We Must Have a WW II Type Military Mobilization NOW to Combat Covid-19 in Africa

July 21, 2021July 21, 2021 Lawrence Africa, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, COVID-19, deaths, delta variant, healthcare, hospitals, India, infrastrucure, South Africa, third wave, Uganda, vaccines

This report below by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, published July 19, should serve as a call to arms for immediate action to prevent the deaths of several hundred thousand Africans in the months ahead. Now is the time for action; not debate. Africa needs 3 billion doses of the vaccine, not the few hundred thousand doses that are being dribbled out by the Western countries. Africa’s 1.5 billion people must be vaccinated now-not in 2023. We African nations need to upgrade their weak healthcare system. Manufacturing and distributing centers for the vaccine must immediately be created along with necessary infrastructure, logistics, and training. Now is not the time to quibble about money. Human life is more precious than money. Don’t worry about lending money, give the money outright to prevent Africa from experiencing what India has suffered, and potentially far worse.

READ: Spotlight devastating human toll delta-Covid-variant-takes-hold-in-Africa

By the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, July 9, 2021

“The surge in the Delta coronavirus variant in Africa is set to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths in the coming months absent a dramatic scaling up of preventative measures and COVID vaccine access.

“While parts of the world have seemingly begun to turn the page on the pandemic, COVID’s third wave is the headline story across Africa. There has been a near tripling in the number of COVID cases and 30,000 fatalities on the continent since the end of April when the Delta variant emerged in Uganda.“

Read my earliuer posts:

Vaccination and Healthcare for Africa NOW! Prevent Scourge of Covid-19 and Save Lives

Biden Must Lead All-Out Effort to Vaccinate Africa From COVID-19

Rising Covid19 Death Rate Threatens Africa. Vaccinations and Healthcare Must Be Provided

International Cooperation and Collaboration Needed to Save Lives in Africa From COVID-19

New Economic Order Required to Combat COVID-19 in Africa

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton

BRICS Summit: Part of a New Paradigm for the World

August 11, 2018 Lawrence Africa, agriculture, Belt and Road Initiative, Brazil, BRICS, China, development, India, New Paradigm, Russia, science and technology, Silk Road, South Africa, Xi Jinping

Below is an interesting analysis on the role that the BRICS are playing in creating a new paradigm of international relations independent from British “geopolitical” control. This is especially important for Africa, which will soon be the most populated continent on the planet. (excerpts below)

“BRICS Countries at the Center of a New, Just World Economic Order!”

by Helga Zepp-LaRouch

July 28, 2018

“While the West is trying in vain to uphold the old paradigm of the neo-liberal economic system, more and more nations are working with the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and other regional organizations under the rubric of the Belt and Road Initiative, on the basis of win-win cooperation, and demonstrating that the world can be organized in a much more human fashion than that which we have seen from the European Union with its barbaric refugee policy.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized, in his July 25 speech to the BRICS Business Forum, which included Indonesia, Turkey, Argentina, Jamaica, Egypt and many African leaders—that “The international community has reached a new crossroads” and must build a whole new platform for international relations. With an inspiring cultural optimism–lost in Europe, Xi emphasized the crucial role of scientific progress as the engine of economic construction: “Science and technology as the primary productive forces generate an inexhaustible power that drives the advancement of human civilization.” Humanity has made huge leaps from agricultural to industrial civilization, and is now facing a new round of scientific and technological revolutions and industrial transformations, and if countries seize the opportunities these offer, they could enjoy dynamic economic growth and a better life for their people.

Xi said Africa has “more developing countries than any other continent,” and therefore has “more development potential than any other region in the world.” The BRICS should therefore “strengthen cooperation with Africa, support its development, and make BRICS-Africa cooperation a model for South-South cooperation.”

Putin To Light Up Africa; African Leaders Gather at BRICS Summit

July 28, 2018July 28, 2018 Lawrence Africa, agriculture, Angola, BRICS, development, energy, Gabon, India, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, nuclear energy, Premiere Moda, President Putin, Russia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Russia will light up Africa – Putin

Published time: 27 July, 2018

RT article

The African continent is in huge need of energy investments, and Russia could become one of its key partners, according to President Vladimir Putin speaking at BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

“I would especially like to note that Russia is planning to step up its assistance in development of national energy in African states,” said the Russian president during the BRICS-Africa Outreach panel on Friday.

The leaders of governments of BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) were holding a panel dedicated to economics cooperation between the bloc and African countries. The rationale behind the BRICS Plus concept is to create a platform for greater interaction and partnerships amongst countries to win more power for emerging economies globally.

According to Putin, Russia is in talks with Angola, Mozambique and Gabon on implementing promising oil and gas projects. “In the field of nuclear energy, where Russia is the technological leader, we offer African partners to build an industry from scratch,” the Russian president said. These projects are crucial for Africa since about 600 million people on the continent live without electricity.

