AFRICA

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | An American soldier was shot dead and two others wounded in a night-time raid with Somali forces against Shabaab militants in Somalia, the US military said Friday. “On May 4, one US service member was killed during an operation against Al-Shabaab near Barii, Somalia, approximately …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Somalia’s president cut short a trip to Ethiopia on Thursday, the day after a cabinet minister was accidentally shot and killed in Mogadishu by another official’s guards. “The president of the republic, who is now outside the country, decided to cut his trip short to …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  A South African High Court Thursday ordered President Jacob Zuma to reveal the documents he used to justify the controversial sacking of a widely respected finance minister, sparking economic turmoil. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) went to court to force Zuma to explain …

Multi-pronged approach key for effectively defeating fall armyworm in Africa NAIROBI, Kenya  – Tackling the menace of the tenacious fall armyworm pest and avoiding economic hardship for smallholders across Africa requires multi-institutional collaboration, scientists attending a continental stakeholders consultation meeting on the fall armyworm, have said. In their meeting in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A lack of foreign currency means petrol pumps are running dry across Burundi, the government has admitted, as the country struggles with a serious two-year-old political crisis. Long queues have been quickly forming in the capital Bujumbura where petrol is only available at some of …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigerian officials on Wednesday played down fears about the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, despite his third consecutive absence from cabinet and assurances from his wife there was no cause for concern. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo chaired the meeting instead of the 74-year-old Buhari, who has …

DURBAN, South Africa| PPU|  For Africa to develop, the political will of the leaders must be accompanied by the right strategy, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said. Museveni was speaking as the chief panelist on the subject “Agenda 2063: Infrastructure Update” at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, …

Daughter of late Rwandan tycoon to challenge Kagame Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  The 35-year-old daughter of a tycoon who once bankrolled the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front said Wednesday she plans to run as an independent candidate against President Paul Kagame in August’s elections. “Everybody is scared to express themselves …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  DR Congo’s influential Catholic bishops have urged authorities to allow prominent opposition politician Moise Katumbi to return from exile, calling his criminal conviction a “farce”. In a confidential report seen by AFP on Wednesday, the Congolese Episcopal Conference (CENCO) demanded that the government reverse …

ca  A U.S$100 billion bond could be used to help guarantee financing for major regional infrastructure projects such as the East Africa Railway  By Nancy Birdsall and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala  The countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have reached a critical juncture. Strained by a collapse in commodity prices and China’s economic slowdown, …