On Samsung and its Refrigerator: Designing Products for Africa or Dumping Products in Africa?

Africa as a continent continues to be diplomatically hailed as a growing hub of investments while logical realities are pointing otherwise. Africa is a continent where economic growth is always at a constant war with economic development. Standard of living and per capital income among Africans are extremely relatively the lowest in the world. The poorest of the poorest nations are also in Africa yet the swindlers claim Africa is growing fast. This will be so anyway for as long as it is yielding profits to them and them alone.

Foreign multinationals have dominated Africa with the strongest of grips. Africa is a potent market where all sort of goods can be imported even the ones with no real standard check or verifiable authenticity unlike what is obtainable in the countries where the substandard goods are coming from as regards their own importation. However, Africans are part of the arrangement to always export fake and substandard goods into their countries especially Nigerians.

Reuters reports that Samsung Electronics is betting on a top-end refrigerator designed not to lose its cool in Africa as a way into the continent's consumer markets, where there is growing demand for prestige products which meet local needs. The refrigerator comes with a sticker saying it is "Built for Africa", meaning that while it is basically the same flagship product on sale elsewhere in the world it has been tailored to suit local conditions.

The South Korean firm's strategy is simple, and increasingly followed by a number of multinational firms looking to sell in an expanding African market - lay off the cut-rate goods, launch major products in Africa at the same time as the rest of the world but give them local appeal to build brand allegiance among consumers who are set to move up the income ladder.

"Africa is not a dumping ground for technology. You always have to keep in mind that you are creating your market for the future," said Thierry Boulanger, a director for Samsung at its African headquarters in Johannesburg. Samsung's "Built For Africa" refrigerators come with an extra layer of insulation guaranteed to keep food in the freezer frozen for a longer period of time without being powered.

Rolling blackouts are not uncommon in major urban African centres as power-strapped utilities try to lighten the load during peak demand. As a result the "dura-cool" refrigerator has boosted Samsung's standing in Africa's refrigerator market to a 23.5 percent share, with the company leading the sector for two straight years, Samsung says.

Also in the "Built for Africa" product line are certain flat-screen TVs and monitors and air conditioners with built-in protectors to avoid damage from the power surges that follow outages, and built-in solar panels for netbook computers.

Consumers in Africa, apart from the few rich individuals, usually do not have the wherewithal to purchase the ostentatious articles with standard labels due to the harsh economic realities. This is the bane of the flooding of the continent with substandard products. It has been said that even the soft drinks like Coca Cola among others produced elsewhere outside the shores of Africa are different from the ones produced in Africa especially those produced in Nigeria.

World Bank to help Congo Develop its Mining Sector

Sylvie Dosso Kouame, an official of the World Bank revealed that the World Bank is set to support the Republic of Congo in the development of the mining sector in an effort to diversify the economy. She stated: "It is an honour to have this opportunity to reaffirm the bank's willingness to support the Republic of Congo in its efforts to diversify its economy and manage its natural resources. The statement was made in Brazzaville at the opening of the first international conference on mines in Congo according to NAN.

"The government's decision to identify the mining sector as a priority sector is a very important one because the Republic of Congo can effectively become a major power in the mining industry both on the African and world stage and significantly stimulate the non-petroleum economy," she said. She spoke at a two-day conference organised by the Republic of Congo's Mines ministry in partnership with Ametrade Ltd., to bring together participants from Africa and elsewhere to promote opportunities in the Congolese mining sector.

She further opined that the eventual strategy of promoting the mining sector would contribute towards development and reduce poverty in the country. Kouame urged the Congolese government to revise its legal and taxation laws on the mining sector. According to her, this would help to consolidate the progress achieved since the coming into force of the mining code in 2005. The World Bank's official emphasise on the need for the state to have the necessary expertise when negotiating contracts with mining companies.

The World Bank has been accused of not being fair over the years when it comes to African matters. It has best served the interests of the foreign powers seeking to milk and suck Africa dry. The most worrisome and mind-boggling is that African leaders and policy-makers rush to those whose policies have not benefited any country on the continent beginning from the notorious structural adjustment programme of the 80s to the deregulation policy of the present era. Its policies have never suited Africa yet Africans kowtow to allow more.

