Safaricom has so far attracted KSh191 billion from both local and foreign investors, surpassing the Treasury's target of Sh50 billion by nearly four times and making it Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest initial public offering.

The World Food Programme will conduct an extensive food security assessment countrywide as the Emergency Management Unit considers a food crisis for Namibia 'very much likely' because of recent floods and global food shortages.

Four Kenyan ICT companies have received major capital inputs under a new plan aimed at improving infrastructure and investment opportunities in the East African region.

If all goes according to plan, global household consumer goods manufacturer Procter and Gamble (P&G) will have given 3.2 million sanitary towels in two years to 500,000 poor girls in 15,000 schools in Kenya.

Last week the Finnish Embassy donated an amount of N$463 000 for the upgrading of the tourist facilities at the Nakambale Ecological Tourist Camp in the north.

The Public Information Section/ARU, in cooperation with the Gender Office, the 'Forum des Mamans d'Aru' (ARU Women's Forum) and many NGOs that deal with the sexual violence issue, have launched an awareness campaign in that territory.

The International Rescue Committee is dispatching an emergency team to Myanmar to rapidly assess needs and lay the groundwork for urgent assistance for people made homeless by the weekend's devastating cyclone.

Rehabilitation of the Mutero-St Davis Road in Chihota, which is being spearheaded by the Marondera West Development Association, is nearing completion.

Ugandans should take advantage of the soaring prices by churning out more produce to push forward the Prosperity for All programme, President Yoweri Museveni has said.

The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank today approved a $30 million grant in support of the Government’s efforts toattain the goals of the National Nutrition Strategy (NNS) and the Health Extension Program (HEP).

A $21.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is enabling Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its partners to help small farmers in central and east Africa protect cassava — a critical source of food and income — from two spreading pandemics that are decimating as much as 70 percent of crop yields.

The Malaysian delegation for the $600 million Malaysian Gardens housing project soft launch, billed to hold tomorrow, at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has arrived Nigeria.

Austria has pledged €1 million to help four of the world's poorest countries combat the global food crisis, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, set up to help countries emerging from conflict avoid relapsing into violence, has agreed to provide Guinea-Bissau with $6 million to support the Government's efforts relating to the upcoming legislative elections, security sector reform, the judiciary, the police and youth employment.

The accelerating rise in food prices worldwide is threatening the work of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to feed the millions of hungry people around the globe, the head of the agency said today.

Maize prices in East Africa have remained high due to reduced supply, higher demand and increased transportation costs, the Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network has said in a report.

Donors including former colonial power France, the European Union and Japan unblocked 27 million euros ($43 million) in aid to Ivory Coast on Wednesday to help the country organise post-war elections due in November.

Children in flood hit Tanzania face greater danger from the deadliest disease in Sub Saharan Africa, as the rest of the globe prepares to mark the first ever World Malaria Day.

A plan to build the largest and most powerful hydroelectric dam in the world is being discussed in London.

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday called for a new partnership deal on aid, trade, investment and technology between Africa and its development partners.

Red Cross and Red Crescent community-based volunteers involved in the fight against malaria play a critical role in the effort to increase usage of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said on the occasion of the first World Malaria Day to be marked on April 25.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday he would discuss post-election deadlock in Zimbabwe with African leaders during a UN trade and development conference in Ghana which starts on Sunday.

Saltlakes Holdings, a local tobacco company, said deliveries of tobacco from their contracted farmers are expected to reach 5 million kilogrammes this year.

The Ugandan government will concentrate on rehabilitating the war-ravaged north of the country, it said before the anticipated signing of a peace agreement with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Almost half a million Ivorians have received new birth certificates, the first step in a process to enable them to vote in national general elections scheduled for later this year, the United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) reported today.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a credit of SDR 40.6 million (about $66.2 million) in Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance (EPCA) for Côte d'Ivoire to continue the efforts begun under an initial EPCA-supported program to strengthen the country's foundation for sustained recovery.

About 4,835 kilometres of road infrastructures shall be rehabilitated definitively this year by the Angolan government, in light of its Special Programme of Rehabilitating National Roads, which was approved by the Cabinet Council in the second half of 2005.

Airmen and sailors joined Kenyans in an effort to increase access to clean drinking water within the country's arid Garissa district March 30 and 31.

The Russian Federation is to provide development assistance amounting to over $500 million in Africa, one of the main priorities of the Russian foreign policy, the country's ambassador said.

Zimbabwe needs more than $1 billion a year in reconstruction aid and Britain is working with the United States, European Union, World Bank and IMF on a recovery plan, a government source said.

The provincial Government of Luanda and Sol Bank launched a joint micro-loan programme, aimed at encouraging women to set up their own business.

