January 30, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

FDI flows to Africa fell in 2014, with future outlook weighed down by weak commodities.

Apartheid death-squad leader Eugene de Kock is up for parole.

And, the African Union endorses a West African plan to set up a regional task force to fight Boko Haram.

Foreign direct investment (or FDI) inflows to Africa fell by 3% to around $55-billion in 2014, amid an 8% fall in global inflows to an estimated $1.26-trillion, from $1.36-trillion in 2013.

In its Global Investment Trends Monitor, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (or Unctad) attributed Africa’s decline largely to a decrease in FDI to North Africa. Other subregions, including sub-Saharan Africa, experienced similar inflows to those experienced in 2013.

“FDI into Africa was buoyed by increased inflows to Mozambique driven by its potential as one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas exporters. FDI into North Africa declined by 17% to $12.5-billion, with continued civil unrest in Libya dragging down the region's potential as an FDI host,” Unctad reported.

Justice Minister Michael Masutha is due to announce his decision on Eugene de Kock 's application for parole tonight.

Apartheid death-squad leader Eugene de Kock, dubbed 'Prime Evil' for his role in the torture and murder of black South African activists in the 1980s and early 1990s, would learn today whether he would be released on parole after 20 years in prison.

Masutha is also expected to announce his decision on the medical parole application of right-wing politician Clive Derby-Lewis, who masterminded the 1993 assassination of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani.

Derby-Lewis was sentenced to 212 years in prison on charges ranging from murder and attempted murder to kidnapping and fraud following his arrest in 1994.

 

The African Union has endorsed a West African plan to set up a regional task force of 7 500 soldiers to fight Islamist Boko Haram militants. This is seen as a vital step towards securing UN Security Council backing.

Neighbours Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin had agreed earlier to call on the African Union to seek United Nations Security Council support for their plan to take on insurgents who were fighting to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Smail Chergui, the commissioner of the AU's Peace and Security Council said their top agenda was to tackle the Islamic fighters with further discussions expected to take place next week.

 

Also making headlines:

The Gauteng Provincial Treasury has issued a five-year tender seeking a bank capable of managing the province’s multibillion-rand centralised banking services account.

Police have sealed off a crime scene at the Bedford Centre, east of Johannesburg, to collect evidence after seven people were shot and injured in the shopping mall on Thursday.

The repo rate will remain unchanged at 5.75%, the South African Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee decided on Thursday.

And, Governments from Mongolia to Nigeria are creating new forms of insurance to protect the developing world's small farmers, who are suffering especially badly from extreme weather events made worse by global warming.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.