Central bank chief Gideon Gono has compared Zimbabwe’s 1 730% inflation rate to the Aids pandemic and warned it cannot be tackled by the government alone, state media reported on Thursday. ”Inflation has ceased to be just the number one enemy. It is now actually the economic HIV of this country,” Gono said in remarks carried by the Herald newspaper.
A lack of information is holding back the potential of cellphone banking to expand access to financial services to the unbanked population. This is one of the key conclusions of the FinScope Mobile Banking Pilot Survey, whose findings were released in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Ethiopia’s foreign minister on Thursday urged Somalis to support African Union peacekeepers deploying to boost a weak government in the face of deadly insurgency. This comes as Ethiopian troops scale down operations. ”I am urging the Somalis to work closely with AU troops to bring lasting peace,” Seyoum Mesfin said.
The government will never overlook qualified South Africans in preference to foreign skills in its ongoing drive for economic transformation, said Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana on Thursday. The minister said that ”while the government is trying to address disparities of the past and transform our economy, all South African citizens … are its first priority”.
The trend for young doctors and nurses to seek higher salaries and better working conditions, mainly in the West, is killing the healthcare sector in Ghana, a senior public servant said. ”It is the single most significant impact on healthcare delivery in this country,” Ghana Health Service head Agyeman Badu Akosah told Agence France-Presse in an interview.
South Africa on Thursday named a suspended player in their squad for an African Nations Cup qualifier in the latest in a series of public-relations howlers for the country’s football association. Germany-based defender Bradley Carnell was booked in South Africa’s last two qualifying matches and is suspended for next Saturday’s Group 10 match against Chad in Ndjamena.
If South Africa was not capable of hosting the 2010 World Cup, it would not have approached Fifa for the rights to host the event, the local organising committee (LOC) said on Thursday. LOC spokesperson Tim Modise said there were people who were sceptical about the country’s capabilities, especially in the media.
Microsoft opened its 15th TechFest to journalists last week, unveiling up to 100 innovations — some significant, but most of which will never appear in public. It was a wonderfully cosmopolitan event. There were 75 journalists from as far afield as the Russian Federation and Australia, with a sizeable contingent representing India.
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Makhaya Ntini will miss South Africa’s World Cup opener against The Netherlands after flying into the Caribbean on Wednesday, two days ahead of the match. Ntini will train with South Africa on Thursday and should be ready for next Tuesday’s match against Scotland.
South Africa’s environmental police force, the ”Green Scorpions,” will be out in strength around the country on Thursday in a massive crackdown on polluters and poachers. The Department of Environmental Affairs is to crack down on illegal fishing, the disposal of hazardous waste and the activities of at least one chemical plant.