AFRICA

Algiers, Algeria | AFP |  Ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared he will seek a fifth term in April elections in a message published by state media Sunday, after he was endorsed by his party and the ruling coalition. Bouteflika uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria, which elects a new president on February 16, is Africa’s most populous nation and leading oil producer but is dogged by poverty and insecurity. – People and penury – More than 190 million people live in the West African nation. The UN estimates it …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Muhammadu Buhari was elected president of Nigeria in 2015 on a pledge to defeat Boko Haram jihadists and tackle endemic corruption. As he seeks re-election, here is a look back at key developments in the country during his first term. – 2015: successes against Boko Haram …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Key events in the history of Nigeria since independence from Britain in 1960: – First coup – In January 1966 the first in a series of military coups takes place amid dissatisfaction with progress after colonial rule. Significantly, it is also triggered by the fact that …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Nearly six years after the African Union shut it out in the cold, Egypt will take the organisation’s helm  — and strengthening multilateral powers is unlikely to be on the agenda. Cairo’s tenure “will probably concentrate on security and peacekeeping”, said Ashraf Swelam, who heads …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope that he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists and turn around a country blighted by decades of corruption and poor governance. But while he will go down in history as Nigeria’s first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent, …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The International Criminal Court-ICC has directed Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to respond to a motion seeking dismissal of all charges against Dominic Ongwen. The motion filed by the Defense of Dominic Ongwen on February 1st implicates the Prosecution and Trial Chamber II of the Court …

  Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s upcoming presidential elections are the sixth to be held since civilian rule was restored in 1999 and the first to involve voters with no experience of military government. AFP spoke to some first-time voters in Africa’s most populous country to find out what …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | French energy giant Total unveiled Thursday a “significant” gas discovery off the coast of South Africa, an event that President Cyril Ramaphosa called a game-changer. The find could boost the nation’s struggling economy and reduce reliance on imports. “Total has made a significant …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chadian President Idriss Deby on Thursday said a column of rebels which had sought to cross into the country from Libya had been “destroyed” in a series of strikes carried out by French warplanes. The French military has said Mirage 2000 jets struck an armed convoy …