POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES
West Africa: Benin's President Boni Yayi has denied involvement in an alleged savings fraud, speaking publicly for the first time about accusations made by lawmakers in the impoverished West African country.
Nigeria: The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mrs Farida Waziri said the commission will work together with the INEC, the SSS, Police and political parties and advise parties on the candidates they are presenting for the next Election.
Elections:
Nigeria's ruling party has set its presidential primaries for next month between October 18 and 20, said Rufai Alkali, a spokesman for the People's Democratic Party. Meanwhile Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan showed the power of incumbency last week, mustering the support of more than two thirds of powerful state governors for the launch of his re-election campaign.
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo's signing of a decree last week validating a final voter list removed what appeared to be the last political hurdle to repeatedly delayed elections scheduled for Oct 31.
Guinea: dozens were wounded in clashes between supporters of rival candidates for Guinea's presidential election in the capital this week, witnesses said. The election campaigning had been suspended but there was no immediate threat of a delay to the planned Sept. 19 vote to restore civilian rule. Meanwhile Guinean authorities said last week that a presidential run-off would be delayed by as much as two weeks because of organizational failings, a move some fear could trigger unrest.
Central Africa: Rwanda: A French court has rejected a Rwandan government request to extradite a doctor accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. A judge in Versailles ruled last week, Eugene Rwamucyo could not receive a fair trial in Rwanda.
Meanwhile Rwandan president Paul Kagame has again lashed out at the United Nations after a U.N. report suggested Rwandan soldiers were guilty of mass killings and rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Congo: According to reports violence and human-rights abuses are on the rise in the Congo, the international community is stepping up efforts to prevent "conflict minerals" from fueling further bloodshed.
According to reports China needs Sudan to vote peacefully; China has more to lose than most if things fall apart in Sudan this winter, where a potentially explosive national referendum on southern independence is due in January.
South Africa: Zimbabwe: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says there is slow progress towards democracy, with many serious political and economic problems outstanding.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: Nigeria: At least ten people suspected of belonging to the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram have been arrested in northern Nigeria in recent days.
Mali: A kidnap threat blocking Western aid workers from traveling to parts of Mali is hampering aid operations and underscoring the importance of local NGOs, humanitarian experts say.
Mauritania : French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says he suspects a group linked to al-Qaeda was behind the kidnapping of seven people in Niger. Meanwhile Mauritanian military forces killed 12 members of al Qaeda's North African wing and suffered two fatalities in fighting in the desert along the border with Mali, a Mauritanian security source said.
Liberia: Liberian Ambassador to the European Union and the Benelux Countries, Conmany B. Wesseh, has outlined the adverse effects of illiteracy on postwar Liberia and the advantage of women’s education and called for a sustained fight against mediocrity and academic fraud.
Famine threat in Africa's Sahel has eased for now after abundant rains in Chad have raised hopes for an end to severe food shortages but the effects will linger and lead to new difficulties across Africa's Sahel region in 2011, aid workers predict.
East Africa/Horn of Africa: Chad: The United Nations refugee agency sounded the alarm last week about the situation facing thousands of residents of southern and south-eastern Chad, where the heaviest rains in 40 years have destroyed homes and infrastructure, wiped out cropland and cut off access to towns and communities.
South Africa: Malawi: An attorney for Malawi’s former President Bakili Muluzi has told VOA defense lawyers will go to court this week to agree on a date to enter a plea for the former leader’s corruption charges.
Zimbabwe's education ministry has backtracked on a new policy, introduced in August 2010, to grant pregnant schoolgirls and the prospective fathers maternity and paternity leave from school, and has opted for disciplinary measures instead.
South Africa is to resume the deportation of Zimbabweans on 1 January 2011, on the basis that conditions in their home country have improved sufficiently, while those with valid documents will be issued permits to stay.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: Nigeria was notably absent at the first high level meeting of the African-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) where the African and European Union (EU) Energy Ministers took a joint action on a shared commitment to bring access to modern and sustainable energy services to an additional 100 million people in Africa by 2020.
Meanwhile the manufacturers association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the National Assembly to enact an Act with stiffer penalties that will deal with criminal acts of smuggling and dumping of toxic products in the country.
Poor diagnostics and weak surveillance helps spread cholera and are hampering government efforts to stem cholera in Nigeria says a government health worker.
Cameroon: U.S. firm Hydromine Inc. said it is studying a $2.8 billion aluminium smelter project in Cameroon that would include construction of two hydroelectric plants to power the 500,000 tonne per year plant.
Meanwhile countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are leading a global decline in new HIV infections, the UN has said.
Central Africa: DR. Congo: The eradication of smallpox is linked to an emerging related disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Scientists say the appearance of monkeypox could be a cause for concern. Monkeypox causes symptoms a lot like smallpox, but it's not nearly as fatal.
Equatorial Guinea’s minister of health and social welfare has denied reports the government has failed to invest in the healthcare of its people despite the country’s enormous oil wealth.
South Africa: Zimbabwe: Six church volunteers, who run two clinics for people with AIDS and AIDS orphans, arrested in Zimbabwe were charged with practicing without required medical licenses have been released on bail by a Harare court.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: Nigeria: The Federal Government blamed former Central Bank Governor Professor Charles Soludo for the present problems facing the nation's banking and financial sectors saying that he caused a lot of havoc to the sector before he left about two years ago.
Ghana: British firm Tullow said last week that it has found what could be among the largest recent oil discoveries in Africa off the coast of Ghana, with the field holding a potential 550 million barrels.
Liberia: In order to contribute to restore the debt sustainability of the Republic of Liberia, Paris Club decided to cancel U.S. $1,260 million in nominal terms, which represents the Club's share of the effort in the framework of the enhanced HIPC Initiative.
Cameroon: African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved USD 47.70 million for electricity supply to 423 localities in Cameroon to enhance the existing network’s technical performance.
Also in Burkina Faso the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Burkina Faso have signed a CFAF 19.63-billion (UA 25.15 million) grant agreement to finance basic energy infrastructure projects in the country, including improving the provision of electricity.
The Nigeria-China Friendship Association (NICAF) has called on Federal Government of Nigeria to curb influx of sub-standard products into the nation’s market.
Meanwhile African trade with China is growing at the expense of that with other major global markets which is either declining or stagnating, says the African Development Bank (AfDB) in a new report released last week. Trade volume between China and Africa hit 61.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 65 percent.
Central Africa: In Rwanda new regulations are expected to stimulate fishing and restrict the use of fishing methods to boost fishermen's incomes through more profitable catches and high quality products.
Southern Africa: Southern African countries have some of the world's worst income distribution, but can often afford social transfers, which have proved an efficient means of reducing the number of poor, regional experts said at a two-day meeting in Pretoria, South Africa.
South Africa's government has offered new enticements to 1.3 million state workers to accept a wage offer and formally end a strike which they suspended last week, union officials said. §________________________________________________________
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