South Africa opposes the move saying it can aggravate the political process implementing a peace agreement struck last September.

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South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, China and Russia abstained in the United  Nations Security Council vote.

Non governmental bodies like the International Crisis Group urged the UN powerhouse to extend the sanctions.

They concur with the position of Britain and the United States that the proliferation of arms in South Sudan is adding to the misery of its people, six-and-a-half million of whom are food insecure.

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The telecoms billionaire was speaking in Cote d’Ivoire at a meeting of his foundation that publishes an annual index of good governance and rewards democratically elected African leaders who stand down voluntarily.

Mo Ibrahim’s call comes as Saudi Arabia and Egypt offer asylum to Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, who’s facing unprecedented and persistent mass protests to stand down.

With demonstrators camping for a fifth night outside army headquarters in Khartoum and vowing to stay there until Al Bashir goes, 

Britain, Norway and the United States  have called on the government there to deliver a credible political transition plan. 

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Rescued teams have saved 115 people from submerged houses and authorities are searching for more bodies.

Flash floods up to two-and-a-half meters deep have hit the capital Abidjan from the salubrious Cocody district housing embassies and the presidential palace to the teeming, working class Yopougon neighborhood.

Hundreds of people have been driven from their homes

Poor infrastructure and the tendency to build below the floodline have exacerbated the problem.

Seven people died in last year’s flooding  in Abidjan which has a population exceeding five million.

Forecasters are saying the heavy rains will persist at least until month’s end.

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The behaviors of soldiers demanding bonus payments has stoked security fears in Africa’s fastest growing economy.

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Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has dismissed the heads of the army, police and gendarmes following a two-day  mutiny by disgruntled soldiers demanding the payment of bonuses and wage increases.

The protesting troops  seized control of Bouake, the country’s second largest city, before colleagues in military camps in cities and towns across the country joined their mutiny.

Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan has resigned and dissolved the government.

He was expected to this after December’s presidential vote saw Ouattara winning a second consecutive time, maintaining his majority in the parliamentary polls.

The mutiny ended after he made a deal with the soldiers.

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Angola’s halved its annual growth forecast to 1,3% and cuts spending as lower oil prices hammer Africa’s second largest producer.

West African AID activists say treatment is lagging for HIV AIDS sufferers.

In Ivory Coast, fewer than a third of HIV AIDS infected patients are receiving antiretroviral treatment.

Sierra Leone football star Sheriff Suma urges his compatriots attending the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro not to abscond.

Thirteen of Suma’s teammates at the world youth championship in Finland 13 years ago requested political asylum.

Sierra Leone has a record of sportsmen attending international competitions refusing to go home afterwards.

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Al Qaida has claimed responsibility for two attacks aimed at foreigners visitors in those countries that left 59 people dead.

The January blast at a hotel in Burkina Faso and another at beach in Ivory Coast two months later targeted vital business and tourism visitors to those countries.

Burkina Faso’s security minister Simon Compaore says 49 people of different citizenship, of which three women, were arrested.

After further investigations, 39 have been released. Compaore says six of the suspects have been trained in Niger and took part in several terrorist attacks against the United Nations’ peacekeeping forces in Mali.

The minister says some of the suspects provided heavy drugs to the suicide bombers.

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