Category Archives: Africa

‘Ritual humiliations’: African music stars struggle to get visas to Europe

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A Kenyan DJ’s post of being denied transit through Amsterdam has put the spotlight on airlines’ alleged racist policies

Emma Nzioka, a Kenyan performer and DJ known as Coco Em, was looking forward to the Terra Sagrada festival in Cape Verde for nearly a year. Some of her favourite African artists, such as Boddhi Satva, would be playing.

But Nzioka did not make it to the festival last month, or out of the country, for that matter. At the check-in counter in Kenya, she was told she could not board her flight unless she bought a return ticket with the same airline (she had one with another airline) to “prove” she would return home. Although Nzioka was going to Cape Verde, she was transiting through Amsterdam.

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Burkina Faso: 66 women and children freed after kidnap by armed assailants

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Security forces stage rescue operation in country which is facing violent Islamist insurgency

Sixty-six women and children kidnapped by armed assailants in northern Burkina Faso last week have been freed, it has been reported.

The mass kidnapping was unprecedented in Burkina Faso, which is facing a violent Islamist insurgency that spread from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

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‘Obi understands’: young Nigerians swell support of presidential hopeful

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The popularity of Peter Obi’s message of change with younger voters fed up with the status quo makes him a real contender

At a recent campaign stop, Peter Obi responded to a regular criticism. Bola Tinubu, a rival candidate in next month’s presidential elections in Nigeria, had called him stingy. Obi told a crowd of supporters that yes, he has been stingy with public funds, and that made him a better fit for the country’s top job.

Nigerians go to the polls on 25 February to choose a replacement for Muhammadu Buhari, whose eight-year rule has been sharply criticised for failing to get to grips with rampant insecurity and a cost of living crisis.

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Kenya declares war on millions of birds after they raid crops

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Toxic pesticides used to eradicate grain-eating quelea may harm the country’s endangered raptors, say conservationists

A drive by the Kenyan government to kill up to 6 million red-billed quelea birds that have invaded farms will have unintended consequences for raptors and other wild species, experts have warned.

The continuing drought in the Horn of Africa has reduced the amount of native grass, whose seeds are queleas’ main food source, causing the birds to increasingly invade grain fields, putting 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of rice under threat. About 300 acres of rice fields have been destroyed by the birds.

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Second deadly bus collision in Senegal in eight days kills 22 people

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More than 20 injured in incident involving a truck, after 40 died in two-bus collision in Kaffrine region

A collision between a truck and a bus in northern Senegal has killed 22 people, firefighters have said, a week after a crash between two buses left 40 people dead.

More than 20 people were injured in the latest accident, which occurred on Monday near Sakal in the Louga region, Papa Ange Michel Diatta, a colonel with the national firefighting service, told AFP. Amadou Ba, the country’s prime minister, visited the site, pledging to enforce new rules of the road.

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Ramaphosa cancels Davos trip amid South Africa energy crisis

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Africa’s most industrialised economy being hit by daily power cuts as anger grows among opposition and public

Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland as South Africa grapples with an unprecedented energy crisis that has resulted in daily power cuts of between eight and 11 hours across the country.

Anger is growing as offices, hospitals, factories and tens of thousands of small businesses are forced to close, with outages also causing increased crime, traffic disruption and massive wastage as food supply chains collapse.

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Daughter of Algerian journalist arrested on Christmas Eve calls for his release

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Imprisonment of Ihsane el-Kadi, a longstanding government critic, prompted outcry from human rights groups

The daughter of the prominent Algerian journalist Ihsane el-Kadi has called for his immediate release from detention in a notorious prison following his arrest at midnight on Christmas Eve.

Kadi, who has been a longstanding critic of the Algerian government and is one of the north African country’s most influential voices, was arrested by security forces in plain clothes at his home in the coastal city of Boumerdès, 35 miles east of Algiers, on 24 December and placed in a pre-trial detention.

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Suspected jihadists kidnap 50 women in Burkina Faso

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Many of the women had been picking fruit ‘because there is nothing left to eat’ as long-running insurgency hits food supplies

Suspected jihadists have abducted about 50 women in insurgency-wracked northern Burkina Faso, local officials and residents say.

Roughly 40 were seized around 12km (seven miles) south-east of Arbinda on Thursday and about 20 others were abducted on Friday to the north of the town, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

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Thousands protest against Tunisian president’s seizure of near total power

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Demonstrators on Saturday demanded Kais Saied step down as they marked the anniversary of 2011 revolution

Thousands of protesters in central Tunis have marched against the seizure of near total power by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, demanding he step down as they marked the anniversary of a key date in the 2011 revolution that brought democracy.

The central Habib Bourguiba avenue, the traditional site for major demonstrations, was crowded with thousands of protesters waving Tunisian flags, amid chants of “the people demand the fall of the regime”.

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Health workers in Zimbabwe dismayed as law curbing strikes is passed

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Controversial bill to stop industrial action criticised as an already struggling sector fears losing more staff in a damaging brain drain

Zimbabwe’s health workers have criticised the government for passing contested legislation that outlaws any industrial action, saying it will worsen the sector’s already damaging brain drain.

