Asia, the world’s largest continent, occupies about 29% of its land area and hosts more than 60% of our population. Africa, the world’s second largest continent, occupies about 20% of its land area and contains about 14% of our population. Join us for some news from some of the 14%.
Below are a few stories from 19 of the continent’s 47 mainland and 6 island independent, sovereign nations. They range from jaw-droppingly good to stupefyingly bad.
Algeria
WJLA-TV
France and Algeria Sign Nuclear Deal
France and Algeria agreed to cooperate on civilian nuclear technologies Tuesday, while French oil and gas giant Total SA signed a deal to build a petrochemical complex in the North African country.The announcements came during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-day visit to Algeria, his first full state visit to the ex-French colony since his May election. The nuclear framework agreement is designed to facilitate industrial partnerships, transfers of technology and cooperation in training.
Total, meanwhile, said it signed a deal with Algeria's Sonatrach to build a petrochemical complex in Arzew, near the northern city of Oran.
Christian Science Monitor
Can Al Qaeda spread across North Africa?
Tuesday's twin truck bombings was the latest strike from a longtime insurgent group, which recently allied itself with Osama bin Laden's network and changed its name to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Government forces had appeared to be gaining the upper hand against the militants after it had killed or captured scores of insurgents over the past few months.
But while the bombing has shown that AQIM, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, still poses a serious threat, analysts say this new Al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa is far from reaching its goal of building a potent force across the entire region or even striking Europe, as it says is part of its overall goal.
"Despite its pretensions to be a Maghreb-wide organization, it is mounting attacks only in Algeria," says Hugh Roberts, an independent analyst who specializes in North African politics. "The notional threat to Europe is exaggerated."
Angola
allAfrica (Angola Press Agency)
Climate Changes a Sustainable Development Matter – Minister
Angola's minister of Environment and Urbanisation, Diekumpuna Sita Jose, on Thursday in Indonesia, defended that climate changes are not only a problem of environment, but also of sustainable development, which demands urgent attention from the international community.
He underlined that the emission of carbon dioxide and the devastation of large forests have worldwide implications.
allAfrica (Angola Press Agency)
Huambo - Rehabilitation of Ngove Dam to Kick-Off in 2008
The rehabilitation works of Ngove dam, over Cunene river, and the installing of its hydro-electrical station, is expected to start early 2008, disclosed Friday the minister of Energy and Waters, Botelho de Vasconcelos.
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Approved this year by the Cabinet Council, in Luanda, the project will encourage the economic development of the central provinces of Huambo and Bié.
allAfrica (Angola Press Agency)
Vice-Minister Prospects Solar Energy Equipment in China
Angolan deputy minister of Industry, Abraão Gourgel Friday left Luanda for the People's Republic of China, for a week-visit aimed at prospecting the market of equipment for the supply of solar energy.
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Abraão Gourgel informed that the equipment is bound for the northern Uíge province, as part of the programme of improvement of the population's living conditions.
Benin
EUbusiness
EU grants Benin 26 million euros in aid
(COTONOU) - The European Union has given Benin a grant-in-aid of 26 million euros (38 million dollars) to finance a 2006-2011 drinking water improvement project in the Cotonou area, national radio announced Wednesday.
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According to the ministry for water only about half of the population has access to drinking water, with an average one water supply facility for 300 people.
AFP-Yahoo
Benin's child slaves working Nigeria's quarries
In September 2003, when she was just 11, Irenee and 260 other children were freed by the Nigerian police and sent home, after a dispute between two rival trafficking gangs.
But their parents sold them again to traffickers and they ended up back in Abeokuta, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Lagos.
"I came back in November 2005 with my litte brother Paul. Eighteen of us came and three have died," she said.
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Many of the families who sell their children into slavery are unapologetic.
"How do you expect me to keep 37 children here when I have no income?" shrugged Luc Gbogbohoundada, an octagenarian with eight wives.
Botswana
allAfrica (Mmegi)
BPC Demand Side Management Pays Dividends
The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) demand-side management, which has been on-going for the most part of this year, appears to have paid-off. The power utility has been on a campaign drive urging consumers to adopt ways of improving efficiency and avoiding power wastage.
