China has increasingly partnered with Nigeria for big road and rail projects.

Air Nigeria's collapse comes as only three domestic airlines are now flying in Nigeria.

The world's third-biggest platinum producer, South Africa's Lonmin, on Tuesday backed down from its threat to sack 3,000 striking mine workers, fearing the move could provoke more violence after police last week shot dead 34 miners in scenes reminiscent of apartheid bloodshed.

The bloody confrontation between striking South African miners and police last week has raised hard questions about investing in Africa's top economyand the ruling ANC's ability to deliver on overdue promises of job creation and change.

A quarter of the workforce returned on Monday to the Marikana platinum mine where 44 menwere killed last week in clashes that evoked memories of apartheid-era violence.

Striking workers at the world's No. 3 platinum producer Lonmin, where 44 people have been killed in a week of violence, face possible dismissal if they do not return to work on Monday, a company spokeswoman said.