Ties that bind: Closely-related players who made AFCON 2023 a family affair

Ties that bind: Closely-related players who made AFCON 2023 a family affair

By Joel Omotto, via bird story agency In the history of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), a number of closely-related players have graced the tournament with six siblings winning the trophy. Ethiopians Italo and Luciano Vassallo won it together in 1962, Congolese brothers Albert Bwanga and Robert Kazadi were part of the 1974 winning team, Cameroonians Andre and Francois Biyik claimed the crown in 1988 while […]

February 1, 2024 15

Africa

African countries are struggling with high debt, demands to spend more and collapsing currencies: the policy fixes that could help

By Jonathan Munemo, Salisbury University Highly indebted African countries are facing stark trade-offs between servicing expensive debt, supporting high and growing development needs, and stabilising domestic currencies. Government debt has risen in at least 40 African countries over the past decade. As a result, some are experiencing a bad combination of high debt, elevated development spending needs amid budget shortfalls, and unfavourable exchange rate pressures. These issues have become […]

February 1, 2024 4

Africa

UN flags continued fighting in the DRC

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has expressed concern over the ongoing conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent clashes between government forces and the M23 rebels left 20 civilians dead. Chris Ocamringa has more from Kinshasa.

February 1, 2024 62

Africa

Nigeria criticises ECOWAS exit

Nigeria has accused military authorities in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso for letting their people down with their joint decision to leave the Economic Community of West African States. Ajeck Mangut reports.

February 1, 2024 31

Africa

Continental Free Trade Area launches first trade shipment

Industrialisation and Trade Minister, Lucia Iipumbu has participated in the first trade shipments under the African Continental FreeExportDiversification Trade Area at the Port of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. Iipumbu says the implementation will diversify exports, boost productive capacity, accelerate growth, create more jobs, and promote economic inclusion.

February 1, 2024 43

Africa

Italy returns 1935 Ethiopian aircraft

Ethiopia's premier says the first aircraft built in Ethiopia in 1935 has been handed back to the country by Italy. It had been taken during Italy's fascist era during the occupation of what was then Abyssinia, eventually going on display in the Italian Aviation Museum in Rome. The BBC reports that it was formally given to Prime Minister Aby Ahmed at a ceremony in Rome and he said it marked […]

February 1, 2024 5

Africa

‘We miners die a lot.’ Appalling conditions and poverty wages: the lives of cobalt miners in the DRC

Labourers load sacks of cobalt onto bicycles at Mutoshi mine in July 2021. Roy Maconachie Roy Maconachie, University of Bath It was a cool, dusty morning in July 2021, when I first visited the Kamilombe cobalt mine in Lualaba Province in south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Situated just outside Kapata on the south-west outskirts of Kolwezi, a mining town that has historically served as an important centre for copper and […]

January 31, 2024 9

Africa

Burundi’s quota for women in politics has had mixed results, but that’s no reason to scrap it

By Reginas Ndayiragije, University of Antwerp; Petra Meier, University of Antwerp, and Stef Vandeginste, University of Antwerp Since 2005, Burundi has set quotas to ensure that the country’s three ethnic groups (Hutu, Tutsi and Twa), as well as women, are represented in its parliament, central government and municipal administrations. Its constitution states that women should make up at least 30% of these institutions. The senate, Burundi’s highest chamber […]

January 31, 2024 5

Africa

Nigeria’s plastic ban: why it’s good and how it can work

By Temitope O. Sogbanmu, University of Lagos Two weeks into January 2024, Nigerian authorities took steps to curb environmental degradation caused by plastic pollution in the country. The Federal Ministry of Environment and the Lagos State government both announced bans on single-use plastics. The Federal Ministry of Environment was the first to issue a directive. It banned single-use plastics in its own departments and agencies. The Lagos State government […]

January 31, 2024 36