Uganda: Oil Firms, Govts Differ On Export Pipeline

Workers in oil production.By Edward Ssekika

As heads of state under the Northern Corridor Integrated Project meet in Kampala next month, one of the key issues on the agenda will be the approval of the crude oil pipeline route from Uganda to an East African seaport, probably Lamu.

In November last year, governments of Kenya and Uganda signed a contract with Japanese firm Toyota Tsusho to conduct a feasibility study that will advise on the appropriate route for the crude oil export pipeline.

Ernest Rubondo, the acting director for the directorate of petroleum in the ministry of Energy, recently revealed that Toyota Tsusho had finalised and submitted its feasibility study report, and it is expected to be tabled and discussed by the heads of state of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan.

"We expect the heads of state to discuss and approve the route," he said.

Ambassador James Mugume, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the heads of state from the Northern Corridor Integrated project are scheduled to hold their 10th summit early next month in Kampala. He said one of the outcomes of the Kampala meeting will be the approval of the crude oil pipeline from Uganda to the coast.

PIPELINE ROUTE

The heads of state will have to select one out of the two possible routes. The much-touted route is the one they call the northern, which goes through northern Uganda to north Kenya around the Lokichar basin, up to the port of Lamu. This route is 1,380 kilometers long.

The second option is the route that is expected to run from the oil fields in Hoima through central Kenya to Mombasa.

From the corridors, the northern route is likely to be picked mainly because it fits in well with the Northern Corridor Integrated Infrastructure project. Speaking at the Oil and Gas Convention 2015 at Serena hotel last month, Jimmy Mugerwa, the general manager of Tullow Oil Uganda, said joint venture oil companies preferred the southern route as opposed to the northern route.

"From the joint venture oil companies' perspective, this is the route [southern] we are interested in. We have advised and we shall continue to advise on the most appropriate route," he said, adding that it is up to the regional governments to make a final decision on the route.

However, picking a southern route is likely to affect the position of Kenya and South Sudan under the northern corridor project, something that is expected to pit technical evaluations against geopolitics.

Under the northern corridor, Kenya expects to use the same crude pipeline to export its crude, which has already been discovered in the Turkana area. The northern route is also expected to bring South Sudan on board by exporting its oil through Kenya since it is already facing a lot of challenges with its northern neighbour, Sudan.

Mugerwa said although the oil companies prefer the southern route, it will be up to the heads of state to approve an appropriate route. Asked why the oil companies preferred the southern route ahead of the northern route, Tullow said all routes were viable.

"Without the pipeline, we don't have a project," he said. At least construction of the crude pipeline will require a total of 3,000 people, Mugerwa said.

It will require to be heated at every 30 kilometers because the waxy crude oil found in Uganda and Kenya solidifies at low temperatures. The pipeline will contain a specialised heating system and pump stations along the way to keep the oil flowing. This will require a lot of sophisticated technology. When completed, it will be the longest heated crude pipeline in the world.

Some sources within the industry say if regional governments approve the northern route, it is likely to cause a deadlock since oil companies preferred the southern route.

Highest Hunger Levels Reported in South Sudan

According to a top UN official South Sudan is facing a 'humanitarian catastrophe'.By Katy Migiro

Nairobi — More than 40 percent of South Sudan's 11 million people need food aid, the latest analysis shows, the highest hunger levels recorded in the world's youngest country, where fighting erupted 18 months ago.

Conflict, high food prices and the worsening economy have pushed 4.6 million South Sudanese into hunger, according to the analysis carried out by hunger experts from aid agencies and the government.

The number has almost doubled since the start of the year, and those facing hunger in the northeast African nation include 874,000 children under five, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis showed.

"The lives of vulnerable women and children - who have exhausted all coping mechanisms available to them - are on the line," Jonathan Veitch, United Nations children's fund country representative, said in a statement.

South Sudan, which declared independence from Sudan in 2011, plunged into fighting 18 months ago between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebels allied with his former deputy, Riek Machar.

Famine "will become a serious risk" in some areas later this year if aid does not reach those in need, the experts said.

Hunger is worst in the three northern states of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity, where fighting has forced thousands to flee their homes in recent weeks.

Some 650,000 civilians cannot reach aid, the United nations said. Many are surviving on swild plants like water lilies as food traders cannot risk approaching the front lines.

People hiding in the bush are missing the planting season, which is crucial if they are to have a harvest in August. The country is experiencing its annual 'lean season' when food from the last harvest has run out.

