UT Financial Services has added yet another subsidiary to its holdings in the financial service industry, known as the UT Bank. It was officially launched in Accra with a promise to offer the best banking services, tailored to address the needs of its clientele. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UT Financial Services, Mr. Prince Kofi Amoabeng, who has been the architect of the growth of the UT Holdings, said the group ventured into banking as a result of the demands of its valued clients who have always craved for banking services, because part of their businesses end up where banking begins. He assured customers of the bank's commitment to remain loyal, and play to the rhythm of the regulators of the banking industry (Bank of Ghana) in making them richer.

Gateway Communications, a leading provider of telecommunications services to mobile operators, has been awarded a contract to provide Etisalat with cellular backhaul for its Nigerian mobile network. The deal, worth $6 million over a two year term, provides satellite cellular backhaul from Gateway Communications to Etisalat which will connect three major cities in Nigeria. In awarding the contract to Gateway, Etisalat considered qualities such as high quality of service rendered, secure and reliable network services with local, on-the-ground support services available throughout Nigeria, amongst other criteria. Gateway has Nigerian offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano and provides technical support throughout the rest of the country. With more than 47 transponders of capacity, Gateway carries more satellite cellular backhaul in Africa than any other operator. Nigeria is now the largest telecoms market in Africa. The Nigerian regulator reports over 64 million SIMs in operation at the end of January this year, with 23 million new subscribers signing up in 2008. This represents a growth of 55% in 2008. Currently standing at the 140th position among Financial Times’ top 500 corporations in the world, Etisalat is the largest provider of telecommunication service in Africa and the Middle East and serves a growing aggregate customer base of 74 million subscribers across Africa, Middle East and Asia. Etisalat currently has footprints in 18 countries in three continents across the world.

The Tanzanian Minister of Health Prof. David Mwakyusa has dedicated the first in a series of regional-level hospital laboratories being modernized or built across Tanzania, improving the quality of care for millions of people who rely on their services. The initiative is part of a successful partnership between the Government of Tanzania and the Abbott Fund to strengthen the country's health care system. The Abbott Fund is the philanthropic foundation of the global health care company Abbott. The Regional Laboratory Modernization Project is an innovative partnership between the Abbott Fund and the Government of Tanzania that is constructing standardized modern labs across Tanzania. These regional-level laboratories provide support for 77 district hospitals, improving health care for millions of people across the country. It is anticipated that all 23 laboratories will be completed by the end of 2010. In addition to the laboratory being dedicated at Amana, modernization projects are complete at the regional laboratories in Dodoma, Kagera and Tanga. The project is estimated to cost more than U.S. $10 million by its 2010 completion. More than 1,500 patients are seen each day at Amana Hospital, located in the Ilala district of Dar es Salaam. Space in the previous laboratory was extremely limited, making it difficult to meet growing patient needs and forcing staff to put in significant overtime to process the average daily workload of tests for up to 500 patients. The new laboratory will have triple the capacity compared to the previous facility, providing patients and physicians with same-day access to lab results. Improving hospital laboratories is the latest effort in the ongoing partnership between the Abbott Fund and the Government of Tanzania, which began in 2001. To date, the Abbott Fund has invested more than $60 million to strengthen Tanzania's health system.

South African Tourism has launched the first Tourism Satellite Account, a tool used to measure growth and job creation in the tourism industry. The account is a United Nations World Tourism Organisation-approved methodology used for measuring and tracking the overall value and contribution of tourism to all sectors of the economy. Until now it has always been difficult to measure and track tourism's contribution to the larger economy and total job creation in South Africa. Besides tracking the number of tourism jobs created and the contribution to the country's GDP, tourism bodies will now also be able to tell which activities are most beneficial to the tourist and, in effect, to the economy. South Africa's tourism satellite account indicates that the tourism gross domestic product (GDP) for South Africa was R45.7-billion in 2005 - or three percent of the national GDP. It also indicates that the tourism industries employed 527 630 people or 4.3% of total employment. This includes employment that is directly and indirectly related to the goods and services acquired by tourists and non-tourists.

