United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

10 February 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

State officials help in efforts to bring U.S. Africa Command to Cape Coral (News-
press.com)
(Pan Africa) State officials are going to help Cape Coral with its attempt to get the U.S.
Africa Command to relocate to the city. “We will work with local EDCs to ensure the
best possibilities for both Florida and Africom and keep Cape Coral in consideration
during this process,” Stephen Heiman of the governor’s office wrote in a Feb. 2 letter to
Mayor John Sullivan.

South Sudanese in the US mull going home to build a nation (Christian Science
Monitor)
(Sudan) Last month's historic vote on South Sudan's independence raises a tough
question for those who have fled the underdeveloped region: Should they return?

South Sudanese Minister Shot Dead; Brother-in-Law Is Held (New York Times)
(Sudan) A leading official of the government of the secessionist region of southern
Sudan was shot dead by his brother-in-law on Wednesday morning, according to
officials who said the motive was personal and unrelated to the region’s recent vote for
independence.

New Ivory Coast Ambassador Arrives in US (Voice of America)

(Ivory Coast) A new Ivory Coast ambassador has arrived in the United States, as part
of a diplomatic offensive by the internationally-recognized President-elect Alassane
Ouattara against incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo who is refusing to leave power.

General William Ward in Togo (Republic of Togo)

Translated from French
(Togo) President Faure Gnassingbe in Lome on Monday received the head of U.S.
command for Africa (Africom), General William E. "Kip" Ward.

UN rights body cautions Ugandan media against inciting public during elections
(Xinhua)
(Uganda) The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) office
cautioned the Ugandan media here on Wednesday to avoid inciting the public during
the general elections slated for Feb. 18.

Iran didn't breach UN ban, envoy to Nigeria says (Associated Press)

(Nigeria) Iran's ambassador to Nigeria said Wednesday that a Gambia-bound arms
shipment seized at Nigeria's busiest port three months ago did not breach sanctions
imposed by the United Nations.

Members of Central African Republic vote body detained (AFP)

(Central African Republic) Three members of Central African Republic's independent
electoral commission are in police custody linked to vote counting problems in the
south, the body said Wednesday.

Taylor snubs war crimes trial for second day (Reuters)

(Liberia) Former Liberian president Charles Taylor snubbed his war crimes trial for a
second day on Wednesday, prompting judges to adjourn the case as they consider
whether to allow a defense appeal over key documentation.

Major Gas Field Found off Mozambique (Wall Street Journal)

(Mozambique) The potential for East Africa to become a significant new natural-gas
producer grew Monday as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said it had made the fourth
major deepwater discovery off Mozambique's coast.

'Best Chance' to End Polio - Bill Gates Promotes Vaccines and Food Programs to
Attack Poverty (AllAfrica.com)
(Pan Africa) In his 2011 "annual letter" about the foundation's work, Bill Gates says the
world's poorest won't be taking their case to world leaders, so he wants to help make
their case for them "by describing the progress and potential I see in key areas of health
and development."

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 UN and artists use music to promote maternal health in Tanzania
 North and South Sudan make ‘significant’ progress on steps for separation – UN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 2:00 pm; Brookings Institution

WHAT Access During Humanitarian Crises: Barriers to Protection and Assistance
WHO: Claude Wild, Head of the Political Affairs Division IV, Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs, The Swiss Confederation; Elizabeth Ferris
Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, The
Brookings Institution; Buti Kale, Deputy Regional Representative for the United States
and the Caribbean, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
Martin de Boer, Deputy Head, Regional Delegation for the United States and Canada,
International Committee of the Red Cross; Gerry Martone, Director, Humanitarian
Affairs, International Rescue Committee; Ashraf Hadari, Political Counselor, Embassy
of Afghanistan
Info: https://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Register/IdentityConfirmation.aspx?
e=1fbbf519-874e-4ac1-a753-9c1c457ca0aa

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 10:00 am; US Institute of Peace

WHAT: Can Nigeria Hold Credible Elections?
WHO: Peter M. Lewis, Director, African Studies Program, School of Advanced
International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University; Dave Peterson, Director of
Africa Programs, National Endowment for Democracy; Ambassador Robin Sanders,
Co-Moderator, International Affairs Advisor, Africare; David Smock, Co-Moderator,
Senior Vice President, U. S. Institute of Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/will-nigerias-elections-be-credible
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

State officials help in efforts to bring U.S. Africa Command to Cape Coral (News-
press.com)

State officials are going to help Cape Coral with its attempt to get the U.S. Africa
Command to relocate to the city.