It is also raining, which turns vast swathes of the country into swamps, inaccessible at times even by air.

"Unless humanitarians are given access to deliver lifesaving services to children and to continue prepositioning supplies before roads become impassable during the rainy season, an already fragile situation will become catastrophic," Veitch said.

In parts of Unity State, one in 10 children have severe acute malnutrition, UNICEF said, which means they are likely to die without therapeutic feeding.

Fighting has forced nutrition staff to withdraw from some areas and their supplies have been looted, it said.

Agencies are short of funds because of the many hunger crises facing the world and the waning international interest in South Sudan, where peace talks have virtually stalled. (Reporting by Katy Migiro; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Nigeria: Nollywood - How Too Many Movies Fuel Piracy

Photo: Kerala9 and Tech Digest

Top Yoruba actor, Olaiya Igwe, on Monday said that the prolific nature of movie production in Nigeria was the major cause of piracy in the industry.

Igwe told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that piracy in the country's movie industry, popularly known as Nollywood, emanated from a situation where numerous movies were churned out on daily basis.

"In fact, the menace is just a secondary problem; the primary problem is the excess (number of) films in circulation," he said.

He also posited that piracy was aided by the viewers' inclination to buy the most affordable films in the market.

"(When) you produce like 40 movies in a year and you sell it for N200 ... the pirate guy would reproduce it and sell it for 100 naira.

"So, which would the audience go for? It's the one with lesser price that they would buy.

"Whose fault is it? You as the producer, you are the cause because you produced too many movies," he said.

According to Igwe, the number of movies produced in the industry must be limited, to reduce accessibility to movie pirates.

"What we need to do is find how we can minimise the number of works we put into the market, from there, we now device a means of putting a good structure to protect our artistic work," the actor said.

South Africa: Bribery Allegedly Won 2010 World Cup for South Africa

The 2010 World Cup winds down at Soccer City, Johannesburg.

Cape Town — The FIFA corruption scandal rocking the football world has cast a shadow over the historic decision to stage the 2010 World Cup in Africa.

Announcing racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges against nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said of the lead-up to choosing South Africa as the 2010 host that "even for this historic event, FIFA executives and others corrupted the process by using bribes to influence the hosting decision."

While Lynch gave no details, the New York Times reported that the indictment unsealed by New York prosecutors listed "a South Africa World Cup bid committee official" as one of 25 unnamed co-conspirators in the case.

The Times said former FIFA vice president Jack Warner - one of those facing charges - "directed an associate to fly to Paris, accept a briefcase full of cash in $10,000 stacks from a South African bid committee member in a hotel room, and return the briefcase to Mr. Warner in Trinidad.

"Later, a Moroccan bid committee member offered Mr. Warner $1 million in exchange for his vote, but that person was outmaneuvered: the South African bid committee had arranged a $10 million bribe in exchange for the votes of Mr. Warner and two co-conspirators on South Africa's behalf. All three ultimately voted for South Africa."

In her statement, delivered at a news conference in New York, Lynch accused soccer officials of abusing their positions for more than two decades.

"In short," she said, "these individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games; where the games would be held; and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide."

A statement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation quoted its director, James B. Comey, as saying that "undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA."

Nigeria: Yvonne Nelson Leads Ghanaian Celebrities On Protest Vigil Tonight

Leggy actress, Yvonne Nelson and hip hop artiste, Sarkodie are leading an army of Ghanaian celebrities on a controversial procession this evening under the aegis of '#DumsorMustStop vigil' to protest power outage in that country. The celebrity vigil, which holds at Tettey Quashie Interchange, according to the organizers, will have who-is-who in the country's entertainment industry as participants.

The walk which starts from the Legon Road, through Opkonglo traffic light, then to Shiashi junction will finally terminate at Green Park opposite the Villagio at the Tettey Quashie Interchange. Celebrities expected to join the vigil include, DKB, Van Vicker, Confidence Haugen, Efya, Nikki Samonas, Lydia Forson, Prince David Osei, Sidney, Eddie Watson, E.L, Ama K. Abebrese among others.

The organizers were said to have taken the police around Legon, Tetteh Quarshie route where the vigil is expected to take place. One of the lawyers for the vigil organizers, Nana Kwasi Awuah, said they have "agreed with the police on how the thing will take place." The vigil was initiated by actress Yvonne Nelson who began a #dumsormuststop campaign on twitter. Her campaign is said to have received adoration as well as condemnation in equal measure.

