AFRICA

Takpapieni, Togo | AFP |  Not so long ago, whenever he wanted to watch a football match or recharge his phone, Ousmane Kantcho had to go “into town” — a 15-kilometre ride by bicycle on poor roads in the savannah. His village, Tababou, lies more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) from …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s finance minister is expected to walk a tightrope during the annual budget presentation to parliament on Wednesday, as the economy teeters on the edge of a fiscal cliff. The continent’s most industrialised economy has in recent years lurched from one economic woe …

  Can the African Continental Free Trade Area succeed where previous free-trade initiatives have failed? Dianna Games weighs up the issues. Africa heads into a historic year in which the long-awaited African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) finally becomes a reality, with trading under the scheme scheduled to begin on 1 …

  Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for three decades before he was ousted amid the Arab Spring protests in 2011, died Tuesday at age 91. The once burly autocrat with the trademark sunglasses, who became frail after multiple surgeries towards the end of …

Maseru, Lesotho | AFP |  Pressure mounted on Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to step down Monday as he appeared in court over the murder of his estranged wife after failing to turn up for a hearing last week. The latest twist in a saga that has gripped the southern African …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African inquiry into the forced sterilisation of dozens of HIV-positive pregnant women said Monday that their rights had been breached and called for government action. The investigation was launched in 2015, when two women’s rights organisations approached South Africa’s Gender Equality Commission …

Bangassou, Central African Republic | AFP | In Bangassou, splendid trees overlook elegant buildings slowly crumbling to ruin. Time here seems to have stood still, and Bangassou’s trauma too. The quiet little town in southeastern Central African Republic was relatively spared by a civil war which erupted in 2013 and mutated …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | A “bomb attack” on a rally in support of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed injured nearly 30 people Sunday, a police official said, in the latest sign of instability ahead of elections in August. The incident occurred in the town of Ambo, located roughly …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan is the world’s youngest country and also one of the poorest, crippled by a devastating civil war that has left tens of thousands dead. As rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as vice president ahead of the formation of a new …

Lome, Togo | AFP |  The home of a key Togo opposition candidate was surrounded by security forces just hours after polls closed Saturday in elections widely expected to see President Faure Gnassingbe claim a fourth term in power. Troops could be seen outside the house of Agbeyome Kodjo, considered …