according to a new United Nations study. About 400 million hectares in the Guinea Savannah zone – stretching from Senegal to South Africa – are ripe for commodity production, but at present, only 10 per cent of that area is actually being farmed, according to the study published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank.

Financial Times: Ethiopian premier ready to stand down
Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister and one of Africa’s more prominent leaders on the world stage, says he is preparing to step down and hopes to take with him a generation of government officials in office since the 1991 overthrow of Mengistu Haile Mariam. His departure would be unprecedented in Ethiopia and very rare among African liberation leaders. During 18 years in power Mr Meles has leveraged Ethiopia’s strategic position in the Horn of Africa, forging strong ties with successive administrations in the US, Britain and other European countries, while fending off criticism of his human rights record. He consistently resisted their efforts to use aid to influence economic policy.

-Grace Lamb-Atkinson

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