The today's vigil reportedly did not only provoke dispute amongst political players but also triggered a major boundary dispute between two traditional councils in the Ga State. The Ga Traditional Council insists it will resist the organisation of the vigil because it will violate the ban on drumming and noise-making it imposed few days ago.

Zimbabwe: Mugabe Blasts Mandela, Claims SA Unemployment Causing Xenophobic Attacks

Admitting he was spewing "poison", President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday blamed unemployment in South Africa for the vicious xenophobic attacks against foreigners there, including Zimbabweans.

Clearly revelling in his role as Africa's political grandee and elder statesman, Mugabe claimed that Africa's second biggest economy needed help from its poorer neighbours.

"We must help them; they need another liberation," said the veteran leader who, at 91, is old enough to be the father of most SADC leaders.

He was addressing a press conference in Botswana after visiting the headquarters of the regional SADC grouping which he currently chairs.

Zimbabwe has struggled with a serious economic crisis for about 15 years. The crunch shows no sign of easing and has forced an estimated one million locals across the border into South Africa in search of a better life.

President Jacob Zuma, frustrated by criticism over his government's response to recent xenophobic attacks, challenged regional leaders to consider why their people were running off to South Africa.

Despite conceding that countries such as Zimbabwe needed to do more to stop the stream of migrants to South Africa at a SADC summit in Harare last month, Mugabe changed tack in Gaborone on Wednesday.

The problem, he claimed, was that South Africa is failing to create jobs for its people.

Independent economic commentators say unemployment in Zimbabwe is close to 90 percent but the Harare administration claims its just 11 percent since most of those without formal jobs work as vendors.

His government's optimistic view of Zimbabwe's jobless stats probably encouraged Mugabe to lecture South Africa.

"The pressures with people of South Africa are so much that we cannot avoid incidents of that nature (xenophobia)," said the Zanu PF leader.

"People are unemployed, lots of young men and women are in the streets so when they see people from neighbouring countries running small shops they conclude that it's these people that have robbed them of their chances, which is not the case.

"It's not the other African, but it's a factor of the whites that have kept opportunities to themselves.

"The political dispensation did not address the disparities between white and black with most of the land in the hands of whites and most of the employment opportunities enjoyed by them (whites)."

Mandela got it wrong

He would not resist another dig at Nelson Mandela - the globally revered anti-apartheid revolutionary who Mugabe sees as a rival in the pantheon of Africa's greatest liberation leaders.

Mandela, Mugabe said, forgot that political freedom meant little without the transfer of wealth from white former oppressors to the freed black majority.

"This is what Nelson Mandela forgot to do," said the Zimbabwean leader.

"He (Mandela) thought freedom was number one, which was correct but when they negotiated they got freedom but with European rights preserved.

"This was controlled freedom. So that is the problem. There has not been as much access (to resources) by Africans as we have here and in our countries."

After helping end white racist rule in 1980, Mugabe has overseen the transfer of prime farmland from a few thousands whites to black Zimbabweans and is now targeting foreign-owned mines and industries.

Critics however, say his much-vaunted black empowerment policies have impoverished Zimbabweans with the country - a former net food exporter - now relying on food aid and imports with no formal economy to talk about as industries have collapsed.

Still, Mugabe said the ANC-led administration in Pretoria must, as he did, target the country's wealthy white population.

"It's a xenophobia of whites, not of blacks. You cannot live in palaces while others are living in shanties. Anyway, the ANC should take care of that," he said.

Having helped South Africa attain freedom in 1994, Zimbabwe and other neighbouring countries needed to do it all over again.

"So we must help them. They need another liberation," said Mugabe.

Aware that his remarks would likely cause disquiet across the border the Zanu PF leader remarked: "They will say this Mugabe talks poison.

"I give poison not for you to swallow but to give to someone else."

Tony Elumelu to Speak on Power Access, Climate Change, and Africapitalism at Major Events in New York, Paris, and Oxford

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Following his advocacy for entrepreneur led development for Africa at the White House and Georgetown University, African business leader and philanthropist, Tony O. Elumelu is billed to speak on African energy issues at the Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL) Global Advisory board ‎meeting in New York, on May 19. The event will be co-chaired by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim.

Mr. Elumelu, the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa and the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, is on the Advisory Board of SE4ALL along with global leaders such as US Secretary of State John Kerry, and the Directors General of the UNDP and UNIDO. The initiative brings together leaders from all sectors of society to collaborate to help increase energy access and build a more prosperous and safer world.

