Amandla

The good, the bad and the ugly by Micaela Flores-Arraoz and Vas Musca

In one of its historically largest purchase operations, American retail giant Walmart bought 51% of South African retailer Massmart in May 2011 by paying US$ 2.4 billion. Massmart sells in 14 African countries, but the majority of its operations are in South Africa (265 retail stores in South Africa versus 25 in the other 13 countries. The Massmart group is based in Johannesburg and includes Game, Dion Wired, Makro, Builder’s Warehouse and Masscash. Walmart’s revenues stand above the US$ 400 billion mark, over South Africa’s GDP of approximately US$ 350 billion. They operate in 14 countries apart from the US, have a procurement division that employs 1,400 individuals, and work with 6,000 factories all over the world but mainly from China.  The transaction reflects Walmart’s clear intention of profiting from the opportunities of a country with a sharp increase in consumer spending power and where the supermarket buying experience reaches almost all socio-economic levels of the population...[more]

SOMO, founded in 1973, is an independent, non-profit Dutch organization “working on social, ecological and economic issues related to sustainable development.” SOMO’s mission includes eliminating “the structural causes of poverty, environmental problems, exploitation and inequality.” The organization’s focus is on multinational corporations and their activities that affect individuals and the environment. SOMO was founded in reaction to the overthrow of the Allende government in Chile in 1973 and the perceived manipulations of the Chilean economy by American multinational companies. SOMO pursues its mission through research and training, with emphasis on empowering social organizations in developing countries. In addition to SOMO’s background and news, the website provides access to publications and dossiers. The publications database is extensive and includes items from other organizations. Keyword searching is available and searches may be narrowed by responsible organization, company name, and country. Topics of recent publications include banking sector liberalization in Uganda and private standards in the furniture, garment, and footwear industries. The dossiers cover individual companies, industries and supply chains, corporate accountability, and economic reform. The database of companies is quite large and allows users to review news, reports, and detailed company information. Users may also consult the other dossier sections to track news and trends affecting sustainable development. [Author: M. Morrison]

URL: http://somo.nl/

From InSITE, a Current Awareness Service of Cornell Law Library

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/calling_time_on_tax_avoidance.pdf

by Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director, ISS Head Office, Pretoria

...I think it is time to rename the Davos man: for behold, the rise of the FIFA man. FIFA, an organization more powerful than government, is the demonstration of commercial interests able to trump national law. More blatantly than any of the traditional ‘evil’ multinational corporations, generally presented by ‘big oil’ such as BP or Shell, or arms manufacturers such as BAE Systems (now the world’s number one arms producer), FIFA is able to instruct governments to build and invest in infrastructure worth billions of dollars literally irrespective of local development needs. In the run-up to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his team strong armed the South African government to spend, amongst others, R8,4 billion (US$1,1 billion) on building five new soccer stadia and upgrading another five. This is a tab generally to be picked up by the South African taxpayer as the blowing of vuvuzela’s hide the sound of the FIFA cash register. The FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010 will be the most lucrative yet for the Association...

http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=975

A new publication Human Rights Translated: A Business Reference Guide was launched in Paris at the International Seminar on Business and Human Rights. The guide is a joint product of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR), and the UN Global Compact Office. The main purpose of the guide is to explain the universal human rights in the language of business through the use of case studies and suggested practical actions. Section One covers International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Section Two - International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Full text, 3.83 MB or download through UN OHCHR press-release.

UN Pulse permalink

United States Remains On Top Of Competitiveness Rankings
Source: World Economic Forum

The United States tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009, released today by the World Economic Forum. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden and Singapore. European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has dropped by three places and out of the top 10, mainly attributable to a weakening of its financial markets. The People’s Republic of China continues to lead the way among large developing economies, improving by four places this year and joining the top 30. All of the BRIC economies figure in the top half of the ranking, with China followed by India, Russia and Brazil.Several Asian economies perform strongly with Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea and Taiwan, China in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked country, followed by Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.

A number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf States since last year. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Botswana and Mauritius feature in the top half of the rankings, with several countries from the region measurably improving their competitiveness. Click here to read the highlights of the report.

+ Report highlights (PDF; 306 KB)
+ Full Report

Docuticker.com

Companies in the U.S. and Western Europe once had unfettered access to the world’s resources, such as raw materials, capital and talent. Thanks to increasing demand from India, China, Brazil, Russia and other rapidly developing economies, however, that access is no longer assured. In this special report, experts from Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group discuss the ways in which this unprecedented “race” for resources is reshaping global business, and how key political and financial trends in emerging economies are likely to affect companies anywhere in the world.

+ Full Report (PDF; 599 KB)

Source: Knowledge@Wharton

Permalink: Docuticker

Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor, a new report released today by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) offers strategies and tools for companies to expand beyond traditional business practices and bring in the world’s poor as partners in growth and wealth creation. As part of UNDP’s Growing Inclusive Market’s initiative, the report draws on extensive case studies and demonstrates the effectiveness—both for human progress and for wealth creation—of more inclusive business models. Visit the website to download the report in full or by chapters. UN Pulse Permanent Link: Doing Business with the Poor

Permalink Docuticker

The UN Global Compact has launched a survey of Global Compact Local Networks, Local Network Report: Deepening the Engagement of Participants at the Local Level (full text, pdf, 5.33 MB). The Global Compact is a framework for businesses committed to aligning their operations and strategies with principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption; local networks assist in rooting the Global Compact within different national and cultural contexts, and provide support to companies in their efforts to integrate the Global Compact into their business operations and strategies. The report presents a detailed analysis of 90 emerging and existing networks and showcases numerous examples of network activities from all regions of the world. Learn more about local networks, or about the report.