Property prices in 2011 - As land and property prices move out of reach of entry-level buyers in most high rent areas of Nairobi, Eastlands is rising rapidly as a middle class residential area, according to the latest Hass Index report on neighbourhood rents and property prices in 2011. The fourth quarter 2011 report that revealed Eastlands as an upcoming investment area attributed the growth to the opening of new public transport routes and launch of projects such as Casa Mia that showcases three-bedroom houses at Sh5.25 million.

Development projects - Africa plans to launch a fund to harness the financial resources of its citizens based in the Diaspora which will be used for development projects on the continent. The proposed African Diaspora Development Fund and Remittances will be unveiled at the Global African Diaspora Summit to be hosted by the African Union (AU) Commission in collaboration with the South African government in Johannesburg from 23-25 May.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that its investigation on the subsidy scam is almost completed, adding that the commission would soon move against oil firms indicted by the House of Representatives' ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy probe. A source close to the EFCC told LEADERSHIP yesterday that the commission was on top of the situation. According to the source, "Of course, we are almost through with our investigation, and once we are through, we will move against the indicted oil firms."

Empowering girls and women is not a threat but one of the smartest social and economic decisions that a nation can make, Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said. She made the remark in Abuja at a National Gender Policy Dialogue jointly hosted by the World Bank Nigeria and the Department For International Development (DFID). She said that the World Bank gender report argues that empowering girls and women is a resource that adds to a nations GDP growth.

International - The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has been tasked by Group of Eight (G8) leaders to strengthen Africa's seed sector. AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers. The alliance was given the key role during the just concluded G8 summit hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama at Camp David near Washington, where this year's G8 Summit of the world's largest economies took place.

Malaria medicines - A new medical survey has come up with disturbing a revelation; more than a third of malaria medicines on the market are fake, dealing a serious blow to international efforts to roll back the killer disease. These findings are a wake-up call and demand a series of interventions to better define and eliminate both criminal production and poor manufacturing of antimalarial drugs. The study carried out by the Fogarty International Centre at the US National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, states that more than a third of malaria drugs analysed by scientists in Africa were below standard.

Society - Homosexuals in America are still savouring the support they have received from President Barack Obama. In an interview with a broadcasting organisation (ABC), a fortnight ago, the United States president argued that same-sex marriage should be legalised. "I've always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally," Obama said. Since then, the American leader, who has become the first US president to openly support gay marriage, has been under fire from mainly Christian leaders around the world. But some in the gay rights community called it "an act of political bravery".

Mali Prime Minister, Modibo Diarra, on Monday urged his compatriots to remain calm, urging them to stop their protest marches following the attack on the transition president, Dioncounda Traore.

Football - Kenya and Sudan will be the only Cecafa member nations with home ties on the first weekend of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Africa Zone qualifiers in a fortnight. While Kenya’s Harambee Stars welcome Malawi to Nairobi on 2 June and Sudan take on Zambia in Khartoum, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda play away. Two days ago, South Africa announced their team, led by Steven Pienaar, that will not be taking any chances as they await Ethiopia at Rustenburg on 3 June.

Politics - Baghdadi Mahmoudi, the Libyan Prime Minister under Mouammar Kadhafi, has not been handed over to current Libyan authorities, a spokesperson for the National Transitional Council (NTC), Mohamed Al-Harizi, has said. Emphatically denying knowledge of Mahmoudi's extradition to Libya, Al-Harizi told the Libyan News Agency that information reported by some media to the contrary was 'unfounded'.

A team of African Union election observers have arrived in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, to observe the Southern African country’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for 26 May, the AU said Tuesday. AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, said the deployment of an Electoral Observer Mission (EOM) to Lesotho for the parliamentary elections, was made early to give the mission time to observe the pre-election campaigns.

Paris, France - The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, Tuesday extended her condolences to Italians following the loss of human lives caused by the earthquake that shook northern Italy on Sunday, 20 May. In a press statement, Bokova also said that UNESCO was sending a mission to assess damage to World Heritage sites and other cultural heritage in the region.

The Libyan human rights group has condemned Monday's killing of two security agents from the Libyan Ministry of Home affairs. In a statement released in Benghazi (Libya's second largest city), the group said Libyans should rejects all forms of violence with authorities enforcing laws banning violence. It called on all armed personnel to renounce violence and unit under the banner of the Ministry of Defence to build a strong, national army.

Paris, France - The Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, a UNESCO Special Envoy on Literacy for Development, will join UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on Friday, 25 May, to review the achievements of UNESCO’s Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education during its first year.

AGRA to help implement new G8 Global partnership initiative on food security - The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has been given a key role in the G8’s next phase of shared commitment to achieve global food security, according to a statement from the Alliance which was received here Tuesday by PANA. The 'Scaling Seeds and Other Technologies Partnership', part of the new initiative focusing on increasing agricultural food production in Africa, will be housed at AGRA and will focus on strengthening Africa’s seed sector.

Some 2,579,000 Libyans, accounting for about 73 per cent of the electorate, have been registered as Libya's first democratic exercise -- elections into the Constituent Assembly -- draws near. PANA, quoting the latest figures from the 'High national electoral commission, reports that of the 3.4 million persons of voting age, a massive 2.5 million showed interest in the exercise in a country of five million people. Analysts say that the massive registration of voters, the first since decades, reveals the keen interest of Libyans in democracy in a country led for over 42 years by a regime that had banned elections.

Tuesday's forex rates for Nigerian Naira - Following are the latest exchange rates for the Nigerian currency, the Naira, against other major foreign currencies, as released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State has called on the Federal Government to ban importation of science and industrial equipment into the country because they could be produced locally. Governor Wada, who said this when the acting Director General of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Dr Mohammed Sanni Haruna, called on him in Lokoja, cautioned that unless the Federal Government stops importation of science and industrial equipment, millions of dollars would continue to be wasted on machines that could be produced locally by NASENI.

National Health Insurance Scheme - Acting Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Abdulrahman Sambo, has made case for a review of the cost of medical services in the country.

Renault South Africa - Cooked in Africa Films, which specialises in the production of entertainment and original content - mostly reality documentaries - for both TV and new media platforms has negotiated a R2.1 million sponsorship deal with local French vehicle manufacturer, Renault South Africa. Founder and creative director of Cooked in Africa Films, Justin Bonello with Fabien Payzan, marketing vice-president of Renault SAclick to enlarge