African News Explained

Corruption watchdog Transparency International has published its annual survey, showing Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia as the world's most corrupt countries. Denmark and New Zealand are almost squeaky-clean. The corruption index uses 13 data sources from organisations such as the World Bank and Economist Intelligence Unit. Researcher Marie-Ange Kalenga looks at successes and the failures in Africa's fight against corruption. You can follow Daniel Finnan on Twitter: @Daniel_Finnan

In Abidjan, the annual meeting of the African Securities Exchanges Association is taking place, with policy-makers, central bank governors and financiers all trying to decide the future of African stock markets. The theme of the three-day event is: From promises to achievements, the key role of capital markets. More than twenty African stock exchanges are members of the African Securities Exchanges Association and there's an increasing appetite for African stocks amongst investors worldwide. So what's right and what's wrong with African financial markets? And how will they change in the future? RFI spoke to Aly-Khan Satchu, trader and founder of the rich.co.ke financial website. You can follow Daniel Finnan on Twitter: Daniel_Finnan

Elephant poaching is on the rise. New figures show that the illegal trade in ivory could wipe out 20 percent of Africa's elephants in the next ten years. Conservationists from around the world have gathered in Gabarone, Botswana for the start of the African Elephant Summit today. RFI spoke to Simon Stuart, a representative of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), on why elephant poaching has increased in Africa.  

French troops have started to deploy in the Central African Republic, airlifting men and equipment to the capital Bangui, in preparation for an intervention to restore order. This comes after French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced plans earlier this week that France was sending one-thousand troops to help stop increasing violence. The situation in the country has become increasing precarious following the ousting of former president Francois Bozize by the Seleka rebel coalition in March this year. Its thought that some four-hundred-thousand people across the country have been displaced, many of them living in the bush, with little access to clean water or humanitarian relief. RFI speaks to Christian Mulamba, Country Director of International Medical Corps, a humanitarian organisation that is trying to provide medical care. You can follow Daniel Finnan on Twitter: @Daniel_Finnan

South Africa's top appeals court says the authorities have a duty to investigate allegations of torture in neighbouring Zimbabwe. The court ruling could spell trouble for 17 Zimbabwean officials accused of torture, should they seek to travel to South Africa. South African prosecutors had refused to investigate the allegations, citing political concerns. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe had previously asked the ruling African National Congress to block any investigation. RFI spoke to Nicole Fritz the leader of one of the groups who filed the case. You can follow Daniel Finnan on Twitter: @Daniel_Finnan

Three survivors of a tragedy that caused the deaths of 63 migrants in the Mediterranean are taking the Belgian army to court for failing to rescue them. They say the Belgian military present in the area two years ago failed to respond to their repeated distress signals.  Katherine Booth of the International Federation for Human Rights explain why her organisation has joined NGOs backing the case.  

A high-ranking UN official says the human rights situation in Eritrea is so dire that hundreds of thousands of people have fled the country. Sheila Keetharuth, the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, has been prevented from traveling to Asmara. So in order to document the situation there she told RFI's Michel Arseneault that she had to interview refugees.

A UN official says he is deeply concerned about overcrowding in prisons in Ghana. Juan Méndez, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, visited one jail that was filled to five times its maximum capacity. He says that in some jails, prisoners are living in "sub-human" conditions.  

A report by NGOs Oxfam and Publish What You Pay calls on the French government and mining firm Areva to commit to paying taxes on its uranium mining concerns in Niger. Areva should not benefit from tax exemptions, says one of the report's authors, Anne-Sophie Simpere.  

Liberian newspaper editor  Rodney Sieh tells RFI that he's emerged from a jail term a stronger man and better journalist. Sieh was taken into custody in August after refusing to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that his paper should pay 1.2 million euros for libelling former agriculture minister Chris Toe. He was released last Thursday and all charges against him dropped. After going on hunger strike, he spent much of his sentence in hospital following a decline in his health.

After weeks of escalating tension between the movements involved in Mozambique's 1980s civil war, voters are casting their ballots in municipal elections Wednesday. Former rebel group Renamo, now the main opposition party, is boycotting the vote and has resumed the armed struggle. Clashes with government forceshave left several people dead and dozens injured in the centre of the country. Historian Eric Morier-Genoud discusses what is at stake in the polls.  