“We will work with local EDCs to ensure the best possibilities for both Florida and
Africom and keep Cape Coral in consideration during this process,” Stephen Heiman of
the governor’s office wrote in a Feb. 2 letter to Mayor John Sullivan.

Heiman, who is the interim military and defense liaison for the state’s Office of
Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, also suggested the city contact Enterprise
Florida to discuss steps the city can take to reach its goal.

The mayor, city councilmen and City Manager Gary King all signed a letter sent to the
governor’s office last month seeking his assistance.

The current Africom headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, employs about 1,200 people.
It is responsible for all of the Department of Defense's operations in Africa, including
humanitarian efforts, counter terrorism and training.
--------------------
South Sudanese in the US mull going home to build a nation (Christian Science
Monitor)
For the South Sudanese diaspora in the United States, the referendum marked a
moment of joy and relief – the establishment of their own homeland may finally mean
they don't have to worry about the safety of friends and family.

But the vote also raises a tough question for those who have fled South Sudan: Should
they return?

Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

"They are excited, they are ready," says Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, head of the government
of South Sudan's mission to the US, which acts as an unofficial embassy. "They came to
get educated, to gain skills, and to go back and participate in development," he notes.

Their support for independence is clear – 99 percent of the 8,500 voters in the US cast
ballots for secession. But that support may not translate to an immediate return.

The new South Sudan will be one of the world's poorest countries. Ninety percent of its
population lives below the poverty line, according to the United Nations, and the
region is largely undeveloped. It could take decades for South Sudan to develop
infrastructure and a robust economy.

South Sudan set to join ranks of five of the world's newest countries

A lack of jobs makes South Sudanese in the US reluctant to return permanently, says
Moses Ajou, who has lived in Chelsea, Mass., for 10 years. "There's a lot that still needs
to be done," he says. "They would be happy to go back and work there, but [the
government] can't guarantee jobs."

Instead, many plan to send remittances, which they feel are needed more than their
physical return. "The situation back home is pretty dire. They need money there more,"
Mr. Ajou says.

He adds that many will stay in the US but visit South Sudan and keep their citizenship
there, explaining that they can be Sudanese and American.

"They say all Americans have two homes."

--------------------
South Sudanese Minister Shot Dead; Brother-in-Law Is Held (New York Times)

KAMPALA, Uganda — A leading official of the government of the secessionist region

of southern Sudan was shot dead by his brother-in-law on Wednesday morning,
according to officials who said the motive was personal and unrelated to the region’s
recent vote for independence.
The official who was killed, Jimmy Lemi, was southern Sudan’s minister for rural
development and cooperatives. The officials said his brother-in-law, Emmanuel Luga,
had recently been replaced as Mr. Lemi’s driver. They said Mr. Luga stormed Mr.
Lemi’s office and opened fire, killing Mr. Lemi and a security guard before he was
arrested.

Benjamin Marial, the minister of information, said Mr. Luga had been fired as a driver
because his behavior was “erratic and rude.” For several months before the shooting, he
had been campaigning with Mr. Lemi but had yet to be paid, the information minister
said, speculating that this might be a motive for the killing.

“It is a clear criminal case,” said Gier Chuang Aluong, southern Sudan’s minister for
internal affairs. “They seemed to be having internal grievances.”

He said that Mr. Lemi and Mr. Luga had returned to the capital from the countryside on
Tuesday night and had been seen together on Wednesday morning.

Southern Sudan held a historic referendum last month as the keystone in a 2005 peace
treaty with the north that brought decades of brutal civil war to an end. The region is
considered one of the poorest and least developed places in the world.

The future of the region is further complicated by the fact that much of the south’s
regional government is composed of former rebel fighters from the civil war. Analysts
there say that, six years after the war ended, there is still a widespread proliferation of
weapons across the countryside, and that corruption pervades the government.
--------------------
New Ivory Coast Ambassador Arrives in US (Voice of America)

A new Ivory Coast ambassador has arrived in the United States, as part of a diplomatic
offensive by the internationally-recognized President-elect Alassane Ouattara against
incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo who is refusing to leave power.

Daouda Diabate spoke to dozens of Ivorian nationals who gathered at the Embassy
Suites hotel in Washington, shortly after he had landed at Dulles International airport.

