Pressure & Shell is most profitable co.

[Steve Kretzmann <steve@moles.org>]

  Nigeria faces renewed pressure to restore democracy
  
  BY JAMES JUKWEY
  
  LAGOS, July 14 (Reuter) - Pressure from the West appears to be building on
  Nigeria's military rulers to restore democracy and respect human rights.
  
  Sensing this could be their chance to force real change, opposition leaders
  are urging the world community to tighten the screws on the West African oil
  nation.
  
  ``Concerted action by the international community, and by this I mean real
  sanctions, can bring about the desired effect,'' said Senator Abraham
  Adesanya, acting chairman of the umbrella National Democratic Coalition
  opposition group.
  
  ``This is the time for sanctions to be imposed,'' he told Reuters in Lagos
  after the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met Nigerian
  dissidents in London last Friday.
  
  The renewed interest in Nigeria centres on former colonial power Britain,
  where a new Labour government is touting human rights and democracy as part
  of its foreign policy.
  
  ``The new British posture is critical to what shape any international action
  on Nigeria will take,'' says pro-democracy activist Olu Agboola.
  
  Opposition newspapers gleefully reported recent remarks by a British
  official on Africa, Tony Lloyd, that London would not accept military ruler
  General Sani Abacha if he were to win next year's poll to become an elected
  president unless the electoral process was made more transparent than at
  present.
  
  They were disappointed when the much publicised meeting of CMAG with
  Nigerian dissidents did not announce any specific measures against the
  Nigerian government.
  
  But analysts say the renewed pressure is unlikely to ease unless there is
  clear improvement in human rights and Abacha pursues his transition
  programme vigorously.
  
  ``We should improve on our domestic policies and then we shall see a change
  in the attitude of the West,'' says Yomi Dinakin, a senior lecturer in
  international law and diplomacy at the University of Lagos.
  
  Nigeria drew international ire in June 1993 when the army voided an election
  of a civilian president.
  
  Abacha seized power five months later in the confusion that ensued and has
  detained Moshood Abiola, presumed winner of the annulled poll, since 1994
  when the wealthy businessman proclaimed himself president in defiance of the
  army.
  
  International pressure to restore democracy reached fever pitch in November
  1995 when the military government defied world opinion and hanged nine
  minority rights activists including writer Ken Saro-Wiwa.
  
  Nigeria was immediately suspended from the Commonwealth while European Union
  and the United States imposed sanctions, but these did not include an
  embargo on Nigeria's oil exports, its economic lifeline. The opposition
  wanted oil exports banned.
  
  Then followed a prolonged lull as Abacha launched a three-year plan for
  transition to civil rule that his opponents say replicates similar
  programmes that failed.
  
  ``The entire transition programme is a sham,'' says Ayo Obe, president of
  the Civil Liberties Organisation, the leading human rights advocacy group in
  the country.
  
  What is needling the West and Nigerian opposition is the likelihood that
  Abacha might stand in the polls set for August 1, 1998. The transition plan
  calls for the government to be handed over to an elected president on
  October 1, 1998.
  
  He has not said he would, but many groups with obvious official backing,
  have sprung up to urge him to stand and their so-called solidarity rallies
  are diligently reported by the official media, especially state television.
  
  Analysts say Abacha's transition would get Western backing if he were to
  categorically declare that he would not stand to succeed himself as
  president next year.
  
  They say the release of political prisoners would also give credibility to
  the transition programme.
  
  ``The release of Abiola will assuage the international community and calm
  down tempers,'' says Lagos lawyer Victor Iyanam, adding: ``And then he
  should be allowed to join any of the parties, if he so desires.''
  
  Otherwise, diplomats said, Abacha could expect the current Western posture
  to lead to action, such as freezing Nigerian assets and even an oil embargo,
  to force Africa's most populous nation to democratise and respect human
  rights. Reut07:03 07-14-97
  
  -------------------------------
  
  GM tops Fortune list of world's 500 biggest companies
  
  NEW YORK (Reuter) - General Motors Corp. drove to the top spot in Fortune
  magazine's list of the world's 500 biggest companies, fueled by a wave of
  restructurings that also lifted archrival Ford Motor Co. to No. 2 in
  revenues, the magazine said.
  
  GM, with $168.4 billion in fiscal 1996 revenues, and Ford, with nearly $147
  billion, displaced the Japanese trading giants that have led the Fortune
  Global 500 for the past two years, the magazine said in its Aug. 4 issue,
  which hits newsstands next Monday.
  
  ``And what's been good for General Motors is increasingly proving good for
  the rest of the world as well,'' Fortune said of the restructurings,
  pointing to a 25.1 percent rise in the 500 companies' total fiscal 1996
  profits to $404.4 billion.
  
  By comparison, total revenues increased just 0.5 percent to $11.4 trillion,
  the smallest increase since Fortune began compiling the global list in 1990.
  
  Fortune, however, said its tally was skewed by new accounting standards at
  the top Japanese trading companies -- without the change, revenues would
  have risen 2 percent, level with inflation.
  
  The most profitable company on the list was Anglo-Dutch oil colossus Royal
  Dutch/Shell Group, which earned $8.9 billion on $128.2 billion in revenues.
  Thirty-one of the most profitable companies and seven of the top 10 were
  American, Fortune said.
  
  U.S. and Japanese companies dominated the top positions in the Global 500,
  which included privately owned companies and cooperatives that publish
  financial figures and report all or part of the data to a government agency.
  
  Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co. Ltd. ($144.9 million in revenues),
  Mitsubishi Corp. ($140.2 million) and Itochu Corp. ($135.5 million) took
  third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
  
  Mitsubishi fell from first place in the 1996 listing, Mitsui dropped from
  No. 2 and Itochu No. 3.
  
  Royal Dutch/Shell was in the sixth spot in the lastest list, followed by
  another Japanese trading house, Marubeni Corp. Rounding out the top 10 were
  U.S. oil giant Exxon Corp., Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. and
  automaker Toyota Motor Corp.
  
  The last company to make the cut was the Banca Monta Dei Paschi di Siena of
  Italy, with $9.2 billion in revenues.
  
  All companies on the Global 500 had to report earnings on or before March
  31, 1997.
  
  Fortune said two newcomers emphasized the increasingly global nature of the
  business: Russia's RAO Gazprom, No. 146, and China's Sinochem (204), the
  third Chinese company on the 500.
  
  The United States had the most companies on the list, 162, up from 153 the
  previous year. Japan was second with 126, a decline from last year's 141,
  and France came in third with 42, unchanged from the previous year. Germany
  was fourth with 41, up from 40, and Britain fifth with 34, up from 32.
  
  Despite an overall surge in profits last year, not everything was rosy for
  the Global 500. The five biggest money-losers, in descending order, were
  Banco do Brasil SA, with $8.01 billion in losses; the French railroad SNCF
  ($3.43 billion); Nippon Credit Bank Ltd. ($3.34 billion); bank Credit Suisse
  Group ($2.09 billion) and Swiss Bank Corp.
  
  Some companies left the list because of acquisitions. They included Chemical
  Bank, now part of 107th-place Chase Manhattan Corp.; Swiss pharmaceutical
  companies Sandoz AG and Ciba-Geigy AG, now Novartis AG at No. 95; and Bank
  of Tokyo, which became part of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, No. 41.
  
  Fortune's list may also be found on Pathfinder, Time Warner Inc.'s Web site,
  at http://fortune.com.