Africa Business

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits Cairo on Thursday to press local officials to release a jailed British-Egyptian pro-democracy campaigner.Alaa Abdel Fattah was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and handed a five-year sentence for “spreading false news” in a Facebook post on torture in Egypt’s prisons.His British-born mother, 68-year-old Laila Soueif, has spent …

UK foreign minister in Egypt to push for activist’s release Read More »

The M23 armed group has seized further territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and on Thursday was continuing to tighten its grip on provincial capital Goma, which is almost surrounded by fighting.Weaknesses within the Congolese army, as well as backing from Rwanda are aiding the fighters of the M23, according to …

Advancing M23 fighters in DR Congo aided by Rwanda backing, army weakness Read More »

A strange sight appears on the streets of Mogadishu: a figure dressed all in black, including a cowboy hat, riding a horse through the beeping traffic of tuk-tuks and motorbikes.Stranger still in conservative Somalia, the rider is a woman. Shukri Osman Muse said she is “delighted to be the first female equestrian in the country — …

New rider in town: Somalia’s first woman equestrian turns heads Read More »

Luggage on their backs, they trudged all Wednesday morning along the road leading to downtown Goma, fleeing the advancing fighters in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.Streams of displaced people have flocked from Minova, a port city the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has already captured as it conquers swathes of territory at the expense of …

Fear abounds as M23 fighters close in on DR Congo’s Goma Read More »

Eleven political parties in Mali on Wednesday urged the ruling junta to confirm a timetable for elections and a return to civilian rule, in a rare display of dissent.The troubled west African state has been ruled by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, with the junta initially committing under international pressure to …

Mali parties issue rare criticism of junta, call for elections Read More »

Nearly 10 million malaria vaccine doses were delivered to Africa during the first year of routine immunisation being rolled out across the continent, the Gavi vaccine alliance said Wednesday.The mosquito-borne disease kills nearly 600,000 people a year, the vast majority in Africa, with children heavily affected, according to the World Health Organization.In a pilot phase …

Africa malaria jab rollout delivers 10 million doses Read More »

The African Union expressed dismay Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, urging his administration to reconsider.Just hours after taking office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order directing the US to withdraw from the UN agency, which threatens to leave global health initiatives short of …

African Union ‘dismayed’ US withdrawing from WHO Read More »

A Spanish man kidnapped by an armed group in the turbulent Algeria-Mali border area thanked the Algerian authorities on Wednesday after his rescue.Identified as Joaquin Navarro, the Spaniard had been on a trip last week when he was kidnapped “by an armed group made up of five people”, according to the Algerian authorities.Late on Tuesday, …

Spaniard kidnapped in Mali thanks Algeria after rescue Read More »

A Spanish man kidnapped by an armed group in the turbulent Algeria-Mali border region was heading home on Wednesday as Madrid confirmed his liberation.The Spaniard arrived at the Boufarik military base south of Algiers on a flight from Algeria’s southernmost Tin Zaoutine commune, the Algerian defence ministry said on Tuesday.He was on a tourist trip …

Spanish man heading home after Mali kidnapping ordeal Read More »

Sudan’s army-aligned government has issued new banknotes in areas it controls,  reportedly aimed at undermining its paramilitary rivals but causing long queues at banks, disrupting trade and entrenching division.In a country already grappling with war and famine, the swap replaced 500 and 1,000 Sudanese pound banknotes (worth around $0.25 and $0.50 respectively) with new ones …

Sudan ‘political’ banknote switch causes cash crunch Read More »