[Arusha Times] Excitement over the admission of South Sudan into the East African Community served to drown an equally important theme that came out of the Arusha summit - strengthening the private sector, especially through reviving industries that have suffered neglect.
[The Daily Vox] Very close to Morningside, one of Durban's wealthiest suburbs is a shack community known as Phanta's hill, which when translated from IsiZulu means "Hustler's hill". Last month, 13 shacks were destroyed by a fire that raged through the community here. At the same time, there has been a series of demolitions by the eThekwini municipality. Some of the families affected have gone elsewhere to seek shelter while others have rebuilt their shacks.
[ISS] South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has been active on the foreign policy front in the last few weeks - with varying degrees of success. At the end of last month he travelled to Burundi to head a delegation of heads of state mandated by the African Union (AU), and this past week he visited Nigeria to address a joint sitting of Parliament in Abuja - a rare event that last occurred when former president Bill Clinton addressed a joint sitting in 2000.
[Daily Trust] The Nigerian Navy yesterday said navy ships from thirty countries would today commence a two weeks naval exercise on the Gulf of Guinea to enhance inter-operational capability and increase regional cooperation.
[Daily Trust] President Muhammadu Buhari will today leave for Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for talks with President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on further measures to protect the people and resources of the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea.
[Daily Trust] I was intrigued by a small story in Daily Trust last Friday which quoted Inspector-General of Police (IG) Solomon Arase as saying the Nigeria Police Force spent over N600 million on the procurement and maintenance of foreign dogs in the last few years. Chei! So all this while when we were looking for undue fat in the government's budget in order to apply the knife, the police kept quiet when they had a frivolous item like this one hidden in their well-padded budget?
[The Conversation Africa] Neglected tropical diseases and other parasitic infections such as malaria affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the tropics and sub-tropics.
