United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

23 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

Africom Now: Security and Development Policy in Africa (Across the Aisle - Blog)
(Pan Africa) As Obama takes the stage today to discuss his Presidential Study Directive
for Global Development (PSD-7), we need to assess how we form and implement policy
in Africa to address the interrelated nature of security and development in the 21st
century.

US nominee vows close cooperation with Mauritania on terror (AFP)

(Mauritania) The nominee to be Washington"s next ambassador to Mauritania on
Wednesday vowed stepped-up US support as the north African nation presses its fight
against Islamic militants.

Zimbabwe drops charges against U.S. health workers (Reuters)

(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwean prosecutors on Wednesday withdrew charges against six
health workers, four of them from the United States, accused of dispensing AIDS drugs
without a license, their lawyer said.

AU force regaining upper hand in Mogadishu (AFP)

(Somalia) After a worrying setback when their Somali government allies deserted their
posts, African Union troops in Mogadishu managed to contain the situation, but remain
under pressure.

An Al Qaeda affiliate getting rich in Niger (Christian Science Monitor)

(Niger) The Saharan chapter of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility Tuesday for the
abduction of five Frenchmen and two of their African colleagues working at a Uranium
mine in remote Niger.

Kiir pledges safety for Sudan northerners in south (Reuters)

(Sudan) The leader of south Sudan pledged on Wednesday that northerners would be
welcome if his region gains independence in an upcoming vote, brushing aside a
warning minorities could face expulsion and abuse.
Guinea election body proposes October 10 run-off (Reuters)
(Guinea) Guinea"s electoral commission on Wednesday proposed October 10 as the
revised date for the final round of voting in the West African country"s first democratic
election.

Liberian Leader Vows Responsible Oil Plan (Wall Street Journal)

(Liberia) Liberia is managing its entry into the arena of oil exploration with an eye on
avoiding pitfalls that have befallen other resource-rich nations, President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf said Tuesday.

Kenyan Coffee Ranked Best in US Market (Business Daily - Nairobi)

(Kenya) Kenya"s coffee has acquired top rating in the US, raising the industry"s profile
in its long-standing campaigns of growing the American market share.

Europe on high alert for Al Qaeda suicide attacks on transport hubs (Debka)
(Europe)The high level of preparedness for terrorist attack - "reinforced red" -
maintained in France since Sept. 16 was quietly expanded this week to most of the big
international air hubs of Europe, including London"s Heathrow, Amsterdam"s Schiphol
and airports in Moscow, Berlin and Rome. Security measures were also redoubled at the
important railways and subway stations of Europe.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Secretary-General and Sudanese Vice-President discuss upcoming referenda
 Madagascar declines the podium at UN development summit
 UN anti-crime body lauds Gabon"s accession to trafficking treaties
 Leaders at UN event pledge to scale up efforts to end malaria deaths by 2015
 UN to help deliver voter registration material for referendum on southern Sudan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 6, Noon; Cato Institute

WHAT: Why Africa Is Poor and What Africans Can Do about It
WHO: Greg Mills, Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa; Marian L. Tupy,
Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; moderated by
Ian Vásquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute
Info: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7401
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Africom Now: Security and Development Policy in Africa (Across the Aisle - Blog)
With the third day underway for the United Nations Summit on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), much of the news coverage is focused on the international
celebrities out in force in New York and the progress (or lack thereof) towards
achieving the goals designed to end extreme poverty. Yet as the UN Summit was
beginning this week, twelve members of al Qaeda"s North African wing (AQIM) were
killed after clashing with Mauritanian military forces, Kenya voiced their growing
concern about the international community"s neglect of the security situation in
Somalia, anxiety rose over al Qaeda"s headway in Uganda, and Sudan"s upcoming
referendum has resulted in rigorous diplomatic efforts to prevent a potential war
between north and south. In all of these situations, the shaky security situation impedes
international efforts to promote progress through sustainable development. As Obama
takes the stage today to discuss his Presidential Study Directive for Global
Development (PSD-7), we need to assess how we form and implement policy in Africa
to address the interrelated nature of security and development in the 21st century.

