NEWS ANALYSIS

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The brutal death of anti-apartheid campaigner Ahmed Timol was allowed to go quietly unsolved in the interests of South Africa’s democratic reconciliation. But now more than 45 years after he fell from a 10th-floor window at a notorious regime security building and died, Timol’s …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania President John Magufuli said students who become pregnant should not be allowed to finish their studies after giving birth, sparking outrage from women’s rights campaign groups. “I give money for a student to study for free. And then, she gets pregnant, gives birth and …

Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Sir Ketumile Masire, Botswana’s second post-independence leader who is largely credited with being the architect of the country’s famed stability, has died, an aide said Friday. He was 91. One of Africa’s most respected elder statesmen, he was known for leading regional peace efforts in …

ANALYSIS: In past crises, the United Nations and South Africa have played important roles in stabilising the situation in the DRC – @africaarguments Pretoria, South Africa| CARMEL RAWHANI & MÉLANIE RONDREUX | African ARGUMENTS | In 2016, one of the defining terms when it came to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) political situation …

 Botswana’s former president Masire, who led Mozambique peace efforts, dies Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Botswana’s former president Sir Ketumile Masire, the southern African country’s second post-independence leader and who led efforts to bring peace to Mozambique, has died aged 91, an aide said on Friday. Masire had been heavily involved …

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi  has revealed that Egypt is suffering from a water deficit of about 21.5 billion cubic metres per year, and is cautious of any agreements related to the River Nile that could affect this supply. According to AharamOnline, this was the main thrust of President Sisi’s speech Thursday …

Warder, Ethiopia |Chris Stein, AFP | The Somali people of Ethiopia’s southeast have a name for the drought that has killed livestock, dried up wells and forced hundreds of thousands into camps: sima, which means “equalised”. It’s an appropriate name, they say, because this drought has left no person untouched, …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | One week on from the fatal London tower block inferno, the macabre smell of the burnt-out building clings to a traumatised neighbourhood, where every conversation is peppered with indignation. Some 79 people are presumed dead after last Wednesday’s blaze, which quickly engulfed the 24-storey …

  Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE |  Bank of Uganda is pessimistic about growth in private sector credit for the last quarter of this financial year. This is the latest bad news suggesting the country is yet to achieve desired economic growth of over 7%. “We are not likely to achieve …

  New heir to Saudi throne holds power beyond his years Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  Saudi Arabia’s hard-charging Mohammed bin Salman, named crown prince on Wednesday, holds unusual power for a man of just 31, so much so that diplomats nickname him “Mr Everything”. The son of King …