Africa briefs

SA mine deaths fall to record low

South Africa saw the lowest number of mine deaths on record last year, with 51 people killed compared to 81 the previous year, the mines ministry said on Friday.

"The lowest recorded fatalities in 2019 at 51 shows that there's a possibility of a fatality-free mining industry and that's what we are striving for," the ministry cited minister Gwede Mantashe as saying in comments posted on Twitter.

A poor safety record has contributed to slower investment at some South African mines in recent years, along with depressed commodities prices and rising labour and power costs.

Nineteen people died in gold mines last year, 19 in platinum mines, seven in coal mines and six in other types of mine, the ministry said. – Nampa/Reuters

Zim inflation to fall to 50% by December

Zimbabwe's central bank governor has said annual inflation was expected to sharply fall to 50% by the end of this year, as the bank left the main lending rate unchanged saying it was working to stabilise the exchange rate and prices.

The government last year suspended publication of annual inflation data until next month, but economic analysts say the figure reached 525% in December.

John Mangudya said that since October month-on-month inflation has been falling and ended the year at 16.55%, near the bank's target of 15% last month, giving rise to forecasts that it would fall to single-digit levels.

"This trend would see the year-on-year inflation coming down to about 50% by December 2020," Mangudya said in a statement.

He said central bank government subsidies should be financed from the national budget not by the central bank as this would destabilise exchange rates and fuel inflation. – Nampa/Reuters

UN slams Libya arms embargo violations

Weapons are pouring into Libya in violation of an arms embargo and despite commitments made by world powers, the UN's mission in Libya has said as Germany expressed concern about reports of infringements.

World leaders met in Berlin last weekend and committed to ending all foreign meddling in Libya and to upholding the 2011 UN Security Council weapons embargo as part of a broader plan to end the country's conflict.

The UN mission in Libya, UNSMIL, said in a statement late Saturday it "deeply regrets the continued blatant violations of the arms embargo in Libya".

"Over the last 10 days, numerous cargo and other flights have been observed landing at Libyan airports in the western and eastern parts of the country providing the parties with advanced weapons, armoured vehicles, advisers and fighters," it added.

On Sunday, Germany's foreign ministry expressed support for the UNSMIL statement, along with concern about "a series of unconfirmed but credible reports of embargo violations on both sides". – Nampa/AFP

Lassa fever kills 29 in Nigeria

Nigerian health authorities have announced stepped-up emergency measures to tackle a rise in Lassa fever cases after 29 people died this month.

"As at 24th of January 2020, 195 confirmed cases and 29 deaths had been reported in 11 states," the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in a statement Saturday.

A national emergency operations centre had been activated to coordinate the response "to the increasing number of Lassa fever cases" across the country.

Endemic to Nigeria, Lassa fever belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses, but is much less deadly.

Nigeria declared an outbreak of Lassa fever a year ago and around 170 people died from the virus in 2019. The NCDC said that compared to the same period last year the fatality rate had dropped from 23.4% to 14.8%. – Nampa/AFP