[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Business > Global economy]
Global protocol could limit Sub-Saharan land grab
New code of conduct could limit aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states who have been buying vast tracts of agricultural land
Nick Mathiason
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 November 2009 19.17 GMT Article history
Aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states to buy vast tracts of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa could soon be limited by a new global international protocol.
A scramble for African farmland has in recent years seen the equivalent of Italy's entire arable land hoovered up by businesses from emerging economies.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank are now discussing a new code of conduct for land buyers in Africa. Amid increasing concerns over food security, it could include ensuring consent is given prior to selling land from local people as well as ensuring smallholders do not lose out. A first draft is expected to be released next spring.
Alex Wijeratna, Action Aid's food rights campaign officer, said: "There's a new scramble for land in Africa. It's growing at an incredible rate. There's massive secrecy, poor communities can't get information and they're not being consulted. There's an argument for a moratorium on sales until there's a proper framework to assess them. We are concerned that an agreement will not come fast enough."
Earlier this year, legendary hedge fund speculator George Soros highlighted a new farmland buying frenzy caused by growing population, scarce water supplies and climate change. South Korea bought huge areas of Madagasca recently while Chinese interests bought up large swathes of Senegal to supply it with sesame.
He said: "I'm convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time. Eventually, of course, food prices will get high enough that the market probably will be flooded with supply through development of new land or technology or both, and the bull market will end. But that's a long ways away yet."
However, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said the issue of land deals had been "overexaggerated".
As investors pile into African land, today saw further appetite for business opportunities in the continent with the launch of a new $400m (£245m) sub-Saharan private equity fund focusing on small to mid-market companies. Aureos Capital's Africa Fund has already raised $322.8m, a quarter of which has come from financial institutions including European pension funds. It is expected to close fundraising at the end of the year.
The fund is the largest private equity vehicle targeting smaller African businesses. Investors, it claims, will receive returns in excess of 20%. Management fees are 0.25% higher than the industry standard 2% because of the large number of investment professionals it is deploying in Africa to identify suitable opportunities.
Sev Vettivetpillai, chief executive of Aureos Advisers, said: "It's 18 months since we started the fund and it's not easy to raise over $300m for Africa as most investors were pulling out of financial markets. It posed a challenge to Aureos. But Africa is the next frontier market that is going to benefit from emerging market flows."
The fund has already spent $106m on nine businesses in financial services, building products, real estate development and agriculture.
[Environment > Oil spills]
Fire on Australian oil rig delays plans to stop leak into Timor Sea
Blaze breaks out as workers attempt to plug leak with heavy mud to stop oil slick which is threatening marine wildlife
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 November 2009 11.29 GMT Article history
A massive fire has broken out on an Austalian oil rig and delayed plans to plug the leak that has been spilling oil into the Timor Sea since August.
The blaze started on Sunday when workers began pumping heavy mud into a leaking well casing. An estimated 400 barrels of oil a day have escaped from the hole since 21 August, threatening marine wildlife over an area ten times the size of London.
Australia's government today promised an investigation, the latest drama in a 10-week saga to plug the hole.
PTTEP Australasia, which operates the rig, said no one was injured and nonessential workers were evacuated after the fire broke out on the West Atlas rig and Montara wellhead platform.
Officials had planned to pour more mud into the leak on Monday in the hopes of removing the source of fuel from the fire, which was sending massive plumes of smoke into the sky. But the company said it was mixing 4,000 barrels of heavy mud, and would not be ready to pour it down the well until Tuesday.
On Sunday, PTTEP Australasia chief financial officer Jose Martins said the company doesn't know how the blaze started.
"Presently there are many unanswered questions, including what caused the fire," Martins told reporters in Perth. "Our sole focus now is the safety of all personnel, bringing the fire under control and completing the well kill."
Federal resources minister Martin Ferguson said that once the spill is contained he would launch an official inquiry. "Our requirement is to assess the cause of the accident and any lessons to be learnt, and that could lead to a change in the regulatory environment," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
Ferguson later told reporters in Melbourne that if PTTEP was "found to have been at fault with respect to any of their responsibilities, then any potential action will be appropriately considered at the time."
The oil slick from the rig, about 150 miles off Australia's north-west coast, now stretches across thousands of milesof remote ocean. Indonesia said last week that thousands of dead fish and clumps of oil have been found drifting near its coastline.
Prime minister Kevin Rudd said today he was "deeply disturbed" at the latest turn of events on the rig, signalling the government's rising frustration that fixing the spill is taking so long.
"Do I think this is acceptable? No, I don't," Rudd told Fairfax Radio Network. "Are we angry with this company? Yes we are. Are were trying to do everything we can to get this under control? You betcha."
