Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Saturday drove a new split in the ruling African National Congress, calling for a boycott of the party in a landmark 2024 election.Driven out of office in 2018 over corruption accusations but retaining significant influence, the 81-year-old Zuma launched an angry new attack on his successor President Cyril …

Zuma deals new blow to ANC hopes in S. Africa electionSat, 16 Dec 2023 15:33:29 GMT Read More »

DR Congo’s democracy has been backsliding ahead of elections this month, according to rights defenders, as prominent journalists languish in prison and the murder of an opposition politician remains unsolved.President Felix Tshisekedi came to power in 2019 after a campaign criticising the rights record of his predecessor Joseph Kabila, among other issues. But a slew of …

DR Congo’s democracy backsliding ahead of vote, rights groups saySat, 16 Dec 2023 10:05:24 GMT Read More »

Fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries engulfed the aid hub of Wad Madani Friday triggering an exodus of civilians already displaced by eight months of war, an AFP correspondent reported.When war broke out in April between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Wad Madani quickly became a safe haven …

Fighting engulfs Sudan aid hub, sparking new exodusFri, 15 Dec 2023 17:18:37 GMT Read More »

While the UN’s COP28 climate summit marked a pivot moment, when the world pledged to say “goodbye” to fossil fuels, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told AFP on Friday, it needs to now urgently boost finance for the energy transition in developing countries.Birol welcomed the landmark agreement struck at the negotiations in the oil-rich …

‘It’s finished!’: IEA boss says COP28 bid farewell to fossil fuelsFri, 15 Dec 2023 16:41:31 GMT Read More »

Niger’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held in detention since a July 26 coup, must be freed immediately, the court of the West African bloc, ECOWAS, ordered on Friday.The court called for his “immediate and unconditional release” and ordered that Bazoum be reinstated, according to the judge in the case heard in Nigeria’s …

W.Africa court orders immediate release of deposed Niger presidentFri, 15 Dec 2023 12:27:53 GMT Read More »

Consulting giant McKinsey & Company sought to place controversial carbon market schemes favoured by its fossil fuel clients at the heart of the Africa Climate Summit, according to internal documents and sources who talked to AFP.The documents reveal that the firm worked behind the scenes to shape the agenda of September’s Nairobi gathering, a key …

Leaks show McKinsey pushed fossil fuel agenda at Africa climate summitFri, 15 Dec 2023 10:50:52 GMT Read More »

“Fake Congolese” or “candidate of the aggressor country” — some of the accusations being bandied around on social media in a bid to ruin reputations in the run-up to DR Congo’s presidential vote.Some opposition candidates face claims online of being “foreigners”, a potentially powerful weapon in a country scarred by conflict with its neighbours and …

‘Foreigner’ claims dog DR Congo presidential candidatesFri, 15 Dec 2023 10:06:09 GMT Read More »

Security forces arrested scores of people in a crackdown on illegal mining on Thursday as President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa was “tired of crime”.Dozens of army and police searched shacks, detained suspects and seized mining equipment in the Soul City settlement near Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, AFP reporters saw. More than 70 people were held …

S.Africa army raids illegal miners as Ramaphosa talks tough on crimeThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:42:09 GMT Read More »

The military rulers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have banded together in a joint defence pact to fight jihadists and present a united political front in their declared aim to restore sovereignty.Against a backdrop of a bloody jihadist insurgency in West Africa’s Sahel region that erupted in northern Mali in 2012, later spreading to …

Sahel military-led states bet on security, diplomatic defianceThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:40:00 GMT Read More »

A Senegalese judge on Thursday ordered that jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko be reinstated on the electoral roll, clearing the way for him to stand in next year’s presidential election.Sonko was struck off Senegal’s electoral register after being sentenced in June to two years’ imprisonment for morally corrupting a young person. The 49-year-old political thorn in …

Senegal court clears jailed opposition figure for presidential runThu, 14 Dec 2023 14:21:14 GMT Read More »