The Congolese government has given an oil permit claimed by Tullow Oil to a rival consortium.

Tullow, Heritage Oil and Cohydro signed an agreement for two permits on Lake Albert, which borders Uganda, in 2006.

The oil ministry says one is invalid as the deputy minister had no authority to sign it and the president did not approve it. Continue Reading »

By Will Ross, BBC News, Ghana

Take a drive around rural Ghana and large swathes of the country appear green and fertile.

So you might then wonder why Ghanaians spend between $200 and $300 a year on imported rice. Continue Reading »

United Nations Children’s Fund (New York)
16 April 2008
Cape Town
Leading global health experts, policy-makers and parliamentarians are convening in Cape Town today to address the urgent need for accelerated progress to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths, if internationally-agreed targets are to be met. Continue Reading »

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
16 April 2008
By Sebastian R. Freiku
Kumasi
The Executive Director of Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mines (WACAM), Mr. Owusu Koranteng, has cautioned the government against what he described as “Oil back loan”- the tendency of resorting to external borrowing with the purpose of paying with Oil.

He has further called on the government to take a critical look at the negotiation terms with foreign partners in order to develop the capacity to manage and allocate windfall profits that may be accrued from the mineral resources. Continue Reading »

Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
16 April 2008

By Tumelo Setshogo
Botswana will be the first country in African to host a competition on energy saving this year. Continue Reading »

By Tim Whewell

BBC Newsnight, Democratic Republic of Congo

It’s a scene that - with just a few changes - you might have found in the central African bush in the late 19th Century.

Ploughing through the long grass is a foreigner in a wide-brimmed sun-hat, scribbling away in a notebook. Continue Reading »

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Rome)
9 April 2008
New Delhi
Urgent measures are needed to ensure that short-term adverse effects of higher food prices do not impact even more alarmingly on the very poor, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said today. Continue Reading »

Business Daily (Nairobi)
8 April 2008

By Allan Odhiambo
India unveiled a bag of goodies for African partners attending the first India-Africa summit signalling the extent it is ready to go to win hearts in the natural resource-rich continent. Continue Reading »

India PM Manmohan Singh says the country will invest heavily in development projects in Africa to bolster economies ties.

He was speaking in the Indian capital, Delhi, at the first summit aimed at strengthening trade and diplomatic ties between India and Africa.

India would provide more than $500m for projects in Africa, Mr Singh said.

Correspondents say India is increasingly interested in Africa, as it looks for new sources of energy. Continue Reading »

Business Daily (Nairobi)
6 April 2008

By Dominique Patton
Chinese investors, who have lately gained a strong presence in Kenya’s telecoms and heavy industry, are now eyeing the country’s farmland as a source of useful raw materials and employment opportunity. Continue Reading »