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What's New! Vol.
5, No. 4
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April 2006
"What's New!" is a periodic update to keep you informed of the latest on the ECA Watch website. What's New! features a wide range of materials related to the reform of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) including NGO publications and releases, news articles, commentaries and announcements about the policies and practices of ECAs and ECA-financed projects world-wide. If you would like to receive "What's New!" simply add your e-mail to the ECA-Action list at www.eca-watch.org today! Questions? Email info-at-eca-watch.org
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1) |
NGOs accuse EU countries of inflating aid figures with ECA debt cancellation |
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2) |
OECD publishes ECA statistical summary from 1998 to 2004 |
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JIBC publishes new category A, B and C projects list |
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Merowe Dam displaced people's meeting attacked in Sudan - three killed |
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Export Development Canada projects growing ECA competition for export sales |
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Sinosure to outfinance US Ex-Im Bank by 10 times by 2010 |
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Nigeria gives China oil rights in exchange for investment and export credits |
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Finnvera to reappraise controversial ECA supported pulp mill in Uruguay |
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9) |
NGO submission on Sakhalin finds unwarranted & uncontainable reputational risks |
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10) |
Chinese ECA to fund Mozambique dam which will Exacerbate Poverty, Livelihoods |
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View Back Issues of What's New |
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| 1. |
NGOs accuse EU countries of inflating aid figures with ECA debt cancellation [PDF] |
| (Reuters, Brussels, 3 April 2006)
European Union countries are inflating their aid figures by a third, a
coalition of non-governmental organisations said on Monday, urging the
25-nation bloc to provide more cash and give genuine data.
"It is largely export credit debt, which was issued primarily as a means of subsidising European companies operating in developing countries, and never had any development purpose," they wrote, calling for ECA debt cancellation to be excluded from aid figures. |
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| 2. |
OECD publishes ECA statistical summary to 2004 [PDF] |
| (OECD, Paris, 11 April 2006) The OECD's Export Credit Working Group secretariat has published summary data on ECA activities from 1998 to 2004. The OECD has only published this data in PDF format but ECA Watch has converted it into a spreadsheet to permit a broader analysis of the statistics. A summary of the overall data and the sector breakdown is available on our web site as PDF files and a copy of the spreadsheet can be requested from <facilitator@eca-watch.org> |
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JIBC publishes list of new category A, B and C projects |
| (JIBC, Tokyo, 27 April 2006) Japanese ECA JIBC publishes a list of projects for which it has environmental impact statements and, unlike most other OECD based ECAs, also publishes a list of Category A, B and C projects. |
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Merowe Dam displaced people's meeting attacked - three killed |
| (Sudan Tribune, Khartoum, 22 April 2006)
Three people were killed and more than fifty wounded in an attack carried
out on a community meeting of people to be displaced by the Merowe Dam currently under construction in the Sudan. The dam is financed by the China Exim Bank and different Arab Funds, and executed by Chinese and European companies, including Lahmeyer International, Alstom, and ABB.
Whereas the affected people demand to be resettled around the dam
reservoir, the dam authority insists on resettling the people in
Bayouda desert, a location rejected by the people. Affected people
allege that the dam authority has sold their land to Arab
investors. |
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Export Development Canada projects growing ECA competition for export sales |
| (EDC, Ottawa, 25 April 2006) An EDC report addresses the latest global export conditions, including perspectives on interest rates, exchange rates, as well as export strategies to help Canadian companies minimize risk. "In addition to the global dominoes tumbling into one another, there is a more complex, strategic game of dominoes at play at the geopolitical level," continued Mr. Poloz [EDC Chief Economist]. "We are seeing global powers jockeying for better energy security on one level, and a rise in protectionist rhetoric and practice on another. These two cross-currents have the potential to send major new tremors through global financial markets in the months ahead." |
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Sinosure to outfinance US Ex-Im Bank by 10 times by 2010 |
| (Washington Post, 22 April 2006) Statistics on Chinese foreign assistance are patchy, but James A. Harmon, a former head of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, estimates that China's export credit agencies will finance about $160 billion worth of exports by 2010, some 10 times the volume financed by its U.S. rival. |
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Nigeria gives China oil rights in exchange for investment and export credits |
| (Reuters, Abuja, 26 April 2006)
Nigeria agreed to give China four oil drilling licences in exchange for
a commitment to invest $4 billion (2.2 billion pounds) in
infrastructure in a deal signed by President Hu Jintao.
Another agreement set up a $500 million export credit from the Eximbank of China to Nigeria for infrastructure development. |
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| 8. |
Finnvera to reappraise role in controversial pulp mill in Uruguay |
| (Finnish News Agency, Helsinki, 28 April 2006) Topi Vesteri, the vice chief executive of Finnvera, the Finnish export credit guarantee body, was quoted as saying in the Friday issue of business daily Kauppalehti that it would have to reappraise its role in the mill being built by pulp maker Metsä-Botnia in Uruguay. Argentinian human rights body CEDHA has filed an OECD Specific Instance Complaint against the Finnish company Botnia for violations of OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in Uruguayan Mills Project. Meanwhile Argentine NGOs and local government bodies are lobbying Spanish ECA CESCE to withdraw support for another mill in Uruguay following the freezing of World Bank support. |
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NGO report on Sakhalin finds unwarranted & uncontainable reputational risks [PDF] |
| (The Corner House, Dorset, 28 April 2006) The Corner House, Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and WWF-UK have published a report in response to the public consultation initiated by the UK Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments for Shell’s Sakhalin II (Phase 2) oil and gas project, now under construction in Russia’s Far East. The report finds that support for the project carries a number of reputational risks for the ECGD which pose a potential conflict with
ECGD’s legal duty to manage its portfolio responsibly. The NGO's Solicitor has written ECGD seeking assurances that they will transparently consider certain risk and legislative issues in their consideration of Shell's application for ECGD support. |
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| 10. |
Chinese ECA to fund Mozambique dam which will exacerbate poverty, livelihoods |
| (International Rivers Network, Berkeley, 28 April 2006) The government of Mozambique announced last Friday, 21 April, that the Export-Import Bank of China (Sinosure) has agreed to back the construction of the proposed Mphanda Nkuwa Dam, worth over US $2 billion. The financial agreement comes at great risk to Mozambique’s economy, environment, and people, for the benefit of foreign big business. Justiça Ambiental (JA!), a Mozambique-based organization, is urging its government to suspend all activity on the project until all project studies are completed and published. JA! and other organizations have been monitoring the preparations for Mphanda Nkuwa since 2000. |
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