The Changing World: China Considers Lifting Ban on Social Media

The world is a global village and the trend if not properly handled could consume a nation with the spread of social media. The precarious situation and vulnerability could 'destabilize' any nation who is not a member of the game being played by the powers who control the media; mainstream and social. The various revelations of Edward Snowden as well as Wikileaks have shown that nowhere is really fully safe from espionage activities.

An example of such fears in a country like China is the New York Times op-ed on Premier Wen Jiabao's family in 2012 which was greeted by massive ill-feelings from Chinese officials after the paper reported that several of Mr. Wen's close relatives had control over vast, secret assets worth at least $2.7bn. Beyond blocking websites Chinese authorities also monitor internet activity by individuals.

Investments and businesses are two formidable determinants of nations' behaviours as regards media freedom; mainstream or social. Investors want a relatively stable country with good records of press and people's freedom. Russia despite being known for its clampdown on dissenting voices is also dancing to the tune of change. Moscow is realising that the voice of the people is crucial in the scheme of things in a nation. Protests are now organised with little or no police intervention.

With the changes in the world, China seems to be considering lifting a ban on social media and major foreign news websites in a bid to provide comfortable living for western investors. The sites will be open only in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ), covering 28 square kilometers of the Pudong district. It is set to open for business on September 29. It is hoped to attract foreign investment and business, increase economic activity and inflows into China, as well as to boost massive economic reform.

The rest of Mainland China will not be given such an access. In many places on Mainland China, access to Facebook and Twitter have been blocked and both banned since 2009 due to mass-scale riots in the western city of Urumqi in Xinjiang province. Dozens of major news websites are also inaccessible as China’s government censors and blocks websites it considers inappropriate or politically sensitive.

Earlier in September, China's top court adopted a judicial interpretation allowing any internet user engaged in disseminating "false information" or "slanderous comments" to face up to three years in prison. Those found guilty of using "false online information" to provoke "serious public disorder" could face a prison sentence of 10 years. More recently, prosecutors are now obliged to open investigations if "defamatory" comments were "viewed by at least 5,000 internet users or have a re-tweet up to 500 or more times."

With the continuous efforts to draw in business experts and investments, things might be changing gradually for the Chinese and in China. The need  to make living conducive and convenient and move in line with globalisation and global demands led to the opening up of China initially in the late 70s. The current trend could begin to have impacts on its political spectrum and outlook as more and more Chinese demand reforms at home.

Nigeria: Ogun State woos United States on Investment

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun has called on the United States to partner with his administration in its ongoing rebuilding agenda. Amosun made the call in Abeokuta when he received a delegation of the US Congress, led by Mr Jeffrey Hawkins, the US Consular-General to Nigeria.

The governor particularly requested the US to invest in the non-oil sector in Ogun state. He said that the state was blessed with many mineral deposits in commercial quantities, and that such resources include bitumen, kaolin phosphate, granite and limestone.

Amosun, who urged the US Government to take advantage of the business opportunities in the state, said that Ogun was open to genuine investors.

The governor described the state as the investment destination of choice, and assured the team of a conducive business climate and encouraging returns on investment.

Hawkins had earlier said the team was on a mission to know more about Nigeria, adding that the delegation was in Ogun to witness the ongoing infrastructure development in the state.

Nigeria: More Investment Coming for Phones' Data Despite Insecurity and Erratic Power Supply

With recent moves in the adoption of rapid data-carrying smartphones, phone companies are planning to invest at least $5 billion in Nigeria. Nigeria is combating myriads of crises affecting mobile communications. The most central threat to the carriers comes from Islamist militants called Boko Haram as well as erratic power supply. The insurgents target phone company installations and well have killed thousands as well as destroyed massive properties.

The number of Nigerian smartphone users has been projected to increase to more than 35 million in 2017 from 5.6 million at the end of last year, according to researcher Informa. About 10 percent of Nigerian wireless subscribers use smartphones today. “Voice will remain the major chunk of revenue, but data is where the growth is,” Airtel’s Ogunsanya said. His company says its Nigerian business will expand at 10 percent or more this year.

