AFRICA

Pine Kazi, a women-led shoe design house based in Kenya, is the winner of Fashionomics Africa’s sustainable fashion competition. The fashion company, which converts pineapple leaf and recycled rubber into fashionable footwear, wins a $2,000 cash prize, access to media exposure opportunities, and mentorship and networking opportunities from competition collaborators. Fashionomics Africa is an initiative of the African Development Bank, …

Many Nigerians living in the diaspora hold Nigerian driving licences which they use to drive anytime they are visiting their home country. However, it has been revealed that many of these driving licences are not genuine even though they were obtained at the agency officially responsible for issuing the document. A Berlin-based legal practitioner, Efosa Ogieriakhi, recently revealed to The …

UN human rights experts* today (13 April) called on the Government of Uganda to immediately stop the brutal crackdown on its political opponents which began in the lead-up to January’s disputed general elections and continues to suppress opposition supporters. “We are particularly alarmed by the reports of widespread and continued repression against opposition leaders and their supporters,” the experts said. …

The Nigerian Government on Thursday received a stolen Ile-Ife artefact from Mexico.  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama received the artwork from the Charge D’affaires of the Nigerian mission in Mexico, Yakubu Dadu. “Presented with an ancient bronze sculpture by Dr. Yakubu Dadu, Chargé Affaires of The Nigerian Embassy in Mexico,” the minister tweeted on his official handle. “This Ife …

Harrison Mwilima, Kiswahili correspondent for the German international broadcaster DW in Berlin, explains how Tanzania’s recent peaceful transition of power following President Magufuli’s death was not only a result of adhering to the constitution but also respecting the country’s political culture. When Tanzania announced the death of President John Pombe Magufuli on March 17, the East African nation went into 21 …

The Federal Government has extended the deadline for people to link their National Identification Numbers (NINs) to their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards by one month. This was announced on Friday in a statement jointly signed by the Director of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, and the Head of Corporate Communications at the National …

Nigerians are furious that President Muhammadu Buhari has travelled to London for a ‘routine medical check-up’ and are venting their anger online. A statement from the presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, had informed Nigerians on Monday that President Buhari would be travelling to London on Tuesday but he did not reveal Buhari’s condition. Adesina however assured Nigerians that the president would …

Prof. David Monda of the City University of New York in this opinion piece outlines the major challenges that the new president of Tanzania faces and how best she should address them and make the country work better —– An old Swahili proverb states, “Hata kiporo ni ugali – Even yesterday’s ugali, is still ugali”. While the legacy of President …

The AfCFTA Secretariat and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a strategic partnership to promote trade as a stimulus for Africa’s socioeconomic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and as a driver of sustainable development particularly for women and youth in Africa, in line with the SDGs and Agenda 2063 common vison for the continent. The agreement was sealed yesterday by …

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has launched a new project in Abuja, Nigeria, to raise awareness of the scourge of human trafficking among populations at risk in migration prone areas across the country. The 23 March launch marked the tenth anniversary of the Nigeria–Switzerland Migration …

LAGOS, Nigeria, March 23, 2021/ — There is a common misconception that the most dangerous threats to encounter on modern users’ digital journeys are likely to appear during Internet surfing. The reality however, based on the most recent analysis of cyberattacks in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria in 2020 by Kaspersky experts demonstrates that users are in fact more likely …

Nigeria and Switzerland have commemorated the 10th anniversary of a partnership on migration between the two countries. To mark the event, a mobile information campaign bus and a brochure on the “10 Years Migration Partnership Between Nigeria And Switzerland” were launched at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, on Tuesday. The Blue Bus, a “one-stop office for Public Enlightenment and …

The death of Tanzanian President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli did not come as a surprise. Shrouded in secrecy since February 27 when the president was last seen in public. The late president was born in Chato, a remote location around Lake Victoria in 1959. He studied Chemistry and Maths at the University of Dar Es Salaam and worked as a …

LAGOS, Nigeria, March 17, 2021 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Eleven young enterprising Africans, among them two Nigerians, who have been named Young Global Leaders (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for 2021, are to benefit from the Aliko Dangote Fellowship endowed to support African Young Global Leaders. The beneficiaries are among 112 persons under 40 years of age, selected as …

The Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has pledged that the organisation would assist African women entrepreneurs to improve their businesses. Okonjo-Iweala, who recently assumed office at the global organisation, gave the assurance during a visit to Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, on Wednesday in Abuja. She said the visit of the WTO …

Tanzanian President John Magufuli has died aged 61 from a heart condition, his vice president said in an address on state television Wednesday, after days of uncertainty over his health and whereabouts. “It is with deep regret that I inform you that today on the 17th of March, 2021 at 6 pm we lost our brave leader, the President of …

The prestigious US magazine, Global Finance, specializing in financial markets and investment banking, has named the African Development Bank (AfDB) as the “Best Multilateral Financial Institution in the world for 2021”. The award is a global recognition for the path breaking efforts of the African Development Bank as it transforms itself into a solutions bank for Africa, through a combination …

The widespread insecurity in Nigeria is scaring away prospective investors. Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, the Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry van Djik, said the Nigerian government should address insecurity as this was a crucial factor that had been affecting investment in the country’s economy. Djik spoke during a visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo. …

It’s two years ago that the Canada-based Nigerian scholar and public intellectual Pius Adebola Adesanmi was killed in an air crash aged 47. He was one of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi that crashed shortly after take-off on 10 March 2019. He was en route Nairobi as a participant at the ECOSOCC …

The 11th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East (POESAM) has been launched. PARIS, France, March 9, 2021/ — Tuesday 9 March 2021 marks the start of submissions to the 11th Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East. Until 4 June 2021, entrants will be able to submit their projects on …