Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said on Wednesday she was saddened by the fact U.S. voters had not elected a woman president, and expressed concern about what President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s policy towards Africa would be.
Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected a head of state in Africa, said: &#8220;We are extremely saddened by this missed opportunity on the part of the people of the United States to join smaller democracies in ending the marginalisation of women.&#8221;
In an interview with BBC television, she said that Liberia, a nation founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves, had a long and historical relationship with the United States and she expected that to continue.
&#8220;We are concerned as to whether President-elect Trump will have an African agenda, will be able to build bridges with Africa. We can only hope that he will do so in due course.
&#8220;I&#8217;m worried about trade deals for Liberia, for Africa. I&#8217;m worried about investment and the special programmes that have been put in place by President Obama and by President George Bush before him, and we just don&#8217;t know what the policy towards Africa will be.&#8221;﻿

Liberia's Johnson Sirleaf saddened after Trump win

South Africa&#8217;s rand traded a tad firmer against the dollar on Monday, with dealers and analysts expecting muted trade ahead of Tuesday&#8217;s U.S. election, whose outcome is seen as too close to call.
* At 0646 GMT, rand up 0.28 percent at 13.5675 to the dollar, after ending Friday&#8217;s session in New York at 13.6050.
* Currency unmoved by central bank data showing South Africa&#8217;s net foreign reserves fell slightly to $41.799 billion in October from $41.953 billion the previous month.
* Rand holds its own despite a newspaper report that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will be charged over a surveillance unit at the tax agency he once ran. Report comes six days after separate charges were dropped against Gordhan.
* Stock futures index up 1 percent, suggesting Johannesburg bourse will start the week on a strong note at 0700 GMT.
* Government bonds rise slightly in early trade, yield for 10-year debt down 3.5 basis points to 8.665 percent compared with Friday&#8217;s close.﻿

South Africa's rand edges up, market cautious ahead of U.S. vote

Congo Republic plans to cut its budget by 24.3 percent in 2017 to 2.74 trillion CFA francs ($4.7 billion) as it reins in public spending following this year&#8217;s presidential election, the government said late on Friday.
Nevertheless, the government expects GDP growth to rise from 2.6 percent this year to 3.4 percent next year thanks to several new oil blocks which are expected to come online, government spokesman Thierry Moungalla said in a statement.
Congo is on track to reverse a decline in production and leapfrog Equatorial Guinea to become sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s third-largest crude producer by next year.
However, it is the most resource-dependent country in the world, according to the World Bank, with commodities accounting for nearly 60 percent of economic output and with about half the population in poverty.
President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has ruled Congo for 32 of the last 37 years, extended his time in office by winning re-election in March this year after changing the constitution to allow himself to stand for a third consecutive term.
Sassou Nguesso had encouraged the government &#8220;to set an example by reducing the operating costs of the state,&#8221; the statement said.

Congo republic govt sees 2017 GDP growth rising to 3.4 pct

Gabon&#8217;s opposition leader Jean Ping called on Thursday for national talks to form a &#8220;new republic&#8221; and urged foreign powers to impose sanctions on allies of President Ali Bongo, sworn in this week after a disputed election in the oil-producing nation.
Ping remained intransigent during his speech in the capital Libreville, saying he refused to recognise Bongo&#8217;s presidency. But his appeal for dialogue &#8212; albeit on his own terms &#8212; could help usher in a return to normal after post-election violence last month killed at least six people.
Ping ridiculed Bongo&#8217;s earlier appeals for talks, saying that the president, who came to power in a contentious 2009 election following his father Omar Bongo&#8217;s death after 42 years in power, had won fraudulently.
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Instead, he said he would organise his own talks, though he provided few details.
&#8220;This inclusive national dialogue will be&#8230;the occasion to put in place the foundations of a new republic,&#8221; he said.
Ping also called for sanctions against the authors of what he called &#8220;a military-electoral coup d&#8217;etat&#8221; and urged the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to come to Gabon to investigate violence after Bongo was declared the winner.
Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement on Thursday that she had begun a preliminary examination of the situation in the country at the request of the government. She will decide later whether to open a formal investigation. [nA5N197016]
Bongo&#8217;s victory in last month&#8217;s poll by less than 6,000 votes drew accusations of fraud from Ping. France called for a recount and the European Union said it found anomalies in Bongo&#8217;s stronghold province of Haut-Ogooue, where he won 95 percent of the vote on a 99.9 percent turnout.
But fears of resurgent violence after the Constitutional Court upheld Bongo&#8217;s victory last week failed to materialise and Bongo was sworn in at a subdued ceremony on Tuesday. [nL8N1C34KC]
He has promised to name an inclusive new government in the coming days and to address some of the issues that have fuelled anger in the country of 1.8 million, like youth unemployment and over-reliance on dwindling oil revenues.
However, the conduct of the poll may hurt his international reputation as a reformer, analysts said. Just a handful of African leaders attended his inauguration.﻿

