Burundi's ONATEL says red tape slowing growth

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's state-run telecoms company ONATEL said on Wednesday it feared it would not reach its 2009 earnings target of 25 billion francs due to bureaucracy slowing its growth.

"As a state-run company, we have to first ask permission before making any order, and orders take months to be approved by the tender authority," General Manager Salvator Nizigiyimana told Reuters, adding the firm often ran out of sim cards.

"We might not reach the expected earnings figure due to the long bureaucratic procedures that have paralysed our business."


ONATEL, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last month, earned 20 billion francs in 2008, up from 11 billion the year before. The company has about 170,000 mobile subscribers and some 35,000 landline users.

The African nation of 8 million people grew its subscriber base by 78 percent to 480,000 users in 2008. Burundi's telecom regulator estimates customers could reach 700,000 by 2012.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Econet Burundi targets 0.8 m clients

BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI: Burundi mobile operator Econet Wireless now targets to increase its clientele from the current 80,000 to 800,000 following the launching of the a new rechargeable solar handset.

Econet, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Econet Wireless International, has attracted 80,000 users since April and aims to have 100,000 signed up by the end of the year 2009.
The African nation of 8 million people saw its subscriber base grow by 78% to 480,000 users in 2008. Burundi's telecom regulator estimates the number of customers could reach 700,000 by 2012.

Although the Econet general manager Darlington Mandivenga did not give a time frame for his projection, due to the power shortages experienced in Bujumbura the company is likely to get more clients using the rechargeable solar handset.

The current power demand in the landlocked country is currently 45 MW against the installed capacity of 32 MW which causes frequent blackouts and the deficit reaches 25 MW during peak hours, according to the energy ministry. The handsets with Sim cards are sold with an insert of the customer bill of rights – a first in East Africa - which is designed to ensure that Customers are guaranteed quality service and have a re-course of a refund. Mandivenga told a news conference that the handset would prove invaluable for many users in a country that suffers frequent power shortages.

"If you look at the target market or the level of demand that is there, without doing any further marketing it is about 800,000 people who will benefit from this innovation.

Source:busiweek.com/

Burundi carries our round two of polio immunization campaign

BUJUMBURA, Burundi, 11 December 2009 – Vaccination teams were in high gear as Burundi carried out the second round of an ongoing polio immunization campaign last month.

During the first round in October, more than 1.6 million children under the age of five were vaccinated in health centres, outreach sites and schools – thousands more than had been expected.

UNICEF Representative in Burundi Gloria Kodzwa expressed satisfaction at the successful nationwide mobilization of families and the high turnout, following the discovery of two wild poliovirus cases in Cibitoke Province.


© UNICEF/2009/Manirakiza
In Burundi’s polio immunization drive, an indelible ink mark indicates that a child has been vaccinated and counted.
“We cannot afford to lose any more children to polio,” she said.


Dr. Emmanuel Seheye of the Ministry of Health noted that Burundi had been polio-free for 10 years before the outbreak. Sequencing of the virus shows that it came from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo in late September, after passing through Angola and India.

A partnership to fight polio

Government preparations began in October, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization. UNICEF’s contribution included doses of the vaccine sufficient for two rounds, as well as mass mobilization and field supervision of the exercise.



© UNICEF/2009/Manirakiza

In Burundi’s polio immunization drive, an indelible ink mark indicates that a child has been vaccinated and counted.
UNICEF Burundi Chief of Health and Nutrition Celestin Traore noted that there were a few instances of centres running out of vaccines due to underestimated child populations and poor distribution of doses in some provinces during the first round. These lapses are being addressed, along with retraining of vaccinators and their supervisors.

Authorities are also intensifying mobilization among some groups that have prevented the vaccination of their children – since even one child who is not immunized puts all children in the vicinity at risk.


As in the first round, the second round took place simultaneously in Burundi, North and South Kivu in DR Congo, and Rwanda, Burundi’s northern neighbour.