In tackling this challenge, the U.S. tried hitting two birds with one stone: along with
recognizing Africa"s growing importance on the global stage, the Bush administration
established Africa Command (Africom) in 2008 to act as a test tube institution meant to
preempt and respond to the new multidimensional challenges of 21st century threats.
Through training programs, promoting stability with development projects, and a
partnership-based approach to states and regional institutions, the military command
center has put into practice the integration of development and security priorities. As
Vice Admiral Robert Moeller, the first Deputy to the Commander for Military
Operations in Africom stated, “diplomacy, development, and defense should work
hand in hand—and in balance—to achieve long-term security.”

Africom, in targeting the three D"s (defense, diplomacy, and development) as a

humanitarian and strategic interest, has the right idea of capacity building and
supporting Africans to solve their own problems. Their focus on partnerships and
success stories such as the Africa Partnership Station are promising, and the working
relationship with State and USAID demonstrates the necessary integration of civilian
and military capabilities.

Yet two years in, Africom is struggling to exert influence and faces an uphill publicity
battle against the notion that it is attempting to militarize Africa and its vast resource
wealth. Unable to find a location acceptable to a host African nation, Africom remains
in Stuttgart, Germany, and it is unlikely to relocate. The Combined Joint Task Force-
Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), in many ways a flagship example of combining the three
D"s, is faltering in its mission. With 60% of its budget allocated to civil affairs projects, it
does not have the training or know-how to follow up on their development related
activities. Building a health clinic that does not have the resources to serve the
community, while not a failure of strategy, is a failure of implementation.
The problems facing Africom- concern over militarization of US foreign policy, a lack
luster response from African governments, and a limited knowledge of the tenants of
good development policy- are indications that Africom"s integrative structure does not
solve the larger systemic problem, where our diplomatic and development arms still do
not have the support or financial means to lead our foreign policy infrastructure in the
21st century. While Secretary Gates and other military leaders have noted the need to
reform and invest in diplomacy and development, change has been slow, leaving the
military to pick up the slack and become the face of American foreign policy. Instead of
Africom being the centralization of our efforts to integrate the three D"s, it should
instead be a responsive support arm. Rather than 60% of the CJF-HOA budget being
allotted for civilian capacity building, that money should be under the purview of
USAID to implement their development knowhow.

Africom should do what it does best: train military forces, build military capacity and
partnerships, promote rule of law, and educate on human rights in war zones- all of
which speak to the reality of security as a precursor to development. The military
understands what role it should be playing. Now, as Obama releases some of the
policies mapped in PSD-7, we should ensure that diplomacy and development are
given the resources and ability to hold up their end and lead the integrated strategy.

Europe on high alert for Al Qaeda suicide attacks on transport hubs

The commander of French police and security services Frederic Pechenard went on the
air Wednesday Sept 22 with a statement for the public: "I"m not here to frighten
people," he said, "but we have serious evidence coming in from reliable intelligence
sources telling us that there is a risk of a major attack." He declined to say whether the
alert level had been raised from "reinforced red" to "reinforced scarlet." He said the
danger could come in the form of "the assassination of an important figure or an
attempted mass casualty attack on a crowded public area like a metro train or
department store."
DEBKAfile Ltd. S counter-terror sources report that the reliable sources Pechenard
referred to were aside from French intelligence, also , the Algerian intelligence DGDS,
Algerian military intelligence, the Moroccan DST and the United States AFRICOM
which coordinates the war on Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa and the Sahara.
They reported that Al Qaeda in North Africa, AQIM, had assigned to Europe and
France in particular a number of Algerian jihadist women trained to carry out suicide
bombings on trains, at railway stations and at major rail junctions.
A single bomber aboard one of the Eurorail multi-country links could wreak havoc
along the entire line.
This is why on Wednesday, September 22, it was announced in Paris that one of the
main prospective targets for the planned suicide bombings is Gare du Nord, the station
from which trains depart for London, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.
Our counterterrorism sources say security measures have also been massively stepped
up at St. Pancras International Train Station in central London, the hub of four mainline
services, the East Midlands trains, the First Capital Connect, the Southeastern and the
Eurostar connecting London to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and major cities in
Germany.
Western terrorism experts find two reasons why the AQIM is raring to go into action at
this time:
 
