20100208

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma's fathering of an illegitimate child has hit his chances of running for a second term, with some ANC heavyweights saying his sex life is damaging the party's image.

Zuma, who has three wives, has apologised for fathering out of wedlock his 20th child with Sonono Khoza, the daughter of close friend Irvin Khoza, who heads South Africa's organising committee for this year's soccer World Cup.

Publicly, the ruling African National Congress has backed the 67-year-old but in private senior party members feel the latest in a long line of sexual scandals is the "last straw".

"He is becoming too much of a liability to the party and his image is damaging," a member of the ANC's national executive committee, who did not want to be named, told Reuters. "Polygamy and promiscuity is not the same thing."

In 2006, Zuma was cleared of raping an HIV positive woman, but admitted during the trial he had unprotected sex with her even though he knew she had the virus.

Even before the love-child scandal broke, Zuma's chances of being the next presidential candidate hung in the balance. The latest incident can only have weighed against him.

The ANC elects a new leader in 2012, and Communist Party chief Blade Nzimande -- now Zuma's higher education minister -- and powerful trade union movement leader Zwelinzima Vavi appear to be lining up a bid for the top position.

"Zuma has managed to keep the party together and present somewhat of a united front but his embarrassing personal life may see him fall from grace," another ANC source said.

20100208

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa is looking at whether it should maintain stimulus measures as the economy has not been severely affected by a global economic slowdown, central bank deputy governor Xolile Guma was quoted as saying.

"Certainly in South Africa, we've been taking a look at it, because we were not affected as seriously as other people," Guma said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Sydney on Sunday, without being more specific.

The South African Reserve Bank cut interest rates by 5 percentage points between December 2008 and August 2009 to help stimulate an economy that experienced its first recession since 1992.

The central bank last month left the repo rate flat at 7.0 percent for the fourth time but did not rule out another rate cut.

The economy exited the recession in the third quarter of 2009 and is expected to grow by an average 2.63 percent in 2010, the Reuters Econometer poll shows.

The economy "will continue going forward in the absence of any external shock, which isn't anticipated", Guma said.

He also said fallout from concerns about deficits in some European countries could be quite serious.

The local bourse followed global stocks lower last week, partly as concerns about debt problems in some European countries weighed on sentiment, while the rand fell to a 3-month low on Friday, but later rebounded.

The rand gained about 30 percent against the dollar in 2009, raising concerns its strength could harm the economy.

Guma said while the strength of the rand is a "matter of concern ... the policy of the bank is not to intervene in order to establish any particular rate for the rand".

20100208

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Illovo Sugar plans to spend about 6 billion rand over the next five years to boost sugar production in Africa to 2.5-2.7 million tonnes from 1.7 million, the Business Day reported on Monday.

Illovo, a unit of Associated British Foods and Africa's biggest producer of the sweetener, also plans to rationalise its operations in South Africa due to a drop in land available for sugar cane production, the newspaper said.

Quoting Managing Director Graham Clark, the paper said the company had set a target of a minimum 20 percent return on its investments to achieve the expansion.

20100208

CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least three people have been killed and dozens more wounded in clashes between Muslims and Christians in southeastern Guinea that have entered their third day, witnesses and officials said on Sunday.

Hours after officials said the situation appeared to have calmed down, residents of Nzerekore said soldiers were shooting into the air on Sunday afternoon to try to disperse roving mobs of people armed with machetes and knives.

The trouble appears to have been sparked by a religious dispute but the town is in the home region of wounded junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, and there are fears the dispute in the world's top bauxite exporter may become politicised.

"We have been told of three dead," said Mamady Kaba, a local official with RADDHO, a pan-African rights group. "The victims are from the two communities. Some are carrying machetes and knives. One was burned alive."

"The conflict is between the Christian and Muslim communities there but it is starting to take on political dimensions. We need to make sure this situation doesn't get out of hand as it could be very dangerous for the country."

Kaba said that mostly Christian supporters of Camara appeared to be attacking Muslims in the town.

A police source said earlier on Sunday that at least one person had been killed in clashes that had taken place despite a curfew being imposed.