Source:unicef.org/

Facing funding shortfall, Burundi’s election needs international support – UN

Youssef Mahmoud, Executive Representative of the Secretary-General for Burundi briefs the Security Council






10 December 2009 – The Security Council today called on the international community to support the preparation of elections in Burundi next year after the top United Nations official in the small Central African country warned that a lack of funding was challenging the “significant advances” already made after decades of ethnic and factional war.
“An amount of $3 million still need to be urgently mobilized before the end of December to help the National Independent Electoral Commission to attend to the most pressing tasks under its mandate,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Executive Representative Youssef Mahmoud told the 15-member body, stressing that pledges so far made had yet to be disbursed in good time.

He said the UN Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) were also looking, as a matter of urgency, into practical ways to help potential voters who could not afford the administrative costs of acquiring a national identity card.

“Overall, Burundi is making commendable progress despite the remaining challenges that afflict countries emerging from conflict,” he added, formally presenting Mr. Ban’s latest report to the Council, in which the Secretary-General notes that while the country has witnessed significant progress in recent months, it needs help both to ensure successful elections in 2010 and to tackle challenges such as human rights abuses, corruption and weak institutions.

Following the briefing, the Council issued a press statement endorsing the call for international support for holding “peaceful, free and fair” elections, and promoting the socio-economic recovery of communities and the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.

Mr. Mahmoud said BINUB was exploring with regional organizations both in Africa and outside Burundi’s request for long-term observers who would arrive a few months before the elections and stay for several weeks after.

In his report Mr. Ban said he remained concerned about reports of restrictions to the freedom of assembly and expression of opposition parties imposed by local authorities, and of militant activities of youth groups allegedly associated with certain political parties that were generating fear and suspicion.

Mr. Mahmoud said President Pierre Nkurunziza and the Interior Ministry last month urged political leaders to put an end to “these potentially destabilizing practices. While these statements seem to be heeded, the situation bears continuous scrutiny by the Minister of the Interior, all political parties and civil society organizations,” he added.

Burundian Foreign Minister Augustin Nsanze welcomed Mr. Ban’s recognition of progress made towards the sustainable stabilization of the country, but he took issue with a number of items in the report based on “gratuitous assertions and incomplete information.” These included security, which he said was no worse than in other countries, where murders took place on an hourly basis.

Moreover, violence due to payback, land disputes and looting was being addressed by disarming the civilian population, and he also disputed comments on the rule of law, human rights and the situation of women and children.

All those issues were being addressed, he said, adding that National Human Rights Council was being established, sexual violence was being repressed through legislative measures. Condemning other “irregularities and errors” in the report, he stressed that BINUB’s future mandate should be limited to electoral aid, support for democratic governance, continuing peacebuilding, and the promotion of awareness of the gender dimension in all those areas.

Source:un.org/

Burundi is Tanzania’s last CECAFA hurdle

TANZANIA’S Kilimanjaro Stars take on The Swallows of Burundi today in their last preliminary match in the Orange CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup hoping to emulate the Uganda Cranes by securing the remaining outright slot to the quarterfinals.

The Cranes booked a place on Wednesday after beating Burundi 2-0, leaving Tanzania and Zanzibar to fight for the remaining slot in Group C and possibly the best qualifier from the three groups. The Kilimanjaro Stars will be aiming for an outright win, and at the same time hoping that Cranes beat Zanzibar for them to finish second.

Tanzania head coach Marcio Maximo does not have the word defeat in his vocabulary. “I respect Burundi for the good ball display, but I pity them because they are meeting my no-nonsense boys in a crucial game which we must win at all costs,” he told The New Vision yesterday.

On his part, Burundi coach Amars Niyongabo said they are taking on Tanzania with nothing at stake. But he cautioned his opponents that in football anything can happen. “We proved a point when we reached the last four in Uganda last year.

We could as well spoil the party for Tanzania the way we did to other highly rated teams in Kampala.” Meanwhile, the crazy soccer fans in Western Kenya are angry after CECAFA relocated all quarterfinal matches starting Monday to Nairobi. CECAFA wants the games be relayed live on SuperSport.

Source:newvision.co.ug/

Burundi delegation in DR Congo for refugee repatriation agreement

KINSHASA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of experts from the Burundian government arrived on Tuesday in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to prepare for a tripartite accord with UNHCR on refugees living in the two countries, Congolese News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Led by Emmanuel Nkengurutse, Burundi officer in charge of judicial and administrative issues, the delegation will work with their Congolese counterpart on an agreement to be signed on Friday by the interior ministers of the two countries and UNHCR, in view of voluntary repatriation of these refugees.

