Corporate Foreign Policy

It appears as though Ghana will retain 38% of its domestic oil revenue, an advisor to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Joe Amoako-Tuffuor has stated, quoting a Daily Graphic report from March 6, 2010.

The newspaper cited a recent presentation Amoako-Tuffuor  made, wherein he noted that Ghana will earn from direct and indirect sources such as royalties, corporate income tax, dividends, additional income tax, surface rental and carried interest.

Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity was announced in Ghana in 2007, many Ghanaians have focused on how much money the nation will make. One estimate even approximated that every citizen will get 17 pesewas when the amount is shared among all Ghanaians.

With the country’s current GDP at well over $18 billion, Dr Oteng-Adjei said the total revenue to the government and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in respect of royalties, income tax and interest payment on oil and gas exploration would be $1 billion per annum, at an average crude oil price of $60 per barrel.

And thats not all - the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edmark International, Mr. Sam Low Ban Chai has indicated that Ghana abounds in huge investment opportunities which could be explored by all potential investors.

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It has been a difficult month for the Tories across the pond in Britain – talk of internal divisions and doubts over their economic policy make question time fun to watch again.  Now is the time for a positive PR campaign, some votes for the blue boys. The Guardian gets proper credit for reporting this one – they’re at least getting international commendations; no lesser global statesman than Robert Mugabe has offered David Cameron his endorsement.

“We have always related better with the British through the Conservatives than Labour,” Zimbabwe’s president said today. “Conservatives are bold, [Tony] Blair and [Gordon] Brown run away when they see me, but not these fools, they know how to relate to others.”

If David Cameron relates to others like Robert Mugabe relates to others, I fret for Britain.

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Two years after the violence that devastated Kenya, the country shuffles forward on a razor’s edge. Very soon, the International Criminal Court will decide whether to allow prosecutors to open investigations in to those believed to be responsible for mass expulsions and killings following a controversial election.

This occurs parallel to the uncoordinated political agenda we see today from Kenya, stifling continued investment and hindering Kenya from moving on. Instead of focusing on the real issues, politicians in the region are collating their public relations teams and preparing their respective campaigns for the upcoming 2012 election. How it will end any differently is anyone’s guess.

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Rule of law is hardly adhered to in Venezuela, nor is democracy, for that matter – casualties of the revolution our favorite erratic autocrat repeatedly claims is on the rise. Judges who rule against the favor of the government’s wishes have been known to be thrown in jail themselves. Those in the executive cabinet that choose to speak out against the administration might wind up behind bars on trumped up charges so ostentatiously fabricated, it would be hilarious if not so sad. And mayor-elects might just not make it to mayor – that is, if they too oppose the powers that be.

It is in this light that the latest electoral news hit the wires – Venezuela’s highest court on Wednesday annulled the election of an opposition mayor, replacing him with a supporter of President Hugo Chavez until a new vote is held.

The Supreme Court threw out the 2008 election of Jorge Barboza, mayor of the Sucre municipality in western Zulia state, on grounds that he failed to pay $292 in local taxes.

The justices ruled Barboza was ineligible to continue as mayor because he lacked “the suitability (required) for the management of a mayoral post.”

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Operating in Brazil comes with inherent risks; yes we’re talking about a nation on the rise, strong economic potential and a major boost in infrastructure that will raise the collective eyebrows of the international community. However, when mining a precious metal, one must heed caution. Many times, risks include corruption and political unrest. In some cases, you may just end up having your gold mine robbed.

Perth-based junior Troy Resources has unfortunately lost up to $2.23 million worth of gold in a robbery at its Andorinhas mine in Brazil, the company announced yesterday.

Security has been a consistent worry for Troy employees operating in the region. According to a Troy spokesman, in this instance a group of armed robbers took three employees hostage on the road leaving the mine before returning to the Andorinhas site where approximately 2,000 ounces of gold doré was taken.

The hostages were then released unharmed.

