KENYA

The African Union special envoy for Somalia on Wednesday urged countries waging war on al Shabaab to keep an open door to negotiations with militants who are willing to lay down their weapons.

Gold producer and explorer Goldplat said it expected to make its first shipment from its Kenyan mining project in early 2012, after receiving a mining licence from the government.

Kenya's central bank changed another key policy aim by almost-doubling this fiscal year's inflation target to 9 percent, just weeks after being driven to make a huge rate rise to combat soaring inflation and save the plunging shilling.

An unidentified fighter jet bombed the outskirts of a Somali rebel-controlled village in the south of the Horn of Africa country on Tuesday, killing at least one civilian, residents and members of the al Shabaab militant group said.

Eritrea has complained to the U.N. Security Council about Kenyan allegations that it sent weapons to Islamist rebels in Somalia, calling for an independent investigation to judge the dispute.

Standard Bank Group is now financing small and medium-sized (SME) enterprises, tapping into a lucrative segment that was previously ignored by mainstream lenders but is increasingly on the agenda for most African governments.

A remote-controlled bomb blew up a police vehicle escorting a U.N. convoy in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp near the border with Somalia on Tuesday, the second such incident in the camp this month.

The Kenyan shilling reversed early gains to close weaker against the dollar for the second straight session on Tuesday, hurt by telecom sector demand for dollars, while stocks extended losses to a fifth day.

Tanzania's year-on-year inflation rate rose for the twelfth straight month in October on the back of higher food and fuel prices, and is expected by some analysts to keep climbing in the coming months.

Cholera has broken out in the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya, home to nearly 500,000 Somali refugees, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Kenya's newly-constituted Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to rule on a date for next year's elections, stoking voter unease over moves by the government to amend a polling timeline already endorsed by a referendum.

Dadaab, which is located near the Somali border, is now the world’s largest refugee settlement camp.

Both Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres have emphasized that Kenya is a critical ally for Israel and crucial to the stability of East Africa.

Scores of residents fled a Somali rebel stronghold close to the capital on Monday after what appeared to be a night-time missile strike targeting a militant base.

Western Black Rhino Poached Out of Existence; Declared Extinct, Slack Anti-Poaching Efforts Responsible

Somali forces allied to Kenya attacked an al Shabaab base near Afmadow on Friday and said they would press towards the strategic town seen as an obstacle to seizing the key port city of Kismayu.

The report suggests that African people are increasingly shifting to mobile communications because landline service is unreliable and too expensive.

Gunmen shot dead a Somali lawmaker in Mogadishu on Wednesday, a day after al Qaeda-linked rebels killed at least two people in a series of grenade attacks and said they would step up assaults in the capital.

The Kenyan shilling gained against the dollar on Tuesday aided largely by banks selling greenbacks as high interest rates squeezed shillings out of the market, while stocks edged lower in thin volumes.

The top price for Kenyan benchmark grade AA coffee jumped to $630 per 50-kg bag at Tuesday's auction from $514 at the last sale two weeks ago, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said.

Nairobi Securities Exchange has launched two stock indexes in conjunction with FTSE Group, and said on Tuesday it planned to start one for Treasury bonds next year.