The deal was already decided upon in October at the end of a tripartite meeting held in Bujumbura at the initiative of the DRC government. The agreement centers on the repatriation of Congolese refugees living in Gihinga camp in Mwaro province in Burundi.

Close to 2,300 Congolese refugees wanted to return to the DRC after they were refused to be transferred to another camp located in the north of Burundi.

According to the statistics of the national refugees commission in the DRC, some 34,000 Congolese refugees are living in Burundi.

Source:xinhuanet.com/

Church to hold fundraiser for Burundi trip

A rummage sale scheduled for today at a midtown church will raise funds for a medical mission to Burundi.
The sale is set for 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Christ Church United Methodist, 655 N. Craycroft Road.
Proceeds will go toward a local medical and faith mission to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, where team members expect to do health screening exams at an orphanage. Most of the children they'll be seeing have lost parents to AIDS and genocide, said Bill Kluge, an emergency-room nurse at University Medical Center who will be part of the mission.
Kluge was in the UMC emergency room on June 3, the day a van carrying 17 African refugees rolled over on Interstate 10, instantly killing five of them. A sixth person died shortly after. Eleven others were injured and several continue to recover.
The occupants of the van were all either Burundian or Congolese. At the time, Kluge met Bigimba Ngabo, a pastor from a local church — Goshen Ministries, which caters to the local refugee population. At the time the pastor was acting as a translator for the refugees hospitalized at UMC.
Kluge, who attends Vineyard City Church in Tucson, met Ngabo through his own church several weeks later and the two began talking about a mission to Africa, he said.

Source:azstarnet.com/

Econet launches new solar handset in Burundi

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi mobile operator Econet launched a new rechargeable solar handset on Monday that it hopes eventually will boost subscriber numbers to 800,000.

Econet, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Econet Wireless International, has attracted 80,000 users since April and aims to have 100,000 signed up by the end of this year.

The African nation of 8 million people grew its subscriber base by 78 percent to 480,000 users in 2008. Its telecom regulator estimates customers could reach 700,000 by 2012.

Econet's general manager, Darlington Mandivenga, told a news conference that the new handset, which will retail for $39, would prove invaluable for many users in a country that suffers from frequent power shortages.

"If you look at the target market or the level of demand that is there, without doing any further marketing it is about 800,000 people who will benefit from this innovation," he said.

He did not give a timeframe for his projection.

Econet had invested $40 million in its Burundi operations, he said, compared with $20 million by the end of last year.

Current power demand in the landlocked country stands at 45 MW versus installed capacity of 32 MW. The deficit can hit 25 MW during peak hours, according to the country's energy ministry.

Source:af.reuters.com/a

Lake project also to cover Burundi, Rwanda

The World Bank supported Lake Victoria Environment Management Programme (LVEMP), launched in the mid-1990s, will now be extended to Burundi and Rwanda.

Its second phase, initially confined to Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya because they share the vast water body, will now cover the two states which became members of the East African Community in 2007.

Implementation of the LVEMP II started last month after the signing of financial agreements between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya and the World Bank as well as between the Bretton Woods institution with the EAC.

Under the World Bank's Adaptable Programme Lending (APL)), the financing arrangement for the eight-year programme has been split into three parts.

APL1 has received support of the IDA (the development arm of the World Bank) amounting to $90 million (Sh119.2 billion) for the initial four years. This will only involve Tanzania ($ 32.5 million), Uganda ($27.5 million) and Kenya ($30 million).

The component would also be financed by the Global Environment Facility- GEF ($ 7 million), Swedish International Development Agency -Sida ($10 million) and borrowers (about $7.8 million equivalent in local currencies).

EAC sources say the GEF and Sida support would mainly finance activities at the regional level where the project would fall under the supervision of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), an institution under the EAC.

APL 2, with grant support of $30 million, will bring Burundi and Rwanda into the programme. Its preparations are expected to be finalised by December 31, this year. Although they do not share the lake, the two countries are within the broader Lake Victoria Basin.