Gabon leader's legitimacy rejected by opposition

Gabon President Ali Bongo promoted foreign minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet to the post of Prime Minister on Wednesday, a day after Bongo was sworn in following a razor-thin election victory whose integrity was questioned by international observers.
A statement read on state television said Bongo asked Ngondet to form an open government, in an apparent signal that members of the opposition could be invited to join.
Bongo&#8217;s victory by less than 6,000 votes has drawn unwelcome scrutiny of the president, whose family has ruled the oil-producing state in Central Africa for 49 years. Just a handful of African leaders attended his inauguration.
France called for a recount of the Aug. 27 vote and the European Union said it found anomalies in Bongo&#8217;s stronghold province of Haut-Ogooue, where he won 95 percent of the vote on a 99.9 percent turnout. Opposition leader Jean Ping said the election was rigged.﻿

New prime minister named in Gabon

Gabon will return to normal after a bitterly disputed election, its newly re-elected President Ali Bongo said, as soldiers patrolled and military aircraft flew over a capital that has been bracing for another explosion of violence.
The Constitutional Court late on Friday threw out a challenge against the election results by rival Jean Ping, enabling Bongo to extend his family&#8217;s dynastic 50-year rule over the small, oil-producing central African country.
Ping swiftly rejected the ruling as biased, and many Gabonese feared a return to the violence that killed at least six people &#8211; Ping&#8217;s supporters say it was more than 50 &#8211; when the result was first announced at the start of the month.
But in a nation that usually manages to avoid the massive bloodshed that afflicts other countries in the region, like Congo and Central African Republic, when power is contested, Bongo said he was confident of a peaceful resolution.
&#8220;It is business as usual. We are not worried about this state of crisis,&#8221; Bongo told Reuters in an interview late on Saturday. &#8220;I think that we will go back to normal &#8230; Gabonese are peace-loving people.&#8221;
On Sunday, soldiers deployed along main roads and a helicopter hovered over Ping&#8217;s headquarters. A fighter jet roared above the city. The red and white taxis that normally ply its palm-lined seaside avenues were mostly absent.
&#8220;Things are not normal. The people&#8217;s voice was stolen,&#8221; Richard Obame, 46, an unemployed Ping supporter, said, after the jet noise had died down.
&#8220;If it was calm, would we need the military presence on the streets and the helicopters above the house of Mr Ping?&#8221;
And yet Ping, whom authorities have threatened to arrest for inciting violence, has so far refrained from calling people on to the streets. That raises the possibility of a peaceful resolution, although Ping insists that the will of the Gabonese people be respected.
 
&#8220;OPEN GOVERNMENT&#8221;
Ali Bongo came to power in a contentious 2009 election following the death of his father Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon for 42 years and to whom Ping himself was very close.
&#8220;Bongo Junior&#8221;, as he is nicknamed, is showing signs of wanting to handle opponents in much the same way his father did: by bringing them into the tent. On Saturday he called for members of opposition parties to come and join his cabinet.
Communications minister Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze was quoted on France&#8217;s Journal du Dimanche website on Sunday as saying that from next week there would be &#8220;an open government, with members of the opposition, civil society and independent personalities.&#8221;
Whether this will be &#8220;business as usual&#8221; for Gabon and the Bongo dynasty may partly depend on the international reaction.
Gabon has never had a poll that international observers judged free and fair, and Western powers, especially ex-colonial master France, always looked the other way.
But on Saturday France and the European union both expressed &#8220;doubt&#8221; about the poll, which swung it for Bongo on a province, Haut-Ogooue, that gave him 95 percent of a 99.9 percent turnout.
Bongo pledged to address some of the issues that have fuelled anger in the country of 1.8 million, like youth unemployment and over-reliance on dwindling oil revenues.
&#8220;We want to move from just enjoying the profits of oil to an economy where we can also start producing,&#8221; Bongo told Reuters. &#8220;Manufacturing is very important &#8230; We are also inviting the national and international business community to invest. They want to find a country that is in peace and stable.&#8221;

