African women miners win UN support - SADC Today - Editorial

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SADC Energy and Minerals team leader, Pierre Adama Traore, agreed with Lembalemba but pointed out that women miners deserved more financial help than what is already extended to their male competitors.

"Even if the women are involved in activities that give them money they will unfortunately use it to help the family and because of this women cannot keep money for investment," he said. (PANA)

SADC chamber of commerce formed

Dialogue between the business

community and governments of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) is set to improve following the formation of an association of regional chambers of commerce.

The Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI) elected its leadership, which will serve for two years, at a recent meeting in Mauritius.

The Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry was elected to the presidency for two years while the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce was elected to the vice-presidency for the same period.

The Mauritian chamber will play host to the body's secretariat for the two years after which the leadership will rotate among the SADC countries.

Objectives of the body include the nurturing of a culture of dialogue between governments of the region and the business community, as well as engaging other key players in the development process.

It will also seek to promote cross-border investments and trade, add value to the region's primary products and enhance the competitiveness of its affiliate bodies. (SARDC)

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Exerpts from address by President Mkapa at funeral

The week that Southern Africa will long to remember

Women miners from the southern African region have obtained a promise from the UN Development Programme to help them get training in Europe.

Namakau Kaingu, chair of the Southern Africa Development Community Women in Mining Trust, said this support could help her organisation win recognition from the World Bank and open doors to other credit giving finance institutions.

Olubanke King-Akerele, the resident UNDP representative in Zambia, has already promised to help the women miners, as well as Gita Welch, the UN Fund for Women regional advisor.

According to Kaingu, the UN officials have said they can arrange for the training in the Czech Republic, at no extra cost to the participants, provided the women can raise return airfares to Europe.

The UNDP has also accepted to help Zambian women stone-crushers, who presently operate from near quarries in Kalingalinga and Misisi townships of Lusaka, move away from their road-side niches.

The Zambia Mines and Minerals Development Deputy Minister, Kaunda Lembalemba, described the women miners as a latent force capable of transforming southern Africa through the exploitation of the minerals potential and transforming it into wealth.

Investment summit for Maputo

Southern Africa's trade and invest-ment outlook will once again come under spotlight when the International Herald Tribune convenes its fifth annual summit in Maputo, Mozambique later this year.

The Southern African Trade and Investment Summit will run from November 30 to December 1, bringing together over 300 international investors with

business and financial leaders from southern Africa and beyond.

Organisers said the summit will put emphasis on dialogue among delegates in order to facilitate greater interaction and make the meeting more interesting and effective.

The summit will be chaired by Peter Goldmark, Chairperson and CEO of the International Herald Tribune, Graca Machel and Tokyo Sexwale. (SARDC)

Botswana's ruling party sweeps to victory

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) swept˜33˜of˜40 seats in the nation's Parliament, almost wiping out the opposition, which had gone into the 16 October election holding 13 seats.

The historical opposition party, the Botswana National Front (BNF) picked up six seats, four more than they had when Parliament was dissolved, and the breakaway Botswana Congress Party (BCP) was reduced to a single seat, its leader defeated and 10 of its MPs sent to political oblivion. It had split from the BNF in 1998 and voters seemed set to punish them.

President Festus Mogae has now firmer control of the ruling party than ever and a cabinet of fresh faces has already been announced. He will now enjoy a full, fresh term of office.

President Mogae took over as president in April 1998 after Sir Ketumile Masire retired from office.

The BCP, trying to put the best spin on its dramatic reversal, said it would regroup, stand behind its leader Mike Dingake and would never rejoin the BNF. Dr. Kenneth Koma, returning to Parliament as opposition leader, was equally adamant that BCP was a spent force and could only return to a unified opposition on an individual basis.

The Electoral Commissions Forum of the SADC countries issued a press release saying that the election was managed competently "despite the fact that the ballot paper system, being used for the first time, caused some delays. In addition the centralised counting system further delayed the exercise."

"The electoral process and its outcome reflect the will of the people of Botswana. The mission congratulates them for a successful election," the statement added. (SARDC)

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