African press review 8 May 2012

The kwacha takes a tumble. SA's manufactiring loses its edge. The Swazi king's wife leaves, claiming emotional and physical abuse. Political toing and froing over Kenya's hospital insurance. Will Sudan's north-south talks lead to al-Bashir's arrest? 

The authorities in Malawi have devalued the local currency, the kwacha, by nearly 34 per cent. According to this morning's Nyasa Times, the official price of a US dollar is now 247.5 kwacha. Last week, you could buy a dollar for just 168 kwacha.

The central bank says it is supporting the move by putting all US dollars earned from  tobacco auctions at the disposal of the commercial banks.

According to the Malawi Daily Times, the newly appointed deputy governor of the reserve bank, Naomi Ngwira, has criticised President Joyce Banda for announcing devaluation instead of just doing it.

Shoppers in Malawi are reported to be scrambling to buy basic goods, fearing huge price rises after the devaluation. Many shops had run out of sugar, cooking oil and bread by the close of business on Monday.

The global competitiveness of South Africa’s manufacturing sector has been eroded by rising production and raw material costs, according to the international investment analysts, Deloitte.

Today's edition of the Johannesburg-based financial paper, BusinessDay, says the Deloitte report indicates that taxation and a skills shortage threaten the country’s ability to compete with other emerging economies for foreign direct investment.

There is some good news. In a separate piece in BusinessDay, we learn from a senior executive with the FirstRand financial group that South Africa’s banking sector could withstand the effects of a default in Europe even though the consequences would "not be pleasant".

There's trouble in the Swazi royal household. According to today's Sowetan, the sixth wife of Swazi King Mswati III has left the royal compound, according to the Swaziland Solidarity Network, a pressure group working to increase democracy.

The woman, Angela Dlamini, left the royal household at the weekend, citing many years of emotional and physical abuse by her husband as the reason for her departure.

She is the third of the Swazi king’s wives to leave the royal household.

Mswati’s 12th wife Nothando Dube, was placed under house arrest at the home of the king’s mother in 2010 after an alleged affair with Swaziland’s justice minister Ndumiso Mamba. Mamba was fired.

King Mswati III officially has 13 wives ... and one private jet.

According to the Kenyan Daily Nation, the drama in the National Hospital Insurance Fund took another twist on Monday when Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced the suspension of the board and ordered a forensic audit into the management of the health insurer.

Odinga suspended the board and the chief executive officer for three months, appointing a caretaker committee.

The prime minister's action comes just a day after the medical services minister reinstated the board and its chief executive.

They had been sacked by acting civil service head Francis Kimemia on Saturday.

Kimemia suspended the board to pave the way for an investigation into alleged malpractice at the national health insurer.

As the Daily Monitor in Uganda reports that delegations from Sudan and South Sudan are marshalling support in the ongoing north-south conflict on the first leg of what promises to be a frantic wave of regional shuttle diplomacy, there's a warning in the Malawi Times that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir risks being arrested in Malawi should any person or group take the minister of home affairs to court to compel the police to arrest him.

The comment from the expert comes after President Joyce Banda told a press conference in Lilongwe last Friday that the cabinet will meet to decide on whether to allow al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court , to attend the African Union summit in six weeks time.

Bright Theu, a lawyer, said that, if the government decides to allow al-Bashir in to the country, anyone is entitled to take the government to court to compel it to arrest the Sudanese president.