20100106

NAIROBI (Reuters) - An elephant killed a U.S. tourist and her one-year-old daughter near Mount Kenya during a holiday in the east African country, police sources said on Wednesday.

Few other details were immediately available, but the police sources said the pair were with a guide on Tuesday when the elephant charged at them from behind and trampled them to death. Four other people in the walking group escaped unhurt.

Conflict between wildlife and humans has escalated in Kenya in recent years, with increasing cases of elephants destroying villagers' harvests in areas near the country's national parks.

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NAIROBI (Reuters) - China gave Kenya a 540 million shilling grant on Wednesday to support development projects in east Africa's biggest economy.

The agreement was unveiled during a visit to the Kenyan capital Nairobi by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is on a five-nation tour of the world's poorest continent.

"Kenya highly appreciates the development assistance extended by China," President Mwai Kibaki said in a statement. "The assistance has been substantial in financial terms and has a considerable impact on Kenya's socio-economic development."

In November, China's government said it would offer Africa $10 billion in concessional loans over the next three years as the country aims to boost a relationship which is economically booming, to the discomfort of some in the West.

Beijing says it also plans to help Africa develop clean energy generation and cope with climate change, encourage Chinese financial institutions to lend to smaller African companies and expand market access for African products.

"Anything which will serve the interests of the Kenyan people is and will be China's top priority," Jiechi told reporters. His trip takes him to Nigeria on Thursday, then to Sierra Leone, Algeria and Morocco before ending in Saudi Arabia.

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ABUJA (Reuters) - Bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States could be at risk if Washington keeps its requirement for tighter security for Nigerian travellers, a federal minister said on Wednesday.

The procedures, which took effect from Monday, come in the wake of a botched Christmas Day bombing attempt on a U.S. airliner blamed on Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

"Nigeria expresses its disappointment and concern of the undeserved placement of Nigeria on the countries of interest list and views this action as having the potential of undermining longstanding and established U.S.-Nigeria bilateral ties," said Information Minister Dora Akunyili.

She did not elaborate on what could be at risk

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ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - International efforts to resolve a year-long political crisis in Madagascar must be redoubled to stop the Indian Ocean island from sliding deeper into turmoil, the African Union (AU) said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the opening of an international contact group meeting in Ethiopia, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping called for the resumption of talks between Madagascar's feuding politicians over the formation of a power-sharing administration.

The AU's insistence on a consensus solution places it at odds with Madagascar's leader, Andry Rajoelina, who has urged foreign mediators in recent weeks to stop meddling in the country's affairs.

"They (earlier power-sharing deals) are the fruits of consensus and are the only political and judicial basis from which to break the deadlock and end this crisis," Ping told the meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

In Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, armed police fired teargas to stop an opposition march on a presidential palace in the city centre.

"We left... to accompany our (opposition) leaders to the palace to hand over a letter to Rajoelina asking whether he still stood for reconciliation," opposition supporter Dominique Randrianasolo told Reuters. "But the forces of repression fired teargas at us to stop us."

Rajoelina, 35, tore up a series of internationally-brokered agreements shortly before Christmas and appointed a senior military officer as prime minister to govern the country, which is increasingly eyed by foreigners for its oil and minerals.

Government spokesman Augustin Andriamananoro quickly rejected taking up negotiations again with former presidents Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy.

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ALGIERS (Reuters) - Armed insurgents in Algeria have kidnapped an Algerian engineer working for Canadian construction firm SNC-Lavalin, the company said on Wednesday.

The firm said in a statement that local authorities were coordinating negotiations on the man's release.

Two Algerian newspapers reported on Wednesday that the man, who has not been identified, was seized by a group of armed men in the Bouira region, a stronghold of al Qaeda-linked militants about 150 km (90 miles) southeast of the Algerian capital.

The newspapers said the man had been working on a project to build a water treatment plant in the region and that he was seized on his way to work. They said security forces had launched an operation to find him.