The threat of bomb attacks is almost the biggest challenges facing wireless operators in Nigeria. Some days before Christmas in 2012, two suspected Islamist militants killed themselves in separate bombings that rocked offices of Airtel and MTN Group Ltd. (MTN) in northern Nigeria. MTN added 1,175 3G sites in Nigeria in 2012, almost triple its installations the previous year, while doubling capital expenditure in the country, according to the company. MTN also operates in Yemen, Iran and Afghanistan,

“It’s becoming increasingly challenging to operate” in areas where rebels are active, Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI)’s Nigerian unit, said by phone. “We are not security experts,” he told Bloomberg. Nigeria remains Africa’s most populous country and is expected to grow by 7.2 percent this year, versus an average of 5.6 percent for sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International Monetary Fund. It is a major market in Africa with a population of about 160 million.

Nigeria's mobile market is also the continent’s biggest, at 114 million subscriptions. That will grow to more than 200 million subscriptions by 2017, researcher Informa Telecoms & Media predicts. The militants continue to threaten the existence of the service providers.

MTN, Nigeria’s biggest mobile-phone provider, in April said it secured a $3 billion loan to invest in the country. Globacom Ltd., the No. 2 carrier, is investing $1.25 billion to upgrade and expand its network in Nigeria. No. 3 Airtel has invested $1.2 billion in Nigeria since 2010. Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT), the fourth-largest carrier in the country, said its Nigerian unit has secured a $1.2 billion loan for expansion.

The numerous and fearsome attacks have drastically reduced since the declaration of the state of emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states but the Islamists did not give up though; this time, mainly targeting students. Phone services which were suspended to break the communication links of the insurgents have also been restored following improvement in the security situations of these states.

China's Sinopec buys Marathon's Angola oil fields for $1.52 billion

China's Sinopec Group has agreed to buy Marathon Oil Corp's, Angolan offshore oil and gas field for $1.52 billion, Asia's largest refiner producer said.

It is no news that China is moving rapidly to capture the 'African Continent' if possible and if permitted. The main need of China is in line with that of Washington; oil and energy.

Beijing Consensus has every semblance with Washington Consensus in terms of quest for resources and wider outreach to source for them. Africa is their central point of focus.

Sonangal Sinopec International Ltd, the group's subsidiary, will acquire Houston-based Marathon's 10 percent stake on the Angolan field called Block 31, it said in a statement.

China's oil majors has been on an aggressive hunt for overseas assets to bulk up their energy reserves to meet future demand from the world's second-largest economy.

According to Reuters, CNPC agreed in March to buy a $4.2-billion stake in a Mozambique offshore natural gas field and on Friday agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Novatek's (NVTK.MM) $20-billion Yamal-LNG project in northwest Siberia.

The Angolan Block 31 field, operated by BP (BP.L), has estimated proved and probable reserves of 533 million barrels, Sinopec said, adding that it would hold a stake of 15 percent in the block when the transaction was completed.

The $1.52 billion due to be paid by Sinopec is part of a $3-billion asset disposal target set by Marathon in 2011 to shore up its balance sheet to fund further exploration and development projects.

Angola is moving rapidly in oil production, rivaling the African oil giant, Nigeria especially when the Niger-Delta crisis was on. Portugal, her former colonial master is also relying on Angola and its investments, centrally with and after the world financial downturn.

The deal is subject to approval by the Chinese and Angolan governments.

Angolan President says it’s Human to think about Succession

Perhaps, the thinking of succession blindfolded Maummar Gaddafi to the reality when  protests began and he felt Libya will be left in no capable hands on his departure if sudden and swift as the revolution came, hence, he was extremely defiant.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Africa’s second-longest serving ruler, said he has thought about a transition of power almost 12 months after winning another five-year term.

“Yes, of course, it’s only human to do that,” Dos Santos said in an interview with Portuguese television channel SIC posted on the broadcaster’s website. The full interview is set to air today after 8 p.m. in Lisbon.

The 70-year-old won a new term at the helm of Africa’s second-largest oil producer in August 2012 in the first national elections to determine a president in 20 years. Manuel Domingos Vicente, the former head of state oil company Sonangol EP, was named vice president.

Dos Santos, who came to power in 1979 and is currently the longest serving ruler in Africa after President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, said he is in favour of growing Angolan investment in Portuguese companies.

“Sonangol has taken the first steps and in some cases it has been successful and in others not, but what matters is that it advances,” Dos Santos said. Sonangol is Banco Comercial Portugues SA’s biggest shareholder with a 19.4 percent stake, according to the website of Portugal’s second-biggest publicly traded lender by market value.