1. A Qaeda has in recent weeks gained an infusion of Arab fighters who decided to pull
out of Afghanistan and Pakistan in light of the rumors about secret negotiations
between the US and the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan and make separate
arrangements for Al Qaeda. They want no part of such arrangements and, even more,
of being stranded in Afghanistan or Pakistan for a long period at the service of Taliban
with no exit route.
Upon arrival in North Africa, these jihadists were keen on going into operation against
Western targets without delay to prove that no one can stop al Qaeda.
2.  France and AQIM have ramped up their secret war in such countries as Algeria,
Mauritania, Mali, Niger and the Sahara regions bordering them. It entails al Qaeda"s
abduction of Westerners, many of them French but also Britons and Spaniards, in
exchange for million-dollar ransoms, countered by French raids.
On July 22, at least seven terrorists were killed in a combined French-Mauritanian raid
by special forces in northern Mali to free the 78-year-old French hostage Michel
Germaneau.
Al Qaeda exacted its revenge by executing the hostage. This week, they kidnapped
seven nuclear technicians, including five French nationals, who had been working in
the uranium mines of Niger.
The French defense minister responded by dispatching air units to Niger composed of
surveillance and combat jets and a unit of special forces with orders to find the hostages
and rescue them.
DEBKAfile"s counterterrorism sources point to the difficulty of differentiating between
abductions conducting in the service of Islamist terror and kidnaps for raising cash to
keep those networks afloat and operating.
Many of the network leaders are smugglers or criminals preying on the countries
bordering the Sahara who do not belong to al Qaeda but bow to the authority of AQIM
leaders 2,000 miles away in Algeria"s mountainous regions.
All the same, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is affected sufficiently by its conflict with France
and fresh influx of jihadists to mount ambitious operations on French soil and target the
rest of western Europe. 

--------------------
US nominee vows close cooperation with Mauritania on terror (AFP)
WASHINGTON – The nominee to be Washington"s next ambassador to Mauritania on
Wednesday vowed stepped-up US support as the north African nation presses its fight
against Islamic militants.

Ambassador-designate Jo Ellen Powell vowed continued US cooperation in

Mauritania"s fight against rebels from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which
is attempting to spread its influence in the region.

"The regional threat posed by Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb is real,"
Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"While the vast majority of Mauritanians abhor AQIM, the group has drawn new
recruits into the desert," she said.

Mauritania has been embroiled in deadly skirmishes against Islamist insurgents from
AQIM in neighbouring Mali. AQIM is said to be behind numerous attacks in north
Africa, particularly in Algeria, Mauritania and Niger.

The group has also carried out several previous kidnappings of westerners in the vast
territory south of the Sahara stretching westwards from Mauritania across Mali and
Niger.

On Wednesday AQIM militants claimed to have killed 19 soldiers during a weekend

offensive by the Mauritanian army, in what it referred to as a "crushing blow" to the
Mauritanian army.

Powell said she hoped to see greater US support for police and security, as well as for
the training of judges who would preside over trials of potential terrorism suspects.

"Mauritania has repeatedly demonstrated its strong commitment to combat AQIM, but
requires assistance to strengthen its capabilities," she said.

The ambassador-designate touted a program the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism

Partnership (TSCTP) which is called a "primary tool" by Washington to support
Mauritania"s fight against Islamic extremists.

"If confirmed, I will energetically build upon our counterterrorism cooperation," she
said, vowing also to work to "frustrate AQIM"s recruiting efforts in the country," she
said.

Powell also vowed US cooperation to help Mauritania to stem the trafficking of

humans.
"If confirmed, I will work with the government to improve its human trafficking record
and strengthen enforcement and awareness of the country"s anti-slavery law," she said.
--------------------
Zimbabwe drops charges against U.S. health workers (Reuters)

HARARE – Zimbabwean prosecutors on Wednesday withdrew charges against six

health workers, four of them from the United States, accused of dispensing AIDS drugs
without a license, their lawyer said.

