Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The Mozambican government is preparing to create a C onsumers' Institute, with the task of promoting policies to safeguard consumers' rights. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigerian consumer demands during the current holiday season is down by about 15 per cent, due to a combination of several economic factors, the local Businessday newspaper reported Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) - – Gambia will Saturday launch its “consumer parliament” w ith a view to better protecting members of the general public from exploitation b y service providers, the country’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) s aid in a statement received here Thursday by PANA. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The Mozambican government Monday urged advertising companies to respect the rights of consumers and avoid making deceitful claims. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) – In observance of "World Co-nsumer Rights Day" on Thursday under the global theme: "Unethical Drug Promotions", a rights-based association in Gambia has emphasised the importance of consumer rights in today's world. Full text...

Toronto- Canada (PANA) -- Nigerian electricity consumers will soon start to seek legal redress for poor services, the Executive Commissioner in- charge of legal support and licensing at Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Alimi Abdulrazaq, said here Wednesday. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- President Levy Mwanawasa has firmly maintained his government's opposition to Genetically Modified Organisms, insisting that no grain of this kind shall be imported to alleviate the common need of more than one million persons now under threat of famine in Zambia. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- A Consumers International report has stressed that food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- A number of organizations have created model laws to assist countries considering national biosafety legislation to comply with the Cartagena Protocol, says a Consumers International report. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Competition regimes and the quality of the regulation of basic services like water, electricity and telephone in Africa are generally not good enough to meaningfully enhance consumer protection on the continent, said a just-released report. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Despite massive protests by African farmers over the lofty agricultural subsidies granted to European farmers, experts say consumers everywhere have been benefiting from lower commodity prices. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Consumer prices have increased by 3. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Consumers International's Africa Office (CI-ROAF) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation's sub-regional office for Eastern and Southern Africa, two prominent organisations tackling food safety implementation, have teamed up to work on the issue of street vended foods in Africa, particularly in East and Southern Africa. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia has reaffirmed its stand against the importation of GMO food, even at a time when the country is facing a severe drought which could force it to import food. Full text...

Port Louis- Maurice (PANA) -- Mauritian Trade and Protection of Consumers Minister, Motee Ramdass Tuesday in Port-Louis launched a national awareness campaign on the rights of consumers as part of activities for the celebration of the International Consumers Day. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Consumers International (CI) Friday welcomed the report of the Commission for Africa, saying implementing its recommendations will help transform the lives of African consumers, by raising their standards of living and improving civil rights. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Consumers International Africa Office (CI-ROAF), consumer organisations and relevant Government agencies in the continent will hold a five-day regional dialogue on "Promoting consumer protection policies" from 7-11 February in Gaborone, Botswana. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Zambian journalist Brenda Zulu and Kenyan journalist Gatonye Gathura Wednesday clinched the Kalam 2004 Award organised by Consumer International Regional Office for Africa (CI-ROAF). Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- A study revealing that lack of transparency is the main cause of dishonesty between borrowers and lending institutions in Uganda -- a cancer wrecking efforts to fight poverty -- has prompted the launching of a six-month Consumer Education Project in the country. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Industry Minister Galal Yousif Degair has affirmed the commitment of the Sudanese government to the protection of the rights of consumers in keeping with international agreements and principles. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The European Commission (EC) plans to welcome initiatives by African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to incorporate activities related to consumer rights and health protection, Louis Michel, the new European Commissioner for Development, said. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- With growing public concern over food safety in Ghana, the national Food and Drugs Board says it is stepping up measures to protect consumers. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- When Ethiopia's ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety entered into force on 7 January 2004, it was just another deal of no concern to the man in the street here. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Consumers International (CI), the worldwide federation of consumer organisations, and the Foundation for Consumers, Thailand's leading independent consumer group, have jointly launched a global anti-GM campaign. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The famine situation in Kenya has severely cast doubts on the country's national food policy, which seeks to ensure adequate supply nation-wide and at all times. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Due to the vagaries of weather, Ethiopia's food industry can hardly stay in good shape for long. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Consumers in Benin have planned a 15- day workshop beginning here mid-September on the theme "metrology, an essential service to defend consumers", organisers announced here Saturday. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- A sub-regional seminar for journalists is underway in Ouagadougou on quality promotion and protection of consumers' rights within the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). Full text...

Port-Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- The Institute for Consumer Protection (ICP) in Mauritius Thursday launched a sensitisation campaign on risks related to the consumption of food products based on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Consumers International (CI), a global federation of more than 250 consumer organizations in 115 countries, will hold its 16th World Congress 13-17 October in Lisbon, Portugal with active participation from its Office for Africa (CI-ROAF). Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- As the crucial World Trade Organization (WTO) talks get underway in Cancun, Mexico, Consumers International has found a novel way of presenting its demands to delegates through a shopping list for the world's six billion consumers. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Despite their role as major players in civil society, consumer groups are not being involved in the implementation of the Cotonou Agreement nor do they benefit from its ensuing funding facilities, Consumer International Regional Office for Africa (CI-ROAF) laments in a survey. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- "Protecting Consumers in Africa" is taking centre stage this week at a five-day workshop for consumer associations and African media that began here Monday. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- A survey conducted by the Uganda Consumer's Protection Association (UCPA) has revealed that major supermarkets and select shops in the capital Kampala had become outlets for imported expired food products. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- Cameroonian traders, including managers of petrol stations, are in a state of panic since the ministry of finance started checking the authenticity of weighing and measurement instruments more than a month ago. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- Consumers in Burundi have lost 24 percent of their purchasing power in the past eight years due to war, said Finance Minister Charles Nihangaza Friday. Full text...