He explained he was part of a team trying to get the cocoa-rich but divided and
struggling Ivory Coast, known in French as Cote d'Ivoire, back on track.

"Cote d'Ivoire used to be qualified as an economic miracle in Africa and this is the kind
of thing that we know that once again we can achieve. We have the people. We have the
resources. We have the opportunities. We just need peace and stability and we just
want to see the right man at the right place and do the job, with democracy, with good
governance and all these things Cote d'Ivoire can come back to that kind of success," he
said.
Diabate, a former ambassador to the United States under Mr. Gbagbo, was more
recently ambassador in Brazil, before being appointed back to the United States by Mr.
Ouattara.

After the reception, he rushed off to the State Department to finalize a process which he
hopes will get him recognized by U.S. authorities and at work at the Ivory Coast
embassy in Washington before the end of February.

Balla Sidibe, who recently led a protest of Ivory Coast nationals outside the White
House, greeted the new ambassador's arrival, but said even if he gets to work in
Washington, the battle remains in the Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan.

"We need to also acknowledge the fact that right now Cote d'Ivoire is being taken
hostage by one individual that does not want to quit. He is a sore loser. His name is
former President Gbagbo," Sidibe said.

One of the organizer's of Tuesday's event Toumani Sissoko was one of many who took
time off work to attend.

He said he hopes the U.S. government will do more than just current economic
sanctions to help oust Mr. Gbagbo, who remains in control of the army, ports and state
media.

"I think the United States has to show force to Mr. Gbagbo without using it first.
Showing force means the United States can bring some military, some aircraft, some
boats, and all these things and show to Mr. Gbagbo we are ready to strike and Mr.
Gbagbo knows how powerful the U.S. army is so he may leave," said Sissoko.

That option has not been raised publicly by U.S. officials who say Mr. Gbagbo stole the
election. But officials from the West African regional grouping ECOWAS have raised
the possibility of outside military intervention with a U.N. mandate as a last resort.

A panel of African heads of state recently mandated by the African Union sent
negotiators to Abidjan this week as part of a new month-long mediation attempt.

Last year's much delayed U.N.-sponsored election which was supposed to reunite Ivory
Coast, divided in two since 2002, has instead intensified divisions and led to dozens
more deaths.

After national election commission officials gave the victory to Mr. Ouattara by a wide
margin following the second round November run-off, the country's constitutional
council threw out votes from the rebel-held north, erasing the first result and instead
leaving the state's power in the hands of Mr. Gbagbo. The incumbent has said any
Ouattara diplomatic appointment is illegitimate and that he will reciprocate by forcing
ambassadors to leave Ivory Coast.

Mr. Ouattara's appointment to the United Nations Youssoufou Bamba has already
started working in New York, and was also present at Tuesday's event in Washington.
Another Ouattara appointee, Ally Coulibaly, now heads the Ivorian embassy in the
former colonial power France, even though he initially had to use the services of a
locksmith to force his entry into the compound in Paris.

Calls to the Ivorian embassy in Washington on Tuesday to see if employees there would
cooperate with the scheduled handover went unanswered.
--------------------
General William Ward in Togo (Republic of Togo)
Translated from French

President Faure Gnassingbe in Lome on Monday received the head of U.S. command
for Africa (Africom), General William E. "Kip" Ward, which on this occasion reaffirmed
the U.S. commitment to assist Togo in maritime safety in the program "Africa
Partnership Station" for the fight against terrorism, piracy and trafficking drugs.

The U.S. ambassador, Patricia Hawkins, attended the meeting.

The military has praised the quality of Togolese troops engaged in operations of
peacekeeping in Cote d'Ivoire and the Central.

The boss of AFRICOM also met with Chief of Staff of the FAT, General Mohamed Atcha
Titikpina and boarded the USS Robert G. Bradley wet for a week at the Port of Lome.

According to an official U.S. visit of General Ward in Togo translated "a positive
relationship between Togo and the United States."
--------------------
UN rights body cautions Ugandan media against inciting public during elections
(Xinhua)

KAMPALA - The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR)
office cautioned the Ugandan media here on Wednesday to avoid inciting the public
during the general elections slated for Feb. 18.

Birgit Gerstenberg, UNHCHR representative in Uganda, told reporters here that

although the media should fully exercise the right of freedom of expression, it should
exercise it responsibly following the ethical and normative limits that accompany it.
Gerstenberg was speaking at the launch of a code of conduct booklet for the media
during the election process. He said responsible reporting is related to free and fair
elections without intimidation, exclusion and violence.

