Monrovia — The Liberian government has announced that it is in the final stages of securing a U.S. $1.6 billion Indonesian investment in palm oil production which is expected to create 35,000 jobs.

Richard Tolbert, chairman of the country’s National Investment Commission, told AllAfrica in an interview that the investment, in south-eastern Liberia, will give a major boost to the country’s post-conflict economy. “The government has about 33,000 persons on its payroll,” he said. “Here we have one company that will provide jobs for about 35,000 persons. These jobs, I believe, will create livelihoods for about 300,000 to 400,000 people.”

The investment deal is with Golden VerOleum, a company headquartered in Indonesia which is a subsidiary of Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), one of the world’s leaders in palm oil production.

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Nairobi — The government has launched fish farming projects in the country that will cost over one billion shillings and it is estimate that it will create 120,000 new jobs.

The Ministry of Fisheries Development on Thursday launched the Sh1.12 billion to construct 200 fish farming ponds in 140 constituencies as a move to reduce poverty.

Funded by the government sponsored Economic Situmuls Programme, each of the constituencies will receive eight million shillings for the project. Fisheries minister, Dr Paul Otuoma, launched the first of 20 show-case fish farming ponds in Gatundu South on Thursday.

He said the projects are designed to reduce poverty in the rural areas as one of the government measures to do that..The traditional fish sources, he says, are no longer dependable to meet the rising demand of fish in the country.

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Exporters of live animals to Mauritius are preparing to resume the business following the recent rainfall that has improved pasture in Coast province.

The growing demand for live Kenyan animals in Mauritius was interrupted by the recent drought that affected many parts in the country, leading traders to suspend exports since they could not get the animals of the required weight.

“With the current rainfall in many parts of the province, there is sufficient pasture and we are optimistic that the animals will attain the required weight for export,” Mohammed Mursal of Global Livestock Traders said.

“We shall resume in the next one or two months,” Mursal, who works for the only company contracted by the Mauritius government to source and export animals, added.

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A South African court has ordered the government to protect the land rights of its citizens in Zimbabwe, as well as to respect the rulings of the human rights court of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The decision in the High Court in Pretoria comes after an urgent application was filed on behalf of South African farmers, whose right to their government’s protection had been excluded in a proposed bilateral investment protection agreement (BIPPA) between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The agreement, which is still to be made public, was set to only offer protection to South African investors in all areas, from the date of signing. Controversially, the South African Trade and Industry Minister admitted that the agreement would not include a ‘retrospective’ clause on land, therefore excluding protection on all South African owned land expropriated by the Zimbabwe government during the so-called land ‘reform’ programme.

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