THE Nigerian subsidiary of Italian oil group ENI on Tuesday signed an agreement with the government to build a 450-megawatt power plant in southern Nigeria, an official statement said. The gas-fired plant, to be built in Kwale in Delta State and expected to cost around $350-million to build, would be expected to come on stream […]

ABOUT 200 angry South African shack dwellers on Wednesday occupied a piece of land in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township, emulating a large-scale land invasion outside Johannesburg earlier this month. Police said the squatters moved on to the private land during the afternoon and demanded the government build them houses. The land invaders measured out plots, […]

THE west African country of Burkina Faso hopes to launch a “green revolution” through a new company that will try to augment agricultural production and improve food security. Burkina Agriculture Minister Salif Diallo said the new entity Soprofa, a joint venture between the government and Swiss group Aiglon, “would greatly contribute in eradicating rural poverty […]

A TEENAGE boy with a cricket bat chased away five gunmen attacking his father at their Pretoria home on Wednesday, The Star newspaper reported on Thursday. “The 16-year-old boy hit five gunmen for a six,” the newspaper said. Police representative Inspector Percy Morokane said the intruders forced open burglar bars at around 2:00am on Wednesday, […]

A FIRE on Tuesday destroyed a wing at the five-star Elephant Hills Inter-Continental Hotel in Zimbabwe’s northwestern resort town of Victoria Falls, police and tourism officials said. The fire damaged part of the hotel casino and destroyed the left wing of the 276-room hotel. No casualties have been reported. State television reported that the fire […]

BENIN does not have enough money to hold local elections because most of the budget was blown during the presidential election in March, the winner of that election, President Mathieu Kerekou, said on Monday. “Of the nine billion CFA francs ($12,3-million) set aside for the presidential and municipal elections, we only have 500-million CFA francs […]

A NIGERIAN lawmaker has called for the arrest over corruption claims of former military ruler General Abdulsalami Abubakar, a press report said on Wednesday. Senator Kanti Bello from the northern state of Katsina said Abubakar, who ran Nigeria for 11 months before handing over power to the civilian government of President Olusegun Obasanjo in May […]

EIGHTEEN Northern Province health officials were arrested during predawn raids on their houses on Monday in connection with stealing medicine, linen and other supplies from Jane Furse Hospital. This brings to 65 the number of officials arrested across the province this year. Police recovered stolen medicine, linen and cutlery at the homes of the Jane […]

POLICE in Kenya have shot dead seven suspected gangsters after disarming them and while they were lying face down on the side of a busy road near the capital, press reports said on Thursday, quoting eyewitnesses. Witnesses cited by the newspapers said the seven were on a bus heading out of Nairobi that was pulled […]