Yearly Archives: 1999

THE sale of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines’ (ZCCM) remaining mines is expected to effectively end a crisis period in the Zambian economy, Barclays Bank said on Tuesday. According to a bank newsletter, the sale of Nkana and Nchanga mines — previous to the sale they were a key obstacle to donor aid — has now […]

CASUALTY figures in the Sierra Leonean capital rose dramatically on Wednesday as mortar fire was heard on the western edge of the Freetown peninsula. This comes a day after the Nigerian-led intervention force warned it would launch an offensive against the rebels. In the first official death toll since fighting broke out in Freetown on […]

THE Cameroonian national football championship began in various parts of the country on Saturday. In Douala, Union Sportive de Douala beat Bamenda Free Boys 4-0 and Port FC won 2-0 against Badjoun Stadium, while in Yaounde, hosts Tonnerre Kalara Club (TKC) drew with Baham (2-2). In Ngaoundere, Canon de Yaounde, which will play in this […]

TANZANIA’s foreign reserves reached $586-2-million at the end of last November, an equivalent of 23,4 weeks of the country’s import requirement, the central bank reported. In a monetary policy statement presented to parliament on Tuesday, the Bank of Tanzania said gross foreign reserves improved from $502,5-million, the equivalent of 16,7 weeks of imports, recorded in […]

OVER 2200 workers will be retrenched in early February when another two Mozambican cashew processing plants close. This brings to 11 the number of plants forced to close over the past five years because of nut shortages and crumbling infrastructure. Only four sizable plants remain. Cashew Industry Association chairman Keko Patel said the closure of […]

President Nelson Mandela left Pretoria late on Wednesday for a brief visit to Germany and Switzerland.

THE Angolan government abandoned the 1994 peace accord on Tuesday and said it would use its military might to seize land held by Unita rebels. Faustino Muteka, minister for territorial administration, told parliament that an official declaration ending the validity of the 1994 Lusaka agreement would be issued before the end of February. The army […]

COMOROS interim President Tadjidine Ben Said Massonde has postponed the election for the successor to Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim who died last November. Tadjidine said on Wednesday: “My interim period was to last for three months and enable the organisation of the presidential vote,” he said. “But … it is impossible to organise elections in which […]

THE draw for the Hong Kong rugby sevens to be held from March 26-28 will definitely not challenge the Springboks. They are n Pool B with Canada, the US, and China. Other Pools are: Pool A–Fiji, Scotland, Tonga, Thailand; Pool C–Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan; Pool D–New Zealand, Ireland, Hong Kong, Croatia; Pool E–France, […]

NIGERIA’S second and third largest political parties formally announced an electoral alliance on Tuesday, a month ahead of the country’s presidential and legislative elections, dismissing splits the mooted pact has caused. Mahmud Waziri, chairman of the right-wing All Peoples Party (APP) and Ayo Adebanjo, chairman of the regionalist Alliance for Democracy (AD), announced that the […]