South Sudan news update – ‘It is all Khartoum’s doing’

IT IS ALL KHARTOUM’S DOING

The present wave of militia incidents in Southern Sudan, combined with aggressive threats by leading operatives of the Khartoum regime in regard of the consultations and elections in South Kordofan – due for the 02^nd of May – and issues surrounding the disputed oil state of Abyei have confirmed long harboured suspicions, that Bashir’s goons and henchmen are far from happy with the South Sudan attaining independence on 09^th July. Inspite of soothing words uttered during Bashir’s visit to Juba a few days ago, reality on the ground speaks a different language, and a concerted effort is emerging to unsettle the South and create an ‘intervention scenario’ for South Kordofan, the Blue Mountains and Abyei areas, which historically belong to the South and were most hotly fought over during the civil war but still ended up with special status, putting many hurdles in their way to become free too from aggression, quasi slavery by the Khartoum regime and enforced Sharia law over the Christian majority population in those states.

Fighting in recent days intensified but a well prepared SPLA responded quickly and not only quelled a potential hotspot but in the process captured and killed several high ranking officers, including generals, of a breakaway faction sponsored by Khartoum.

Well placed sources in Khartoum also speak of a hidden agenda in regard of the South Kordofan state, which sections of the regime appear set to break up by re-creating a West Kordofan state, which could be the long feared trigger of another round of hostilities, as the Southern population there could not stand by idle in the face of such provocative acts and let go of territory, many hope will one day soon also be part of a free and liberated South, where people can decide on their own destiny without being treated as second and third rate citizens in their own country. Notably, the current Khartoum installed governor is also on the list of indicted persons by the International Criminal Court, alongside regime leader Bashir, wanted for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the Southern Sudanese population during the liberation war.

Said a regular source in Juba in this context: ‘we shall become independent on 09^th July. Let there be no doubt. We always knew it would be difficult but we are up to the challenge. We are vigilant and prepared but unlike Khartoum we are not warmongers. It is not us provoking, we respond only to provocations launched by regime friendly and sponsors trouble makers. We are now just over two months from independence and we stand firm here, we knew they would try, this maybe the peak now but we shall get this under control before we become Africa’s youngest and newest nation.’

East African governments too are said to be watching the situation with concern and some are said to have sent emissaries to Khartoum warning the regime of any mischief, without at this stage however committing any troops or assistance other than at diplomatic level to the government in Juba. Yet, some leaders in the region are on record that should Khartoum return to the warpath, the South would not stand alone, leaving the possible level of support however still open to speculation.

Watch this space.

Tanzania conservation news update – Lake Natron soda ash factory, by hook or crook

LAKE NATRON SODA ASH FACTORY – BY HOOK OR CROOK

The long Easter weekend produced some startling information from Tanzania, when it became known that the Minister for Industry and Trade stated categorically that even if the still in the making Environmental Impact Assessment study would recommend against the building of a soda ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron, the project would nevertheless go ahead, regardless of objections.

Lake Natron is the ONLY breeding ground for the presently millions of flamingos, traversing the Great African Rift Valley every year in search of food before returning to the hot mud flats of Lake Natron, where they make mud nests and lay their eggs, which mature assisted by temperatures well into the 40’s C every day. This being the only breeding ground for the bird species has attracted a wide coalition of opponents to the project, which is being promoted by India’s Tata Industries. It is expected that court action will  be launched against the project and a global ‘anti Tata alliance’ be formed to exert both legal and PR pressure on the company to mend their ways and respect the environment and biodiversity of an already fragile ecosystem which Lake Natron undoubtedly is.

Flamingos are said to be sensitive to the slightest disturbance and the establishment of an extraction plant in Lake Natron, a net of pipelines to the production facility and sharply increased human movement and activity will according to experts in flamingo lore lead to a significant reduction in the bird population, if not their extinction in years to come, robbing Eastern Africa of a crucial component of natural attractions.