"Business as usual," Gabon leader Ali Bongo says

Government officials in Gabon warned opposition leader Jean Ping on Wednesday that he risked arrest if unrest resumes when the Constitutional Court rules on his challenge to last month&#8217;s presidential election outcome.
The central African government said six people died in riots that erupted this month when results from the Aug. 27 vote handed victory to incumbent President Ali Bongo by less than 6,000 votes, extending his family&#8217;s half-century grip on power.
Ping, a former African Union commission chief, said as many as 100 people were killed in the violence and he filed a request for a recount, alleging fraud in one of Bongo&#8217;s strongholds.
&#8220;Mr. Ping said clearly that if the constitutional court did not declare him winner that there will be disorder. If he crosses the line, he will be arrested,&#8221; government spokesman Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze told a news conference.
The Constitutional Court has until Friday to decide on Ping&#8217;s complaint but authorities are already stepping up security in the capital Libreville, epicentre of the violence.
Soldiers and police were visible on city streets on Wednesday, taking up positions at major crossroads.
&#8220;Today we hear of more calls for disorder by certain compatriots. We know who they are. We know where they are. We are not going to let them agitate,&#8221; Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya said at the same news conference.
The petition alleges irregularities in Haut-Ogooue province, where Bongo won 95 percent on a turnout of 99.9 percent. A European Union observer mission also noted anomalies in the province&#8217;s results.
Ping&#8217;s spokesman, Jean Gaspard, told reporters on Wednesday that results in his campaign&#8217;s possession indeed showed that Bongo had won the province, but by a smaller margin of 89.17 percent with turnout of 81.67 percent.
Gaspard said that on a national level, those figures made Ping the poll&#8217;s winner with 51.17 percent of the vote, ahead of 46.71 percent for Bongo. &#8220;In principal, these are the results that must be proclaimed by the Constitutional Court.&#8221;
Bongo&#8217;s allies submitted evidence to the court rejecting Ping&#8217;s allegations and countering that the opposition leader had himself orchestrated vote fraud.
Ping is a lifelong insider to Gabonese politics. He was a close ally of Omar Bongo and has two children with the late president&#8217;s daughter, Pascaline.
During more than four decades in power, Omar Bongo cultivated close relations with a string of French presidents. However, Ali Bongo&#8217;s ties with Gabon&#8217;s former colonial masterhave been more strained.
 
(Additional reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome and Emma Farge in Dakar; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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Gabon warns Jean Ping: If he causes unrest, he will be arrested.

At least 44 people &#8211; including 37 demonstrators and six police officers &#8211; have been killed in protests over Congolese President Joseph Kabila&#8217;s perceived bid to extend his rule, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
The unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo started on Monday after its election commission decided to try to postpone the next presidential vote, due in November. 
Kabila&#8217;s opponents say the proposed delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power although ruling party politicians deny this. Kabila is barred constitutionally from running for a third term and his allies say he will respect the constitution.
With the disturbances forcing schools to close and halting public transport in the sprawling riverside capital Kinshasa, the United Nations expressed fears the situation could worsen.
The United States said Kabila&#8217;s government should have taken steps to defuse the violence and that it was prepared to impose sanctions targeting individuals involved in abuses.
French President Francoise Hollande blamed Congo authorities and urged them to respect the constitution and hold elections this year.
Adding to the mix of disapproval, Congo&#8217;s influential Roman Catholic Church suspended its participation in talks over the timetable for the next elections and stressed that Kabila should not be a candidate when they are held.
Several people were killed overnight when security forces burned down the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and attacked buildings of other opposition parties, according to Ida Sawyer, an Africa researcher for New York-based HRW.
Twenty people were killed in clashes on Monday and another 17 on Tuesday &#8211; &#8220;most (of them) when security forces fired on crowds of protesters&#8221;, Sawyer said.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a (ruling party) PPRD supporter and they have also burned and looted several shops and police stations.&#8221;
 
DEATH TOLL DISPUTED
Interior ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara said the death toll stood at 17 and that Human Rights Watch&#8217;s statement was a &#8220;typical&#8221; exaggeration by the group. The ministry had earlier said three of those killed were policemen.
The early hours fire was a criminal act, said opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, a UDPS official and son of veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, who lost to Kabila in a 2011 presidential run-off.
&#8220;We have on our hands seven dead and two people who were amputated: one at the arm and another at the leg, in the fire at our headquarters in Limete. There are also multiple people wounded at the hospital,&#8221; Felix Tshisekedi told Reuters.
&#8220;We won&#8217;t live with this barbarity. The people are angry.&#8221;
Government spokesman Lambert Mende condemned the attack on the UDPS premises but denied that security forces were involved.
Witnesses said calm returned to central Kinshasa by Tuesday afternoon, though there were reports of clashes in the suburbs.
Nearly 200 people were believed to have been arrested by Congo authorities on Monday and the United Nations received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
Kabila took power in 2001 when his father was assassinated, but must by law step down in December.
His opponents fear he may follow the example of leaders in other African countries such as Burundi, Congo Republic and Rwanda and change the constitution to extend his rule.
Congo has not experienced a peaceful transition of political power since its independence from Belgium in 1960.
Tom Perriello, U.S. Special Envoy for Africa&#8217;s Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence, which prompted Washington to suspend all travel by its officials to Congo.
&#8220;Unfortunately, the pattern over the last year has been to dramatically reduce that open political space &#8230; We have seen a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Congolese people,&#8221; he told a news conference in New York.
 
