Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Monday he hopes Africa gets two more spots at the World Cup if his proposal for the tournament to be expanded to 40 teams goes through. There are presently 32 finalists for the World Cup with Africa represented by …
Read More »Nigeria hails major step towards polio-free Africa
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria on Sunday celebrated two years without a new case of polio, in a major stride towards Africa being declared free of the devastating disease. If no new case is reported by July 2017, Nigeria will be certified free of the virus, which mainly affects …
Read More »Renewable energy boom in Africa, Uganda invests $134 million
Christine Lins is the Executive Secretary of Ren 21, a global renewable energy multi-stakeholder policy network. She spoke to Ian Katusiime about the prospects of renewable energy in Africa. Please break down for us what it means for the world now to have 147GW of renewable energy? Record renewable power …
Read More »‘Sugar daddies’ and ‘blessers’: A threat to AIDS fight
Durban, South Africa | AFP | Lebogang Motsumi, 27, still remembers the moment when she learnt she had contracted HIV from a man a decade her senior. “It was August 15, 2009, at 1:00pm,” she said, recalling the instant when her life changed traumatically. “I was so ignorant,” she said. …
Read More »Armed group kills 17 soldiers at Mali base
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Seventeen soldiers were killed and 35 wounded in central Mali Tuesday in an assault on their base that authorities called a “coordinated terrorist attack”. “The toll has increased: we have lost 17 men and 35 are wounded,” Mali’s defence minister Tieman Hubert Coulibaly said. Authorities …
Read More »Fresh firefight in South Sudan capital: residents, UN
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Gunfire was once again heard in South Sudan’s capital on Sunday as former rebels and government soldiers exchanged fire on the outskirts of the city. “Gunshots, heavily armed exchange UN House area once again; going on now since approx. 0825 (0525 GMT),” the UN …
Read More »Britain exits EU: What does it mean for Africa?
A view from the Economic Policy Research Centre Makerere On June 23, the British voted in a referendum to exit the European Union. The referendum was predictably surrounded by discussions of what a British exit- Brexit- would mean for the people and its social, political and economic impact. Of particular …
Read More »Israel and Rwanda share bond of ‘pain of genocide’
Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Rwanda on Wednesday for a symbolic stop on his “historic” African tour, boosting ties between two countries with a history marked by genocide. Welcomed on arrival by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Netanyahu visited the Kigali Memorial Centre where …
Read More »Bolivia, Ethiopia, Sweden, Kazakhstan win UN council seats
United Nations, United States | AFP | Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden were elected on Tuesday to serve a two-year stint on the UN Security Council, with the Netherlands and Italy locked in a tight race for a remaining spot. Five non-permanent seats were up for grabs in the vote …
Read More »AMISOM hails Ugandan UN battalion after Somalia tour of duty
The Ugandan United Nations battalion in Somali has been hailed by the African Union (AU) and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) after they completed a year’s tour of duty. “What you are doing is really important. You are a very important part of a bigger effort to help Somalia …
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