Thursday March 31, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Jessica Hannah

Making headlines:

Fundamental changes in investment, financing, technology, markets and policy are needed for renewable energy generation in Africa, the World Energy Council Africa regional manager Dr Latsoucabe Fall said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Power and Electricity World Africa conference in Johannesburg, Fall stated that $356-billion in energy investment was needed between 2010 and 2030 in Africa for demand to be met. To meet this target, regional and sub-regional integration and cooperation was crucial. “Developing, enlarging and freeing up markets at national, regional and global levels is fundamental to creating momentum for the African energy sector, as well as solving supply and demand challenges,” he noted.

Sudan's north and south have deployed forces with heavy weapons to disputed Abyei, militarising the tinderbox oil-producing region, the United Nations peacekeeping mission's force commander said on Wednesday.
His comments were the first independent confirmation of satellite images that activists said showed a build-up of troops in Abyei, a central region claimed by both sides that have waged a north-south civil war for much of the past five decades. South Sudan will become independent in July following a referendum that produced an overwhelming vote for statehood.

The Department of Home Affairs has cleared the backlog in permits for foreign nationals who had applied for permanent and temporary residency in South Africa. Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni said measures taken to eliminate the backlog that had been developed over the past couple of years had been successful, and the time frame by which the department had committed itself to clear the backlog had been met. “Applications received up until the end of January 2011 have therefore been adjudicated and permits have been dispatched to the various regional offices. Applications made in February and March this year are currently being processed, the outcomes of which will be communicated to applicants in due course,” he said.

Also making headlines:
US officials said President Barack Obama had authorised covert support for Libyan rebels fighting Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, while Libya's foreign minister defected, potentially tipping the scales toward the opposition.
Gambia will hold a presidential election on November 24, the head of the election commission said.
And, Mali Prime Minister Modibo Sidibe resigned on Wednesday and a new government will be formed soon, President Amadou Toumani Toure said in a communique.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.