AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Business confidence in South Africa has plummeted to its lowest level in more than 30 years as political uncertainty, unemployment and dwindling trade weighed heavily, a survey showed Wednesday. South Africa’s economy, which is the most developed in Africa, is plagued by sluggish growth …

Lome, Togo | AFP |  Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters protested across Togo on Wednesday calling for constitutional reform, despite an apparent government concession to their demands. Amnesty International country head Aime Adi told AFP “at least 100,000” were in the capital, Lome, with similar demonstrations taking place in …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Angola’s Electoral Commission declared Wednesday that the ruling MPLA party had won last month’s election, in a victory that allows outgoing President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to install a party loyalist in his place after 38 years in power. The Popular Movement for the Liberation …

Maseru, Lesotho | AFP |  Southern Africa’s regional body on Wednesday said it was sending a rapid-response team to probe the assassination of Lesotho’s army commander, a killing it lashed as “barbaric” and a blow to peace efforts. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been trying to foster peace …

  Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Egypt’s military will host a biennial exercise with the US army next week for the first time since 2009, it said in a statement on Tuesday. The Bright Star exercise, scheduled every two years since 1981, will take place this year from September 10 …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The 4th International Conference NOW in Kampala on “African Youth and Migration” concluded on Tuesday with a call to the African (AU) and European Union (EU) to try to develop common concepts of managing – not stopping – migration. “The AU and EU should work …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigeria and South Africa have both exited recession, notching up economic growth of 0.6 percent and 2.5 percent respectively in the second quarter, official data showed on Tuesday. Nigeria’s economy returned to growth after five consecutive quarters of contraction, driven by a strong performance in …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | British public relations firm Bell Pottinger was expelled from a trade body Tuesday over a controversial campaign in South Africa which was found “likely to inflame racial discord”. The decision by the Britain-based Public Relations and Communications Associations (PRCA) comes after Bell Pottinger ran a …

Lesotho’s army chief shot dead by rival soldiers Maseru, Lesotho | AFP | Lesotho’s army commander was shot dead by rival officers at a military barracks on Tuesday, an official told AFP, in an apparent assassination set to revive instability in the mountainous African kingdom. “The commander (Khoantle Motsomotso) has been …

Katiola, Ivory Coast | AFP | Authorities in Ivory Coast speculated Monday that a guard may have allowed nearly 100 inmates to escape a prison in the west African country, the latest in a string of jail breaks. “It’s incomprehensible,” Coulibaly Ouamien, deputy mayor of Katiola, where the escape took place, …