Morocco says investors lining up for $9 bn solar project

Morocco says investors lining up for $9 bn solar project

 

[caption id="attachment_11790" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Workers build a thermo-solar power plant in Beni Mathar 20 Thursday August 2009 The Roman. (Reuters))[/caption]

 

Morocco has recruited foreign investors to fund $9 billion solar power project, even though some European lenders have balked due to the location of some planned plants in the disputed Western Sahara, its foreign minister said.

 

Lending sources at German state-owned banks and at multi-lateral lenders such as the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Union have told Reuters they would not finance projects based in Western Sahara.

 

“That is their problem. We have no financing problems. We have several (investors); there are Japan, Gulf countries,” Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar told Reuters on Tuesday in an interview in Madrid, where he was meeting with Spanish business leaders.

 

He declined to give details on the financing contracts with specific parties.

 

Morocco, a net energy importer, wants to develop renewable power to reach 20 percent of its energy supply in 10 years, up from 8 percent now, Mezouar said.

 

The solar project involves five plants, two of them planned in Western Sahara, that would produce a total of 2,000 Mega Watts.

 

Morocco has controlled most of the sparsely populated Western Sahara, former Spanish colony, since 1975.

 

European investor sources told Reuters earlier this year they did not want to support any project in Western Sahara, because it would mean abandoning a neutral position over the conflict.

 

The solar project is focussed on building the first of the five plants.

 

“The other four plants will also happen. The goal is to achieve 2,000 Mega Watts, and we will continue with our plan. The Western Sahara issue has nothing to do with it. The financing is not conditioned on whether plants are in Sahara or not,” the minister said.

 

“Western Sahara needs renewable energy, and the investment will be made. If some people don't want to come, others will.”

 

Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power International won the $1 billion contract for the first solar plant, which is scheduled to start operating next year in Ouarzazate with a capacity of 160 Mega Watts.

 

It awarded the construction to a consortium of three Spanish companies - Sener, Acciona and TSK.

 

Hundreds of Spanish companies do business in Morocco, and more than half of Spain's entire investment in Africa is in Morocco, according to Moroccan figures.

 

Overall, Morocco aims for 15 to 20 percent growth in foreign direct investment a year in the economy, up from 13 percent last year, Mezouar said.

 

Mezouar said that Morocco, which has been more stable than most of its neighbours during the so-called Arab spring in recent years, offers yet more potential for Spanish investors as a base for textile and automotive manufacturing and as a springboard for trade to the rest of Africa.

 

(Fiona Ortiz, Reuters - Madrid)

 

(Al Arabiya News, 5 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

France and Germany rebuild ties but EU waits for old axis

France and Germany rebuild ties but EU waits for old axis

 

Brussels (AFP)

 

With France and Germany apparently patching up their economic differences, their decades-old axis could retake its place at the heart of Europe, but analysts are waiting for actions to back up the rhetoric.

 

French President Francois Hollande's recent promises of economic reform have been welcomed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition as a step away from socialist policies towards Berlin's austerity-minded approach.

 

The eurozone's two biggest economies have meanwhile launched a series of measures to jumpstart stalled ties after the financial crisis exposed major differences in approach to budgetary discipline and growth.

 

"There is a chance this is a real one (rapprochement)," Janis Emmanouilidis of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre think tank told AFP.

 

"Each side knows that they have to interact with each other for many years to come."

 

Paris and Berlin have struggled to reconcile their policies on recovering from the eurozone debt crisis ever since Hollande took office in 2012 promising to spend France's way out of trouble.

 

The previously strong bond between Merkel and Hollande's centre-right predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy -- dubbed "Merkozy" -- has been replaced by a lack of communication, exacerbated in 2013 by Merkel spending months building a new left-right coalition after elections.

 

But earlier this month Berlin warmly welcomed what Hollande called "social democratic" reforms to spur the beleaguered French economy.

 

They included 50 billion euros ($68 billion) in public spending cuts and a 30-billion-euro reduction in corporate payroll charges.

 

Since then it has been a veritable love-in between the former foes.

 

Germany offered logistical support to the French operation in the Central African Republic, while their foreign ministers are considering joint trips to some of Europe's troubled neighbours.

 

'Franco-German phoenix'

 

"It's a social-democratic convergence which reconciles supply-side reforms with a reduction in social inequality," said Claire Demesmay, of the German Council on International Relations.

 

Emmanouilidis said there was time for Germany and France to find common ground on changing the EU's treaties to strengthen joint economic governance in the 28-nation bloc.

 

But the negotiations would be "complex" and there were also a host of differences on technical issues such as banking union, the financial transactions tax and others.

 

The two leaders also face different situations at home.

 

The main problems in France are youth unemployment, competitiveness and the bloated state, whereas Germany faces issues with internal consumer demand.

 

Others were more sceptical that the relationship between France and Germany could return to the heady days when they effectively built the European Union together.

 

"I'm not sure how much rapprochement there actually is between France and Germany," Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, a eurosceptic think-tank based in London, told AFP.

 

"One senior German told me recently that they are far more worried about France than about Italy."

 

One EU official was cautious.