Unlike in neighbouring South Africa where load shedding or power outages in layperson's parlance have been a fact of life in the recent past, Botswana has not yet been forced to take that route. BPC spokesperson, Tlhomamiso Selato noted that Botswana has not had to effect load shedding so far.
allAfrica (Mmegi)
BDF Commander Calls for Regional Defence Force
Brigadier General Olekanye Mabengane of the Botswana Defence Forces (BDF) has said southern Africa must consider a joint defence unit to counter terrorist attacks and foreign invasions.
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Mabengane lauded the co-operation between BDF and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF). "Through this bilateral exchange of ideas, the BDF has seen it fit to recruit female soldiers for the first time and thanks to our Zimbabwean colleagues who have advised on how to do that," he said."I hope that would be a lesson to all upcoming leaders of the armies from both countries to maintain the co-existing ties formed by the countries' founding fathers."
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso search
Goldbelt Hits 43m @ 2.95 g/t Gold During Step-Out Drilling at the Kari Nord Project, SW Burkina Faso CCNMatthews via Yahoo! Finance - Dec 11 11:40 AM TORONTO, ONTARIO
Goldbelt Resources Ltd. is pleased to announce new results from step-out, reverse circulation drilling at its 100% owned Kari Nord license, one of seven licenses which was recently acquired from Barrick in Burkina Faso.
Goldbelt Resources Ltd.: Exploration Update on Southwest Licenses in Burkina Faso
CCNMatthews via Yahoo! Finance - Dec 11 8:20 AM TORONTO, ONTARIO
Goldbelt Resources Ltd. is pleased to announce new results from rotary air-blast drilling over its extensive exploration license portfolio in southwest Burkina Faso.
Channel Completes Drilling at El Mozo, Discovers Radiometric Anomaly at West Bienville, Renews Tanlouka Exploration. CCNMatthews via Yahoo! Finance - Dec 13 12:00 PM VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Channel Resources Ltd. provides the following update on its exploration activities in Ecuador, Canada and Burkina Faso.
Riverstone Intercepts Significant Gold Mineralization at Kao. CCNMatthews via Yahoo! Finance - Dec 12 10:16 AM VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Riverstone Resources Inc. is pleased to report further results from the Phase 3 drill program recently completed on its Kao Exploration Permit in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Orezone Hits Significant Gold Mineralization at Sega. Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance - Dec 11 6:23 AM
Orezone Resources Inc.(AMEX: OZN) is pleased to announce the highlights of a recent 6,500m drilling program to upgrade and expand the resources at its Sega Deposit in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Burundi
AFP-Yahoo
Burundi parliament wants SAfrican mediator out: speaker
BUJUMBURA (AFP) - Burundi's parliament on Thursday demanded that the South African official mediating between the state and the rebels be replaced, accusing Charles Nqakula of lying and fueling the crisis.
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Burundi is struggling to emerge from the ashes of a civil war which erupted in 1993 and killed some 300,000 people. One rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), is yet to sign a peace deal with the government.
The rebel movement had also demanded in September that Nqakula be replaced.
allAfrica (Burundi Realities)
The U.S.A. to Triple Aid to Burundi
The United States of America is to triple the aid granted yearly to Burundi. The aid will pass from less $10 million to $28.6 million in the year 2008.
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Recently representatives of the American senate visited Burundi and were shown some quarters of Bujumbura that were destroyed by heavy rains.
After the recent cabinet reshuffle, foreign governments which had previously been reluctant to support Burundi are slowly resuming to grant aids to the country.
allAfrica (Burundi Realities)
Rwanda And Burundi Unable to Agree On Border Sharing
Burundi and Rwanda are still unable to agree on their common border. Commissions that were dispatched by the two countries to find common ground on the common border have failed to reach any agreement. Burundi's minister for Cooperation, Ms Antoinette Batumubwira, and her Rwandan counterpart, Mr. Charles Murigande, have agreed to make recourse to Belgium which colonised both countries.
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It is not easy to find a solution to the border problem. Many Burundians cultivate their lands in Rwanda and vice versa. Surprisingly, this issue never rose under the rule of the late General Major Juvenal Havyarimana in Rwanda.