"The responsibility to take care of the broadcast message is with the media and every
media professional," she said.

The code of conduct written by the Electoral Commission (EC) aims to enhance
awareness among media practitioners on the rights, roles and duties during the
electoral process.

Badru Kiggundu, the EC chairperson, appealed to the media to be mindful of whatever

they broadcast or write noting that it can either spark violence or lead to a peaceful
election.

"We emphasize that the Commission and the media should aim at being in unison
during the electoral process," he said.

The political atmosphere in the East African country has started heating up with the
country's EC and the police urging the public to desist from violence.

Some observers have warned that election violence is likely to erupt if the elections are
not conducted in a free and fair manner.

Some countries and humanitarian agencies have urged their citizens and staff both local
and international to take caution and make special preparations, citing possible violence
ahead of, during and after the elections.
--------------------
Iran didn't breach UN ban, envoy to Nigeria says (Associated Press)

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Iran's ambassador to Nigeria said Wednesday that a Gambia-bound

arms shipment seized at Nigeria's busiest port three months ago did not breach
sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

Hussein Abdullahi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the arms shipment
seized Oct. 26 "was not conflicting with the U.N. sanctions" because Iran and Gambia
had signed a secret agreement two years before the U.N.'s 2010 ban on Iranian arms
exports. However, the U.N. had banned the country's arms exports in a 2007 resolution,
before imposing more comprehensive sanctions in 2010.

Abdullahi also said at a media briefing hosted by his embassy Tuesday that the arms
shipment was not destined for Nigeria as local authorities had initially suggested.
Nigeria officials have said they believed the weapons were bound for politicians to
cause unrest around the country's upcoming April elections.
Abdullahi said that he had spoken to senior officials of the Nigerian government as
soon as the shipment was seized and told them that the intercepted cargo was the third
of four Gambia-bound shipments originating from Iran.

"I tasked them to please not to allow people who are not happy with our friendly
relations to gain advantage of this incident," he said Tuesday.

This revelation, however, is only the latest twist to the mystery surrounding Iranian
arms shipment. Nigerian security officials found 13 containers full of 107mm artillery
rockets, rifle rounds and other weapons in a shipment marked as containing building
materials on Oct. 26.

Nigeria has reported Iran to the U.N. over the shipment and Gambia has cut its
diplomatic ties with Tehran.

Iranian citizen Azim Aghajani Nigerian Usman Abbas Jega face charges accusing them
of orchestrating the illegal arms shipment. The two men have pleaded not guilty.
--------------------
Members of Central African Republic vote body detained (AFP)

BANGUI, Central African Republic – Three members of Central African Republic's

independent electoral commission are in police custody linked to vote counting
problems in the south, the body said Wednesday.

The three, who include the head of the commission's vote counting operations Rodrigue
Maite and two local officials, were placed in custody after some legislative votes failed
to reach counting stations in the southern Boganda region, the body's spokesman
Rigobert Vondo said.

"At the level of counting (the votes)...some 20 (results from polling stations) have
disappeared," he said, adding the commission is trying to verify the information.

Joined by telephone while he was in custody, Maite said the voting records had been
transmitted to a counting station headed by an "expatriate expert."

"It was at this level that the records disappeared," he said.

On Monday, the electoral commission announced provisional results from last month's
legislative elections with the exception of Boganda and Birao in the north.

The results, put the party of President Francois Bozize in the lead, were denounced as a
"masquerade" by opposition parties.
With just over 66 percent of the vote according to official results, Bozize's KnK party
appears on course to win an absolute majority in the National Assembly during the
second round scheduled for March 20.
--------------------
Taylor snubs war crimes trial for second day (Reuters)

THE HAGUE - Former Liberian president Charles Taylor snubbed his war crimes trial
for a second day on Wednesday, prompting judges to adjourn the case as they consider
whether to allow a defense appeal over key documentation.

Taylor, the first African ruler to stand trial for war crimes, has denied 11 charges of
instigating murder, rape, mutilation, sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers
during a civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

Taylor and his defense lawyer Courtenay Griffiths boycotted much of Tuesday's
hearing after the Special Court for Sierra Leone refused to accept the defense's almost
600-page final case summary because they filed it 20 days after a January deadline.

