Millions of people are heading to the polls in Mozambique’s general election after a heated campaign marred by sporadic violence and allegations of electoral fraud. The Frelimo party, which has ruled the impoverished southern African country since independence from Portugal in 1975, is widely expected to beat its arch-rival, Renamo, a former rebel group turned main opposition party. Acceptance of… Read more »
The Nobel prize was just recently announced to be awarded to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia. Not only did he recently end a 20 year war between his own nation and Eritrea, but he has also been responsible for sweeping democratic reforms in his home nation, already one of Africa’s strongest economies. However, growth is expected to shrink in… Read more »
Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy will accelerate going into next year but could be derailed as the world moves onto an uncertain path that could bring an end to the recent synchronised uptrend, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. Economists’ views differ starkly about where exactly in the cycle the global economy is and some reckon it is already in a downturn…. Read more »
Two albino people have been murdered in Malawi since the beginning of the year, while five more have been abducted. As the severed head of a nine-year-old victim was discovered 20km from his home, Amnesty International called on the Malawian government to do more to protect members of the vulnerable minority group. Last year, Malawi’s Inspector General of police authorised his officers to shoot… Read more »
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (CNN) Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the 20-year war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Announcing the prize in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Ahmed’s “efforts deserve recognition and need encouragement.” Abiy was the second favorite to win after the climate change activist Greta Thunberg, according to… Read more »
Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Police in Nigeria have rescued 67 men and boys who were subjected to “inhumane and degrading treatments” at an Islamic school in the northern state of Katsina, a police spokesman said Tuesday. The religious school, which also served as a rehabilitation center, was run by a 78-year-old Muslim cleric in Daura, the birthplace of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu… Read more »
In Africa, one of the last regions on Earth where democracy still has not fully penetrated, the dictatorial rule of many governments is often at threat due to protests and other organizations gaining traction via the internet and social media. One of the most notable examples of this is Arab Spring, in which citizens across the Arab world were able… Read more »
In a recent trip to Dakar, Senegal, I worked with a startup organization that was focused on bringing digital education to youth in sub Saharan Africa. As part of this assignment my team and I interviewed various schools, educators, administrators and parents in Senegal to understand the school systems in western Africa. What we found was that 65% of school children… Read more »
Countries in Africa are preparing for the reality that a hard Brexit could lead to increased risk aversion and reduced investor appetite for trade in the region. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said recently that AfDB might revise its economic growth projections for Africa if global trade conditions worsened. The growth projections are currently 4% for… Read more »
On October 23–24, the southwestern Russian resort city of Sochi will host the first ever Russia-Africa Summit (Ravision2030.com, accessed September 14). Sharing his expectations of the upcoming event, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov underscored its “pivotal importance” and “unprecedented nature.” At the same time, Lavrov emphasized that Russia “never took part in colonial takeovers and barbaric looting of [African] natural resources […] we have always… Read more »