Cameroon
allAfrica (The Post)
Country Wins Most Corrupt Trophy Again
Transparency {International}, TI, has declared Cameroon as the most corrupt country in Africa alongside Ghana.
According to the 2007 TI perception index, Cameroon and Ghana had same score for corruption while Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa followed. It is the third time Cameroon is being named the most corrupt country, not only in Africa, but also in the world.
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According to Transparency International, corruption is the abuse of public office for self-aggrandisement. It argues that corruption causes the people to suffer. TI also posits that public opinion believes that the parliament and political parties are most infected by corruption.
In Asia, Cambodia, Hon{g}kong and India topped the chart, meanwhile in the European Union, Austria, Bulgaria and Chech Republic took the lead. Meanwhile, Canada and USA were seen as corrupt. In the over all classification, Africa topped the corruption chart while South East Europe trailed the rest of the world.
UPI
Nigeria to honor Cameroon ruling
Nigeria has agreed to honor an International Court of Justice ruling to hand over the potentially resource-rich Bakassi Peninsula to neighboring Cameroon.
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"Having submitted to the jurisdiction of the ICJ, Nigeria became duty bound to respect its judgment," he said of the court's edict made in October 2002.
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Relatively underdeveloped and considered one of the world's most fertile fishing grounds, the Bakassi Peninsula is believed to hold similar oil-riches as that of the Niger Delta, which produced an estimated 2 million barrels per day.
Central African Republic
Reuters AlertNet
EU force may halt Central Africa's decline- report
DAKAR, Dec 14 (Reuters) - EU peacekeepers bound for Central African Republic could help it break out of a vortex of civil war and poverty if their deployment is accompanied by an aid strategy including military reform, a report said on Friday.
The study by {International} Crisis Group, released ahead of the arrival of the European troops early next year, said the force could be a catalyst for recovery in the landlocked former French colony, which has been trapped in a vicious circle of corruption, rebellion and economic collapse for decades.
The Brussels-based think tank said the country of 4 million people, roughly the size of France, was a "phantom state", where government institutions had stopped working outside the capital Bangui while bandits and warring factions terrorise the north.
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France won backing earlier this year from the United Nations for the European Union peace force, which is aimed at stemming the spillover into eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic of the war in Sudan's Darfur region.
Crisis Group urged the EU force, which will be mainly composed of French troops, to undertake reform of the Central African Republic's military.
Chad
UPI
Polish troops deployed in Chad by mid-2008
WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The Polish military command Friday said a contingent of 350 soldiers and army employees including doctors will be deployed in Chad by mid-2008.
The Polish contingent will serve as part of European Union logistics support in the central-north African country, Polish Radio reported.
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Days after taking the office in mid-November, liberal pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Poland would dispatch a military mission to Chad.
Tusk plans to withdraw 900 Polish troops from Iraq in 2008, but he will maintain 1,200 Polish soldiers in Afghanistan.
Côte d'Ivoire
INO
Asian Cocoa:Prices Up On Lower Indonesian,Ivory Coast Supply
JAKARTA (Dow Jones)--Asian cocoa prices climbed in the week to Thursday on lower supply from key producing countries such as Indonesia and the Ivory Coast, traders said.
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Cocoa prices have also found support from a workers' strike in the Ivory Coast, the world's leading exporter of cocoa.
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ICE Futures U.S. cocoa's most active March contract Wednesday settled up $13 at $2,101/ton while the next most active December contract settled up $41 at $2,246/ton.
Reuters-Yahoo
Tata says will invest $1-2 bln in Ivory Coast mine
ABIDJAN, Dec 11 - India's Tata Steel Ltd will invest $1 billion to $2 billion to develop an iron ore mine in Ivory Coast that could help the company boost its self-sufficiency in raw materials for steel-making.
With iron-ore prices expected to rise again for a fifth straight year as China-driven steel demand continues unabated, steel producers are scrambling to secure their own supplies.
Tata's Managing Director B. Muthuraman said on Tuesday the company would own a 75 percent stake in the iron ore mine in Nimba Mountain in the west of Ivory Coat. The west African nation's state-owned SODEMI would own the rest.