 

"The rebirth of the Franco-German phoenix is a recurrent phenomenon," the source added on condition of anonymity.

 

"For citizens, words have to be translated into lasting actions."

 

But Persson said the relationship was still "relevant and important for Europe."

 

"In the grand scheme of things it is good that France and Germany get on," he said.

 

Britain and other northern European countries could in particular benefit from the alliance, despite appearances to the contrary.

 

Prime Minister David Cameron has been wooing Germany in a bid to win support for his quest to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU before putting the new terms to a national referendum in 2017.

 

But close ties between Merkel and Hollande would not necessarily scupper this, particularly as there is appetite for treaty change from Berlin.

 

"A Franco-German axis on the whole is more open to reform than the sum of its parts," Persson said.

 

"It could therefore be more sympathetic to the UK's reform agenda."

 

(Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Grigol Vashadze: After that, the greatest threat is not against Ukraine, but against Georgia.

Grigol Vashadze: After that, the greatest threat is not against Ukraine, but against Georgia.

 

Tbilisi 20:46 - 22.11.13 «GHN»

 

GHN had the interview with the former minister of foreign affairs of Georgia_ Mr.Grigol Vashadze on the situation in Ukraine about signing the Association Agreement with EU and the possible threats for Georgia.

 

[caption id="attachment_10648" align="alignnone" width="320"] (Photo Georgia News Agency)[/caption]

 

-Mr. Grigol, it is clear, that the political leadership of Ukraine is under the heaviest pressure. After German Chancellor, Angela Merkel declared and addressed Russia to refrain from pressuring against Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova the situation became more complicated. How do you see the existing situation and can we consider Ukraine's refusal as Putin's victory and the failure of EU neighborhood policy?

 

-I can say clearly, that the decision of Ukraine about the termination or suspension of the signing process of the Agreement, I do not know what kind of formulation it has, is the defeat of EU neighborhood policy. This decision made by Ukraine government would threat the future of future generation and country's future development in general. Of course, it can be considered as the victory of Russia, because it is absolutely unacceptable for Russia not only NATO, but the enlargement of European Union as well. I do not like this word, but, enlargement of EU towards the post-Soviet direction. Russia has reached its aim.

 

I would also like to say, that in this situation both sides - Ukraine and the European Union have revealed extremely rigid and politically unprepared positions.

 

-If everything goes OK - I mean, initial and following procedures, it's very much probable that we would find ourselves in the position Ukraine is today It's obvious that the next year Russia will make pressure on Georgia...

 

Russia has successfully resolved its foreign policy objectives with respect to Ukraine. Let's recall that the current administration of Ukraine from the very beginning declared the decision that Ukraine would never join any military or political blocs and organizations.

 

Thus, Russia removed the threat of NATO expansion to Ukraine. And now, by refusal of Ukraine Russia has removed another its "danger" - expansion of EU - I mean, expansion of the European family based on democratic values towards Ukraine, the family, to whom Ukraine belongs by its history, culture and genetically.

 

After that, the greatest threat is not against Ukraine any more, but against Georgia. For Russia which successfully solved the most urgent task regarding Ukraine - suspension the expansion of NATO and the European Union, the next task will be Georgia, of course. From the Vilnius Summit, to the moment when Georgia and EU should sign extremely important documents - Association Agreement and very deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement - there is very realistic danger for us to become the victims of a series of political intrigues and provocations from Russia.

 

And I have to say- as unpleasant may be this inflexibility- the European Union, warned us by the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė that selective justice for European Union is unacceptable. Our political government, the political elite, should understand that, these are not just the words. As in Ukraine the fate of one person had put under the question mark the region's most important expansion of the two organizations, the same could take place in Georgia as well - to put under the question mark the signing of this document.

 

- Whether there is likelihood, that EU, taking into consideration this situation, can take an extraordinary step and sign the Association Agreement with Georgia and Moldova in Vilnius Summit and by that, in fact, prevents Russia's future behavior towards these countries?

 

- No. Let's explain once again- European Union and Brussels have declared their position. They say, for all these to happen you need more to do and achieve, than we have now. You need more international legal documents, you need more democracy, human rights, the balanced government, unprejudiced court and economic perspective - rather than the European Union. That's all we bring, but we bring these with condition, that you share our values. And if Yanukovych has not done something, why should we give more to Georgia? -So, it is absolutely impossible for that to happen.

 

- What would you suggest in this situation to Georgian government?

 

- As an ordinary citizen of this country, I urge the government to take into account the fact that we are now in critical condition. No matter how much they say we are perfect and so on, we are in an extremely serious and dangerous condition. Next year, starting from the Vilnius summit to NATO summit and to the deadline of theoretical signing up,- is going to be very difficult in terms of foreign policy for Georgia. Therefore, every statement, every trip, every decision made should be seriously reviewed, studied and analyzed in the framework of international law.

 

A person who enters in "Georgian Dream", should know, that he has no right to make comments and statements about foreign policy automatically, while it has not been agreed with professionals. Otherwise we will come over even more disastrous results.

 

GHN, Gocha Mirtskhulava

 

(Georgia News Agency, 22 Friday November 2013 The Roman)