Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for June 26th

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 Ghanaian politics, the Ethiopian economy, the health of Nelson Mandela, Obama in Africa, and the Presidency in Egypt.

Obama au Sénégal: "For Security Reasons"
À quelques heures de l'arrivée à Dakar du président américain Barack Obama, les mesures de sécurité draconiennes qui entourent la visite laissent perplexes les Dakarois, qui commencent à se plaindre des perturbations du trafic, et... les journalistes, qui peinent à obtenir des informations claires. « For Security Reasons », le public ne doit rien savoir de l'heure ni du lieu des déplacements du président Barack Obama à Dakar. C'est du moins ce que déclarait hier une représentante de l'ambassade des États-Unis lors d'une réunion d'information organisée par la présidence de la République sénégalaise, devant un parterre médusé de 300 journalistes accrédités au Sénégal. Présents dans le salon des Princes de l'hôtel Terrou Bi depuis une centaine de minutes, eux-mêmes ne disposaient encore que de bribes d'informations contradictoires à propos des modalités de la couverture médiatique de la visite officielle tant attendue.
To read more visit the Jeune Afrique site here

Ghanian Minister's to Sign Performance Contract
Ghana President John Dramani Mahama has directed that cabinet ministers sign a performance contract that will determine whether they stay in office or lose their jobs. "It is one of the innovations that President Mahama has introduced in order to provide clarity as to what exactly his government intends to achieve," said Deputy Information minister Felix Ofosu-Kwakye. "This exercise is meant to remove any doubt as what expectations the president has of ministers and what they are expected to achieve within the period that they are in office," he said.
To read more visit the Voice of America News here

Ethiopian diaspora moves back home to boost economy
He built an office block on a crumbling congested thoroughfare in the centre of Addis Ababa, where there were few other businesses and seemingly few opportunities for a successful entrepreneur. Now from his fourth floor office overlooking the newly-refurbished, six-lane Bole Road, today crammed with cafés, hotels and shopping centres — a sign of Ethiopia's thriving economy — Tadiwos recalls almost despairing of finding other businesses to rent space in his office block. "I remember, we were almost praying whether we could get someone to rent this building," Tadiwos said. "It's amazing, I never believed it would grow this much, but it's happened," he added, looking down at the busy street below.
To read more visit the Mail & Guardian site here

Obama's Africa Trip To Focus On Democracy, Investment [webcast]
President Obama leaves Wednesday morning for a week-long tour through three African countries. It's his first extended visit to the continent as president. He'll be making stops in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
To read more visit NPR here

AQIM says European hostages in N Africa alive
Eight European hostages, including five from France, being held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) are safe, the group has said. The statement on Saturday from AQIM coincided with rallies across France organised by the families of French hostages who were seized in Niger in September 2010 to mark more than 1,000 days of captivity. Writing on its Twitter account, AQIM said: "We would like to assure the families and relatives of the hostages that their sons are safe, despite the fact that we have announced before France's intervention in Mali that [such intervention] is like signing the execution orders of the hostages."
To read more visit Al Jazeera English here

Officials: Mandela's condition still critical [video]
A statement from President Jacob Zuma's office on Tuesday said doctors at Pretoria's Mediclinic Heart Hospital were doing their best to ensure the "recovery, well-being and comfort" of Mandela, who was admitted to hospital more than two weeks ago with a lung infection. On Monday, Zuma asked his country to pray for the 94-year-old Mandela, who he said was "asleep" when he visited him in the hospital. Zuma said that doctors at the hospital were doing everything possible to help Mandela feel comfortable on his 17th day in hospital. However, he refused to give details of Mandela's condition, saying: " I'm not a doctor ''.
To read more and watch the video, visit Al Jazeera English here

Le Nord-Kivu demande que le Rwanda et l'Ouganda ouvrent des négociations avec leurs rébellions
Il faut des pressions internationales pour amener le Rwanda et l'Ouganda vers la démocratie, sous-entendu obliger ces deux pays à négocier avec leurs rebellions respectives. C'est le sens de la lettre ouverte que l'ensemble des communautés du Nord-Kivu adresse à Ban Ki-moon, le secrétaire général de l'ONU. Une lettre dont le contenu a été révélé à Kinshasa.
To watch the video visit the RFI site here

Africa: Obama's Coming - So's the Navy & the Air Force
The citizens of Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania are about to be hit over the coming week with the full panoply of an American presidential visit. Normally, few details of the logistical operations required to move heads of state around the world, and the disruptions they cause, are published – unless security measures become obvious to the public, or things go wrong. In 1998, manholes in the streets of Cape Town were welded down on a state visit to South Africa by President Bill Clinton. In 2000, his entourage of 1,500 – including business leaders and journalists – reportedly filled two major hotels in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
To read more visit the AllAfrica site here

Finally, real time money transfers for EAC
Anyone who has tried to send money across countries and currencies in East Africa is familiar with the painfully slow or non-existent systems, exorbitant commissions, unbankable security and frayed nerves. But all that should change when a proposed regional payment system goes live later this year. The system, known as the East African Cross-Border Payment System (EAPS), is part of a larger plan by the EAC economies to integrate their money and capital markets.
To read more visit the East African here

How to oust a president (again), Egyptian-style
Hearing their bright-eyed talk around a café table of a peaceful new Egyptian revolution, you might dismiss Mahmoud Badr and the other young instigators of a petition asking for a new president as hopeless dreamers. Except they managed it once before – Cairo twentysomethings just like these, in their deck shoes and Tommy Hilfiger T-shirts, checking iPads and puffing on low-tar Marlboros over Turkish coffee, a few blocks from Tahrir Square. In 2011 this generation, armed with Facebook, brought out Egyptians of all ages and backgrounds in protest and, to the world's amazement, toppled the "Pharaoh" Hosni Mubarak.
To read more visit the Mail & Guardian site here

'Boko Haram Leader Is From Niger Republic' [Nigeria]
Leader of the Boko Haram sect Imam Abubakar Shekau hails from Niger Republic, according to the report of a Senate joint committee that investigated the deadly violence in Baga town of Borno State in April. Shekau is widely believed to be from Shekau village of Yobe State, but the Senate committee in its report submitted yesterday said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima told visiting senators that the man was actually from the neighbouring Republic of Niger. The report, a copy obtained by Daily Trust, said senators were told that "although the Boko Haram sect members have some Chadians and Cameroonians within their midst about 80 per cent of them are of Kanuri tribe, adding that the leader of the sect Abubakar Shekau is a Kanuri from Niger Republic.
To read more visit the AllAfrica site here

On a lighter note, be sure to drop by Ari in Africa, a Tumblr blog being run by Ari Shapiro from NPR that combines on the ground reporting of Obama's trip with occasional humorous updates on what's going on with the press corps.