AFRICA

The Democratic Republic of Congo marked its 60th independence anniversary on 30 June. Belgium’s King Philipe chose the occasion to apologise for his country’s horrendous atrocities against the Congolese people during its colonial occupation of the vast African country. How genuine is the apology? Femi Awoniyi takes a look at the situation of the troubled African country against the background …

BOOK REVIEW It is easy, as the western media often do, to dismiss Africa as a continent of misery where nothing new happens except this misery is recycled in new varieties: corruption, hunger, wars, etc. But nobody pauses to take a harder look into the past of this troubled continent and find how its terrible history has played a part …

Kenya won the much-coveted UN Security Council seat after beating its African rival Djibouti in second-round voting in New York on Thursday Kenya has been elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, defeating Djibouti for a seat designated for African countries. UN Member States chose the country in a second round of voting on Thursday in the General …

Funmi Ajala* writes on the worsening security situation in Nigeria, currently ravaged by a combination of a particularly brutal Islamist terrorism and widespread murderous banditry. —– Loss of Monopoly of Control In his explosive book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, retired American diplomat John Campbell retorted that, “The (Nigerian) federal government has failed to provide basic security for its citizens and has …

Kenya and Djibouti will battle for a seat on the UN Security Council on Wednesday (17 June) during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, holding at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The seat is one of the one of the five vacant slots reserved for non-permanent members. Kenya is set to contribute its wealth of …

How one social enterprise is working to protect and support street children in Africa as stigma, a broken system and a global pandemic put them at risk LAGOS, Nigeria, June 15, 2020,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- As the sun rises over deserted streets, a group of volunteers prepares for their day. For a few hours – from late morning until curfews …

Burundi’s outgoing president, Pierre Nkurunziza, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a heart attack, the government says. He was admitted to hospital on Saturday after feeling unwell, his condition improved but on Monday he had a cardiac arrest and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, officials say. The death of 55-year-old Nkurunziza, who was due to stand down in August …

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group advocating for a separate state for the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, has been accused of working to discredit the Nigerian government internationally. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made the allegation in a statement on Sunday. According to him, the group is leading a …

Africa against all predictions of international organisations has until now been the least affected region by the new coronavirus pandemic. Mabingue Ngom, Director of the West and Central African Regional Office of the United Nations Population Fund, explains how the lessons learnt from earlier outbreaks of the Ebola epidemic have largely helped the continent avoid the worst predicted for it …

In a new opinion article, entitled “Post-Coronavirus, Africa’s Manufacturing Moment”, written for the American news magazine, President Muhammadu Buhari explains how Africa is set to face the reality after the global health crisis, by boosting its manufacturing sector, providing jobs for its teeming population of unemployed youth and addressing the issue of poverty on the continent. Below is the article …

Meet the Winners of Africa.com's Brilliant African Innovations Against COVID-19 Competition

If there’s one important lesson the #COVID19 pandemic will teach us, it’s that we need to invest in health infrastructure across the world, and particularly in Africa, says Babatunde Omilola, Manager for Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division at the African Development Bank. Like every other pandemic that the world has experienced in the past, coronavirus will eventually come to …

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday took a swipe at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) under President Muhammadu Buhari. This followed the Twitter altercations between the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami and the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, over office accommodation. The main opposition party said the Council had …

The news of the eviction of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) from its office in Abuja is causing indignation in the country’s diaspora community. The Chairman/CEO of the Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, announced at the weekend that the government agency charged with linking the country with the millions of its citizens living abroad was currently homeless. She explained that …

Africa 2.0 members share a collection of short opinion pieces about the impact of the global pandemic on African and Afro-descendant communities and offer views on what this may mean for the future. ACCRA, Ghana, May 12th, 2020, -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The future can be shaped by our collective imagination, so we must share our vision. That is one …

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has revealed the capacity of Africa to do things for itself. That was the view expressed on Thursday by Gherrabi Mohammed, a Moroccan journalist, at an international video conference organised by The African Network of Germany (TANG) on the global health crisis. “We should thank God that the pandemic has so far spared …

"It is vital that individuals across Africa take responsibility to protect themselves, their families and their communities, by following the recommended prevention measures."

Funmilola Ajala looks at the challenges of containing the coronavirus pandemic in her home country, presenting the stark choices before Nigerian leaders as well as the potential dangers ahead as Africa’s most populous nation relaxes its lockdown measures after several weeks. In French art, there is a popular saying which goes thus: on s’engage, et puis on voit, meaning ‘engage first, then …

Ghana’s founding president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, died on 27 April 1972. To mark the 48th anniversary of his death, our senior contributing editor and author, Jojo Cobbinah, writes from Accra on a brilliant African intellectual and committed leader who did not spend his time marrying countless women, building mansions or stashing millions in foreign banks. Jojo (72), who witnessed Nkrumah’s …

100 African intellectuals have signed an open letter to leaders on the continent, urging them to look critically at the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to use the lessons from the crisis to spur “radical change”.  The letter, signed by academics, writers and activists from across the continent and the diaspora (*see list at the footnotes), makes …