Conakry, Guinea | AFP | Several people were killed in clashes between gold miners on the Mali-Guinea border this week, Guinean and Malian officials said Wednesday. Despite having areas rich in gold, both Guinea and Mali are among the world’s poorest countries, with many miners going it alone or in …
Read More »Libya slave auctions hurt African unity: Ghana
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has criticised Libya over migrant slave markets, saying the abuses call into question wider African unity. A furore over the auctions is expected to dominate discussions between African Union and European Union at a two-day summit starting Wednesday in Ivory Coast’s …
Read More »EU-Africa summit seeks jobs, stability for exploding population
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | More than 80 African and European leaders will gather in the Ivory Coast on Wednesday to promote jobs and stability for Africa’s exploding population, with some calling for a new “Marshall Plan.” The two-day summit in Abidjan opens as the European Union increasingly sees its …
Read More »Uhuru Kenyatta: back at the helm of a divided nation
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Uhuru Kenyatta, who was sworn in Tuesday for a second and final term after a bruising election season, is the son of Kenya’s founding president and a man who epitomises the country’s elite. The 56-year-old US-educated multi-millionaire, whose family owns an array of businesses, properties and …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s new leader issues ultimatum for externalised funds
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s new president on Tuesday gave a three-month ultimatum for the return of funds siphoned out of the country by individuals and corporations, as he moves to stem graft and revive the moribund economy. “The government of Zimbabwe is gazetting a three-month moratorium within which those …
Read More »Angola opens market to fourth mobile provider
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angola is to allow a fourth mobile operator to enter its profitable telecommunications sector in a move which could impact business interests linked to former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos. “The government is to issue a tender for a fourth telecoms operator which will include land …
Read More »Macron, on African tour, vows to release files on Burkina hero
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday kicked off his maiden African tour by vowing to declassify secret French files on Burkina Faso’s assassinated leader, Thomas Sankara, hailed as a revolutionary hero in many parts of the continent. The threat of terrorism has cast a shadow over …
Read More »Opposition leader urges Togo president not to stand again
Lome, Togo | AFP | Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe was on Tuesday urged not to seek re-election in 2020 to guarantee his place in history as the man who ushered in peaceful political change. Gnassingbe, who has been in power since the death of his father in 2005, has been the …
Read More »Liberian parties register election appeal with Supreme Court
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | The parties of the Liberian presidential candidates who finished second and third in October 10 elections have lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court calling for a re-run of the vote. Incumbent Vice-President Joseph Boakai and veteran opposition leader Charles Brumskine brought the demand to …
Read More »Burundi talks get under way in absence of opposition
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A new round of talks aimed at ending Burundi’s lengthy political crisis began Tuesday in Arusha, Tanzania, though the negotiations were marked by the main opposition group’s absence. Despite the absence of both the exiled leadership of the CNARED opposition and civil society and church …
Read More »