Residents reported gunfire for much of Saturday. The shooting started again late on Sunday after a lull.

20100208

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court dismissed charges against a Sudanese rebel leader on Monday, ruling against allegations he helped orchestrate the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur in 2007.

The war crimes court threw out the charges against Abu Garda after a pre-trial chamber ruled he could not be held criminally responsible for intentionally directing the attack.

"The chamber is not satisfied that there are substantial grounds to believe that Mr Abu Garda can be held criminally responsible as either a direct or indirect co-perpetrator," the court said in its ruling.

The first Sudanese rebel to appear before the court in The Hague, Abu Garda denied all charges when he voluntarily attended a hearing in October to determine if he should face trial over the attack on the AU peacekeeping base.

He was one of three Sudanese rebels wanted in connection with the attack. The prosecution plans to appeal the ruling, a spokeswoman said.

The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Khartoum said Monday's ruling showed the court was biased against the Sudanese government and was seeking to undermine the peace process.

"This is what is expected from the ICC. The ICC is not hostile against the rebels in Darfur but against the government," Sudanese information ministry official Rabie Abdelati told Reuters.

20100208

LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi's parliament approved an 11.5 billion kwacha supplementary budget on Monday to aid families hit hard by a drought and support its new commitments after taking over the African Union chairmanship.

The extra budget has increased the 2009/10 national budget to 269.5 billion kwacha from the initial 258 billion kwacha.

"This extra budget will help us mitigate the effects of the dry spell that has destroyed crop in nine districts, help us support new commitments for AU chairmanship, and help us repay domestic debt among other demands," Malawi Finance Minister Ken Kandodo told Reuters.

A dry spell has wiped out an estimated 30,000 hectares of crop fields and affected 120,000 families in Malawi.

The southern African nation's President Bingu wa Mutharika was elected as AU chairman last week, taking over from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Kandodo said the extra budget would also help government implement increments for teachers' salaries.

20100208

LONDON (Reuters) - Rapid and chaotic urbanisation is threatening sustainable development in Africa, the head of the U.N. housing agency said on Monday, but taking steps to mitigate climate change could help tackle some of the problems of cities.

The populations of large, fast-expanding cities in Africa, such as Lagos in Nigeria, are set to continue growing at annual rates of around 4 percent according to the United Nations, putting pressure on the provision of housing and basic services.

"We are an urban species now ... but I'm afraid what we have on the ground is rather chaotic and unsustainable," Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of UN-HABITAT, said at a conference on the future of cities at Chatham House in London.

"After HIV and Aids, the biggest threat to sustainable development in Africa is rapid and chaotic urbanisation, because it is a recipe for disaster for increased tensions and pressure."

Tibaijuka said more investment was needed in making urban growth more sustainable, for instance by improving infrastructure and technology.

Decentralising governance from a national to city level would also enable urban problems to be tackled more effectively, she said, acknowledging steps taken by Kenya towards amending its constitution to devolve government to regional counties.

The impact of climate change has exacerbated existing social and economic problems, forcing many farmers away from their villages to become "environmental refugees" in big cities, Tibaijuka said.

But while cities have been part of the problem of climate change, they could also be part of the solution.

"There is a unique opportunity to bridge our global efforts in emissions control with local efforts to improve the quality of life and the productivity of our cities," she said.

"We need to take immediate actions to make our cities more sustainable ... what better measures can we take than to reduce traffic congestion, improve air and water quality, and reduce our ecological footprint."

20100208

LONDON (Reuters) - Private equity fund manager Aureos has closed to new investors a fund investing in small and medium-sized businesses in Africa at a total of $381.1 million, the company said on Monday.

The fund aims to make initial investments of up to $10 million in businesses that have potential to expand across Africa within two to three years, Aureos said in a statement.

It has already invested around $120 million in 10 companies, including an East African milk production firm, a Nigerian biscuit manfuacturer and a cement company in Senegal, it said.

Aureos says it has $1.2 billion under management in over 50 emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, through 16 regional private equity funds.

20100208

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - The United Nations has offered to take a lead role in educating hundreds of former Nigerian rebels and providing graduates with job opportunities in the Niger Delta, a U.N. official said on Monday.

