China's foreign ministry has condemned the behaviour of some Chinese citizens in Africa following its ambassador to Tanzania giving an uncommonly frank newspaper interview in which he decried the "bad habits" of his compatriots. In the interview, Lu Xinsheng said Chinese businessmen smuggle ivory and rhino horns out of the country and flood local markets with counterfeit goods while contractors constantly try to undercut each other, resulting in shoddy infrastructure projects. 

France's budget for public development aid continues to fall. The French government presented its altered, and reduced, budget for this year's foreign aid. "The ministry contributed in the collective effort of reducing France’s public deficit, but everyone has to take part," said Annick Girardin, France’s Secretary of State for Development and Francophonie. A finance law will reduce the foreign aid budget by €73 million in 2014. It was originally €2.9bn. 

he Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today welcomed the announcement by SkyPower Global that the company is donating 5,000 solar-powered lights to South African villages without electricity so children can have light for reading and writing. The announcement was made during Minister Fast's trade mission to South Africa. In its 2010 Integrated Resource Plan, South Africa identified the need for more power generation from renewable sources to meet its growing energy needs and also to reduce greenhouse gases.

Inside his room at the Addis Ababa University campus, 23-year-old Bereket reached into a cupboard and pulled out a pack of Sensation Honey condoms. He had used them with the last three women he had intercourse with. Bereket, who did not want to use his last name because of cultural sensitivities about sex, said he prefers this brand because it's “modern,” adding that he avoids the free condoms that are widely available in Ethiopia because he cannot be sure of their quality.

When al Shabaab, the violent Islamist group in Somalia, took control of the capital city Mogadishu, it actively destroyed buildings and overt displays of Western institutions and influences. This included outlawing soccer. The group destroyed cinemas and viewing centers in Mogadishu during the 2010 World Cup to stop residents from watching the matches. Their first successful international attack was the twin explosions in Uganda’s capital Kampala at viewing stations during the tournament. 

Brazil has offered Angola a new credit line worth $2 billion for use in the sub-Saharan African country's energy and construction sectors, Angolan Finance Minister Armando Manuel said on Monday.

In a ballroom at the Marriott Pere Marquette, municipal officials from Peoria and Jwaneng, Botswana, signed paperwork that begins to formalize a sister-city relationship between the communities. The process might be completed this summer. Jwaneng then would become Peoria’s fifth sister city. “These relationships don’t just happen,” Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said during the culmination of a six-day visit by a 10-member Botswanan delegation. “They need to be nurtured.”

Ethiopia will send a public diplomacy delegation to Egypt soon to boost the people-to-people relation, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  According to the minister Dr Tedros Adhanom the delegation is expected to enhance the overall diplomatic relations with Egypt.