The six members of a Californian-based Christian volunteer health service which runs
two clinics in Zimbabwe working with AIDS orphans and HIV-positive patients, were
arrested on September 10 in Harare.

"The Attorney General"s office has decided not to prosecute them. The police were just
being overzealous in arresting them in the first place," the health workers" lawyer,
Jonathan Samkange told Reuters.

The health workers" group is made up of a doctor, two nurses and a community
volunteer from the United States plus a Zimbabwean doctor and another from New
Zealand.

The volunteers had been charged for dispensing medicines to AIDS patients at
unlicensed premises without the supervision of a pharmacist and fined $200 each when
they appeared in court last week.

Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV rates in the world and the destruction of its
public health system during a decade of economic crisis has left it largely dependent on
donor organizations and church-based institutions for essential health services.
--------------------
AU force regaining upper hand in Mogadishu (AFP)

MOGADISHU – After a worrying setback when their Somali government allies

deserted their posts, African Union troops in Mogadishu managed to contain the
situation, but remain under pressure.

At one point, according to a foreign observer, only the Ugandan AU troops stood their
ground to fight off the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels, as government forces fled.

On August 23, the Shebab announced the launch of a fresh operation "to eliminate the
invading Christians and their apostate government."

For around 10 days, waves of Shebab fighters attacked African Union (AMISOM) and
government positions to cries of "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest).
Most of the fighting was concentrated in the seaside capital"s northeastern
neighbourhoods.

The insurgents, who include several seasoned foreign jihadis, advanced on the
presidential palace and parliament.

At one point, they threatened Maka al-Mukarama, a strategic thoroughfare linking the
harbour to the airport and AMISOM"s main lifeline.

"For 48 hours, there was a very alarming period of swaying," said a foreign Mogadishu-
based official. "It was a complete fiasco for the TFG (transitional federal government)".

Soldiers, militiamen and to a lesser degree moderate Sufi allied forces -- all deployed
along different segments of the front line -- "abandoned most of their positions," the
official said.

Under Shebab pressure, some vacated their positions without a fight, while others
retreated frantically when they ran out of ammunition.

"At one point, only the Ugandans (the main contingent in AMISOM) were fighting," the
foreign observer said.

"Fighting has escalated since August 24. This was characterised by TFG forces
withdrawing from their positions," admitted Colonel Mickael Ondoga, who commands
the Ugandan force.

"When they ran, they exposed us and made our positions more vulnerable, we had to
move to take tactical advantage," he added.

Ondoga explained that AMISOM deployed tanks and other armoured vehicles -- the
kind of equipment the Shebab lack -- and punched back.

"The TFG withdrew from a dozen positions... Most of these positions have been
reoccupied (by AMISOM) and now the government forces have started coming back to
these positions," he said.

After a week"s lull in the fighting, it emerged clearly that the Shebab had failed to reach
their military objectives of capturing the presidential compound and cutting Maka al-
Mukarama.

Shebab fighters have nevertheless moved closer, and are now just a couple of blocks
from the avenue, presenting a serious threat to the crucial supply line that cuts right
through the middle of the city, and forcing AMISOM to set up two new positions there.
"The Mujahedeen fighters won the war to eliminate the Christian aggressors (...)",
claimed Shebab leader Abu-Zubeyr "Godane" in a statement.

"This offensive was a failure," AMISOM spokesman Ba-Hoku Barigye claimed for his
part. "The enemy was not able to chase us from a single of our positions and on the
contrary, we have advanced in the city," he said.

But according to a local journalist, AU forces made scant gains, only taking over some
front-line positions previously held by their Somali government allies.

Another Mogadishu-based expert argued that the insurgents" thwarted offensive could
prompt some Shebab leaders to advocate a new strategy of spectacular operations
against high-value targets rather than territorial warfare.

"It was a bloodbath... The meagre results they derived from this offensive is causing
some tension within the Shebab military leadership," the analyst said.

