Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced $600m (£393m) in assistance for development projects in Africa at a major summit in Delhi.

More than 50 African leaders are attending the India-Africa Forum Summit, unprecedented in scale, in the Indian capital.

Although India’s trade with Africa has more than doubled to $72bn since 2007, it is still comparatively small.

The meeting is being seen as an attempt by India to improve ties with Africa.

A record number of African leaders, including South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, President Sisi of Egypt and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir are attending the summit – part of India’s big push to increase its presence in Africa.

‘Bright spots’

Reports say the summit represents the highest number of foreign dignitaries to descend on India since 1983 and is thought to be the biggest ever overseas gathering of African leaders.

Welcoming them, Mr Modi described India and Africa as the “two bright spots of hope in the global economy”.

“The hearts of 1.25 billion Indians and 1.25 billion Africans are in rhythm. We are united by youth – two thirds of India and Africa are below 35. And, if the future belongs to the youth, then this century is ours to shape and build,” Mr Modi said.

The BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says India is using its historic ties with the continent, where a large number of Indians migrated during colonial times, to strengthen its economic links.

India is interested in Africa’s natural resource while African countries want to benefit from Indian expertise in high-tech sectors such as IT and mobile phones.

Much of central Delhi has been shut down as the African leaders are being ferried across town in limousines and on Wednesday night, they turned out wearing colourful Indian turbans and jackets at an official dinner.

The first ladies, in the meantime, are being taken sightseeing and given Indian cooking lessons as India pulls out the stops to make the summit a grand success, our correspondent says.

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Elections in Zanzibar have been annulled for not being free and fair, the electoral chief on the Tanzanian archipelago has announced.

Rows between rival electoral commissioners had led to physical fights, Jecha Salum Jecha said.

The opposition says the vote on the islands was cancelled because it won.

The main challenger in the national presidential election, Edward Lowassa, said the problems in Zanzibar could be mirrored across the country.

Earlier, he called for the national electoral commission to stop releasing results, alleging the whole process nationwide had been marred by fraud.

Africa Live: BBC news updates

Lack of trust holds up African elections

The elections in Tanzania are the most competitive in the country’s history, with four opposition parties forming the Ukawa coalition to challenge the ruling CCM’s 54-year grip on power.

Previous elections have turned violent on semi-autonomous Zanzibar, whose two main islands are Unguja, often referred to as Zanzibar, and Pemba.

Mr Lowassa urged his supporters to remain calm and not to engage in street protests.

‘Agents ejected from polling stations’

In his statement, Mr Jecha accused Zanzibari electoral commissioners of being partisan.

More votes had been cast in some areas than the registered number of voters, especially in Pemba, where some party agents had been ejected from polling stations, Mr Jecha said.

The ballot papers for the national presidential election have been taken to Tanzania’s main city Dar es Salaam, where they will continue to be counted.

It is unclear if and when new elections for Zanzibar’s president and parliament will be held.

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Analysis: Sammy Awami, BBC News, Zanzibar:

Never before has an election in Zanzibar – a popular tourist destination – been scrapped. So we are entering uncharted waters.

And yet, this election – unlike previous ones – has not been marred by riots and violence.

There was, however, some tension, which led to the closure of roads and businesses.

On Monday, the main opposition candidate for the post of Zanzibar president, Maalim Seif Sharrif Hamad, declared himself the winner.

His announcement attracted sharp rebuke from the governing CCM party, which called it illegal and a threat to the archipelago’s stability.

But life was returning to normal when the archipelago’s electoral commission chairman made the shock announcement that he was scrapping the poll because it was full of gross irregularities.

At that point results from only 18 of the 54 constituencies have been released.

More on Zanzibar

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Tanzania’s tightly contested election:

CCM was formed in 1977 from a merger of two post-colonial parties and has effectively been in power since independence in 1961.

It has fielded Works Minister John Magufuli, 55, as its presidential candidate.

He is being challenged by Edward Lowassa, 62, who quit CCM after he failed to win its presidential nomination.

He is contesting the poll under the banner of the Ukawa coalition.

Could CCM lose?

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Opposition Democratic Party (DP) President General Norbert Mao has attacked the Ministry of Public Service, branding it the most ‘incompetent’ in the country.

According to Mao, ministry officials ask for bribes from many retired Ugandans in order to process their pension money.

“There is corruption where officials ask for bribes from retired Ugandans in order to process their pension money,” Mao said adding: “the Public Services ministry actually has the worst services.”

Mao also said the ministry should also speedily focus on the issue of pension reforms, with a view of revamping the sector.

“We need to have a lively debate concerning the livelihood of the people who have worked and retired, apart from calling for legal reforms, I also think the pension sector needs to been shaken up,”  Mao said.

