People of the South

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Benguela — With the signing of the Benguela Current Convention, Angola, Namibia and South Africa will work together on the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, one of the richest ecosystems on earth.

Stretching from Port Elizabeth in South Africa to the province of Cabinda in northern Angola, the Benguela Current is an area of ocean that produces goods and services estimated to be worth at least US $54.3 billion per year.

Offshore oil and gas production, marine diamond mining, coastal tourism and commercial fishing and shipping are some of the most important industrial activities that take place in the region.

DIAMONDS AREN’T FOREVER 

Diamonds aren’t forever is the latest project by South African photographer Dillon Marsh. Marsh captures affects of the diamond industry in parts of South Africa and Namibia.

(Source: africandigitalart.com)

Happy Independence Day Namibia . Independence from South African mandate in 1990

(via Consultancy Africa Intelligence)

Namibian quiver trees and the glow of a galaxy

Florian Breuer is a mathematician who teaches in South Africa. He’s also a photographer, and created this spectacular panorama of the Quiver Tree Forest near Keetmanshoop, Namibia.

An Encyclopaedia of the Social and Political History of Southern Africa’s Languages (Publishers, Palgrave Macmillan, UK)is calling for entries for an edited volume, .

Brief Description of the Encyclopaedia

This volume is designed as an interdisciplinary collection of articles (entries) that would double as a handy and accessible reference on the subject of southern African languages within the broader context of the region’s pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial developments. The focus is on the social and political history of the covered languages, meaning their significance for ethnic, immigrant and social groups, as well as for various political projects, as they have unfolded during, roughly speaking, the last three centuries. In the Encyclopedia, the elements of linguistic description will be limited to a bare minimum necessary for positing the languages in a manner that is scholarly sound, but easily intelligible to the average reader. In this way, the stage is given to the social and political history of these languages.

Territories and States with Languages Covered

The Encyclopedia will cover over 220 languages in the following states and polities included in the concept of Southern Africa used in the Encyclopaedia: Angola (AO), Botswana (BW), Comores, Lesotho (LS), Madagascar (MG), Malawi (MW), Mauritius (MU), Mayotte (YT), Mozambique (MZ), Namibia (NA), South Africa (ZA), Swaziland (SW), Réunion (RE), Seychelles (SC), Zambia (ZM) and Zimbabwe (ZW).

Living in China Town

Windhoek - As SADC seeks to address its dire need of infrastructure development, it needs to brace itself for an imminent influx of immigrants from China.

SADC is bound to see an influx of Chinese firms and Chinese nationals finding their way to African soil as Chinese firms are taking up construction ventures in Africa and forging alliances with many African states.

There is need to engage such an economic powerhouse intelligently so that we can foster real economic growth and development and meet the needs of our own people.

What is notable is that Chinese firms have a tendency of bringing in their citizens to take up employment in semi-skilled posts that Africans can – and must – take up.

As was the case in the United States in the 19th century, Africa should get ready for the proliferation of the so-called China Towns.

The American gold rush of 1849, as well as the construction of the transcontinental railroad, resulted in an influx of Chinese migrants in the US.

In this very same fashion, SADC needs to be aware that the Chinese dragon will not only move its citizens from its rural areas to urban areas in China, but will also move people from China to Africa.

China has strong ties with most African governments, leveraging on its ties with liberation movements, and its policy of non-interference in domestic political affairs has seen it welcomed on the continent with open arms.

Namibia Is Southern Africa’s Desert Rose

(read further…)

Namibia must bridge yawning gaps in inequality, says UN independent human rights expert

Despite its economic and political gains over the past two decades, Namibia still remains beset by “unacceptable” levels of poverty, a United Nations expert warned today, while urging the African country to adopt major structural changes to tackle its levels of inequality.

“While I recognize the damaging legacy of colonialism, progress has not been forthcoming at the necessary pace,” said the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda, upon her return from a fact-finding mission to the country.

Ms. Sepúlveda pointed out that Namibia had enjoyed political stability and steady economic growth since its independence from South Africa in 1990, adding that the country was also rich in natural resources and boasted a gross domestic product classifying it among the world’s middle-income countries.

Founding President Dr Sam Nujoma says the youth of Africa must take up the challenge as modern economic freedom fighters to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the continent and its natural resources.

“The youth of Africa must rise to the occasion and proclaim loudly and proudly that Africa must be free forever and that the resources of Africa belong to Africans,” said Nujoma when addressing the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) Central Committee meeting over the weekend. It was the first SPYL central committee meeting since the SPYL congress.

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — The Namibian Press Agency reports the discovery of large deposits of iron ore that are the first found in the mineral-rich southwest African country.

The agency quotes the Namibia East China Minerals Exploration and Development company as saying the deposit of 2.37 billion tons (2.41 billion metric tons) has a lifespan of about 100 years.

It quotes geologists at the site in northwest Kunene region as saying the lode is 7 kilometers (more than 4 miles) long and about 160 meters (525 feet) deep.

In a report Tuesday the agency quotes Deputy Industry Minister Tjekero Tweya as saying he will travel to China soon to further negotiate development of the high-value industrial iron ore.

A host of other minerals are mined in Namibia including diamonds, gold, copper, uranium and lead.