SOUTH AFRICA

The French Development Agency (AFD) signed a subsidized loan agreement on Wednesday with top South African bank, Nedbank, for $50.1 million (€40 million) to provide housing loans for low-income households.

Ethiopian Airlines has won the African Airline of the Year 2006 Award, the company's management announced last Wednesday.

Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd, a Chinese leading gold and base metal producer, announced it will buy the new shares and warrants of England and Wales's resource company......

India's Prime Minister said South Africa and India have the resources and means to further develop their relationship to reach $12 billion in trade by 2010.

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's three-day visit to South Africa is expected to benefit India Inc. as the two nations will sign a number of bilateral agreements aimed to strengthen economic and commercial relationships.

Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank said on Monday its external debt has dropped by 2.3 percent following South Africa's contribution of $169 million last year to the International Monetary Fund.

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh who arrived in South Africa on Saturday, will, during his four-day visit, discuss major UN reforms with the South African President Thabo Mbeki, besides signing a number of bilateral agreements on a wide range of subjects including one on preferential trade, investment and energy cooperation.

India has surged ahead in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2006 index of world's most competitive economies, leaving behind nations like China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and Kuwait.

The World Trade Organization swore in David Unterhalter from South Africa as a member of the Appellate Body by the Body's Chairman, A.V. Ganesan, at a ceremony on Thursday.

Canadian mining company Bema Gold Corp. on Tuesday acknowledged mounting debt in a South African gold mine and said it was pursuing a joint venture there.

Africa's biggest media company Naspers has sold a 15 percent stake in its core newspaper and magazine business to black investors for 730 million rand, it said on Wednesday.

ArmorGroup International Plc the security services firm today announced it had landed a $5.6 million mine clearance contract in Lebanon.

Ethiopian Airlines won the African Airline of the Year 2006 Award. US deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs in the department of transport,

The FTSE 100 fell on Friday, with Wall Street seen extending losses after a Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey sparked concerns over U.S. growth and corporate profitability

Nairobi's Africities summit is the fourth for local governments in the continent. The first, in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivore in 1998, saw the emergence of the African municipal movement on the regional and international scene.

Tanga Cement Company, says its future expansion will be expensive because of the extended power rationing and growing competition from imports from Uganda and Kenya.

Massmart Holdings Ltd, the third largest distributor of consumer goods in Africa and the leading retailer of general merchandise, liquor and home improvement equipment will invest more than $91 million in Tanzania in the next 10 years.

South African refiner SAPREF has delayed the full start-up of its 180,000 barrels per day plant in Durban until the beginning of October, extending its shutdown to more than three months, a company spokeswoman said on Monday.

Namibia's annual inflation rate quickened to 5.4 percent in August from 5.1 percent in July, largely driven by rising food and transport costs, official data showed on Monday.

South Africa's largest insurer, Old Mutual, met forecasts with a 36 percent increase in first half profit

Investments in offgrid energy generation projects are the quickest way to get electricity to the 1.6 billion people in the world without lights, a World Bank official said on Wednesday.