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by Valerie LEROUX Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced a “noticeable reduction” of French troop presence in Africa, where anti-French sentiment is running high in some former colonies. He was speaking in Paris ahead of a four-nation tour of central African countries from Wednesday, as France seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region. Macron is to visit Gabon for an environmental summit, followed by Angola, […]
by Patrick Markey with Louise Dewast in Port Harcourt Agence France-Presse LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu took an early lead in the race for the presidency, according to initial tallies on Monday, after a tight election marked by long delays and opposition accusations of fraud. Former Lagos governor Tinubu faced an old rival, the main opposition PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, in Saturday’s vote, but surprise third candidate, Labor Party’s Peter Obi, […]
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Burkina Faso announced Thursday a recruitment drive for 5,000 soldiers to serve in the army for at least five years to aid the country in its fight against jihadists. The country, one of the world’s poorest, has been battling a deadly insurgency since 2015. “An exceptional recruitment of 5,000 non-commissioned soldiers for the national armed forces, to serve for at least five years, in their military region of recruitment, will […]
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AFP) — The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in Madagascar climbed to seven on Thursday as the winds that have battered the Indian Ocean for days started to ease before hitting Mozambique. Madagascar’s government revised the death toll for the island from five to seven on Thursday and said average wind speeds were now reaching 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, with gusts of up to 90 kph. Among the victims were four […]
LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — US, European and other governments on Thursday urged Nigeria to ensure a peaceful presidential election this weekend as skirmishes broke out in a key city on the last day of campaigning. More than 93 million Nigerians are registered to vote on Saturday in what has developed into a tense, competitive race among three presidential frontrunners for the first time since military rule ended in 1999. After two terms under President Muhammadu […]
LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigerians will vote for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in an unprecedented race between three frontrunners battling to govern Africa’s most populous democracy. After eight years under Buhari, Nigeria still faces huge challenges, from attacks by jihadists and separatists, a sluggish economy and growing poverty, leaving many Nigerians desperate for change. The February 25 election will be closely watched after coups in Mali and Burkina Faso knocked West […]
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday defended a currency swap that sparked protests and cash shortages, but ordered old, small denomination 200 naira notes to remain in circulation to ease scarcities. Nigeria has been struggling with a shortage in physical cash since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began to swap old bills of the local naira currency for new, re-designed ones, leading to a shortfall in […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Poverty and the prospect of better-paid work, rather than ideology, are what fuel recruitment to jihadist and other violent groups in Africa, the United Nations said Tuesday. The conclusion casts doubt on conventional wisdom that religious doctrine is the main lure for joining groups like Boko Haram, al-Shabaab and the Al-Qaeda-linked Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM). The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2021 interviewed […]
by AFP eastern Congo correspondents Agence France-Presse GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Pope Francis made repeated appeals for peace during his landmark trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo this week, but there was no let-up in fighting in the east. Putting an end to violence was a dominant theme of the pontiff’s visit to Africa’s largest Catholic country, where he arrived on Tuesday and was to depart for South Sudan on Friday. Dozens of […]
K’ELAFO, Ethiopia (AFP) – From southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia, around 22 million people are at risk of hunger as the worst drought in four decades grips the Horn of Africa. In the afflicted areas, inhabitants — who eke out a living mainly from herding and subsistence farming — are experiencing their fifth consecutive poor rainy season since the end of 2020. The United Nations says 12 million people in Ethiopia, 5.6 million in […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday at the weekend in a township in South Africa, killing eight and wounding three others, police said Monday. The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting in the southern port city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth. “The owner of the house was celebrating his birthday when two unknown gunmen entered the yard” on Sunday evening […]
by Kaouthar Oudrhiri Agence France-Presse CASABLANCA, Morocco (AFP) — Oumar left home in Guinea five years ago in search of a better life in Europe, but today he inhabits a daily purgatory of hunger, cold and police violence in Morocco. “Just surviving every day is a battle,” said the 25-year-old. “It’s exhausting not eating enough, not sleeping under a roof, not feeling safe, experiencing racism.” He spends his nights camped out on the pavement outside […]