Angola seems the only African country that appears to be more of a real trading partner now to its erstwhile colonial master than been looked upon as a 'colony' like in the case of former French colonies and indirectly, the former British colonies. Portugal ran to Angola during the financial downturn.

South Africa gets waiver from Washington on Iranian Oil

United States has given South Africa a six-month waiver on purchase of Iranian oil in exchange for promise to reduce oil transactions. South Africa is one of the 10 countries with such waiver.

The US State Department on Wednesday renewed waivers on Iran sanctions for South Africa, China, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan. Japan and 10 EU countries got waivers earlier this spring.

"The United States and the international community stand shoulder to shoulder in maintaining pressure on the Iranian regime until it fully addresses concerns about its nuclear programme," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

The waivers, which the State Department calls exceptions mean that financial institutions in the consumer countries do not risk being cut off from the US financial system for the next six months.

Washington has adopted sanctions has the main focal point among the strategies meant to choke fund for Iran and its nuclear programme, which Western countries suspect seeks to develop the ability to make weapons. Iran insists the programme is for peaceful purposes.

State Department and Treasury officials have pushed consumer countries to "significantly reduce" their purchases of Iranian oil without defining the volumes that have to be cut.

US and EU sanctions more than halved Iran's oil shipments last year, helping to devalue the rial, the country's currency, and pushing up inflation.

This May the sanctions drove the Islamic Republic's crude exports to the lowest level in decades according to industry sources and tanker tracking data.

Despite the damage the sanctions have done to its economy, Iran's government has foreign currency reserves worth tens of billions of dollars with which it can fund the nuclear programme. There is little evidence the sanctions have slowed the programme ahead of a presidential election in Iran next week.

President Barack Obama on Monday issued an executive order imposing sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate deals in the rial, which has lost two-thirds of its dollar value since late 2011.

Lawmakers in Congress also hope to pass legislation this year that could further limit Iran's oil sales and reduce Tehran's access to its foreign currency accounts, mostly held in euros.

Confirmed: NSA collection of millions of phone records 'renewal of ongoing practice'

The chairwoman of the US Senate Intelligence committee has said that the state has been collecting the telephone records of millions of US Verizon customers since 2006, and the order is a three-month renewal of a continuing practice.

The collection of records was “on an ongoing daily basis,” beginning on April 25, 2013 and ending July 19, 2013, Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic Senator from California confirmed to reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. However, the practice may have been ongoing for seven years prior to its exposure.

"As far as I know, this is the exact three-month renewal of what has been the case for the past seven years. This renewal is carried out by the [foreign intelligence surveillance] court under the business records section of the Patriot Act. Therefore, it is lawful. It has been briefed to Congress," she told reporters.

One anonymous expert contacted by the Washington Post in the wake of the scandal reiterated that the order appeared to be a routine renewal of a strikingly similar order issued by the same court in 2006, and renewed every three months since.

The top secret order required Verizon, one of the largest telecom agencies in the US, to provide both the FBI and the NSA information on all telephone calls made through its systems, both domestically and to foreign countries. A copy was obtained by the Guardian and published on Wednesday.

According to a copy of the order, Verizon is required to disclose the numbers of both parties during a call, as well as location, call duration, and other unique data on an "ongoing, daily basis.” Meaning that, regardless of whether an individual is suspected of or linked to any crime, the data of all Verizon customers is currently being delivered in bulk to the intelligence agency.

Verizon did not confirm the existence of the top secret order. In a memo sent to employees on Thursday, they stated that they were forbidden "from revealing the order's existence."

The court order expressively forbade Verizon from disclosing the existence of any US government request for the company’s customer records, according to the original Guardian exclusive.

As to the authority claimed by the government via this order, that is specifically cited to fall under the “business records” provision of the PATRIOT Act of 2001, which was granted a four-year extension by President Obama in May of 2011.

It remains unclear as to whether the order, which spans a three-month period, represents a single instance, or is indicative of recurring cases of Verizon and other telephone providers being ordered to disclose all their clients' call records.

The practice may also be more widespread among communications data companies than initially believed: CNBC contacted Sprint, a global provider of internet and communications services. The company told CNBC on Thursday that it had no comment on whether it may have received a similar FISA court order.

