Nigeria: Abuja Building Collapse

Residents and passersby gathered as night fell on Thursday as they joined a team of emergency and aid workers who searched through the rubble looking for survivors. At least two people have now been confirmed dead after a two-storey building collapsed in Abuja, officials of the emergency response services said. Twenty-one people have been rescued

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South Africa: New Twist in South Africa’s Tottenham Hotspur Sponsorship Deal Opens Can of Worms

Harare — Lindiwe Sisulu, the Minister of Tourism, distanced herself from the reported R1 billion deal to sponsor Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, which has sparked widespread outrage. This comes after SA Tourism (SAT) was lambasted after the Daily Maverick’s publication of its proposed plans for a three-year deal worth £42.5 million (approximately R900 million) beginning

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Southern Africa: Namibian President Geingob Worried By Escalation of Tensions in eSwatini

PRESIDENT Hage Geingob yesterday expressed concern about the escalation of tensions in Eswatini, and reiterated his call for authorities in the kingdom to investigate the death of human rights and political activists Thulani Rudolf Maseko. Maseko, who was assassinated at his home in Mbabane a week ago, was the chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum. The

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Kenya: Govt Unveils Plans to Accede the Establishment of a Green Growth Institute

Nairobi — The Government of Kenya has unveiled plans to accede to the establishment of a Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) that will support green investments in the country. The GGGI, established in 2012, is a treaty-based international, intergovernmental organization whose vision is a low-carbon, resilient world of inclusive and sustainable growth by supporting members

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Tunisia: Legislative Elections

Tunis/Tunisia — January 29 is the only legal date for the second round of legislative elections, President of the Independent High Authority for Elections (French: ISIE) Farouk Bouasker said as he paid Thursday a working visit to Béja. “The date will be maintained regardless of weather conditions in the northwest,” Bouasker further told TAP. Polls

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Davos: Spurring growth in developing countries [Business Africa]

The African continent fueled many debates at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The forum’s discussions centred around sustainable solutions, ranging from energy transition, reimagining globalisation, inclusion and diversity to prepare the world to collaborate and share equally in all future opportunities. How can the African continent position itself to thrive in an

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Yellen tours Zambian health institute

Yellen’s trip comes a month after the US-Africa summit in Washington, where the US president pledged billions of dollars in investment, trade and development assistance   –   Copyright © africanews Yesica Fisch/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved. By Africanews Last updated: 14 hours ago Zambia U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Zambia on the

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Africa: Pepfar At Twenty -Africa Relations

PEPFAR’s twentieth anniversary should prompt reflection on some inconvenient truths for U.S.-Africa relations. This month marks the twentieth anniversary of President George W. Bush’s signature global HIV/AIDS initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. From the outset, PEPFAR was profoundly ambitious in its vision, rejecting conventional wisdom about the viability of providing

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Africa: Us

Nairobi, Kenya — U.S. officials say food insecurity in Africa will worsen this year because of climate change, conflict, and market disruptions caused partly by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Speaking online to journalists Thursday from Malawi, Cary Fowler, special envoy for Global Food Security, said looking for solutions is key. “As much as I wish

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Zimbabwe: Delta Corporation Credits Policy Measures for Easing Inflation

LISTED beverages manufacturer, Delta Corporation Limited, has credited policy interventions employed by monetary authorities for easing inflation and spurring foreign currency sales for businesses across the economy. Monetary authorities have sustained the implementation of measures aimed at stabilising the economy, which have seen annual inflation receding from over 800% recorded in July 2022 to the

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Nigeria: Buhari Reappoints ‘Incompetent’ Official Sacked By Jonathan As Nigeria’s Investment Chief

Despite the indictment and consequent sack, Mr Buhari known for his anti-corruption rhetoric reappointed her. In 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan sacked Saratu Umar as the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC). The sack followed a recommendation by a ministerial panel that indicted her for several offences, including lack of administrative competence

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Inflation slows in Ghana

Inflation in Ghana is slowing after peaking at 78,1% in November. According to data collected by the statistics service, producer price inflation retreated in December reaching now 52,2%. Last month, consumer price inflation accelerated to 54.1% year-on-year driven by rising fuel, utilities and food costs. According to experts, the decline in month-on-month producer inflation could

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Mali: Displacement crisis deepens as Al-Qaida and Islamic State groups drive insecurity

The security situation in Mali is worsening. The United Nations Secretary-General highlighted key findings of a new report on the Sahelian country that was circulated Monday (Jan.16). Al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups are driving insecurity in central Mali and continue to clash near populated areas in the northern Gao and Menaka regions, the U.N. chief

