AFRICA

African countries are simplifying entry processes and dropping restrictions to improve cross-border travel at inter-country and regional levels. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | In the past eight years, 35 countries have improved their visa policies and, since 2016, five countries have abolished all visa requirements for African travellers. As …

KHARTOUM, SUDAN | Xinhua | Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced as “unjust” the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Sudanese economic institutions. “The sanction operation, which is especially directed against (Sudan’s) national institutions, will not help achieve peace,” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry further said …

ABUJA, NIGERIA | Xinhua | Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has directed the management of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to expand its focus area by extending interest-free loans to local students interested in skill-development programs. Tinubu gave the directive at the State House on Monday, saying it is important …

KIGALI, RWANDA | Xinhua | Rwanda’s sector of meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE) achieved remarkable growth in 2023, generating more than 91 million U.S. dollars in revenue, up from 64 million U.S. dollars the previous year. “Rwanda hosted more than 150 conferences last year which generated more than 91 …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has expressed concern that the majority of developing countries will not meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with only seven years left on the agenda. President Museveni told the opening of the G77+China Heads of State Summit on Sunday, that while …

KINSHASA, DRC | Xinhua | Felix Tshisekedi, president-elect of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was sworn in Saturday for his second five-year term in office at a ceremony attended by regional leaders and other foreign dignitaries. The DRC Constitutional Court in early January officially confirmed the reelection of …

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA | Xinhua | More than 3.45 million people are displaced in Ethiopia, with more than half of them displaced due to conflict, according to a new report of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency. The IOM, through its latest Ethiopia National Displacement Report released …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Delegations of at least 80 development finance instructions (DFIs) from Africa are due in Kampala next week for a benchmarking tour on Sustainability Standards. The benchmarking visit is organized under the umbrella African Association of Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) in cooperation with the European Organisation …

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA | Xinhua | The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) said on Friday that it will continue its fight to prevent a proposed online auction of Nelson Mandela’s personal belongings. In a statement issued on Friday, the heritage agency said that “SAHRA, together with the Department …

Continental lender recently introduced the Emergency Agricultural Production Project  in the East African nation BURUNDI | RONALD MUSOKE | For many Burundian smallholder farmers, the bumper maize harvest they are currently witnessing is all due to the intervention of a project initiated by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) which offered …