AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A lack of foreign currency means petrol pumps are running dry across Burundi, the government has admitted, as the country struggles with a serious two-year-old political crisis. Long queues have been quickly forming in the capital Bujumbura where petrol is only available at some of …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigerian officials on Wednesday played down fears about the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, despite his third consecutive absence from cabinet and assurances from his wife there was no cause for concern. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo chaired the meeting instead of the 74-year-old Buhari, who has …

DURBAN, South Africa| PPU|  For Africa to develop, the political will of the leaders must be accompanied by the right strategy, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said. Museveni was speaking as the chief panelist on the subject “Agenda 2063: Infrastructure Update” at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, …

Daughter of late Rwandan tycoon to challenge Kagame Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  The 35-year-old daughter of a tycoon who once bankrolled the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front said Wednesday she plans to run as an independent candidate against President Paul Kagame in August’s elections. “Everybody is scared to express themselves …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  DR Congo’s influential Catholic bishops have urged authorities to allow prominent opposition politician Moise Katumbi to return from exile, calling his criminal conviction a “farce”. In a confidential report seen by AFP on Wednesday, the Congolese Episcopal Conference (CENCO) demanded that the government reverse …

ca  A U.S$100 billion bond could be used to help guarantee financing for major regional infrastructure projects such as the East Africa Railway  By Nancy Birdsall and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala  The countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have reached a critical juncture. Strained by a collapse in commodity prices and China’s economic slowdown, …

In Uganda, Police top list of perpetrators of attacks on journalists for fourth year Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP |  Press freedom in Tanzania is being squeezed under President John Magufuli, leaving journalists fearful. France-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym, RSF) ranked Tanzania 83rd out …

The former Chairperson of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma  has listed four key areas that will stimulate desired economic growth for Africa as embedded in agenda 2063. Agenda 2063 is a strategic framework under the African Union for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years. …

Juba, South Sudan |  The latest deployment of British troops has arrived in South Sudan to continue support to the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping mission, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. An additional 35 UK military personnel will join the current UK presence providing support to the UN Mission in …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A Swiss court has ruled that the remains of Burundi’s deposed king Mwambutsa IV, who died 40 years ago, must stay in Switzerland, ending a drawn out legal battle, local media reported Tuesday. Mwambutsa led Burundi at independence from Belgium in 1962, but was deposed …