THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) central committee has said the "centre" in the Presidency is not holding and blamed this on the inept coterie of people appointed to manage President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings.

The East African Community (EAC) secretariat is organising a regional conference aimed at actualisation of a US$900bn East African Railway Master plan which will cost $900 billion.

Two state authorised diamond mining firms, who have been mining the controversial Chiadzwa alluvial fields, could face a stern parliamentary rebuke for avoiding two consecutive parliamentary hearings on their activities.

Bill Gates' commitment at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to give $10 billion over the next decade to develop and distribute vaccines to children in the world's poorest countries has stimulated an interesting discussion on what would be the best use for such a large charitable gift. It's an important discussion too, as more very wealthy entrepreneurs use their charitable giving to change the whole paradigm of aid to the "bottom billion."

The Trade Conditions Survey for February continued on its improved trait rising to 54 points.

FORCING the rand to weaken would be a "very shortsighted" move for SA to make, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said yesterday.

"THE weather was bad as we left Lwakhakha. I told my colleagues not to worry because death is instant in a plane accident. They became cheerful," Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, admitted in Mulago Hospital, told his visitors yesterday.

Kuwaiti-based Zain, which was last year a headlines maker after its July announcement that it was looking at its options in Africa including a possible sale of its networks, is back in the news.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, there is a fresh energy in Sub-Saharan Africa--and a broad consensus on the road ahead. Above all, there is the strong sense that Africa's destiny will be driven by Africans, not by others.

The board of the international body that assigns internet addresses will this Friday vote on key strategic policies that will drive the future of internet.

Agricultural firm Sasini on Wednesday said it hopes to boost its pre-tax profit from Sh108 million to Sh579 million by 2012 following the initiation of diversification and value addition projects.

PTA Bank has received a loan facility of $50 million (Sh3.8 billion) from a consortium of international financiers for on-lending to small and medium sized corporate clients.

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has announced the oversubscription of the RCS Investment Holdings (RCS) bond.

SAA maintains its innocence in the ongoing ticket-price collusion investigations and promises to deal with lost baggage claims in the run up to the 2010 World Cup.

The Borno State government has unfolded a two-year infrastructure development plan for six council areas.

"Sorry No Gas" is one of the conspicuous inscriptions that continue to greet customers at the entrance of the numerous gas filling stations in the country. LPG gas has been in short supply in the capital for some days now.

As the world continues to develop at a faster pace in the 21st century, access information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) has become a critical tool in human advancement. Knowing this potential very well, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament said the use of ICT is unavoidable in the developmental agenda of the West African sub-region, especially, in the area of education.

With recovery getting under way, Africa should now address longer term challenges to the continent's future, including governance issues and climate change, to be able to press ahead with the region's economic transformation, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

Changes in weather patterns have turned agriculture into a gamble with nature for Tanzanian farmers. Prolonged droughts and floods have made the lives of small-scale farmers, who don't have access to irrigation, extremely difficult.

CAF Southern Africa has launched this year's Employee Volunteer Week, to run from March 15 to 21.

The government has summoned the manufacturers of the police helicopter that crashed on Monday, injuring Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi and five other people on board. Also summoned is a South African firm that was involved in the purchase, the State Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr Matia Kasaija, told Parliament yesterday.

The VIP ward at Mulago Hospital was yesterday a hive of activity as visitors thronged to check on the Prime Minister who was admitted there following a helicopter accident on Monday.

An estimated 70 people were killed yesterday and several dozen others were seriously injured when a trailer laden with cement lost control and veered off its lane at Lokoja, capital of Kogi State. It then rammed into nearly two dozen vehicles coming from the opposite direction, veered off the road and crushed scores of roadside traders and their customers.

Four persons were yesterday crushed to death by a trailer at the Uselu market along Ugbowo-Lagos road in Benin City.

With the current level of agribusiness financing put at about $5 billion per year, total projected demand needed for the development of the sector between now and 2050 has been pegged at about $620.4 billion, with an annual demand of $6.5 billion.

Death took 106 lives in different forms in three states on Monday and Tuesday, 104 of them through road accidents in Lokoja and Benin, and two by the bullets of kidnappers in Onitsha.

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has urged Community Development Workers (CDWs) to be the eyes and ears of government.

For a long time there has been a public outcry on the number of days it takes, for one to acquire an ATM card. Those who are tired of queuing in banks for a long period of time have always demanded for better and innovative ways of easing the banking processes.

Leaders of unions representing civil servants have called off their strike, ostensibly to give dialogue a chance.

Bank depositors may sleep more soundly if the Kenya government adopts IMF proposals to speed up the introduction of deposit insurance as part of reforms to strengthen the financial sector.