Other major projects being implemented around the lake in collaboration with LVBC are EAC/AMREF Lake Victoria HIV/Aids Partnership Programme (EALP) and the Mt Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme (MERECP).

Yet another is the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Project supported by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat). It covers 15 urban centres around the lake, three from each partner state.

According to an EAC report, the project consultants, Mr Mott MacDonald of UK, have prepared draft investment plans for the 15 towns. Discussions were underway with various development partners to fund the investments, it said.

"The African Development Bank (AfDB) has indicated an availability of $565 million (Sh748.6 billion) for the purpose," said the report. It will be presented to the EAC Council of Ministers ? one of its policy organs - meeting in Arusha.

The AfDB has also provided $495,000 for a detailed pre-investment analysis/study of the Maritime Communications for Safety on Lake Victoria. This is a project whose implementation would be based on public/private partnership.

Last September the US Government granted $3 million to the EAC to support the management and conservation of the Mara river basin as a trans-boundary resource. The project covers the famous Serengeti National Park and Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya.
Source:/thecitizen.co.tz/

Burundi tea export earnings fall 38 pct in Oct

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's tea export earnings fell 38 percent in October compared with the previous month partly due to speculation that output from the region will rise, a tea board official said on Tuesday.

The country's state-run OTB tea board said 375,807 kg had been exported in October worth $980,049, down sharply from 562,306 kg worth $1,594,299 in September.

"Buyers were reluctant for fear that there will be a lot of tea on the market because of the return of rain in the east Africa region," said senior OTB official Remy Ndayininahaze.

"This has of course had a negative impact on our prices and earnings," he told Reuters.

Ndayininahaze said the average export price was $2.61 per kg in October, down from $2.84 in September.

The tiny central African country exports 80 percent of its tea to a regional weekly auction in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

OTB forecasts 2009 overall earnings at $15 million against $13.7 million in 2008.

The board projects output to reach 7,500 tonnes this year, up from 7,000 tonnes in 2008 mainly due to good rains and the increased use of fertilisers on farms.

Tea is Burundi's second foreign exchange earner after coffee. It supports some 300,000 smallholder farmers in the country of 8 million people.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Former rebel to run for Burundi president

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's FNL political party has elected former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa as its candidate for the 2010 presidential elections.

The tiny central African country of 8 million people is emerging from more than a decade of civil war that killed 300,000 people.

"If I am lucky enough to be elected president of the republic, I will govern for every Burundian regardless of ethnic or political group to which someone belongs," Rwasa told reporters late on Sunday.

"The time of taking power by force is over. Now is the time for dialogue and democracy," he said after a two-day meeting of FNL leaders.

Former president Domitien Ndayizeye has also been chosen by his FRODEBU party as candidate.

The Palipehutu Forces for National Liberation (FNL) was Burundi's last rebel group. It had been fighting to end years of political dominance by the Tutsi ethnic group in the tiny central African nation.

During implementation of the peace deal, FNL insisted on the political name "Palipehutu", which means party for the liberation of Hutus. The government rejected the demand, saying Burundi's constitution does not allow parties with ethnic affiliations.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Burundi denies being Rwandan rebel 'rear base'

BUJUMBURA — Burundi's secret services on Thursday denied the country was serving as a rear base for Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Burundi does not serve as the rear base for FDLR rebels or whoever else wants to destabilise Rwanda. Burundi is not helping and will never help a group that wants to destabilise our sub-region," secret services spokesman Telesphore Bigirimana told AFP.

He was responding to a report by UN experts to the UN Security Council detailing an international support network for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda rebels.

The experts said in the report that they had received "several credible reports and testimonies that Burundi is being used as a rear base for FLDR recruitment and support networks."

They said several ex-rebel combatants had told them of "at least several hundreds of FDLR recruits being recruited in Rwanda and infiltrated through Burundi with the assistance of local traders since 2005."

The report said the group of experts "obtained several testimonies that the FDLR maintain a relationship with General Adolphe Nshimirimana, Burundi's head of intelligence, as well as with top Burundian police officers."

Bigirimana denied any such contacts had taken place "because the head of the National Intelligence Service, General Adolphe Nshimirimana, does not have personal contacts with these people."

"We are in contact with the Rwandan intelligence services and they can confirm that we are not remotely involved in this traffic," the spokesman said.

Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jDmKf-lwifxepj4ClUYi1fve3yxw

Transitional justice in Burundi

Burundi's two main ethnic groups, the Tutsis and Hutus have been affected by conflict and bloodshed for almost three decades. The mayhem was finally halted when regional leaders mediated talks between more than 17 warring groups, who subsequently signed a peace agreement, in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha in 2000.

Central to the Arusha agreement was the establishment of three transitional justice mechanisms: an international commission of judicial inquiry, a national truth and reconciliation commission, and an international criminal tribunal. The agreement also stipulated that national consultations be held, before any decisions were taken on what form of justice systems should be adopted.

Eight years on, the situation in Burundi is stable enough to allow further development of these systems. But, first, the Government with the assistance of the United Nations has embarked on national consultations to ensure the views of the Burundi people are taken into account. So far consultations have been carried out in 15 of the country's 17 provinces.

FESTUS Ntanyungu, the chairperson of a tripartite committee overseeing national consultations says "We will look at the origin of conflict in Burundi, the exclusion and question of genocide."

"We have to know," Ntanyungu says, "what exactly happened in Burundi, in order to know if there was genocide or other crimes against humanity, in order for us to know the truth on everything that happened. "For this, we need to implement the mechanisms of transitional justice."

Remy Nahimana, a former school teacher says he witnessed many ethnic-related murders over the years. As an older generation Burundian, he supports the Government's proposal for a truth and reconciliation commission as an important process to address the past wrongs.

"When future generations read what comes out of these consultations Nahimana says that will be a way to state the bad things that happened, the slump we experienced, the conflicts, the killing, all the violence we experienced. We shall never do that again."

It is best to build a society that is reconciled with itself, he says, because it leaves less room for violence.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the lead agency in the United Nations in the field of transitional justice. It assists with the development of standards and best practices and offers guidance in the design, as well as implementation, of transitional justice mechanisms and advocates for the inclusion of human rights and transitional justice principles in peace agreements.

According to Jean Luc Marx, who heads the UN Human Rights office in Burundi, "There cannot be peace without reconciliation and there cannot be reconciliation without justice - especially for serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and so on."

He puts emphasis on the need for reconciliation. "It is very important for the people to see that all the horrible cases that happened here, the events that have taken place for many years - that you have justice and reconciliation. It is also important for the people to talk about what has happened and to have the victims recognised as such."

Gabriel Muhiniaka, a retiree, says the deep-seated hatred and intolerance between the Hutus and Tutsis led to his parents being killed in the 1970's. "My parents were killed my mother, father and uncle were killed during the tribal conflict between Hutus and Tutsis. They were killed because they were Tutsis. Long ago when you met someone who was not of your tribe you would be afraid. Now the proposed arrangement will be of great benefit. It will help stop conflict."

The Convention on prevention and punishment of the crime of Genocide is commemorated annually on 9th December.

Unlike in neighbouring Rwanda, genocide has not been established. However, the proposed international tribunal is expected to determine whether any aspects of the conflict in Burundi could amount to genocide.

However it is characterised, it is clear that Burundians have suffered immensely in the conflict and it remains to be seen how the proposed justice systems will address these past wrongs.

Source:reliefweb.int/

Burundi’s Gross Domestic Product to Expand 4% in 2010, IMF Says

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Burundi’s gross domestic product will expand 4 percent in 2010, picking up from 3.5 percent growth in 2009, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement.

“Downside risks include mainly the uncertain external environment and electricity shortages,” the IMF said in a report issued after officials visited the nation from Nov. 8 to Nov. 21. The inflation rate will decline to 7.5 percent next year from about 26 percent in 2008, the IMF forecast.

IMF officials “encouraged the authorities to consolidate progress in good governance and deepen structural reforms, including in the coffee sector,” according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Victoria Batchelor in Sydney at vbatchelor@bloomberg.net

Source:bloomberg.com/

Zanzibar and Burundi in Nairobi

Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Zambia
and Zimbabwe will feature in the event

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- The Zanzibar and Burundi national teams to this year this year’s Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Orange Senior Challenge Cup tournament have arrived in Nairobi for the event.