Both Taylor and Griffiths, who has appealed the decision denying him the right to
lodge the documentation, boycotted the hearing again on Wednesday and Griffiths said
he would continue the boycott until the documentation was accepted.

"What we were trying to do is ensure we get some semblance of justice out of this and
it's turned into this personalized attack on us," Griffiths told reporters outside the court
on Wednesday. "I find it totally despicable."

Griffiths had requested an extension of the filing time limit before the deadline. He said
he was still waiting for the judges to rule on eight legal matters and therefore had not
been ready to file his summary last month.

But in a majority ruling late on Wednesday, the trial judges directed Griffiths to attend
the next hearing on Friday, warning that unless he apologizes for his boycott this week,
the court "may impose sanctions."

Any sanctions are stipulated by court regulations around misconduct of counsel and
include the possibility of Griffiths being ruled ineligible to represent Taylor or being
fined.

Prosecutors accuse Taylor of directing Revolutionary United Front rebels who raped,
killed and hacked off the limbs of women, men and children in a campaign of terror in
Sierra Leone.
They also say Taylor tried to control Sierra Leone's diamond mines, using "blood
diamonds" -- a reference to stones taken from conflict zones -- for profit or to buy
weapons.

Griffiths has questioned the Sierra Leone court's impartiality, citing leaked U.S.
diplomatic cables he says suggest Taylor's prosecution was politically motivated.

More than three years of testimony was due to end this week. Tensions ran high on
Tuesday, and Griffiths stormed out of the court, an act that put him at risk of being
ruled in contempt.

Justice Richard Lussick sharply rebuked Taylor and the defense, telling them: "you're
not running the court you know."

"ILLEGITIMATE"

The defense was due to present its closing arguments on Wednesday, but judges
adjourned the case until Friday, when the defense is due to rebut the prosecution's final
arguments.

Presiding judge Teresa Doherty was given a letter which she said she presumed was
from the court's detention center and which indicated that Taylor had "waived his
right" to attend Wednesday's hearing and was not sick.

Griffiths said it would be "illegitimate" of the defense to attend hearings until judges
accept the final documentation.

In seeking the appeal, the defense noted in its court filing that Justice Julia Sebutinde
had opposed the majority decision denying the filing of the documentation. Sebutinde
had said it would be "in the interests of justice" to accept the brief.

Under court procedures, Griffiths must first seek the right to appeal the decision not to
accept his documentation, but it may take a few days before a decision is made on his
request.

That decision could be handed down on Friday, but the defense lawyer said it was
possible judges could opt to close the case on Friday prior to a final judgment in the
trial, expected later this year.
--------------------
Major Gas Field Found off Mozambique (Wall Street Journal)

LONDON—The potential for East Africa to become a significant new natural-gas

producer grew Monday as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said it had made the fourth
major deepwater discovery off Mozambique's coast.
The latest find follows other large discoveries in Mozambique's Rovuma basin by
Anadarko and its partners, and similar finds in the same geological structure off
Tanzania by BG Group PLC.

"The discovery at the Tubarao prospect opens an entirely new play style, which has
additional opportunities in Mozambique's Offshore Area 1," said Bob Daniels,
Anadarko's senior vice president of worldwide exploration. "This is our fourth
significant discovery in the offshore Rovuma Basin and further strengthens our
confidence in our geologic and geophysical models of the basin."

Anadarko said in November that its discoveries off the coast of Mozambique have
given it confidence that reserves are large enough to justify a liquefied natural-gas
project. Industry analysts say gas discoveries off Africa's east coast would be ideally
placed to supply Asian natural-gas markets by the middle of the decade, when the
current surplus of LNG cargoes is expected to have been absorbed by increased
demand. Anadarko hasn't given a reserve estimate for the discoveries.

Bill Herbert, an analyst with Houston-based energy investment bank Simmons & Co.,
estimated the first three discoveries will likely yield between six trillion and eight
trillion cubic feet of gas. Reserves of four trillion cubic feet of natural gas are typically
required to justify investment in a single-train LNG facility.

The Tubarao well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 13,900 feet in water
depths of 2,950 feet, around 18 miles offshore. It encountered more than 110 net feet of
natural-gas pay and no water in a high-quality Eocene-age reservoir that is separate and
distinct from the hydrocarbon accumulations in Anadarko's three previous discoveries,
the company said in a statement.

