AFRICA

Tanzanians headed to the polls on Wednesday for presidential and parliamentary elections. More than 29 million people are registered to vote out of 58 million citizens. They will choose from 15 presidential candidates and elect lawmakers for 264 parliamentary seats. President John Magufuli is seeking another five-year term on the platform of the ruling party CCM, which has governed the …

As security forces were deployed to patrol Nigeria’s major cities after days of unrest following the shooting of protesters, calm is being restored across the country.  President Muhammadu Buhari had warned demonstrators in a televised address on Thursday not to “undermine national security” as he called for an end to widespread protests gripping Africa’s most populous country. The 78-year-old leader, …

Africa’s e-learning market has seen substantial growth due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, with the use of e-learning applications and platforms surging as schools and universities are forced to deliver lessons virtually..

Libya’s two rival factions signed a “permanent” ceasefire agreement Friday after five days of talks hosted by the United Nations, which hailed the move as a moment that would go down in history. “Today is a good day for the Libyan people,” said Stephanie Williams, the UN’s envoy to the troubled North African country, where a UN-recognised Government of National …

The UN, US and EU have joined the growing international condemnation of the massacre of peaceful youth protesters in Lagos, Nigeria, on Tuesday. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, called for an end to police brutality and attack on #EndSARS protesters. The UN chief, who said he was following the developments in the country, …

In South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, APT groups are exploiting the current uncertainty around COVID-19 to steal sensitive information LAGOS, Nigeria, October 21, 2020/ — Despite research showing an overall decrease in certain malware families and types in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in H1 2020 (36% decrease in South Africa, 26% decrease in Kenya and a 2.7% decrease in Nigeria), Kaspersky …

  The youth protests against police brutality in Nigeria turned bloody on Tuesday, when soldiers opened fire on peaceful protesters in cold blood. No official figures of the casualty have been released by the police, but many are believed to have been killed. Security operatives had stormed the scene of the #EndSARS protest in the Lekki Toll Gate Area of …

Chief (Dr) Uche Iro, a Germany-based entrepreneur, established The Strivad Foundation (TSF), a global non-governmental, non-political and non-profit charitable organisation, to channel his efforts towards the development of his home country, Nigeria. A successful businessman, Dr Iro’s companies include PhysioCenter-Stuttgart GbR (Germany), FitGym Healthcare Services GmbH (Germany), Strivad Ventures Limited (Germany/Nigeria), Iro Investment Group International Inc. (Nigeria/ Europe/ USA/United Arab …

Young people in Africa continue to be frustrated by their exclusion and exploitation in political processes. In order to build a mutually beneficial Europe-Africa Partnership that enhances youth trust in political processes, Zigwai Tagwai and Merryl Omondi* have come up with a few concrete points on building inclusive democracies VENRO, the Association of German Development and Humanitarian NGOs, has been …

“In many African countries, debt service payments take up more place in the budget than investments in education, health or social security. Not only do they lack the financial leeway to effectively tackle the corona crisis in their countries, but in the worst case, they are even threatened with national bankruptcy”

Women in Ghana closing the gender gap in internet access - but still miss out on benefits of digital technology. New research from Tim Berners-Lee's Web Foundation reveals a hidden digital gender gap holding women back online

The Public University Bill has been the cause for heated debate in Ghana, especially in academic circles. Germany-based journalist and scholar Tina Adomako explains how the new bill could herald the end of freedom of speech and research in government-owned institutions of higher learning in the country. While the global coronavirus pandemic has challenged educational institutions and universities around the …

The African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) ruled on Friday to reject the exclusion of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo from the country’s upcoming presidential elections of 31 October — ordering the Ivorian state to “take all necessary measures to immediately remove all obstacles” hindering his participation in the race. The Ivorian Constitutional Council found the absence …

A new interim president has been inaugurated in Mali, an important step in resolving the political crisis in the West African country. Bah N’daw and Colonel Assimi Goita were sworn in on Friday (25 September) as President and Vice President of Mali’s Transition Government respectively at a ceremony attended by military officers and judges in Bamako. Goita led the military …

A new report on the new coronavirus pandemic in Africa, presented by Partnership for Evidence-Based COVID-19 Response (PERC), reveals the multidimensional challenges faced by the people on the continent and makes recommendations to governments on how to manage the public health crisis to lessen its burden on their citizens Most African Union (AU) Member States swiftly implemented public health and …

To those who keep on deriding Pan-Africanism as a hopeless dream, Fẹ̀mi Akọmọlàfẹ́, book author and political analyst, writing from Accra, Ghana, makes the case for a united continent that is stronger on the world stage —– The future, they say, belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Stop confusing Pan-Africanism with African-Romanticism. Pan-Africanism is not …

“We will be allowing travel into and out of South Africa for business, leisure and other travel with effect from 1 October 2020,” President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday (16 September) in a national address on developments in the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is time to move to what we will call our new normal,” Ramaphosa said. …

“The level of corruption that has become an integral part of multiparty democracy has created a general climate of stress and tension that may destabilise some areas in our region. It is unfortunate that the world is being forced into multiparty democracy with corruption and violence rather than other forms of democratic practices with none or minimal corruption. Unfortunately, the West appears to favour corruptible political tendencies in order to continue to dominate our security and economy”

NJ Ayuk, founder of one of Africa’s most successful law chambers, supports the Senegalese leader's call on the G20 to help African countries balance their obligations to international creditors with their obligations to their own citizens in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. He explains why debt relief is crucial to Africa's recovery from the economic fallout of the global health crisis

The Economic Community of West African States has postponed the planned launch of its single currency, the Eco. The body agreed to maintain a gradual approach for the launching of the currency. ECOWAS explained that a new date for the launch would be announced later. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 57th Summit of …