The annual event kicks off on Saturday in Nairobi and Mumias in western Kenya.

Cecafa Press Officer, Finny Muyeshi, confirmed Wednesday that the two sides are already in Nairobi gearing up for the annual tournament that will bring together 13 teams.

Somalia and Tanzania are due in Thursday, while defending champion, Uganda, jet on in Friday.

Other teams due to arrive here for the 33rd edition of the event are Cecafa members Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Guest sides Zimbabwe and Zambia will also feature in the tournament which the Zambians will use to gear up for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Angola in January.

Zambia and Zimbabwe are former members of Cecafa, who opted for the southern African regional soccer body (Cosafa) upon its formation in the early 1990s.

Cecafa secretary-general Nicholas Musonye told journalists that the invitation of Zambia and Zimbabwe is geared towards strengthening good relationship between Cecafa and Cosafa.

It’s also geared towards making the regional event more competitive. He added that all the referees selected to oversee the matches had all arrived in the country.

"They are currently undergoing the regular pre-tournament training in Nairobi. The training started today (Wednesday) and will end on Friday afternoon," he said.

"The training, which brings together a total of 18 referees, is very critical for the tournament," he said.

Orange, one of Kenya’s telecommunication companies, is the title sponsor of this year’s tournament which is coming back to Kenya after a fourteen year hiatus.

Kenya last won the tournament in 2002.

Ugandans are the current title holders.

Kenya’s Harambee Stars clash with Zambia in the opening match here on Saturday.

Thirteen teams—Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe will feature in the event—the oldest regional tournament in Africa.

Source:coastweek.com/

Bulgaria and Burundi: legal declaration of Kosmet independence

Representatives of Bulgaria and Burundi have claimed today before the International Court of Justice that Kosmet had not violated the international law by unilaterally proclaiming independence. Legal representative of Bulgaria Zlatko Dimitrov has said that the international law does not prohibit the declarations of independence or secession, and he rejected the argument of several other countries that in case of Kosmet it was in collision with UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Representatives of Burundi have stated that the opinion of the court regarding the legitimacy of the unilateral independence will not have any effect, because Kosmet exists as a fact, as they have explained. Namely, the International Court of Justice will hear the arguments of 28 countries, prior to making its decision and stating opinion on the question “is the unilaterally proclaimed independence by the interim Kosmet authorities in line with the international law”, as it was passed in October last year by the UN General Assembly, at the initiative of Serbia.

Source:glassrbije.org/

IMF sees 4 pct average annual growth in Burundi

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Burundi's annual economic growth should average 4 percent over the next three years, provided the country remains politically stable.

The growth will be underpined by continued reforms in the coffee sector, which is the main foreign exchange earner and employer, more aid-financed investments and the advantages of joining the regional East African Community bloc.

"Provided the security and political situation continues to improve, Burundi's medium-term economic outlook looks positive," the IMF said in a statement.

It also expects growth to moderate at 3.5 percent this year -- above previous estimate of 3.2 percent -- after expansion of 4.5 percent in 2008 that followed a good coffee harvest and donor-funded projects.

The IMF said to avoid squeezing domestic funding for priority areas, election funding should be sourced from external sources.

Burundi will hold presidential and parliamentary polls next year and the financing for that is estimated at 3 percent of the gross domestic product.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Analysis: Worrying split among former Burundi rebels

BUJUMBURA, 3 December 2009 (IRIN) - Months after transforming itself from a rebel movement into a political party, Burundi's Forces nationales de la liberation (FNL), is embroiled in a leadership wrangle that analysts warn could jeopardize the country's fragile peace.

FNL leader Agathon Rwasa, who was appointed director-general of the National Social Security Institute when the party joined the government, is facing dissent from a group led by party spokesman Pasteur Habimana.

Both men insist the party is still united, but Rwasa has appointed another spokesman. The Habimana group, on the other hand, says it no longer recognizes Rwasa as party leader.

"There is no split in the party, the people claiming to have held a congress in which I was removed as leader had already been removed from the party; how can they then have a say in what goes on in the party?" posited Rwasa to IRIN in Bujumbura, the Burundian capital.

Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa, founding president of the Burundi Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees, cautioned that a split in the FNL "could lead to a return to civil war".