[Business > Global economy]
Global protocol could limit Sub-Saharan land grab
New code of conduct could limit aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states who have been buying vast tracts of agricultural land
Nick Mathiason
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 November 2009 19.17 GMT Article history
Aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states to buy vast tracts of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa could soon be limited by a new global international protocol.
A scramble for African farmland has in recent years seen the equivalent of Italy's entire arable land hoovered up by businesses from emerging economies.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank are now discussing a new code of conduct for land buyers in Africa. Amid increasing concerns over food security, it could include ensuring consent is given prior to selling land from local people as well as ensuring smallholders do not lose out. A first draft is expected to be released next spring.
Alex Wijeratna, Action Aid's food rights campaign officer, said: "There's a new scramble for land in Africa. It's growing at an incredible rate. There's massive secrecy, poor communities can't get information and they're not being consulted. There's an argument for a moratorium on sales until there's a proper framework to assess them. We are concerned that an agreement will not come fast enough."
Earlier this year, legendary hedge fund speculator George Soros highlighted a new farmland buying frenzy caused by growing population, scarce water supplies and climate change. South Korea bought huge areas of Madagasca recently while Chinese interests bought up large swathes of Senegal to supply it with sesame.
He said: "I'm convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time. Eventually, of course, food prices will get high enough that the market probably will be flooded with supply through development of new land or technology or both, and the bull market will end. But that's a long ways away yet."
However, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said the issue of land deals had been "overexaggerated".
As investors pile into African land, today saw further appetite for business opportunities in the continent with the launch of a new $400m (£245m) sub-Saharan private equity fund focusing on small to mid-market companies. Aureos Capital's Africa Fund has already raised $322.8m, a quarter of which has come from financial institutions including European pension funds. It is expected to close fundraising at the end of the year.
The fund is the largest private equity vehicle targeting smaller African businesses. Investors, it claims, will receive returns in excess of 20%. Management fees are 0.25% higher than the industry standard 2% because of the large number of investment professionals it is deploying in Africa to identify suitable opportunities.
Sev Vettivetpillai, chief executive of Aureos Advisers, said: "It's 18 months since we started the fund and it's not easy to raise over $300m for Africa as most investors were pulling out of financial markets. It posed a challenge to Aureos. But Africa is the next frontier market that is going to benefit from emerging market flows."
The fund has already spent $106m on nine businesses in financial services, building products, real estate development and agriculture.
[Environment > Oil spills]
Fire on Australian oil rig delays plans to stop leak into Timor Sea
Blaze breaks out as workers attempt to plug leak with heavy mud to stop oil slick which is threatening marine wildlife
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 November 2009 11.29 GMT Article history
A massive fire has broken out on an Austalian oil rig and delayed plans to plug the leak that has been spilling oil into the Timor Sea since August.
The blaze started on Sunday when workers began pumping heavy mud into a leaking well casing. An estimated 400 barrels of oil a day have escaped from the hole since 21 August, threatening marine wildlife over an area ten times the size of London.
Australia's government today promised an investigation, the latest drama in a 10-week saga to plug the hole.
PTTEP Australasia, which operates the rig, said no one was injured and nonessential workers were evacuated after the fire broke out on the West Atlas rig and Montara wellhead platform.
Officials had planned to pour more mud into the leak on Monday in the hopes of removing the source of fuel from the fire, which was sending massive plumes of smoke into the sky. But the company said it was mixing 4,000 barrels of heavy mud, and would not be ready to pour it down the well until Tuesday.
On Sunday, PTTEP Australasia chief financial officer Jose Martins said the company doesn't know how the blaze started.
"Presently there are many unanswered questions, including what caused the fire," Martins told reporters in Perth. "Our sole focus now is the safety of all personnel, bringing the fire under control and completing the well kill."
Federal resources minister Martin Ferguson said that once the spill is contained he would launch an official inquiry. "Our requirement is to assess the cause of the accident and any lessons to be learnt, and that could lead to a change in the regulatory environment," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
Ferguson later told reporters in Melbourne that if PTTEP was "found to have been at fault with respect to any of their responsibilities, then any potential action will be appropriately considered at the time."
The oil slick from the rig, about 150 miles off Australia's north-west coast, now stretches across thousands of milesof remote ocean. Indonesia said last week that thousands of dead fish and clumps of oil have been found drifting near its coastline.
Prime minister Kevin Rudd said today he was "deeply disturbed" at the latest turn of events on the rig, signalling the government's rising frustration that fixing the spill is taking so long.
"Do I think this is acceptable? No, I don't," Rudd told Fairfax Radio Network. "Are we angry with this company? Yes we are. Are were trying to do everything we can to get this under control? You betcha."
※コメント投稿者のブログIDはブログ作成者のみに通知されます