The new Health Services Bill, which came into force on Tuesday, forbids health workers who are classified as an “essential” service from striking for more than three days. Those who do not comply face a fine or imprisonment of up to six months.

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Libyan politicians’ pay goes up 40% as election impasse continues

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UN special envoys to meet in Washington as figures show Libyan politicians’ salaries rose by more than 40% in 2022

Western leaders are losing patience with an entrenched Libyan political elite that has collectively failed to agree on the basis of elections for more than a year but has boosted politicians’ salaries by more than 40%, according to official figures.

Special envoys from the US, France, Germany, Italy and the UK are due to meet in Washington on 13 January to discuss their next steps after two rival Libyan factions last week failed to reach a final agreement in Cairo on the constitutional basis for national elections.

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‘A great day for the country’: Uganda declares an end to Ebola outbreak

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Control measures including lockdowns have halted the spread of the virus after less than four months

The Ugandan government has declared an end to its Ebola outbreak, less than four months after cases were first reported.

Since 20 September, 56 people have died from the virus, which is spread through body fluids, and there have been 142 confirmed infections.

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‘Shot two zebras. Played tennis’: Scarborough museum confronts legacy of colonial past

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Discovery of stuffed animals from central Africa and recordings from ‘human zoo’ inspires exhibition

It was when part of a Scarborough museum was being redeveloped more than a decade ago that builders found a blocked-up door. Behind it they discovered bags filled with asbestos and, under that, a collection of taxidermied animals that had been collected by a Victorian big game hunter and left to the museum.

Neglected, outdated and ethically problematic, the temptation may have been to shut the artefacts away again. Instead, the Scarborough Museums and Galleries opted to do something else with the archive bequeathed by Col James Harrison – some of it much more morally challenging than stuffed antelope heads.

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Tigray rebels start handing over weapons to Ethiopian army

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Surrendering weapons is a central part of the November ceasefire agreement which seeks to end a conflict that has killed thousands

Tigrayan rebels have begun handing in heavy weapons, a key part of an agreement signed more than two months ago to end a deadly conflict in northern Ethiopia, a spokesperson for the rebel authorities said.

The demobilisation of Tigray forces is seen as central to the 2 November ceasefire agreement, alongside the restoration of services, resumption of humanitarian aid and withdrawal of Eritrean troops, who fought alongside Ethiopia’s army but were not party to the truce.

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World Bank walking tightrope as it mulls increased lending to poorest

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Campaigners say bank should rush to rescue countries facing recession – but can it do so without resulting in mass debt write-offs?

Not since the early 1990s has the world faced such a period of low growth.

Discounting the havoc caused by the financial crash of 2008 and the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank says that by the end of 2024 it will have been 30 years since the global economy grew at an average of less than 2% a year.

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C of E’s historic slavery fund – worth £100m but how far will it stretch across communities?

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Clerical leaders hope for ‘lasting legacy’ to serve places affected by past slavery trade, but fund may spread thinly across all of west Africa and Caribbean

The Church of England’s decision to set up a £100m fund for communities adversely affected by historic slavery is the latest – and biggest – step it has taken over the past few years to “address past wrongs” relating to its links to the slave trade.

The report on the origins of the C of E’s healthy £9bn-plus endowment fund correctly describes the 17th century slave trade as “abhorrent” and a source of misery and injustice.

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Five million children worldwide die before fifth birthday, says UN

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Almost half of deaths occur in babies’ first month and most could be prevented with better healthcare according to campaigners

Five million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday in 2021, with almost half (47%) dying during their first month, according to new UN figures.

Most of the deaths could have been prevented with better healthcare, say campaigners, adding that deaths among newborn babies haven’t reduced significantly since 2017.

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Negotiations on Chagos Islands’ sovereignty face legal challenge

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Pre-action letter says talks between UK and Mauritius ‘being held without consulting Chagossian people’

A legal attempt has been launched to halt negotiations between the UK and Mauritius over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, Britain’s last African colony, claiming Chagossian people’s views are being ignored.

Bernadette Dugasse, who was born on Diego Garcia, an island within what is known today as the British Indian Ocean Territory, is seeking judicial review of the government’s approach to the talks.

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Hopes rise for press freedom in Tanzania as number of censured journalists falls

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Media council reports progress under progressive stance of President Suluhu following years of repression by former regime

The number of journalists being censured for their work in Tanzania has fallen slightly, raising hopes that press freedom is improving in the country.

Last year, 17 “press violations”, which include threats, arrests, denial of access to information and equipment seizures, were reported in the east African nation, the Media Council of Tanzania told the Guardian. This compares with 25 in 2021 and 41 in 2020.

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Norwegian cargo ship refloated after running aground in Suez canal

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Egyptian authority says vessel was towed away for repairs after briefly disrupting traffic in vital waterway

A Norwegian-owned cargo ship briefly ran aground in the Suez canal before being refloated and towed away, according to the Egyptian authority running the vital waterway.

The vessel, which had experienced a sudden technical failure, was being removed by tugboats for repairs, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief, Osama Rabie, said on Monday. Maritime traffic was normal, he added.

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