Cheetah journal – The daily cheat sheet on African news

11/18/09

1. 1. Algeria beats Egypt 1-0 to reach World Cup

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Algeria qualified for its first World Cup since 1986, beating Egypt 1-0 in a tiebreaker playoff Wednesday night on Antar Yahya’s goal from an acute angle in the 39th minute. Yahya scored with a right-footed volley that beat goalkeeper Essam El Hadary. Read More…

2. UK’s Blair encourages investment in Sierra Leone

LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair drummed up support Wednesday for investment in Sierra Leone, arguing that the west African country has recovered from its brutal civil war and could offer unmatched opportunities in agriculture and tourism. Blair encouraged investors to take a chance on the land once riven by civil war. Read more…

3. Zimbabwean parliament passes bills to reform central bank

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to reform the central bank, including reducing the powers of the bank governor accused by critics of policies that ruined the economy. Read more…

4. Jennifer Anniston as Winnie Mandela in Winnie

Dreamgirl Jennifer Hudson has finally landed a role suitable to her stature as an Oscar winner. She has the title role in a bio-pic that South African filmmaker Darrell. J. Roodt (Cry, the Beloved Country, Sarafina) is filming next May in South Africa. By the time Nelson Mandela left jail to worldwide acclaim, Winnie Mandela, his wife, was a notorious figure. Read more …

5. FT (Financial Time) on Rent Seeking

Rent-seeking takes many forms. On Europe’s oldest highway, the Rhine river, the castles on rocky outcrops date from the time when bandits with aristocratic titles extracted tolls from passing traffic. In poor countries the focus of political and business life is often rent-seeking rather than wealth creation. That helps explain why some countries are rich and others poor. Read more…

6. Solutions for Nairobi ( or any African city really!) blackouts

It’s no secret that Kenya’s rivers are running dry as a result of forest destruction and environmental degradation which has led to a season of blackouts in the capital city Nairobi. Typical of the ingenious people of Nairobi one street vendor has cashed in on the crisis with this wonderful gadget which he markets as. “Perfect for Nairobi black out”. Read more…

7. In Africa, Capturing the Fight Against Climate Change

With the approach of the international climate talks in Copenhagen, the United Nations Development Program in conjunction with the Olympus Corporation and the Agence France-Presse Foundation created a photo competition aimed at profiling everyday Africans and their efforts to combat climate change. See more…

8. African fashion now has a magazine

The Haute is a 100+ page fashion magazine. It features the works of African designers all around the world, exhibiting a taste for the cultural tempered with an appreciation of the varied degrees of influence by the west in today’s fashion. Check out the magazine’s websitesite HERE