The TFG forces" disorderly retreat last month however confirmed that President Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed"s government is on its last legs, unlikely to breed a force able to take
over security duties from AMISOM.

"We are riding a dead horse," was the uncompromising assessment made by one of
AMISOM"s political officials.
--------------------
An Al Qaeda affiliate getting rich in Niger (Christian Science Monitor)

Dakar, Senegal - The Saharan chapter of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility Tuesday for
the abduction of five Frenchmen and two of their African colleagues working at a
Uranium mine in remote Niger.

Analysts say the announcement likely means the hostages have been transferred from
local mercenaries to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a flourishing militant
group that evolved from an earlier movement in Algeria. Analysts expect a ransom
demand will be made.

The kidnappings are just the latest crime associated with Al Qaeda affiliates in the
region. In July, a French aid worker seized by AQIM in Niger was murdered during a
French rescue attempt. The rescue attempt was set up with feigned ransom
negotiations.

That murder may be what motivated the Spanish government to allegedly pay a
ransom to secure the release of three Spanish aid workers weeks later. The group was
paid between 5 and 10 million euros and also secured release of militants in exchange
for the Spaniards" freedom, according to the National Committee on American Foreign
Policy Vice President J. Peter Pham.

If true, AQIM may be morphing into a self-sustaining kidnap-for-ransom gang. Dr.

Pham says the group may also be charging Latin American drug cartels "right-of-
passage" fees for Saharan caravans of Europe-bound cocaine smugglers.

Pham says the group isn"t cut from the same ideological cloth as Osama bin Laden"s
inner circle and that this Saharan band probably has little ambition to seize Niger"s
uranium. But the group"s operational and financial successes could lead to bigger
problems.

"Since 9/11, everyone has talked about the crime-terror nexus, but for the most part it"s
mythological," he says. "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has actually created it. "

When chased, the Saharan outfit has hidden in cocaine cartel safe houses in the desert,
he says. Through mercenaries, the group has locked down ancient caravan routes from
seaside Mauritania to the eastern brink of Niger. It"s fairly reasonable to assume they"re
not letting cocaine transit those corridors for free, says Pham.

This Saharan Al Qaeda chapter outsources their dirty work to locals who"ve memorized
the rocky landscape of villages and potential hideouts around the sites they target. That,
Pham suggests, is why they"re succeeding where most militants flounder.

“A disproportionate number of terrorist attacks ... fail simply because ideological

conviction is not sufficient to have technical and operation capabilities,” he says. “What
this group is doing is they"re increasing their probability of success by hiring people
who understand the terrain, and have the know-how.”
--------------------
Kiir pledges safety for Sudan northerners in south (Reuters)

KHARTOUM/NEW YORK – The leader of south Sudan pledged on Wednesday that

northerners would be welcome if his region gains independence in an upcoming vote,
brushing aside a warning minorities could face expulsion and abuse.

In just over 100 days, people across Sudan are due to vote in a long-awaited referendum
that will decide whether the oil-producing south will secede. The vote is a key part of
the 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war.

An outcome for independence, widely expected by analysts, would leave a question

mark hanging over the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of southerners living in
Khartoum and other northern cities, and northerners living in south Sudan.
"Both southerners in the north and northerners living in southern Sudan told Human
Rights Watch that they feared retaliation, even expulsion, if secession were approved,"
the U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The two parties to the peace agreement -- the ruling National Congress Party (NCP)
and the southern ruling Sudan People"s Liberation Movement (SPLM) -- should state
publicly that they will not expel each other"s minorities," it added.

SPLM leader Salva Kiir, who is both president of south Sudan and the entire country"s
first vice president, said on Wednesday that the south would respect minority rights if
it gains independence.

"Those who want to remain in the south will have nothing to fear. They are most
welcome," he said during an event in New York organized by the International Peace
Institute.

"There are people from the south in the north and vice versa. We need to protect these
people with their property so no one infringes on their rights."

Kiir said northern nomadic peoples who move to the south to graze their cattle in the
dry season would not be impeded.

NO INTIMIDATION

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who heads the NCP, said in Khartoum on
Wednesday that he backed a "free, fair and transparent" referendum.

