Thursday, July 15, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.

Making headlines:

The 2010 FIFA World Cup has pumped an estimated R93-billion into the local economy, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Wednesday.
Briefing the media on government's assessment of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Maseko said that an increase in foreign direct investment was expected. The successful event had also brought about an improvement in both South Africa and Africa's global image, which should translate into an increase in tourism.
Also speaking at the briefing, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe indicated that the 56 dedicated courts established for the event might continue beyond July 25, the date set for them to stop operating. Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele added that the taxi industry had performed excellently during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Humanitarian groups led by United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have called for more aid for the West African State of Niger, citing a growing risk of disease and death after poor rains.
Niger and neighbouring Chad, already among the poorest nations in the world, are at the centre of a food crisis affecting ten-million people in the Sahel region. The move to increase the aid appeal for Niger to $253-million is expected, after new figures last month showed that over one in five children are already facing acute malnutrition in the worst hit regions.
Last year's failed rains in the Sahel belt stretching across the south of the Sahara from Mauritania to Sudan, mean that the human cost this season could be as high as in 2005. While a final death toll was not established, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) estimated at the height of the 2005 crisis that hunger and malnutrition were threatening the lives of 3,6-million people in Niger alone. Unicef already expects to treat 859 000 under-fives in the Sahel region this season for severe malnutrition, the point at which a child faces an increased risk of disease or death.

Zimbabwe expects inflation to fall by year-end despite a recent acceleration, while economic growth remains fragile in spite of last year's recovery, said Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Wednesday.
In a mid-term budget speech to Parliament, Biti said that Zimbabwe's original inflation target was 5,1%. Despite the resurgence of inflation in June 2010, the government still hopes that it will achieve an annualised inflation of 4,5% by the end of the year. Biti added that the government now sees lower economic growth of 5,4% in 2010, owing to a fragile economic recovery.
Biti also called on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to approve the sale of diamonds from Zimbabwe's controversial Marange fields, where rights groups accuse security forces of human rights abuses.

Also making headlines:

South African President Jacob Zuma says that the terms of reference for the proposed State-owned enterprises review committee are still being finalised.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir is to contact Darfur's two main rebel leaders in an unusually high level attempt to persuade them to join the region's troubled peace process.
Nongovernmental organisations says that South African officials seem to be avoiding use of the word xenophobia in the hope that the violence in the Western Cape will subside.
And, Burundi says that it will keep its 2 500 peacekeepers in Somalia despite threats from Islamists responsible for bomb attacks in neighbouring Uganda.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.