Anadarko's partners in the well are Mitsui Corp. Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.,
Videocon Industries Ltd., Cove Energy PLC and Empresa Nacional de
Hidrocarbonetos, Mozambique's national oil company.

Evolution Securities analyst Richard Griffith said the latest discovery raises the
likelihood that other undrilled potential reservoirs in the area also contain gas.
--------------------
'Best Chance' to End Polio - Bill Gates Promotes Vaccines and Food Programs to
Attack Poverty (AllAfrica.com)

Washington, DC — The likelihood that few African countries will meet any of the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals, aimed at reducing severe poverty by
2015, has prompted a spate of studies, books and debates that examine development
assistance. Many argue that aid, in general, has done more harm than good.
Since leaving an operational role at Microsoft in 2008, Bill Gates has devoted full time to
the premise that international assistance, spent effectively, can make a critical difference
in livelihoods. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, founded by Gates and his wife,
Melinda French Gates, possesses the largest assets of any U.S. grantmaking
organization, according to the Foundation Center - some three times that of the next
wealthiest, the Ford Foundation. The Gates Foundation's lead in annual donations is
even larger. Warren Buffett's 2006 pledge of most of his shares in his Berkshire
Hathaway investment firm effectively doubled the foundation's grantmaking capacity.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation describes its circle-closing approach to giving as a
four-step process: develop strategy; make grants; measure progress; adjust strategy.
Gauging effectiveness is built into the evaluation process, leading to areas of focus. In
more than a decade of operations, a major constant has been the push to save children's
lives through basic heath interventions in poor countries. Reducing hunger through
agricultural innovations has become a theme of the global development program.

In his 2011 "annual letter" about the foundation's work, Bill Gates says the world's
poorest won't be taking their case to world leaders, so he wants to help make their case
for them "by describing the progress and potential I see in key areas of health and
development." AllAfrica's Tami Hultman talked to him last week in Washington D.C.
about his message.

The foundation is a major investor in food security projects in Africa. The British
government has just released quite an alarming report, " The Future of Food and
Farming ", calling for urgent action on the production and distribution of food, calling
this a unique development in history. Do you see this as a moment of unique peril or
unique opportunity, or both?

We need to take a long-term view of increasing productivity, particularly African

productivity, because the world's going to need more food. It's kind of a wonderful
thing that the needs of the smallholder farmer in Africa and the needs of the world line
up. If we can get these farmers productive-enough seeds, get them the access to inputs
and extension services, there's always a chance to create something that's self-
sustaining. The demand is there.

There's no other place in the world where there's as much acreage that is low
productivity as in Africa. My wife was in Ghana last week, seeing some of the projects
we're involved with - some of which involve cocoa farming. They are getting trees that
are four times more productive. Now they need credit to get the fertilizer, and they
need information on how to do that. The world wants to buy those goods.

It's very clear that this is an alignment between what the world wants and what farmers
need. Urban food prices have gone up a lot – and the 70% of the poor that are
smallholder farmers, it's great for them.
A lot of things you can't do in a year. You need to start now. Over a five-year period for
some of these interventions - and in some, if it's new seeds, maybe even a ten-year
period - the opportunity to even triple productivity levels is definitely there.

You talked in our last conversation about the importance of an integrated approach for
advances in health, for example in fighting malaria. Do you see the same thing in
agriculture? For example, do there need to be international coalitions to coordinate
work with farmers - and on food policies in general - to make it easier to earn money
from those crops by selling them?

Well, you just need to help these farmers get their productivity up. Sometimes that
involves infrastructure, like roads. Sometimes it involves agricultural research groups.
We're actually using a pretty low-tech thing, where we use videotapes and DVDs of
farmers talking to other farmers about best practices, as a way of doing the education.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa , under [former UN Secretary General]
Kofi Annan's leadership, that's done very well. We have the project with the World
Food Program (WFP) I mention in the letter. We gave them grants to use their expertise
to help smallholders improve their quality in packaging and storage, so that they're able
to compete to provide food for big buyers, including WFP. That lets WFP buy more
food locally, get it out quicker, lower transport costs. So it's a win-win, where you have
some spot in Africa that doesn't have enough food and somewhere else that has the
food to sell. You're doing it within the continent, which is a new model.

USAID administrator Rajiv Shah says the aid agency sourced $250-million worth of
food aid locally last year , up from zero a few years ago. What would happen if all
bilateral and multilateral agencies tried to follow that example wherever food sources
were available locally? Would that make a big difference? Or is there just too little
available locally, and that's what you're trying to address on the ground by getting
productivity up?