Bashir, whom the International Criminal Court accuses of genocide in the separate
conflict in Sudan"s Darfur region, said southerners should be able to vote "without any
dictation, pressure and intimidation".

As the January 9 referendum date draws nears, foreign powers fear Sudan may not
have time to pull together the highly sensitive and complex poll.

Southern leaders have repeatedly accused Khartoum of trying to disrupt the vote in a
bid to retain control of the south"s oil. In turn, NCP officials have accused the SPLM of
pushing a separatist agenda and quashing unionist voices in the south.

Northern and southern leaders have been meeting for weeks to decide how they will
share oil revenues and national debts after the vote, together with other issues,
including the nationality of southerners in the north and vice versa.
No concrete decisions have been announced, and it remains unclear how an
independence vote -- if it actually happens -- would affect citizenship and property
rights.

The United States has offered Khartoum economic and diplomatic incentives on the
condition it allows the vote to take place, implements the 2005 peace deal and resolves
outstanding issues in Darfur.

Speaking at the United Nations, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday pledged
support for a peaceful shift to democracy in Sudan as he declared a new U.S. approach
to development.

Obama is among those scheduled to attend a special summit on Sudan during the U.N.
General Assembly in New York on Friday that is expected to signal renewed global
support for holding the vote on time.
--------------------
Guinea election body proposes October 10 run-off (Reuters)

CONAKRY – Guinea"s electoral commission on Wednesday proposed October 10 as the

revised date for the final round of voting in the West African country"s first democratic
election.

The commission, known as CENI, earlier this month postponed the election, which was
due to have been held on September 19, citing logistical reasons.

Analysts have said a successful election in Guinea, a key to stability in a region scarred
by three civil wars, will bring in billions of dollars in planned mining investments and
may draw a line under decades of authoritarian rule since independence from France in
1958.

The new date must be approved by interim head of state Sekouba Konate. Konate has
said he does not want any further delays, and his approval is expected to be a formality.

"We have officially written to propose the date of October 10," CENI official Foumba
Kourouma told Reuters.

The election, strongly backed by the United States, France and the European Union, is
intended to end a political crisis that began when soldiers seized power in the world"s
biggest bauxite exporter in December 2008, after former President Lansana Conte died.

TWO WAY FIGHT

Former Prime Minister Celou Dalein Diallo, who won more than 40 percent of the vote
in June"s first round, will take on Alpha Conde, who polled 18 percent. Conde"s camp
has repeatedly said the electoral process is deeply flawed.

CENI has experienced turmoil since the first round at the end of June. Ben Sekou Sylla,
who was chief at the time, was convicted of fraud earlier this month and died days later
after a long illness.

Sylla"s replacement by his deputy, Hadja Aminata Mame Camara, led Conde to protest
that she is a political ally of Diallo.

Earlier this month, one person was killed and 50 were injured in street battles as rival
camps traded accusations of attempted vote-rigging, and CENI said the row between
Diallo and Conde was hindering its efforts to set a date for the final round.

CENI said the electoral material for which it had been waiting was largely in place.

"There only remains a small quantity of material, and that should be at its destination
before Saturday," Kourouma said.
--------------------
Liberian Leader Vows Responsible Oil Plan (Wall Street Journal)

NEW YORK—Liberia is managing its entry into the arena of oil exploration with an eye
on avoiding pitfalls that have befallen other resource-rich nations, President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf said Tuesday.

"We"re not going to have the so-called oil curse," Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said in an
interview ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, characterizing an oil-
exploration deal announced earlier this month with Chevron Corp.—Liberia"s first
major foreign oil deal—as an "enhancement" to the country"s economy, rather than a
foundation.

.Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, who in 2005 became the first woman elected to lead an African
nation, said that to avoid depending too much on oil or any other single sector, her
government had focused on attracting investors in areas from rubber to mining, and
from countries from Asia and Europe to the Americas. "We"re going for diversity," she
said. On the oil front, she added, Liberia is studying countries including Norway as
models for sustainable resource management.

