AFRICA

Dakar, Senegal | AFP |  Launching an airline in Africa is a notorious challenge in a continent and sector where opportunities are often crimped by regulations and national champions are dominant. Now, for plucky entrants, coronavirus has added to the checklist of problems, as a small Senegalese airline can attest. Transair, …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday said “no decision” had been taken regarding a US push for an outside probe into its chief, accused by whistleblowers of ethics breaches. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says Washington is dissatisfied with the outcome of an internal …

Cairo, Egypt | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa soccer governing body CAF will distribute $200,000 to each of its members to support the management of football at the domestic levels hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At its meeting on Thursday  via video-conference, the CAF Emergency Committee has approved the immediate distribution …

Bujumbura, Burundi | AFP | Burundi’s main opposition party on Thursday filed its submission to the Constitutional Court to contest the results of a presidential election it alleges was riddled with fraud and irregularities. On Monday the electoral commission announced that ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye had won the vote with …

Northern South Africa, South Africa | AFP | The charity pick-up truck rolled into a rural South African township laden with the usual boxes of bread loaves and assorted vegetables — and an unusual and especially prized gift: more than 50 kilogrammes (110 pounds) of fresh venison. The antelope had been …

Xai-Xai, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique’s public prosecutor on Thursday called for an “exemplary conviction” of six elite officers accused of murdering a poll observer ahead of national elections last year, but denied any state involvement in the killing. Prosecutor Leonardo Cumbe’s remarks marked the end of a trial in the …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  As the novel coronavirus wreaks global havoc, Bill Gates is the new bete noire for conspiracy theorists worldwide including in Africa where a Kenyan politician’s false online post has added major fuel to the spread of misinformation. While Gates’s vaccine programmes on the continent have …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  For delivery man Sisay Alebachew, the difference between a good and bad day depends on Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s monopoly telecoms provider. When the internet is down or too slow to use, customers struggle to place orders on the website of Deliver Addis, Sisay’s e-commerce employer, …

Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | Top world leaders in government and private sector want tangible solutions to heal world economies that have been hit by coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). They were speaking during celebrations for Africa Day 2020 facilitated by United Bank for Africa (UBA). The event was screened live across …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese authorities said Wednesday that three former senior aides to ousted president Omar al-Bashir have caught the novel coronavirus in prison. Former officials Ali Othman Taha, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun and Abdulreheem Mohamed Hussein have been held in Khartoum’s Kober prison since Bashir’s military ouster in …