AFRICA

Gambia’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, is seeking to return home but the government say it could not guarantee his safety. Three years after he was forced to leave The Gambia, former President Yahya Jammeh is seeking to return home and his party, the Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction, is backing him. However, the government of President Adama Barrow is …

Togo’s ruling party UNIR has chosen incumbent President Faure Gnassingbé as its candidate for the country’s next month’s presidential election  making it likely that his family’s decades-long rule will be extended. He was voted into power in a disputed election in 2005 – taking over from his late father Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who had been president for 38 years. A law …

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday (5 January) that Turkey had started the deployment of troops to Libya, after the country’s parliament gave its approval. Ankara is sending its soldiers to Libya to support the UN-backed Government of National Accord which is battling the troops of rebel general Khalifa Haftar for the control of the country. Since his coup …

When Ghana declared 2019 the Year of Return, marking the 400th year that the first slave ship arrived in America with African captives, it expected a positive response. However, the resonance of the initiative has far surpassed the country’s expectations as thousands of African-Americans, including celebrities, have made the pilgrimage to Ghana bringing various benefits to the country. Our correspondent …

The Nigerian federal government on Tuesday (24 December) ordered the release of the convener of #RevolutionNow protests, Omoyele Sowore, who has been in detention since August. The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, announced the decision in a statement. The move followed mounting local and international pressure on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari …

Since the beginning of this year, Angola has recovered more than $5 billion stolen from state coffers by members of the former government, both at home and from abroad, Justice Minister Francisco Queiroz said on Monday (16 December), amid a two-year crackdown on corruption by the government of President Joao Lourenco. The money, including $3 billion stolen from the sovereign …

Nigeria has lost over $400 billion to foreign havens, Justice Minister and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami (SAN) has said. The minister said the cash was stolen by corrupt leaders and their foreign accomplices including multinational companies. Malami spoke on Monday (16 December) at the eighth session of the Conference of the State Parties to the United Nations Convention …

Nigerian journalist Kayode Oladeji recounts his unforgettable encounter with Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, who died on 7 December, eighteen years ago. And how he and his colleagues who collaborated on the German-born Christian missioner’s crusade experienced an uncommon turn in their lives. I was heading for a social engagement, a wedding program to be specific, on Saturday, 7 December 2019, when …

The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards committee has unveiled the winners for different categories in the just concluded polls for the publication’s Persons of the Year Awards, with Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, a Nigerian and president of the African Development Bank, emerging African of the Year 2019. Adesina was also recently chosen as the African of the Year …

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday (10 December). Abiy described the award as “a source of great pride and inspiration for Ethiopia and the broader region”, assuring that it would give a significant boost to his “commitment to the twin goals of development in Ethiopia and the entire …

The re-arrest of rights activist and journalist Omoyele Sowore right inside a courtroom in session on Friday (6 December) in Abuja has confronted Nigerians with a sad reality. It’s the reality that after the spectacular peaceful change of political power in Nigeria in 2015 through an election, the first time in the nation’s history, democracy has suffered a serious setback …

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has condemned, what it described as “renewed attacks on Nigerian traders” in Ghana, describing it as unnecessary. A bloody clash between Ghanaian and Nigerian traders occurred at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra on Monday morning. Three persons, according to the Ghanaian police, were injured during the clash, following the forcible closure of shops belonging …

Civil society groups on Wednesday protested against the proposed Hate Speech Bill currently being debated in the Senate and also demanded the immediate release of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services despite having been granted bail by the court. Protesters stormed the National Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, on Wednesday …

“Investments in gender equality are critical to realizing demographic dividend, but we need to ensure that women have the tools to overcome the barriers they face”

Rwanda’s envoy to Germany has described international critics of his government’s human rights records as “hypocrites”. “Where were these people when the genocide was perpetrated?” Ambassador Igor Cesar asked. “It took Rwanda to end the genocide. And that’s a human rights achievement,” he told his audience at the 2019 Global Partnership for Africa’s Development (G-PAD) Forum, which took place on …

“Based on our survey findings, we were able to come out with the best 100 companies to work for in Nigeria in our 2019 report, and the outcome of our findings is what makes a good company," said Hilda Kabushenga Kragha, CEO of Jobberman

The World Health Summit 2019 was recently concluded in Berlin, Germany. It once again highlighted the enormous opportunities awaiting Africa if it could tap into the potential of the Digital Age. Our Contributing Editor and global health enthusiast, Dr Michael Nnaji, was at the event and he reports.

In the past several weeks, the Nigerian media space has been filled with reports of a plan by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to change the constitution to enable President Muhammadu Buhari run for a third term.

The shortlist was preceded by a call for nomination and the eventual winners would be decided via a voting process.

Zimbabwean journalist and writer Tinashe L. Chimedza writes rejoinder to President Mnangagwa’s open letter to the international community published on Monday (19 November) calling for the removal of Western sanctions on his country. Chimedza blames his country’s ruling elite of being largely responsible for the sorry state of affairs, two years after the exit of then President Robert Mugabe. Two …