He asserted that the Democratic Party ideas can save the young population from the ordeal that the elderly are suffering from through legal reforms and zero tolerance to corruption.

However, when contacted the ministry refuted the corruption and incompetence claims, saying that pension reforms are already underway through the new decentralized system of payment.

“All our services are free and no money is solicited from anyone; our officers are trained and they know this is punishable,” Ms Adah Muwanga, the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, said and urged anyone with contrasting information to forward it to the authorities.

On the issue of pension reforms and delayed payments, Mrs Muwanga says the ministry adopted a decentralized system of payments which allows the ministry to handle smaller numbers of pensioners efficiently through monitoring of individual pensioners by a designated pension officer.

“We decentralized the pension payments because there was a problem with the records. I think we are making progress right now since the number of pensioners the ministry is working on fell from 63000 to 160 people per officer,” she said.

She however says the system is not yet perfect as some people have not yet been paid.

“They will get their payments; the system will enable the ministry regulate payment procedures,” Ms Muwanga asserted.

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President Yoweri Museveni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have held talks aimed at bolstering trade and development between their two countries.

The two leaders appreciated the very warm bilateral relations existing between the two countries and explored further areas of cooperation especially in areas of trade.

Museveni, who is in New Dehli to attend the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit, told Premier Modi that Uganda produces a lot of milk and processed diary products among other products that could be exported to India, and urged him to encourage more Indian businesses to invest in Uganda.

According to reports bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $728 million in 2010–11, with the balance of trade heavily in India’s favour.  Ugandan exports to India accounted for only $16.7 million of the total trade. Uganda imports almost 30% of its pharmaceuticals from India while India emerged the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investments for Uganda in 2011.

The meeting at Hyderabad House was attended by the Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s High Commissioner to India Elizabeth Paula Napeyok and Uganda’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, Ambassador Mull Katende.

Back to his Oberoi Hotel residence, President Museveni received the Chairman of Amos Dairies Ltd Mr Dewar Pruthi, accompanied by the Group Managing Director Mr Pundit Pruthi and Mr Surinder Chawla, the  Joint Managing Director. The two sides discussed the development of the dairy sector in Uganda and how it could be expanded to target the export market.

Mr Dewar Pruthi further told the President that they have had a very fruitful one-year old investment in Uganda based in Kiruhura district, and that the group also wanted to venture into mineral salts, sorghum and maize production for making silage cattle feeds. He also said the group intends to venture into the production of cow seed crop for export market as well as the usage of cow-dung to produce biogas steam for power generation.

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Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) has dismissed claims that a Warrant of Arrest has been issued against party president, Jimmy Akena.

This follows a case of trespass at the Uganda House lodged in court against Akena and 14 others by the Milton Obote Foundation in September.

But addressing journalists at a press briefing early today, the UPC party spokesperson, Micheal Osinde Orach, said that top party officials, the litigants and the Buganda Road Magistrate Court presiding magistrate Mary Kisakye resolved that the warrant not be extracted.

According to Mr Osinde, it is the Resident State Attorney who is supposed to pray for issuance of an warrant of arrest which, he said, was not done in this case.

“The Resident State Attorney did not pray for a Warrant of Arrest, the applicant’s lawyer has not produced evidence to the Resident State Attorney,” Osinde noted.

He added: “The warrant will not be extracted because the prayers of the Counsel for the accuser were made in a watching brief. You cannot make prayers in that state.”

The matter was adjourned to December 7, but by press time there were contradicting media reports that the Buganda Road Court had issued a warrant of arrest against Akena, who is the son of UPC founding leader Dr Apollo Milton Obote and the Lira Municipality Member of Parliament.

Meanwhile, the UPC spokesperson has lashed at the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) for ‘the violence in the recently concluded NRM primaries’.

According to Osinde, the NRM should learn that ‘it is not good to have your opponent as an enemy’.

“We (UPC) encourage them to proceed and accept that competition is normal,” Osinde said and ‘advised’ the ruling party to steer away from violence.

“When you use violence, the innocent get hurt,” he said.

In other developments, the party Secretary General Edward Segganyi has called upon government to plan for the predicted El Nino season so as to mitigate risks.

Segganyi noted that it is the responsibility of government and its respective ministries to protect its citizens.

“UPC calls upon all sector ministries to come up with measures and also offer storage facilities to farmers,” he said.

He also advised MPs to thoroughly review the proposed amendments to Public Finance Management Bill before passing it.

“Uganda People’s Congress is very much concerned with this development and calls for a review of this proposed amendments,” he said.

Segganyi also congratulated Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) for winning the just concluded elections, and also congratulated Zambia for attaining 51 years of independence.