The president said Liberia has logged annualized economic growth of 6.5% and
attracted some $16 billion in foreign investment in the past 4½ years, and anticipates
double-digit growth in 2011. She credited the surge in foreign investment in part to her
government"s efforts to bolster security in the formerly war-torn West African nation.
Last week, Liberia cleared the way to return to international credit markets, finalizing a
deal that canceled its last outstanding debts to Paris Club nations.

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, who has said she will run for re-election in October 2011, said
challenges remain. Liberia is one of the world"s poorest nations, with an average annual
income of about $400. By some estimates, unemployment is as high as 80%.

The president said unemployment "remains a problem" but placed the jobless figure at
25%—a number that doesn"t count those who work as self-employed petty traders. She
said the country is planning to introduce vocational training to give Liberians the skills
to work in new jobs coming into the country.
--------------------
Kenyan Coffee Ranked Best in US Market (Business Daily - Nairobi)

Kenya"s coffee has acquired top rating in the US, raising the industry"s profile in its
long-standing campaigns of growing the American market share.

The taste of Kenyan and Sumatran coffees have outperformed samples available in the
US market at the moment, reported Consumer Reports, an American magazine.

"After sipping from more than 400 cups of coffee made from whole beans and served
piping hot in heated China cups, our expert tasters found one excellent and two very
Good Kenyan brews," it said.

The tasters cite the top rated Allegro Kenya Grand Cru for its balanced flavour.

The "very good" Green Mountain Kenyan Highland Cooperatives; and Coffee Bean &
Tea Leaf Kenya AA have been recognised for mild aroma and fruity tastes.

The magazine publishes product and services reviews based on consumer reports and
results from its in-house testing laboratory, with millions of shoppers in US using it as a
buying guide.

Experts said the positive rating will boost the industry"s ongoing branding efforts and
ultimately raise demand for Kenya"s coffee in the US as consumers and blenders
increase their uptake.

"Consumers now appreciate Kenyan coffee and they are likely to get more specific on
origin of what they ask for when they visit retail outlets as blenders also raise the
proportion of Kenyan coffee in their products," said the C Dorman"s managing director,
Ms Bridget Carrington.

The Kenya-based C Dorman is one of the leading coffee roasters and exporters from the
region.
For years local coffee industry has been campaigning to increase its pie of the American
market without much success.

Out of the coffee beans harvested in the country every year, at least 30 per cent is sold in
Germany leaving only five to nine per cent end up in the American.

"Most of the exports usually go to blenders who mix it with produce from other
countries, completing scrapping the Kenyan identity by the time the final product is
bought by the consumer," said Ms Carrington.

Last year, the Coffee Board of Kenya stepped up the branding of the country"s coffee in
a move aimed at placing the country in the league of countries such as Cost Rica,
Mexico and Columbia which are riding on single origin coffee brands.

The board"s managing director Louise Njeru said the industry was pursuing branding
both as part of value addition and as a promotion strategy.

"Kenyan coffee has high intrinsic value as a single origin for high end users and
branding will give us an opportunity to penetrate various niche markets," she said in an
earlier interview.

Branding, she said, also gives the country an opportunity to forge partnership ventures
with overseas supermarkets chains and roaster, easing market access.

On the other hand, Sumatran coffees- Green Mountain and Starbucks - are rated "good"
by the Consumer Reports Magazine.

The Kenyan coffee, the magazine adds, tend to cost more than Sumatran with overall
prices ranging from Sh880 ($11) to 1,360 ($17) per pound (450grams).

"Price didn"t predict quality: Two of the lower-rated Kenyan coffees cost a hefty $16.99
per pound," says the article.

At the Nairobi Coffee exchange, prices of major coffee grades have taken an upward
trend, which officials are attributing the low production and positive sentiments about
the Kenyan coffee.

Data sent to the Business Daily on Wednesday indicates that grade AA is currently sale
at an average price of $351.13 per bag, is a 9.55 per cent increase over last year"s levels
while grade AB is currently going for an average price of $303.64 per bag - an increase
of 35.7 per cent over the 2009 levels.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

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