May 16, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines: 

Investment in infrastructure is the key to unlocking Africa’s oil and gas potential.

The World Health Organisation says global life spans continue to lengthen.

And, a United Nations envoy calls for sanctions on Central African Republic rights abusers.

Thomson Reuters head of business development for commodities and energy in Africa Michel Karera said Africa needed to invest heavily in its infrastructure if it is to grow its oil and gas production, as well as increase demand for these energy resources.

He argued that proper infrastructure could substantially cut production and transactional costs and, in turn, allow for cheaper access to these resources for African consumers.

Recent discoveries of new oil and gas reserves in countries like Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique had resulted in Africa’s global share of reserves growing from about 8% in 2000 to nearly 13% this year. The continent’s total natural gas reserves were now estimated at about 74-trillion cubic metres, almost 10% of the world’s total.

Karera said there was a lot of enthusiasm about these new discoveries on the continent, but the challenge related primarily to the issue of infrastructure for the extraction, processing, storage and moving of the resources to market.

The World Health Organisation  (or WHO) said on Wednesday that people are living longer and that these "dramatic" gains in life expectancy show no sign of slowing down.

Colin Mathers coordinator for mortality and burden of disease at the WHO, during the organization’s launch of its annual world health statistics report, said the global life expectancy has increased from 64 years in 1990 to 70 years in 2011.

Much of the global increase is a result of a rapid fall in child mortality over the past decade, as well as improvements in China and India, which have both seen a seven-year jump in average life expectancy at birth since 1990.

Mathers said previous research had shown that life expectancy grew by 2 to 2-and-a-half years per decade in high-income countries during the 20th century, and the question of whether the gains might slow down was the subject of "a huge debate among the demographers"

The UN envoy to the Central African Republic Margaret Vogt urged the Security Council on Wednesday to consider imposing sanctions on rebels accused of severe rights violations including rape, maiming, recruitment of child soldiers and forced marriages.

She told the council that a neutral security force should be deployed to "contain the current state of anarchy" in the mineral-rich state, where the Seleka rebels seized power on March 24, toppling President Francois Bozize.

Vogt said security had disintegrated and that the Central African Republic "has collapsed into a state of anarchy and total disregard for international law, as elements of Seleka turn their vengeance against the population."

She added the country appeared to have become a safe haven for different foreign rebel forces seeking to exploit natural resources like diamonds and gold and that the conflict now posed a direct threat to the security of its neighbors.

Also making headlines:

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo’s World Trade Organisation election offers a new opportunity to advance a multilateral trade agreement.

Senior executives from 110 power and utility companies around the world have flagged compliance and regulation as the biggest risks facing the power and utilities sector.

The Free Market Foundation says the Licensing Bill will give officials too much power.

And, the World Bank approves $100-million for Uganda to help boost its economic growth and jobs.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.