Energy is not the only sphere where Russia and Africa could cooperate, according to Putin. “Russian business shows interest in working with African partners in a wide range of areas, including agriculture, healthcare, the development of mass communications, geology and subsoil use,” Putin said.

As examples, Putin mentioned Angola, where Russia’s Alrosa is interested in mining diamonds, a joint venture between Russia and Burundi on the production of lighting products for exports to East Africa, and agriculture projects in Senegal.

Modi Emphasizes India’s Commitment to Africa’s Development at the BRICS

July 27, 2018

Addressing a BRICS Outreach Dialogue Session today in presence of a large number African heads of state, Indian Premier Narendra Modi said: “The coming together of so many African leaders during this program is a wonderful thing. India’s ties with Africa are time-tested. The Government of India has deepened engagement with Africa. Economic and development cooperation between India and Africa have touched new heights,” India’s WION TV news reported from Johannesburg.

Among the African heads of state were: Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Edgar Lungu (Zambia), Hage Geingob (Namibia), João Lourenço (Angola), Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), Ali Bongo Ondimba (Gabon), Mokgweetsi Masisi (Botswana) and Peter Mutharika (Malawi). The African leaders were invited by the host nation, South Africa, to discuss ways of pursuing inclusive growth on the continent with the BRICS heads of state, reported China CGTN television network.

South Africa’s BRICS website points out that since it last hosted the summit in 2013, all BRICS hosts have included an out reach format: “In 2013, South Africa took the initiative to activate the provision for a BRICS Dialogue with partners from the Global South, as per the Sanya Declaration that stated: ‘We are open to increasing engagement and cooperation with non-BRICS countries, in particular emerging and developing countries, and relevant international and regional organisations.'”

In his address, Modi, highlighting the ongoing cooperation between India and the African nations and welcoming the effort for regional economic integration by the African countries, he said “in the last four years, we have had more than 100 visits and meetings at the levels of heads of state and various government levels and these have taken our economic relations and development cooperation to a new high. India has offered 180 lines of credit worth $11 billion in more than 40 countries in Africa.”

In addition, he said that “every year 8,000 African students get scholarships to study in India” and pointed out that his country now has an e-network in 48 African countries for telemedicine.

BRICS Summit Portends New Era of Cooperation and Development for Africa and the World

July 27, 2018 Lawrence Africa, agriculture, BRICS, China, development, India, Narendra Modi, New Development Bank., Rwanda, Sergey Lavrov, South Africa, Uganda, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping

July 27, 2018

Lavrov Welcomes South Africa’s Initiative for Africa at BRICS Summit

July 26, 2018–In an article in the South African magazine {Ubuntu}, published by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said “we support further strengthening of the sovereignty of African countries, their independent choice of the way of development while preserving national distinctiveness….

Sub-Saharan Africa is the most dynamically developing region of the planet, which plays a key role in world mineral and hydrocarbon markets, a broad and rapid-growing consumer market, and one of the most attractive investment areas,” Lavrov said, according to Moscow Foreign Ministry website.

Pointing out that BRICS-Africa Partnership that was launched during South Africa’s 2013 BRICS chairmanship is steadily developing, Lavrov said “we welcome special attention paid by Pretoria to Africa-related issues in the work of BRICS. This area of work is becoming increasingly important for Russian foreign policy as well. Russia has significantly contributed to decolonization processes and the rise of new independent states on the continent.”

Sergey Lavrov: BRICS a Stabilizing Factor in Global Affairs; Focus on Africa is Key

July 25, 2018-An article published in South Africa’s {Ubuntu} magazine, prior to the BRICS summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted the symbolism of the BRICS returning to Africa in 2018, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela,– “a prominent political and public figure on a global scale.”

Mandela contributed personally to establishing friendly relations between South Africa and Russia, he recalled, making possible today’s “high-level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.”

Lavrov particularly praised South Africa’s leadership in the BRICS, -“special attention paid by Pretoria to Africa-related issues,” that has become especially important for Russia’s foreign policy. “We support further strengthening of the sovereignty of African countries, their independent choice of the way of development while preserving national distinctiveness.”

Of special importance, Lavrov added, is that BRICS countries will foster cooperation with other associations and consolidate positions in international organizations to present a “united front.” The invitation to Argentina, Indonesia and Turkey, plus other African nations, to attend the July 25-27 summit reflects the BRICS-Plus initiative, he explained. “Thus we will expand the global reach of the Group and establish an outer circle of like-minded countries. In this regard, BRICs has good potential to become a unique platform for linking various integration processes in a flexible way.”

Coordination between BRICS and other major international organizations is crucial, Lavrov underscored, since consolidation of efforts “is a key to ensuring world stability and a way to settle serious conflicts.” He particularly referenced how the BRICS-Africa Partnership has advanced since 2013. At the current summit, “a special
outreach session will be held with the participation of the heads of State presiding over regional organizations of the continent in order to focus on its most relevant issues,” he said.

