Although some of the educated Ghanaians who left to make their fortune abroad, are coming home, the Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations is keen to tempt many more back. Those who do come find themselves relatively well-off compared with their fellow Ghanaians. They have the money to buy a plot of land and build a dream home. But the gated communities that are springing up only emphasize the huge divide between the haves and have-nots sleeping rough.

Next January, the heads of member states of the African Union will meet to discuss science and technology in what will be a unique opportunity to support the continent's scientific renaissance. It is now accepted that scientific and technological capacity is necessary to achieve the widely endorsed Millennium Development Goals, reports SciDev.

UN have launched a nation-wide campaign to vaccinate women against tetanus, a simple measure which aid agencies estimate could help slash infant deaths by up to 70 percent. In some communities in West Africa child deaths are so common that it is normal for families to put off naming a child for a week to three months after it is born.

Niger’s ministers for health and education were dismissed on Tuesday 27 June following allegations of corruption by donors and development partners. An audit by a coalition of technical and financial partners of Niger this year uncovered a series of invoices paid without receipt of goods and said that government money had been spent without reference to proper procedures.

Nigerian security forces have killed at least two members of a separatist group in a raid on one of their hideouts in the violent southeastern market city of Onitsha, a human rights group said on Tuesday 27 June. Anambra state is one of several in Nigeria where power struggles ahead of the 2007 elections have fuelled violence.