Only recently has president Kikwete given the directive to the ministry to go ahead with the project, when visiting the ministry, causing an outcry by conservationists around the globe, and earning the Tanzanian leader yet more nick names, besides ‘Serengeti Killer’ with the now added ‘Flamingo Killer’.

The Tanzanian government has been particularly insensitive to the concerns of the conservation fraternity in regard to their plans to cut the Serengeti apart by constructing a highway across a crucial migration route of the great herds of wildebeest and zebras, terming opponents as ‘enemies of progress’ and ‘paid foreign agents’, as if to prepare the ground to eventually silence and imprison those leading protests against their ludicrous plans. When more recently the president also ordered the withdrawal of an application to UNESCO to recognize the Eastern Arc Mountains as a World Heritage Site, his critics saw yet more evidence that Kikwete was deep in the pockets of mining and logging interests, and no amount of lip service about pro tourism conservation and anti poaching measures will now divert attention from the apparent true intent of Kikwete during his final term of office to hammer through his anti conservation agenda.

Other related plans, interlinked with the Serengeti highway – itself skirting Lake Natron and providing an access road to the planned soda ash factory – have also recently come to light and will be discussed in a related article shortly. There a greater agenda will be unearthed and it will be revealed how the starting point of a new traffic axis will also very likely destroy a marine habitat at the Tanzanian coast, again showing evidence how little today’s leadership cares about the legacy left by founding father ‘Mwalimu’ Julius Nyerere, who had pledge to maintain Tanzania’s biodiversity through conservation for future generations. Seemingly, this no longer counts now as the financial interests of global mining conglomerates recklessly push aside whatever stands in their way.

Watch this space.

Kenya news update – World Bank to finance key infrastructural projects

WORLD BANK TO FINANCE MOMBASA AIRPORT AND KENYA TO SOUTH SUDAN ROAD WORKS

Information was received over the Easter weekend that the World Bank has reportedly agreed with the Kenya government to extend a soft loan of up to 25 billion Kenya Shillings to co-finance two crucial infrastructural projects. One, important to tourism, is the modernization and likely expansion of the Moi International Airport in Mombasa, the main entry gate for hundreds of thousands of sun and fun seeking holiday makers from Europe, arriving on charter flights from key gateways across Britain and the European mainland. This alone will be welcome news to the tourism sectors stakeholders, as alongside this project the new highway linking the airport with the ‘South Coast’ of Mombasa is also due to go ahead.

Further inland though a second key project, also with likely impact on tourism, but more so on trade in this case, is to be financed with the loan. The road between Kitale and the border to the South Sudan is to be upgraded, aimed to make ‘direct traffic’ from Kenya to South Sudan a reality without having to travel via Uganda, the most efficient route at present. Once the road from Kitale to the Kenya / South Sudan border has been completed, and the link from there to Juba via other important towns in South Sudan also been upgraded, travelling time will be cut into less than half compared to present circumstances. This road connection can conceivably also be used then to transport safari clients to the attractive and little explored game parks in Southern Sudan, where 6 national parks and over a dozen game reserves have been set aside for wildlife and nature conservation.

South Sudan, upon attaining independence on 09^th July this year, is expected to make immediate efforts to become a member state of the East African Community, which when it becomes a reality will make travel across a unified region even more attractive for tourists seeking to explore the great wildernesses of our region.

Expect regular updates on these developments and progress on the projects right here.

Rwanda news update – Akagera NP investments ‘on course’

ADDED INVESTMENTS IN AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK ON COURSE

News emerged from Kigali that a top level meeting between the Akagera partners, the Rwanda Development Board on behalf of the Government of Rwanda and the African Parks Network, which own the Akagera Management Company, have reaffirmed their commitment to invest an initial 12 million US Dollars this year. The funds will be used to create additional park infrastructure in particular with a new visitor reception centre offering state of the art services at the main gate, work on roads and tracks, fence off sections of the park closest to neighbouring farming communities and villages and generally improve on areas seen as degraded. A new five year strategic plan, developed in recent months, was also reviewed and subsequently approved by the board of the company.