“If they have them for telecom companies, they probably have similar orders for internet companies,” Alex Abdo, an attorney with the ACLU's national security project told NBC’s Rachel Maddow.

China Wants More in Space Market; Moving Towards Hegemony

China is really keen to boost its share of the global commercial space-launching business, with the target of owning 15 percent of the market by 2020.

Deputy head of China's Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Liang Xiaohong told Xinhua News Agency that to achieve this goal, the country plans to build strategic alliances with major launch service providers and satellite manufacturers, and to develop its own technology.

China currently owns only 3 percent of the market but it hopes to become a major player in space in the near future. According to Liang, China's first solid-fuel rocket will be ready to make its first flight by 2016.

Chinese rockets' venture has been overshadowed by the achievements of rival Japanese and Indian aerospace industries, as well as private aerospace enterprises from Europe and the US in cost-efficiency advantage, Liang explained.

Russia continues to maintain the world champion in the space launch market, according to Russian federal space agency Roscosmos. Company head Vladimir Popovkin said that Russia conducted 24 space launches in 2012, sending 33 vehicles into space, accounting for 38 percent of all launches worldwide.

China has several types of 'Long March' rockets for use in commercial launches, all of which now mainly burn liquid fuel that must be pumped in just prior to launch, according to AP.

"The development of the Long March 11 will greatly improve China's capabilities to rapidly enter space and meet the emergency launching demand in case of disasters and emergencies," Xinhua quoted Liang as saying.

Earlier this week, China's space programme unveiled plans to send three astronauts to its orbiting space station this summer as part of preparations to establish an even larger permanent presence above Earth.

The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, which will carry one female astronaut, will spend two weeks aboard the Tiangong 1 space station, during which time a team of astronauts will conduct a variety of experiments. This will be China's second manned docking of two spacecraft in orbit.

The station will be replaced around 2020 with a permanent one weighing about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA's Skylab of the 1970s, and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station, according to AP.

Russia to Soft-pedal on Oil Exploration

Russia’s remote regions could become alive with access by foreign companies to explore oil in order to avoid the possible decline in oil, gas and mineral extraction.

They may be allowed to co-developing onshore deposits of federal importance, the Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy told a news-conference. He explained deposits in the Far East and Eastern Siberia will be first.

The initiative concerns all kinds of mineral resources except of those on the continental shelf, the Russian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Denis Khramov, told the Vedomosti daily.

In current Russian law, oil and gas deposits of national importance are those having 70mn tones of oil and 50bcm of gas. The list of those deposits was outlined in 2008. Ever since, only two Russian majors, Gazprom and Rosneft, have had access to sea deposits, while the right to develop fields were put up for auction with the limited list of bidders.

The access of foreign investors to such deposits was restricted four years ago; they have to get government approval to have more than 10% of the company developing deposits of federal importance.

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources expects oil production in the country to considerably drop in the near future. In 2013 the decline is expected to reach 0.8% or 510 million tonnes. In order to change the trend and until the Arctic shelf can fill the gap, which is unlikely to happen until 2020, the ministry plans to propel onshore production.

It is hoped the initiative will have a major impact on ore extraction as well as oil and gas. Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East are under-explored even though they have great potentials. If the initiative is approved by the government and the president, it could stimulate companies to develop the  area.

This will mark a turning point in Russia's Oil Industry and in Vladimir Putin's external rapport. The KGB 'guy' has always been skeptical of foreign investments and actions in Russia. Russia could simply be taking a leaf from China.

Russia to become Developed in Seven Years

Russia has been projected to become a developed country with low inflation, a sizable middle class, and much slower economic growth rates in just seven years according to a research report from Bank of America's Merrill Lynch.

Ironically the research argues that the country’s problems, such as a declining population, will become the catalysts for these changes and will actually drive the country to improvement in internal consumption.

“By the year 2020, Russia will turn into a developed country thanks mainly to its demographic problems,” the research by Vladimir Osakovsky of Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggests.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development also supported this concept, Finmarket.ru reports. Economists believe that scarce human resources will force employers to compete for qualified workers. Hence higher salaries will boost internal consumption.

Experts of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development however have disagreed with such a notion.

Russia and Cuba: Remembering the Cold War

Cuba's President, Raul Castro and Russia's Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev

Russia to lease eight jets worth $650 million to its Cold War- era ally Cuba and will partially write off the country's multi-billion-dollar debt owed during the Soviet-era under agreements signed during Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Havana.

