KENYA

Plans for a delayed 300 MW wind farm in Kenya can now proceed after lenders agreed to rely on the government's assurance that it backed the plan, instead of proper guarantees, the chairman of the project said.

Safaricom's second tranche of its five-year medium-term note worth 4.5 billion shillings was fully subscribed, the Kenyan mobile phone operator's chief executive said on Thursday.

Mauritius private equity group Ciel Capital plans to venture into Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, in the first half and is in talks with key players in various sectors, a senior partner said.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said an African effort to mediate Ivory Coast's disputed poll had failed on Wednesday, blaming incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and warning of harsh sanctions or force if he did not step down.

Barclays Bank of Kenya, majority-owned by British lender Barclays, is cutting 200 management-level staff, or about 5 percent of its workforce, to cut costs by an unspecified amount.

South Sudan appealed for investors to plough $140 million into its war-hit wildlife parks, seeking to kick-start a tourism industry and wean itself off oil months ahead of its expected independence.

Talks to end Ivory Coast's post-election standoff remain in deadlock, with no sign Laurent Gbagbo will agree to step down as president and his rival unwilling to meet him until he does, mediators said on Tuesday.

U.N. peacekeepers in Ivory Coast fired warning shots into the air to disperse angry supporters of incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo on Monday, and police fired return shots skywards in an incident that left three wounded, witnesses said.

Safaricom, Kenya's largest company by market capitalisation, dragged down the main index after losing more than 4.0 percent on Friday.

The Kenyan shilling firmed against the dollar on Friday after the greenback lost ground against major hard currencies, increasing investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Uganda's shilling looks set to plumb new record lows against the dollar over the next week due to soaring foreign exchange demand from the oil sector, while Kenya's unit should strengthen slightly.

The Kenyan shilling KES= edged up against the dollar on the back of higher coffee and tea prices at auctions this week, but signs of a drought in the country could limit the currency's gains, traders said on Thursday.

In a development that may underscore a growing resentment of Asian business acumen on the African continent, authorities in Tanzania recently ordered foreign traders doing business in a key market in the capital city of Dar es Salaam to close up shop and depart the country within thirty days or risk arrest and prosecution.

Kenya's tax revenues rose by 16.2 percent to 303.1 billion shillings in the first half of the 2010/11 fiscal year, but still fell short of its target for the period.

Kenya Power, the country's sole power distributor, will lean on soft financing and may turn to the bond market, its chief executive said after unveiling results of a 9.5 billion shillings cash call.

The new year celebrations is over, but the ceremony is not over for Wikipedia which is turning 10 on Jan. 15. Added to this Wikipedia have raised $16 million, allowing the service to remain ad-free for another year.

Paris-based telecoms equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent SA and three of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay a combined $92 million penalty to settle a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the global sales practice of Alcatel S.A. prior to its 2006 merger with Lucent Technologies Inc.

China intends to boost its economic ties with Africa, which is already worth about $100 billion, according to a report by the government.

By getting rid of cash, nations around the world might be able to significantly reduce organized crime and political terrorism since those activities are heavily reliant on easy accessibility to dollars, euros, pounds sterling, yen and other paper currencies.

The European Union agreed on Monday to ban Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo and his aides, the BBC reported. The Gbagbo regime is likely to be slapped with harsh sanctions from the West. The sanction could also include freezing the personal overseas assets of the president and his men and issuing visa bans.

Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo's aides have called upon their followers to prepare for a battle against the opposing Alassane Ouattara faction. The country seems to be on the brink of civil war as neither of the both groups refused to stand down.