Tanzanian tourism firm wants more attention on Tanzania's coast
A Tanzanian tourism firm has urged the country's government to put more emphasis on Tanzania's rich coastal potential rather than concentrating their efforts almost solely on its national parks.

Zimbabwe: New talks collapse
A fresh round of negotiations to unlock the impasse over the allocation of ministries between the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and ZANU-PF collapsed last night with President Robert Mugabe's negotiating team dangling the release of Morgan Tsvangirai's passport as a bargaining chip.

AFRICA

Cyber crooks hit World Bank
The computer network used by the World Bank Group has suffered a series of at least six intrusions since mid-2007, according to a report.

AFRICA

World Bank Africa chief economist launches new blog
The World Bank Africa region has announced the launch of a new blog from its chief economist, Shanta Devarajan. The blog, AfricaCan.org, will serve as an online forum for the sharing of ideas about the continent's development.

Seychelles joins the pan-African e-network project
Seychelles is the second African country, after Senegal, to join the $1 billion pan-African e-network project initiated by the Indian government.

NIGERIA

Nigerian voted African Banker of the Year
The group managing director of United Bank for Africa (UBA)Plc, Tony Elumelu, has been voted African Banker of the Year 2008.

Meetings Africa busy with international buyer selection
International buyers to be hosted at Meetings Africa 2009 are currently being selected from South Africa's most important global business tourism markets. To be held at the Sandton Convention Centre 25 - 27 February 2009, the annual business tourism exhibition will see at least 100 hosted international buyers attending.

EGYPT

Egypt bans GPS capable mobile phones
As more phones come with built-in GPS capabilities, importing smartphones into Egypt is proving increasingly difficult - thanks to local laws which restrict the use of GPS without a license.

Kenya's mobile industry could turn Orange
[Carole Kimutai] In the last few years, mobile phone users in Kenya had become accustomed to the British (Safaricom/Vodacom) business modus operandi until the French (Telkom Kenya) entered the scene with their Orange brand. This has added a different flavour and style of business with twists in the Kenyan communications marketplace.

Egypt, Algeria, Morocco fall in global competitiveness rankings
New business survey lauds Gulf countries, but some Middle East economies do badly and North African states, apart from Tunisia, under pressure.

AFRICA

AU fears donors will cut financial aid following global crisis
ANTANANARIVO: The African Union fears international donors may cut aid to Africa as the global financial crisis deepens, says the chairman of the AU and president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete.

GHANA

Ghanaian banks risk extinction, warns analyst
Olu Sawyerr, partner and leader, financial services industry, Deloitte West and Central Africa, has told Ghanaian banks that they risk possible extinction if they do not transform themselves into big players in the industry.

Zimbabwe: How do you rein in 231 million percent inflation?
Zimbabwe's official annual inflation rate reached 231 million percent in early October, from the July estimate of 11.2 million percent, and the deadlock in talks between the ruling ZANU-PF and opposition parties is likely to push hyperinflation higher.

Affordable food envisioned for Africa
Africa aims to become its own source of food, by improving and buffing up the backbone of most African economies, the agribusiness sector.