AFRICA

  Significant reduction or elimination of tariffs would boost intra-Africa trade to more than 50% COMMENT | Damali Ssali |  There are several factors that influence the value and volume of trade. However, tariffs on tradeable goods and services are one of the most significant. International trade grew dramatically in the …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  President John Magufuli has presided over a crackdown on media and civil society in Tanzania that has seriously undermined democratic freedoms as the country approaches elections, global rights groups said Monday. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tanzania was backsliding under Magufuli, whose …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The remains of Christine Alalo, the former Commissioner of Police who perished in the Ethiopian airlines crash in March this year, have been retrieved. This is according to a communication sent to the Uganda Police Force, from the Ethiopian government and the Airline company. …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | Incumbent President Filipe Nyusi was declared the landslide winner in Mozambique’s election this month, despite claims of widespread cheating, the electoral commission announced on Sunday. Nyusi of the ruling Frelimo party scored 73 percent of the vote, ahead of Ossufo Momade of Renamo, the rebel …

Mogadishu, Somalia | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandan Members of Parliament have started a week-long working visit to Somalia to assess the welfare of the country’s troops serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). According to a statement by AMISOM, the legislators will visit the Forward Operating Bases and interact …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  The grave site of a guerilla leader in Kenya’s anti-colonial rebellion has been discovered beneath a prison in Nairobi, a foundation set up by his family says, more than 60 years after he was executed. Dedan Kimathi, a top insurgent in the Mau Mau uprising …

Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s  Victor Ochen was recently one of three young leaders from Africa that briefed the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) on the role youth can play to promote peace on the continent. Ochen, United Nations Global Goals Ambassador for Peace and Justice and 2015 …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  Liberian central bank chief Nathaniel Patray has resigned, the president’s office said Friday, after a year of controversy over his handling of the country’s monetary policy. Liberian President George Weah “has accepted the resignation of Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Governor, Nathaniel R. Patray,” a …

Yaounde, Cameroon | AFP |  The club is secret. You have to know someone who will guide you to the address — off a busy street in Cameroon’s capital, down a dingy alley to a door with the unwelcoming message in chalk: “No entry.” Inside is a rectangular room, dark and …

    Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Incumbent president Mokgweetsi Masisi on Friday won a five-year term in Botswana’s elections which saw his ruling party secure more than 51 percent of parliamentary votes, the chief justice said. “Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi is elected President of the Republic of Botswana,” …