AFP Africa

Earlier this month, soldiers swooped by helicopter into a vast mining complex in western Mali and made away with three tonnes of gold — all done on the orders of the military government.The confiscation at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, majority owned by a Canadian firm, is one of the most extraordinary twists in a long-running confrontation …

West Africa juntas tighten screws on foreign mining firmsThu, 23 Jan 2025 14:37:35 GMT Read More »

Twenty-five families of victims and survivors of apartheid-era crimes are suing the South African government over a “gross failure” to investigate and prosecute perpetrators, said the rights group representing victims on Thursday. The suit filed Monday at the Pretoria High Court targets President Cyril Ramaphosa, the justice and police ministers and the heads of the public …

S.African anti-apartheid activists sue govt over lack of justiceThu, 23 Jan 2025 13:49:00 GMT Read More »

Gabon’s transitional government said Thursday that presidential elections would be held on April 12, a key step towards re-establishing civilian rule promised by the ruling junta.Transitional president General Brice Oligui Nguema has ruled the oil-rich country since seizing power in a 2023 coup, ending decades of rule by the Bongo dynasty.Oligiu has vowed to hand …

Gabon announces presidential election to end military ruleThu, 23 Jan 2025 13:41:35 GMT Read More »

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits Cairo on Thursday to press local officials to release a jailed British-Egyptian pro-democracy campaigner.Alaa Abdel Fattah was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and handed a five-year sentence for “spreading false news” in a Facebook post on torture in Egypt’s prisons.His British-born mother, 68-year-old Laila Soueif, has spent …

UK foreign minister in Egypt to push for activist’s releaseThu, 23 Jan 2025 11:27:23 GMT Read More »

The M23 armed group has seized further territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and on Thursday was continuing to tighten its grip on provincial capital Goma, which is almost surrounded by fighting.Weaknesses within the Congolese army, as well as backing from Rwanda are aiding the fighters of the M23, according to …

Advancing M23 fighters in DR Congo aided by Rwanda backing, army weaknessThu, 23 Jan 2025 10:58:03 GMT Read More »

A strange sight appears on the streets of Mogadishu: a figure dressed all in black, including a cowboy hat, riding a horse through the beeping traffic of tuk-tuks and motorbikes.Stranger still in conservative Somalia, the rider is a woman. Shukri Osman Muse said she is “delighted to be the first female equestrian in the country — …

New rider in town: Somalia’s first woman equestrian turns headsThu, 23 Jan 2025 05:27:43 GMT Read More »

Luggage on their backs, they trudged all Wednesday morning along the road leading to downtown Goma, fleeing the advancing fighters in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.Streams of displaced people have flocked from Minova, a port city the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has already captured as it conquers swathes of territory at the expense of …

Fear abounds as M23 fighters close in on DR Congo’s GomaWed, 22 Jan 2025 21:21:21 GMT Read More »

Eleven political parties in Mali on Wednesday urged the ruling junta to confirm a timetable for elections and a return to civilian rule, in a rare display of dissent.The troubled west African state has been ruled by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, with the junta initially committing under international pressure to …

Mali parties issue rare criticism of junta, call for electionsWed, 22 Jan 2025 20:04:38 GMT Read More »

Nearly 10 million malaria vaccine doses were delivered to Africa during the first year of routine immunisation being rolled out across the continent, the Gavi vaccine alliance said Wednesday.The mosquito-borne disease kills nearly 600,000 people a year, the vast majority in Africa, with children heavily affected, according to the World Health Organization.In a pilot phase …

Africa malaria jab rollout delivers 10 million dosesWed, 22 Jan 2025 17:36:58 GMT Read More »

The African Union expressed dismay Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, urging his administration to reconsider.Just hours after taking office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order directing the US to withdraw from the UN agency, which threatens to leave global health initiatives short of …

African Union ‘dismayed’ US withdrawing from WHOWed, 22 Jan 2025 14:40:59 GMT Read More »