Africa at a glance

Former Arsenal football club manager Arsene Wenger after receiving the 2019 Laureus World Sports Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sporting Monte-Carlo complex in Monaco on February 18, 2019. FIFA appointed Wenger its head of Global Football Development on November 13, 2019 giving him leadership on technical matters, law changes, coach education and helping players become managers. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP.  

In Summary

• Rwanda growth exceeds expectations at 10.3 percent in June.
• PEWS study puts numbers to migrants crisis in Europe, US.
• FIFA name Arsene Wenger global football development chief.

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By AFRICAREVIEW.COM
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• Teachers strike adds to Libya's woes

A Libyan teachers' strike over salaries and "phantom" employees has closed schools for the past month in a country where education has already been hard hit by conflict and political turmoil.

The teachers, who earn on average 800 dinars ($620) a month, are demanding the resignation of education minister Othman Abdel Jalil and pay rises from Tripoli's Government of National Accord (GNA).

Jalil has ordered the suspension of hundreds of striking teachers and the dismissal of an estimated 150,000 teachers on the ministry's payroll without ever turning up for work.

• Algerian energy law fuels anger on streets

A draft law on Algeria's oil and gas sector aimed at attracting foreign investments has been met with hostility by an anti-regime protest movement that claims the legislation is slanted in favour of multinationals.

The bill to be put to a vote on Thursday gives state owned Sonatrach oil company majority share in all projects involving foreign companies in a bid to bolster faltering partnerships.

The law also introduces a fixed 30 percent tax on profits but removes a tax on windfall gains when the ownership of oil resources changes hands.

• Mozambique economy set to bounce back in 2020

The International Monetary Fund has forecast a strong rebound in the Mozambique's economy in 2020, driven by an expected gas boom.

Real growth in the value of economic activities is expected at 5.5 per cent next year, from 2.1 per cent in 2019, compared to an average of 3.7 per cent in the previous three years.

IMF Mozambique mission chief Ricardo Velloso said after a seven-day mission in the country that the boost is mainly supported by "post-cyclones reconstruction efforts", agricultural recovery and the easing of monetary conditions.

• Rwanda growth exceeds expectations at 10.3 percent in June

Rwanda's real GDP growth surged by 10.3 per cent in the first half of the year on the back of tourism receipts and transportation.

The IMF said after a review of the country's economy that growth to the end of 2019 would be at 8.5 per cent, up from a projected 7.8 per cent.

That will lay a foundation for the economy to grow at 8 per cent on average up to 2022 driven by construction of public infrastructure and private investments.

• Egypt oil pipeline fire kills six

Six people were killed and 15 injured when a pipeline caught fire in Egypt's northern province of Bahira on Wednesday, with officials blaming a leak caused by vandals syphoning off oil.

Health ministry spokesman Khaled Mugahed said the fire broke out on the pipeline near Itay al-Baroud, a village half-way between Cairo and Alexandria, but was put out and the leak fixed.
Pipeline spills remain a key threat to environmental and human safety especially when they pass through densely populated areas in many African countries.

• Facebook nixes billions of fake accounts

Facebook says it has taken down some 5.4 billion fake accounts this year in its persistent battle against manipulation and misinformation on social media platforms.

Amid growing efforts to create fraudulent accounts, Facebook said it has stepped up its defencees and often removes the accounts within minutes of being created.

Facebook estimates that fake accounts represented about five percent of its worldwide active users during the second and third quarters of this year with regulator demands for user details at record highs.

• PEWS study puts numbers to migrants crisis in Europe, US

Illegal migrants constituted less than one per cent of Europe's population of more than 500 million in 2017 with nearly 40 percent of them from Africa and the Middle East.

A research by the US Pews Research center said there were between 3.9 million and 4.8 million unauthorized immigrants, slightly lower than in 2016 when there were between 4.1 million and 5.3 million.

By source, Asia Pacific region contributed 30 percent, Non-EU European countries 23 percent, North Africa and Middle East 21 percent, sub-Sahara Africa 17 percent and eight percent from the Americas.

Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and France carried more than 70 per cent of the immigrants while half of the immigrants were seeking asylum.

In comparison a fifth of the 10.7 million migrants in the US, about three per cent of the population, were asylum seekers.

• FIFA name Arsene Wenger global football development chief

FIFA has named former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger its chief of global football development with leadership on the technical side of the game including changes to sports laws.

He will be responsible for the growth of the sport across genders through coach education and supporting a programme designed to help former players enter management.

Wenger, 70, said he was attracted to the role by his interest in analysing football from a broader perspective and by the world football's governing body "truly global" mission.