SOUTH AFRICA

China will ramp up conventional fuel imports and production to power its economy in 2011 despite accelerating efforts to develop clean, renewable and alternative energy.

South Africa has taken measures to counter capital inflows but the rand is still overvalued, the country's finance minister said on Friday.

South Africa's Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Friday that hospitalized former president Nelson Mandela's health was improving and that there was no need to panic over his health, rubbishing speculation that the legendary leader was nearing his end.

Average annual base pay for the Class of 2010 in the US fell by just 0.7% from 2009, compared to a 3.6% fall in Canada and a 5.2% rise in Australia.

African economic growth is heading back to pre-crisis growth levels, propelled by strong demand for its resources and increased South-South investment, notably from China.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was flown from Cape Town to Milipark Hospital early this week where apparently Routine tests were being conducted but a beeline of his relatives from grandchildren to great-grandchildren raised eye brows about the health of the 92-year-old anti-apartheid hero.

Africa should have a greater presence in the Group of 20 nations rather than be largely excluded and simply told how to run their economies, Botswana's central bank governor said on Thursday.

Air Mauritius will fly direct to China from July in a move it hopes will help boost tourism in the Indian Ocean island, which is suffering from the downturn in Europe.

Impala Platinum, the world's second-largest producer of the precious metal, said on Wednesday its first-half earnings likely increased by up to 65 percent, lifted by stronger sales and higher prices.

Mozambique's Ports Development Company (MPDC) said on Tuesday it would increase the handling capacity of its Maputo port to 12 million tonnes this year from 8.7 million in 2010 to take more coal from South Africa.

South African logistics group Transnet said on Tuesday it would reopen a coal export line leading to the Richards Bay coal export terminal at 1400 GMT after a derailment over the weekend.

Heavy rains in South Africa have so far cost the country's farming sector over 2 billion rand in damages, an industry official said on Tuesday.

Northeast Asia's booming economy and its largely untapped youth market are the cornerstone of South Korea's 2018 bid to host the first Winter Olympics in the region for 20 years, its bid chief said.

South Africa expects to seal a deal with buyers in Saudi Arabia and India for about 100,000 tonnes of its surplus maize before the end of February, a senior government official said on Monday.

Flooding in South Africa has killed more than 100 people over the last month, saturating farms in the major food producer for the continent and leading the government to declare 33 municipalities disaster areas.

With two major international sports events, 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Brazil in the next five years, it’s high time the country should improve its “substandard” tourism infrastructure, according to the Brazil Tourism Report Q1 2011, released recently.

South African government bonds sharply extended losses on Friday, a day after the central bank left interest rates unchanged and hinted it might have ended a cutting cycle as inflationary pressures rise.

India’s official entry to the Oscars in the best foreign language film category, Peepli Live, is now out of the race as the movie failed to reach the final list of nine films.

South Africa's retail sales growth expanded more than expected in November as consumer demand improved, further reducing lingering hopes that the central bank might cut its key repo rate on Thursday.

Mergers and acquisitions activity in sub-Saharan Africa surged to a record $44 billion in 2010, double the value of a year earlier, Thomson Reuters data showed on Wednesday.

Australia's government is reportedly considering a taxpayer levy to help pay for massive flood rebuilding, while preserving the budget's path back to surplus in 2012-13, as one major bank warned on Tuesday the damage bill could reach A$20 billion.