Why India Is Keen To Invest in Africa with China: An Overview

July 26, 2018–Ahead of the 10th BRICS Summit, China’s President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had embarked on tours through some African countries. Xi, arriving in South Africa on July 24, pledged $14.7 billion of investment in the country. During a less-than-24 hour visit on July 24, Modi pledged $205 million to Uganda. The sum is intended to help the East African country to develop its dominant agricultural sector and electricity distribution infrastructure.

Both Xi and Modi were in Rwanda earlier this week, where a total of over $300 million was announced in loans. The money will develop the tiny, landlocked East African nation’s agriculture, roads and special economic zones, CNBC reported.

In recent years, both China and India, which have been widely labeled in the West as rivals, have brought to African nations their focus on all-round development, investing to improve their infrastructure, agriculture, education, and technological skills, among other areas.

The reasons why they chose to cooperate and collaborate in Africa’s development are many. For instance, the African nations are most receptive to all actual developmental efforts, large or small. Because of the needs of the African nations, which had all along been looked at only as sources for natural resources consumed by developed nations, every bit of investment made in these nations has a positive effect and is welcomed. China and India consider that providing Africa the ability to develop will bring about a sea-change in the direction and magnitude of global trade.

India is keen to expand its economic relations mostly with Southeast Asia and Africa. For China and India, Africa does not pose any geopolitical threat. Moreover, the better understanding developed between Xi and Modi since their Wuhan meeting last April, enables both of them to work in tandem to improve the living conditions in Africa.

Putin BRICS Remarks Imply Need for New Monetary System

July 26, 2018–Very brief remarks delivered by Russia’s President Putin at the Johannesburg BRICS Summit today (apparently after a leadership meeting), implicitly point to the need for a new monetary system, and the basis which has been created for such a system in the cooperative banks, funds and institutions created by the BRICS, the Belt and Road and China, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Putin’s statement dealt with this. He said:

“We view positively the activities of the [BRICS] Council to implement joint multilateral projects. It is necessary to conduct these activities in close cooperation with the [BRICS] New Development Bank. It is important that the business community should help enhance the Bank’s loan portfolio. “The New Development Bank has considerably expanded its operations as of late. Members of the Board of Directors have approved 21 projects worth over $1 billion, including five that will be implemented in Russia.

“We support the idea of opening regional offices of the Bank. Talks are underway with Brazil on this issue. Hopefully, the possibility of opening the Russian office will be discussed after the talks.

“The establishment of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement [to support countries under balance-of-payments pressure] deserves praise, and this has become an important mechanism for the prompt financing of our countries’ banking sector…

“In 2017, we met in Xiamen [China] and decided to establish the BRICS Local Currency Bond Fund. This is very important for the development of the financial systems of our states. Therefore, the Fund’s timely initial operations, due to commence in 2019, serve the interests of BRICS.”

BRICS Could be an Alternative Model of Development to Western Dominance

July 25, 2018–In a July 25 article published on the website of the Valdai Discussion Club, entitled “Brics and the World Order,” Georgy Toloraya suggests that the current BRICS grouping, plus other nations that form part of the “BRICS-Plus” structure (not official members) could offer the world “an alternative model of socio-economic development, differing from the West” that is based on “mechanisms of a liberal market or profit gaining…that assumes the dominance of the West.”

Toloraya is the Executive Director of the Russian National Committee for BRICS Research. He debunks arguments that the BRICS is just a “China-centered structure,” intended only to promote China’s interests or its Belt and Road Initiative. These accusations, he notes, “are very sly statements. The Chinese factor is only one of the BRICS development facets.”

In today’s “turbulent global situation,” Toloraya adds, it is especially important that the BRICS “common denominator” grows. Why? In contrast to the G7, BRICS expresses a “touching unanimity, which is not faked. This is not a mutiny on the ship we see with the G7, when the captain led to one direction while the crew wants to go to another one.” By the time Russia takes over the chairmanship of the group in 2020, he notes, BRICS “could become a united center of the multipolar world…Now BRICS creates its own structure of global governance, and it must develop in that direction. I do not know, whether that could be accomplished in the context of growing counteraction from the West, but we have to keep working.”

Because the BRICS is a global organization, Toloraya concludes, “these five leading ascendant powers could create a world order that will be more just and balanced than what we see now.” It may not expand yet, but “what we see in the BRICS+ format, which is involving the largest countries that are not the group’s members, but show interest in it, is a significant step towards increasing the BRICS value and making this union a representative of the greater part of humanity.” On the eve of the Johannesburg summit, he concludes, BRICS is not {against}, but {for}: for just economic development conditions, for sustainable development concept centered on human beings.”

