European Investment Bank gives Zambia €75 million

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has given Zambia 75 million Euros, equivalent to K573 million, to finance the implementation of the Zambia Water and Sanitation project. Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said the loan facility was intended to finance the improvement of water supply and sanitation amenities in three Copperbelt mining towns of Mufulira, Chililabombwe and Chingola.

The loan was designed to recapitalise Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company and would be implemented through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to enhance income-generating capability for the company. Mr Chikwanda said the project would go a long way in improving the quality of water supply and sanitation to the people in the towns.

"The finance contract we have signed today will contribute to the realisation of social and economic benefits intended for the people of Zambia through increased access to water and sanitation facilities," he said.

He said the total requirement of the project was 156 million Euros, which would be arranged through a co-financing facility.

Forbes partners with Angolan president’s daughter

U.S.-based business publisher Forbes has formed a partnership with a company controlled by Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the Angolan President, to publish a new magazine edition for Portuguese-speaking African countries.

Forbes Portuguese Africa will be a joint venture with ZAP, a company in which Ms. Dos Santos has a 70 percent shareholding. Last August, Forbes published information revealing that the President's daughter had acquired almost her entire Angolan fortune through corrupt means.

The announcement comes almost a year after Forbes included Ms. Dos Santos on its list of Africa's wealthiest people. It assessed her wealth at U.S. $3 billion, making her the richest woman on the African continent.

The inclusion of Ms. Dos Santos on the list attracted criticism that Forbes was glorifying a woman who owed her fortune to the political influence of her father, President José Eduardo dos Santos.

In response to that criticism, in August, Forbes published an article co-authored by Angolan journalist Rafael Marques de Morais, which investigated the origins of Ms. Dos Santos's fortune.

In that article, Forbes revealed that "as best as we can trace, every major Angolan investment held by [Isabel] dos Santos stems either from taking a chunk of a company that wants to do business in the country or from a stroke of the president's pen that cut her into the action."

The investigation provoked an angry reaction from the associates of the Dos Santos family. Angolan media loyal to the President published unfounded allegations that a daughter of the late Angolan rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi, had interests in Forbes.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201312180327.html

Magistrates shortage in Zim

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is grappling with a shortage of magistrates with 40 vacancies countrywide still to be filled, a situation that could compromise justice delivery.Zimbabwe requires 250 magistrates but it has only 210.

JSC Deputy Secretary Mr Rex Shana said last week that the shortage was a result of a general recruitment freeze by Government. "The freeze was instituted by former Finance Minister Tendai Biti during the life of the inclusive Government (2009-2013) and is yet to be formally lifted.

"The general employment freeze by the Government does not allow us to employ more staff and it affects all Government ministries and departments. The green light to employ comes from the Ministry of Finance and if there is a freeze nothing is done in terms of recruitment," said Mr Shana.

The Chief Magistrate's office is losing staff through resignations, death and retirement but is unable to recruit. Sources said the available magistrates were working under pressure due to the increased workload. Chief Magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe is on record saying the few magistrates on the bench were doing their best under difficult conditions.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201312090166.html

Mandela commemorated with day of prayer in SA

South Africans of all creeds and colors have been gathering in houses of worship across the country to reflect on the life and deeds of Mandela, who died on Thursday aged 95. The nationwide day of prayer is the formal start of commemorations that will culminate in Mandela's burial on December 15 in Qunu, the village where he spent his early childhood.

Prayers were also held in London in a remembrance service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. who hailed Mandela's "determination in the face of evil and ... humanity in the experience of victory."

On Tuesday, a memorial service is to be held in a Johannesburg stadium. It is expected that around 80,000 people will attend, among them US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 

Mandela's body will then lie in state for three days from Wednesday. His coffin is to be taken through the streets of Pretoria each morning to allow as many people as possible to say farewell.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201312090138.html

Economic deficiencies slowing reconciliation in South Africa

A research group is appealing for what it calls "radical reconciliation" in South Africa as the nation approaches the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid. The report by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation found stark inequalities that continue to fall along race lines.

The new study makes some heartening findings as South Africa approaches 20 years of democratic rule. Yet it also shows that the nation's old wounds go very deep. One of the survey's key findings is somewhat encouraging: just two decades after South Africa ended its race-based apartheid system, class is now more important to many South Africans than race.

However, researchers also found that South Africans at the very bottom of that scale are nearly all black, said Kim Wale, lead author of this week's report.

"One of our key findings is that South Africans report that class inequality has become the greatest impediment to national reconciliation," Wale said. "However, class inequality continues to reflect racial division."

The nation's last census backed that up, showing that on average, white South African households earn more than six times what black households do. Researchers interviewed more than 3,500 South Africans in all nine provinces for the institute's survey.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201312050084.html

Ten civilians killed by Renamo in last month

Attacks by gunmen of the former rebel movement Renamo over the past six weeks have resulted in ten civilian deaths, and injured a further 26 people, according to the Mozambican Defence Ministry.

Speaking at a Maputo press conference on Wednesday, the National Director of Defence Policy in the Ministry, Cristovao Chume, did not reveal the losses suffered by the defence and security forces or by Renamo itself. Almost all the Renamo attacks have occurred in the central province of Sofala. There was a further focus of tension in Rapale district, in the northern province of Nampula, where three attacks occurred.

Chume said that, in addition, to the human casualties around 30 vehicles have been targeted in the Renamo attacks. Damage varied from slight to total. The latest Renamo raid was on Tuesday night against a police post and health centre in the small town of Tica, in Sofala. The gunmen looted the health centre, but there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

The deterioration of the politico-military situation in Sofala can be dated to the capture by the armed forces (FADM) of the Renamo headquarters at Satunjira, in Gorongosa district, on 21 October. The army said it moved against Satunjira because its patrols in the surrounding area had come under repeated Renamo fire.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201312050368.html