South African Airways (SAA) has announced an extensive expansion of its African network including new routes, extra capacity and larger aircraft.  Thevan Krishna, SAA Regional Manager Australia and New Zealand said Africa has been 'earmarked' as a key growth area for the airline's restructuring process and its route expansion is expected to also boost growth of tourism from Australia and New Zealand to Africa.  "Our mandate is to be an African carrier with a global reach and we are determined to provide the most efficient and effective network on the continent," he said.  On 19 September SAA launched flights to business destination Libreville, Gabon in West Africa and later this year will add a flight on to Abidjan on the Ivory Coast. SAA also plans to add capacity to 11 of its 19 African destinations including Entebbe, Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam, Mauritius and Luanda.  "The current seven return flights per week to Nairobi will increase to 10.  The seven flights per week to Mauritius will be increased to eight per week and will include two flights on Saturday with connections to and from Europe," Krishna said.  SAA will also use larger Boeing 737 aircraft to service some of its African destinations, boosting capacity on several routes, and will upgrade lounge facilities at several African airports including Harare, Lusaka and Lagos.