(Additional reporting by Amedee Mwarabu in Kinshasa, Tom Miles in Geneva and Emma Farge, Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton in Dakar and John Irish at the United Nations; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by)
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Death toll rises to 44 in Congo unrest

At least 17 people, including three policemen, were killed when Congolese police and anti-government protesters clashed in the capital Kinshasa on Monday during a march against President Joseph Kabila and what the protesters see as his bid to extend his mandate.
The protest, attended by thousands, came at a time of growing local and international pressure on Kabila to step down when his term of office legally ends in December.
The opposition accuses him of plotting to extend his tenure by delaying elections that were supposed to be held in November until at least next year. His supporters deny this.
&#8220;Officially, we have 17 dead in Kinshasa: three police and 14 civilians,&#8221; said Interior Ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara.
Earlier, a Reuters witness saw a crowd burning the body of a police officer in the Kinshasa suburb of Limete in an apparent act of retaliation for police gunfire.
Angry crowds tore down photographs of Kabila, chanting in French: &#8220;it&#8217;s over for you&#8221; and &#8220;we don&#8217;t want you&#8221;.
Georges Kapiamba, director of the Congolese Association For Access to Justice, a local non-governmental organisation, said that security forces shot dead twenty-five protesters.
Rights groups reported dozens of arrests of protesters and journalists in the capital as well as in Goma and Kisangani, where anti-government marches also took place.
A government spokesman confirmed the detention of opposition leader Martin Fayulu, who suffered a head injury during the march.
By mid-afternoon, most protesters had been dispersed and the streets in the normally bustling city centre were quiet.
 
&#8220;VERY DANGEROUS&#8221;
Monday&#8217;s march was sparked by anger over a decision by the election commission last week to petition the constitutional court to postpone the next presidential vote.
The vast, mineral-rich central African state has never seen a peaceful transition of power. Western observers and donors fear that growing political instability could mushroom into armed conflict in a country plagued by militias, especially in its lawless eastern regions.
Millions of people died in regional wars in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries.
Opposition leaders had planned to file an official petition against the decision before the clashes began. The police said in a statement that officers had been warned to use restraint, adding that it would punish those who do not comply.
Dozens of people died in similar protests against Kabila last year. Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Monday that the clashes were preceded by intensified government repression.
&#8220;Today&#8217;s march shows that the security forces have not switched their tactics and are still clamping down on anyone opposed to Kabila,&#8221; said Ida Sawyer, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
&#8220;People want their constitution to be respected and are willing to risk their lives to make sure that happens.&#8221; She added that three children were shot in Goma during the clashes.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday described the situation in Congo as &#8220;extremely worrying and very dangerous&#8221;, adding that European nations will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions.
The United States has already threatened sanctions against political figures in Congo over electoral delays. A senior adviser to Kabila has pleaded to Washington not to.
The U.S. embassy said on its Twitter feed that it was &#8220;outraged&#8221; by the harassment of its special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Thomas Perriello, at Kinshasa&#8217;s airport.
Congo&#8217;s &#8220;Presidential Majority&#8221;, as Kabila&#8217;s supporters call themselves, had accused Perriello, in a Sunday statement, of jeopardising talks aimed at resolving Congo&#8217;s political crisis.
 
(Additional reporting by Benoit Nyemba; in Kinshasa and Nellie Peyton in Dakar; writing by Emma Farge; editing by Tim Cocks, Larry King)
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Clashes in Kinshasa leave 17 dead

Gabon&#8217;s re-elected President Ali Bongo shrugged off international calls for a recount of last week&#8217;s disputed vote, saying it was a matter for the constitutional court to decide.
The European Union has questioned the validity of election which the opposition has dismissed as a sham. France, the former colonial ruler of the central African oil producer, has said a recount would be wise
Asked in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on Wednesday whether he would permit a recount, Bongo told France&#8217;s RTL radio: &#8220;What people should be asking me to do is apply the law. I cannot violate the law. As far as a recount is concerned &#8230; that&#8217;s done at the level of the Constitutional Court.&#8221;
Opposition leader Jean Ping, who has said the election was stolen, called on Tuesday for help from the international community. He told Reuters: &#8220;Everybody knows the result and everybody knows that Bongo is doing everything not to accept it.&#8221;
Ping has said he has no faith in the constitutional court because it was tied to the Bongo family and that he wants a recount done under international supervision before any appeal to that court.
Asked about the possibility of forming a unity government with the opposition, Bongo said it was premature to discuss such a move.
&#8220;I will be the president for all Gabonese, I will work with all my compatriots who want to join me in working for the development of the country. But it is difficult to work with those who asked the Gabonese people to go into the streets and loot.&#8221;﻿