"There is confirmation of an engineer being kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday morning," Leslie Quinton, SNC-Lavalin's Vice-President for Global Corporate Communications, said in an email sent to Reuters.

"Negotiations for his release are being coordinated directly by the local authorities, so unfortunately we are not in a position to offer any additional information, given the circumstances."

"We obviously hope for him and his family that he is returned safely home as soon as possible."

He said the current project was nearing completion and that SNC-Lavalin intended to remain in Algeria. The firm had taken steps to ensure the safety of its other staff in the region.

06 January 2010

Cameroon is reversing its scientific brain drain by boosting the salaries of university academics.
microscopes

The early signs are that a government fund of 4.2 billion Central African francs (almost US$9.5 million), created in early 2009, has increased the number of scientists and stabilised the research environment.

New allowances are now paid quarterly to more than 2,500 lecturers and researchers - up from 1,800 at the start of 2009 - which suggests that academics are returning to their campuses, according to Ives Magloire Kengne, a scientist at Cameroon's University of Yaoundé.

"This fund provides more teachers and researchers. We have been working under extremely difficult conditions," he said.

The fund was made possible after two major foreign debts were written off and Cameroon decided to put this 'windfall' to use in the health, engineering and education sectors.

Maurice Tsalefac, a professor at the University of Yaoundé's geography department, told SciDev.Net that the old salary for top university professors was about US$550 a month. Many left for western African countries where monthly salaries for the top posts were closer to US$4,000, he said.

Under the new system, salaries have increased for all levels of academics, he said. Professors now receive almost US$1,850, while senior lecturers have seen their monthly payments increase from US$530 to US$1,600, and lecturers are now paid US$1,100, up from US$490.

Paul Henry Ngue, head of the monitoring unit at Cameroon's Ministry of Higher Education, said the salary increase is "a breath of fresh air that marks the government's willingness to strengthen university research".

He added that the authorities have put universities at the forefront of development policy. "The results of research must serve socioeconomic development, and the decision to strengthen and modernise research in universities has been taken by the president of the republic."

Ngue said that since paying the higher salaries, researchers at state universities have also become more productive, with the Ministry of Higher Education counting about 100 scientific publications so far.

But Kengne said: "This fund allows us to relax a little - but not enough. The government should make an extra effort."

The salary fund is permanent, with the government planning to increase it annually.

SciDev.net

06 January 2010

President Joseph Kabila has sacked 119 managerial staff and employees and forcibly retired 2,569 others in his fight against corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Tuesday.

The dismissed staff worked for the ministries of finance and the budget, the tax department, the customs and excise office, and the directorate of administrative receipts and state property.

"The dismissal concerns any agent who has been involved in the bad management of public finances," Budget Minister Michel Lokola told AFP.

At the same time, some 1,500 agents in the public services concerned were promoted, under a series of decrees signed at the beginning of January by the head of state.

Those who were laid off or retired often held the posts of directors of services, divisional chiefs and office chiefs, mostly in the tax department and in the finance ministry.

"There's nothing arbitrary about this," Lokola said. "These measures are part of the struggle against corruption and embezzlement."

In mid-2009, Kabila dismissed or retired almost 1,300 civil servants and more than 100 magistrates, again in the name of the fight against corruption.

Sapa-AFP

20100106

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ) has emerged as the country's leading cellular telephone operating company in the country. Information made available by the company shows it has a subscriber base that exceeds 3 million subscribers in Zimbabwe.

In a statement released recently, EWZ Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Mboweni, said the company had exceeded the 3,1 million subscribers mark by the end of last year. Mboweni said Econet Wireless had anticipated strong demand for its products and services in the run up to the Christmas holidays.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe communications manager, Rangarirai Mberi said, "Therefore, the company made extensive preparations, which included boosting network capacity to over 4 million, and also importing tens of thousands of new phones. The company also expanded its dealer network across the country to improve availability of products, particularly SIM cards".