“I have a strong interest in ensuring that Africa has reliable access to power for all citizens,” Tony Elumelu said. “I look forward to sharing my thoughts on sustainable energy with global leaders at the SE4ALL meeting.”

Following the energy meetings, Elumelu will be in Paris, France at the invitation of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on May 20 to take part in a global business dialogue focused on influencing the agenda for the 2015 Conference of the Parties (COP 21), the leading annual negotiating summit on climate issues. Mr Elumelu, the only business leader invited from West Africa, has been invited along with an exclusive group of 40 Global Business leaders, including Jack Ma, the Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla.

“It is important for Africa’s private sector to be represented at high level discussions on energy and climate change,” Tony Elumelu said. “There’s still a lot to be done to increase Africans' access to energy ‎while simultaneously mitigating the risks of climate change. It is a delicate balance but one we are working hard to address on the global stage.”

To round up the week, on May 22, Tony Elumelu will deliver the closing keynote address on the topic “Africapitaliam as a Catalyst for the Development of Africa” at Oxford University courtesy of the Oxford Africa Society. The opening keynote of this year’s Africa conference will be delivered by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana.‎

Nigeria: Governors Demand Okonjo-Iweala's Explanation for U.S.$20 Billion Oil Fund

By Saawua Terzungwe

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) on Monday night demanded an explanation from the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the $20 billion excess crude account.

At a meeting chaired by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state in Abuja, the governors also reconciled and re-united as a single umbrella association "regardless of party differences."

The forum had been sharply divided for several months into two factions after an election of new chairman ended in controversy. One group was led by governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state (Peoples Democratic Party) and the other by Governor Amaechi of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

"In light of the fact that funds in the excess crude were last disbursed in May, 2013, there is need for the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to provide explanation to this account from June 2013 to April, 2015 which is estimated at $20billion," a communiqué read by Ameachi after the meeting said.

The federal and state governments have been recording dwindling revenue since the fall in crude oil prices in the international market.

Many state governments now owe their workers as a result of poor revenue.

At the NGF meeting, Governor Abdullazeez Yari of Zamfara state emerged as new chairman by consensus for a period of one year (May, 2015 to May 2016.

The induction programmed for new and returning governors will be held in June, 2015 Amaechi announced.

The forum also congratulated the President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari on his victory at the recently conducted general elections.

Mobile app puts a guide to Madiba’s South Africa in your pocket

The Madiba’s Journey mobile phone app will allow tourists to experience the soul of South Africa in addition to its great physical beauty, and the ‘many, many, many different tourism experiences‘ the country offers.

This was the message from Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, who this morning introduced the mobile app to the world at Liliesleaf Farm in the Johannesburg suburb of Rivonia, an ANC safe house until the arrest of several cadres there in 1963, leading to the famous Rivonia Trial in which the late President Nelson Mandela – who had already been jailed in 1962 – was sentenced to life imprisonment.

‘The app,’ Hanekom said, ‘invites the world not only to come and visit South Africa. It also invites people to come and share our 

heritage, and the great South African story, with us. This sharing is through the provision of meaningful information: information that will help people understand the soul of South Africa, the priceless value of our freedom; and the fascinating human story of that freedom … both from a historic point of view, right up to the present day.’

The app has been developed by South African Tourism in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, whose chief executive officer, Sello Hatang, said it brought to light a man to whom the world looked up as a global icon of forgiveness, reconciliation and constructive action for positive and peaceful change.

‘It’s a tribute to South Africa’s heritage, pride and passion for the democracy and freedom that was so hard won, and is so joyously celebrated,” he said. “It makes it easy for us to share this unique South African story with the world, and to invite people to come on this pilgrimage to South Africa. It keeps Mr Mandela’s spirit alive, and keeps him with us through the places that shaped him and where he had a profound influence not only on South African history, but on world consciousness, too.’

Hanekom encouraged people to download the app, and use it to discover facets of South Africa that would amaze and inspire them. He encouraged the travel trade to package Nelson Mandela experiences of South Africa, to make the heart and the soul of the nation accessible to the world and people who travel in it.

The app gives users Nelson Mandela’s South Africa in their pocket, featuring each of the places on the now-famous Nelson Mandela’s Journey map that was launched in 2014. In addition, the app offers tour-guide information on each on the attractions on the route, helps users plan an itinerary, gives fascinating facts and historic details on each attraction, and gives distances and the time needed to travel between each attraction. It also offers a reward system, giving users rewards each time they check in at one of the attractions or post a photograph to social media platforms of one of the places on the Nelson Mandela’s Journey route.