An engineer held hostage for 11 months by armed Islamists in Nigeria has returned to France, accompanied by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. The kidnapping was claimed by Ansaru, a split-off from the Boko Haram movment. Marc-Antoine Perouse de Montclos, the author of a forthcoming book titled Boko Haram: Islamism, Politics, Security, and the State in Nigeria, comments.  

Although a million tourists visit the east African country of Tanzania every year, the government has said it is keen to more than double the number. Efforts are underway to attract visitors from China, the world's most populous country and its second largest economy. But some local people are unhappy that they are prevented from living or growing crops in the country's vast game reserves. RFI spoke to an official of the Natural Resources and Tourism Ministry about some of these issues during a recent visit to Paris.

Today marks 100 days since Robert Mugabe was reelected president for his seventh consecutive term since he came to power in 1980. Although Mugabe's campaign centred on creating jobs, analysts say the unemployment rate is still in the region of 80 to 90 per cent throughout the country. Vince Musewe, an independent economist in Harare, says that economic prospects for the average Zimbabwean are fairly bleak.

Human rights activists are urging the UN Security Council to vote no to a Rwandan proposal to defer of the International Criminal Court trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for a year. The ICC has already granted Deputy President William Ruto a postponement of his trial. Activists believe that the vote provides for political meddling in the legal process, legal expert Tawanda Hondora explains. You can follow Daniel Finnan on Twitter: @Daniel_Finnan

The US State Department has formally added two Nigerian Islamist groups, Boko Haram and Ansaru, to its list of "foreign terrorist organisations". This designation makes it a crime to provide "material support" to the two groupsand US law enforcement agencies must now block business and financial transactions with Boko Haram and Ansaru, explains Veryan Khan of the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (Trac) in the US.   You can follow Michel Arseneault on Twitter: @miko75011

Music lovers in South Korea are to have a rare treat tonight. A Congolese maestro will be conducting the Korean Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Centre. Armand Diangienda is the founder of the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra, the only one of its kind in central Africa. The musicians and singers are run-of-the-mill Congolese who are passionate about classical music. Some have even built their own instruments. German film-maker Martin Baer has made a documentary on this extraordinary group of people.   More information on the Kinshasa Symphony documentary:www.kinshasa-symphony.com You can follow Michel Arseneault on Twitter:@miko75011  

The case against the nine South African police officers accused of killing a taxi driver, was postponed due to funding issues yesterday. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union had paid for the bail of the accused, but cannot pay for the legal fees in a criminal case. Video footage taken of the incident that took place on the 26th of February this year, shows the taxi driver Mido Macia handcuffed behind a police vehicle and being dragged down a street. Macio, who was a Mozambiqan national, was allegedly confronted by the police because his taxi was blocking the traffic. He later succumbed to his injuries in police custody. The video footage made international news, causing an outcry against police brutality. To discuss the issue of police brutality in South Africa and how such court cases are funded, RFI spoke to Dr Johan Burger, senoir researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

A new crowdsourcing project is aiming to do what US special forces couldn't do - find the notorious leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. The Expedition Kony project is trying to raise 400,000 euros, by soliciting donations on its website so that they can track him down. Kony has evaded capture for years. He's wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. And the US has deployed 100 military advisors to work with armies in the region to intensify the search. To discuss the Expedition Kony's chances of success and whether it is a good idea, RFI spoke to Ross Fenter, filmmaker and a member of the team. For more information on Expedition Kony, visit their website: www.expeditionkony.com And if you want to follow Daniel Finnan, he's on Twitter: Daniel_Finnan 

Malawi police say former justice minister Ralph Kasambala has been arrested on charges of attempting to assassinate Paul Mphwiyo, an anti-corruption treasury official. Kasambala is one of 11 high-profile figures arrested in relation to the "cashgate" scandal, in which officials are accused of embezzling more than 20 million euros in foriegn aid, Alexander Baum, EU ambassador to Malawi, explains.