He told reporters via conference call the project was expected to produce 700 million to one billion tons of ore per year.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
AFP-Yahoo
Uganda, DR Congo continue talks to divvy up oil: officials
KAMPALA (AFP) - Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday continued negotiations on divvying up oil resources discovered in a border lake, officials said Friday.
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His DRC counterpart Mbusa Nyamisi said the talks were aimed at diffusing tension spurred by the oil discovery in the volatile Lake Albert region.
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In addition, the two African nations are expected to strike deals on possible restoration of full diplomatic ties that were frozen a decade ago when Uganda backed DRC insurgents.
Djibouti
Zawya
Dubai enterprise announces deal for Djibouti carrier
NAIROBI, Dec 13, 2007 (AFP) - A Dubai state enterprise on Thursday announced a joint venture with the Djibouti government to buy a regional airline and turn it into the country's national carrier.
Under the agreement, Dubai World will rebrand Daallo Airlines which will become the tiny state's national flag carrier, enjoying all routes and traffic rights held by Djibouti, it said in a statement.
I couldn't imagine what Dubai would do with the tens of billions of dollars worth of aircraft they signed for recently. Is this a clue?
Egypt
AFP-Yahoo
Egypt supports holding next Mideast conference in Moscow
MOSCOW (AFP) - Egypt's foreign minister welcomed Moscow hosting a follow-up Middle East peace conference, saying in an interview published Friday that Russia plays in an important role in the peace process.
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During a conference in the US city of Annapolis last month, Israel and the Palestinians pledged to seek a peace deal by the end of 2008, relaunching negotiations frozen for seven years.
Upon return to Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agencies the next Middle East peace conference will be held in Moscow.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said Russia proposed at the Annapolis meeting holding a conference on normalizing Israeli-Syrian relations, which could be held by the end of January.
Russian Information Agency
Russia, Egypt to sign nuclear energy agreement soon – Lavrov
MOSCOW, December 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will sign an agreement with Egypt in the future to develop its nuclear power sector, the Russian foreign minister said Friday.
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Russia earlier announced its intention to take part in a tender to build an atomic power plant in Egypt.
Equatorial Guinea
Reuters AlertNet
Cameroonians flee Equatorial Guinea police crackdown
YAOUNDE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Two thousand Cameroonians took refuge at their diplomatic missions in Equatorial Guinea on Friday after security forces hunting for bank robbers raided some of their homes, a senior Cameroonian official said.
On Wednesday, heavily armed gunmen stormed two banks simultaneously in Equatorial Guinea's second city Bata, grabbing bags of cash and shooting passers-by before making off in speedboats into the Atlantic Ocean towards Cameroonian waters.
"Following the robberies, the authorities in Equatorial Guinea, as is always the case, pointed an accusing finger at all foreigners in the country, with Cameroonians seemingly being the prime target," the official at Cameroon's Foreign Ministry said.
Reuters AlertNet
Cameroon to aid citizens trapped in Equ. Guinea
YAOUNDE, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Cameroon will send food and medicine on Monday to some 8,000 citizens sheltering in its diplomatic missions in Equatorial Guinea to escape harassment from police and the population, state media said Monday.
A wave of violence against Cameroonians living in Equatorial Guinea erupted on Wednesday after gunmen robbed two banks in the second city Bata, shooting passers-by before fleeing in speedboats toward Cameroon.
State radio said 3,000 citizens were sheltering in the Cameroonian embassy in Equatorial Guinea's island capital of Malabo and a further 5,000 were holed up in Bata on the African mainland.
allAfrica (The Post)
How Obiang Nguema Ordered Attacks On Cameroonians
The attack on Cameroonians by security officers in Equatorial Guinea was deliberate; the robbery of the two banks was a pretext, The Post has found out.
Equatorial Guinean President, Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbazogo, had, in a public address to his citizens in August 2007, called for the use of force and armed attacks on immigrants - referring to two main groups; Nigerians and Cameroonians - who flood into the country to enrich themselves of Equato-Guinea's newfound {oil} wealth.