Gabon's Pres. Bongo shrugs off international calls for vote recount

The leader of Ghana&#8217;s main opposition party, Nana Akufo-Addo, climbed from his car, picked up a microphone and made a bold election promise to give every constituency the equivalent of $1 million a year if his party wins power.
The money would be used to alleviate poverty by installing basic services such as electricity, running water and sanitation in a country that has accepted an IMF bailout in part to help manage debt accumulated from past government spending.
Akufo-Addo and his running mate Mahamudu Bawumia did not explain to the crowd how they would finance the plan, which would cost $1.1 billion over four years, given that Ghana has 275 constituencies.
But this did not appear to matter to the hundreds who had waited until after dark for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) rally on Friday in Salaga, a trading town in one of Ghana&#8217;s poorest regions. They blew vuvuzelas and roared their approval.
&#8220;We have many, many good policies,&#8221; Akufo-Addo said as he campaigned for the Dec. 7 vote. &#8220;And I want you to know that I will never, ever stand before you and tell you I can do something that I cannot do.&#8221;
Promising new initiatives in a time of austerity is a favourite tactic of politicians the world over and, to head off the scepticism such pledges often face, the NPP insists its plans would not break the budget.
Funds for constituencies would come from the existing budget, while the private sector rather than state-run corporations would help support other plans.
Akufo-Addo also promised to build a dam in every village, a factory in every district and offer free secondary school education as he toured the northern region.
Policy debate matters in elections in Ghana, a stable democracy where ethnic alliances do not play a decisive political role. Akufo-Addo is bidding for power for a third time, having lost in 2008 and 2012.
His party, however, won two elections starting in 2000, during which time he served as attorney general and then foreign minister.
It was difficult to assess whether the $1 million promise and the rally as a whole won new converts in Salaga, though if it enthused supporters it will have served an electoral purpose.
One development worker who already supports the party said the pledge would mainly help to focus local government spending.
&#8220;This (spending plan) is very good &#8230; What he is trying to do will help local districts to better plan and execute their projects,&#8221; said Iddi Zakaria, who works for a local NGO.
 
STRONG PROSPECTS
Since President John Mahama&#8217;s narrow victory in 2012, Ghana has lost its reputation as one of Africa&#8217;s hottest investment destinations, as a global commodities slump reduced revenue from exports of gold, oil and cocoa.
Inflation, the deficit and public debt rose. Ghana also faced years of power rationing, which has now largely ended.
The government says it is committed to following the $918-million bailout even in an election year when administrations often spend more cash.
It also says the crisis is over, pointing to 4.9 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2016, up from 4.5 percent in the same period last year. At the same time, the deficit has halved since 2014 to around 5 percent of GDP.
Even so, the downturn, which raised unemployment, provides ammunition for Akufo-Addo, whose party if elected would face the same fiscal constraints as the current government.
The NPP is yet to launch its manifesto but said it plans to reallocate 20 percent of current capital expenditure to pay for its policies on poverty alleviation, rather than borrow, and it vows to impose strict fiscal discipline.
&#8220;The life of our population is not going to get better unless the economy grows (faster),&#8221; Akufo-Addo told Reuters.
Some commentators doubt the opposition pledges. Consultants would be needed to make it work so some of the money would go to them, said Kwami Ahiabenu, an expert in governance and technology.
There is also no guarantee that communities would make the best choices or allocate money within each district coherently.
&#8220;If I have a factory, will I have a road, will I have electricity? Will I have a market to sell my products?&#8221; Ahiabenu said, adding that the plan could work only if it was integrated.
The last two elections have been close, but there are no reliable independent electoral polls for Ghana this time and both sides say their own polls put them narrowly ahead.
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is also yet to launch its manifesto but says government investments in infrastructure have helped citizens..
Koku Anyidoho, deputy NDC general secretary, dismissed Akufo-Addo&#8217;s plans and told Reuters Ghana&#8217;s mid-term growth prospects were strong.
&#8220;There is so much light at the end of the tunnel. That is the message we are going to give to the people rather than going with those phoney promises,&#8221; he said.﻿

