Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for December 11th

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are updates on Nelson Mandela's memorial service, economic changes in South Africa, new policies in the East African community, positive progress in mitigating the burden of malaria, and French involvement in the conflict in the Central African Republic.

Huge crowds file past Nelson Mandela's body in Pretoria
Thousands of South Africans have queued to view the body of former President Nelson Mandela in Pretoria. Mr Mandela's body is lying in state at the government buildings where he was sworn in as South Africa's first black president in 1994. Among those paying their respects were his widow Graca Machel, President Jacob Zuma, celebrities including Bono and other relatives and officials. Mr Mandela died last Thursday at the age of 95 and will be buried on Sunday.To read more, please visit BBC Africa site here.

Solar Boom Boosts South African Salaries With 25% Jobless
Ramone van Wyk's wage more than quadrupled when he gave up working on sheep farms in South Africa's arid Northern Cape province and got a job assembling a solar-thermal power plant for Abengoa SA. South Africa's largest province is being transformed by President Jacob Zuma's government energy policies. The initiative touched off the continent's biggest boom in renewable power and is creating jobs in a country where unemployment has remained near 25 percent for the past four years. To read more, please visit the Bloomberg site here.

East Africa's top economies launch cross-border payment system
East Africa's biggest economies have launched an integrated real-time cross-border payments system designed to remove bottlenecks to business and bolster intra-regional trade, Kenya's central bank said on Wednesday. The East African Payments System (EAPS) is an early step towards the creation of a monetary union within the five nation East African Community (EAC) trade bloc, which member states hope to establish within 10 years.To read more, please visit the Reuters site here.

Africa: World Malaria Report 2013 Shows Major Progress in Fight Against Malaria, Calls for Sustained Financing
Global efforts to control and eliminate malaria have saved an estimated 3.3 million lives since 2000, reducing malaria mortality rates by 45% globally and by 49% in Africa, according to the World malaria report 2013 published by the World Health Organization (WHO). An expansion of prevention and control measures has been mirrored by a consistent decline in malaria deaths and illness, despite an increase in the global population at risk of malaria between 2000 and 2012. Increased political commitment and expanded funding have helped to reduce incidence of malaria by 29% globally, and by 31% in Africa. To read more, please visit the AllAfrica.com site here.

Centrafrique: les soldats français poursuivent le désarmement après la visite de Hollande
Les militaires français déployés en Centrafrique, qui ont perdu deux des leurs lundi soir, poursuivaient mercredi matin leurs opérations de désarmement des groupes armés à Bangui. La veille, ils avaient reçu un soutien appuyé du président François Hollande, qui a fait escale dans la capitale centrafricaine en rentrant d'Afrique du Sud. To read more, please visit the Jeune Afrique site here.