DAILY TRUST
Friday April 6, 2012
23
Busi ness/l nternationa I Workers strike at RUSAL alumina refinery in Guinea EMPLOYEES at UC RUS-
Au Fnglu3 alumina r~fin In Gui~ ha\"f! gone on S1nkt, paralysing operations the:rt. a union member and two other employees told RcUien., but the oomp;my Aid production losses would be -iNigniflCUlt": Kabmd. Barry, • spokesman (or- the ...'Qrkers union, said thar dcrmnth included a mimmum wage of S400 per month and the payment of the employees' medical U')'
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Two RUSAL employco nid tilt strike had shut down opt"fllUons at the
63Q,OOO-lonnes-pa-year plan!, the only refinery in Guinea, the worlds No. I aportcr of baUDII:!. A RUSALSlalemmt sent to Reuters confirmed the stIUec al Friguia but said il
was-mcgar.
-nat Company under-
takes all necessary actions to end lilt' ~:u soon as possible.," 1M RUSAL state-mmls;.ld. -It is C'XpKted thai the: possible production losses will be insignilicmt and will not impact RUSACs general opn;ational results,.. II added Reulas
S/ Africa's infiation to outpace subdued growth SOUTH Africa's economy will growmodestlYOVCTlhc nat three yraTS. weighed down by the unpaCI of the /:Urn zone debt crisis and
easily outpaced by an inflation rau Upl high by a waX nmd, a Reuters poll ihowcd yestmlay. The Reuters Economctcr, " confidence iodc based on sill: weighted indicators that measuru «onomlsts' VIews t ..... o years ahead. fell to 2613 I from 266.84 ID the March polL 1"he dip in sentiment wu driven by conccrru about Europe, South Africis Ingest rnding parUlu_ The poD of 19 economists showed a consensus forecast for 2012 growth of 2.8 petUnl - unchan~ from tbepreviow poD after the central bank raised its prediction to 3.0 percent from 2.8 pn-cer1t, citing a brightening domestic outloo~
The economists also kept held their proj«tions for nen year at 35 per«nl. aThe Rcscrve' Bank growth fOreelSt assumed that conditions in the nno zone are going 10 impro....t' but_. wt' do not really s« II signilicanllmprovement on our growth;' said Nedbank KOnomlSt Isaac Matshego. The Treasury's forecast is for 2.7 pcrt"ent expansion thisyeu. Preliminary estimates
put GOP growth al 3.1 percent In 2011 from 2.9 percent in 2010, and economists said the printe sector was still 5lruggling to bounce back from a 2009 recession. ·We haVt' not seen any pcnuasive or convincing spending by the pm'llte sec· tor despite a very accommodating monetary policy," said MandJa Maleka, an economist at Slale power utility £Skarn. Interest rales bave been at three-decade lows since NovembC'r1010, and ecOIl omists do nOl expect the central bank 10 embark on a tightening cycle Wore the second quarter of nm year. They 5ee: the repo nne ending thIS yw-unchanged al 5.5 percent. climbing 10 6.5 percent nat ycaraod to 7.5 perunt in 2014. Innation for2012is projected to modtt3te from last month's poD estimate of6.21 percent to an average of 6.03 pm:ent - still outside the central bank's 3·6 percent wga. They ~ the rand, which gained about 5 perunt in the first quarler of 201210 around 7.83 to the dollar, rising further to 7.68 at the cnd of the year - stlll weak in historical terms.. The rand should then dipto 7.93 al end-l0l3and t08.33 at enrl·1014, tht' poll
mowed. Rrutns
World food prices rise further, raising fears of unrest GLOBAl. food prkcsroseinMuch lOt • thud straighLmonth with IIlOR: hikes tooome, the UN"s food aamcY said )~ tcrday, adding to kani ofhunger and a new wave social unrest in pcI<W coun-
or
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fa<....,. """"
"""'" high ""'" last year- "'~ one of the main factors that contributed to the: Arab Spring uprisings In !he Middk- fa.sL and North
Afna. as well as bttad riots in other
or
parts the ",wid. The cost. of food has risen again this ycar after coming do¥."Jl from a Fcbru-