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Head of Ethiopia’s Supreme Court resigns

Head of Ethiopia’s Supreme court, Meaza Ashenafi, and her deputy, Solomon Areda Waktolla “have resigned” from their position. A letter to the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR) on Tuesday did not state the reason for their resignation, local media house Addis Standard reported.  The Parliament has subsequently approved Assistant Professor Tewdros Mihret, from Addis Abeba

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Zimbabwe: For-ED Outfits Dressed Down for Demanding Sponsorship From Zanu-PF

ZANU PF National Commissar, Mike Bimha, has unwittingly admitted that mushrooming appendages of the party are using their proximity to the ruling organisation for financial gains, deviating from their mandate of drumming up support ahead of elections. Affiliates under Zanu PF have been mushrooming ostensibly to support the economic development of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and

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Mali’s leader launches ‘Patriotic Day’ in bid to resist external pressure

Malians protest against ECOWAS   –   Copyright © africanews OUSMANE MAKAVELI/AFP or licensors Last updated: 15 hours ago Bamako Mali marked its new “National Day of Patriotic Sovereignty” on Saturday, introduced by military leader Colonel Assimi Goïta. The event is intended to be a founding act of popular resistance to external pressure. Malians earlier protested against

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South Africa: Western Cape Has Tried a New Approach to Housing. It’s Bearing Fruit

The programme accepts that informal settlements are a major part of our cities Over the past five years the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements has scaled up its support of informal settlements. With eight organisations, it has implemented the Informal Settlements Support Programme (ISSP) in municipalities across the province. The programme accepts that informal

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South Africa: SAPS Must Pay Damages to Senior Officer Falsely Accused of Racism

R300,000 in compensation awarded to senior police officer The South African Police Service (SAPS) must pay R300,000 in compensation and apologise to an officer falsely accused of racism. SAPS management had “dismally failed” to put an end to the year-long “racial harassment” of Lt Col Annemarie Oosthuizen, the Johannesburg Labour Court found. Judge Portia Nkutha-Nkontwana

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Benin opposition leader rejects preliminary results of parliamentary vote

****Benin’s main opposition on Thursday (Jan. 12) claimed vote buying and fraud allowed allies of the President to win Sunday’s legislative election.** Beninese electoral commission announced late Wednesday, preliminary results of Sunday’s parliamentary election. According to the commission, the main opposition Democrats won 28 seats while the Republican Bloc (BR) and Progressive Union for Renewal

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Zimbabwe: Greening the City Gets Community Treatment in Zimbabwe

It’s a typical story in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. With the failure to provide services such as refuse collection by the local municipality, township residents dump garbage wherever they fancy, and with time, dumpsites become “official.” For 56-year-old Mariyeti Mpala, however, a community dumpsite on land that belonged to the local municipality a stone’s throw

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Burkina Faso: Risks of Burkina Faso’s New Military Approach to Terrorism

Without proper supervision and control, the use of 50 000 armed civilian auxiliaries could aggravate security problems. Fifty thousand Burkinabe civilians have joined the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) to fight the violent extremists currently occupying nearly half of the country. The recruitment campaign, launched in October 2022 by Burkina Faso’s authorities

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Pardoned Ivorian soldiers return home

The forty-six Ivorian soldiers pardoned by Mali’s junta leader returned home Saturday night. After their plane landed at 11:40 pm (GMT) the uniformed soldiers disembarked one by one, each brandishing a small Ivorian flag. They were greeted by President Alassane Ouattara before entering the presidential pavilion at the airport where their families were waiting for

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Southern Africa: Opinion

For easy and manageable ranking, the Zambezi region can be divided into four routes radiating from the central zone of development, which is the town of Katima Mulilo. Each route has experienced some form of developmental challenges. For easy referencing, route one could be indicated as one radiating from Katima Mulilo through Schuckmansburg, Nsundwa, Ikaba

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Journalists detained after South Sudan’s president filmed apparently urinating

A journalists’ union in South Sudan confirmed on Friday that six staffers with the national broadcaster have been detained in connection with footage apparently showing the country’s president urinating on himself during an event. The South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation footage aired in December and was widely shared online. It showed 71-year-old President Salva Kiir standing

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Zambia: Zambia’s Bet On Democracy

High stakes and encouraging progress in Zambia should prompt international support. Zambia’s leaders, who have been laser-focused on addressing the country’s crippling economic crisis, closed out 2022 by pivoting to legal reform to strengthen democracy. The Zambian government repealed a notorious law criminalizing defamation of the president, which had been used to punish government critics.

