AFRICA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | THE INDEPENDENT | African leaders convened at the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa on 14–15 February, launching the AU theme of the year: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve …

GOMA, DR Congo | Xinhua | Vivian van de Perre, acting head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), met with leaders of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in Goma on Friday to discuss a ceasefire monitoring mechanism. The meeting comes as diplomatic efforts intensify …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | African sugar giant once courted by Tanzania’s Kagera Sugar and heralded as a possible triumph of a continental sugar business spanning East and South Africa is heading for liquidation. Kagera Sugar was eliminated early in the process to reconfigure Tongaat’s business which also included Zimbabwe’s …

Nairobi, Kenya | BBC |  Kenya’s border with Somalia will re-open in April almost 15 years after it shut because of attacks by Islamist militant group al-Shabab, President William Ruto has announced. Based in Somalia, the group has masterminded a series of deadly assaults in Kenya including one on a …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The cost of mobile telephone call costs in the East African Community have remained high and varying despite the introduction of the One Network Area (ONA) Initiative in 2014. ‎‎ONA was created to make mobile roaming across the EAC simple and affordable, by making …

UNITED NATIONS | Xinhua | UN humanitarians on Wednesday called for an immediate scale-up of the response to the worst cholera outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 25 years. “Since the start of the year, more than 1,300 suspected cases and 35 deaths have been reported,” …

Experts warn of loss of control under ‘highly conditional’ deals   NEWS ANALYSIS | JOHN MUSENZE | A new wave of bilateral health deals with the United States is facing growing resistance across Africa, as courts, civil society groups and public-health experts question how the deals reconfigure control over health data, pathogen …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s economic growth has strengthened markedly in recent years, rising from below 3 per cent in 2020 to an estimated 7 per cent today, supported by some of the strongest macroeconomic indicators on the continent. While these gains have drawn both praise and scepticism, …

NAIROBI | Xinhua |  Defying the sweltering afternoon heat, Jenny Fair and her young peers huddled around a large table, marveling at remotely controlled robots making circular motions. Currently in Grade Seven, the 13-year-old learner is enrolled at Code with Kids, a community-focused organization dedicated to providing affordable and accessible …

  Inside Trump’s plan to rebuild global supply chains without China NEWS ANALYSIS  | RONALD MUSOKE | On Feb. 4, delegations from more than 50 countries streamed into the U.S. Department of State for a summit that Washington D.C views as foundational to the next era of industrial power. Foreign ministers, …