Jack Kim

The Nigerian interbank lending rates climbed on Friday to an average of 14.50 percent from 13.50 percent last week as system liquidity thins out with outflows to bonds and foreign exchange purchases by lenders.

Burundi is East Africa's most corrupt country for the second year in a row, with the region's police, revenue authorities and the judiciary rated as the worst offenders, a Transparency International (TI)survey showed on Friday.

South Sudan is welcoming U.S. military assistance to help fight Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) accused of murder, rape and kidnapping children, officials said on Friday.

Two little known Eritrean rebel groups said on Friday they had killed 12 government soldiers in an early morning attack.

The African force protecting Somalia's government acknowledged on Friday at least 10 of its troops had been killed in battle in Mogadishu and said the true toll could still climb, after rebels showed dozens of bodies.

Muammar Gaddafi made his final dash for freedom shortly before dawn prayers. Libya's leader, a few dozen loyal bodyguards and the head of his now non-existent army Abu Bakr Younis Jabr, broke out of the two-month siege of his hometown Sirte and, forming a convoy of six dozen vehicles, raced through the outskirts to the west.

Muammar Gaddafi's body lay in an old meat store on Friday as arguments over a burial, and his killing after being captured, dogged efforts by Libya's new leaders to make a formal start on a new era of democracy.

Italian oil group Eni said on Thursday it had made a giant natural gas discovery off Mozambique, the biggest in its history, confirming expectations that East Africa is set to emerge as a major gas exporter after recent finds.

South Africa's rand tumbled 2.5 percent to a two week low against the dollar on Thursday, falling quickly in the last hour of trading when stop losses were triggered above the 8.15 level by new complications over Europe's debt problems.

Burundi's year-on-year inflation rate rose to 11.7 percent in September from 11.0 percent in August, partly due to high costs of housing, water and electricity, the country's statistics board said on Thursday.

Tourism revenues in Mauritius rose 9.7 percent in the year ended August 31 compared with the previous 12 months, as the number of visitors jumped, data showed on Thursday.

Tanzania's mining sector grew only slowly this year due to uncertainty over government policies, a prolonged energy crisis and infrastructure constraints, a senior mining official said on Thursday.

Zambia has suspended the issuance of new mining licences to root out potential corruption and clean up the process, the mines minister in Africa's top copper producer said on Thursday.

A liberal-led coalition of eight political parties says it is confident of winning a parliamentary election in Morocco next month aimed at staunching any spillover from the Arab Spring.

Cooperation between Somalia's al Qaeda linked militants and pirate gangs is growing as the al Shabaab group becomes more desperate for funding, the head of the U.N.'s counter-piracy unit said on Thursday.

Kenya must take care not to let its cross-border incursion into Somalia to secure its border from al Qaeda-linked militants turn into a drawn-out campaign, former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said on Thursday.

Kenyan and Somali troops advanced on an Islamist-held town in southern Somalia on Thursday and African Union peacekeepers moved on one of the last pockets under militant control in the capital Mogadishu.

The African Union said on Thursday it had lifted its suspension of Libya's membership.

Ugandan police briefly arrested opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Tuesday and said they would charge 15 protesters with treason in an effort to quell demonstrations against rising prices.

Authorities in the Ivory Coast have arrested 21 gendarmes and seized stocks of weapons after an attack on Abidjan's main gendarme base early on Saturday triggered a gun battle, a pro-government newspaper said on Tuesday.

Somali militants linked to al Qaeda prepared to defend a town in southern Somalia on Tuesday from advancing Kenyan and government troops, while a suicide car bomb killed six people in the capital during a visit by a Kenyan minister.

South African stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday with miners among the worst performers as growth worries in China hit industrial metal prices.

Mauritius sees foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Indian Ocean island falling by 42.6 percent in 2011, from record levels last year when investment was boosted by two exceptionally big deals, its Finance minister said on Tuesday.

A Kenyan member of parliament said on Tuesday he would propose a bill to regulate banks' lending and deposit rates to stop their 'sheer exploitation' and to mobilise funds for economic activities.

South African group Steinhoff will swap several of its industrial units for a bigger stake in Kap International, in a $1.1 billion deal giving it control of the manufacturing firm.

President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos cut Angola's growth forecast for 2011 to 3.7 percent on Tuesday due mainly to lower crude production but the economy should bounce back with a 12 percent expansion next year.

The Kenyan shilling reversed earlier losses to close firmer against the dollar on Monday for the fourth straight session, helped by new limits on the amount of foreign exchange banks can hold, while stocks edged up on bets the recent sell-off was overdone.

Abundant rains punctuated by sunny spells last week in most of Ivory Coast's key cocoa regions have boosted the main crop, but heavy rains in some areas have prevented harvesting and may damage quality by preventing proper drying, farmers said on Monday.

South Africa's rand fell more than 1.7 percent against the dollar on Monday, with dealers citing speculation of a cross-border deal between a local company and a Canadian firm as the driver.