Africa Business

A record 46,843 migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands illegally in 2024 via the increasingly deadly Atlantic route, the second consecutive year of unprecedented arrival numbers, official data showed on Thursday.The landmark came as the European country received 63,970 irregular migrants last year, the vast majority in the Atlantic archipelago, up from 56,852 in 2023, the …

Spain’s Canary Islands received record 46,843 migrants in 2024: ministry Read More »

Twenty-seven migrants, including women and children, died after two boats capsized off central Tunisia, with 83 people rescued, a civil defence official told AFP on Thursday.The rescued and dead passengers, who were found off the Kerkennah Islands, aimed to reach Europe and were all from sub-Saharan African countries, said Zied Sdiri, head of civil defence …

27 sub-Saharan African migrants die off Tunisia in shipwrecks Read More »

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said in an end-of-year speech that French forces will withdraw from the West African nation in January, making it the latest country to weaken military ties with the former colonial power.  Ouattara said late on Tuesday that Ivory Coast could be proud of its army “whose modernisation is now effective.”It is …

Ivory Coast president says French forces to withdraw in January Read More »

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said in an end-of-year speech that French forces will withdraw from the West African nation in January, making it the latest country to weaken military ties with the former colonial power.  “We can be proud of our army, whose modernization is now effective. It is in this context that we have …

Ivory Coast president says French forces to withdraw in January Read More »

Senegal’s President Bassirou Dioumaye Faye said that 2025 would see an end to all foreign military presence in the west African country, in a speech on Tuesday to mark the new year.Faye’s statement came a month after he announced that former colonial master France would have to close its military bases in Senegal.”I have instructed …

Senegal president says no more ‘foreign military presence from 2025’ Read More »

Revellers across the world ushered in 2025 on Wednesday, with huge crowds waving goodbye to the old year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return, and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.It is all but certain that 2024 will go down as the hottest year on record, with climate-fuelled disasters wreaking havoc …

World greets 2025 after sweltering year of Olympics, turmoil and Trump Read More »

Zimbabwe officially abolished the death penalty Tuesday after President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed into law an act that will commute to jail time the sentences of about 60 prisoners on death row.There has been a moratorium on executions in the southern African country since 2005 although courts have continued to hand down the death sentence for …

Zimbabwe abolishes the death penalty Read More »

Crowds will marvel at fireworks and toast champagne to greet 2025 on Tuesday, waving goodbye to a year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.It is all but certain that 2024 will go down as the hottest year on record, with climate-fuelled disasters wreaking havoc …

World greets 2025 after sweltering year of Olympics, turmoil, and Trump Read More »

One Mozambique family is mourning a 16-year-old girl shot dead on Christmas Day; another is devastated over the loss of a 22-year-old son, brother and breadwinner killed on the sidelines of a protest weeks earlier.Both deaths are blamed on security forces, like many of the nearly 280 lives lost in more than two months of …

Mozambique mourns dozens killed in two months of election unrest Read More »

The dance world mourned Tuesday the internationally acclaimed South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died in hospital at the weekend aged 39.  Masilo died unexpectedly on Sunday after a brief illness, a spokesperson for her family said in a statement.Born in Soweto, she was described as a sprite-like, energetic dancer and a fearless …

Celebrated S.African contemporary dancer Dada Masilo dies aged 39 Read More »