• Guinean opposition calls for fresh demonstrations

An opposition coalition in Guinea has called for demonstrations from October 14 in defiance of a government crackdown on protestors opposed to President Alpha Conde running for a third term in office.

Last month Conde, 81, called on the public to prepare for a referendum and elections, stirring talk that he was planning to overcome a constitutional ban on a third term in office.
His government has attracted criticism for deadly use of gunfire by police to quell demonstrations with a general election due in 2020.

• Zuma's son denies $40m bribe offered to S. African ex-minister

The son of South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma on Monday denied allegations by the former deputy finance minister that he was offered a $40-million bribe.

Duduzane Zuma, 35, was testifying before a judicial inquiry probing allegations that his father organised a systematic plunder of government coffers in a scandal known as "state capture".

He has been named by various witnesses that have appeared before the inquiry, including former ministers, as having been a conduit for the Guptas, a wealthy migrant business family that allegedly had a corrupt relationship with his father.

• Striking Zimbabwe doctors defy order to resume work

Doctors striking in Zimbabwe for pay hikes defied a government order to resume work on Monday and asked the UN and private businesses to help fund their return to the wards.

The doctors are in the second month of a strike over salaries which have dwindled to less than $100 per month in some cases as a result of galloping inflation.

The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association said wants their salaries pegged to the dollar and has rejected a 60 per cent wage increase offered by the government.

• Mozambique poll observer killed in ruling party stronghold

A Mozambique poll observer was shot dead on Monday in a ruling party stronghold, the latest killing in the run-up to next week's elections, a monitoring group said.

Gunmen fired several shots at Anastacio Matavele, head of a local election observation mission, as he was driving away from a workshop in Xai-Xai, the capital of the southeastern Gaza province.

"His death confirms that we are witnessing one of the most violent electoral campaigns," said Sala da Paz, a group that monitors election-related violence.

• S.Sudan says renegotiating $3bn oil deal with Sudan

South Sudan said Monday it was renegotiating an oil deal with Khartoum, as it will not meet a December deadline to finish paying $3 billion agreed as compensation for the oil-rich nation's 2011 secession.

South Sudan and Sudan in 2012 signed a deal in which Juba would pay the amount after it voted for independence, taking with it 70 percent of the oil fields Khartoum used to manage.

Petroleum Minister Awou Daniel Chuang told journalists that the cash-strapped nation had paid $2.4 billion so far, but would not manage to pay the remaining $600 million by December.

He further warned of more oil spills from poorly maintained facilities after a pipeline leaked 2,000 barrels of oil in the Unity Oil Fields two weeks ago.

• Bank of Uganda cuts policy rate to stimulate growth

Uganda’s Central Bank has cut its policy rate by 100 basis points to nine per cent after keeping it at 10 per cent since October last year.

The action signals the Bank of Uganda's intentions to stimulate growth by making credit more affordable.

This rate cut is expected to be of relief to businesses facing a cash crunch in funding operations or expansion.