AFRICA

Accra, Ghana | AFP |  French Prime Minister Manuel Valls issued an appeal on Sunday to overcome the legacy of slavery, dismissing claims for financial compensation while acknowledging the “horror” of the slave trade. Valls was visiting Franklin House, a former slave hub in the Ghanaian capital Accra, on Sunday …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol rode the commodities boom that drove the country’s extraordinary growth after civil war ended in 2002, but today it symbolises a national economic crisis. The Luanda-based company has increasingly been in focus since Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabweans know the risks of worthless money all too well after hyperinflation between 2007 and 2009 gave them the 100-trillion-dollar banknote that barely bought a loaf of bread. Now they fear that the government is about to create another devastating crisis by printing its own …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta began a two-day visit to Sudan on Saturday, just days after Khartoum issued a call to all African countries to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Sudan has urged African members to quit the Hague-based ICC which it said was a …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP |  The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has described decisions by three African countries to withdraw as a “setback”, as she vowed that the tribunal will continue its work on the continent. “You could expect a setback as the ICC started to make more progress,” …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  US oil and gas group ExxonMobil says it has discovered up to one billion barrels of oil in an offshore field in Nigeria, signalling a boost to the country’s crude reserves. The company said in a statement on its website on Thursday that the Owowo …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP |  The impact of the most severe drought to hit southern Africa in 35 years is expected to worsen in the coming months, a UN climate envoy warned Friday. “The crisis has yet to peak,” Macharia Kamau, special envoy on El Nino and climate, said at …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Ivory Coast heads to the polls Sunday for a referendum on a new constitution their president insists will heal a nation beset by violent turmoil, but which the opposition says is dangerously anti-democratic. Given that President Alassane Ouattara’s political foes have called for a …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday that Egypt is going through a currency “crisis,” suggesting a quick devaluation to tackle a widening gap between the official and black market rates. Egypt has been struggling to shore up its foreign currency reserves in the political and …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Leaders of the Great Lakes region called Thursday for the UN peacekeeping force in strife-torn DR Congo to be bolstered, as fears rise of an upsurge in violence linked to delayed presidential polls. At the end of two-day talks, they called for more contributions to …