Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Four journalists and their driver are still being held in Burundi after being arrested for undermining national security while covering a rebel attack from neighbouring DR Congo, the attorney general said. The Burundian reporters were detained on Tuesday last week while reporting in Bubanza, in the …
Read More »The ‘Brave Ones’: Zimbabwe’s women-only rangers fighting poaching
Phundundu, Zimbabwe | AFP | Chiyevedzo Mutero was one of dozens competing in the remote Zimbabwean bush to join the all-female anti-poaching Akashinga rangers when she broke her finger. She didn’t consider quitting — she even smiled as her finger was bandaged, before returning to the brutal military-style training. “I’m happy, …
Read More »Kenyans say UK stole land for tea, push for UN inquiry
Kericho, Kenya | AFP | Kibore Cheruiyot Ngasura was just a small boy when his family was violently expelled from their ancestral land in Kenya’s lush tea-growing western highlands by British colonizers, and banished never to return. Eighty-five years later he still bristles at the memory, recalling the fear and confusion …
Read More »AfroChampions Initiative presents $1trn AfCFTA investment framework
The AfroChampions Initiative held its second conference on sustainable green growth and industrialisation in Kigali, Rwanda. Kigali, Rwanda | TOM COLLINS | The AfroChampions Initiative, a set of public-private partnerships designed to leverage resources and funds to create more multinational corporate champions in Africa, has proposed a $1trn investment framework …
Read More »Egypt, Ethiopia to meet in Washington over Nile dam
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s foreign minister confirmed Tuesday that his country would take part in mediated talks in Washington next month over a controversial dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia “will meet in the United States on 6 November… to break the deadlock in …
Read More »‘We don’t see the peace’: Abiy’s Nobel queried at Ethiopian border
Dawhan, Ethiopia | AFP | When Zaid Aregawi learned that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, her first thought was of her brother Alem, who is languishing in jail across the border in Eritrea. He crossed over five months ago carrying wood for an Eritrean businessman …
Read More »Nigerian pastor accused of abusing children who fled Boko Haram
Benin City, Nigeria | AFP | Deep in the tropical forest in southern Nigeria, an evangelical pastor runs a sprawling camp billed as a refuge for thousands of children who fled the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency in the north. Solomon Folorunsho, known as Pastor Solomon, says he is on a self-proclaimed …
Read More »COMMENT: Tariffs and Intra-Africa trade
Significant reduction or elimination of tariffs would boost intra-Africa trade to more than 50% COMMENT | Damali Ssali | There are several factors that influence the value and volume of trade. However, tariffs on tradeable goods and services are one of the most significant. International trade grew dramatically in the …
Read More »Tanzania backsliding on freedoms under Magufuli
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | President John Magufuli has presided over a crackdown on media and civil society in Tanzania that has seriously undermined democratic freedoms as the country approaches elections, global rights groups said Monday. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tanzania was backsliding under Magufuli, whose …
Read More »ETHIOPIAN CRASH: Alalo’s remains finally recovered
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The remains of Christine Alalo, the former Commissioner of Police who perished in the Ethiopian airlines crash in March this year, have been retrieved. This is according to a communication sent to the Uganda Police Force, from the Ethiopian government and the Airline company. …
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