The Mitsubishi Corporation Fund for Europe and Africa (MCFEA) has announced a program of £350,000 in new grants, including a 2-year grant to FARM-Africa. The 2009 funding programme also includes continued support to Concern Universal, for a project promoting the economic empowerment of small-scale agricultural producers in Guinea; for sponsorship of natural resource management students at the Southern African Wildlife College and to WaterAid, in support of three community organisations working to improve water supply and public sanitation and health in Maputo, Mozambique. Since it was established in 1985, FARM-Africa has implemented innovative grassroots projects in East and Southern Africa, working directly with smallholder farmers, livestock-keepers and forest communities to alleviate poverty and food insecurity, achieve sustainable development, and protect vital natural resources. FARM-Africa's forest conservation project in Tanzania will look to contribute to the long-term conservation of Tanzania's Nou Forest ecosystems through developing and implementing sustainable community-led forest management systems. They will also seek to develop strong community self help groups that support poor rural households in earning regular income through non-timber forest products. The Mitsubishi Corporation Fund for Europe and Africa (MCFEA), a UK registered charity, was established in 1992 to promote environmental conservation, education and research into the environment and poverty alleviation, through funding from Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, and its U.K.-based subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation (UK) Plc.

Zimbabwe has clinched tourism marketing, investment and promotion deals with major outbound tourist wholesalers and media houses, including the British Broadcasting Corporation, as the country goes overdrive to use tourism as the nerve centre for the country's economic turnaround programme. There was literary a scramble for Zimbabwe by the media at the World Travel and Tourism Council Expo in Brazil where Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi granted 96 interviews to foreign journalists within two days. Among the deals clinched at the two-day WTTC Expo in Florianopolis, Brazil is a multi-sectoral business delegation from Brazil that will not only come for a tourism marketing, investment and promotion road show but would look at construction and manufacturing as well. The BBC travel section had offered to visit Zimbabwe this week but the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority deferred the visit saying it needed time to deal with the logistics.

The Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Bamba Saho, has inaugurated a new Bank, Prime Bank (Gambia Ltd). Prime Bank, a subsidiary of the Lebanese Canadian Bank, is the latest entrant into the banking industry The Gambia. This brings to 12 the number of banks operating in the Gambia.

The Development Bank of Namibia (dbn) and the China Development Bank (CDB) are going to co-operate in the financing of infrastructure, skills development and research on the role and significance of development finance, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Friday. DBN Chief Executive Officer said the two banks will begin to identify projects immediately, based on their viability and development impact. He said the partnership with the CDB demonstrates the DBN's commitment and approach to cooperation. The CDB, established in 1994, is one the most successful development finance institutions in the world. By the end of last year, it had issued an accumulated total of 1.6 trillion Yuan, nearly N$2 trillion, in loans to more than 4 000 projects. This includes infrastructure development projects like the Three Gorges Dam, infrastructure for the Beijing Olympics and the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. The DBN, ten years the CDB's junior, has the mandate to provide capital in support of infrastructure in addition to its support of enterprise, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local authorities.

Zimbabwe's domestic debt hit US$59 billion on February 26, figures from the Reserve Bank revealed. The huge domestic debt, which will result in high future taxes if the country's major sectors of the economy do not start performing against a background of inadequate foreign aid, opened the year at US$56.9 billion. The debt was sparked by huge interest payments which account for US$42.7 billion of the total debt. According to the Reserve Bank, the amount outstanding for government stocks at February 26 was US$669 million, while interest paid for the amount amounted to US$3 billion. The new debt levels mean that with an estimated population of 13 million, every citizen owes US$4 538 to local banks and financial institutions. The average monthly salary in Zimbabwe is US$200. Statistics from the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe also show that an urban family of six in April required US$427.11 monthly from the previous month's figure of US$396.22. Analysts said government had failed to clear the debt which has been ballooning because of the Reserve Bank's advances to the former, largely for the March 29 general elections and June 27 presidential election runoff last year, agricultural mechanisation programmes and food imports.

Uganda has signed six loan agreements with the African Development Bank (AfDB) worth $345m (about sh784.8b). The loans will finance roads, sanitation, power transmission lines, education and agriculture projects.

Norway is renewing aid to Zimbabwe it cut off in 2000, despite worries about what it called "years of misrule, embezzlement and hyperinflation" under President Robert Mugabe. The Norwegian government, one of the first to renew badly needed aid, said it would give 58 million crowns (5.8 million pounds) via non-governmental organizations, the World Bank and United Nations, avoiding the government financial system.