The U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), along with Royal Dutch Shell and Nigeria's Delta State government, is expected in the next few months to begin a $5 million pilot project in Delta's city of Egbokodo to rehabilitate and reintegrate former gunmen back into society.

U.N. involvement could help revive President Umaru Yar'Adua's amnesty programme, which has stalled since he left Nigeria for a Saudi Arabian hospital more than two months ago.

"The initiative was conceived as a result of research carried out in the region which recommended that job creation and youth employment would largely provide solutions to restiveness and militancy," said Wirba Alidu, project coordinator for the U.N. Office for Project Services in Nigeria.

"We are investing very much in the mindset change and re-orientation programmes for the youths," he said.

Thousands of militants last year handed over weapons in return for Yar'Adua's promise for clemency, monthly stipends, vocational training, jobs and investment.

But the federal government has yet to roll out its full education and training programmes, leading to frustration among some ex-fighters who believe Abuja has reneged on its promises.

Security sources say this frustration could lead to renewed attacks in the heartland of Africa's biggest oil and gas sector.

20100208

BOUAKE, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's ex-rebels called for militias loyal to their former foe President Laurent Gbagbo to be disarmed, a statement on their website said on Monday.

The rebel New Forces have controlled half of the territory of the world's top cocoa grower since a 2002-3 war that began with a failed coup attempt against Gbagbo.

Under a deal signed in Burkina Faso in 2007, their leader Guillaume Soro became prime minister of a transitional government.

That agreement also laid out steps for disarming rebels and pro-government militias. The New Forces say all rebels have been disarmed apart from 8,000 security forces who they say will help keep the peace in long delayed polls expected this year.

Some of militiamen loyal to Gbagbo have had their weapons taken away, but others remain active.

"The New Forces note that the disarmament and dismantling of militias expected by the Ouagadougou political agreement is not yet effective," the statement said.

"They invite the CCI (joint army and ex-rebel units) to show more determination and vigilance in implementing this process."

Political tensions are rising in Ivory Coast as the country looks set to miss yet another deadline for elections meant to smooth a way out of its more than 7-year crisis. The polls, originally scheduled for 2005, were set for the end of this month.

A row between the electoral commission and Gbagbo over voter registration has dug up questions about Ivorian nationality that still fester years after the country went to war over them. Last week saw riots in some cities over the latest setbacks to the peace process.

The New Forces have no candidate in the presidential election. At 36, Soro is too young to run so instead has taken a role of overseeing the electoral process -- but opposition candidates fear pro-Gbagbo militias could be used to intimidate their supporters.

20100208

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's windfall oil savings in its excess crude account have fallen to around $6.2 billion as the government spent to counter the impact of a global downturn, junior finance minister Remi Babalola said on Monday.

Finance Minister Mansur Muhtar said in October the oil savings, which are supposed to cushion the OPEC member from the impact of any decline in world oil prices, stood at around $7 billion.

20100208

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian government spending has not slowed in the absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua and the economy is on course to grow a minimum of 6 percent this year, Finance Minister Mansur Muhtar told Reuters on Monday.

Yar'Adua has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for more than two months being treated for a heart ailment but has not formally transferred powers to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

He signed a supplementary 2009 budget which runs to the end of March from his sickbed but there has been concern over what will happen if he is still absent at the end of next month and is unable to sign the 2010 budget.

"I want to give you strong assurance that the growth trajectory and prospects for the Nigerian economy remain positive ... We have not relented in our efforts to steer the economy and the vice president has been actively engaged," Muhtar said in an interview in Abuja.

"We have a very positive outlook of maintaining a minimum of 6 percent GDP growth ... This is going to be fuelled basically by stimulus spending and a massive increase in spending on infrastructure embedded in the 2010 budget," he said.

Yar'Adua in November sent a 4.1 trillion naira budget proposal to parliament, a 32 percent rise from planned 2009 spending. If approved, this would push sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy to a fiscal deficit of 4.79 percent of gross domestic product.

Sources involved in the debate have since said parliament wants to increase the planned budgetary spending further to pay for new projects in power, roads and development in the restive, oil-producing Niger Delta.