In reaffirming its commitment to the world's disadvantaged children, the Government of Japan has announced a total of $109 million in contributions to support UNICEF's work around the world.

The Government of Japan has decided to allocate $5 million to the Republic of Zambia through UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP). The purpose of the fund is to facilitate the implementation of various mitigation activities including floods experienced by Zambia in the 2007/2008 rainy season.

An annual charity campaign backed by Dubai royalty has granted 570,000 dirhams ($155,000) to the UN refugee agency for sports programmes and gender awareness courses that it runs.

A pipeline used to convey crude oil to the landlocked Zambia has been earmarked for major repairs.

About $267,434 were spent by the Social Aid Fund (FAS) in northern Malanje province, on the construction of a primary school in Lombe commune (Cacuso district).

The Governor of the northern Uíge province, António Bento Cangulo expressed satisfaction at the implementation rate of rehabilitation works of the Uíge/Mucaba/Maquela road, after an assessing visit to the site.

MTN Rwanda has announced a Frw20 million donation to families whose property was destroyed by the recent earthquake that hit parts of the Western province.

Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) has called on all financial institutions to consider restructuring floods-affected businesses' loans and allow them to recover financially.

National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), an agency mandated to ensure efficient process for the adaptation of imported technology in Nigeria yesterday said it has saved the country N158billion in the last 25 years through its activities.

A donation of 20 million Swedish Kronor ($3.3 million) from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for five IOM programmes in Zimbabwe focusing on the provision of humanitarian assistance to returning migrants and mobile populations will make a significant difference in reaching vulnerable groups.

The United Nations refugee has launched a landmark two-year programme to bring an end to one of the world's oldest protracted refugee situations: the exile of some 218,000 people from neighbouring Burundi who fled their country in 1972 to Tanzania.

A senior UN official warned of a humanitarian crisis in eastern Chad, now home to nearly half a million refugees from neighboring Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are spearheading the world body's relief efforts in northern and central Mozambique, where Cyclone Jokwe struck the coast at the weekend with winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday fulfilled his promise to provide a donation of $10,000 for survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The Zimbabwe Government has acquired 200 vehicles worth $4 million for senior health workers and doctors in a bid to improve their conditions of service and bolster health delivery.

The Government of Japan (GOJ) and UNICEF signed today, in the presence of the Assistant Minister for Curative Services of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, a new protocol agreement for 200 million Japanese Yens ($1.87 million) for the prevention of infectious diseases in children in Liberia.

The Government of the Italian Republic has donated medical equipment and supplies worth $450,000 to help in the humanitarian response in Chad, in the aftermath of armed fighting which erupted in the Chadian capital N'Djamena during early February.

Pursuant to its goal of providing 20 million subscribers with unimpeded quality of service, Celtel Nigeria yesterday announced some measures, including committing $1 billion for that purpose this year.

Botswana's economy is 68.6% free, according to the Heritage Foundation, 2008 Index of Economic Freedom assessment.

Many children in Malawi, some as young as 13, are the head of their households after their parents die or abandon them. They face enormous responsibilities, not only for themselves, but for their siblings as well.

The implementation of potable water supply projects in the towns of Segeneiti, Adi-Keih and Debarwa, at a total cost of 120 million Nakfa, have been finalized and are operational, according to Mr. Rezene Fisiha, Director General of Infrastructure Development in the Southern Region Administration.

To make it easier and faster for African buyers to obtain Ex-Im Bank support for their purchases of US goods and services, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved special delegated authority for the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to provide up to $40 million in Ex-Im Bank short-term and medium-term financing. The delegated authority is for one year from the date of board approval.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in Tunis has signed three grant agreements of 41.8 million Units of Account (UA), equivalent to $67 million, with the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Economic and Monetary Union of Central African States (CEMAC) to finance the Douala-Bangui and Douala-Ndjamena road corridor, linking Cameroon, the CAR and Chad.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has released 108,000 Swiss francs (USD 100,000 / € 65,000) from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support the Malagasy Red Cross Society in its response to tropical cyclone Ivan which hit the island on 17 February with winds of up to 230 kilometres per hour. Some 46,000 people will receive immediate assistance.

The Netherlands Development Minister Bert Koenders has earmarked €1.5 million in emergency aid for the victims of floods that have hit Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Most countries have made little progress in reducing the number of adult illiterates in the past decade because the programme receives minimal political attention and funding, stakeholders have said.

The Chairman of the African Union (AU), President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, has commended the work accomplished in the past 14 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), trying key suspects of the 1994 genocide.

Since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration has doubled US aid to Africa in a move viewed as the single largest development undertaking since the reconstruction of postwar Europe under the Marshall Plan.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says its statistics show that polio virus cases in Nigeria has reduced drastically by 75% in the year 2007 and evidence also shows that the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that the disease is totally eradicated in Nigeria, as well as controlling the viral disease, Avian Influenza, (bird flu) through prompt reporting of the cases and provision of immediate measures in combating the disease.

