AFRICA

Conakry, Guinea | AFP | Police have arrested at least 50 people following an arson attack that killed five children in central Guinea after last weekend’s local elections, local official said Thursday. Unrest has flared in the West African country after the ballot, with seven deaths recorded so far across …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The South African government will compensate the families of more than 100 mentally-ill patients who died from neglect after they were moved from hospital and placed into unlicenced health facilities. At least 144 psychiatric patients died from hunger and lack of care within months …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Police in Mali said Thursday they had arrested eight people in connection with two gang rapes and a separate case of paedophilia, as campaigners urged the adoption of laws penalising gender-based violence. Reports of the gang-rape of a young woman have circulated since the weekend …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday warned about the dangers of political unrest as he met the new envoy from Togo, where there has been a wave of anti-government protests. Buhari did not specifically mention Togo as he received the newly appointed ambassador, Lene Dimban, …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian government official found with 86 new luxury cars was charged with fraud on Thursday, court papers show. Ibrahim Tumsah, finance and account director at the Power, Works and Housing Ministry was arraigned at Abuja Federal High Court along with his brother Tijani Tumsah, …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The Gambia was readmitted to the Commonwealth on Thursday, welcomed back following the democratic election of President Adama Barrow, who reversed the shock pullout of 2013. His predecessor Yahya Jammeh suddenly withdrew the impoverished west African nation in October that year, branding the group …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s opposition demanded Thursday that the ruling ANC party end confusion over President Jacob Zuma’s expected departure from office, as tense transition talks continued in Cape Town. ANC party officials met with Zuma over the weekend to request his resignation, but he …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | The government of Chad on Wednesday suspended 10 opposition parties for “disturbing public order” and “inciting violence” after they backed trade union calls for a mass protest over austerity measures. The parties’ activities “have been suspended for a duration of two months,” Security Minister Ahmat …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | UN envoy Ghassan Salame said Wednesday he hoped for elections in Libya by the end of 2018 but that conditions in the strife-torn country were not yet ready for polling. “There are several conditions. For the time being, we have only achieved one: the start of …

The latest African Development Bank (AfDB) Economic Outlook for 2018 predicts 4.1% average growth COMMENT | KAUSHIK BASU | The African Development Bank (AfDB) has just published its African Economic Outlook for 2018. This year’s revamped publication – shorter than usual, analytically well-structured, and written in lucid prose, without hyperbole – …