According to All Africa Online, Obiang Nguema considers Cameroonians guilty of the increase in criminality lately in his country. He insinuates that Cameroonians are responsible for disorder in Equatorial Guinea.
Eritrea
AFP-Yahoo
East Africa peace bloc urges Eritrea return
NAIROBI (AFP) - An East African peacemaking bloc on Wednesday urged Eritrea to return to the fold, seven months after it pulled out, undermining efforts to restore regional stability, Kenyan officials said.
Asmara suspended its membership in the Djibouti-based seven-nation Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in April.
"Kenya is trying to convince Eritrea to return to the bloc, but at the moment the situation is very fluid," a high-ranking Kenyan foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Toronto Star
Nevsun secures accord to mine Eritrea deposit
After years of political suspense, Nevsun Resources Ltd. appears to have cleared the final obstacle to developing the Bisha mine in Eritrea, said to be one of the largest unexploited gold and base-metal deposits in Africa.
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Nevsun shares gained 8.1 per cent, rising 16 cents to $2.14 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up from a low of 80 cents in August but down from $9 in late 2003 before Eritrea blocked work by Nevsun and other international companies while the government conducted a broad review of resource extraction policy.
Ethiopia
allAfrica (UN IRIN)
Drought Insurance Extended to 6.7 Million People
The World Food Programme (WFP) is expanding "the first humanitarian insurance policy" in Ethiopia. Officials are hoping to raise US$230 million in insurance and contingency funds to cover 6.7 million people if there is a drought comparable to the one in 2002/2003.
In 2006, WFP partnered with French firm Axa Re to pilot a programme to provide cash payouts to farmers in the event of a severe drought. Now, they are working with the Ethiopian government to expand the programme for three years from 2009.
IANS-Yahoo
Thousands of locusts invade vast fields in Kenya, Ethiopia
Lema Gebeyehu, head of the crop protection division in the ministry of agriculture and rural development, Ethiopia, confirmed locusts covered 375 hectares of land in Yabello and Teltale of Borena.
According to experts, an average swarm consists of 40 million locusts and a single locust could eat up to two gm a day.
'Due to the dry season it will not affect the crop much,' Lema said, 'however, they will damage the pasture availability in the area'.
Gabon
AFP-Yahoo
African ministers in crisis meeting to rescue aviation watchdog
LIBREVILLE (AFP) - African ministers began Friday an emergency meeting in Gabon to discuss the fate of a continental aviation watchdog which has been hit by the threatened pull out of two member nations.
The delegates were to mull the future of the Agency for the Security of Aviation Navigation in Africa and Madagascar -- known by its French acronym ASECNA -- which has been left reeling by the shock withdrawals.
Madagascar and Senegal have decided to quit the organisation, set up in 1959. Mali and the Central African Republic have withdrawn from the organisation in the past but then rejoined it.
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Africa accounts for just three percent of world aircraft departures, but tops the list in air mishaps.
In 2003, the last year for which comprehensive statistics are available, African airspace accounted for 28 percent of fatal aviation accidents worldwide.
Gambia
allAfrica (The Daily Observer)
Country Ratifies ACP/EC Revised Partnership Agreement
The Gambia has joined the list of countries in ratifying the revised partnership agreement between the Member States of the African, Carribean and Pacific Group (ACP) and the European Community (EC) and its member states.The agreement was ratified by the National Assembly at its fourth-meeting in the 2007 legislative year on Wednesday.
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The revision, he went on, has not change{d} the core pillars of the partnership agreement which continues to focus on the objectives of poverty reduction, sustainable development and the progresive integration of the ACP states into the global economy.
Ghana
allAfrica (Public Agenda)
Country Gets $51 Million for Malaria Control
In Ghana, malaria accounts for more than 44 percent of visits to health facilities. UNICEF estimates that 20 thousand Ghanaian children under the age of five die each year of malaria.
The disease is said to be one of the major causes of poverty and mortality in the country.
Under the United States of America's President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), with a goal to reduce malaria deaths by half among the most risky groups: pregnant women and children under five, Ghana has been chosen as a new focus country.
Guinea
No news this week, apparently.
Now, Bring Your Own.