AFRICA

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Barack Obama took the controversial step of easing some economic sanctions against Sudan Friday, trying to improve relations with a country whose leader is accused of war crimes and past links to terror. Obama informed Congress that he will lift trade and …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma has said the ruling ANC party is ready for its first female leader, days after his former wife was named by the party’s influential women’s league as its choice to succeed him. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who has four children with …

 COMMENT: By Barbara Unmüßig Poverty, malnutrition, and hunger must be recognised as a result of politics, not scarcity The way people eat in the industrialised world is unhealthy, unjust, and unsustainable. Far too much of the meat consumed is produced under questionable ecological, ethical, and social conditions. And now that …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Gambia’s president has warned the international community against interfering in the country’s political crisis, on the eve of talks with west African leaders who will urge him to step aside. On state-run television late Tuesday, Yahya Jammeh lashed out at “an unprecedented level of foreign …

Kenyans mock president’s passion for project launches Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s notoriously caustic tweeters have taken aim at President Uhuru Kenyatta’s love for a good ribbon-cutting, mocking his endless unveilings of often bizarrely named projects. Kenyatta, who is seeking re-election in August, has an active Twitter account which …

COMMENT: By Moono Mupotola Experts confirm potential of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in African (PIDA) to contribute jobs and GDP growth When the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor Project (LAPSSET) won the prestigious Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum Award in Washington DC on March 10, 2016, the project …

COMMENT: By Abdulhamid Manzil How to deal with a country divided between two polarized, mutually dissenting political groups A showdown awaits the world after January 19 when President Yahaya Jammeh of The Gambia’s term is expected to end. Regional block ECOWAS, through its plain-speaking Commission President Marcel Alain de Souza, …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | The remains of Rwanda’s last king, Kigeli V, arrived in the country Monday after a court battle between his relatives over where he should be buried, an official said. King Kigeli died in October, aged 80, in the United States. He had been living in …

As Congo prepares for a general election likely to be held by the end of the year, a new deal was on Dec.30 struck by political parties for President Joseph Kabila to step down paving way for the first peaceful transition of power in the central African nation.   “The government …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  The powerful Women’s League of South Africa’s ruling ANC on Saturday chose outgoing African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as their candidate for party leader. Battle has been raging within the African National Congress (ANC) to succeed current leader and head of state Jacob Zuma. …