AFRICA

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed an agreement with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) for a US$30 million re-guarantee facility to support African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the trade value chain to access funds for their activities. Gwen Mwaba, the director for …

  Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon soldiers on state radio early Monday called on the people to “rise up” and announced a “national restoration council” would be formed, as an ailing President Ali Bongo is out of the country. Shots were heard in the around state television headquarters in …

Gabon soldiers announce national council, shots heard in capital Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Gabon soldiers said on state radio early Monday that a “national restoration council” has been formed, with ailing President Ali Bongo convalescing in Morocco. Shots were heard in the around state television offices in the centre …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) refused Sunday to rule out corruption-plagued ex-President Jacob Zuma as a candidate in parliamentary elections. Zuma, who led the country from 2009 until he was forced by the party to step down last year, faces 16 charges …

  Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian security forces on Sunday arrested two journalists over their coverage of the jihadist group Boko Haram, sources at the newspaper told AFP. A combined team of secret police, soldiers and civil defence paramilitary stormed the office of the Daily Trust in the northern …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A week after crucial elections to replace long-term president Joseph Kabila, the DR Congo was on tenterhooks Sunday with no date for the announcement of delayed results and just over half of ballots counted. On Saturday, just hours before the scheduled announcement of the …

THE LAST WORD: Why the President’s emphasis on hairstyles to assert the African identity addresses the form and ignores the substance THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On December 30, 2018, President Yoweri Museveni tweeted thanking Miss World Africa, Quiin Abenakyo, for heeding his “advice” to keep her hair …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council on Saturday expressed regret after Somalia expelled a UN envoy but added that it expected “full cooperation” between Somalia and the United Nations. The council released the unanimous statement after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday agreed to …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | A policeman was killed while trying to dismantle an explosive device outside a Coptic church in Egypt on Saturday, a security source said. Two other officers were also wounded in the explosion as security personnel attempted to defuse the device in Nasr City on the …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s president will inaugurate the country’s biggest cathedral on Coptic Christmas Eve Sunday, a day after a deadly bomb blast near a church in a country where jihadists have repeatedly targeted Christians. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday’s explosion on the eastern …