AFP Africa

An elderly war veteran who addresses his supporters on social media wearing a military uniform has become a symbol of resistance to Zimbabwe’s authoritarian regime as the political opposition lies in tatters.Blessed Geza, also known as “Bombshell”, is attracting a healthy following via straight-talking online pronouncements that are introduced with a Maoist anthem from the …

The ageing war veteran standing up to Zimbabwe’s presidentFri, 04 Apr 2025 10:56:30 GMT Read More »

The dancers shake their hips, kicking their feet to the beat of the age-old “dance of the caterpillars”, typically performed in the south where the insects are gathered for food.Three times a week the National Ballet rehearses traditional dances of the many ethnic groups making up the Central African Republic (CAR).”The creations they ask of …

In war-scarred Central African Republic, ballet keeps ethnic heritage aliveFri, 04 Apr 2025 06:00:01 GMT Read More »

When listeners in northern Nigeria tuned into Voice of America last month, they found music playing in place of their regular broadcast — a telltale sign, historically, that soldiers had seized telecoms offices, and even the government.”Was there a coup in the US?” Babangida Jibrin, a VOA journalist, recalled one worried listener asking, as he …

‘Cut off’: US-backed radio goes off air in rural west AfricaFri, 04 Apr 2025 05:39:21 GMT Read More »

In a sunlit shack on the outskirts of Lesotho’s capital Maseru, 34-year-old Lieketseng Lucia Tjatji sits under a black cloth pegged to a tin wall and emblazoned with the head of a lion. To her left, a wooden table is weighed down by containers of roots, powders and dried herbs, remedies she now offers to HIV …

‘Don’t want to die’: Lesotho HIV patients look to traditional medicineFri, 04 Apr 2025 05:26:49 GMT Read More »

The small African kingdom of Lesotho said Thursday it would “urgently” send a government delegation to the United States to plead its case after Washington imposed 50-percent tariffs on its imports, the highest for a single nation.Other African countries hit with President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” above the new baseline rate of 10 percent include …

Lesotho hardest hit as new US tariffs rattle AfricaFri, 04 Apr 2025 00:25:37 GMT Read More »

Three  journalists arrested over criticism of Burkina Faso’s military government junta have appeared in a video, saying they are at the front line to “cover the reality” of the battle against jihadist attacks.The government last week dissolved the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB), a day after police arrested its president, Guezouma Sanogo, and his deputy, Boukari …

Detained Burkina journalists seen at anti-jihadist front lineThu, 03 Apr 2025 20:03:57 GMT Read More »

US President Donald Trump in March ridiculed Lesotho as a place “nobody has ever heard of” and then this week hit the tiny African kingdom with the highest of his reciprocal trade tariffs for any single nation.Here are some things to know about the country sometimes called  the Switzerland of Africa because of its mountainous …

Lesotho, Africa’s ‘kingdom in the sky’ jolted by TrumpThu, 03 Apr 2025 16:53:55 GMT Read More »

Africa’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday that the continent faces “an unprecedented financing crisis” that could lead to between two to four million additional deaths annually.Members of the African Union pledged in 2001 to allocate at least 15 percent of national budgets to health, but only three countries — Rwanda, Botswana …

‘Unprecedented crisis’ in Africa healthcare: reportThu, 03 Apr 2025 16:34:31 GMT Read More »

Russia and a group of west African countries led by military juntas hailed growing military ties at a summit in Moscow on Thursday, with some condemning Ukraine as a “terrorist” state.Facing isolation in the West following its full-scale offensive against Ukraine, Moscow has tried to build new partnerships in Africa, where it has been growing …

Russia, African juntas blast Ukraine as they deepen tiesThu, 03 Apr 2025 15:21:33 GMT Read More »

Prince Harry on Thursday hit out at “blatant lies” over Sentebale, the African organisation he co-founded, and said he believed a charity watchdog probe would “unveil the truth” of why he had to resign as a patron.Sentebale has been at the centre of an explosive boardroom row that escalated over the weekend when its chairperson …

Prince Harry blasts ‘blatant lies’ as watchdog launches charity probeThu, 03 Apr 2025 14:28:50 GMT Read More »