About half of South Africa's population is living in poverty, a problem that is not going to be solved overnight, says the Deputy Director-General of Social Development, Selwyn Jehoma. He said the poverty situation in the country was "very significant" and most people believed it would take about a generation to solve.

"After two heated debates during the recent African ministers of finance meeting in Malawi, national delegations from South Africa, Rwanda and Egypt succeeded in deleting any reference to budgetary targets for education, health, agriculture and water in the Common Position on MDGs and the conference report and resolutions. Their action brings into question the extent to which African finance ministers are committed to continental integration, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the declarations and resolutions of their own heads of state." - Geoffrey Njora

Kepher Otieno, lead reporter in Kenya for the Global Integrity Report: 2009, is concerned with the lack of financial accountability in his country. Yet he doubts that legal reform alone will curb graft in Kenya. Speaking to this impunity, Kepher describes his Mashup Challenge entry as an attempt to "dig into possible solutions" including coupling tax law reform with greater levels of auditing and citizen input in resource allocation decisions.

MDC provincial youth chairman for Mashonaland Central, Tonderai Samhu, appeared in court on Tuesday facing allegations of insulting Robert Mugabe. Samhu handed himself over to the law and order section in Bindura on Monday. Police had been hunting him down since he organized a rally in Mvurwi last week Wednesday to bid farewell to the late MDC provincial Chairman Biggie Chigonero.

Namibia and Angola have partnered to build a US$1.1 billion hydropower plant on a river that runs along their common borders. The move is to help end power disruptions that have plagued their economies for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people living in eastern Chad, including more than 450,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur and internally displaced Chadians, are at risk if the UN mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) leaves or no longer has a mandate to protect civilians.

Authorities in Nigeria have dropped charges against the former head of the country's anti-corruption agency. Nuhu Ribadu had been accused of not declaring his assets while in office. He was named head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, but was removed when he stood down in 2007.

Zimbabwe's three leading figures have condemned international sanctions on the country at a World Economic Forum conference in Tanzania. In a rare show of unity, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara appealed for investment. Only Mr Tsvangirai had been expected to represent Zimbabwe at the forum in Dar es Salaam.

Opposition leader Paul Berenger has conceeded defeat in parliamentary elections in Mauritius.
Confirmed results gave incumbent Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam's Labour alliance 41 out of the 62 parliamentary seats that were being contested. Economic and constitutional reform, fraud, corruption, drug trafficking and ethnicity were some of the main issues of the election.

The Togolese Prime Minister, Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, has presented his resignation and that of his government to President Faure Gnassingbé as a constitutional requirement following the investiture on Monday of the country's elected president for a second five-year term.

A four-member delegation of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff arrived in Guinea Bissau on Monday, on a fact-finding mission in connection with the 1 April incident by a section of the country's armed forces that resulted in the brief detention of the Prime Minister and the Chief of Defence Staff.

More than 10 African heads of state and government were converging here Wednesday for the three-day conference of the World Economic Forum that is specifically dedicated to the continent's economic future. A brainstorming session on 'Turning Vision into Reality' was billed to kick- start the meeting by examining the current, changing global landscape and identify opportunities that can unlock Africa's growth potential and the barriers to social and economic progress in the coming year.

The remains of late Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua were laid to rest Thursday evening in his home town of Katsina in the country's northern part. After funeral prayers led by the Chief Imam of Katsina, Mohammed Aliu, the body, draped in the national flag, was taken by foot some six kilometres away to the Dan Marna cemetery, one of the top cemeteries in the ancient town.

The French government has provided financial assistance to the tune of 90,000 euros to Burundi for the organisation of the series of elections planned in the coming four months, an official source said in Bujumbura.

Zimbabwe has announced it was shelving the privatisation of the country's huge iron and steel company, in what is suspected to be a growing bickering in Zimbabwe's coalition government. Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest iron and steel company, and India's Jindal Steel and Power company, had been short-listed to buy a controlling stake in the loss-making Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco).

When Citadel Capital announced its plan to open an eastern Africa office in Nairobi by January this year, there was little excitement even as the Egyptian firm went ahead to explain that its interest in the region will extend to food transport. By the time the announcement was made late last year, Citadel Capital was already a household name in the region –just fresh from acquiring a stake in struggling Rift Valley Railways (RVR).

This latest report from the International Crisis Group, warns of the risks involved after President Laurent Gbagbo recently dissolved the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) and the government. Preparations are now at a virtual standstill, and the process of identifying who is eligible to vote carries serious risks of violence.

A Macmillan Education representative made the undisclosed bribery payments to a local official in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the multi-million pound contract for an education project in southern Sudan. The World Bank said it had banned Macmillan from bidding for any of its contracts for six years.

This latest background report from the International Crisis Group examines the historical relationships, strategic interests, and recent engagement of key regional states as well as their views on the possible independence of the South. Many of Sudan’s bordering states were involved in, or affected by its civil wars, and each would be directly affected by either peaceful separation or a return to conflict.

The announcement that South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup prompted a whirlwind of heavy investment in infrastructure, with high expectations for an economic boom. Obviously, the 2010 World Cup will also boost tourism, but how far will these benefit society as a whole, not just a privileged few? asks Nasser Kigwangallah.