AFRICA

Cape Town, S.A. | Xinhua | South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster on Thursday evening to address the country’s electricity crisis. “The National Disaster Management Center has consequently classified the energy crisis and its impact as a disaster. We are therefore declaring a national state of …

Abuja, Nigeria | Xinhua | Nigerian authorities on Thursday ordered the closure of all universities by Feb. 22 ahead of the country’s forthcoming general elections starting Feb. 25. The National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigeria’s regulatory agency for universities, said in a statement that the directive followed an order by Minister of …

Khartoum, Sudan | Xinhua | Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday expressed Russia’s support for Sudan’s efforts to resolve the country’s political crisis without foreign dictations. “We support Sudan’s efforts to achieve stability. We support the national dialogue among the Sudanese away from foreign dictations,” Lavrov told a …

Lusaka, Zambia | Xinhua | Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has commuted death sentences for 390 inmates to life imprisonment, a senior government official said Wednesday. The inmates include 379 males and 11 females. Jack Mwiimbu, the minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, said the move follows the abolishment of the …

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | Rodney Swigelaar, the Africa director of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is visiting Kenya to discuss the progress of the country’s efforts to fight against doping. Hosted by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), Swigelaar is scheduled to address various stakeholders in sports, including the government …

Local content and lower subscription rates create a competitive market Kampala, Uganda | CONRAD ONYANGO | Africa’s pay television industry is projected to add 16 million new viewers over the next five years as top players step up the battle for compelling and affordable local content. Between 2022 and 2028, the continent’s …

Western lenders for long have not been put on the spotlight for debt relief because they successfully managed to dupe the world that it’s only Chinese lenders that pose a threat to Africa Beijing, China | Xinhua | Like many senior U.S. officials who have visited Africa, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet …

New rankings show world is opening up – but not for everyone Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Imagine nine east Africans, one from each of the regional countries, travelling to Hong Kong on a business trip. The Ugandan, Kenyan, and Tanzanian would not need a visa. But the Rwandan, Ethiopian, …

Khartoum, Sudan | Xinhua | Sudan on Tuesday called on the UN Security Council to lift the sanctions imposed on it since 2005. The demand was made by Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq when meeting with the ambassadors of the permanent and non-permanent member states of the Security Council, …

Museveni and Ramaphosa to attend summit Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) in patnership with Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Cooperatives, Privatisation and Investment is organizing a Uganda- South Africa Trade, Tourism, and Investment Summit  February 27th – 1st March 2023 in Pretoria, South …