The recent 29 May polls in Malawi saw the number of women members of Parliament rise from 14% to 22%. About 125 women competed for the 193 seats, with 43 successfully gaining ground. For the first time since independence in 1964, Malawi also has a female vice-president, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Joyce Banda. However, this is still far from the 30% by 2005 target set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Multinational cellular operator MTN is to use its vast presence across Africa to distribute much-needed mosquito bed nets and support awareness education in affected communities as part of its 2010 Malaria Legacy Initiative. The adverse impact of malaria in Africa is threatening to derail the continent's efforts to rid itself of the scourges of underdevelopment and poverty, said the company at the recent biennial African Union Health Ministers conference in Geneva, Switzerland this month. The conference, held under the auspices of the United Nations, was attended by health ministers and senior health officials from across the continent. MTN was participating at the conference as part of its Malaria Legacy Initiative for 2010, and as the only African global sponsor of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

African growth will fall to 2% in 2009 from 5.1% in 2008 and agriculture will prove the continent's best chance of pulling itself from poverty. Most African economies had been growing steadily but the global economic crisis has caused aid flows to fall, slashed demand and prices for its agricultural exports. "GDP growth in Africa has declined from 6.0 percent in 2007 to 5.1 percent in 2008 and is expected to be 2.0 percent in 2009," a report published jointly by the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission (ECA) for Africa said.

The rural poor across Cameroon are set to receive a cash injection of close to $14 million from the United Nations in an effort to reduce poverty, increase income and improve livelihoods. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will support the Rural Microfinance Development project in the West African country with a $13.5 million loan and $200,000 grant.

The South African Government has set itself the target of getting 80% of HIV-positive South Africans on antiretroviral treatment by 2011, while bringing the rate of new HIV infections down by 50%. According to President Jacob Zuma, the government was concerned at the deterioration of the quality of health care, aggravated by the steady increase in the burden of disease in the past 15 years. An additional R932 million has been allocated to the Health Department's HIV/Aids grant in 2009/10. These funds are expected to be used to screen more pregnant women for HIV and to phase in an improved drug regimen to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. Over 630,000 people are on government's anti-retroviral programme currently, and the medium-term expenditure framework provides for an increase to 1.4-million people by 2011/12.

The launch of South Africa's R26-million low-orbit satellite, SumbandilaSat, due to take place by rocket from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome, has been delayed to around mid-August. SumbandilaSat will be launched as a secondary payload on a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle, Engineering News reports. Orbiting at a height of 500km, SumbandilaSat will collect data for use in the management of natural disasters like floods, fires and oil spills in southern Africa. It will also be able to measure temperatures at sea and land, clouds and rainfall, winds, sea levels, ice cover, vegetation cover and gases. According to the Department of Science and Technology's space science general manager, Valanathan Munsami, SumbandilaSat is a developmental satellite designed and built in South Africa to showcase local capabilities, and as such is much cheaper than most commercial satellites. The project was carried out in partnership with SunSpace and Information Systems, the University of Stellenbosch, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR's) Satellite Application Centre. The university was responsible for managing the project as well as training the students, while SunSpace was tasked with building the satellite. SumbandilaSat will be South Africa's second satellite, after the launch of SunSat 1, built by students and lecturers at Stellenbosch University in 1999.

Despite having a world-class progressive constitution, with the majority of South Africans having little understanding of the law, insufficient access to information and no access to personal attorney’s, the law often works against, rather than for them. To meet this challenge, LexisNexis has launched Law24.com; a comprehensive website and one-stop-shop providing extensive yet simple legal information, DIY legal services, expert opinions and access to lawyers in their area. A first of its kind in South Africa, the site helps to make the law less intimidating for the layman, by presenting it as an open book. The site has accurate and reliable profiles of more than 20 000 legal professionals in Southern Africa, with whom individuals can interact and discuss legal issues. In this way the site helps the public make more informed personal legal choices, and identify high-quality legal representation if required. Law24 not only offers a comprehensive legal directory but also unique web2.0 technologies enabling law firms to market themselves and build their internet presence. The website has been launched by LexisNexis, the world’s leading provider of content-enabled workflow solutions for professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting, and academic markets.