The Madiba’s Journey app is available for free download now on Android and Apple devices.

New South African Tourism Board members announced

The Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, has welcomed new appointees to the Board of South African Tourism.

They were announced to Cabinet in a meeting on Wednesday 29 April 2015. The non-executive members of the South African Tourism Board are:

• Vincent Mntambo (reappointed)
• Graham Wood (reappointed)
• Ayanda Ntsaluba (reappointed)
• Thebe Ikalafeng (reappointed)
• Chichi Maponya
• Oregan Hoskins
• Tanya Abrahamse
• Iraj Abedian
• Monhla Hlahla
• Michelle Constant
• Judy Nwokedi
• Colin Bell
• Amor Malan
• Mmaditonki Setwaba

Hanekom said: 'I am very pleased with the selection of the new board, given their combined level of strategic leadership, governance, financial, business and tourism experience.

'Tourism is a force for change, and must take the lead in the sustainable and inclusive development of the country. We rely upon South African Tourism to position our beautiful South Africa as a prime tourist destination.'

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa said: 'We would like to congratulate all new members of the Board and wish them the very best in their endeavour of making South Africa a prime business and leisure tourist destination.'

Inside South Africa's 'dangerous' men's hostels

The hostels in South Africa, which for more than 100 years have served as homes for male migrant workers, may be shut down. The single-sex dwellings have been a focus of the recent xenophobic violence that has hit the country's major cities.

Police believe those who carried out some attacks on foreigners lived in the hostels around Johannesburg and Durban.

Many of the residents are unemployed - and the hostels have always been dangerous places to visit, even for the police.

As a crime reporter in the late 2000s, on at least four occasions I was present when officers who entered hostels were killed.

Following the xenophobic attacks - in which seven people died - the police and army jointly raided some of these hostels.

The Jeppestown Wolhuter men's hostel in Johannesburg was the first to be searched for weapons in April.

Some journalists accompanied officers who kicked down doors and ransacked rooms during the night-time raid.

Photographs were published showing men - some in their underwear they had been sleeping in - made to lie down in corridors as the search was conducted.

The media coverage angered the residents - and since then reporters have not been welcome.

But after days of negotiating with the hostel chief Manyathela Mvelase, he finally agreed to show us around the dilapidated three-storey building where washing hangs from grimy windows and the corridors are dark and filthy.

As we walked through the corridors one hostel resident was visibly angered by our presence.

"What are you doing here, are you here to show how we were humiliated by the police?" he asked.

But he walked away after he saw that we were in the company of the hostel chief.

"Police are discriminating against hostel dwellers; they keep saying criminals live here, but the truth is criminals live all over the country. We didn't start the violence," said Mr Mvelase.

He tried to make me understand that xenophobes do not live in the hostel, but he acknowledged some of the residents looted foreign-owned shops.

"It's only because they're hungry, many are unemployed," he said in their defence.

Sibangani Langa, who has been living in Jeppestown hostel for five years, thinks foreigners get more chances than him.

"The way I see it, African migrants are treated better than South Africans because they are employed," he said.

"They must just go back to their countries, because they're taking our jobs."

These hostels, the first of which was built around 1912, have played a huge part in South Africa's social history.

They were meant to accommodate black workers who had moved to cities - often to work in mines - as strict rules meant black labourers could not live in areas designated for white people.

The hostels, the last one was built in the 1980s, were also usually organised by ethnicity.

Post-apartheid, the hostels, run by local municipalities, are now mostly home to thousands of young men from the Zulu ethnic group - the largest in South Africa - who come to cities in search of work.

Some residents do not pay rent, as the local authorities find it difficult to keep a track of who exactly lives in the hostels.

Rooms meant for four people often house 11; the Jeppestown hostel, for example, has 3,200 beds but up to 10,000 people reside there.

And it is not the first time that hostels have made headlines.

Before the end of apartheid in 1994 and country's first democratic elections, they had a role in political violence that saw an estimated 20,000 people killed.

The hostels, where many Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters lived, were used as bases for those determined to derail the peace process.

The IFP spurred on by white extremists who did not want change, were behind attacks across townships, mostly targeting supporters of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) party.

