Financing violent extremism: How terror groups in Africa prey on local businesses to deliver brutal justice
Moustapha was running out of hope. The Nigerien man had a family to feed but little means to do so. Like scores of people around the continent, he was persuaded to join and fight for a violent extremist organisation. “I joined because I felt frustrated with the conditions of everyday...
Cyclone Freddy: Number people killed in southeastern Africa by largest tropical cyclone surpasses 400… and rising
The last thing Lukia Akimu remembers is the surge of floodwater that hit her village near Mount Soche this week when Tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through southern Malawi. The next thing she knew, she woke up in hospital, her head wrapped in bandages and her neck in a brace. “I...
More countries in East and Central Africa to have own coastlines as two new continents form
Africa is gradually splitting into two. The Somali and the Nubian tectonic plates are slowly disintegrating from each other, while the Arabian plate continues to pull away. Although that will take between five to 10 million years, with fault lines widening seven millimetres every year, the continent will eventually split...
US Secretary of State’s current tour of Ethiopia, Niger makes him most travelled top American envoy to Africa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Ethiopia this week singles him out as America’s most travelled foreign affairs diplomat having logged over 68,389 kilometres (42,495 miles) in flying to Africa. Blinken is President Joseph Biden’s representative in face-to-face diplomacy in Africa, which is being aggressively courted by China and...
Russia’s ties to Africa are primarily military and its Wagner mercenaries’ presence is unlikely to silence the guns
As the world marks the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, it has been suggested that Africa needs a common approach to the war. So far Russia’s aggression has elicited contrary responses across the continent, as evidenced by the equivocal votes on numerous resolutions at the...
Fighting flares up in troubled eastern DR Congo hours after EAC called for pullback by armed groups
Fighting flared on Monday between the DR Congo’s army and M23 rebels in the country’s troubled east, just days after African leaders called for a ceasefire and a pullback by armed groups. “There have been clashes since 5:00 am with the M23” in the Kitshanga area, northwest of the main...
Africa’s more democratic than other regions relative to its development, but still needs quality leadership
Do recent coups in Chad, Mali, Guinea and Sudan mean that democracy in Africa is failing? This notion is fuelled by internet shutdowns, muzzling of the opposition and rising third termism. But evidence suggests that while there are pockets of concern, a robust democratic culture is in fact growing in...
Children soldiers, some aged 5, among fighters rescued from Islamist militia captivity in Mozambique
The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) added its voice to that of Human Right Watch regarding “worrying reports” of child soldiers in Mozambique. “Unverified video material secured by armed forces in an abandoned training camp apparently shows abducted children as young as five handling weapons and being indoctrinated to fight,” Unicef...
New UN report details crimes against humanity against Black African migrants in Libyan prisons
A UN report by human rights investigators in Libya details a number of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity against detainees and migrants in Libyan prisons. The investigators said that they now have a confidential list of suspects. “The investigations indicated that several parties to the conflicts violated [international...
Nigeria bolsters military hardware with 100 APCs in response to deepening Boko Haram threat
The Nigerian army is facing a crisis. National and regional security dangers posed by the al Qaeda-supported terror group Bolo Haram has forced the West African economic giant to reinforce in defence infrastructure in preparation to repulse the militia group that has forced more than one million children out of...