You don't want to abruptly switch and force everything into that mode, because some
of the generosity you get in your food program comes from the fact that you're willing
to take some of the output from rich countries. The world is doing a much better job
striking a balance between local sourcing and global sourcing now than it did in the
past. You have some extreme things - like Nigeria imports an immense amount of rice
from Thailand. Well, what is it about Nigerian rice-growing that in terms of quality and
productivity means that the county's not self-sufficient? That should be fixable, and
there is some progress, but they're still a net importer.

So you don't have to deal with those local sourcing issues if you can just feed people
right where they are?
Right. Africa should be able to feed itself and export, and amazingly that's not the case
today. And the increase in urbanisation means that you've got to raise your
productivity just to meet that goal.

You make the case in your letter that reducing the disease burden helps to meet all
kinds of goals, including, I guess, food security - by reducing birth rate, raising IQs.
That's not something we hear much talk about.

No, it's not promoted. The population growth challenges in Africa are really a bit scary.
There are many positive trends in Africa, and I'm very excited about the progress. The
thing that is tough is that even if average family size goes down, you're going to have a
level of increase. But if we don't improve health, then you'll have an even greater
increase. Tanzania's definitely going to be 90 million people, but if you don't focus on
these health things it's going to be 150 million people.

It's kind of mind-blowing how challenging that is. Whether it's education or jobs, the
quality of governance, stability - all of those things are within reach, if you don't have
an exploding population. I don't know why it's not talked about more, because it's a
very big deal. It has nothing to do with overriding anybody's choice or desire. This is all
voluntary stuff. As you have more healthy children, it's just the choice in the family [to
have fewer). It's good locally and globally.

You mentioned that one of the keys to Africa feeding itself is unused or underutilized
land. At the same, there is a kind of land-rush in Africa, with investors buying large
tracts of land. A report just published by the International Institute for Environment
and Development in London expresses concern about the trend when there is lack of
adequate scrutiny and little local benefit. But the report cited Liberia under President
Eleanor Johnson Sirleaf as showing that carefully drawn contracts actually can be
beneficial. Do you see any reason for optimism that these kinds of policy issues are
going to get more attention and improve over the next few years?

Many of those land deals are beneficial, and it would be too bad if some were held back
because of Western groups' ways of looking at things. Whenever somebody invests in
Africa and actually builds infrastructure in Africa, they're the ones who are at risk. You
can't take the infrastructure home! I'm not endorsing all these deals, but when capital is
put into Africa, that's a good sign. Africa has to look at these things, but it shouldn't be
viewed purely through Western eyes, because there's a real opportunity as the rest of
the world looks to Africa.

So make sure they're reasonable, but don't reflexively react against them?

Yeah, there'd be a tendency to do that by people from outside the country.

You talk about polio in your letter this year and how close the world is to being able to
eradicate it. Is that one of those things people could get excited about?

Absolutely! I'm very excited. It's the thing I'm spending more time on than anything.
Nigeria was a place we haven't gotten rid of it. But now it's spread: Niger, Chad, Congo.
We've got a number of places where we're pushing it down.

In Nigeria, the north is always a challenge, and we hope the election doesn't distract
people. But it was a fantastic year in Nigeria. We've got more than 80% case reduction.
That's a combination of both the priority that it was given by religious and political
leaders and this more focused vaccine - mono-valent vaccine - that is more powerful. So
it is a very positive trend. We've got a lot of energy about "Let's finish this thing".

That's quite a statistic: 80 % reduction in a year.

Unfortunately the numbers can jump up at you. This Congo outbreak is a great example
of why you need to get to zero, because otherwise you'll just be spreading it back to any
place that doesn't have very high vaccination levels. This is our best chance, and each of
the African governments has to take this very seriously.

I'm now helping to make sure the money gets raised. The biggest donors are the US and
our foundation and Rotary . But we got Abu Dhabi to put money up ; then the UK
doubled their commitment to the polio campaign . So I think we'll be able to raise the
budget.

It's amazing to think that only a couple decades ago there were 350,000 cases.

Yes, this would be a miracle - the second miracle after smallpox. And it would
reinvigorate and energize the whole field of world health to take on the challenge of
getting more new vaccines out and getting coverage rates up from the 70 % we have
today to something closer to 90%.

