• Zambia starts dissolution of UK's Vedanta resources unit

Zambia has started the liquidation of a copper mine owned by Vedanta resources following a court order.

ZCCM Investment Holdings PLC, which holds shares on behalf government and once run nationalised was granted to appoint a provisional liquidator for Konkola Copper Mines.

On Tuesday, President Edgar Lungu said Zambians were tired of 'lies of losses' by KCM.

The company had threatened to shed 1,000 jobs if the government goes ahead with a controversial mineral tax law.

• Rwanda seeks $1.3 bn for standard gauge railway through Tanzania

Rwanda is looking for $1.3 billion to fund the proposed Isaka-Kigali standard gauge railway that links Rwanda and Tanzania.

Rwanda minister for transport Dieu Uwihanganye said the feasibility study on the line had been completed.

During the launch of the 400 kilometre line in Dar es salaam in January last year, the cost for the portion had been estimated at $1.2 billion, about a half of the $2.5 billion estimate for the entire line.

• South Sudan wants activists in Uganda deported

Four South Sudan activists claim they have received threats of deportation and death in Uganda for backing demonstrations against President Salva Kiir government.

The activists alleged that the South Sudan embassy in Kampala has submitted their names and telephone numbers to Uganda National Security and Intelligence body for their deportation.

Keluel Agok one of the activists told Africa Review that they are accused of having link with Red Card Movement (RCM) which is mobilising a civilian uprising to oust President Salva Kiir.

The protests were foiled by the government last week with President Kiir warning "people may die" in the protests.

• Ghana president assents to law on right to information

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has assented to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, nearly two months after it was passed by the parliament.

The law is meant to operationalise a constitution right to information held by public institutions, enhancing transparency and accountability.

President Akufo-Addo said the law would improve governance and be a critical tool in fighting corruption.

• Gabon leader sacks vice president, forestry minister

Gabon's leader Ali Bongo has dismissed his vice president and the minister of forests in the midst of a scandal over smuggling of kezavingo, a precious timber.
The president announced the sackings of Vice President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou and Forestry and Environment Minister Guy Bertrand Mapangou late Tuesday.
He gave no reasons for the action but 353 containers of timber worth $7.8 million impounded in February disappeared in what local media has called "Kevazingogate."

• S.Africa snubs US, extradites Mozambique ex-finance minister

South Africa has sent home former Mozambique finance minister Manuel Chang, who has been held since December on a US arrest warrant, to face corruption charges.

Chang, 63, was arrested over alleged involvement in fraudulent loans to Mozambique state firms worth $2 billion from which he received $17 million in kickbacks.
While he would have faced 45 years in the US if found guilty, Pretoria decided to send him on the strength of the southern African SADC regional bloc agreement on extradition.

• Sudan agents prevent arrest of former spy chief

Security agents guarding the house of former spy chief Salah Ghosh on Tuesday prevented prosecutors from arresting him over graft charges.

Their refusal comes as the ruling military council and protesters break ranks on talks over civilian rule.

Ghosh who resigned as chief of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service soon after the army ousted longtime leader Omar al-Bashir last month had overseen a brutal crackdown protesters.

• Angola cancels mega real estate deal awarded to Isabel dos Santos
  

Angolan President Joao Lourenco has cancelled a $1.3-billion real estate tender that had been awarded to his predecessor's daughter Isabel dos Santos.

The presidency said in a decree on Tuesday that there was "overcharging" and "violation of moral principles" in awarding the tender.

The job for the construction of a new suburb in the capital Luanda had been given to several companies, including Urbinveste, in which the former president Eduardo dos Santos daughter is the main shareholder.

• Body of DR Congo president Tshisekedi's father to return home

The body of Etienne Tshisekedi, father of DR Congo president Felix Tshisekedi, is to be repatriated home for burial two years after he died in Belgium.

Family members said the body would arrive on May 30 for a funeral at the Martyr's stadium and burial the following day.

Etienne, who died aged 84, is regarded as the father of opposition politics in Dr Congo, having been a fierce critic of former presidents Mobutu Sese Seko, Laurent Kabila and Joseph Kabila.

• Egypt raises electricity prices to spur economic recovery

Egypt has announced a 14.9 per cent increase in electricity prices in line with a $12 billion bailout given by the International Monetary Fund in 2016.

Electricity minister Mohamed Shaker said the increase would take effect in July, compounding the total increase in electricity prices to 81 per cent since the IMF deal.

Energy subsidies in Egypt have distorted trade and investments in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (comesa) with manufacturers relocating factories to Cairo.

• UN envoy warns of 'long and bloody war' in Libya
  

The UN envoy for Libya warned Tuesday the battle for Tripoli was "just the start of a long and bloody war" and called for immediate steps to cut off arms flows fuelling the fighting.
Addressing the Security Council, Ghassan Salame said many countries were supplying weapons to the UN-recognized GNA government and forces led by Khalifa Haftar that are on an offensive to capture Tripoli.
Haftar is said to enjoy backing from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and France. It recently posted pictures of Jordanian-built armored cars in response to the government sharing images of Turkish equivalents in its possession.