Africa News

Ama Ata Aidoo: Ghana’s famous author and feminist dies

One of Africa’s most-celebrated authors and playwrights, Ghanaian Ama Ata Aidoo, has died aged 81. A renowned feminist, she depicted and celebrated the condition of African women in works such as The Dilemma of a Ghost, Our Sister Killjoy and Changes. She opposed what she described as a

Africa News

Africa CDC warns against vaccine hoarding over monkeypox outbreak

The acting director of Africa’s top public health agency says he hopes rich countries will not hoard vaccines during the current monkeypox outbreak, as they did with the jabs against COVID-19. Monkeypox, a mild viral infection, is endemic in 11 African countries including Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. […]

Africa News

South Africa kidnapping: ‘I survived but part of me died that day’

After a surge in the number of abductions in recent years, South Africa has one of the highest rates of kidnapping in the world, as Mpho Lakaje reports from Johannesburg. Lesego Tau did not panic at first when a stranger opened the back door of her grey Mercedes C-Class and climbed in. She had parked […]

Africa News

‘Lawless logging’ in DRC raises concerns over $500m forests deal signed by Boris Johnson

Environmental groups have raised concerns about a $500m (£380m) forest protection deal signed by Boris Johnson at Cop26, after a damning report into the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s “lawless” logging sector. Johnson signed the letter of intent on behalf of the Central African Forest Initiative (Cafi) for a 10-year agreement which includes objectives to protect

Africa News

BlackRock urged to delay debt repayments from crisis-torn Zambia

BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, has come under pressure to delay demands for debt interest payments from Zambia to prevent the crisis-hit African country’s finances from spiralling out of control. Anti-poverty campaigners said BlackRock, which manages $10tn (£7.68tn) of assets, was among the private sector lenders that had refused to reduce the interest rate

Africa News

Number of people facing extreme hunger in Sudan predicted to double

The number of people who are severely hungry in Sudan could double by September as a result of poor harvests, economic crisis, internal conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UN has warned. In a joint statement, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation said more than 18 million people could face extreme […]

Africa News

Libya elite told to end ‘game of musical chairs and focus on elections’

Libya’s political class should stop conducting musical chairs to stay in power and focus instead on preparing for nationwide elections to be held by June, the special adviser to the UN secretary general has said. Stephanie Williams also warned of a possible resurgence of Islamic State if Libya were to fall back into total division. Libya failed to […]

Africa News

Tented love: how Senegal created a spectacular new African architecture

Visiting the International Fair of Dakar is like taking a stroll through the ruins of some ancient Toblerone-worshipping civilisation. A cluster of triangular pavilions rises from a podium, each clad in a rich pattern of seashells and pebbles. These are reached by triangular steps that lead past triangular plant pots to momentous triangular entranceways. All around, great

Africa News

New evidence of Belgian complicity in 1961 killing of Burundian PM

A popular prime minister of Burundi, Prince Louis Rwagasore, was shot dead just over 60 years ago with the complicity of Belgium, the departing colonial power, a researcher has claimed. The Belgian state has an “overwhelming responsibility” for the assassination of Rwagasore, according to Ludo De Witte, a Flemish sociologist who has spent five years investigating […]

Africa News

South-African president announces that “someone is being held”

africanews– South-African president Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday that “someone is being held” in connection with the fire that started in the early hours and consumed parts of the parliament complex in Cape Town. The incident took place hours after the funeral of Archbishop Desmond Tutu who passed away last Sunday. “This is devastating news,