AFP Africa

From a rise in arrests to online attacks, Senegal has been under an intensified crackdown on same-sex relations in recent weeks, prompting outcry from human rights groups and driving some in the LGBTQ+ community to consider exile. Amplifying the repression, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would double the maximum penalty for same-sex …

‘Public lynching’: Senegal cracks down on LGBTQ+ communityThu, 26 Feb 2026 07:10:16 GMT Read More »

Jeffrey Epstein built close ties with powerful figures in Senegal and Ivory Coast, files released by the US government last month show, detailing the late sex offender’s influence network across Africa. Emails, scheduled meetings, investment projects, and loans reviewed by AFP attest to the disgraced New York financier’s close relationship with Karim Wade, son of former Senegalese …

Epstein files reveal links to cash, women, power in AfricaThu, 26 Feb 2026 04:45:22 GMT Read More »

Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry.The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).Zimbabwe already banned …

Export ban sparks rush to process lithium in ZimbabweThu, 26 Feb 2026 03:18:19 GMT Read More »

The soft singing of workers rings out at daybreak in the Congolese village of Romee, whose wooded haven is threatened by a scramble for forest land that has sparked deadly violence.In one of the world’s biggest and most precious forests, these locals have so far escaped the clutches of investors seizing concessions in the Democratic …

DR Congo sanctuary resists bloody forest sell-offThu, 26 Feb 2026 01:28:23 GMT Read More »

When Khalid, Julia and Benjamin won their immigration cases last year, they were all given a similar message by the judge: You can now “can live freely.” “Congratulations.””Welcome to America.”The three are now being held by armed guards in Equatorial Guinea, a small, authoritarian petro-state in Central Africa, after being secretly deported by the United States as …

African migrants won legal protections – then Trump deported themThu, 26 Feb 2026 01:20:39 GMT Read More »

Brazil has suspended the import of dried and fermented cocoa beans from the world’s largest producer, Ivory Coast, where the sector is in crisis amid falling exports.Brazil’s agriculture ministry published a decree this week ordering the suspension, citing the risk of pests or diseases in cocoa beans coming from the West African nation, claiming its …

Brazil suspends cocoa bean imports from Ivory CoastWed, 25 Feb 2026 21:00:18 GMT Read More »

Eleven South African men who were allegedly lured into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine returned to their home country Wednesday, AFP reporters saw.They were part of a group of 17 who requested help from Pretoria in November as they were trapped in the epicentre of the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region after being tricked …

Eleven men lured into Russia war returned to South AfricaWed, 25 Feb 2026 18:27:38 GMT Read More »

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on a rare visit to Ukraine on Wednesday urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war captured fighting for Russia.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has drawn in mercenaries and foreign fighters on both sides of the conflict, including from several African countries.Ukraine said Wednesday that …

Ghana FM in Kyiv urges Ukraine to release 2 Ghanaian POWsWed, 25 Feb 2026 17:51:35 GMT Read More »

Pope Leo XIV will visit four African nations in April, the Vatican said Thursday, including Algeria — the first time a pope will travel to the North African Muslim nation.The Vatican announced a series of international trips in the months ahead for the US pontiff, who was elected last year, including to Spain and Monaco.But …

Pope lines up trips to Central Africa, Algeria, Spain, MonacoWed, 25 Feb 2026 16:27:03 GMT Read More »

The lives of more than 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan are being put at risk due to aid funding shortages, the UN’s migration agency said Wednesday.The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said humanitarian needs were dramatically outstripping resources in one of the world’s most displacement-affected countries.”Critical funding shortfalls are putting the lives of …

Funding gaps threaten lives of 1.9 mn displaced in South Sudan: UNWed, 25 Feb 2026 12:58:23 GMT Read More »