Kofi A. Annan, President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, has introduced a major new report into the human impact of climate change. The 'Human Impact Report: Climate Change - The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis', is the first ever comprehensive report looking at the human impact of climate change. The Global Humanitarian Forum commissioned Dalberg Global Development Advisers to develop the report in December 2008 by collating all relevant information and current statistics relating to the human impact of climate change. Within the limitations of existing research, the report presents the most plausible estimate of the impact of climate change on human society today. The report was reviewed by leading international experts, including Rajendra Pachauri of the IPCC, Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, and Barbara Stocking of Oxfam. The report was issued immediately prior to official preparatory talks in Bonn for a new UN international climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. These talks will culminate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

World Bank's Vice-President, Africa Region, Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, has said that African countries require an annual investment of $80 billion on infrastructure if it hopes to become competitive in the global market. Ezekwesili observed that the new global economic landscape had changed the composition and level of traditional capital flows to Africa.

A budget deficit of N249.10 billion was recorded in the first quarter of the year, the Minister of State for Finance Remi Babalola has said. The minister said this yesterday in Abuja at an interactive session organised by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for State Commissioners of Finance. He was represented by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo. He said between January and March, N979.25 billion was generated by revenue generation agencies as against budget target of N1.228 trillion. "A deficit of 249.10 billion or 10 percent of the budget has already occurred", the Minister said. This year, Federal Government budgeted N3 trillion for the country with an estimated deficit of about N800 billion.

Financial institutions in Cameroon are cropping up like mushrooms. Contrary to the early nineties when banks used to fold up due to the economic quagmire, financial institutions are beginning to multiply with the return of economic growth in the country. In the past decade, there has been a proliferation of financial institutions in Cameroon ranging from banks to micro finance institutions. Outside the traditional banks like BICEC, SGBC, Standard Chartered, SCB Credit Lyonnais and Afriland First Bank, new banks have come up like Oceanic Bank, Citibank, Union Bank of Cameroon, United Bank for Africa and to a lesser extent, Ecobank. The latest arrival in the banking sector is the Atlantic Bank which recently took over Amity Bank. Another new bank is expected in Cameroon soon. The President Director General of Attijariwafa Bank from the Kingdom of Morocco, Mohamed El Kettani was in Cameroon recently for discussions government officials. Attijariwafa bank has acquired some shares in Cameroon's local bank, SCB Credit Agricole, which they intend to use to improve on the merits of SCB Credit Agricole to bring it closer to customers. The growth has been exponential in the micro finance sector with a multiplicity of credit unions cropping up each day like mushrooms. We have the Azire Credit Union, Ntarikon Credit Union, Police Credit, Camcul and so on. The list is in-exhaustive. The banks have as clients, civil servants, businessmen and diplomatic missions, the micro finance institutions get their customers from among petty traders, farmers and other low income earners.

The African Development Bank is very impressed with the economic stabilization brought about by the formation of the inclusive Government and the subsequent dollarization of the economy, the bank's president Mr Donald Kaberuka has said. "You have gone from a country of hyperinflation to de-inflation. That is a major achievement. For it to be meaningful it must be accompanied by measures that build business confidence and investment," he said. Mr Kaberuka said his bank welcomes the progress on macroeconomic stabilization as a result of the dollarization and steps taken under the Short-Term Emergency Recovery Programme.

Gateway Communications, a supplier of telecommunications services across Africa, has claimed the award for "Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation" in partnership with vendor, Cambridge Broadband Networks Ltd. The GTB Innovation Awards are designed to honour innovative projects involving telecoms operators and service providers around the world, in association with their vendors and suppliers. For the "Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation" Award, Gateway was assessed on a project that showed innovative contribution to the telecommunications sector. The Award was given for Gateway's Airlink and Metrolink products, which were launched in Nigeria in May 2008. The products are designed to revolutionise the way companies operating in West Africa access the internet and connect branch offices. AirLink is the only true broadband internet service offering access at speeds up to 8Mbps which can be installed in 48 hours. MetroLink allows companies with multiple offices in a metropolitan area to inter-connect at high-speed using the same secure, dedicated and quick to install product. Gateway connect over 583 million people in over 40 African countries, working in partnership with the continents leading mobile phone operators.