"We have to keep in mind that the FNL has youth who were demobilized and currently have little to do; they would be ready to face any eventual aggression, including a split in the party," he said. "FNL is not the only party with youth; many other political parties have youth ready to fight at the slightest provocation; if this situation is not checked, it could become chaotic and we could return to civil war."

Burundi analyst Jean-Marie Gasana told IRIN a rival political party was trying to cause the FNL split, considering it a strong contender in the next general elections, scheduled for mid-2010.



Photo: Jane Some/IRIN
FNL leader Agathon Rwasa
"If the split becomes reality then Rwasa will play into this party's hands if he decides to go back to fighting," he said.

Gasana said South Africa, which has led negotiations in Burundi's peace process, and Tanzania, have both denounced attempts to split the FNL.

"We are waiting to see what the government, more specifically, the ministry of interior, decides on the stalemate in the FNL; we expect a scenario where a senior FNL official could defect to the ruling party but this may not dent the FNL much, especially if Rwasa chooses not to go back to fighting," Gasana said.

He said Habimana seemed to be enjoying the support of the government and security structures.

Leadership contest

Habimana maintains that he remains party spokesman and that Jacques Kenese, an FNL member who has lived abroad for more than 30 years, is the new party leader, elected during a congress held on 4 October.

He said his group collected at least 11,000 signatures from party members to demand the staging of the congress, an indication that Kenese's group has a significant following across the country.

Rwasa did not attend that meeting and dismissed it as a sham, held by people no longer considered FNL members. FNL's political bureau and executive committee had ratified their removal from the party because they did not "fit the party's requirements and were hindering the party's objectives".

Waiting for decision

"We have taken the results of the congress to the minister of interior and although he has not responded by recognizing Kenese as leader, we await his decision which we hope will be made soon," Habimana said.


Photo: Jane Some/IRIN
Pasteur Habimana has broken ranks with FNL leader Agathon Rwasa
Habimana said if the Interior Minister recognized Rwasa as party leader, his group would respect the decision. "We in FNL no longer want war; if the minister makes the decision [that] Rwasa is our leader, we'll go to the elections as one party," Habimana said.

FNL was one of several Hutu rebel movements that waged war against various pro-Tutsi regimes since the 1990s. Hundreds of thousands of people died and millions were displaced. The war ended with the installation of a transitional government in 2001.

Created in 1980 by exiled Hutus in Tanzania, FNL was based at a refugee settlement. Rwasa joined it in 1988, when it was known as FNL-Palipehutu (party for the liberation of the Hutu).

One of the conditions for its registration as a political party was that it drops “Palipehutu”.

Besides internal wrangling, the party is adjusting to existence as a political entity. "When we were a rebel movement, we had our way of doing things. In the government there are also rules and regulations; we had to adapt to the government's rules even if we don't approve of some of these regulations," Rwasa said.

Source:irinnews.org/

Burundi tensions worsen amid 'militia' claims

BUJUMBURA — Burundi's main opposition group massed youths at a weekend rally, warning that it was preparing to fight fire with fire after accusing the ruling CNDD-FDD of forming a militia ahead of polls.

Dozens of youths drilled in the streets of the central town of Gitega on Sunday as part of a "sports day" organised by the Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU).

"The ruling party has for several months been organising massive youth sports days with the aim of forming a militia to destabilise peace before, during and after the elections," said FRODEBU's deputy leader, Frederic Banvuginyunvira.

He said similar rallies organised by the ruling party featured youths armed with clubs.

"We have begun and we will continue as long as the ruling party does it and until it understands that it has taken a dangerous road," Banvuginyunvira told AFP.

Gitega governor Selemani Mossi denounced the rally.

"What FRODEBU is doing is meant to disrupt public order and security and I will take the necessary measures," he said.

The small central African state is one of the world's poorest and is struggling to emerge from the effects of a more than a decade of civil war.

Last month, four opposition parties expressed concern over the worsening political climate which they blame on President Pierre Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD, accusing it of corruption and forming a militia.

Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJN0cUVFJUEy1wNdLkQ0IXWyd7bg

Burundi says Q3 fiscal revenues up 38 pct: finmin

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi fiscal revenues grew 38 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the same period last year due to higher value-added tax collections, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

The taxation department at Burundi's finance ministry said it collected 39.1 billion francs between July and September, up from 28.3 billion in the same period in 2008.