For the full story, please visit ITNews Africa.

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africagoodnews

Analysts have predicted a strong demand for copper this year, principally because many economies of industrialised countries are recovering from the recent recession. Expectations of higher demand for the metal will add to the rally in prices seen in 2009.

As from December 30, 2009, copper on the London Metal Exchange, (LME), traded above US$7,300 a tonne, its highest level since September, 2008. Copper is now on course for an annual rise of about 140%, it's largest in more than 30 years.

There are also fears that a strike by miners at two copper mines owned by Coldeco in Chile could affect supply. The workers are demanding higher wages, arguing that this is because global prices of copper have gone up. However, analysts believe that even if the strike action went ahead, it would not be prolonged.

One of the mines, Chuquicamata, produces about 4% of the world's copper and is expected to produce 565,000 tonnes this year.

Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer has also projected increased production from its mines after it managed to re-open some mines that had halted production as a result of the economic downturn.

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africagoodnews

Zambia is likely to register economic growth exceeding 7% in 2010, spurred by a resurgence in mining and a boom in construction and agriculture, Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Caleb Fundanga said on Monday.

The Central Statistical Office said in October the economy was expected to grow by 6,3% in 2009.

Fundanga said two new mines were expected to open in north-western Zambia and that Munali nickel mine, which closed at the height of the global financial crisis, would likely resume operations. Zambia is Africa's largest copper producer.

He said rising international copper prices and large construction projects would support economic growth.

"All these factors suggest that there is going to be remarkable development and one should expect a growth of at least 7 percent or even above for this year," Fundanga said.

Fundanga also said the country was likely to meet the 2010 target of braking inflation to 8 percent. Annual headline inflation slowed to single digits for the first time in 21 months in December.

"The fact that inflation was brought down to 9,9%in December is something worth celebrating and going forward we think that inflation should dip further to around 8%," Fundanga said.

BoZ acting director of economics department, Mulenga Pamu said Zambia's chances of meeting the inflation target would be boosted by rising international copper prices that should support the local currency.

"The increase in copper prices always leads to the appreciation of the kwacha and that will help to ease inflationary pressures. With these positive fundamentals, we expect to achieve the 8% targeted annual inflation rate for this year," Pamu said.

LAGOS, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria has formally protested to the U.S. decision to including the west African country in the list of terror nations.

The U.S. decision came after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year old Nigerian, attempted to blow up a jetliner as it approached Detroit after a flight from Amsterdam but failed on Christmas Day.

The Nigerian protest came as the U.S. government has released a list of 14 countries, namely Nigeria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Cuba , Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan with directives that passengers traveling from these countries to the United States by air face extra security screening.

"Listing Nigeria on the second tier of countries that are on the radar of security measures to the United States is an unacceptable New Year gift to a friendly country like Nigeria," the country's minister of foreign affairs Ojo Maduekwe told reporters in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with U.S Ambassador to Nigeria Robin Sanders.

"We detect some double standards here," he said.

The U.S. government has said from Jan. 4, it would begin enhanced screening procedures on any U.S.-bound air passenger travelling through state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest such as Pakistan, Yemen and Nigeria.

"What Farouk (Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab) attempted to do is not different from what the shoe bomber did in 2001 and yet his country was not put on the security list," the minister stressed.

Maduekwe who described the inclusion as counter-productive, said Nigeria wants to be off that list.

He said it is in the interest of both countries (Nigeria and the United States) to sustain the existing cordial relationships.

Maduekwe told reporters that the U.S. envoy promised to convey Nigeria's position to his government.

Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines Airbus as it made its descent to Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

He is alleged to have boarded a plane at the Lagos Murtala Muhamed International Airport, and transferred onto a trans- Atlantic flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

LAGOS, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday described as unacceptable the U.S. government's decision to list Nigeria as a terrorist nation.

