Storm before a lull: African economies to bounce back after coronavirus chaos
Africa is set to recover from its worst recession in half a century. Real gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow by 3.4 per cent in 2021 after contracting by an estimated 2.1 per cent in 2020, mainly due to Covid-19 related disruptions. The estimates are based on the...
EU slaps sanctions on South Sudan army general for human rights violations
The European Union has imposed sanctions on a South Sudanese army general allegedly involved in serious human rights violations, such as arbitrary executions and killings, the Sudan Tribune reports. Citing EU statement issued on Monday the agency reported that Maj-Gen Gabriel Moses Lokujo of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF)...
Kenya Rugby Union unveils plans to take the sport to the grassroots
The Kenya Rugby Union has made public its strategic plans to develop the game. The implementation of the plans kicks off this weekend when the development and training and education departments host a Get into Rugby course on Saturday March 20 at the Impala Grounds in the capital Nairobi. In...
Scientists awed after bonobos in Congo Forest adopt infants outside their group
Attentive parenting appears across the animal world, but adoption is rarer, especially when youngsters taken in are not kin. Now researchers have witnessed bonobos adopting infants from outside of their own communities. Two females, each from a different bonobo group, in the Luo Scientific Reserve in Congo took charge of...
When humanity destroys its forests, it cries about ‘big loss’, then cuts down more
Environmental organisations and the civil society have turned the spotlight on lack of effective regulations against wanton destruction of forests, warning that humanity faces serious self-destruction. Speaking at a virtual press conference ahead of the March 21 International Day of Forests 2021 and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030,...
Tales of ‘palace’ rivalry look to dominate Tanzania President Magufuli’s death
East Africa is bracing for the first female president following the death of Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli on Wednesday evening. For two weeks, the fallen president’s health and whereabouts have been the subject of speculation until Wednesday night, when a sombre Vice President Suluhu Samia Hassan appeared on national...
Angola’s $530m power project will grow renewable energy, regional connectivity
Angola will construct a 343km, 400kV central-south power line that will connect the north and south transmission grids in Angola and allow for the distribution of clean energy between the two regions. The project will be completed in 2023. The electricity transmission line will cost $530 million that has been...
Memoirs: How different would Kenya be today had Mboya not been assassinated?
To Tom Wolf, a pollster who arrived in Kenya as a US Peace Corps Volunteer soon after independence in 1963, the current volatile political atmosphere in Kenya evokes memories of the lead up to the assassination of the astute minister for Economic Planning in founding President Jomo Kenyatta government, Tom...
US accuses Morocco of pervasive money laundering, terror financing
Morocco has been placed on a grey list for countries with pervasive money laundering or terrorist financing concerns. The remarkable designation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global intergovernmental money-laundering watchdog, puts Morocco in the same category with Syria, Yemen and Pakistan. Morocco’s FATF designation is a significant...
New plastics law likely to have severe unintended consequences in Mauritius
The government of Mauritius have proposed bold new measures to curb plastic waste. While the intentions behind the mooted regulations are commendable, we are firmly of the view that the proposed new policies for the management of PET Plastic Waste, if implemented as per the timelines, logistics and technicalities, could...
