APA-Monrovia (Liberia) Liberia’s bicameral legislature on Wednesday formally ratified the US$1.6 billion agreement between Liberia and Golden Veroleum for the cultivation of oil palm in the south-eastern Counties of Sinoe, Maryland, Grand Kru, Rivercess and River Gee, APA learns here on Thursday.

APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) The Reserve Bank Governor of Malawi (RBM), Governor Perks Ligoya, on Thursday appealed to the microfinance institutions not to overcharge their clients when providing banking services.

APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) Tobacco Control Commission of Malawi (TCC), a tobacco regulatory body in the country, on Wednesday said it has realised over MK54billion (US$308million) from 110million kilograms of tobacco sold since the onset of the product’s selling season in May. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique intends to introduce specific legislation that will establish eligibility and guiding principles to investment in the forestry sector, the state-run daily Noticias quotes Prime Minister Aires Ali as saying in its Tuesday edition. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique’s exports grew by 23 percent between 2005 and 2009 i.e. from US$ 1.745 billion in 2005 to US$2.147 billion in 2009, President Armando Emilio Guebuza said after officially unveiling the Maputo International Trade Fair (FACIM) late on Monday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) The African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) on Monday extended a US$100 million credit facility to Zimbabwe to help the country’s cash-strapped private sector recover from a decade-long economic crisis. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Cape Town (South Africa) A five-star Cape Town hotel, Westin Grand, has been blacklisted by the United States consulate after "multiple theft reports" from US officials staying there. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambican president Armando Guebuza will on Monday unveil the 46th Mozambique International Trade Fair (FACIM) that would bring up to 489 exhibitors in the capital Maputo for a week-long business event, the organising agency SOGEX said on Monday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambican and Portuguese businessmen have agreed to establish a commercial bank in Mozambique to serve the countries´ prospective investors, the chairman of Mozambican Confederation of Business Association (CTA), Salimo Abdula, told APA an interview on Friday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) China will invest US$13 billion in the next five years in industrial, tourism, mining and energy projects in Mozambique, state-run daily Noticias reports on Friday in the capital Maputo. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique’s Council of Ministers has adopted a law to protect the environment by fining companies that cause environmental damage resulting from petroleum exploration and production operations, a press statement from the cabinet said in Maputo on Thursday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) A group of Chinese businessmen have requested to build a US$78 million cement factory in Mozambique´s southern province of Gaza as part of a strategy to cut cement imports from South Africa and boost the country’s growing construction industry, private daily newspaper O Pais reports on Thursday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) Malawi will for the first time introduce a national star hotel rating system to make sure that the country’s hotels are graded to meet the international standards starting from 1st September, the assistant Director of Tourism responsible for standards and safety Patricia Liabuba told APA during an interview on Tuesday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) A Chinese business delegation visiting the country said they want to establish an investment bank to fund major projects in Mozambique and other countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the Mozambique Central Bank (BM) said in a statement on Tuesday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo(Mozambique) The Mozambican currency, the Metical, has sharply depreciated against other major convertible currencies mainly the US dollar, the Euro and the South African rand in the first half of this month, Mozambique central bank (BM) said on Tuesday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA - Montreal (Canada) Canada’s investments in the mining sector in Africa will reach 21 billion Canadian dollars in 2010, according to a document from the Canadian Natural Resources Ministry, read by APA on Monday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Cairo (Egypt) Egypt has decided to import 240,000 tons of wheat from France and Canada to compensate for the shortfall caused by Russia’s decision to prevent the export of wheat to other countries, including Egypt, due to the massive fires that broke out there recently, an Egyptian official source at the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Moscow (Russia) AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Africa’s biggest gold producer, says a plan by Ghana to renegotiate a 2004 agreement that capped mining royalties paid to the government is not “appropriate,” APA monitors from Moscow on Saturday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The 2010 African Awards for Entrepreneurship, to be held in early December in Ghana, Accra, has attracted over 2,000 applicants across the continent i.e. ten days before the submission deadline on 31 August, award organizers informed APA on Friday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Maputo (Mozambique) A Thai business delegation began a three-day business tour of Mozambique on Friday to prospect investment opportunities and seek local partners in the areas of medical equipment, cosmetics, construction material and agriculture, the country’s Investment Promotion Centre (CPI) said on Friday in a press release. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique’s weeklong 46th International Trade Fair of Mozambique (FACIM) will this year attract 489 exhibitors up from last year’s 123 local firms from 14 countries, the chairman of the organising company Institute for Export Promotion of Mozambique (IPEX), Jaon Macaringue, said on Thursday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Abuja (Nigeria) Nigeria has formally constituted a delegation headed by the country’s Commerce and Industry minister Jubril Martins-Kuye to inaugurate the Nigerian Trade and Investment Forum on 20-21 August at the ongoing 2010 Shanghai Expo in China. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Nairobi (Kenya) Two Major Chinese companies have pledged to set up their operations in Kenya as Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka wound up his week-long tour of China on Monday, said on Monday a statement issued in Nairobi. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA - Dakar (Senegal) The amount of interbank operations within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) had declined by 6.49 per cent between 4 and 10 August 2010, sources at the Dakar-based Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) told APA on Monday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Abuja (Nigeria) The leadership changes at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the ensuing bickering forced the tumbling of stocks and loses as market measuring mechanisms also fall for the fourth day running, APA notes here. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Abuja (Nigeria) In a bid to curb the menace of substandard goods from Asian countries like China and its negative effects on the economy, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) wants to engage the Chinese government to scrutinise exports to Nigeria, the SON North Central Regional Director Louis Njoku said on Friday in Kaduna. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The Vice president of the African Development Bank (AfDB),chief economist Professor Mthuli Ncube, on Friday commended Ethiopia for its economic growth, saying that the country will become a middle class one in five years. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Kampala (Uganda) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday in Kampala received a delegation from the Dubai-based Africa Middle East Resources (AMER), the largest real estate company in the world. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA Abuja (Nigeria) The Business Forum of the eight Developing Countries (D-8) has resolved to work with the Central Banks and Ministries of Economic Development of member countries to initiate and implement policies that would enhance the acceleration of economic development, D-8 Business Forum chairman David Iweta said in Abuja on Thursday. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe sold 900,000 carats of stockpiled diamonds worth more than US$72 million on Wednesday in what Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai described as a “historic” development for a country which has struggled to shake off a decade-long economic crisis. Add to Cart - Add and View Cart - Click here for subscribtion