Africa Report

Tanzania's natural splendor has helped the East African country be named as one of the top 10 destinations in the world to visit in 2011 by Lonely Planet, the world's top travel guide book and digital media publisher. Other nine countries listed are Albania, Brazil, Cape Verde, Panama, Bulgaria, Vanuatu, Italy, Syria and Japan.

OUTING GAYS

Uganda

A Ugandan court has ordered a newspaper that called for homosexual people to be hanged to stop publishing the names and photographs of people it said were gay. The order was granted a day after Rolling Stone, a news weekly tabloid, printed pictures of about 20 men described as "generals" of the gay community in Uganda. The headline was Men of Shame Part II, and followed the publication of a list of 100 allegedly gay people this October.

EYES ON BP

Namibia

Mines and Energy Minister Isak Katali confirmed that Trafigura has bought BP's assets in Namibia. The deal was struck through Puma Energy International, a subsidiary of Trafigura. As the world's third largest independent oil trader, Trafigura has been accused of kickbacks in South Africa and found guilty of illegally exporting toxic waste from Amsterdam before reportedly dumping it in the Ivory Coast.

RESCUING BANKING

Nigeria

The Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), which was set up to restore the health of the banking system in the country, said it aimed to absorb 2.2 trillion naira ($14.52 billion) of bad loans by the end of December. AMCON said in a statement that it has approved the purchase of all the margin loans in the banking sector and all the non-performing loans of the rescued banks. Last year, a sector-wide effort was carried out to save the country's banking crisis, but uncertainty over how the bad loans on the books of the rescued banks would be valued has slowed the process.

HEALTH UNITS GROW

Angola

Angolan Health Minister Jose Van-Dunem said on the celebrations of the 35th anniversary of Angola's independence that the country has currently 20,116 health units built from 1999 to 2005. Angola had only 58 hospitals and 1,330 health posts in 1999, against the 218 and 1,841, respectively, built between 1999 and 2005.

AGRICULTURE COUNTS

Gambia

Deputy Division Chief of the Africa Department of International Monetary Fund (IMF), David Dunn, led a mission this November from the IMF Bureau to Gambia to access the country's performance for the seventh review of its economic program supported by the IMF. He said agriculture remained the major driver of the Gambian economy in 2010, due to the country's excellent performance this year. Dunn's mission estimated that the real growth of Gambia's GDP will stand at 5.5-6 percent this year, up from the previous projection of about 5 percent.

800M QUEEN DETERMINED

Kenya

Olympic 800 meters women champion Pamela Jelimo is eyeing the start of the 2010-11 season and determined to ensure that her form will peak at the World Championship in Daegu, South Korea next August. Jelimo has been struggling to make a comeback from a career threatening knee injury in the past two years. She was crowned the world champion at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Jelimo then went on to record a 14-race winning streak and clinched the now defunct International Association of Athletics Federations Golden League in Brussels.

MUSICAL MAID

Ethiopia

Ethiopian maid Mahlet is changing her name to Maha and cutting her first video clip after proving to her Iraqi boss that she can sing better than she can clean. Three years after she left her native Ethiopia to work as a maid for prominent Kurdish musician Halcout Zahir, the 20-year-old woman is almost a household name in the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan. Her break came when Iraq's musical phenomenon Dashni Murad, dubbed the "Shakira of Kurdistan," discovered her.

DEFICIT UP

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone announced capital and development outlays up over one third recently in a 2011 budget that will drive its deficit up to 5.7 percent of GDP, but the finance minister said borrowing was under control. In a move aimed at encouraging further private investment, the West African country, which sees growth accelerating from 4.5 percent this year to 6 percent in 2012, announced cuts to mining sector taxes and levies on imported raw materials.

Africa Report