Moscow will write off part of the $30 billion debt and will offer a 10-year refinancing plan for the remaining amount, according to the preliminary agreement, Russia's industry and trade minister Denis Manturov told reporters on the sidelines of the talks.

"There was an accumulated debt on loans allocated by the Soviet Union and we have now prepared an agreement that should undergo all the necessary procedures," he said.

Manturov said the final decision on debt settlement will be signed by the end of the year.

Russia will also lease three Ilyushin-96-400 long-haul jets, three AN-158 regional planes and two TU-204SM mid-range aircraft to Cuba under the agreements inked in the presence of Medvedev and Cuban leader Raul Castro.

Moscow will provide sovereign guarantees to a syndicate of Russian banks financing the deal, Manturov said.

Medvedev and Castro were seen chatting informally and broadly smiling during the ceremony. The Cuban leader greeted reporters in Russian.

Russia and Cuba enjoyed close relations during the Cold War which was between the Soviet Union and Washington over world hegemony and supremacy.

The volume of trade between the two countries last year was roughly $200 million. Oil companies from Russia, the world's largest energy exporter, are drilling into Cuba's offshore oil deposits which has also being of interest to the United States.

G20 Leaders Pledge to Avoid Currency Wars

G20 Leaders Pledge to Avoid Currency Wars
By Alexander Bratersky

Leaders of the Group of 20 said Saturday that global economic growth remains weak despite government measures, but they agreed to avoid currency wars intended to stimulate the economy by devaluing their money.

A meeting of the group's finance ministers and central bankers was held in Moscow for the first time, due to Russia's current G20 presidency. The Manezh exhibition hall, a stone's throw away from the Kremlin, was the venue.

"We recognize that important risks remain and that global growth is still too weak, with unemployment remaining unacceptably high in many countries," read a joint communique published on the G20's official site Saturday.

The communique, signed by high-profile financial experts including former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, also called on countries to avoid "persistent exchange rate misalignments."

"We will refrain from competitive devaluation," the statement said.

Financial experts said the communique indirectly criticized Japan, which recently devalued the yen to encourage economic growth by keeping interest rates at almost zero.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici told reporters Saturday that G20 members had agreed not to engage in currency wars.

The commitment is in line with the position of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who has said exchange rates should be set by the market because Central Bank interference could lead to imbalances, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported Saturday.

G20 leaders also said they had agreed to establish a joint study group with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations to stimulate the financing of long-term investment.

The G20 is also seeking to increase governments' control over the global financial system.

"The pendulum has swung toward tougher financial regulation," Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said Saturday, Prime reported.

The G20 meeting in Moscow was seen as a milestone for Russia, which is nursing the idea of turning Moscow into a key financial center despite purportedly poor corporate governance.

"A clear and enforced rule of law will be important for Russian financial markets to reach their full potential," Lawrence Goodman, head of the Center for Financial Stability, a U.S.-based financial think tank, told the Moscow Times in an e-mail interview Friday.

"Russian participation in the G20 and inclusion in the BRIC category of nations helps deepen its local financial markets," said Goodman, a former adviser to the U.S. treasury secretary.

"Although the clustering of Brazil, Russia, India and China is somewhat artificial," he said, "the four nations maintain the potential to shape future growth outside the advanced economies."

Prevent Social Disorder Through Money-Making: The Economist

ALBERT HIRSCHMAN knew what he was talking about when he called one of his books “Essays in Trespassing”. He was an extraordinarily peripatetic practitioner of the dismal science. Born in Berlin in 1915, he fled the Nazis in 1933, studied in Paris, London and Trieste, joined the anti-Mussolini resistance, fought on the Republican side in the Spanish civil war, served in the French army until France’s collapse in 1940, helped to organise an “underground railway” for refugees, emigrated to America, joined the army and was a translator at Nuremberg. He applied the cosmopolitan spirit that he had acquired in these years to everything he wrote.

He made his reputation as a development economist, focusing on Latin America, but he soon found himself trespassing obsessively—not only into other sub-disciplines such as the theory of the firm but also into other disciplines entirely such as political science and the history of thought. Mr Hirschman was never awarded the Nobel prize in economics he so richly deserved, perhaps because his writing was hard to classify. However, as if by way of recompense, Princeton University Press is about to publish a 768-page biography by Jeremy Adelman.