“The history of Zambia dates back from the days of the Mulungushi Club that brought United Independent Party (UNIP), CCM and UPC in a greater solidarity and fraternal relationship,” he expressed.

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Makerere University has today launched the Emmanuel Mutebile Chair and the Mutebile Centre of Excellence.

An alumnus of Makerere, Prof Mutebile, who is the Governor of Bank of Uganda, has played an important role in development in Uganda during his over 30 year public service record.

And speaking at the launch held at the university, Prof Mutebile said he was happy with the achievements of the government, Makerere University and Makerere University Private Sector Forum, over the years.

He reiterated that the Central Bank will soon reconstitute the Financial Development Committee to enhance financial sector development by harnessing the power of public –private partnerships.

“One way to stimulate financial sector development is to bring together the key financial sector players so as to identify the gaps, propose, and implement the requisite interventions in a systematic manner,” he said, adding that the committee will comprise of representatives from the financial sector and the government.

The Governor noted that Uganda had consistently been recording some of the best economic growth rates in East and Central Africa.

Prof Mutebile also hailed the Makerere University Private Sector Forum, saying the Forum now has new high profile persons who will be announced soon, determined to give the Forum renewed support.

“I must state that government has shown new willingness to become a full partner in all the Forum’s endeavours,” Mutebile said adding: “the presence of His Excellency on this launch speaks a lot for itself.”

The Mutebile Chair and Mutebile Centre of Excellence is the brainchild of the Makerere Private Sector Forum, and the launch today recognized and celebrated the achievements that Makerere University and the government have registered over the last 45 years.

“To me it is a new challenge and opportunity to rededicate myself to serve Makerere University and the country,” Prof Mutebile said.

An accomplished Economist and Scholar, Prof Mutebile has severally been recognized, with one of his notable awards being the African Central Bank Governor for several years since 2011.

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The National Resistance Movement (NRM) deputy spokesperson has said that the ongoing parliamentary and LCV party primaries have registered a success rate of about 80 percent.

Addressing journalists today in Kampala, Ofwono Opondo contended that although the exercise ‘has faced some glitches’, it is still a success since elections in most districts is running smoothly.

“It’s going to be 70-80 percent successful, we count ourselves successful,” Ofwono Opondo said at the party headquarters on Kyadondo Road.

He added that of the 112 districts in Uganda, only 5 had so far proved problematic, with the challenges mostly logistical problems and violence related issues.

He however warned those planning to cause violence in the elections, saying the party was working alongside police to ensure the exercise is smooth.

“The NRM and police are working together; police has deployed countrywide to suppress any acts of violence in the elections and we believe police will take strong action (against errant members). We believe police can call sister agencies to ensure that law and order is maintained,” Ofwono Opondo, who also doubles as the Media Centre boss, said.

He also confessed that the party had received complaints where candidates’ names were misspelt, while some protested against having the wrong portrait photos attached to their names. Of those affected was Busiki County Member of Parliament Wilson Asuspasa Isiko Mpongo, who refused to vote after his name was misspelt on the ballot paper.

“The NRM EC agreed with the candidates that if their names are misspelt, they can accept and continue the voting or cancel,” Opondo said, adding: “Some candidates became stubborn and refused and the NRM EC agreed that the election dates be deferred to tomorrow.”  Further, Ofwono Opondo disclosed that elections in Wakiso district were stopped after the incumbent district Woman Member of Parliament Rose Seninde complained that the ballot paper showed she had an opponent yet she was declared unopposed.

Ofwono Opondo also acknowledged that wrong ballot boxes were delivered to some districts, and that the NRM EC was making arrangements to send the right logistics to the affected areas.

“Some wrong ballot papers were delivered in Katakwi yet they were destined for Amuria; we are making arrangements to transport the ballot papers and the elections will be held tomorrow,” Opondo said.

The NRM spokesperson further said that party supporters in Nyabushozi County of Kiruhuura district and those in Mbale Municipality will not hold elections, following the death of the respective nominated candidates.

Internal party laws call for fresh nominations after one of the candidates dies before elections commence, he said but did not communicate the date on when the primaries in the two areas will be held.

Early this month Mbale Municipality contestant, former State Minister for Trade and Industry James Mutende Shinyabulo passed on after being nominated, while Nyabushozi MP hopeful Micheal Nyamunguri Kanarura died in a road accident last week.

Meanwhile,  elections in Ssembabule, Buyende,  Kanungu, Ntungamo and Mbarara, among several other areas, have been stopped following outbreak of violence.

Other areas that have witnessed skirmishes include Kamuli, Makerere Zone 3 in Kawempe and Iganga.

In a related development, the Woman MP aspirant for Lwengo Sarah Nkonge and Bukoto Midwest MP Isaac Ssejjoba were allegedly found breaching the electoral law.

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