AFRICA

On Friday 14 October, Rwandan President Paul Kagame launched the world’s first national drone delivery service during a ceremony in the country’s centrally located Muhanga District. The Rwandan government will begin using drones to make up to 150 on-demand, emergency deliveries per day of life-saving blood to 21 transfusing facilities located in the western half of the country. The drones …

“There are examples of villages with several mosques but the Christians have to worship in school classrooms. Christians are not allowed to acquire land to build churches.”

Dr Michael Nnaji, a medical doctor working at the university teaching hospital Charité in Berlin, writes on the potential of a Nigerian-made drug to change how diseases are treated. Fola Adebisi (not real name) is 46 and was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by her family physician. Adebisi, a widow and school teacher, lives in Western Nigeria and earns …

Benin’s President Patrice Talon has promised to turn the fortunes of his country around by the end of his five-year term in office. He made the declaration in Paris recently during his first official visit to Europe since his election in March. Talon said leaders must improve the lot of their citizens. “Those who govern have the responsibility to eradicate …

On a recent tour of Senegal, Niger and Rwanda, German Development Minister Gerd Müller repeated his call for a Marshall Plan for Africa. But is a post-World War II-style recovery program realistic or even necessary? Gerd Müller makes his way on foot across the arid field in Cayar, a small town in Senegal. After a few steps, he reaches the …

The news headlines on the recent municipal elections in South Africa have one thing in common: that the governing African National Congress (ANC) lost and hence is losing its dominance of the country’s political landscape. The 2016 municipal elections elected the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils in all 9 provinces, who, in turn, will elect the …

The South Sudanese government has decided to deploy a regional force to protect civilians. The decision comes a month after fighting broke out between rival army factions and the release of a critical UN report. Mahboub Maalim, head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa (IGAD), said on Friday (5 August) that the government had accepted a protection …

General elections will be held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament. They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016, but the date was later rejected by Parliament. “Despite the demonstration of our preparedness to deliver a credible and world-class elections on the proposed November 7 date, parliament in its wisdom has …

As the European Union threatens to unravel in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave, the African Union is pursuing a path of closer integration through the launch of a common passport that will grant visa-free access to all 54 member states, reports Tolani Alao (NAN). The long-awaited African Union (AU) passport was launched on Sunday, 17 July at the …

Ghana’s former President Jerry John Rawlings has called for a global campaign for the return of Nigeria’s stolen funds kept in developed countries. According to him, the international community should spearhead the initiative in a manner similar to that for the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls. Rawlings, who spoke to the Nigerian newspaper The Guardian in Accra recently on …

Youth Think Tank Report provides insights into youth employment trends in East Africa East African youth are seeking a greater voice in their future, according to new youth-led research released today by The MasterCard Foundation Youth Think Tank. At a launch organized by Restless Development in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, the 15 members of the Youth Think Tank revealed …

The film describes the fight for democracy and socio-economic justice in the tiny sub-Saharan country through the eyes of Bheki Dlamini, a young activist

South Africa’s Public Protector, who famously took on President Jacob Zuma over the use of taxpayers’ money to upgrade his home, has been awarded the prestigious prize for her commitment to fighting corruption. Some have called her a woman of steel. Others say she is the voice of the voiceless. As the public protector, Thuli Madonsela has worked tirelessly to …

Noo Saro-Wiwa’s exhilarating offering is travel book, social commentary, history and a projection into Nigeria’s future all rolled into one, writes Michael Nnaji.  Unlike most writers who spend a few weeks or days in a particular country of interest before embarking on an opinionated take in the form of a travel book, Noo Saro-Wiwa’s Looking for Transwonderland – Travels in …

The restoration of democracy with regular elections in the 1990s held the promise of resolving the explosive issue of power succession blamed for the conflicts that devilled post-independent Africa. After independence in the 1960s, most of the ruling parties abolished multiparty democracy and instituted one-party states. The argument for the change was the promotion of stability, as the acrimonious contest …

Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology, was awarded with the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at the residence of the German Ambassador in Pretoria on 22 April. On behalf of the German President, Ambassador Walter Lindner presented the Order to Ms Pandor in front of over 100 high-level guests. The minister has …

To support President Muhammadu Buhari’s ongoing war on corruption in Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy, a coalition of 95 Nigerian civil society groups has demanded that the British government ends the country’s role as a safe haven for Nigeria’s looters.  An army of 95 Nigerian civil society groups has banded together to demand that the United Kingdom end …

PRESS STATEMENT Nairobi, 19 April 2016 – The African Media Initiative is pleased to announce the launch of its pan-African journalism contest – the 2nd Zimeo Awards for Excellence in Media. The contest is open to professional journalists in Africa reporting or writing for print, radio, TV and digital.  At this stage, AMI is calling on all interested journalists to …

Where corruption is involved, African leaders seem to be utterly beyond shock. Black folks in office often regard as normal business the kind of infractions that draw alarm and apologetic resignations in other parts of the world.

A former member of Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives has been appointed the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to the President. The appointment of Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a leading member of the ruling APC, is interpreted as a sign of the government’s recognition of the enormous contributions of the Diaspora to Nigeria’s development. The World Bank Migration and …