Today many residents still support the opposition IFP - and in Jeppestown Wolhuter not a single ANC poster was on display.

Changing the image of hostels

But the ANC government is now determined to change the image of men's hostels in South Africa - and ordered a review last week of remaining hostels around the country.

Buyafuthi hostel in Tokoza, south of Johannesburg, is one of those that has been revamped into accommodation for families.

However, despite the government's good intentions, there is little privacy and up to three families share one unit.

"Each family must have its own flat because sometimes fights break out within the unit," said Busisiwe Langa, who shares a flat with her husband, two children and two other families.

It will take a long time to rid hostels of their reputation.

But as the sound of children playing fills the air, with it comes the hope that one day these South African symbols of violence will be viewed simply as home.

South Africa: What does Maimane's win mean for the DA?

It is a milestone of sorts. For the first time in its democratic history South Africa has an official opposition led by a black person.

In that context, it is hard not to see the Democratic Alliance's (DA) election of Mmusi Maimane as its new leader as a significant step in the country's journey towards political maturity.

The DA has been growing steadily in successive elections, already taking control of one of South Africa's nine provincial governments.

But Mr Maimane's predecessor, Helen Zille, made no secret of her belief that the party would never threaten the ANC's enduring grip on power if it could not finally shake off the accusation that it is a "white" party, representing the interests of those who benefited from decades of apartheid.

To that end, Ms Zille tried to parachute in a prominent figure from the country's liberation struggle, Mamphela Ramphele, as the party's new leader before the last election.

But that plan collapsed in acrimony almost immediately.

Critics, not least in the ANC, will now say that Mr Maimane's speedy ascent to the top post is another "parachute job" - that the 34-year-old is too young and inexperienced to deserve the position, and that his swift elevation smacks of racial tokenism.

Emotional ties

And yet, anyone watching the crowds at the DA's congress in Port Elizabeth or following the party's grassroots work in local councils across the country, will know that the claim that it remains a "white" party is increasingly at odds with the facts.

In person Mr Maimane comes across as earnest, eloquent, charismatic, and tough enough to brush off the many jibes thrown his way in South Africa's abrasive political arena.

He clearly lacks experience and freely acknowledges that he is less of a "details" politician than some of his colleagues, but he will presumably be helped by the DA's effective, and well-disciplined political machinery.

Still, he and the DA have a mountain to climb if they are to put a more serious dent in the ANC's majority and seize power for the DA, as Mr Maimane promised to do in his acceptance speech on Sunday.

"No party has a divine right to rule this country," he said.

But millions of South African voters retain near unbreakable emotional ties to the ANC - the party of liberation.

Despite growing popular frustration with corruption and enduring inequality, the party still won over 62% of the vote in 2014.

Growing challenge

Many people talk about wanting to reform the ANC, rather than voting it out of power.

The DA is also facing a growing challenge on the left, from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party of Julius Malema.

The party has successfully tapped into the anger felt by many South Africans who believe that the nation's wealth has not been spread fairly enough since the end of apartheid.

The EFF has re-energised the debate in parliament, often eclipsing the DA, and offering a more enticing choice to people looking for a "protest vote" against the ANC.

Which leads on to the DA's other main challenge - the sense that, while it may no longer be a "white" party, it remains committed to the orthodoxies of global capitalism and the imperatives of economic growth, rather than the more transformational policies that many South Africans appear to favour.

The DA denies this, stressing that it supports the ANC's own National Development Plan - and would simply do a far better job of implementing it than the current government, with its deep internal divisions.

The first test for Mr Maimane and his party will come at next year's municipal elections.

U.S. urges probe of U.N. handling of Central Africa abuse charges

The United States on Friday described as horrifying accusations of sexual abuse of children by French and African troops in Central African Republic, and called for a separate inquiry into how the United Nations handled the allegations.

An internal U.N. report detailed the alleged abuse by troops from France, Chad and Equatorial Guinea between December 2013 and June 2014 at a center for displaced people at M’Poko airport in the Central African Republic capital, Bangui.

The accusations came to light in April after the U.N. report summarizing victim interviews was leaked. The six-page document said the young children who were interviewed alleged they had performed oral sex on the French troops. The soldiers from Equatorial Guinea and Chad were accused of sodomizing children.

"The allegations are completely horrific," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said. "If these allegations prove true, it is such a profound violation, not only of the dignity and physical security of individuals in their most vulnerable state, but it is a complete abrogation of trust.

"They are certainly very credible and very disturbing allegations," she told reporters.

French prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into the claims last July, and said on Thursday they would open an investigation after written consultation with the author of the U.N. report.

A U.N. staff member has admitted leaking an unredacted report on the investigation with the victims' names before it reached top management in the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The United Nations said that was "a serious breach of protocol" that could endanger victims.

"In terms of the U.N. and the member state's handling of the issue, I think it is extremely important that an impartial investigation be done also of that, on top of investigating the allegations themselves," Power said.

Power said it was "extremely important that any individual who comes into possession of allegations of this gravity acts swiftly, (but) it is also extremely important that victim and witness safety be a very significant, a primary consideration."

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there was an internal U.N. investigation of the staff member who leaked the report.

"Obviously, there will come a time, I think, when we will need to take a look at how this issue was handled," he said.

France intervened in Central African Republic, a former French colony, some 18 months ago to help an African Union peacekeeping force try and stem violence between Christian militias and largely Muslim Seleka rebels. The United Nations took over the African peacekeeping force in September.

Chaired by Kofi Annan, the Africa Progress Panel will launch this year’s Africa Progress Report on June 5th

With the world aiming for a major climate change deal this year, the Africa Progress Report 2015 will show how Africa can turn climate challenges into opportunities by transforming its energy, agriculture and finance sectors.

Africa needs more energy now – and everyone must have access. Energy is vital for economic growth, job creation and reducing poverty.

Africa is likely to need fossil fuels for some time; no industrialized country has developed using clean energy alone. But if African countries seriously commit themselves now to renewable energy sources, such as hydro, geothermal and solar power, they could leapfrog to cleaner energy as they have to mobile telephony – bypassing dependence on high-carbon fuels.

This energy transition must be matched by an agricultural transformation that unlocks the potential of Africa’s smallholder farmers to drive the continent’s development – while enabling them to cope with the multiple threats from climate change.

These transformations in energy, agriculture and climate change adaptation will only happen if Africa receives more international financial support, mobilizes more domestic finance and strengthens its financial architecture. The Africa Progress Report 2015 will look at how African policymakers can maximize all sources of finance, including domestic savings and private capital.

There is plenty of evidence that the right climate change response could also build Africa’s prosperity. The Africa Progress Report 2015 will gather that evidence to make a powerful case for transforming Africa’s energy, agriculture and finance.

Africa: The EU's 'Disappointing' Response to the Migration Crisis

Oxford — A closer look at the list ofcommitments from Europe's leaders after their hastily-arranged migrant crisis summit in Brussels reveals no substantial change in response and few measures likely to have any major impact on the flows of migrants and asylum-seekers trying to reach Europe.

The outcome had already been sketched out in a draft plan released on Monday, making Thursday's meeting seem like little more than a public relations exercise.

Leaders like British Prime Minister David Cameron addressed the cameras, promising ships and helicopters to boost search-and-rescue capacity, while the European Council pledged to triple funding for the European Union's Operation Triton.

But what new plans, if any, came out of the meeting, and are they likely to stem the growing crisis?

With the help of migration and refugee experts, IRIN has unpacked the main resolutions and analysed what effect they might have:

Ramp up search-and-rescue

Operation Mare Nostrum, Italy's search-and-rescue effort, which ran from October 2013 until November 2014, was widely seen as effective. However, it relied heavily on one member state and closed down when no more EU funds were forthcoming.

The EU's Frontex border agency took over the role late last year but its operation was heavily criticised by aid groups for its focus on border control over search-and-rescue.

Predictions that many migrant lives would be lost unless a real replacement for Mare Nostrum was found have come all too true.

The deaths of 1,750 migrants in the Mediterranean since the start of the year is 30 times higher than during the same period in 2014, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The pledge, therefore, to substantially increase resources and expand the mandate for Operation Triton was widely welcomed.

"The positive thing is that at the highest political level, there is recognition that [search-and-rescue] is within the mandate of Frontex," said Kris Pollet, senior legal and policy officer with Brussels-based European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

Britain's pledge of ships and helicopters is particularly noteworthy considering that last October, the Foreign Office publicly refused to support search-and-rescue operations, arguing that they were a pull factor that encouraged more migrants to attempt sea crossings to Europe.

While ramping up search-and-rescue was largely seen as a positive step, experts are quick to point out that it does not address the root causes of the migration crisis.

Target smugglers

Tough new measures to combat migrant smugglers include: "systematic efforts to identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used," bringing perpetrators to justice, launching a civil-military operation, and taking down online ads by smugglers attempting to drum up business.