Mr Hirschman’s most famous book, “Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organisations and States”, remains as suggestive today as it was when it first appeared in 1970, for managers and policymakers as well as intellectuals. Mr Hirschman argued that people have two different ways of responding to disappointment. They can vote with their feet (exit) or stay put and complain (voice). Exit has always been the default position in the United States: Americans are known as being quick to up sticks and move. It is also the default position in the economics profession. Indeed, when his book appeared, Milton Friedman and his colleagues in the Chicago School were busy extending the empire of exit to new areas. If public schools or public housing were rotten, they argued, people should be encouraged to escape them.

Mr Hirschman raised some problems with the cult of exit. Sometimes, it entrenches the status quo. Dictators may rule longer if their bravest critics flee abroad (indeed, Cuba uses emigration as a safety valve). Monopolies may have an easier life if their stroppiest customers find an alternative. Mr Hirschman got the idea for his book during a ghastly train journey in Nigeria: he concluded that the country’s railways were getting worse because the most vocal customers were shifting to the roads.

Exit may also reinforce the cycle of decline. State schools may get worse if the pushiest parents take their custom elsewhere. Mr Hirschman worried that a moderate amount of exit might produce the worst of all worlds: “an oppression of the weak by the incompetent and an exploitation of the poor by the lazy which is the more durable and stifling as it is both unambitious and escapable.” (Mr Hirschman wrote better in his third language than most economists do in their first.) Exit may also entail costs. If you have invested heavily in a company that starts performing badly, then you may be better off agitating for a change in management rather than selling your shares at a loss.

Mr Hirschman overstated his case. Plenty of evidence suggests that choice can act as an energiser, not a soporific. The most comprehensive study of school choice, in Sweden in 1988-2009, by Anders Bohlmark and Mikael Lindahl, found that “free schools” (private schools that are paid for by the state) were not only good for their own pupils but also forced ordinary state schools to shape up. But Mr Hirschman’s overall point was not that exit is bad but that exit and “voice” work best together. Reformers are more likely to be able to fix an organisation if there is a danger that their clients will leave. The problem with Friedman et al was that they focused only on exit and not on how exit and voice could be used to reinforce each other.

Modern technology is adding to the power of both exit and voice. Consumers can abandon expensive middlemen for electronic commerce. They can also organise online armies to protest against poor service. But companies are also fighting back—making exit more difficult by persuading people to sign long-term contracts (particularly with teaser rates) and encouraging loyalty by offering rewards such as air miles. They are also adding their own voices to the hubbub via social media.

Squawk or go

Mr Hirschman wrote so much about so many different subjects that it is easy to see why his biography stretches to 768 pages. He challenged the conventional wisdom among his fellow development economists that poor countries need “balanced growth”; he argued instead that the “disequilibria” generated by unbalanced growth might do a better job of mobilising resources. He also challenged the conventional wisdom among sociologists and historians that the Protestant ethic prepared the way for capitalism. He suggested, rather, that the starring role should be given to a group of thinkers, such as Montesquieu, who argued that the best way to prevent social disorder was to channel people’s passions into moneymaking.

The Economist claims to engage in a “severe contest” with “an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”. Mr Hirschman was an eloquent ally. In “The Rhetoric of Reaction” he wrote that purveyors of “timid ignorance” rely on three types of argument: jeopardy (reforms will cost a lot and endanger previous gains); perversity (reforms will harm the people they are intended to help); and futility (problems are so huge that nothing can be done about them). That certainly describes the current debates about global warming, illegal drugs and countless other topics. With luck, Mr Hirschman’s exit will not silence his voice.

Is Brazil the New China in Africa?

Africa continues to be the home of all powers in the world; emerging or established. After the coming and exploitation of Europe, the United States followed. China is still currently doing hers and now Brazil. African leaders never showed any sign of moving beyond the continent's inverstments beyond its frontiers so as to be a relevant player in the world. All they make her do is accept others to exploit her.

Brazil's role as a trade partner with Africa is increasing, but the political links between the continent and Brazil may prove more important. In December, senior representatives of the Chinese and Brazilian foreign ministries met in Beijing for what was billed the 'second China-Brazil consultation on African affairs'.

