जागो इंडिया जागो...

the article clearly shows that now the super-powers (not to name) of the world are focusing on african countries because it is the next resource of "poor cheap labour".those following the US should understand that we are just their hand-puppets.we need to identify and develop our individuality rather than just following them.even today's crude oil price crises has been created by them only as they don't want the third world powers (india and china) to grow at a rate of close to 9%pa.take my words the same crude oil price will decline sharply once the inflation in south-asian countries crosses/touches 10%+ because for the simple reason we are the biggest buyers of their products...."jaago india jaago"
"I don't say that we should aloof ourselves completely with the rest of the world but at the same time we should not forget that we would have to pay a heavy price in future. the moment they part their ways"..ankur
IMF, World Bank & IFI Round-Up World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick told a news conference in Rome at the High-Level Conference on World Food Security there had been considerable consensus at the meeting on what is causing today's food crisis and on what needs to be done. "The challenge now for the international community is to do it. We need action, resources and results in real time," Zoellick said. "Riots in over 30 countries, 30 million Africans who will likely fall into poverty, 100 million people worldwide who are at risk, 850 million people who are malnourished; 2 billion people who are struggling every day to put food on the table. If we cannot act now. when?" Zoellick said at the G8 meeting, "we must see progress on addressing the longer-term challenge of doubling global food production over the next 30 years. [This] requires boosting developing country agricultural products and productivity so developing countries can benefit from the growing demand for food." Finance ministers from the G8 countries are likely to announce next week a joint initiative to develop bond markets in Africa with the goal of spurring Africa's economic growth by luring investment to the resource-rich continent, Dow Jones reports government officials from a G8 country said June 4. Finance ministers from the G8 will unveil the African bond market initiative when they meet in Osaka, western Japan on June 13-14, the officials said. The G8 plan is partly modeled on an initiative launched in Asia in 2003 to grow bond markets there, the officials said. But the African project will focus more on how to attract foreign investment because the continent has far less savings of its own than Asia, they said. In addition to bond markets, the G8 finance heads are likely to unveil a plan to better develop the overall African financial system to make it easier for small African companies to get loans from banks, they said. Improving African's transportation systems and rules over land tenure will be also part of their efforts. South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said a forecast by the African Development Bank that Africa's economy will expand 5.9 percent this year is probably an underestimate, Bloomberg reports. Rising commodity prices and better economic management in African countries will help to boost growth on the continent, Manuel said in a speech at the World Economic Forum conference in Cape Town. Investment into countries such as South Africa, the world's biggest gold and platinum producer, and Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer, has gained as metal prices climbed to records, fueled by demand from China and India. The AfDB said in a May report growth in Africa will exceed 5 percent in 2008 for a fifth consecutive year. "The outlook in Africa is exceedingly bright," Manuel said. "The Bank's forecast of 5.9 percent growth may be underestimated. Africa is a good place right now." Afghanistan needs to focus on spending international aid more effectively to ensure the war-torn country's economic development, the World Bank and IMF said in a joint report June 3. The multilateral organizations gave their qualified backing to the Afghan government's five-year National Development Strategy, which will be presented to international donors meeting in Paris on June 12, Dow Jones reports. "The strategy provides in many respects a reasonable basis for Afghanistan to move forward in addressing the difficult development challenges it faces," said Alastair McKechnie, Director of the World Bank's Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Group, in a statement. "While there is a need for greater investment in Afghanistan, we need to look beyond the size of the overall resource envelope and focus carefully on how this aid is spent and on how to increase the ability of the Government to spend it effectively in a way that produces demonstrable development results." The Islamic Development Bank has earmarked USD 1.5 billion to the least developed Muslim countries to boost food security over five years, Bahrain's Finance Minister said on June 2. "The board of governors has approved the five-year program to help reach food security in the least developed member states," Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammad al-Khalifa told an annual Islamic Development Bank governors' meeting in Jeddah. United Nations officials hailed the USD 1.5 billion donation as a significant boost to their efforts to address the global food crisis, though they acknowledged that much more money is required. UN officials say the food crisis could cost USD 15-30 billion a year to resolve. Lenders making small loans to poor people in developing countries should be subject to regulation to prevent abusive practices, according to the World Bank. The International Finance Corporation (IFC)'s "responsible microfinance initiative" follows growing concern about the high rates charged by some lenders and comes amid fears rising food prices could hamper poor people's ability to repay debts. The IFC plans to develop these principles in partnership with financial institutions and in consultation with a consortium of public and private development agencies. In an interview with the Financial Times (UK), the IFC's Executive Vice President Lars Thunell explains that "in addition to defining a set of prohibited practices - including a ban on the use of violence to coerce poor people to repay their debts - these principles are likely to include a commitment to education and an emphasis on disclosure and transparency, enabling borrowers to better compare interest rates."