In order to improve on park management it is also expected that a new workshop will be set up, as will current facilities be expanded, rebuilt and modernized to create better working and living conditions for staff. It was also learned that a site had been identified where a new up-market tented safari camp will be set up, to add more beds for visitors to the Akagera National Park while tapping into a new market segment.

The development will be welcome news to tourism operators in Rwanda seeking to diversify their products away from being ‘only’ a ‘gorilla tracking destination’ – in itself of course a major global attraction – and the revamp at Akagera will open new options for more varied safari itineraries for visitors, allowing for the key objective of ‘longer stays, higher expenditure’ per visitor to be achieved.

While no specific time frame for the work has been given, expect to read about it as and when it happens right here.

East Africa news update – A hard low season looms as Easter rush ends

A HARD LOW SEASON LOOMS FOR EASTERN AFRICA

As the Easter season comes to a close, domestic, regional and international tourists begin their journey home from the beaches across the Eastern African Indian Ocean shorelines and from the safari lodges in the national parks. Hospitality stakeholders have expressed their concern to this correspondent about occupancy levels over the May to July period, and in particular the beach resorts along the coast from Malindi to Ukunda and across in Tanzania, but also on Zanzibar, are expecting lower occupancies. Some resorts will reportedly close for ‘maintenance’, more likely prompted by insufficient advance bookings to keep them open but using the time to spruce things up and give staff their annual leave and accumulated off days.

Across East Africa is the ‘low season’ a period of the year when special offers flood the market to attract domestic and regional tourists, stimulating demand and providing room occupancies, but this year bears an added challenge again. Rising fuel prices and rising commodity prices have taken a significant portion of freely available income away from potential travelers, leaving them to ponder if a holiday to the coast or into the parks is affordable after all, and airlines are struggling with the rocketing cost of jet fuel too.

While Kenya Airways hit the market with a special all inclusive fare from Nairobi to Mombasa, Malindi and Kisumu of 3.000/- Kenya Shillings one way, fares after the Easter holidays are returning to ‘normal’ and their main domestic competitors Fly 540 and Jetlink will equally assess market conditions, if not a reduction of scheduled flights or the use of smaller aircraft may be required to meet the challenge of higher operating cost due to current levels in the price of JetA1 fuel.

Air Uganda had already some weeks ago taken the decision to suspend their flights between Entebbe to Zanzibar via Mombasa for the low season, taking capacity out of the market when demand is traditionally low and undoubtedly all other airlines in the region with a significant leisure travel segment, will do the same.

Last minute ‘special deals’ by hotels, resorts and lodges too may be harder to justify and sustain this year, as the cost to run these establishments too have suffered the impact of rising prices, which made running generators in lodges and safari camps substantially more expensive compared to a year ago, while the cost of food has equally risen, limiting the scope of tariff reductions.

International tourists too are said to be affected by fuel supplements slapped on their holiday packages, with long haul flights from the key European gateways now ambushing tourists, and in particular the aggressive marketing by Egyptian and Tunisian resorts, located half the distance of East Africa from the source markets along the Mediterranean and Red Sea shores, has caused East African tourism strategists sleepless nights.

Tunisia and Egypt are reportedly offering rebates of up to 50 percent on their rates compared to last year on ‘specials’ with an average reduction of between 25 and 30 percent, luring hitherto undecided holiday makers who also have to count their pounds and pennies.

This therefore is the time to assess the product range and quality of hotels, resorts and safari lodges in Eastern Africa and make a determined effort to improve, refurbish and innovate, to attract travelers seeking not just a quality holiday but one at a destination like East Africa which so readily combines natural attractions and national parks with superb beaches, a competitive advantage Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda need to build on.

Watch this space.