AFRICA

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The tiny West African state of The Gambia on Monday swore in an 11-member commission tasked with shedding light on summary executions, disappearances, torture, rape and other crimes under ousted dictator Yahya Jammeh. President Adama Barrow hailed the panel as a vital step towards national healing. …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | President Joao Lourenco pledged on Monday to kickstart the ailing Angolan economy with a push to attract foreign investment to end its “excessive” dependence on oil revenue and return to growth. Delivering his state of the nation address to parliament, Lourenco also vowed to continue a …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Mali’s constitutional court delayed the country’s parliamentary elections until 2019 by extending the mandate of MPs for six months, as requested by the National Assembly on Monday, according to the two institutions. Citing “force majeure” the court said it “extends the mandate of representatives until the …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Islamic State-allied Boko Haram jihadists have killed another kidnapped female aid worker in northeast Nigeria, the government said, a month after one of her colleagues was murdered. Three female health workers were kidnapped during a Boko Haram raid on the remote town of Rann, in …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is in South Africa receiving treatment for injuries sustained during a blast at a ruling party rally in June, state media reported Monday. A grenade blast at an election rally in the second city Bulawayo killed two people and narrowly …

Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | The economies of the South must work together in order to deal with the uncertainties resulting from the current global trade environment, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), said on Oct. 09 in Bali, Indonesia. Speaking during a Panel discussion on …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  The family of Tanzania’s only billionaire Mohammed Dewji, who was kidnapped last week in Dar es Salaam, on Monday announced a reward of nearly half a million dollars for information on his whereabouts. Gunmen snatched Dewji, 43, listed by Forbes as Africa’s youngest billionaire, as …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The West African state of The Gambia on Monday launched an 11-member truth commission tasked with shedding light on summary executions, disappearances, torture, rape and other crimes under regime of ousted dictator Yahya Jammeh. “Today marks… the beginning of the much-anticipated mechanism that is expected …

Soweto, South Africa | AFP | In a classroom in the South African township of Soweto, girls listen carefully, knowing they need to learn how to avoid the threat of rape that hangs over their daily lives. “You are going to pretend that it is the rapist’s testicles,” says trainer …

Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | Thirty years after her iconic debut novel, Zimbabwean author Tsitsi  Dangarembga is back with a final look at her heroine’s harrowing journey through the Mugabe years, hoping to spark debate about violence against women in her country. Often praised as a leading feminist voice, …