Egypt has asked the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a budgetary support loan to offset the impact of the global economic crisis, a senior bank official said on Friday."We are in discussions over a budget support loan with the Government of Egypt to address the impact of the financial crisis and to support the reforms that are under way," Gabriel Negatu, the AfDB's financial reforms director, said.

It has been established that five WOZA members and three journalists were arrested after six peaceful protests were violently broken up by police in Harare on Thursday. Four women, including Clara Manjengwa and Maria Majoni, remain in custody in Harare Central Police Station. One woman who had been arrested with her baby, and the three journalists, have been released.

Thirty-three civil organisations from across the world, including a Zimbabwean organisation, have urged the World bank to increase funding for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in developing countries where the bank manages investments and development projects. This follows a demonstration by Gender Action, the only organization dedicated to monitoring International Financial Institution (IFI) investments for their gender impacts, that the World Bank’s funding for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS projects during 2000-2007 constituted less than one percent of total World Bank spending during this period.

As Omar Bongo Ondimba, the Gabonese president who died at age 73 in Barcelona on Jun. 8, is buried in Franceville in the south-west of Gabon on Thursday, his 41-year-reign as absolute ruler of this oil-producing country of 1.5 million has received mixed reviews. In neighbouring Congo, a seven-day period of national mourning has been declared. Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso was closely aligned with Bongo; his daughter, Edith Lucie, was married to the Gabonese president at the time of her own death in March.

The United Nations Human Rights Council should reject the Sudanese government's request to terminate the mandate of the special rapporteur on human rights in Sudan, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to the council members.

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had talks with senior European officials on the political and economic situation in his country and secured financial assistance for the administration. Tsvangirai, who is on a working visit to Brussels, told a press conference at the end of discussions that he was satisfied with the financial commitments made by the European officials.

The Comoros autonomous islands will hold legislative and local government elections on 2 August, the permanent representative of the African Union (AU) in Moroni, Mourad Taiati has told journalists. The AU official, who was speaking at the end of a meeting in Moroni with the Comoran Foreign Relations Minister, Ahmed Ben Said Jaffar, stressed that the elections were the expression of a “fervent wish” of the Comoran authorities.

Niger's former Prime Minister, Hama Amadou, has urged the country's political class to exhibit more responsibility in a bid to avoid some "useless rifts" about the debate on President Mamadou Tandja's bid to change the constitution through a referendum to have a third five-year term. “It is important that our political class shows a keen sense of responsibility in a bid to avoid in our dear country some useless rifts, by respecting constitutional legality,” he said.

Twelve political parties operating in Zanzibar yesterday revived their ‘alliance’ vowing to win the next Zanzibar general elections by strengthening the partnership including placing one candidate for presidency. “There is no way we can manage to remove the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from power in Zanzibar without reviving our alliance and field one candidate for presidency,” the parties leaders said at a meeting.

The financial crisis has underscored Africa’s vulnerability, notwithstanding a decade of solid progress, the APP said at the launch of its annual report today. The key conclusion of the report is that Africa needs to drive its own development agenda as the basis for partnership and shared responsibility for progress. “The global economic crisis can serve as a wake-up call for both African leaders and their international partners,” the Panel said.

The president of the African Union (AU), Gabonese economist and politician Jean Ping, met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and other government officials in Caracas to prepare for the Africa - South America Summit scheduled to take place in Caracas in the last week of September. "Venezuela and especially President Hugo Chávez has become a spokesperson for those nations that do not have a voice, not only on this continent but in the world, especially in Africa," Jean Ping told the press in Caracas.

Joseph Hanlon

Boubacar Messaoud

Moustapha Kadi

cc The death of Gabon’s President Omar Bongo on 7 May has sparked a range of reactions, reflecting the dubious legacy of a man who played a central figure in the shady web of political and economic ties between France and Africa. Tidiane Kasse explores what politicians and commentators had to say.

cc 16 June was the anniversary of the 1976 uprising in Soweto, South Africa. With today's black youth in South Africa finding themselves marginalised in much the same way as those protesting against apartheid policy, Blackwash seeks to commemorate the 1976 uprising and further the development of black consciousness. Inspired by 16 June and the words of Steve Biko, Blackwash encourages young black people in South Africa to take up the struggle to put pressure on the government and create genuine change.

cc With Kenya still in the throes of an entrenched crisis, Korir Sing’Oei considers the broader history behind the deficiencies of the country's political system. Arguing that there are clear similarities to be drawn between events such as the state's response to the 1963 Shifta War and today's military crackdowns at Mt. Elgon, Sing’Oei stresses that the government continues to have a single method of conflict resolution, that of state-sponsored violence. But if Kenya's dream of a new constitution is to come to fruition, Sing’Oei concludes, there must be firm resolve to see accountability for its leadership, beginning on the first day of the country's truth commission with an apology from President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the post-election violence.

With reference to four key areas of 'political leadership', 'social stability', 'agricultural production' and 'initiative and aid', Li Anshan discusses China's developmental record and its potential lessons for Africa. Stressing the importance of a country's developing its own path, Li writes that foreign aid should not be permitted to become a permanent source of income or to compromise individual countries' sovereignty. If Africa is to realise its bright future and harness the considerable potential of its human and natural resources, the author argues, its governments must use their funds in ways which sincerely benefit areas most in need.

Nigeria’s to quiet critical voices, the government closure of Fela’s club in Lagos, the death and diaries of a young are among the stories covered in a review of blogs drawn from the Shackdwellers.org social justice aggregator.

cc With this year's Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist now announced, Mildred Kiconco Barya interviews Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, the 2003 winner of the prize. The winner of the 2009 prize will be announced at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday 6 July.

cc With this year's Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist now announced, Mildred Kiconco Barya interviews Binyavanga Wainaina, the 2002 winner of the prize. The winner of the 2009 prize will be announced at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday 6 July.