Muhtar said Nigeria's budget laws meant the government was able to start spending funds for the first quarter of the 2010 budget based on last year's assumptions even though it had not yet been passed into law, as well as spending funds brought over from last year and the 2009 supplementary budget.

20100208

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An exchange of mortar shells between Somali government forces and Islamist insurgents killed at least nine civilians and injured 14 others, a human rights group said on Monday.

The clashes started late on Sunday and continued on Monday morning, the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation said.

"These casualties are from the overnight shelling. We are still monitoring Monday's casualties. The shelling was terrible," said Ali Yasin Gedi, Elman's vice chairman.

Residents said government shells targeted houses in the north of the city used by hardline al Shabaab rebels, who this month declared their loyalty to al Qaeda.

"We saw al Shabaab carrying their dead and injured in a minibus. But we do not know the exact figure of the deaths," one resident, Hassan Nur, told Reuters.

"The government shells almost levelled houses that housed local and foreign al Shabaab people."

Government and al Shabaab officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Somalia has not had an effective central government for close to two decades and the international community and neighbouring countries are worried about the threat posed by al Shabaab insurgents now controlling a large part of the country and fighting its fragile government.

LAGOS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A militant group operating in the oil rich Niger Delta region, Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), said it has successfully disabled the trunk line operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the swamp of Obunoma in southeast Nigeria's Rivers State.

Bakabio Walter, the group spokesman, announced this in a statement reaching here on Sunday.

The trunk line connects Nembe Creek, Belema, Soku Field, Ekulama 1 and 2 flow stations to the Bonny Export Terminal in Bonny Island of Rivers state, the group said.

The JRC said it would mobilize all patriotic forces in the Niger Delta to wage a consistent revolutionary war until the last piece of its territory was liberated from the occupation forces.

The group, which resumed armed struggle, said the attack dealt a devastating blow on the occupation of Nigerian state in the crude oil and gas-rich region.

It described it as just the beginning in its battle that would lead to the establishment of a free and independent Niger Delta.

Precious Okolobo, a spokesman of the oil giant in Nigeria told Xinhua on Sunday that the company was yet to receive report of sabotage of any of its facilities.

In June 2009, the Nigerian government offered amnesty to gunmen in the oil rich Niger Delta region, urging them to lay down their weapons by Oct. 4, 2009 in a bid to end unrest, which has cost Africa's top oil exporter billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Scores of Nigerian armed youth gave up their weapons and embrace amnesty offered by the Nigerian government in the most concerted effort yet to end years of fighting in the oil-rich producing region.

The Niger Delta is an unstable area where inter-ethnic clashes are commonplace. Access to oil revenue is the trigger for the violence.

Over 300 foreigners have been seized in the Niger Delta since 2006. Almost all have been released unharmed after paying a ransom.

KHARTOUM, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Mission in Sudan ( UNMIS) on Sunday expressed optimism that the coming elections in Sudan will be credible and will satisfy the Sudanese people and the international community.

"Despite the challenges, I believe the elections will be held and will by and large satisfy the observers, and above all, the Sudanese people," said Ashraf Qazi, UN secretary general's special representative in Sudan, at a press conference in Khartoum Sunday.

"The elections will be credible, open and free, though may not be perfect. I believe that the National Elections Commission (NEC) is making steady and significant progress," he added.

He further expressed optimism that the Sudanese people, in particular the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signatories -- the National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) -- will overcome all challenges and work together to sustain peace in the country.

"Yes, the year 2010 will be the last full year of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, I do believe that the people of Sudan will overcome all the challenges," said Qazi.

Qazi's tenure as UN secretary general's special representative in Sudan is expected to end by the end of February.

On Feb. 2, 2010, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Haile Menkerios, an Eritrean diplomat, as the new special representative in Sudan to succeed Qazi.

TUNIS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and 30 others injured after a bus overturned in Tunisia's central province of Bouhejla, state-run TV channel reported Sunday.

A traffic accident happened in Bouhejla province when a bus overturned, killing three people and wounding 30 others, said the report.

According to preliminary data, a private bus coming from the southern town of Sfax heading to the northwestern province of Gaafour, clashed with a truck and then overturned.

