The Nigerian government has hailed an increase in local rice production as a key achievement, and says the country is actually exporting the grain. But the opposition has challenged this claim, saying production figures have been inflated. Has production been exaggerated ? The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it believes the ruling All Progressives…
South African police killed eight would-be robbers during a foiled heist on a vehicle carrying cash, the police minister said Monday, in one of the country’s deadliest shootouts in recent years. Police acted on a tip-off and deployed a helicopter to fend off a planned cash-in-transit robbery in southern Johannesburg’s suburb of Rosettenville. The suspects…
The United States and Egypt on Monday launched a joint work group to prepare for the next U.N. climate change summit which the Middle Eastern country will host in November, the American envoy for climate said. U.S. envoy John Kerry said the group’s main task is working on the COP27 conference in Egypt’s Red Sea…
A U.N. human rights expert was in Sudan on Monday to verify allegations of human rights violations after an October military coup plunged the country into turmoil and triggered nearly-daily street protests. Adama Dieng, the U.N.’s expert on human rights in Sudan, arrived in the capital of Khartoum on Sunday, a month after Sudan’s authorities…
Gas will play a critical role in South Africa’s strategy to achieve net-zero emissions, according to a study. However, South Africa’s major supplier of gas, Pande-Temane, will face constraints from 2025 due to declining reserves. This threatens the country’s decarbonisation strategy if no alternative gas supplies can be sourced. While gas is set to play…
Credit Suisse Group AG managed accounts for clients involved in human rights abuses, corruption and drug trafficking, according to newspaper reports based on leaked data on more than 18,000 accounts that together held more than $100 billion. An anonymous whistle-blower gave the information to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which shared the data with a nonprofit…
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mohamed Cisse used to employ hundreds of workers in Mali’s capital Bamako before economic sanctions last month shut borders and cut the lifeblood of his construction business. Cement is scarce. Its key ingredient, clinker, comes from neighbouring Senegal, from which all but essential goods are blocked. Cisse has been forced to shut…
Ethiopia began generating electricity from its mega-dam on the Blue Nile on Sunday, a milestone in the controversial multi-billion dollar project. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, accompanied by high-ranking officials, toured the power station and pressed a series of buttons on an electronic screen, a move that officials said initiated production. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam…
Zimbabwe’s leading opposition figure Nelson Chamisa drew thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday to his first political rally since forming a new party weeks ago, as the country gears up for elections that had been postponed due to COVID-19. Chamisa formed the Citizens Coalition for Change party in January, making a break from the country’s…
Country’s long-delayed parliamentary, presidential polls have led to political infighting. MOGADISHU, Somalia With Somalia failing to meet a timeframe for holding parliamentary elections several times, opposition presidential candidates say they are unhappy over the way the process has been conducted as a new deadline of Feb. 25 looms. Dahir Mohamud Gelle, an opposition presidential candidate…