A military base in Somalia came under attack by Al-Shabaab jihadists on Wednesday 21st June 2023, police and witnesses said, just as the African Union announced it was beginning a drawdown of troops in the violence-wracked nation. Almost simultaneous suicide bomb blasts targeted the base in the southern city of Baardhere, which hosts both Ethiopian […]

Kenya’s trade minister is at the centre of a firestorm over a series of derogatory remarks against a leading media outlet, including calling its journalists “prostitutes”. The opposition and journalist associations have called for Moses Kuria to be censured over his outbursts, saying he was unfit to hold public office. The furore erupted when Kuria […]

South African businessman Johann Rupert is now the wealthiest person in all of Africa. Last week, Forbes Magazine made the announcement after Rupert’s net worth rose to $12 billion (about R218 billion). The mogul now sits above Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote who previously held the title of Richest Person in Africa for 12 consecutive years. […]

A new, young generation of Moroccan filmmakers last month stepped into the limelight to make its debut at France’s Cannes Film Festival — snatching three prestigious awards. “The Moroccan films screened at Cannes represent some of the best in the history of cinema in Morocco,” said film critic Bilal Marmid, who covered the two-week festival […]

Five-time champions Cameroon will be among 16 teams chasing nine finals places in the last round of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying during September. While only Egypt, with a record seven titles, have been more successful in the continental showpiece, Cameroon must win at home against Burundi to be certain of qualifying. ALSO READ: Amajimbos thumped […]

The makers of Guurdoon, the first app for singles in Somalia, are hoping to help their fellow citizens find love in a nation with no shortage of challenges. Just don’t call it a dating app. Guurdoon (“seeking marriage” in English) was launched in October last year by the Guryosamo family development centre, whose chairman Ahmed […]

Key elections are looming in DR Congo, where political tensions combined with a security crisis and economic woes are creating a powerful and troubling brew. Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest country votes on December 20 for the presidency, the national legislature, provincial assemblies and local councils. The complex ballot will be a crucial test of stability in […]

UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily said Monday that a deal between Libyan rival camps over long-delayed elections contained “politically contested issues” that could spark a new crisis in the divided country. Presidential and parliamentary elections were due to be held in Libya in December 2021 but were never organised as differences between rival administrations persisted on […]

Ugandan police said Monday that 20 people had been arrested for suspected collaboration with the notorious militia group blamed for last week’s grisly attack on a school near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Twenty arrests have been made of suspected collaborators, suspected ADF collaborators,” police spokesman Fred Enanga told a press conference, […]

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has appointed new military and security chiefs in the latest in a flurry of key decisions after being sworn in last month. Tinubu, 71, took over from Muhammadu Buhari on May 29 following victory in elections in February whose results are being challenged in court by opposition parties. Replacing key staff […]

Pitso Mosimane may have turned down coaching Kaizer Chiefs but he is set to hire these men who were formerly involved with Amakhosi and Orlando Pirates. MUST READ: PITSO MOSIMANE TO BRING FORMER ORLANDO PIRATES MAN TO NEW CLUB Mosimane previously insisted that he will be bringing his all-South African technical staff with him to his […]

Somali shopkeepers in Philippi, Cape Town, closed their shops for almost 12 hours on Saturday. They say a new criminal syndicate turned up demanding that they pay a “protection fee” if they wished to continue trading. On Saturday Somali spaza shop owners in Philippi were forced to close up for the day by a new […]

Professor Debra Roberts, the Durban-based climate researcher who is running for the position of chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says that you no longer need to beat the climate drum; the impact of climate change is already here. Roberts will become the first woman from Africa to chair the IPCC, if […]

Nigeria’s central bank has abolished the country’s multiple exchange rate system and effectively floated the naira currency, the bank said, as new President Bola Ahmed Tinubu revamps the country’s monetary policies. Economists, the World Bank and IMF had long urged Nigeria to abandon the complex exchange mechanism and capital controls put into place under former President Muhammadu […]

In this latest animal sighting, cheetah stalks wildebeest herd and hunts a calf. According to the Maasai Sightings, this sighting took place in Masai Mara. ALSO READ: SANParks to donate game to emerging game farmers How do cheetahs hunt? Unlike most cats, which are nocturnal predators, cheetahs primarily hunt in the early morning and late […]

Slapped with massive fines in the European Union for violating data protection laws, Meta is fighting on another front in Kenya, where content moderators, responsible for reviewing violent and hateful posts, have sued the social media giant. THREE COMPLAINTS AGAINST META Since May last year, three lawsuits have been filed against Meta and California-based Sama, […]

Around 8.45 million people in South Africa live with HIV – an estimated 13.9% of the population. Of South African women aged 15-49, approximately 24% are HIV positive. The roll-out of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been notably successful in reducing the rate of transmission. But there are still gaps in the […]

At the edge of an oasis almost engulfed by the dunes, where the rare caravan still passes, is a desert landscape punctured by holes. The salt pans of Kalala, near Bilma in northeastern Niger, were once an essential stop for traders with their swaying lines of camels. Salt digging, carried on from generation to generation, […]

Climate change is not just a buzzword or a topic for political debates. It is a real and pressing issue that affects every aspect of our lives. The effects of climate change are already being felt worldwide, from rising sea levels to heatwaves, droughts, floods, loss of biodiversity, food insecurity and more. In Nigeria, climate […]

Kenya’s President William Ruto recently nominated a new national intelligence chief. Breaking with tradition, the president picked a career intelligence officer, Noordin Haji. But what is national intelligence and what work does it do, particularly in Kenya? Since 1999, the country’s spy chiefs have been picked from the military. Haji was previously the director of […]

The perception of time is a psychological phenomenon, meaning external factors can modify the way we experience it. For example, time may seem to fly by when we’re in good company, whereas if we’re somewhere we don’t want to be, it may appear too slow. The COVID pandemic was a source of psychological stress globally, […]

A Kruger National Park game ranger has posted a picture of a zebra. Or is it two – or more – zebras? Take a look. PICTURE | Kruger Park: Impala pictured with horns growing BACKWARDS SAD | Kruger National Park: Ranger shares picture of snake killed by car We may be seeing things, but judging by the number of legs, there’s […]

An employee with the World Health Organization was among those killed in the weekend siege of a beachside hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the head of the UN health agency said on Sunday 11th June, 2023. The siege left six civilians dead and another 10 wounded, according to police. “I’m heartbroken that we have lost […]

The Ethiopian government on Saturday 10th June, 2023 criticised a move by two major aid organisations to halt the sending of food assistance to the country after discovering it was being diverted from those o need it. The Ethiopian government’s spokesman Legesse Tulu told journalists the decision by USAID and the World Food Programme (WFP) […]

More than four years ago, African countries gave the ceremonial push to a deal to scrap internal trade barriers — a historic scheme that would create a continent-wide single market worth trillions of dollars. But African business leaders say cross-border trade remains entangled in customs duties, administrative hurdles and varying national regulations. Costs and delays […]