AFRICA

Despite concerns about profitability, Uber is continuing to expand in Africa and remains firmly committed to the market. General manager Alon Lits explains the e-hailing firm’s strategy to African Business Magazine’s David Thomas  As one of the highest-profile and most valuable tech IPOs in years, Uber’s May debut on the …

Ismailia, Egypt | AFP | Since the Suez Canal was inaugurated amid pomp and ceremony 150 years ago, it has become one of the world’s most important waterways. But its anniversary will only be discreetly marked in Egypt. The man-made canal was excavated between 1859 and 1869, in an ambitious project …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s wildlife agency said Monday it would move hundreds of elephants and other animals in a dramatic bid to save them from a lethal drought. At least 120 elephants have already died over the past two months as the country grapples with one of the worst droughts in its history. …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP |  Viral images of a Tunisian lawmaker allegedly masturbating outside a high school have sparked the country’s own #MeToo moment, with sex abuse victims breaking taboos under the hashtag #EnaZeda. Discussion of sexual harassment had previously been limited to a few edgy TV shows, but now thousands …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | In a move Nigeria’s president hailed as a “landmark moment”, Africa’s largest oil producer approved legislation this week to bolster its share of revenues from international majors. The authorities say the amendment — heralded as the biggest change in decades to its production sharing deals — will …

Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria | AFP |  A Nigerian navy speedboat loaded with special forces troops skims across the waves towards a suspect vessel in the Gulf of Guinea. Guns ready, black-clad officers clamber up a rope ladder and fan out across the decks, looking for pirates believed to have taken …

Birao, Central African Republic | AFP |  A heavy silence hangs in the dusty alleys of Birao, in the extreme northeast of Central African Republic, where figures only rarely wander between the empty houses and reed hedges. Since September, Birao has been hit hard by fighting between armed groups despite a …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Friday said a new delay to set up a power-sharing government was “endurable” as he vowed to honour a peace deal funding pledge for a unified army. Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar, whose fallout in 2013 sparked …

  Maputo, Mozambique | AFP |  The European Union on Friday cast doubt on the credibility of Mozambique’s ruling party’s victory in last month’s election, saying its observers detected a litany of “irregularities and malpractices” and called on authorities to clarify them. Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi won a new five-year …

Mopti, Mali | AFP |  Untroubled by time, the mighty Niger River glides through the Sahel city as women wash their clothes in its brackish waters and cows slumber nearby in the heat. But this peaceful image is an illusion, for Mopti, a city of 150,000 people, is on a dark, …