Official figures said road accidents kill around 1,500 people per year in the North African country.

20100207
africanews

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has fired four key ministers and appointed four others, according to the state-owned media.
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Lamin Bojang, Minister of Works, Construction and Infrastructure, Antouman Saho, Minister of Fisheries and Water Resources, Ismaila Sambou, Minister of Local Government and Land and Nancy Njie, Minister of Tourism and Culture were all relieved of their duties last Thursday.

Dr. Mamadou Tangara has been appointed Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, and Alhagie A. Cham had the Minister for Information and Communication Infrastructure.

Lamin Kaba Bajo has been appointed the minister of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters. Further, Baboucarr H M Jallow takes over as Minister of Trade, Industry and Employment, Fatou Mass Jobe Minister of Tourism and Culture and Pierre Tamba Minister of Local Government and Land.

Meanwhile, Yusupha Kah, who was handling Trade, Industry and Employment Ministry, has been redeployed to a newly created Ministry of Economy, National Planning and Industrial Development.

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africanews

Armed men have released a foreign aid worker held for 89 days in Chad, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Saturday.
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French aid worker Laurent Maurice was abducted by armed men on 9 November 2009 in the village of Kawa, some 20km (12 miles) from the border with Sudan, where the aid agency is supporting a primary health care center.

The Organization said in a press statement "Laurent Maurice is tired but appears to be in good health".

An ICRC spokesman was quoted by Reuters that the aid worker was now on his way to Sudan's capital Khartoum.

"The ICRC is relieved that Laurent is now free and happy that he will soon be back with his family and friends", the AFP news agency quoted Jordi Raich, the head of the ICRC's mission in Sudan.

"We would like to express our profound gratitude to all those who helped us in one way or another during his captivity," Raich added.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed the report.

Maurice, 37, had been in Chad for 10 months before his abduction.

Another French aid worker who was working for the ICRC, Gauthier Lefevre, was kidnapped in Darfur last October and still being held.

Attacks against aid workers are common phenomenon in eastern Chad.

20100207
presstv

The Al-Shabab fighters have imposed an undeclared curfew in the southern Somali town of Merka after a number helicopters flew over their stronghold.

Somali opposition fighters ordered the closure of businesses and civil activities in the Lower Shabelle fishing town of Merka after five low-flying helicopters carried out an apparent reconnaissance operation over the coastal town.

The apparent two-hour scouting flights drove Al-Shabab to deploy anti-aircraft rocket launchers on high buildings tops in order to ward off possible attacks, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Recently, Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said that his government was ready to mount a fresh offensive against the Al-Shabab group, which has poured into the capital Mogadishu.

He confirmed the Somali troops' readiness to retake strategic towns in southern Somalia, including Baidoa, Kismayu and Merka, currently under the control of Al-Shabab and the rival Hizbul Islam fighters.

A large number of African Union troops have also reportedly approached Merka and Baraawe in the effort to crack down on the fighters.

20100207

IQALUIT, Canada (Reuters) - The idea of a global tax on banks to recapture bailout costs gained ground on Saturday, boosted by the Obama administration's latest proposals, but there was no agreement on a specific design.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven rich nations called for closer study of a UK proposal for a bank levy to cover the cost of the bailouts of 2008 and 2009 that ran to hundreds of billions of dollars.

The ministers, meeting in a remote town in Canada's Far North, said any tax that result must be internationally coordinated and avoid choking off world economic recovery. Further details are unlikely to emerge for weeks.

The International Monetary Fund is compiling a report, due in April, on options for requiring banks to "make a fair and substantial contribution" toward bailouts. The IMF report was requested in September by the Group of 20 nations.

The G20, a more broadly based organization that is seen as supplanting the G7, will next meet in June in Toronto.

"It was generally agreed that the banks will have to pay for crisis costs," said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble at the G7 meeting in tiny Iqaluit, Canada.

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said officials agreed that financial institutions should "bear the costs of their contributions to those crises."

French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said, "We were all in agreement that it had to be a universal taxation or universal levy or instrument to avoid the risk of arbitrage."