Nigeria has been listed among 14 countries by the United States with directives that passengers traveling from the country to the United States by air face extra security screening. The U.S. decision came after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year old Nigerian, attempted to blow up a jetliner as it approached Detroit after a flight from Amsterdam but failed on Christmas Day.

Ayogu Eze, the chairman of the senate committee on information and media, told reporters in Abuja that the decision by the U.S. authorities is too hasty.

"I am speaking on behalf of the Senate and on behalf of the Senate President and we are very unhappy about the development and when we resume we are going to take up this matter seriously if they have not taken Nigeria's name off that list," he said.

"We also want to address America that it is in their own interest to address this matter very well and in a manner that will not resolve into a diplomatic row between America and Nigeria," he added.

Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines Airbus as it made its descent to Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

He is alleged to have boarded a plane at the Lagos Murtala Muhamed International Airport, and transferred onto a trans- Atlantic flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

NAIROBI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday it has been forced to suspend its operations in southern Somalia due to rising insecurity.

WFP said in a statement issued in Nairobi said rising threats and attacks on humanitarian operations, as well as the imposition of a string of unacceptable demands from armed groups, have made it virtually impossible to continue reaching up to one million people in need in southern Somalia.

"WFP is deeply concerned about rising hunger and suffering among the most vulnerable due to these unprecedented and inhumane attacks on purely humanitarian operations," the statement said.

The UN agency said its offices in Wajid, Buale, Garbahare, Afmadow, Jilib and Belet Weyne in southern Somalia are temporarily closed, and food supplies and equipment have been moved, along with staff, to safer areas in order to ensure that food assistance continues to reach as many vulnerable people as possible.

WFP said its humanitarian operations in southern Somalia have been under escalating attacks from armed groups, leading to the suspension of humanitarian food distribution in much of southern Somalia.

"Staff safety is a key concern for WFP and recent attacks, threats, harassment and demands for payments by armed groups have decimated the humanitarian food lifeline, making it virtually impossible to reach up to up to one million woman and children and other highly vulnerable people," it said.

WFP said it was continuing to provide life saving food distributions in the rest of the country, including the capital, Mogadishu, reaching more than two-thirds of the hungry it has been targeting, or 1.8 million people.

In addition, the agency said resources and relief workers are being re-deployed from southern areas in the event that people start moving away from areas where food distributions have been suspended.

WFP said the agency was an impartial, non-political humanitarian agency that has been working in partnership with the people of Somalia for more than 40 years, providing assistance to the poorest of the poor throughout Somalia's years of conflict and before.

"The recent pressures on our work from armed groups in southern Somalia are impeding our humanitarian mandate. Even in good years, Somalia is only able to meet 40 percent of the food needs of its population through internal production," WFP said.

In the last five years, WFP said local production has averaged only about 30 percent of food needs in the Horn of African nation which has been without effective central government for more than two decades.

WFP said its working closely with its partners to pre-position supplies and prepare to provide assistance to any population movements either within Somalia, or across the country's borders into neighboring countries.

KINSHASA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The national army of the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken control of a stronghold from Enyles insurgents, who are held responsible for the recent bloodshed in the northwestern region of Dongo.

The army known as FARDC drove the insurgents out of the stronghold after a fighting of 10 hours, Minister of Communication and Media and government spokesman Lambert Mende Omalanga told reporters in the capital Kinshasa on Monday.

The minister justified the assault launched by the FARDC, saying the Enyele fighters failed to lay down their arms as demanded by the ultimatum given by the government. Instead, they "attacked from distant places and the regular police reacted to the provocation," he added.

Mende pointed out that the insurgents were no longer in Equateur province with some fugitives on the run towards neighboring localities and others to the Impfondo region in the Republic of Congo.

According to the UN sources based at Gemena, the main town of the South-Ubangi district in the province, more than 150 combatants perished in this operation, one FARDC military officer lost his life and 13 others were injured and taken to the Gemena general hospital.

