November 26, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:
 

European Union observers and the United Nation's mission praise Mali’s legislative vote.

Central African Republic says France will boost its troops to bolster security.

And, an analyst fears South Africa is ‘losing ground’ in terms of emerging market competitiveness.
 

European Union observers and the United Nation's mission in Mali, MINUSMA, on Monday praised the West African nation's weekend legislative election, despite low turnout and some voting abuses.

EU election observation chief Louis Michel said Sunday's vote was largely peaceful except for a few incidents in the north that were unlikely to affect the outcome.

Malian officials reported that armed men carried off ballot boxes in Goundam, in the region of Timbuktu, preventing people from casting their votes. Tuareg separatists also held protests in their northern stronghold of Kidal.

However, MINUSMA's head, Bert Koenders, said the election campaign and voting took place in accordance with Malian law and met the mission's expectations. He condemned the incidents that marred voting in some places, particularly Goundam, but said they did not invalidate the election.

 

France is expected to triple the number of its soldiers in the Central African Republic to 1 200 to bolster security after months of violence, the war-torn nation's prime minister said on Monday.

Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told him the reinforcements would arrive once the UN Security Council adopts a resolution backing the force, which France hopes will occur in early December.

French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said Paris would reinforce its Central African Republic presence, but did not confirm Tiangaye's figures. He said that until an African Union force of 3 600 troops – known as MISCA – was fully operational, French troops would start trying to restore law and order.

 

Professional services firm Deloitte’s West Africa Advisory leader Mike Vincent has cautioned that South Africa is fast losing ground to its emerging market peers in several critical areas of competitiveness. He said it now has to make a series of strategic choices or risk being completely left behind in terms of growth and competitiveness.

He said Africa currently boasts 7 of the 12 fastest growing economies in the world and, although South Africa remains leading and dominant in a range of measures, it faces the risk of losing its competitive advantage in a number of areas.

Vincent pointed to the emergence of Kenya, Ghana and Morocco as destinations of choice competing for “gateway to Africa” status, as well as the emergence of Nigeria, set to grow at 7% this year compared with South Africa’s 2%, as examples of how the country was “sliding down the competitiveness league table”.

He called for a consultative forum – similar to the negotiations that ushered in South Africa’s democracy – to discuss the country’s economic future, saying this would enable the clarification of what the country should produce, how best to produce it and for whom to produce it.

Also making headlines:
 

Egypt's interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi says Egypt will hold  a constitutional referendum in January.

The International Finance Corporation says the role of the private sector is becoming increasingly essential in the roll-out of water infrastructure and enabling access to water.

And, campaigners say progress in the battle against AIDS is widely divergent in different African countries and talk about "AIDS in Africa" as one epidemic needing a single approach has become an anachronism.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.