ZAMBIA

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said on Sunday Israel could become a leading economy globally if a Middle East peace deal is reached but that the key challenges for now were to accelerate growth and cut poverty.

Phuthuma Nhleko, Chief Executive Officer of South African mobile phone group MTN (MTNJ.J), will step down as CEO and group president in March 2011, the group said on Monday.

Copper output in Zambia, Africa's largest producer of the metal, rose to 573,405 tonnes between January and October this year, compared with 480,665 tonnes in the same period last year, the central bank said on Tuesday

The town of Livingstone, Zambia, near Victoria Falls, was named after Doctor David Livingstone, the missionary born in Blantyre, Scotland, where I once lived as a child. It is illustrative of how much the world has changed, in such a relatively short time, that it was a mere 150 years since he had become

Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer, faces a power shortage and electricity rationing by the end of next year due to increased demand for power by the country's mining sector, an industry official said on Monday.

Indian state-run telecom Mahanagar Telephone Nigam is looking to move ahead with a consortium bid for Kuwait telecom Zain and is also interested in buying a stake in Zambian telecom firm Zamtel.

A Chinese firm has signed a $3.6 billion investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) with Zambia in copper exploration and mining industry, a senior investment official said on Wednesday.

Following is the roster of countries attending or boycotting a U.N. conference on racism that opened in Geneva on Monday.

Western nations and lending agencies have agreed a financing package of more than $1 billion to improve infrastructure in southern and central Africa at an investment conference meant to expand transport links and trade.

So far at least 73 385 Zimbabweans have been infected with water-borne diarrhea disease since August and 3 524 have died, in Africa's deadliest cholera outbreak in 15 years.

South African Nationwide Airline has ceased operations until further notice due to financial hardships, the airline announced on Tuesday.

China reported on Tuesday that its shipment of weapons bound for Zimbabwe is likely to return following the refusal of port workers in Southern African countries to have access to its ports.

For years the preserve of globe-trotting merchants and secretive financiers, the trade in rare and valuable minerals known as minor metals is now on the radar of hedge funds searching for profits.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton launched a program on Sunday to make subsidized malaria drugs available in Tanzania in a test scheme that could serve as a blueprint for Africa as a whole.

The oil price might have fallen almost 25 percent from its peak, but the commodities sector as a whole is undervalued by around 30 percent giving further opportunity for growth according to one fund manager.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has ordered the arrest and prosecution of investors in the country's copper mines who are breaking labour laws, officials and state-owned media said on Sunday. The decision is widely seen as a move to placate angry miners in the country's Copperbelt region ahead of September 28 presidential elections.

When Chinese investors bought struggling copper producer Chambishi Mining Plc, miners in this Zambian town gave them a heroes' welcome for averting its closure and for creating more jobs.

A biofuel company will invest $1 billion to develop the biofuel sector in Africa, it was announced Tuesday.