AFRICA

Cybercriminals from hacking group Silence one of the most sophisticated threat actors | BRENDYN LOTZ | A number of worrying notifications from banks in the Sub-Saharan Africa region have cybersecurity experts concerned that Silence has arrived on the continent. Silence Group is an organization of cybercriminals that has been active …

Britain’s pledge to turbo-charge relations with continent must compete with China Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | The first ever UK-Africa Investment Summit held in London on Jan. 20 is being seen for what it was; a copycat of what development experts refer to as “Africa-Plus One Summits” where several …

Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP |  The bus driver sensed straight away that he and his six passengers were in trouble when the gunmen, dressed in Nigerian army uniforms, stopped their vehicle at a checkpoint. They were on the main road connecting the city of Maiduguri in volatile northeast Nigeria with the …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  The lagoon waters at the port entrance to Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, are usually teeming with small fishing boats. But the bustling waterfront slums of Lagos are now quiet after the navy evicted tens of thousands of residents from their homes in recent weeks. The evictions …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Hundreds of Gambians marched Saturday in the outskirts of the capital Banjul, demanding justice for sweeping rights abuses and murder they suffered under former dictator Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule. Jammeh ruled Gambia with an iron fist but fled in January 2017 after losing a presidential election …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Allegations of corruption swirling around his predecessor’s daughter have set a crucial test for Angolan President Joao Lourenco in his vow to reform a country rich in oil and tainted by graft. Isabel dos Santos, the 46-year-old billionaire daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, is …

Masisi, DR Congo | AFP | In eastern DR Congo, thousands have fled violence to camps in the remote mountain forests where they battle cholera, hunger and misery in a forgotten humanitarian disaster. Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has long struggled with violence from several militia groups, a legacy of the …

Gondar, Ethiopia | AFP |  Getahun Fetana spent years admiring Emebet Melaku from a distance before plucking up the nerve to speak to her, taking advantage of a chance encounter during Timkat, the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of epiphany. Breaking off from his friends, the 37-year-old professor walked over to introduce …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Billions of locusts swarming through East Africa are the result of extreme weather swings and could prove catastrophic for a region still reeling from drought and deadly floods, experts said Friday. Dense clouds of the ravenous insects have spread from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya, in …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Human rights remain at threat in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amnesty International said on Friday in a report issued a year to the day since the country underwent historic change. Militia violence, ethnic clashes and failure to hold rights abusers to account dog the …