MasterCard opens hub in Nairobi

Multinational financial payments system MasterCard has established a regional hub in Nairobi to serve the east African market and Mauritius. MasterCard said that its new base in the Kenyan capital would act as a launch pad for further expansion across east...

Australian visa application centre to open in Accra

The Australian High Commission in Ghana is introducing a new visa application procedure for Ghanaians after 8 February, when Accra opens the Australian Visa Application Centre (AVAC). The new system will provide the growing number of Ghanaian citizens travelling to Australia...

Reconstruction of railway between Beira and Machipanda

Reconstruction work has begun on the railway line connecting the port city of Beira with Machipanda on the Mozambique/Zimbabwe border, according to Carlos Isidoro, the director for transport and communication of Mozambique’s western Sofala province. Isidoro said that the work would...

Statue of Ghana’s first president unveiled at AU headquarters

A statue of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was unveiled in the grounds of the new African Union (AU) building in Addis Ababa on 29 January, ahead of the summit of Heads of State and Government of the AU on...

UN opens library in Addis Ababa

The secretary-general of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon inaugurated a library in Addis Ababa on 31 January, as part of the UN scheme "Thank You Small Library" (TYSL). Located in Keykokeb primary school in Arada sub-city woreda 2, the principal...

Cape Town classical music festival

Launched in 2006, the sixth edition of this classical music festival offers a lively programme of performances by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Japanese maestro Yasuo Shinozaki, with principal guest soloists as South African pianist Ben Schoeman and German-Japanese...

Kenya Airways passengers up

Kenya Airways has announced that passengers increased by 15.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2011 compared with the same period the previous year. Passengers on European routes showed an increase of 5.4 per cent thanks to direct flights to...

Milk and bread costs more in Nairobi

The price of milk and bread is going up in Nairobi supermarkets thanks to a shortage of milk and increases in wheat prices. Prices are increasing by up to 10 per cent for both products. Milk now costs more than...

Storms hits Mozambique

A second tropical storm to hit southern Mozambique in less than two weeks has destroyed thousands of homes in the south of the country and affected some 250,000 families. The state radio says that the north of the country...

Kenya’s High Court clarifies timings for next elections

A ruling from Kenya’s High Court has now set the ground rules for deciding the date for the next presidential and parliamentary elections under the terms of the country’s new constitution. According to the High Court ruling, which was handed...