Economy & Energy
Africa must promote investment to develop: Blair
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday added his voice to calls for African development strategies to go beyond aid, saying a predictable and transparent business environment was critical to sustainable development.
S.Africa's NUMSA will demand 20 pct wage hike
A South African union plans is aiming for an above inflation 20 percent wage hike from employers that include power utility Eskom and ArcelorMittal's South African unit.
Shell mulls sale of most African retail assets
Shell Oil said on Thursday it was considering selling most of its service stations and other downstream assets in 21 African countries, as part of a wider effort to reduce its global refining and marketing exposure.
Angola building firms lay off thousands on government arrears
Thousands of construction workers are being laid off in Angola because the government has failed to settle over $2 billion in arrears to foreign firms rebuilding the African nation, a union leader said on Thursday.
TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: "Reclaim Control over EPA Talks"
Southern African governments must regain control over the negotiations on the trade deals known as economic partnership agreements (EPAs). Issues earmarked as deal-breakers should be resolved before talks to a full EPA are continued. These include limiting the EPA to a goods-only agreement and the EU dropping its demand for reciprocity.
Africa must promote investment to develop: Blair
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday added his voice to calls for African development strategies to go beyond aid, saying a predictable and transparent business environment was critical to sustainable development.
S.Africa's NUMSA will demand 20 pct wage hike
A South African union plans is aiming for an above inflation 20 percent wage hike from employers that include power utility Eskom and ArcelorMittal's South African unit.
Shell mulls sale of most African retail assets
Shell Oil said on Thursday it was considering selling most of its service stations and other downstream assets in 21 African countries, as part of a wider effort to reduce its global refining and marketing exposure.
Angola building firms lay off thousands on government arrears
Thousands of construction workers are being laid off in Angola because the government has failed to settle over $2 billion in arrears to foreign firms rebuilding the African nation, a union leader said on Thursday.
TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: "Reclaim Control over EPA Talks"
Southern African governments must regain control over the negotiations on the trade deals known as economic partnership agreements (EPAs). Issues earmarked as deal-breakers should be resolved before talks to a full EPA are continued. These include limiting the EPA to a goods-only agreement and the EU dropping its demand for reciprocity.
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=50820
Environmental Issues
Lusaka after the floods
Many houses in the capital of Zambia have been submerged due to the heavy rains being experienced compounded with poor drainage system. Lusaka is said to be built on top of a rock making it difficult for water to sink.
MOZAMBIQUE: Drought and floods bring food shortages
Extensive flooding along the rivers of central and southern Mozambique during March, in tandem with persistent drought in other parts of the same areas, have left 465,000 people in need of food assistance, but aid agencies warn that they do not have the resources to help.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f3641e4e5911483abb3970667dcf60ba.htm
Food Security & Health Issues
‘Food security can be improved’
Participants at the 19th Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union, MPs have learned how food security can be improved rather than jeopardized through the sustainable introduction of bio-energy.
In Brief: "Large" Rift Valley Fever outbreak in South Africa
An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF), described as "large" by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), has claimed the lives of two people and poses a significant threat to livelihoods in major farming areas.
SOUTH AFRICA: Low HIV prevalence rates on campus
HIV prevalence rates among South Africa's university students remain low, but risk is never far off according to one of the largest surveys ever conducted in the country.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f6a048a97980da209ad16465948323f6.htm
HIV prevalence rates among South Africa's university students remain low, but risk is never far off according to one of the largest surveys ever conducted in the country.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f6a048a97980da209ad16465948323f6.htm
Human Rights, Social Issues & Developments
Malawi: “Marriage Trial” Threatens Rights
The attempt to convict two people whom the government accuses of breaking laws against homosexual conduct after they went through an engagement ceremony violates basic freedoms on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Malawian authorities. Human Rights Watch called on the prosecutors to drop all charges against Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza and on the government to reaffirm its commitment to all Malawians' right to equality, privacy, and dignity.
S. African Farmers' Rights Group Seizes Zimbabwe Government Property
A farmers' rights group in South Africa Tuesday seized a residential property in Cape Town belonging to the Zimbabwe government. The group, Afriforum said it has taken the Zimbabwe government property as part of a "civil sanctions" campaign against President Robert Mugabe's government.
Malawi: “Marriage Trial” Threatens Rights
The attempt to convict two people whom the government accuses of breaking laws against homosexual conduct after they went through an engagement ceremony violates basic freedoms on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Malawian authorities. Human Rights Watch called on the prosecutors to drop all charges against Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza and on the government to reaffirm its commitment to all Malawians' right to equality, privacy, and dignity.
