LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia has closed its main passport offices in the capital, a hub which is always thronged with people, as part of measures to curb the spread of cholera which is sweeping the country, the government said.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Soldiers in Ivory Coast's second largest city looted weapons from the base of an elite military unit overnight before setting it on fire, leaders of the faction said on Wednesday.

DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo is considering more than doubling royalties on cobalt, a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, under a new mining code nearing parliamentary approval, the mines minister said on Wednesday.

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ACCRA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Ghana consumer price inflation was roughly flat at 11.8 percent in December, compared with 11.7 percent in November, the statistics office said on Wednesday.

EAST LONDON, South Africa (Reuters) - The removal of South African President Jacob Zuma as head of state will not be discussed at an African National Congress meeting on Wednesday, the party's secretary-general said.

ACCRA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Ghana consumer price inflation was roughly flat at 11.8 percent in December, compared with 11.7 percent in November, the statistics office said on Wednesday.

TUNIS (Reuters) - A Jewish school on a Tunisian island that is home to an ancient Jewish community was attacked late on Tuesday as violent anti-government protests raged elsewhere in the North African country, witnesses said.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has won the backing of over three-quarters of parliamentarians for a second term as president, lawmakers said on Tuesday, a day after a timeline for the election was announced.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Gunshots and heavy weapons fire erupted late on Tuesday between rival factions within Ivory Coast's army at military bases in its second largest city, Bouake, residents and soldiers said.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's political parties must select their candidates for the country's 2019 presidential election between Aug. 18 and Oct. 7 this year, the electoral commission said on Tuesday in a timetable of the polling process.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Survivors from a boat that foundered off Libya's coast on Tuesday said about 50 people who had embarked with them were feared dead, while the coastguard said the number of missing might be as high as 100.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Electricity was restored in some parts of Kenya's capital Nairobi and its central, western and coastal regions early on Wednesday after a major power blackout the previous day.

NAIROBI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday. - - - - - GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares flinched from testing their 2007 record peak on Wednesday, as investors booked profits in high-tech shares while oil prices hit three-year highs due to production cuts and a fall in inventories. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices hit their highest