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Sudan: Warring South Darfur Tribes Agree to ‘Cessation of Hostilities’

Beleil — On Monday evening, leaders of the strife riven Daju and Rizeigat tribes signed an agreement to end hostilities under the supervision of the Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Rapid support Forces (RSF), Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo. Jurists and community activists have questioned the feasibility of quelling the violence through reconciliations.

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Spain investigates whether Equatorial Guinean officials tortured opponents

Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also the son of the president, has accused the country’s former colonial power Spain of “interference.” The allegation comes after Spain’s judiciary opened an investigation into the “kidnapping” and “torture” of two Spanish nationals,  Feliciano Efa Mangue and Julio Obama Mefuman, in the West African state’s capital

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Africa: COP27 in Review

Africa has contributed negligibly to the changing climate, with less than 4% of global emissions. Yet it stands out disproportionately as the most vulnerable region in the world. It was therefore fitting that the UN climate change conference last year, COP27, was hosted in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The African continent is facing some of the

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Africa: Pope Benedict XVI

Rome — The Catholic Church in different parts of Africa remembers Benedict XVI with masses and suffrage prayers. The Bishops of Uganda, who said they had a close relationship with Pope Benedict XVI, remembered him as a scholar and doctor of the church who helped many of them during his mandate as Pope. They described

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Pelé: Death of the King

Football legend Pelé has passed away at the age of 82. Viewed by many as the planet’s finest footballer, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known to the world as Pelé, adored the game and the game adored him back. Wherever he went, thousands of fans would follow, hoping to catch a glimpse of the three-time World

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Western Sahara: President Brahim Ghali Receives Algerian Multidisciplinary Medical Mission

Shahid Al-Hafed — The President of the Republic, the Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali, received yesterday, members of the multi-disciplinary Algerian medical mission that had been carrying out its work in the Sahrawi hospitals for a whole week. The meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Republic

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Western Sahara: National Secretariat Holds Its Last Ordinary Session Before the 16th Congress of the Polisario Front

Shahid Al-Hafed — The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali, chaired today, the last ordinary session of the National Secretariat, before the holding of the 16th congress of the Polisario Front, in which national and international issues will be discussed. In his opening speech, President Brahim Ghali explained

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USA: Florida Seminoles add contemporary twist to traditional art

The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum is hosting a contemporary traditional art exhibition. The museum located inside a reservation in Florida, USA, features pieces including items of clothing and sweetgrass baskets inspired by Seminole culture. Mixed media artist Wilson Bowers has painting featured: “There’s a lot of inspiration from within the community that, you know, they

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Fishermen held in Somalia by Al-Shabab repatriated to Iran

Fourteen Iranian fishermen held in Somalia by the radical Islamist group Al-Shabab, some for eight years, have returned home, local media reported on Sunday. The fishermen had been abducted in international waters near Somalia and were released after “lengthy negotiations” involving “Iranian government officials and Somali tribal leaders,” the ISNA news agency reported. They were

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South Africa: Shell Determined to Pursue Seismic Exploration Ambitions Off South Africa’s Wild Coast

Oil giant is appealing cancellation of permit to explore for oil in the ecologically rich waters. On the southern coast of Africa, local community groups and environmental activists have been celebrating a significant legal victory over a major oil player. In September a South African court prohibited Shell’s controversial plan to conduct seismic exploration for

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Sudan: Eastern Sudan’s Adarob Faction of the Beja Nazirs Council Refuses Invitation to Join Upcoming Negotiations

Port Sudan / Khartoum — The High Council of Beja Nazirs and Independent Chieftains faction led by Ibrahim Adarob told Radio Dabanga that it was invited by the Trilateral Mechanism to participate in the upcoming Final Agreement negotiations but refused after not being included in the previous stages. AU-IGAD-UN representatives met with a delegation from

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Sudan: FFC Denies Setting Specific Date Target for Final Agreement As Negotiations Take Longer

Khartoum / Omdurman — Shehab Ibrahim, spokesperson for the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change-Change-Central Council (FFC-CC), denied the FFC set any date for signing the Final Agreement with the military junta and admitted that a two-week period is not sufficient to resolve the five outstanding issues. The agreement between an alliance of civilian parties

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Sudan: FFC Says Not All Groups Are Entitled to Sign Sudan’ Framework Agreement, Sparking Criticism

Khartoum — The Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC) maintained that only certain parties are entitled to sign the Framework Agreement and that it refuses to “flood the political process” with parties that are not interested in democracy. Rebel leader Malik Agar called the agreement “exclusionary and weak” and Wajdi Saleh said that it

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