Ghana opposition makes bold election promise of billon-dollar spending

Members of South Africa&#8217;s ANC chanted slogans outside its headquarters on Monday demanding President Jacob Zuma step down in a rare public show of anger in the ruling party after its worst election performance since the end of apartheid in 1994.
The demonstrators argue that Zuma, whose rule has been tainted by scandal, is responsible for the African National Congress (ANC) losing control of three major urban centres in local elections last month by mismanagement of the economy that is now teetering on the edge of recession.
Though the protesters numbered fewer than 100, the demonstration kept political tension high in Africa&#8217;s most industrialised country, where markets have been rocked by a police investigation into Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Political analysts say Gordhan is the target of an ANC faction allied to Zuma. The president&#8217;s office has denied claims Zuma was warring with Gordhan.
Camouflage-clad veterans of the ANC&#8217;s now-disbanded Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) military wing, its Youth League and police with armoured vehicles ringed the party&#8217;s Luthuli House building in downtown Johannesburg, causing a stand-off with the protesters.
Some of the protesters carried placards, with one emblazoned: &#8220;Resign with immediate effect: ANC NEC and Jacob Zuma&#8221;, referring to the party&#8217;s National Executive Committee of Zuma and five other party leaders.
A placard by rival Zuma supporters read: &#8220;Don&#8217;t try this at Luthuli House&#8221;.
Critics of Zuma say he is also badly compromised by his relationship with the Guptas, a family of wealthy Indian businessmen with interests ranging from media and meining, who the opposition says exerts undue political influence over the president.
Outnumbered on the streets, the protesters gave a list of their grievances to Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe.
&#8220;There was a big hullabaloo in the media that there was going to be a big movement to occupy Luthuli House. There is not such a movement. It&#8217;s a grouping &#8211; small,&#8221; Mantashe said.
Although the ANC won the most votes overall in the Aug. 3 local polls, its reputation was badly bruised by its loss of support mainly in major cities.
Analysts said more internal squabbles were likely following the election losses, but would only bring change if they were led by senior party figures.
&#8220;An effective way would be to have big heavyweights in the ANC who say that we want the leadership to step down and we are organising a march,&#8221; said Prince Mashele, head of the Centre for Politics and Research, a Pretoria-based think-tank.﻿

S.Africa's president Zuma urged by protesters to quit

Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping said on Thursday that two people were killed and others were wounded as a second day of violent protests against the re-election of President Ali Bongo engulfed the capital, Libreville.
Ping said he won the poll and rejected results announced on Wednesday that handed the incumbent a slim victory, extending the Bongo family&#8217;s half-century grip on power in the oil producer for another seven years.
Riots were raging in at least nine Libreville neighbourhoods Thursday morning, two witnesses and a police source said, a day after angry demonstrators set the parliament building on fire.
One witness reported hearing gunfire and blasts in the Nkembo neighbourhood, near the city centre, while another saw protesters loot shops, turn over rubbish bins to block streets and smash cars in the Avea neighbourhood.
&#8220;This is just a consequence of the current situation. This is because of the victory of Bongo against Jean Ping,&#8221; said witness Alex Mbadinga, 32.
Ping, who said the two deaths occurred when presidential guard soldiers and police attacked his party&#8217;s headquarters overnight, called for international assistance to protect the population against what he described as &#8220;a rogue state&#8221;.
&#8220;Everybody knows that I won the election,&#8221; Ping told Reuters, adding the electoral commission&#8217;s figures were fraudulent. &#8220;The (Bongo) family are repeating the same scenario for almost half a century. The opposition can win the elections but they have never had access to power.&#8221;
Gabonese authorities were not immediately available to comment on Ping&#8217;s accusation that his headquarters had been targeted.
France, the United States and the European Union urged calm late on Wednesday and called on authorities to release the results of individual polling stations for greater transparency, while the United Nations also urged restraint.
&#8220;Within the framework of a political process, there&#8217;s no room for violence,&#8221; Jean-Marc Ayrault, foreign minister of Gabon&#8217;s former colonial ruler France, said on Thursday. &#8220;I&#8217;m calling, therefore, all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid additional victims.&#8221;
INTERNET CUT
&#8220;Certain individuals clearly with bad intentions continue to demonstrate in Libreville but we are putting everything in place to bring back calm and secure people and property,&#8221; said a senior police source who declined to be named.
Libreville residents said that the internet was cut on Thursday. Social networks, including Twitter and Facebook, stopped functioning overnight. Earlier in the week, customs officials seized satellite telephones they said had been imported illegally.
Bongo won 49.80 percent of votes in Saturday&#8217;s election against 48.23 percent for Ping, according results read by Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya on Wednesday, after the announcement was delayed by one day.
&#8220;This victory by such a tight score obliges &#8230; each of us to respect the verdict of the ballot box,&#8221; Bongo said in the text of a speech distributed to reporters late on Wednesday.
Bongo was elected in 2009 upon the death of his father Omar Bongo, who ruled Gabon for 42 years. He benefited from an engrained patronage system lubricated by oil money ahead of the vote.
But economic headwinds caused by falling oil prices and crude production have led to budget cuts in one of Africa&#8217;s wealthiest nations, providing fuel for opposition charges that Gabon&#8217;s 1.8 million citizens have suffered under his rule.
Ping, a political insider who has served as foreign minister and African Union Commission chairman, was a close ally of the late president and fathered two children with his daughter.
Ping said he was not calling on his supporters to protest because they were already under so much pressure from authorities. He said he feared arms would be planted in his party headquarters and he could be arrested as a result.
Despite a bitter campaign, election day was peaceful. However supporters of both Bongo and Ping swapped accusations of fraud.
An EU observer mission criticised a &#8220;lack of transparency&#8221; among institutions running the election and said Bongo had benefited from preferential access to money and the media.
 