So successes create hope, and that creates energy?

Well, we certainly saw that when smallpox was finished – the last case in 1977; declared
eradication in '79. Right after that, Unicef took on the challenge of getting vaccination
rates from 20% to over 70%. Africa had extremely low vaccination rates, and so a huge
part of the increase - under the leadership [of former Unicef head] Jim Grant - was in
Africa.

It's plateaued since then, which is better than falling off. But now we need to re-energize
that. I see all the key actors – Gavi [the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization],
Unicef, WHO [World Health Organization] , people like ourselves – saying: "Let's get
polio done! Let's get these vaccination rates up, and get rotavirus, pneumococcal, let's
get them out there."

That's why I focus so much on it's not just the mortality benefits, although that alone
should be enough. It's the fact that so many of the kids who survive are permanently
damaged. I think if African governments understood that, they'd make this much more
of a priority.

You talk about vaccines in general as magic.

Yes, it's the 2% of health spending that gives you the majority of all benefit in health
interventions. If you're doing the right things on the kids under 28 days of age [the
neonatal period that accounts for a large proportion of child deaths] - taking care of
mothers and kids; doing vaccination right; and avoiding and reducing Aids - you can
have great health, even in a fairly poor country.

I was struck by your figure that, in effect, for every $2000 reduction in effective vaccine
spending, a child dies. That certainly seems a good rallying cry for public support. But
what about policy makers, who are so stretched and confront impossible budget
choices? How do you make the argument to somebody who's got to figure out how and
whether to maintain the level of international assistance?

Well, you've got the example of the United Kingdom still increasing their foreign aid,
up to 0.7% of GDP, even when they're having to cut everything else in their budget. The
UK's been amazing. We hope a lot of people benefit from that example. We're not sure
what's going to happen to aid levels in many places. There have been some cuts. Italy
has cut more than anyone.

Everyone's got budget challenges, even the United States. So I'm doing my best to
remind people that aid is not some amorphous thing, It's not palaces for [former Congo
dictator] Mobutu. It's polio eradication, rotavirus vaccine and more productive seeds
for food security and poor-farmer income.

You make the case that HIV/AIDS needs to have prevention as well as treatment. It's
not something we hear a lot about any more, but it's still a huge issue.

Initially we thought, okay, we'll just make people aware of HIV. The Kaiser Foundation
and our foundation funded a thing called LoveLife . [It was] the biggest billboard buyer
in the country and raised awareness up to like 99%, but, unfortunately, the actual
behavior change was very modest. So it's a challenge.

Male circumcision has come along as a very concrete thing. The demand is there; it's
just that governments haven't scaled up the capacity – regulatory hurdles, not
authorizing the very efficient ways for it to be done. Kenya's the only one that's moved
to speed on that.

What do you see as the most important message that you're trying to convey, whether
you're writing a letter or speaking to a group or to a journalist? What's the crux of what
you're trying to communicate?

We can help all countries have the basic things we take for granted, in terms of nutrition
and child health - and that allows them to be self-sufficient. It's a benefit to them - but
also, in terms of stability and disease, it's a benefit to the whole world. We're on track
for a lot of great improvements. We just need to make sure that we keep those
investment levels, even in tough budget times.

Even though the pro-democracy movements across North Africa are focused on
governance, a spark was certainly poverty, economic desperation. I think they're trying
to make your case for you - that the world would be more stable if we would make
these investments, and we would all be beneficiaries.

Yeah, Egypt's population went up faster than they were able to create economic
opportunity. It's a good message of how you look at population growth and how you
maximize economic opportunity.

And make long-term investments, as you say?

Almost all these things, if you think long-term, there are some highly leveraged ways to
do it.

So you're optimistic?

Yes, I'm optimistic. Every year we'll have less children dying, less polio cases, better
food productivity. As we improve things, the incremental steps aren't as noticeable as
the occasional setback. But Africa is way better today than it was 20 years ago. There are
a lot of good models for people to learn from.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN and artists use music to promote maternal health in Tanzania

9 February – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has teamed up with a
group of artists from the United States and Tanzania to raise awareness, through music,
on the need to have better maternal health services in the East African nation, where
deaths related to childbearing remain a serious challenge.

North and South Sudan make ‘significant’ progress on steps for separation – UN
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of follow-up arrangements between the two States following the southern region’s vote
for independence, the top United Nations envoy in the country said today.