World Economic Forum

At Tuesday's launch of the "Economic Report on Africa 2007" at UN World Headquarters in New York, NY, USA, Ejeviome Eloh Otobo, director of Strategic Planning in the UN's Peacebuilding Support Office, also said several nations had uneven development with some even regressing, such as Zimbabwe, which had a negative growth rate of 4.4 percent, while Comoros, Ivory Coast, the Seychelles, and Swaziland had grown by only 1 percent.

Zimbabwe has been suffering inflation of more than 1,000 percent for nearly a year, and Ivory Coast had been throttled by a political crisis.

The 7 percent increase level sought is the figure deemed desirable to achieve progress in reducing poverty, the first of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Only eight countries had growth above that rate: Angola, Mauritania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, and Congo.

Beyond Thabo Mbeki

There have been many versions of South Africas recent history, but the one most widely publicised is black and white, like an old snapshot: a poor black population living in the shadow of white wealth and privilege.

True, the fruits of freedom have not been equally shared since the apartheid government of FW de Klerk surrendered power 13 years ago.

The richest quarter of blacks have seen their incomes jump by 30 percent in the last decade, as the government and private sector have rushed to hire the brightest and best educated. But the bottom 50 percent of blacks are some 10 percent poorer than they were a decade ago, largely because they are more likely to be jobless.

On the other side, the picture is of a country enjoying an economic upswing, thanks to orthodox economic policies that have figured strong curbs on government spending and the liberalisation of trade and capital flows.

DES deputy director listens to issues local care providers face

KINGMAN - Representatives with the Arizona Department of Economic Security Child Protective Services from Mohave, La Paz and Yuma counties met Friday with the new deputy director of the Division of Children, Youth and Families for DES.

Ken Deibert, who works statewide, addressed the group about his background, his focus and the current reforms with CPS before fielding questions.

"This is my opportunity to find out what's going on," Deibert said.

Peggy Schwartz brought to Deibert's attention issues regarding a lack of available foster care for children in the areas. Without sufficient resources, the children are being sent out of the county for care and still have to be supervised by the social workers from their original counties.

"My people have to travel 3,000 to 5,000 miles per month with their caseload," Schwartz said.

Balkan enlargement is EU birthday test

Fifty years ago European visionaries signed the Treaty of Rome setting the foundations for a modern day Europe. Today Europe has 27 members, almost 560 million citizens and it is the biggest market in the world. The economic indicators are convincing. EU average unemployment is down to 7 percent and its cumulative economic growth is at 3 percent. But in order to compete on the global market, Europe may have to further intensify economic reforms, liberalize its markets and complete the enlargement process. Without integrating the Western Balkans, Europe will struggle to manage its out-of area expansion and its global commitments as problems from the region will keep its focus on local issues. Macedonia is managing its transition well. We are shifting into high gear in order to be ready for EU membership by 2010.

Low-hanging fruit: ripe or already gone?

With mobile markets in India and China generating growth in numbers that few can get their mind aroundbut offering revenue and market share that many are fighting to get their hands onits little wonder that the industry is looking farther afield for similar opportunities.

This just in: there are no other countries on Earth with populations in excess of one billion that currently are enjoying steady economic growth and, therefore, explosive demand for mobile handsets and services. But a combination of factors points to several large, prospering nations as the next battleground for rapid growth in handset shipments.

Whether those factorstheres conventional wisdom as well as caveats and qualifiersfavor the large multinational handset vendors or the multitude of smaller players may depend on the scale needed for success.

Shifting patterns of work and retirement

No set of issues has stimulated public discourse about population aging more than work, retirement, and economic security in old age. In Western democracies, in Eastern Europe 's transitional economies, and in much of the less developed world, policymakers struggle with the balance between public and private income security systems. The precariousness of security in old age can be seen in stagnant and declining real pensions in transitional economies, in the fate of pensioners during the collapse of Argentina's economy in 2001, in the high poverty rates among Japanese elderly, and perhaps most vividly in the lack of formal social safety nets for most older people in Africa and Asia.

A prominent economic concern in our aging world is the shrinking of the workforce relative to the number of pensioners.

Ethiopia: Making Growth Matter

Although there were plans to keep the inflation rate below 10pc this year, the last six months have seen an increase of the figure, reaching 13.6pc. However, in an economy where there is consecutive growth over 10pc, inflation is not something uncommon and should not be taken as economic instability. The government is actively giving special attention to the issue, taking into consideration its macroeconomic significance.

Chile's Peso Rises to Two-Week High as Economic Growth Quickens

April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Chile's peso rose to a two-week high after a central bank report showed the economy grew at its fastest pace in nine months in February.

The central bank's economic activity indicator rose 5.7 percent in February, more than the 5.3 percent increase in January, the central bank said on its Web site.