"Since the country started to apply VAT, figures on fiscal revenues are positive," said a report by the taxation department.

The tiny central African nation introduced VAT -- which is levied at 18 percent -- in July to replace an old transaction tax which officials said was hampering investment.

Authorities believe VAT will promote business and boost tax revenues in the landlocked country.

Burundi, which joined the regional trade bloc East African Community in 2007, has begun harmonising its laws to make them similar with those of the other four member states: Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.

It officially joined the bloc's customs union in July.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Nile Basin Initiative celebrates 10 years with stalemate

CAIRO: The Nile Basin Initiative looks to a third meeting of ministers this year to end an ongoing dispute with Cairo over water sharing, but as they celebrate a decade of the initiative, prospects of resolving the infighting are doubtful. Egypt remains unmovable over restructuring the agreement that ensures it receives a lion’s share of water from the Nile River.

If this week’s Tanzania meeting fails to reach a new agreement, hope for a renewed sense of stability along the Nile River seems in doubt.

The NBI nations met last summer in Kinshasa and Alexandria to hammer out a new agreement, but nothing came from those negotiations, as Egypt’s water ministry wouldn’t budge on its position to maintain its current water consumption.

Cairo refused to sign onto any convention without assurances by other members that the country would not lose the 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water they are allowed to use and demanded a veto power over any projects implemented upstream in southern Nile nations.

The ministers at the Alexandria conference said they would give it six months before reconvening to discuss new possibilities to a water-sharing agreement. The hope is the 9 nations can agree to a new treaty that establishes a new foundation for the use of the Nile River.

“Six months was allocated to solve the problem,” Ethiopian Minister of Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo told a group of reporters after the final meetings.

Hammou Laamrani, Project Coordinator at the International Development Research Center in Cairo, says that without Egypt and Sudan’s cooperation on a new Nile deal, the likelihood of a new treaty is doubtful.

“Egypt and Sudan enjoy the vast majority of water from the Nile and any efforts to change this will likely be met with opposition, so it was not surprising that the Kinshasa talks failed,” he argued.

“What will be interesting to watch is what happens now that Egypt has put forward its stance on their water consumption. We all know that Egypt needs as much water as they can in order to serve its fast growing population,” added Laamrani in reference to the upcoming Alexandria meeting.

The NBI was established in 1999 by the water ministers of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to “achieve sustainable socioeconomic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources.”

Eritrea, which is home to a small portion of the basin and led a war against Ethiopia from 1998 through 2000, is not an active participate in the initiative.

According to the official website, the NBI seeks to “develop the river in a cooperative manner, share substantial socioeconomic benefits and promote regional peace and security. Cooperative water resources management is complex in any international river basin. In the Nile Basin, which is characterized by water scarcity, poverty, a long history of dispute and insecurity and rapidly growing populations and demand for water.”

The NBI’s main supporter is the World Bank.

The NBI’s other 7 nations, excluding Egypt and Sudan, want to establish a commission that would change water consumption among the basin nations, but Egypt’s ministry of water and irrigation have other ideas.

Egypt’s Water and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasr El Din Allam remained defiant.

“It doesn’t matter if they are convinced … it matters that we are convinced,” he said on the sidelines of that conference, referring to Cairo’s veto power on any new developments on the river.

After Egypt and Sudan take their water, approximately 15 billion cubic meters of water remain. Due to burgeoning populations in the Nile Basin, the other 7 nations feel they deserve more than is currently being given.

In the end, the ministers left Alexandria much as they left Kinshasa two months earlier: saddened and frustrated.

Burundi’s Environment and Water Minister Degratias N’Duimana said he was disappointed in the outcome, but hoped that the progress in intense negotiations can continue and that in the end “we all must be responsible for our own water consumption, Egypt included, so we are not worried about what happened. In the end, it is a money issue for most countries, which is why we hope Egypt will get on board so we can develop our nations.”

They are now looking to Tanzania and any possibility Egypt will move slightly on its hardline stance on water in the region. Not likely, say experts.

Source:/bikyamasr.com/