Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for July 9th

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 business and economic growth in Africa, human rights in South Sudan, elections in Zimbabwe and the health of Nelson Mandela.

African Business' Top 250 Companies
Despite a familiar look to our table of Africa's Top 250 companies, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that momentous changes are on their way. South African companies remain in a league of their own but are growing more slowly than their counterparts in West and East Africa. Both régions are enjoying strong economic growth and attracting a bigger share of international investment than in the past. At the same time, non-commodity sectors are becoming more important, although it remains to be seen whether this trend will be maintained in the face of any renewed boom in commodity prices.
To read more please visit the African Business site here

IMF slashes South Africa's economic growth forecast
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has significantly slashed South Africa's economic growth forecast to 2% for 2013 from a 2.8% outlook in April, its latest World Economic Outlook report showed on Tuesday. This is now more in line with local forecasts. Most local institutions have lowered their outlooks following much weaker than expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter. The IMF report showed that growth is expected to come in at 2.9% in 2014, down from an earlier forecast of 3.3%.
To read more please visit the Business Day site here

Africa: UN Report Provides Roadmap to End Poverty
At this September's meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, governments will discuss elements of the development agenda to succeed the Millennium Development Goals when they expire in 2015. Recently, I was proud to serve as a member of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, a group convened by the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to recommend such a plan.  After engaging with more than 5,000 civil society groups and many other stakeholders from around the world to discuss their priorities, the following report was published on May 30, emphazing how the world can ultimately end extreme poverty and reach sustainable development.
To read more please visit the AllAfrica site here

Egypte : l'inadmissible violence de l'armée
Si l'armée égyptienne avait voulu prouver qu'elle est incapable de ramener un peu de paix civile dans le pays, elle ne s'y serait pas prise autrement. Si elle avait souhaité montrer qu'elle n'est pas l'acteur neutre et impavide qu'elle prétend être en ces heures dramatiques pour l'Egypte, elle se serait comportée exactement comme elle l'a fait lundi matin 8 juillet, au Caire. Loin d'aider le plus grand des pays arabes à retrouver un peu sérénité, au lendemain du coup d'Etat de la semaine dernière, elle a contribué à le faire plonger un peu plus dans le chaos et la violence.
To read more please visit the Lemonde.fr site here

S Sudan faces 'an increasingly perilous state'
US activists who backed the split from Sudan claimed in a letter on Tuesday that the fledgling country faces "an increasingly perilous state". Signatories of the letter, which accuses the new country of failing its own people and repeating the mistakes of previous rulers before independence, include John Prendergast, a former director for African affairs at the White House's National Security Council. "Many people in South Sudan are suffering, yet government officials seem to care only about themselves," reads the letter, also signed by former US State Department officials including Ted Dagne, a former advisor to the government. "We joined you in your fight against these very abuses by the Khartoum regime for many years," this was written in the letter addressed to South Sudan's President Salva Kiir.
To read more please visit the Mail and Guardian site here

East Africa Hopes to Have Regional Stock Exchange in a Year - Experts
East Africa's dream of a regional stock exchange that merges into one the stock markets of the five East Africa Community member states is likely to take off in a year or two, key players in the region have said. "Definitely we want to have one stock exchange. Technically, I think we are almost there. Maybe it will happen in about a year or two," said Kenneth Kitariko, Chief Executive Officer of African Alliance, Uganda's leading brokerage firm. At an event organized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Kampala last week; Mr Kitariko, member of the Governing Council of the Uganda Securities Exchange, spoke to African journalists.
To read more please visit the AllAfrica site here

Zim elections: Tsvangirai forges coalition to oust Mugabe
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday unveiled a coalition with former allies of President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has joined forces with Mugabe's former finance minister Simba Makoni and the Zanu-Ndonga party ahead of elections on July 31. The three formed a "coalition for change" behind Tsvangirai's bid for president, according to a joint statement. Makoni, a former senior official in Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union , resigned from the party in 2008 to form his own party Mavambo-Kusile-Dawn and challenge Mugabe in the presidential.
To read more please visit the Mail and Guardian site here

Mandela 'still with us', says grandson
Former president Nelson Mandela remains in a critical but stable condition in the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said on Tuesday. Mr Mandela, 94, has been in hospital since June 8, when he was admitted for treatment for a recurring lung infection.  On Tuesday, the public was thanked for their support and prayers for Madiba  by  President Jacob Zuma
To read more please visit the Business Day site here