African press review 24 April 2013

In today's African press, claims Tunisian jihadist fighters are fighting for Al Shebab in Somalia; unions in South Africa step up wage demands; and Nigeria sells off state electricity assets.

The daily Press in Tunis reports that Tunisian jihadist fighters are among the ranks of Al Shebab militants in Somalia.

This follows the news that Tunisians have been fighting against the "heretical regime" of president Bashar al Assad in Syria.

According to the Press, most of the Tunisian holy warriors come from the 1,200 muslim militants freed from Ben Ali's jails in the aftermath of the revolution in 2011. They went first to Libya where they played a role in the overthrow of Muammar Khadafi, before moving on to Syria and Mali.

The same article reminds us that many Tunisians fought in Afghanistan in the '80s and '90s, as well as in Iraq's two wars.

The Foreign Ministry in Tunis has declined to comment on the possible presence of Tunisian nationals in the ranks of Al Shebab.

Also in Tunisia, there will be no primary school tomorrow, as the nation's 60,000 junior teachers go on strike. The dispute centres on failed negotiations on bonuses, reduced hours for principals and a new legal status for schools.

A strike threatened in the university sector, also due tomorrow, has been averted following talks yesterday between the Education Ministry and the Federation of Third Level Teachers.

There's an articled headlined "Political agendas to be seen in appointment of judges," on the opinion pages of South African financial paper, BusinessDay.

According to Dene Smuts, the opposition Democratic Alliance’s shadow minister of justice, while there is clear evidence of a prejudice against "pale male" candidates for judicial positions, the real question is whether a political agenda is being driven by a majority voting bloc on the Judicial Service Commission, and what the nature of the agenda is.

Also in BusinessDay, a warning that the South African motor industry should brace itself for a difficult negotiating season as the largest union in the sector, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is set to table its demand for a 20 per cent wage raise.

The motor sector negotiations are a litmus test for Numsa on how it manages the negotiations process, following hot on the heels of unrest in the mining sector which was characterised by hostility towards fellow Congress of South African Trade Union affiliate National Union of Mineworkers.

This year’s wage talks in the motor sector are the first major negotiations since Marikana, following the expiration of a three-year wage deal signed in 2010.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said the union   representing about 210,000 workers   was treating the talks as "extremely strategic" and as being not just about wages. The main objectives are to "close the apartheid wage gap" and "achieve skills development".

National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa director Nico Vermeulen said it was "surprising" that Numsa has decided to announce their demands publicly, as the process "should have gone through to the national bargaining forum."

On its African Business pages, BusinessDay reports that, as South African business and households enter what may be a bleak winter of blackouts courtesy of state power monopoly Eskom, the continent’s other emerging giant, Nigeria, is selling off state electricity assets to 15 bidding companies in a huge privatisation drive.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed the deals on Monday, marking a milestone in a privatisation process meant to end decades of power blackouts. The handover came a month after the bidders for 10 generation groups and five distribution firms paid deposits of 25 per cent of their bids.

The signing coincided with Eskom warning that blackouts could blight South Africa’s winter, sending a shiver down the spine of business and mining.

Economists say power outages cost Africa’s second-biggest economy billions of dollars on imported diesel for generators and in lost output. Gross domestic product growth of about seven per cent could be in double figures if the electricity supply was fixed, they say.

Previous state sell-offs in Nigeria were blighted by political infighting and graft, which have caused years of delays. Regulators say this process was more transparent. Although it has appeared to favour established Nigerian oligarchs, most have teamed up with capable partners such as Siemens.