International arrivals to Africa totalled 846 million in 2006, representing an additional 44 million arrivals over the preceding year with the same growth imminent for 2007.

On the final stop of his five-nation Africa tour, President Bush told the Liberian people that the United States stands with them and will help them recover from decades of civil war. As part of that effort, he pledged 1 million textbooks for Liberian schools and locally made school desks and seating for 10,000 Liberian schoolchildren.

CARE International is leading an aggressive, rapid response to damage caused by Cyclone Ivan which struck the East Coast of Madagascar with torrential rains and winds of up to 70 mph.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) has promised to work with African journalists in the reporting of human rights issues around the continent.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has allocated an amount of $2 million for a programme aimed at supporting African countries to strengthen and deepen African Public Sector and Governance Reforms.

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is now handing out relief packages to the internally displaced persons (IDP´s) in Kenya.

Just over one week after Chadian refugees started flowing to Cameroon's north-eastern town of Kousséri, their humanitarian situation remains harsh, but is gradually getting under control.

Around 95,000 people have been made homeless by flooding along the Zambezi valley in southern Mozambique. Oxfam is working to protect public health among those who have been displaced.

The Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZNCB) is on to something good in as far as propping up agriculture is concerned. This is through the 'Munda' credit facility for peasant farmers.

The United Nations have allocated more than $20 million to four underfunded crises in West Africa to address immediate humanitarian needs.

The Norwegian Government has committed NOK 45 million to the NEPAD, Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) covering the period, 2007-2009.

Tens of thousands of refugees continue to pour across the border from Chad into Kousseri, northern Cameroon, despite assurances from the Chadian Government that this past weekend's rebel uprising has been squashed.

Monitoring by Namibian Red Cross trained farmers has helped provide early warning of floods in the country which have so far affected more than 25,000 people. Using basic methods to measure rising waters, people living in remote rural areas were able to alert authorities to the danger, triggering the evacuation of thousands to safety.

The Lusaka City Council (LCC) needs more than K500 billon to rehabilitate and construct new roads in various townships.

The Executive Boards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have deemed that Liberia is eligible for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative based on a preliminary assessment.

French nuclear energy company Areva, has submitted a bid to build South Africa's next nuclear power station, following invitations to tender by local electricity utility Eskom last November.

Two earthquakes struck parts of Rwanda and neighbouring Congo earlier today, leaving nearly 40 people dead and hundreds injured. In Rwanda, a World Vision relief team has been disaptched to the hardest-hit, southeastern district of Rusizi assess the situation and determine how the aid agency can best respond.

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved in Tunis, a loan of $16 million to finance the construction of Kempinski Accra Hotel in Ghana.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) was conceived and built primarily to supplement the water supply of the industrial hub of South Africa.

Provincial MEC for Local Government and Housing Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is to send engineers to flood-hit Lephalale in Limpopo to assess how to relieve the area from further flood risks.

As flood waters in the south of the country threaten to remain until April, the Malawi Red Cross Society is appealing for donations to support the thousands of people affected. Having responded quickly and successfully when the floods first struck in mid-January, the Malawi Red Cross Society now says it needs urgent support to safeguard the continued supply of aid to those most in need.

In some areas of Liberia cocoa trees are being cut and burned for charcoal even as the government and aid groups are working to revive the crop that once provided a living for tens of thousands of people.

Denmark said it would provide a naval escort and special forces to protect UN World Food Programme (WFP) ships transporting supplies to Somalia due to the risk of pirates in waters off the Horn of Africa.

The Dutch government has made a commitment to contribute €19 million to the United Nations in light of the peace agreement negotiations currently under way between the Congolese government and rebel groups.

Pledging the continued commitment of the United Nations to Liberia, the world body's top official there has stressed that sustainable peace will depend largely on the West African nation's ability to ensure development for its people.

The department of Agriculture and Rural Development in eastern Moxico province will support private initiatives that aim at the emerging of small transforming industries for the development of agrarian sector in the region.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., and Minister of State Michael Kitt T.D., today announced grants totalling €4 million to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs and the UN Development Programme to engage in conflict resolution and peacebuilding activities.

The number of primary schools pupils has tripled since the Government introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997. In 1995 there were 2.63 million pupils in primary schools as compared to 7.41 million in 2007, according to the Education Information Management system.

Life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication is in perilously short supply in Zimbabwe, and exorbitant prices have kept the scarce drugs out of reach for most HIV-positive Zimbabweans. Could local manufacture make them cheaper and easier to obtain?

UNICEF said today it is scaling up its response in central Mozambique as the number of people displaced by flooding along the Zambezi River continues to increase.