AFRICA

The continent must also overcome significant hurdles if it is to grab the 4IR opportunity | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa has taken three significant steps in recent months on its journey to a stronger economic future. In March, the African Union launched the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  At least one person was killed and five others injured in Johannesburg on Sunday, police said, after security forces clashed with looters in the latest outbreak of xenophobic violence. South Africa’s biggest city and other areas were hit by a surge of attacks against …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Days before the first round of Tunisia’s presidential election, the fledgling democracy on Saturday began three nights of televised debates between the candidates, a rare event in the Arab world. The showdown between the 26 hopefuls over three nights is seen as the highlight of the …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Flags flew at half mast in Harare on Saturday, but a day after former president Robert Mugabe’s death many Zimbabweans preferred to work as usual than publicly mourn the independence hero turned despot. President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a period of national mourning on Friday following Mugabe’s …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Every February, in different venues around Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe would throw an extravagant birthday party with thousands of guests, huge cakes and a defiant speech. But the annual jamboree also exposed the leader’s declining health as his physical and mental strength drained away, his voice weakened …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | The African Union (AU) has lifted its suspension of Sudan three months after freezing its membership following Khartoum’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The AU’s Peace and Security Council said Friday that the decision followed the announcement of Sudan’s first cabinet since the ousting of …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe was on Saturday due to begin a period of national mourning following the death of Robert Mugabe, the former guerrilla hero turned despot who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years. As Zimbabweans expressed sharply divided opinions about Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said his predecessor had been declared …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Some call him a ‘true African’ and a ‘revolutionary icon’. For others, the name evokes only ‘evil’, ‘destruction’ and ‘suffering’. Zimbabweans on Friday woke up to the death of their founding president Robert Mugabe — a hero-turned despot whose increasingly tyrannic rule and economic mismanagement prompted …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe, whose death was announced on Friday, was in power for 37 years, but is far from the only African leader to have ruled for so long. Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema is Africa’s longest-serving president currently in power after …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  He came to power as a Mao-jacketed revolutionary, charmed the West with his policy of racial reconciliation, adopted stylish Saville Row suits and was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. But Zimbabwean ex-president Robert Mugabe, who has died aged 95, ended his life stripped of his honorary …