South African prosecutors say they will announce on Monday whether they will drop corruption charges against African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma. South Africa media has been full of speculation that the charges will be dropped but a prosecution spokesman said the decision could go either way.

The most powerful opposition group in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, has debunked fears that it will sit out a planned national opposition boycott and demonstration on 6 April, when it announced on Thursday that all Egyptians should join in the Monday activities. The move came after the 6 April Movement entertained fears that the powerful Islamic group would not participate in the strike.

The International Organisation for the Francophonie (OIF) has suspended Madagascar, describing as unconstitutional the process through which the current leader, Andry Rajoelina, assumed office.In a resolution adopted at the close of its standing committee meeting here on Thursday, OIF said the suspension would affect the overall multi-lateral cooperation between it and Madagascar, except humanitarian programmes.

Former Guinean Minister Lansana Kouyate has said his country cannot 'technically' hold elections this year to return the country to democratic rule. Instead, Kouyate, leader of the newly-formed Party for Hope and National Development (PEDN), told journalists here Thursday that a national forum of key stakeholders should be convened to decide on the date for elections in the West African nation, where a military government took power in the wake of the death, on 23 Dec. 2008, of long-serving President Lansana Conte.

The police fired several canisters of tear gas to disperse opposition protesters in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, late on Thursday. The demonstration was held in response to the call by the National Front for the Defence of Democracy (FNDD), which is opposed to the 6 August 2008 military coup, on Mauritanians to resist the coup.

Despite the challenges that the global economic crisis poses to Africa and other developing regions in the southern hemisphere, South-South trade still offers huge opportunities as there is room for growth beyond the current levels. According to Jean-Louis Ekra, president of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) - a multilateral organisation that finances and promotes trade with African countries - the potential benefit from South-South trade may offer the same financial gains as trade with richer, Northern countries.

Thailand's commerce minister and rice exporters will visit African countries next month in a bid to secure rice deals, a senior official said on Monday. "It's a roadshow that includes trade and investment in Africa and, of course, rice will be the main issue we'll talk about," said Apiradi Tantraporn, director general of the foreign trade department at the ministry.

A delegation of the China-Africa Development Fund (CAD-Fund) led by Mr. J. P. Zhao, Chairman of the CAD-Fund, met with some officials of the African Union Commission, the Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD, representatives of the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on Monday 30 March 2009, at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) will be operational in June 2010 instead of June this year, according to a project official. The delay means that the cable, owned by African and international telecommunications operators, is again the subject of speculation and allegations about the lack of seriousness of the project developers.

The summit of the Group of 20 leading high-income and emerging countries in London on Thursday seems set to achieve progress. But achievement must be measured not just against past performances, but against “the fierce urgency of now”. Unfortunately, it will come up short.

As leaders of the world's most productive economies meet in London on Thursday, street activism around the need for poverty alleviation and action on climate change is expected to divert the world's gaze from official proceedings. For African governments and civil society organizations, any diversion which focuses attention on issues of social justice will be welcome.

In less than one month, South Africans go to the polls to elect a government for the next five years. We have already witnessed pre-election violence in KwaZulu-Natal and legal problems regarding the right of South Africans to vote abroad. While no election proceeds without hitches, the question is whether South Africa is setting a good example for the rest of the continent with the way its elections will be conducted.

In Sotho there is a saying, “Matlo ho cha mabapi” — a fire at a neighbour’s house is likely to spread to yours. Look no further for proof of the proverb’s wisdom than how the chaos north of the Limpopo has rippled into SA . The Basotho are silent, however, on the consequences of a fire started by a neighbour. And fire is exactly what SA is about to unleash on its poorer neighbour in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu).

Across nearly the breadth of North Africa, the head of state enjoys a lifetime appointment. Morocco has a king. In Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, president since 1987, pushed for a constitutional amendment removing term limits and has now announced a bid for a fifth term in office. President Husni Mubarak of Egypt, who assumed office in 1981, is already serving his fifth term.

In 2008, total net official development assistance (ODA) from members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rose by 10.2% in real terms to USD 119.8 billion. This is the highest dollar figure ever recorded. It represents 0.30% of members' combined gross national income

The South African Broadcasting Corporation SABC, has produced a remarkable documentary about conditions in Zimbabwean prisons which will be screened nation-wide on Tuesday. Produced by SABC’s Special Assignment team, the film entitled “Hell Hole” takes viewers into Zimbabwe’s prisons – which it ways have become virtual death traps for prisoners.

In a strongly worded letter to the president of Zambia, the country's Catholic bishops called on the government not to ratify an African Union protocol with articles that would threaten the sacredness of life and the sanctity of marriage.

, and much of the world media, have misunderstood the Popes' teaching with regard to sexual education.The objection of the Pope to condoms is not that comdoms are "per se" unable to forestall HIV, but rather that the condom distribution and the mentality created by their use, namely that one can have sex at any time, anywhere, with anybody with impunity as far as sexual dsease is concerned, is a fallacy that valid statistics can abundantly show and prove. Besides, the Pope never proposed that abstinence only is the remedy for the HIV virus. There has to be proper sexual education in the much larger context of morality and spiritual values in understanding the function of sex in human beings.

I thought this was a very good essay on ; it is very encouraging to note that the African electorate gets the opportunity to consider the characters of the candidates for elected offices and that money and advertisements play far lesser roles. Thanks for this essay. I have already created a link to the essay in my blog: http://chielozona.blogspot.com/

Should the victims of some of the more brutal aspects of Bashir's regime wait for political reform to get justice? I agree and the ICC shouldn't be allowed to administer selective justice. I think the article is however insensitive to those who suffer in conflicts like Darfur, at the hands of the likes of Bashir, even if he's not solely to blame, in saying retribution should wait until their country has experienced sufficient political reform. As the head of state, accountability should start with him. I wonder if the author would feel the same if he'd been directly affected by the conflict. The ICC's execution is far from perfect but surely there must be a way to bring all war criminals to book, be it in the US or elsewhere, that takes into account the political sensibilities of the country involved.