(Additional reporting by Matthew Mpoke Bigg in Accra, Tim Cocks in Dakar and Joe Bavier in Abidjan; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Joe Bavier; Editing by Alison Williams)﻿

Gabon opposition leader says two killed, riots engulf capital

People stockpiled food, police manned major crossroads and soldiers were deployed at petrol stations and banks on Tuesday as Gabon braced for results from a election that will decide the fate of Ali Bongo and his family&#8217;s 50-year grip on power.
Bongo&#8217;s main challenger for the presidency, Jean Ping, a former foreign minister, African Union Commission chairman and lifelong political insider in Gabon, has already declared victory.
He urged Bongo, first elected in 2009 after the death of his father Omar, who ran Gabon for 42 years, to acknowledge defeat.
Bongo&#8217;s supporters, however, say he is on track to win.
With both sides trading accusations of fraud after a bitter campaign, there was widespread concern that the results, set to be announced from 7 p.m. (1800 GMT), would trigger unrest.
&#8220;There will be trouble and Ali will tackle the problem with his men &#8230; We&#8217;re afraid of the spillover,&#8221; said Jadi Mabende, 57, a civil servant at a shop in the capital Libreville.
Several African governments have shut down mobile telephone networks, Internet and social media during contentious elections over the past year to prevent people organising protests, although there were no signs yet of that happening in Gabon.
However, the army said in a statement that customs officials had seized some illegally imported satellite telephones.
The embassy of France, Gabon&#8217;s former colonial ruler, advised its citizens on Tuesday to stay indoors after 2 p.m. and to stick to safety precautions.
France&#8217;s ruling Socialist Party took the unusual step of declaring that early results showed Ping defeating Bongo, just a day after Saturday&#8217;s poll.
&#8220;We&#8217;re in a situation of suspense. We&#8217;re &#8230; worried about the demonstrations that are going to happen,&#8221; said Libreville resident Franck Boubzanga, 33.
Gabon&#8217;s first-past-the-post system means the winner only needs more votes than any other candidate. In 2009, Bongo won with 41.73 percent.
The European Union&#8217;s observer mission on Monday criticised a &#8220;lack of transparency&#8221; among the institutions running the polls and said Bongo had benefited from preferential access to money and the media.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve noted that the mission overstepped its mandate. This mission was looking into things that had nothing to do with this election,&#8221; Bongo&#8217;s spokesman Alain-Claude Nze said, reacting to the EU&#8217;s statement on French radio RFI on Tuesday.
Bongo, 57, also benefited from being the incumbent in a country with a patronage system lubricated by oil largesse.
But oil output and prices have fallen, forcing budget cuts despite Gabon having one of the biggest revenue streams of all Africa&#8217;s oil producers.
Gabon&#8217;s economic troubles have provided fodder for opposition claims that its 1.8 million inhabitants have struggled under his leadership, and Bongo&#8217;s ruling party has suffered a series of high-profile defections.
 
(Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Tim Cocks and Louise Ireland)﻿

Tight security, food stockpiling as Gabon braces for Bongo dynasty fate

Gabon opposition candidate Jean Ping called on President Ali Bongo to &#8220;acknowledge his defeat&#8221; in Saturday&#8217;s presidential election, a head-on challenge to the Bongo family&#8217;s half-century rule over the oil-rich nation.
After publishing numbers on Sunday that showed him comfortably in the lead based on a small percentage of votes, Ping called on Monday for Bongo to step down.
&#8220;I encourage Ali Bongo to submit to the verdict of the ballot box,&#8221; he told a news conference, without providing more voting figures.
Bongo&#8217;s camp also says it is set to win and has accused Ping&#8217;s supporters of fraud. On Twitter, his spokesman Alain Claude Bilie By Nzé called Ping&#8217;s news conference &#8220;the start of an odious attempt at a coup de force&#8221;.
Gabonese law forbids candidates from publishing their own results before the official count, expected on Tuesday.
The country&#8217;s interior minister called Ping&#8217;s move to pre-empt an official announcement of the poll results by declaring victory an attempt to manipulate the democratic process.
Gabon&#8217;s one-round election means the winner simply requires more votes than any other candidate. In 2009, Bongo won with 41.73 percent of the vote.
A Ping victory would reverberate throughout a region where strongmen in power for decades have often used their control of state institutions and resources to fend off political competition.
Bongo, 57, won election in the Central African nation of some 2 million people in 2009 following the death of his father Omar, who was president for 42 years.
But he has come under pressure in recent years as a sharp drop in oil prices and production have squeezed the budget and provided fodder for opposition claims that average Gabonese have struggled under his leadership.
Some opposition supporters have also called into question Bongo&#8217;s Gabonese nationality by claiming he was adopted from eastern Nigeria as a baby, which the president denies.
On Monday, Ping called on the Gabonese people to &#8220;defend their choice throughout the country and overseas&#8221;. He said he had told the American and French ambassadors in Libreville that he intended to guarantee the security of Bongo and his family.
The streets of Libreville remained calm despite the sparring over the result and an acrimonious election campaign.
A European Union observer mission told reporters in Libreville on Monday that it had registered irregularities during campaigning and on election day.
&#8220;The mission deplores the lack of transparency of the bodies running the election,&#8221; said Mariya Gabriel, the head of an E.U. mission that observed the elections.
It said that most irregularities had benefited Bongo, including preferential access to state media and resources.
 
(Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Catherine Evans and Edward McAllister)﻿
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Gabon opposition candidate calls on President Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat"

South Africa&#8217;s ruling African National Congress is considering holding an early conference to replace its top leaders after its worst election performance since the end of apartheid 22 years ago, it said on Tuesday.
The elective conference is due to take place in December 2017 to pick a successor for the party&#8217;s leader, President Jacob Zuma, but ANC officials said talks were underway to hold it earlier to have more time to repair the damage after big losses in local polls and prepare for national elections in 2019.
The party still won the most votes overall during the Aug. 3 local government elections. But, with its reputation bruised by charges of corruption against Zuma, and with unemployment high and the country teetering on the edge of recession, it lost a lot of support, particularly in major cities.
However, analysts said it was not yet clear whether the conference would be called to replace Zuma or to remove other top party officials critical of the president.
The Youth League, which initiated the idea of an early elective conference, is a bastion of support for Zuma within the party.
Zuma has himself said he will not stand for a third term, but the party&#8217;s constitution does not bar him from doing so.
&#8220;The idea of an early conference is not a bad idea, because it will give whatever leadership that comes out of the conference a longer period to prepare for 2019,&#8221; ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told a news conference though he gave no indication when such a decision could be made.
Such an early conference would a clear objective &#8220;not just go there and then fight it out there, smash each other, blood on the floor &#8230; we come out of the conference more divided.&#8221;
Analysts cautioned that it would be too hasty to suggest that Zuma&#8217;s removal would be on the agenda at such a conference.
&#8220;The Youth League are know for protecting Zuma. If they are behind the call for an early conference it is because they may be looking to support Zuma for a third term, or have him pick a successor,&#8221; NKC African Economics analyst Gary van Staden said.
BNP Paribus Securities South Africa political analyst Nic Borain concurred.
&#8220;I would be cautious to jump to conclusions on this without further information. The Youth League is a pillar of support for Zuma. Maybe his critics could be on the line,&#8221; he said.
Following the municipal elections, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party &#8211; which has been running the local government in Cape Town &#8211; now controls Johannesburg, the municipality that includes the capital, Pretoria, and Nelson Mandela Bay, reshaping the political landscape in South Africa.
 
(Editing by Richard Balmforth)﻿

S.Africa's ANC mulls early conference to replace top leaders after election losses

Angola&#8217;s ruling People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) on Friday confirmed the election of Jose Eduardo dos Santos for another term as leader of the party.
Dos Santos, the sole nominee, won 2,543 votes, or 99.6 percent, MPLA spokesman Manuel Rabelais said after its electoral convention in the capital, Luanda.
There had been speculation before the congress that Dos Santos, 73, who has ruled the oil-rich southern African nation since 1979, might not make himself available for re-election.
He had said in March he intended to step down as party leader in 2018, without naming a preferred successor.
Angola holds its next parliamentary election in 2017 and the leader of the winning party will become president.
Dos Santos was appointed to a new five-year term as president in 2012 after a landslide election win by the MPLA.﻿

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Gabon's Pres. Bongo shrugs off international calls for vote recount

Ghana opposition makes bold election promise of billon-dollar spending

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Gabon opposition leader says two killed, riots engulf capital

Tight security, food stockpiling as Gabon braces for Bongo dynasty fate

Gabon opposition candidate calls on President Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat"

S.Africa's ANC mulls early conference to replace top leaders after election losses

Angolan president Dos Santos re-elected leader of ruling MPLA party

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Election

Liberia's Johnson Sirleaf saddened after Trump win

South Africa's rand edges up, market cautious ahead of U.S. vote

Congo republic govt sees 2017 GDP growth rising to 3.4 pct

Gabon leader's legitimacy rejected by opposition

New prime minister named in Gabon

"Business as usual," Gabon leader Ali Bongo says

Gabon warns Jean Ping: If he causes unrest, he will be arrested.

Death toll rises to 44 in Congo unrest

Clashes in Kinshasa leave 17 dead

Gabon's Pres. Bongo shrugs off international calls for vote recount

Ghana opposition makes bold election promise of billon-dollar spending

S.Africa's president Zuma urged by protesters to quit

Gabon opposition leader says two killed, riots engulf capital

Tight security, food stockpiling as Gabon braces for Bongo dynasty fate

Gabon opposition candidate calls on President Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat"

S.Africa's ANC mulls early conference to replace top leaders after election losses

Angolan president Dos Santos re-elected leader of ruling MPLA party

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