They claimed to have expanded their consensus on Africa issues. It is understandably tempting to draw parallels between China and Brazil's economic and political engagement in Africa, and both have generated much speculations. But how similar are the two emerging powers' interactions with the continent?

While Brazil is often held up as the 'new China', the two countries have very different motivations for their presence in Africa. Unlike China, Brazil is relatively self-sufficient in terms of natural resources, and as a result Brasilia has not pushed the Chinese model of large-scale resource-backed infrastructure deals.

As far as Brazil's exports are concerned, Africa has nowhere near the strategic importance of markets in China, the US, or even Argentina. As such, it seems that Brazil's relationship with Africa has thus far been predominantly political rather than commercial.

Since the first term of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-10), the Brazilian government has strengthened its diplomatic ties across Africa.

After taking office, Lula quickly doubled the budget of the Itamaraty (Brazil's foreign ministry), leading to a concerted expansion of embassies in developing countries in general, especially in Africa. Brazil now has 37 embassies on the continent - more than the UK, a former colonial power. Between them, Lula and his foreign minister Celso Amorim visited Africa 80 times between 2003 and 2008.

Furthermore, Brasilia often invokes its historical, social, linguistic, and cultural links with Africa as a means to position itself as a 'natural' partner. Lula often spoke of an "historic debt" that Brazil owes to Africa, a reference to the historical exchanges between Africa and Brasil in terms of culture, traditions and people (Brazil is home to more people of African descent than any other country outside Africa).

Although domestic rather than foreign policy appears to be the priority of the current President, Dilma Rousseff, she has continued to chart a similar course. Notably, she has talked of a shared experience of colonialism and last year spoke of building a relationship with Africa entirely free of the "colonial practices that devastated my continent and the African continent, free of all the colonial hells that we lived".

There are clear links between these two parts of the world, but promoting them is also a diplomatic exercise. Such overtures towards Africa fit Brazil's more general policy of presenting an image of being a benign and neutral leader among developing countries.

This strategy is cogently designed with the objective of giving Brazil more projection in multilateral forums such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and of achieving the government's long-standing ambition to securing a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Alongside the political push, trade between the two regions has grown in total value over the last ten years, covering a wide range of sectors including oil and gas, fertilisers, beef, agricultural produce, minerals and automobiles. However, data from 2010 shows that Africa still only accounts for 5.3% of Brazil's total trade, a percentage that has decreased steadily since 2007, while trade with Asia has increased.

Nevertheless, while Brazil's strategy is political in emphasis, Brazilian businesses have often been central to the government's outreach programme. Lula and Rousseff have both fiercely advocated the formation of 'national champions': Brazilian conglomerates that expand the country's clout abroad and that aim to become worldwide market leaders.

To this end, the Brazilian state, via the Brazilian Development Bank(BNDES), often supports its private companies' African investments, taking advantage of its financial strength as a means to demonstrate Brazil's increasing global prominence. In Africa, Brazil's major construction and extractive firms - such as Petrobras, Vale and Odebrecht - have led the way in terms of investment and sales volume.

And while Brazilian investment in Africa remains a fraction of China's, investment value grew from $69 billion to $214 billion between 2001 and 2009. There have been particularly large investments in Lusophone Africa, often facilitated by credit offered to Brazilian companies by the BNDES: in Angola, BNDES credit has reached $3.2 billion. Notably, while Chinese policy banks such as the

China Exim Bank typically provide finance direct to African governments, the BNDES supports the expansions of Brasilian firms rather than foreign administrations. Further, Brazilian firms have often had to negotiate conflicting pressures from Brasilia: to promote Brasil abroad, but also to prioritise domestic investment and job creation in a time of diminished growth.

This is in contrast to Chinese policy whereby in the past decade, Chinese state-owned enterprises have often been charged with a mandate to aggressively expand at all costs in Africa. Brazil's expansion has been more cautious.

Brazilian investment in Africa is likely to continue in coming years. But as more investors inevitably make decisions in Africa on the basis of private interest and commercial returns, Brasilia may find it difficult to protect its national brand.

Private actors with differing agendas are becoming ever more visible, and there is a risk that this will undermine Brazil's political project of portraying itself as a partner which always prioritises mutual benefit in a spirit of co-operation and equality.