Africa is the foremost continent in world cocoa production, accounting for almost 80 percent of the world cocoa exports. (Yahoo Photo)

ABUJA, Nigeria,
May 7--Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo says it is unacceptable that markets in Europe and the United States “unduly“ influenced international cocoa prices without considering production costs, AFP reported.
Speaking at the opening of a summit of Africa’s cocoa producing countries to discuss ways of boosting farmers’ incomes and getting fair prices from global markets, he said, “A situation where the commodity exchange markets in Europe and America unduly influence the international cocoa price without consideration to the cost of production is not acceptable.
“It is natural that consuming countries would want to protect their interests. This is why we as producers have to agree here at this summit on how to guarantee fair prices for our products,“ the president added Saturday.
The summit’s main objective was to discuss “all the critical aspects of the cocoa economy with the ultimate goal of ensuring that African cocoa-producing countries that collectively account for about 80 percent of global cocoa-based exports have remunerative prices,“ said Obasanjo.
Africa is the foremost continent in world cocoa production, accounting for almost 80 percent of the world cocoa exports, the bulk of which are exported as beans and secondary products to Europe and the United States.
Cocoa producers in Africa are Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Sao Tome and Principe, Togo and Uganda.
In addition to Obasanjo, those attending were President Fradiqu De Menezes Sao Tome, Togo’s Prime Minister Edem Kodjo and Ghana’s Foreign Minister Nana Akufo Addo. Ivory Coast and Uganda also sent representatives.
The Ghanaian foreign minister supported Obasanjo, saying, “It is indeed a matter of regrets that Africa which produces an overwhelming proportion of the world’s cocoa beans has so little influence on the determination of the price of cocoa in the world commodity markets.“
He said Africa should work towards reversing the situation. “This summit should signal to our trading partners our desire and resolve to become more effective players in the cocoa industry“.

Kuwait's KSE all-share price index shed 1.3 percent, closing week at 10,197 points down from 10,326 points last week. (AFP File Photo)

RIYADH,
Saudi Arabia, May 7--Saudi stocks plummeted further last week despite good first quarter results reported by several leading firms, Arab News reported on Saturday.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) shed 6.1 percent, closing week at 12,751.39 points. TASI is currently 23.7 percent lower than the year’s start.
According to the weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Financial Advisors (BFA), “The Saudi stock market continued its sharp fluctuations amid profit-taking on investment stocks and heavy speculation on stocks of companies with weak financial indicators.“
The BFA expected the Saudi stock exchange to “continue its volatility due to hastily profit booking by some investors, and heavy speculation by others“. Arab stock markets are expected to retain their volatility in the short term as long as “speculation“ remained the main driving force in regional markets, financial analysts said.
They told Arab News that the Saudi stock exchange would continue to affect neighboring bourses due to the fact that several Saudi funds were operating at the same time in other Arab markets, particularly the bourses of Dubai and Kuwait.
However, some analysts believed that surging oil prices and the subsequent expansion in surplus petrodollars accruing to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf producers would provide an impetus to regional markets in the long run.
Jordanian shares also fluctuated violently last week with speculation running high on the heavyweight Arab Bank as well as investment, services and real state stocks.
The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange edged higher last week closing at 7,051 points on Thursday, which represents a 0.16 percent gain over last week’s close, according to the ASE weekly report.
Kuwait’s KSE all-share price index shed 1.3 percent, closing week at 10,197 points down from 10,326 points last week.
Egypt’s Hermes all-share price index shed 1.1 percent to close on Thursday at 57,205.4 points in what analysts described as a profit-taking move that prepares for a rebound.

HYDERABAD, India, May 7--The Asian Development Bank (ADB) ended its annual general meeting saying the region looked set to continue on a high economic growth path despite the threat posed by high oil prices.
According to AFP, the positive outlook was clouded by significant risks such as high oil prices, energy security and global payment imbalances, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said.
“Looking at these challenges as a whole we all recognize that working together is the key to a future of stability, prosperity and peace,“ Kuroda said in Hyderabad, India’s southern high-tech hub.
He also issued a call to fight corruption and strengthen cooperation among the ADB’s 65 members to eradicate poverty and urged the private sector to play a crucial role in meeting Asia’s infrastructure and other investment needs.
“The ADB is developing an action plan on fighting corruption,“ he told reporters.
“We will have continued emphasis on governance policy and preventing corruption,“ he said. “This is a very important issue.“
Kuroda also reaffirmed the ADB’s commitment to reducing poverty.
According to the bank, about 1.9 million people in Asia, home to two-thirds of the world’s poor, live on less than two dollars a day.
“As the region grows more prosperous, the widening gap between the rich and poor becomes less tolerable to all of us,“ Kuroda said.
“All the members agreed to include poor in the plans for growth by investing in rural development, health and education,“ he said.
The ADB chief added that the Manila-based lender will assist any nation on setting up a common Asian Currency Unit.
“We have been helping ASEAN+3 (Japan, China and South Korea) finance ministers proceed in various ways. We will support the ASEAN+3 in terms of monetary and financial cooperation,“ Kuroda said.
The ADB has been spearheading a proposal for the creation of an Asian currency unit or ACU as part of a bid to bolster monetary stability, spur regional economic growth and even out disparities.
The ASEAN members along with China, Japan and South Korea said that they would consider a single Asian currency similar to the euro.
The ADB is also supporting the Asian Bond Market Initiative to develop an efficient bond market in Asia for better utilisation of regional savings for investment.
“It is very active and we will promote the development of an Asian Bond Market,“ he said.
In order to shield the region from unlikely financial turbulence such as the 1997-98 currency crisis, the ADB said Asian nations must be prepared and have a safety net.
Kuroda said under the ASEAN+3 network of bilateral swap arrangements a fund of 75 billion dollars was parked to help tide Asian nations over temporary liquidity problems.
“It will also help nations in the event of any possible disruptions in the financial markets or their macro economies,“ Kuroda said.
The next meeting was due to be held in Kyoto, Japan.