Tuesday Reitano, head of the Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, argues that most of these initiatives have come too late to have any real impact on a problem that has been allowed to fester.

"It is a much more complex problem to solve now than it would have been even a year ago," she told IRIN. "Smugglers have managed to put down roots and tentacles that are very far spread. Existing networks are encouraging a lot of new migration, which is witnessed by the diversity of nationalities arriving in Europe.

"Bombing or sinking boats is going to do nothing," she added. "We have evidence that there are now containers full of rubber dinghies being bought in Asia and shipped to Libya. The dinghies are less safe, and infinitely replaceable."

A United Nations Security Council resolution that would allow a civil military operation to patrol Libyan waters might enable some low-level smugglers to be caught and arrested, "but prosecuting traffickers isn't as easy as it looks," said Reitano, who warned that the kingpins controlling the increasingly professional and adaptable smuggling networks would continue operating.

While the use of social media by smugglers has played a role in terms of finding Syrian clients, Africans have long turned to locally known recruiters when planning to migrate. The difference now, according to Reitano, is that instead of paying a smuggler a few hundred dollars to do just one leg of the journey and then working and saving for the next leg, smugglers are encouraging would-be migrants to pay a one-off sum of around $1,500 to go all the way to Italy.

"They're trying to get as much cash up-front as possible, then along the way they ask for more money and tell the family to send more. Essentially it's almost hostage taking," she told IRIN.

Targeting smugglers also does nothing to reduce the demand for their services, which is only likely to increase with growing crises in Yemen and Nigeria.

Stop them coming

Measures such as increasing cooperation with African partners by helping them to better control their land and sea borders are mainly designed to ensure that migrants never reach European shores.

Readmission agreements that allow the EU to return irregular migrants to countries at its borders such as Turkey and Tunisia are already in place, as are various initiatives to work with African countries, such as the Khartoum Process. "It's building on what's already there, but it's this one-sided approach of stemming the flow towards Europe and shifting the burden to countries on the migratory route and making them responsible for stopping them getting to Europe," said Pollet of ECRE.

"If this isn't combined with a clear commitment to do our share and take in more people, that's obviously not going to work."

No increase in refugee resettlement

Far from making a commitment to accept significantly higher numbers of refugees through resettlement as the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, had urged ahead of the meeting, the EU pledged only to set up a voluntary pilot project.

An earlier draft of the statement had offered a very modest 5,000 resettlement places, but the final draft contained no figure at all.

A programme to relocate asylum-seekers from over-burdened frontline states like Italy and Greece to other member states would be on a voluntary basis and is still being considered.

"For us, that's the big disappointment," said Pollet. "We weren't expecting them to pledge to take in 500,000 people, but at the beginning of the week there was this sense of urgency."

Stefan Kessler, senior policy officer with Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe, described the lack of a commitment on resettlement as particularly disappointing.

"Overall, the clear message from this meeting is: 'Keep protection-seekers far, far away from Europe so that their deaths don't make the headlines in European media,'" he told IRIN.

Send them home

A new programme "for the rapid return of illegal migrants from frontline member states" is to be coordinated by Frontex.

Pollet pointed out that organising return flights for deportees is nothing new for Frontex, and Reitano noted that Italy has also been actively returning large numbers of economic migrants in recent months.

"This is clearly there to be seen as being tough and determined; sending a signal not to come over here because we'll send you back," said Pollet.

"The reality is that the vast majority arriving are those with protection needs - Eritreans, Somalis, Syrians."

Jeff Crisp, former head of policy and evaluation at UNHCR and now an advisor with Refugees International, also noted the document's "complete failure to acknowledge that many of the asylum-seekers originating from countries such as Eritrea, Somalia and Syria have a very strong claim to refugee status."

Next steps

Pollet described the EU Council statement as the "immediate political response" to the migration crisis. A more substantial document containing longer-term measures is expected when the EU Commission releases its new EU agenda on migration in mid-May.

"It's very unclear what is going to come out of that and how much this meeting is going to influence the tone and approach taken by the Commission," he said.

What is clear is that Europe's migration crisis is not going away anytime soon.

"It's hard to say the picture looks rosy in any way," said Reitano. "Yemen is going to make it worse, Boko Haram (the Nigerian Islamist group) is going to make it worse.

"There are too many markets right now of instability and poverty and human rights abuses to dry up the supply."