ary 20 II record peak. The FAO indct, which mc:a.sures monthly pritt changes for a baskrt of cereals, oilseMs. dairy, meal and sugar, a\~ 215.9 points in March. up from, m-asrd215A pointslll february, the United Nmoos' Food and .Agricul tureOrganisation (FAO) said AJthough below the February 201 J peak of 237.9, the indt::x is still higher than duringa food price crisis in 2fm08 that raised global alarm. '"The food crisis has not gonr away sinc~ then," said Emma Casella, 5pOkes-
woman for the U,N,j; World Food Prognmme. ~PricC'S arc a big conccm and haw: remained a Iargf: reason why pe0ple arc food ins«ure,." The FAOs senior economist and grain analyst Abddrt:za Abbasswl tokl Reuters there was scope for more priceri:se§ in thrfb1 halfofthis year, panicu. larlybr com and soybeans, which could also drive up the: price of wheal. Higher food prices mc:an higherimport bills for the poorest countncs, whkh. do not produu enough food
domcstical.ly. Rrutm
Drinks giant Diageo's Africa growth to accelerate BRITISH drinks giant Diageocxpects hsannua] growth in Africa to accelerate beyond the current 15 percent, helped by ilSttrO-dutyScnator kc:gbeer in Krn)'ll and a strong rise 1n JohnnIe WalkrTand Smimoff spirit sales. Africa Is Diageos biggest emerging market regJon and vies WIth ~Iin America to be its fastcst-growing. as ecl)nomic growtb-accelaales in much of the conlinerll and with Its population of one billion Sod to double by 2050. "WeareSttlngmore pcopk-with moremoneylo ~ and WIth these drivm of growth in place we eJ:pect overall gro~'lh to accderale,- Diageo~ Africa President Nick Blazque:z told Reuters in an intenriew yesterday. Th~ continent provides 14 perren! of Diagen', group salcsand the region has seen annua1 sales riR 15 percent ~r tht' last five ~rs. He is optimistic for more growth, with 7 of the world's 10 fastcst-growlng economies in Africa.. "Africa provides us with a great growth opportunity while western Europe and North America arc difficutL. We would expect spirits to grow faster than beer; hc addcd... The growth will help the group apand the proportion
of its sales il makes in OTIerging markets · Chief Executive Paul Walsh set a target to get half its sties from these (ut growing markets by 20 15 from arGWId 38 percent currently. Some 80 percent ofDiagco's Africa business comes from Nigeria, South Africa and fa.sL Africa, and Blazquez is keen to enter JICW mark.rts such as Angola, Mozambique and the Democ:ntic Republic of Congo with sales of spirits sri to grow faster than beer sales.. Spirits growth has OUlpKM that of btcr. helped by the- introduction of sm.aU bottles of spirits aimed at cash· constrained consumers which ~ helped Diagco grab a 40 percent share orthe inlemational spirits market in Africa.. How~er, bc:c:r was the- foundation ofDlageo's business in.Africa.. lIS Gllinness beer 6rst arrived on the continent with a shipmenllo Sicrra Leonc in 1827, while it built its first brewery outside Britain and Ireland in Nigeria in 1963. Around 70 pcrccn! ofitsAfrica business is in b«r, with Guinness the number two in Africa to SABMUIer's Carling Black Label in lerms of sales vaJue.. It is expanding. with Guinness brClo'UI in South Africa since Nm'Cl11ber last
year_Reuters
IUgandan coffee exports below target in MarchI UGANDA aponed a below-taq;et 187,595 6O-kgbags of
coffee in March compared wnh 223,099 1>.3gs a year earliC'r as the harvesl drew 10 an end, a sourcc althe state- run Uganda Coffee ~pment Authorny (UCDA ) said yesterday.
"WehadanticipalOO thisdecl.inc. Themain reason IS lhal the major harvrst in east and central regions is talling off so yields a~ low;' the- industry SOUTO!: saki... tn mld-Mar.Jl, the UCDA fOreaM exports for the month
would fall toatOllud 200,000 bags.. Cofftt is on(' ofUg;mdis moUn sources ofbard currency. Uganda's crnlral and ea5lem regiOns account (or 55 pacrnt of all Ugandas annual coffee OWpuL