Corporate Foreign Policy

Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Sri Lankan capital Tuesday to demand the immediate release of the country’s opposition leader, an ex-army chief facing a court-martial on charges including participating in politics while still in uniform. These charges have been called ‘baseless‘, as many feel they are trumped up from his running for office against the ruling regime.

The arrest of Gen. Sarath Fonseka has indeed been condemned by international human rights groups, many of which have accused the government of retaliation for Mr. Fonseka challenging President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his re-election bid. They say the government is trying to stifle the opposition before parliamentary elections on April 8 .

Fonseka is the leader of the opposition Democratic National Alliance, which organized Tuesday’s protest in Colombo, and is running for a seat in parliament despite his detention.

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Coal is big business in a growing India. And when it comes to coal, Coal India contributes almost four-fifths of India’s total production. In July, the powerhouse floated a tender seeking joint business initiatives in coal mining in Australia, the U.S., South Africa and Indonesia as it sought to secure fuel supplies for the world’s second-fastest growing major economy. Very quickly, many actors from a diverse range of nations raised their hands.

India’s coal, steel and power producers are scouting for coal assets overseas due to local output being unable to keep pace with the rising growth in demand, fuelled by, as Geoffrey A. Fowler writes in the WSJ, rapid capacity additions in the country’s power sector.

State-run Coal India Ltd. has received at least seven proposals from U.S.-based Peabody Energy  to partner in overseas coal assets and is examining two of them that include forming joint ventures and buying stakes in coal properties, its chairman said Friday.

“We are doing diligence on the proposals,” Partha Bhattacharyya told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference, without saying how long the due diligence could take or when a final decision is likely.

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The tone of this blog has sometimes veered off its original intent, every so often appearing similar to that of an international human rights watchdog.  Quite frequently however, we refer to the geopolitical and economic ramifications from the actions of an erratic authoritarian, of which there are unfortunately many, and not only the human cost.

Today, we don’t have to.  Shell has done this for us.

International oil majors have mostly lost interest in investing in Venezuela, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Tuesday, following leftist President Hugo Chavez’s nationalization of assets in recent years.

“They are desperately inviting people back in, but no one’s going there,” Shell’s Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry told reporters at the sidelines of a press conference in London.

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In the wake of the latest threat by the Chinese government, Google Inc.’s only choice is to pack up and exit the Chinese market, wholesale. In lieu of this, Chinese authorities on Friday told local news websites that if Google China does close, they will be required to use only official news accounts of situations, rather than publish stories from anywhere else.

The departure effectively removes the biggest foreign player from the world’s most populous and fastest-growing internet market. But the ramifications beyond page B1 of the Wall Street Journal are far more severe.

Access to information is a fundamental pillar of human rights. Through forcing Google out, China is now ostentatiously and abhorrently a symbol of prosperity first, society later. With systematic blackouts throughout politically-tumultuous regions of the nation, with millions upon millions of citizens denied even basic access to the internet and with what little information was open and debatable now forced to leave town, China has become a nation under a heavy veil of repression.

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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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