The FARDC launched the anti-insurgent operation with logistical support from the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo.

The rebel movement was created on Nov. 8 in Dongo after the Enyele tribe clashed with the Boba tribe over the control of local fishing grounds.

The government last announced a toll of 187 civilians, 82 insurgents and 28 police officers. Several houses and fields have been torched in the confrontation, which has also displaced thousands of people who are taking shelter either domestically or in Impfondo of the Republic of Congo.

LOME, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe on Monday reassured the diplomatic corps about his determination to see the presidential election held in "satisfactory" conditions in2010.

"I am determined to see this election held under satisfactory conditions in terms of transparency, credibility and non-violence," Gnassingbe declared in his speech.

He gave the example of the 2007 legislative elections whose democratic nature led to the return of main financial donors who had suspended their cooperation with Togo for "lack of democracy" in 2003.

"The government will endeavor to create all required conditions in order to achieve this objective," he said, adding that all the Togolese political forces are "extra vigilant."

The presidential election scheduled for Feb. 28, 2010 will mark the end of the first term of Gnassingbe, who came to power after a hotly contested election marred by violence in 2005.

According to the Togolese president, the democratic nature of the 2010 election "will first depend on legality, but also its serenity and peacefulness."

He announced that "all forms of violence, all attempts to divide the Togolese and all involvement in violence need to be condemned with firmness."?

20100105

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended its work in much of southern Somalia due to threats against its staff and unacceptable demands by al Shabaab rebels controlling the area, a WFP spokesman said on Tuesday.

The WFP has been central to international efforts to address an acute humanitarian crisis in the drought- and conflict-torn Horn of Africa nation. Experts say half the population need aid.

"Unacceptable conditions and demands from armed groups have disrupted WFP's ability to reach many of the most vulnerable people in southern Somalia," spokesman Peter Smerdon told Reuters. "Despite this suspension, WFP remains active in much of central and northern Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu."

He added, however, that it was now virtually impossible to reach up to 1 million women, children and other highly vulnerable people. About three-quarters of the 3.76 million Somalis who need aid are concentrated in central and southern regions.

Most of those areas are controlled by the al Shabaab rebel group, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.

Fighting in the country has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes. Amid the chaos, Western security agencies say it has become a safe haven for Islamist militants, including foreign jihadis, who are plotting attacks in the region and beyond.

Smerdon told Reuters that al Shabaab controlled 95 percent of the territory where its work had been disrupted. In November, the rebels issued a string of conditions for humanitarian agencies wanting to operate in the south.

"These included removing women from their jobs and a demand for a payment of $20,000 every six months for security," Smerdon said, adding that al Shabaab elders had later demanded that WFP and its contractors cease all their activities on January 1, 2010.

20100105

KAMPALA (Reuters) - A Ugandan pressure group has sued the government to compel it to disclose details of Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) it signed with four exploration companies, the organization's lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday.

Uganda said last month it will demand tougher terms in the next round of PSA negotiations with foreign exploration firms eyeing its Lake Albert reserves.

However, advocacy group Greenwatch filed a case at the High Court on December 22 seeking to have the government release copies of PSAs signed with Britain's Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil, Dominion Oil and Neptune Petroleum.

"According to our constitution, every citizen is entitled to information within the possession of the state and it can only be legally withheld where disclosure jeopardizes national security or compromises individual privacy," said Kenneth Kakuru, Greenwatch's lawyer.

"So the state is acting illegally in refusing to release the PSAs."

The east African nation discovered oil deposits in its Lake Albert region in February 2006 and total reserves are estimated at about two billion barrels.

In November Italy's Eni paid $1.5 billion for two large exploration blocks, raising the stakes in Uganda's oil sector, which could have the potential to transform its economy.

The Ugandan government has defied pressure to disclose the terms of its agreements with oil companies, arguing that disclosure would severely weaken its negotiating position in future licensing rounds.