Two Gazprom workers weld the North European Gas pipeline near the town of Tikhvin in the Leningrad region in Russia. (AFP File Photo)

MOSCOW, May 7--The market capitalization of Russian gas giant Gazprom soared over 300 billion dollars on Saturday, making it the world’s third largest company following US oil company ExxonMobil and General Electric.
According to AFP, shares in Gazprom continued their rise on the Moscow bourse, which was open for trading ahead of a long holiday to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, gaining 4.2 percent to 350.38 roubles (12.9 dollars, 10.1 euros).
With more than 23.6 billion shares in circulation, that put Gazprom’s market capitalization at 305.39 billion dollars, compared to 372.9 billion dollars for General Electric and 390.8 billion dollars for ExxonMobil.
Gazprom, which controls 60 percent of Russia’s immense gas reserves, has in the last month passed in terms of market capitalization its British competitor BP, world banking number one Citigroup, and software giant Microsoft.
The Russian gas giant has made no secret of its ambitions to grow even bigger through acquisitions abroad and to control transport and distribution to final customers.

FRANKFURT, Germany, May 7--Eurozone indicators to be released this week are expected to confirm a rebound in first quarter economic momentum in the 12-nation bloc, with inflation seen as creeping up in April under the influence of high oil prices, AFP quoted economists as saying.
An initial estimate from the European statistics agency Eurostat is likely to show that Eurozone GDP growth came to 0.6 percent in the first quarter from 0.3 percent in the final three months of last year.
“The prospects for a strong rise in euro area GDP in the first quarter are promising,“ Credit Suisse economists said.
Business surveys have been particularly positive since the start of the year, economists said, adding that the first quarter GDP number would play a key role in the European Central Bank’s decision on whether or not to raise interest rates at its June 8 council meeting in Madrid.
In Germany, the Eurozone’s leading economy, GDP growth is expected to have rebounded strongly to around 0.6 percent in the first quarter after the stagnation seen in the final quarter of 2005.
Strong sentiment surveys suggest that Germany is now leading the Eurozone recovery, economists said.
The Italian economy, driven by robust industrial output, is also projected to show a recovery in the first quarter after a weak 2005.
In Spain the National Statistics Institute is expected to confirm the Bank of Spain’s estimate that GDP grew 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter and an annual 3.5 percent in the first quarter.
The Dutch economy meanwhile should be seen to have grown 0.8 percent in the first quarter, just down from 1.0 percent in the final three months of 2005.
Industrial output in both Germany and France is likely to have strengthened recently, with production rising 0.5 percent in March in Germany and 0.9 percent in France.
Data from three countries, Germany, France and Spain, will suggest that steadily increasing crude prices are boosting inflation in the Eurozone.

Yemen, a small non-OPEC oil producer with an output of 375,000 barrels per day badly needs to diversify its economy. (AFP File Photo)

SANAA, Yemen,
May 7--Corruption has become so rife in Yemen that it is not just causing widespread popular discontent but also impeding economic development in one of the world’s poorest countries, experts say.
Graft permeates every level of society, from the modest “bakhshish“ (tip) handed to soldiers standing guard at ministries and who cannot otherwise make ends meet, to kickbacks on contracts and the “surcharge“ which every importer must pay.
In a survey of 159 nations by Transparency International’s 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index, Yemen came 103rd with a 2.7 score.
The index score relates to “perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts“. It ranges from 10 (highly clean) to zero (highly corrupt).
Saudi Arabia scored 3.4, Kuwait 4.7, Bahrain 5.8, Qatar 5.9, the United Arab Emirates 6.2 and Oman 6.3, making Yemen the worst affected by corruption among the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, despite being the poorest.
If anything, corruption has been worsening in recent years, according to Yemeni businessmen and foreign diplomats who spoke to AFP.
Yemen, a small non-OPEC oil producer with an output of 375,000 barrels per day, according to official figures, badly needs to diversify its economy. But it is hard to see investors putting their money in such a place.
Imported goods are systematically undervalued on official documents, a leading businessman explained.
If their market value is 20,000 dollars, the invoice will show 15,000 dollars for instance, the taxable amount. The “surcharge“ will be paid on the remaining 5,000 dollars that went undeclared.
The money extorted by way of “surcharges“ probably equals the import duties collected by the state.
The most spectacular--and costly--example of corruption is the traffic of diesel, whose price affects that of many staples since it fuels the pumps used to draw underground water for irrigation.