US and South Africa discuss investment and trade promotion; Reuters survey shows Asia taking record West African oil; Sudan agrees to allow relief supplies to rebel-controlled areas; Egypt orders air strike on Sinai peninsula; African leaders divided on c
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  • According to reports, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited South Africa as part of her tour of the continent and participated in the third annual U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue, a high-level summit aimed at promoting U.S. investment and trade. The Summit brought together 200 top business executives representing a range of sectors including aviation, energy and shipping and government officials from both countries. It would be worth noting that South Africa plans to make huge investments in infrastructure over the next 20 years that could create new opportunities for American businesses and jobs in both countries. 1

    According to the Reuters survey of trade and shipping sources, Asia is poised to import record volumes of oil from West Africa in 2012 as increasing supplies of high quality crude affected its export prices and some buyers avoided their traditional oil supplier, Iran. It shows that end-consumers in China, India, Indonesia and other Asian countries have bought around 1.74 million barrels per day (bpd) of West African crude in the first nine months of 2012, up around 8 percent from the same period in 2011. The survey notes that Africa's two biggest oil producers, Nigeria and Angola, have been well placed to meet this extra consumption. 2

    In another development, report noted that Sudan has agreed to allow relief supplies into the two rebel-controlled border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, where fighting and denial of aid access for more than a year has left civilians facing a humanitarian disaster. The agreement was reached between Sudan and South Sudan after Sudan's negotiating team reached a deal with South Sudan over oil transit fees. 3

    According to reports, responding to the killing of sixteen soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi removed his intelligence chief and one of the most powerful figures in the country, General Murad Mowafi, and ordered the first air strike in the Peninsula after a gap of almost 40 years. The President also dismissed Abdul Wahab Mabruk, the Governor of North Sinai where the raid on the military base took place. The retaliation for the deaths of the troops, killed by Islamist gunmen, came with an Egyptian air raid on a Bedouin settlement in Sinai that left about 20 dead. In addition, Morsi deployed thousands more troops and police near the Israeli border. 4

    Reports noted that the African leaders at the International Conference of Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have failed to agree on the composition of a proposed neutral force to tackle the insurgency in eastern Democratic of Congo where fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese government forces has displaced nearly half a million people since April 2012. Regional leaders in July 2012 brokered a deal for a "neutral force" to be set up to handle Congo-based rebel groups. However, the heads of state of east and central African nations meeting to discuss the eastern Congo crisis was divided over whether the troops for a mission to Congo would be drawn from regional countries alone, or would be an international force. In the end, all the eleven members of the ICGLR signed a final communiqué in Kampala, pledging to seek "home-grown solutions" to the fighting. 5

    In an important development, according to reports, Libya's national assembly elected former opposition leader Mohammed Magarief of the National Front party as its new President. Magarief, seen as a moderate Islamist, will head the 200-member congress, which will name a prime minister, pass laws and steer Libya to full parliamentary elections after a new constitution is drafted in 2013. Magarief is an economist and former Libyan ambassador to India and had lived in exile since 1980s. He was a leading figure in Libya's oldest opposition movement, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which made several attempts to end Muammar Gaddafi's rule. 6

    Reports noted that as part of her 11-day, nine-country Africa tour, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Nigeria and reaffirmed what she called the "vital" strategic partnership between the two countries and offered U.S. assistance in marshaling Nigeria's security against the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram. She reiterated Washington's commitment to the bilateral relationship and support for Nigerian reforms, including anti-corruption efforts. Further, the United States offered to help Nigeria "harmonize" the efforts of its police, military and other security forces. 7

    In other developments, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported that Qatar has decided to give $2 billion in financial support to Egypt, which is affected by serious economic challenges. The announcement came after a Cairo meeting between President Mohamed Morsi and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. 8

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