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HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's political rivals have agreed some outstanding issues of a power-sharing deal, but the pace of negotiations is slow, a South African official mediating in the talks said on Tuesday.

President Robert Mugabe and long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister, formed a unity government last year in February after disputed elections, but the coalition has been hobbled by disputes over power-sharing.

Lindiwe Zulu, international relations advisor to South African President Jacob Zuma, said while South Africa was not happy with the pace of talks, there was progress on some issues.

"I don't think that we should be talking of escalating conflict at this point in time. We are not saying that we are happy with the speed at which they are working but we think there are a number of things they've agreed upon," Zulu told South African Talk Radio 702.

South Africa is mediating in the Zimbabwe negotiations and Zimbabwean media reports say Africa's biggest economy wants all outstanding issues resolved before it hosts the soccer World Cup in June.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in October "disengaged" from cabinet meetings with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, accusing it of being an "unreliable partner" but rejoined after mediation by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Mugabe and Tsvangirai are haggling over the appointment of provincial governors and the veteran leader's refusal to swear in Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister.

The 85-year-old president has also refused to sack allies he appointed as central bank governor and attorney general without consulting Tsvangirai.

Mugabe says the MDC should call off Western sanctions against his party and ask its backers in the West to shut down what he calls pirate radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe from the United States and Britain.

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HARARE (Reuters) - Swiss food company Nestle has resumed operations in Zimbabwe, following assurances by the government that its business will not be interfered with, a company official said on Tuesday.

Nestle shut its Harare factory last month, complaining of harassment by authorities after it cancelled a deal to buy milk from a farm taken over by President Robert Mugabe's family.

Nestle's move was a setback to efforts by a new unity government set up by Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to attract foreign investors in a bid to fix Zimbabwe's battered economy.

A senior company official told Reuters that Nestle, which employs more than 200 people in the country, had reopened its factory after getting government assurances that its operations would not be interfered with.

Nestle said its decision to shut the facility was prompted by an unannounced visit from government officials and police on December 19, after which the firm was forced to accept a milk delivery from non-contracted suppliers.

Two of its managers, including expatriate managing director Heath Tilley, were questioned by police and released without charge the same day.

Nestle stopped buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate, owned by Mugabe's family, in October following international criticism of a deal agreed in February. The farm had been seized under Mugabe's controversial land reform programme.

At the time, Nestle said its business with the farm accounted for 10-15 percent of its local milk supply and that it had a long-term commitment to Zimbabwe.

20100105

BOSTON (Reuters) - TIAA-CREF has become the first large U.S. fund complex to sell stakes in a group of Asian energy companies over human rights concerns in Sudan.

The sales of shares of China's PetroChina Co Ltd, CNPC Hong Kong and Sinopec, and Oil and Natural Gas Corp of New Delhi totaled about $60 million, TIAA-CREF said on Monday.

The stakes sold were just a small slice of New York-based TIAA-CREF's assets under management, which stood at $402 billion at the end of September, and a tiny percentage of the oil companies' market capitalization.

Still, the move could put more pressure on the companies over their business ties to Sudan's government, which is widely accused of war crimes.

The move by TIAA-CREF, which provides financial services to nonprofits like hospitals and universities, also marks a milestone for rights activists who have tried for years, mostly in vain, to line up the influential fund industry behind its social agenda.

"We hope this could send a strong message to the companies," said Hye-Won Choi, TIAA-CREF's head of corporate governance. She said her firm had sold the shares only after talks with the energy companies went nowhere.

India's ONGC said it was concerned about TIAA-CREF'S move but the firm's business in Sudan would continue.

ONGC, which leads India's hunt for foreign petroleum assets, entered Sudan about seven years ago, buying a 25 percent stake in the Greater Nile Project, from which Canada's Talisman Energy Inc exited under pressure from human rights group.