Sizwe Nxasana is to become the first black chief executive of a South African bank after First Rand announced he was to take the helm of the country's second biggest financial services group. The elevation of Mr. Nxasana – who runs the group's flagship banking operations –marks a milestone in the country's efforts to unpick the distortions of white rule, which ended in 1994. Mr. Nxasana has won respect in the sector since he was recruited from the top job at state-owned telecommunications company Telkom in 2005. Among his peers are Phuthuma Nhleko, head of MTN, the pan-African telecoms group, and Anglo American's South African chief, Kuseni Dlamini. When Paul Harris – current chief executive of First Rand – steps down at the end of the year, Mr. Nxasana will inherit the only one of South Africa’s big four banks that does not have a substantial foreign shareholder.

Volkswagen South Africa has opened three new state-of-the-art production training centres as part of the Production Academy at its Uitenhage plant, as the automaker intensifies its efforts to establish itself as a learning organisation. In 2006, the company made a commitment to spend more than R400-million on training and skills development between now and 2010, a move that is seen as key to improving customer service, market leadership, global cost competitiveness and quality and schedule adherence amongst others. Five training academies have been implemented, namely production, leadership, technical, commercial and sales and marketing. The majority of the training modules are aligned to South African Qualifications Authority requirements, ensuring that skills gained provide employees with some form of a nationally recognised qualification, or credits towards the qualification.

President Jacob Zuma has officially launched the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), which aims to advance the economic development of young people. Launched by President Zuma, the agency will initiate, design, co-ordinate, evaluate and monitor all programmes aimed at integrating the youth into the economy and society in general. The agency is a result of a merger between Umsobomvu and the Youth Commission and part of its functions are to facilitate the roll-out of youth economic participation, undertake policy, research and development, provide advisory and information services and promote access to funding. Working together, the efforts of young people will be directed at poverty alleviation, rural development and crime prevention, said the President, adding that plans are underway to recruit and deploy thousands of unemployed youths to the fight against crime in communities.

About 5,000 new automatic weather stations are set to be deployed across Africa, under a climate change initiative announced today by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Global Humanitarian Forum, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and mobile telecommunications companies Ericsson and Zain. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region facing the most immediate risk of droughts and floods due to climate change, according to a recent Global Humanitarian Forum report. Agricultural yields in some areas are expected to fall by 50 per cent as early as 2020.

Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia have emerged as the top innovators of Africa in a report on the continent's competitiveness. The three countries — which scored highly on ratings of their scientific capacity — are on a par with such innovative countries as Brazil and India, according to The Africa Competitiveness Report 2009, produced by the World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank and the World Bank Africa.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has affirmed South Africa's long term rating at BBB+ and foreign currency issue rating at A+ with a negative outlook. The National Treasury has welcomed the rating, particularly in the current economic climate, in which global ratings are dominated by rating downgrades. S&P last upgraded South Africa in August 2005, and changed the outlook on South Africa's credit to negative in November 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis. S&P indicated that the affirmation reflects the country's prudent macroeconomic policies, moderate debt burden and stable political institutions.

Chicken restaurant chain KFC will create up to 9,000 new jobs in South Africa over the next three to five years. The job creation would come about as part of a R1.5-billion investment by the KFC brand that would see between 200 and 300 new outlets opening, KFC Africa said in a statement. The company will also spend in excess of R1-billion to refurbish current. The creation of the 9 000 jobs would have a particular focus on increasing accessibility to all South African consumers and the new jobs will provide a range of opportunities for all ages and abilities from cooks to managers. Despite the economic downturn, KFC continued to see strong sales, with results for 2008 showing a strong growth versus the year before and results for 2009 already showing strong double digit growth.

The fourth triennial World Summit on Arts and Culture, taking place in Newtown, Johannesburg from 22 to 25 September, will explore ways in which the arts can help to bridge social and cultural divides in a post-9/11 world. The summit, which takes place on African soil for the first time, will coincide with South Africa's Heritage Day on 24 September and with the Arts Alive arts and culture festival held annually in Johannesburg in the same month. Topical issues like cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in a globalised world will be under the spotlight. The summit will also be an opportunity for Johannesburg to show off its significant art and culture infrastructure and artists to delegates from many parts of the world.