S. African Farmers' Rights Group Seizes Zimbabwe Government Property
A farmers' rights group in South Africa Tuesday seized a residential property in Cape Town belonging to the Zimbabwe government. The group, Afriforum said it has taken the Zimbabwe government property as part of a "civil sanctions" campaign against President Robert Mugabe's government.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/southern/S-African-Farmers-Rights-Group-Seizes-Zimbabwe-Government-Property-in-Cape-Town.html
ADRA Set to Provide Water Access to Flood Affected Southeastern Madagascar
Thousands of people living in the southeastern coast of Madagascar will have improved access to clean water when a new project launches in April to assist families affected by Tropical Storm Hubert, which struck in early March, reports the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/219487/127005726383.htm
ZIMBABWE: Men take a hands-on approach to pregnancy
Men in rural Zimbabwean are taking a hands-on approach to pregnancy – and to preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission.
ZIMBABWE: 'Farming God's Way'
In Guruve (an arid district in Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Central Province) 10,000 small scale farmers have adopted conservation farming methods. They have adopted this method of farming due to droughts on a large scale in Zimbabwe. Some of the farmers, like Chirimanyemba, who use the conservational farming method they think that it is God’s Way of farming. As small and large scale farmers prepare to harvest the maize crop in Zimbabwe, it appears yields are much higher for those farmers who use conservation agriculture than those relying on conventional tillage methods.
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=50900
AGRICULTURE: Turning to Wild Bean for Protein
Namibia is one of the driest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Its two deserts – the Namib and the Kalahari – are expanding annually. Poor soils and a shortage of water are limiting factors for farmers like Kaburona. The country imports 80 percent of its food from South Africa. To overcome this problem, Namibia has started a project of experimental cultivation of wild bean for protein which is funded jointly by the UK-based Kirkhouse Trust of the United Kingdom, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Namibia.
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=50891
Refugees/IDPs & Migration
ANGOLA: Helping conflict-affected communities to escape poverty
Along with thousands of other Angolans, 48-year-old Jurindo Hishika, his wife and their five children fled his homeland during the last years of his country’s civil war. And this civil war ended with the murder of UNITA’s leader Jonas Savimbi. But, when they got back to the village they found the area heavily contaminated by deadly landmines. MAG aims to improve development prospects for as many Angolans as possible, enabling them to use all the tools at their disposal to improve their own socio-economic prospects, and rebuild the livelihoods they lost during the civil war.
http://www.maginternational.org/news/angola-helping-conflictaffected-communities-to-escape-poverty/
Politics
Analyst says Unity Government Only Alternative for Zimbabwe
A leading Zimbabwe analysis group, the Solidarity Peace Trust, says despite massive political problems, there is no alternative for progress towards democracy outside the country's shaky inclusive government.
Zimbabwe's Roy Bennett Hit With New Charges
President Mugabe says he will not swear Bennett (a senior member of the Movement for Democratic Change) into office until courts clear him of all outstanding charges.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/southern/Zimbabwes-Roy-Bennett-Hit-With-New-Charges-89701637.html
Swedish, S. African clerics say arms deal weakens new democracy
South African and Swedish church leaders have reiterated grave concerns that a 10-year-old arms deal that involved Sweden with South Africa threatens the fledgling African democracy. The deal to sell armaments to South Africa also involved other European and Western nations such as Britain, France and Germany.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3946
Elections & Governance
Zimbabwe's Mugabe names rights, election groups
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe Wednesday swore-in members of a Human Rights and an Electoral Commission, expected to steer reforms toward free and fair elections.
Zimb: Rights and electoral bodies sworn-in
Zimbabwe's first human rights and electoral commissions have been sworn in by President Robert Mugabe. The creation of the two commissions is seen as crucial in moving the country towards free and fair elections.
Power-Sharing Governments in Africa Face Limitations
A recent trend to stop cycles of violence in Africa has been to institute national unity power-sharing governments. Current examples include Ivory Coast, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Sudan and Kenya. African experts agree power-sharing governments have been extremely challenging. But David Shinn a former U.S ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia says they are still the right approach to end bloodshed.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/pan/Power-Sharing-Governments-in-Africa-Face-Limitations-89459832.html
Pan Africa
Zimbabwe parties miss Zuma's talks deadline
Zimbabwe's political parties failed to meet a Monday deadline set by South African President Jacob Zuma to resolve a power-sharing dispute that threatens to tear apart the country's coalition, a cabinet minister said.
'SADC must break deadlock in Zim'
Zimbabwe's political rivals in the unity government have once again failed to agree on contentious outstanding issues, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai now wants the Southern African Development Community "to break the deadlock once and for all".