Rwanda and South Africa Sign Deals With China and India Before BRICS Summit

July 25, 2018 Lawrence Africa, Belt and Road Initiative, BRICS, China, FOCAC, India, industrialization, Kegame, Modi, Rwanda, South Africa, Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping Arrives in Johannesburg, South Africa for BRICS Summit

July 24, 2018

China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in South Africa today for a bilateral meeting President Cyril Ramaphosa, to be followed by the July 25-27 Tenth BRICS Summit. As is his custom, Xi wrote an op-ed in the local press before his arrival, titled “For a New Era of China-South Africa Friendship.” In it, Xi began by emphasizing that “Our peoples forged a deep friendship during our common struggle against imperialism, colonialism and racism.” He then wrote:

“Over the past six years, our two countries have worked closely as co-chairs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to advance the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Africa. Our bilateral ties have thus served as a model for China-Africa relations, for South-South cooperation, and for unity and cooperation among emerging market countries, and offered valuable experience for building an even stronger community with a shared future between China and Africa and a new type of international relations
featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation….

“We must strive for new outcomes in our practical cooperation. We need to promote complementarity between our development strategies, and make full use of bilateral mechanisms, FOCAC-(Forum on China-Africa Cooperation), the Belt and Road Initiative, BRICS cooperation, and other platforms to deepen cooperation in key areas such as industries, production capacity, resources and energy, infrastructure, finance, tourism, and digital economy and deliver more benefits to our peoples.”

On the bilateral front, South African President Ramaphosa announced that the two countries signed “several agreements and memorandums of understanding that are intended to further deepen our relations, including investment commitments that have been struck to the value of $14.7 billion.”

Xi Jinping and Rwanda’s Kagame Sign Multiple Agreements Strengthening Belt and Road Cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping met on July 23 with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on the third leg of his tour of Africa and the Middle East, which so far has taken him to the U.A.E. and Senegal. Xi travelled to South Africa today (for the July 25-27 BRICS summit), and he will then stop in the Indian Ocean island-nation of Mauritius on the way back to China.

Xinhua reported that “after their talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of multiple agreements on bilateral cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative and other areas.”

In the meeting with Kagame, Xi stated, according to Xinhua, that “Beijing is willing to work with Kigali to translate their traditional friendship into concrete benefits for the two countries and the two peoples, and open a new chapter in their friendly cooperative relations.” As he has done on his other stops, Xi called on the two countries to “strengthen the link between their respective development strategies, give full play to their complementary advantages, and …cooperation in more areas and at deeper levels.”

Xi told Kagame, Xinhua wrote, that “China welcomes Rwanda’s participation in the international cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and encourages more Chinese investment in Rwanda to help advance its industrialization and modernization.” Xi also talked about broader China-Africa relations, which “have always been defined by sincere friendship, unity and cooperation. The two sides have become a community with a shared future going through thick and thin together as well as a community with shared interests dedicated to win-win cooperation.”

Kagame, for his part, called China “a reliable friend who shares weal and woe with Africa. Kegame said it is of great importance for Rwanda and Africa to develop friendly ties with China. He spoke highly of China’s valuable assistance for Rwanda in such areas as infrastructure construction, agriculture and education, adding that China’s helping hand has made positive contributions to his country’s reconstruction and livelihood improvement.”

Xinhua further said that Kagame emphasized that “Rwanda is willing to enhance cooperation with China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which offers a significant opportunity for both Rwanda and Africa. As the [African Union] AU’s rotating chairman, Kagame stressed that China’s long-standing firm support is of great value to Africa’s development. The African side, he said, looks forward to attending the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September, and stands ready to jointly push forward the development of FOCAC, so as to generate more benefits for the people of both sides.”

Modi in Rwanda Witnesses Signing of Economic and Defense Agreements

On his way to attend the 10th anniversary BRICS Summit over July 25-27 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Indian Premier, Narendra Modi, stopped in Rwanda and, along with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, witnessed the signing of seven bilateral pacts at Village Urugwiro, the President’s office in Kigali, by Indian and Rwandan officials, reported Rwanda’s {New Times}.

Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian head of government to visit the East African nation, which is considered an important gateway for India to eastern Africa. Modi is on a three-nation tour, beginning with Rwanda and Uganda, and thence to Johannesburg for the BRICS summit. He arrived in Rwanda just as Chinese President Xi Jinpig was leaving that country.

Agreements in the area of trade, defense, dairy cooperation, agriculture, culture, leather and allied sectors and two lines of credit worth $200 million for expansion of the special economic zone and irrigation scheme were signed, IANS reported.

“During the talks, both leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and expressed satisfaction at the excellent relations between Rwanda and India in the overall context of Strategic Partnership,” India’s Foreign Ministry stated. Ties between India and Rwanda were elevated to the level of Strategic Partnership in January last year, IANS reported.