As part of an ambitious broadband project, the city of Johannesburg plans to set up multi-service "techno hubs" to enable people, especially those living in disadvantaged areas, to access the internet and grow their technology skills – and is calling on companies to lend a hand. According to the municipality's assistant information communication technology (ICT) director, Vumani Mangali, the city sees its broadband project not only as a key conduit for sustained economic growth, but also as a vital tool to transport citizens to digital fluency. The main focus of the broadband beneficiary programme will be multi-service digital centres – techno hubs – that will house existing and future programmes aimed at helping people develop, among others, computer, entrepreneurial and job-seeking skills. These techno hubs will be a joint effort between the economic development and community development departments, and focus on previously disadvantaged areas, according to Mangali.

Pan-African cellular operator MTN and Belgacom ICS are to combine their international carrier services (ICS) business, resulting in MTN holding an equity stake in the Belgium-based company, which will become the leading international wholesale operator in Africa. With the deal, MTN will gain a 20% stake in Belgacom ICS and the right to appoint two directors to the board, in return for the assets of MTN ICS, its international wholesale subsidiary. MTN will also mandate Belgacom ICS as the official international gateway for carrier services of MTN globally. The other shareholders in Belgacom ICS will be Belgacom, with 57.6%, and Swisscom, with 22.4%. MTN ICS, formerly known as Mediterranean Network, operated for more than 10 years as the international gateway for primarily the Investcom group of companies until its acquisition by MTN in 2006, and has since then contributed to the overall growth of MTN's international traffic and related services. According to MTN, the combination of the international carrier services of Belgacom ICS and MTN ICS is expected to improve efficiencies and product offerings resulting from greater economies of scale. The transaction should be complete during the fourth quarter of 2009, and is subject to approvals from the relevant government, regulatory and competition authorities.

Under a new initiative international donors are backing Africa-based policy research to improve local decision-making on complex global issues with potentially enormous humanitarian consequences like food security and climate change. Led by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and funded by IDRC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation, the Think Tank Initiative will provide core funding for 24 African think tanks over 10 years. US$30 million has been made available for the initial five years.

The International Monetary Fund said Zimbabwe's economy may be recovering after a decade of recession. According to Vitaliy Kramarenko, the IMF Mission Chief for Zimbabwe, a "nascent economic recovery appears to be underway", although, to sustain positive economic trends and improve living standards, reform and stabilization efforts need to be stepped up. Zimbabwe's economy should expand more than 4 percent this year as the government implements fiscal and monetary changes and attracts foreign investment, said Finance Minister Tendai Biti. Biti's Movement for Democratic Change party formed a coalition with the party of President Robert Mugabe in February in a bid to end a political impasse. The economy has shrunk every year for the past decade, contracting 14.1 percent last year, after Mugabe's government seized farms belonging to white commercial farmers to redistribute to black subsistence farmers. That slashed exports of crops such as tobacco and caused a famine. According to the IMF, the government has matched expenditure to revenue in the first five months of the year and has seen "significant increases in budget revenue in recent months." While the IMF will give the country advice it won't resume lending until arrears are cleared.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and IOM are joining forces to tap into key technical expertise among the Somali Diaspora in a bid to help rebuild key governance foundations in parts of the country. Somalis with professional expertise in policy and legislation, human resources management and public financial management living in North America, the UK and Scandinavia will be targeted for temporary return for an average period of six months to provide on-the-job peer-to-peer training in their respective fields in northern Somalia initially, including Somaliland and Puntland.

The World Bank has approved US$3.5 million for Liberia for its Coastal Defense programme which will target three cities including Monrovia, the capital City of Liberia and two other major cities in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) communiqué has said. According to the EPA communiqué, the fund is also targeted to reduce the impact of climate change and build capacity for Liberians on the magnitude of funds needed to tackle climate change.

The call for nominations for the Africa investor Infrastructure Investment Awards 2009 is now open. The awards recognize the achievements of Infrastructure Investors, Developers and Regulators in Africa in the following categories: Developer of the year, Power deal of the year, Transport deal of the year, ICT/Telecoms deal of the year, Water deal of the year, Social Infrastructure deal of the year, Oil & Gas deal of the year, PPP Champion of the year, Infrastructure fund of the year, Infrastructure regulator of the year, Sponsor of the year, Bank arranger of the year, Legal adviser of the year, Adviser of the year. In addition to profiling infrastructure investment success stories the awards emphasize corporate responsibility towards social development and good corporate citizenship. The awards ceremony will take place during the Africa investor Infrastructure Projects Summit, 9-10 November 2009 in Johannesburg. See draft programme and the link to last year’s Summit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIg63dw5TTo.