| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
CONTENTS:
MAURITANIA: Gunmen attack German tourists CHAD: Rebels claim capture of Aozou The GAMBIA: IMF approves US $11.8 million loan The GAMBIA: Electricity deal struck with South African firm
MAURITANIA: Gunmen attack German tourists
A group of some 52 German tourists, crossing the desert in convoy from North to West Africa, were robbed of vehicles and cash by a gang of armed men, according to news organisations on Monday.
The gang, who stole at least US $180,000 in cash and four vehicles, attacked the tourists in the triangle between Algeria, Mali and Mauritania. The tourists were unharmed and left with large trucks and sufficient fuel for them to reach the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. The identity of the gunmen was unclear, news reports said.
CHAD: Rebels claim capture of Aozou
A rebel group fighting the government in northern Chad says it has captured the Aozou area in the Tibesti mountains, according to a report on 21 November by Gabonese Africa No 1 radio.
The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT)
said that some 80 people were killed and 47 others
taken prisoner during the fighting that preceded the
fall of Aozou. There has been no official reaction
from the Chadian government.
The GAMBIA: IMF approves US $11.8 million loan
A US $11.8-million loan for The Gambia under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) was approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 19 November.
The loan will help the country establish a "durable and broad-based economic growth and a lasting reduction in poverty," the IMF said. The Gambia has an IMF quota of about US $42.8 million. Its outstanding use of IMF financing currently totals some US $8.1 million.
The GAMBIA: Electricity deal struck with South African firm
The Gambia has signed a deal with South Africa's state-owned power utility, Eskom, with a view to ending electricity shortages, Reuters quoted Gambian officials as saying on Saturday. The officials said that under the deal Eskom would bring equipment to The Gambia to help it generate additional electricity. The Gambia has been suffering shortages of power since the mid-1970s.
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Item: irin-english-2019
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Subscriber: afriweb@sas.upenn.edu Keyword: IRIN
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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