Reuters: South Africa to miss 2020 job creation target, minister tells paper – Economic Development Deputy Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize reports that South Africa will likely miss its target of creating five million jobs by 2020 because of labor strife and “strained relations between the government and private firms.” President Jacob Zuma’s government pushed a development plan to reduce unemployment from 25 to 15 percent over seven years, but stagnant economic growth remains far below the necessary levels, “carving deep social divisions in Africa’s largest economy.”
LATimes: Congo’s chairmen of the boards – Owners of the wooden bicycle known as a chikudu are proud of their primitive vehicles, which carry massive loads and put food on the table. To many people in Congo, the chikudu “symbolizes the tough, never-say-die determination of the Congolese.” People’s dependence on them is “testament to the poverty of the people in this part of Congo, most of whom survive on less than $2 a day.” (Robyn Dixon)
BBC: Mozambique ‘to evacuate thousands’ because of flooding – Mozambique has started evacuating almost 55,000 people following heavy rains that caused sea levels to rise to dangerous levels, especially in the southern Gaza province. From Sunday to Monday, approximately 7 inches of rain fell over the Limpopo basin, and there are fears that the dyke in Chokwe could break.
VOA: China Wary, Africa Hopeful as Obama Beings Second Term – The deputy chairman of the African Union, Erastus Mwencha said that Africa is “not looking for anything extraordinary during Mr. Obama’s new four-year term, but rather new economic growth.” Mwencha went on to day that he hopes for an agenda that “encourages trade, investment and cooperation.”
Guardian: Reduce food waste dramatically with simple acts, says UN – According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, it is estimated that about one-third of all food produced worldwide gets lost or wasted in production and consumption systems. UN under-secretary-general Achim Steiner said that :in a world of 7 billion people, set to grow to 9 billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense – economically, environmentally and ethically.” (Rebecca Smithers)
Telegraph: Bill Gates: I have no use for Money. This is God’s work - Having already given $28 billion via their charitable foundation, more than $8 billion of it to improve global health, Bill and Melinda Gates now intend to eradicate polio, “with the same drive he brought to Microsoft.” Gates explains that, for him, this giving is “about human dignity and equality.” (Neil Tweedie)
