Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Senegal's Libasse Sam on Thursday replaced Togolese Souleymane Gado as director-general of the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE). Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Africa may achieve the much desired economic growth if it invests heavily in its people, both to reduce poverty and enhance the continent's ability to compete globally, a report by the World Bank has advanced. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Denmark has granted Benin funding of 5 394 million CFA francs (7 million US dollars) to repair parts of the Tohoun-Abomey-Bohicon (about 30 Km) and Dogbo-Tota-Azovè (45 Km)roads. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- A Mauritian hotel, Le Saint Géran, has won the hotel of the year 2002 award given by Tatler Magazine, a British glossy which chooses every year some 101 best hotels in the world. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Following is the daily equities trading at the Nigerian Stock Exchange for Friday, 28 December, 2001. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- The All-Share Index, the main gauge of Ghana Stock Exchange, dipped in trading on Friday as the bears continued to dominate the market. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Abidjan-based Regional Securities and Stock Market, or BRVM, closed Thursday's trading session on an upward trend compared to the previous day. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- A bank in Zimbabwe -- Kingdom Financial Holdings -- said Friday it had bought a 25-percent stake in a Zambian bank, and planned to set up a subsidiary in Malawi next year. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- A national workshop organised by the Government of Benin and the League for the Defence of Consumers opened Thursday in Cotonou on the theme, "Impact of transport costs on goods". Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- A French maritime firm, Delmas, plans to beef up its fleet in Africa as part of its projection to make the continent a linchpin of its maritime activities. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Niger's General Board of Taxes (DGI) raised 58 900 million francs (79 million US dollars) in 2001, up from 46 000 million FCFA (62 million dollars) last year, DGI sources said Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- British musician and activist, Sir Bob Geldof, has called on rich industrialised nations to forgive debts owed them by poor Third World countries. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Niger has launched its 2001/2002 tourism season with the arrival in the nation's capital of 146 European tourists on a chartered flight from France. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Early in January 2000 Namibian tourism was dealt a jolting blow when a French tourist family travelling along the 1 200-km Trans-Caprivi highway came under heavy gunfire, resulting in the death of three children. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisia's crude oil production would reach to four million tonnes in 2002, up from 3. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Prudent macroeconomic policies coupled with structural reforms have resulted in consistent growth in Tunisia, with real GDP is increasing at an average five percent per year, according to a the international ratings agency, Standard Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisian exports totalled 7,989 million Tunisian dinars (5,437 million US dollars) while imports totalled TD 11,505 million (7,830 million dollars) at the end of the first 10 months of 2001, translating into a deficit of TD 365 million (248 million dollars), official statistics indicate. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Marriott International has opened a 223- room hotel in Tunisia run by Société Aphrodite de Gestion Hôteliére. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The European Commission has disbursed 40 million euros (about 36 million US dollars) to support Mozambique's national budget. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- The All-Share Index of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) ended flat again on Thursday in another poor trading as the year dominated by bearish sentiments, winds down. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- A total of 12. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia is seeking a foreign investor to acquire 35 percent of shares in a state -owned commercial bank. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia's finance houses closed for business from midday Thursday to allow their staff to vote in presidential and general elections. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Abidjan-based Regional Securities Stock Market (BRVM) closed its daily trading Wednesday on an upward trend compared to the previous session. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Niger plans to increase its Arabic gum production to 100,000 tonnes/year by the 2015, according to local press reports. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The European Union delegation in Maputo said Wednesday that Mozambican exports to the EU increased by about 360 percent between the first six months of 2000 and the same period in 2001. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The National Livestock Directorate in the Mozambican Agriculture Ministry has lifted all restrictions on the imports of Zimbabwean livestock and animal products, reports the Maputo daily "Noticias". Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ethiopia and Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for financial assistance to the tune of 7. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia's Nchanga Open Pit mine, which had a section wall collapse on men and equipment earlier this year, is to go into full production soon. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan authorities have begun talks with the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) on a proposed tax to be imposed on imported dairy products. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- More than 47 million US dollars is estimated to have been invested in oil exploration projects in Morocco in 2001, according to the kingdom's energy and mining minister, Mustapha Mansouri. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan authorities have finally put paid a plan to divest the government's 49 percent shares in Telkom Kenya Limited by terminating negotiations with the potential buyer, Mount Kenya Consortium. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Members of the Sudanese livestock exporters union are to export sheep worth 40 million dollars between 24 December this year to 30 March 2002. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin Posts and Telecommunication Board has digitalised over 2,000 telephone lines in Cotonou in a bid to make its network competitive. Full text...

Porto Novo- Benin (PANA) -- Computer hardware and software imported into Benin from 1 January to 31 December 2002 will be exempted from customs duty, according to a government bill on the 2002 fiscal tabled Monday in the National Assembly. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Though American consumers of Ethiopian beer like its quality and taste, they complain that its packaging is disgusting. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Canada will computerise the Central Bank of Congo under an agreement signed here between the two countries. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- The head of Libya's oil Company, Abdelhafidh Zelithi met at the weekend in Tunis with the Tunisian Industry Minister Moncef Ben Abdellah, for talks aimed at strengthening energy co-operation between the two countries. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Morocco Telecom is to invest 11. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- The Niger Customs Department is expecting earnings of 66. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- The All-Share Index at the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) ended unchanged Monday in one of the poorest trading sessions yet, in which only 500 shares changed hands. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- A Libyan economic delegation, including investors in electrical appliances and maintenance products, is visiting Morocco. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- Cote d'Ivoire and the World Bank have signed a 135 billion CFA francs (280 million US dollars) loan agreement, official sources in Abidjan disclosed over the weekend. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- An IMF assessment mission recently expressed satisfaction with the evolution of the Cape Verde economy, the local press reported this weekend. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Tourism operators in say they do not expect any growth in the sector this year. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Some 61 Sudanese companies will display goods in the Sudanese products exhibition in Asmara, Eritrea, in mid-January 2002, said Abdulgadir Fadl, the director of exhibitions in the foreign trade ministry, Sunday in Khartoum. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- Bank of Mozambique's governor Adriano Maleiane on Friday said that 2001 had been a difficult financial year, just as 2000 had been, the national news agency AIM reported Saturday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Transactions of equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) were bullish this week with a turnover of 119. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria's state-owned electricity company NEPA said its power generation had hit an unprecedented 3,300 megawatts ahead of President Olusugun Obasanjo's deadline for uninterrupted electricity by 31 December 2001. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Moroccans living abroad transferred home 22. Full text...