Liberia's army, Guinea-Bissau's cocaine and Nigerian medical problems

• An army of 601

According to the New Liberian: With support of the U.S. government, the contractor Dyn Corp has been hired to help create a regimented, educated and professional Liberian army of 2000 soldiers. Presently, 601 soldiers have now completed training.

• Tuareg rebels meet with Malian government

From the South African Independent: Two Tuareg rebels from Mali are meeting with government leaders in Algiers in hopes to reviving the peace process began in July 2006. The newspaper stated: “The agreement stipulated that the Tuaregs should give up their armed struggle and that Malian authorities should develop three desert regions in the north, where the majority of Mali's Tuareg community live.”

• What next for Air Senegal International
  

From the Professional Pilots Rumor Network: After Royal Air Maroc reduced its investment in Air Senegal International, will any foreign investors take a look at the “promising but so far badly managed company”?

Africa (in general) and west Africa in particular has great potential for increased air traffic, however, many of the local governments have their collective hands in the cookie jar, and until this activity is curtailed, local airlines, managed by locals, will not succeed...in my considered opinion.

Now, having said all this, it is possible for small local carriers to succeed, but for the present, they need to be managed by, and the funding provided from, foreign investors.

• Nigerians crossing borders for medical treatment

According to the Daily Trust:

Faced with a crumbling public health sector with its concomitant worsening health services, many Nigerians who cannot afford the high medical fees charged by private hospitals now troop to the neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Benin and Niger Republics for medical attention,” the newspaper reported. “Investigations carried out by Sunday Trust reveal that thousands of Nigerians with ailments ranging from tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases are fleeing the country to neighbouring countries for medical attention.

• Violence before planned crowning in Ghana
  

Fighting between two rival clans in Ghana regarding the proposed crowning of a new chief has lead to four deaths and forced the government to deploy hundreds of police and soldiers, Reuters said.

• Guinea-Bissau has cocaine on its brain

With increasing demand for cocaine in Europe, the government of Guinea-Bissau estimates that as much as 1,750 pounds of the drug transits the country’s border every week, says the Associated Press.

• Ghana and Kenya rank among the business reformers
  

From the East African

Ghana and Kenya rank amongst the top 10 worldwide business reformers, according to the World Bank.

In Kenya’s case, the World Bank claimed registering property is now faster and the government streamlined start-up time for businesses and cut the cost and time for getting business permits.

The two countries join Egypt, Croatia, Macedonia, Columbia, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and Bulgaria.