Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | African leaders are set to gather this weekend for a special summit aimed at pushing through long-debated reforms to their pan-continental body. The changes seek to streamline and empower the African Union — an ambitious call for an organisation often seen as toothless and …
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United Nations, United States | AFP | A special envoy urged the UN Security Council on Monday to consider “stern action” against rebel chief Abdul Wahid Nur for resisting efforts to bring peace to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, the special representative of the United Nations and African …
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United Nations, United States | AFP | A UN-backed peacekeeping mission in Somalia, which faces attacks by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, received unanimous Security Council backing Tuesday until July 31. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), with about 21,600 troops, operates with the approval of the UN and relies on …
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Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Heavily-armed Al-Shabaab militants attacked an African Union military camp outside Mogadishu on Sunday, killing four Ugandan peacekeepers, their army said. Local sources said a massive blast was heard in the Bulomarer district, around 150 kilometres (93 miles) south of Mogadishu, and fighting broke out after …
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Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Forty-four African countries have signed an agreement establishing a free trade area seen as vital to the continent’s economic development, the head of the African Union said Wednesday. The creation of a free trade area — billed as the world’s largest in terms of participating …
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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & AFP | Uganda has sent a strong delegation to Kigali where African leaders will formally launch the African Continental Free Trade Area Treaty on Wednesday, but the country is reconsidering its full involvement in the pact as it is. Uganda, in many ways like …
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Africa’s leaders will gather in Rwanda Wednesday to launch what they say will be the world’s largest free trade area but Nigeria has already pulled out, highlighting the challenge in getting the continent to sign up. Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) with …
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Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will not attend the African Union summit in Rwanda this week, an official statement said Sunday, in a blow to plans to launch a major free trade treaty across 54 countries. The meeting in Kigali is intended to formally launch the …
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Washington’s top diplomat began his first Africa tour Thursday by meeting with the African Union chief, who said the continent had moved on from a reported insult by President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and AU commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat discussed security …
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East African nations urge UN to review pullout of Somali peace mission Kampala, Uganda | AFP | East African representatives said Friday the drawdown of an African Union mission fighting jihadists in Somalia could “reverse gains” and urged the United Nations to reconsider plans to withdraw troops by December 2020. …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price