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Marian Tupy is a policy analyst at the CATO Institute in Washington DC with a unique interest in Zimbabwean affairs. He, along with many of our readers and indeed writers, was horrified while watching images emanating from Zimbabwe covering the cholera outbreak, and was baffled as to why it wasn’t nipped in the bud at the first sign of danger.

In the article below, excerpted from the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Tupy documents how one man sought to hold those accountable for the spread of the unprecedented epidemic in Zimbabwe, attempted to raise awareness at those initial stages and how for his efforts, had his very career put at risk.  Today’s dispute tribunal being held Nairobi will hope to raise international awareness to the efforts of Dr. Tadonki, whose pro-bono council is CFP Founder Robert Amsterdam.

Over the last 10 years, Robert Mugabe’s government has destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy and eviscerated freedom in the country. In addition to the many victims of state-sponsored violence, hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of avoidable hunger and sickness.

Yet most African leaders either passively watched or actively supported the criminal regime in Harare. A trial that will start today in Kenya may show that the U.N. has also betrayed the people of Zimbabwe by cozying up to the dictator and hiding the truth about one of the worst episodes in that African country.

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Far be it for me to quash birthday fever, Mr. Mugabe.

I just find it alarming that we’re celebrating after a year of systematic destruction to your government’s infrastructure. I find it frightening that you are so jubilant this soon after knowingly passing an ‘indigenization‘ bill that would deter not only fresh investment to an already heavily-sanctioned Zimbabwe but stifle continued investment. Far worse, I find it ominous that cake this year will be served at China’s embassy.

In an act of unabashed ‘foreign policy‘, China’s Foreign Ministry stated today that its embassy in Zimbabwe had thrown a birthday party for the now 86-year old President Robert Mugabe.

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Health and political risk are no stranger bedfellows in Nigeria than oil reserves and skiff-boat diplomacy. From the surrealism of‘missing president’ Umaru Yar’Adua, linked to the outside world via a ghostly voiced interview with the BBC, and with attendant disputes of legitimacy and sovereignty, Nigeria has seemingly chosen to solve the crisis in its own way, by effecting what some call a ‘democratic coup’. One by one, the elected institutions of state (the powerful governors’ forum and both houses of the National Assembly) and several non-elected regional councils met and agreed to support the handover to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Whatever the constitutional doubts that remain, the resolution passed on the 9th of February by the National Assembly, citing the appropriately titled ‘doctrine of necessity’, to recognise Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President was warmly welcomed by Nigerians who had watched the country teeter for over 70 days.Many can chalk the instability to the health concerns of Yar’Adua, whose unfortunate bout with near-kidney failure has stirred the political pot as to who shall succeed him.

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Opposition parties in Ivory Coast staged protests today as the west African country awaited the annoucement of a new government after President Laurent Gbagbo scrapped the previous one. The protests are growing in volatility as a nation awaits a government in flux.

The head of the former rebel New Forces (FN), Guillaume Soro, whom Gbagbo reappointed as prime minister, arrived in the political capital Yamoussoukro for talks with the head of state.

Since Gbagbo caused an outcry Friday by dissolving the government and sacking the head of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), the main question has been whether the opposition will take part in Soro’s new team.

Soro has been consulting with both Gbagbo and the main opposition coalition, the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), which has demanded the reinstatement of the vote commission if it is to take part in government.

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President Robert Mugabe today stated that he and his partners in Zimbabwe’s unity government agreed that “sanctions must go“, a day after the European Union extended its restrictions on the country.

“We are in agreement,” Mugabe told reporters after a tourism conference in Harare. “We are all agreed that the sanctions must go.”

Mugabe has long claimed the heavy sanctions imposed from the United States and the EU to be forms of ‘economic terrorism’. Today, his jargon at an all-time low, he strategically sought to include his erstwhile rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the unity government formed nearly a year ago.

But EU leaders on Tuesday cited a lack of progress in implementing the power-sharing agreement. Their referencing the lack of political re-construction is not unwarranted. It has been very apparent that the ruthless authoritarian will not leave the executive office quietly, nor will he share power. Instead, he will prove to the international community that a shared government is a dysfunctional government.

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