May 22, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Idele Esterhuizen.
Making headlines: 

President Jacob Zuma says Africa offers opportunities for countries from the north and south to work together.

The World Bank pledges $1-billion in funding to aid peace in Africa's Great Lakes region.

And, 19 people die as the Congolese army and rebels clash for a second day.

President Jacob Zuma said countries from the north and the south have the unique opportunity to work together to change the lives of millions of Africans, in developing Africa.

During a visit by Canada’s Governor-General David Johnston, he said South Africa offered good investment prospects for countries like Canada, and that relations between the two countries had been friendly and cooperative.

As South Africa prepares to launch the South African Development Agency, Zuma said the agency could benefit from support of the Canadian International Development Agency, and that he hoped Canada would take advantage of infrastructure projects on the continent and that it could also get more involved in the mining sector.

The two countries have worked closely in multi-lateral associations, including the World Trade Organisation and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which investigates serious transgressions of human rights.

The World Bank on Wednesday announced $1-billion in funding for Africa's Great Lakes region where renewed fighting this week between the government and rebels in eastern Congo has raised fears once again of an escalation in conflict.

On the first day of a trip to Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the funds, aimed at financing health and education, hydro-electric projects and cross-border trade, could be a "major contributor to lasting peace in the Great Lakes region."

Kim was traveling with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

Two days of clashes between Congo's army and rebel fighters near the eastern city of Goma have killed at least 19 people. The clashes have threatened an uneasy six-month peace accord just days before a scheduled visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Government forces and the M23 insurgents began exchanging heavy weapons fire for a second day early on Tuesday, with explosions still being heard late into the afternoon.

Government spokesperson Lambert Mende said 15 rebels and four government soldiers had been killed in Monday's clashes north of Goma, the biggest city in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo. Details of casualties from Tuesday's fighting were not immediately available, however both military and rebel sources said the shelling had caused further deaths.

During its year-long insurgency, the M23 has repeatedly used alleged army aggression as a pretext to launch offensives, but has been weakened in recent months by infighting and defections. The Congolese army is also struggling to reorganise after its humiliating defeat in Goma last year.

Also making headlines:

The Sasol Pension Fund is expected to start construction on a ten-storey office building in Sandton this month.

The Mpumalanga Education Department has set aside more than R450-million of its R14.8-billion budget to buy textbooks and stationery.

The Indian High Commission says some wedding guests on board a privately chartered plane that landed at Waterkloof Air Force Base had official business in South Africa.

And, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan warns of renewed labour unrest in the mining sector.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.