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Category: Africa

Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers six per cent of Earth’s total surface area and 20.4 per cent of its total land area. With 1.1 billion people as of 2013, it accounts for about 15% of the world’s human population.[1] The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition.

Africa’s population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4.[6] Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area, and Nigeria by population. Africa, particularly central Eastern Africa, is widely accepted as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago, including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human) found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones.

Africa hosts a large diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa. Most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century.

Africa 

The end of a dream for Ugandan athlete who tried to flee in Japan

Village Reporter, 0 comment

The final leg of what started out has an Olympic dream ended on Friday for Ugandan Athlete Julius Ssekitoleko as he returned home. The 20-year-old weightlifter fled during pre-Olympics training in western Japan last week leaving behind a note saying he didn’t want to return to his country. Ssekitoleko had wanted to stay in Japan and work, officials said. He did not meet Olympic standards in the latest international rankings released after he arrived Japan. Speaking to the media while waiting for the return of her husband at Entebbe at…

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Africa 

Eritrean refugees under attack in Ethiopia’s Tigray war

Village Reporter, 0 comment

Thousands of Eritrean refugees are increasingly caught in the middle of the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where witnesses and U.N. officials say forces have attacked their camps, abducted or killed some of the residents, and stolen their food and possessions. The refugees are among the most vulnerable groups in the Tigray conflict, which broke out in November between the region’s forces and Ethiopian federal troops. It has left thousands of people dead. The refugees say they have been targeted by both sides. Troops from their native Eritrea, which sent…

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Africa Investments 

Hundreds gather for Third Japan-Africa Business Forum, prelude to TICAD 8

Elwin Mandowa, 0 comment

Around 1,600 people from all over Africa and Japan gathered over six days to explore closer business ties at the Third Japan-Africa Business Forum, which this year attracted the highest number of participants since its launch. The conference was organized by the Asia External Representation Office of the African Development Bank, in coordination with the African Diplomatic Corps in Tokyo, the Japan External Trade Organization, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Industrial Development Organization. It took place in a hybrid format between 29…

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Africa 

Nigeria jails 10 pirates over ship hijacking

Village Reporter, 0 comment

A Nigerian court on Friday jailed 10 pirates for 12 years each over the hijacking of a merchant vessel last year, the navy said, in the second such trial under a new anti-piracy law. The pirates, all of them Nigerian, were convicted of hijacking the Chinese merchant ship FV Hailufeng II in the Gulf of Guinea in 2020. Kidnap attacks against ships for ransom have become common in the Gulf of Guinea, which runs from Senegal to Angola, taking in the southwest coast of Nigeria. The perpetrators are usually Nigerian…

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Africa 

Burundi suspends rare-earth mining in row over riches

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Burundi’s government said it had suspended the operations of several international mining companies, complaining it was not getting its fair share of income from the country’s mineral wealth. One of those targeted runs the Gakara project, one of the world’s richest deposits of rare earths, which are key components in many hi-tech products. In a letter to the companies seen by AFP, Mines Minister Ibrahim Uwizeye said the decision was taken earlier this month because of “numerous failures” regarding the country’s mining code. “The state, which owns the soil and…

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Africa West Africa World 

Sierra Leone parliament votes to abolish death penalty

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , 0 comment

– Advertisement – Lawmakers in Sierra Leone have voted to abolish the death penalty and now awaits an approval from the country’s president. Moving forward, offenders sentenced to death will rather have their punishment replaced with life imprisonment. This has been celebrated by human rights activists who have campaigned for the death penalty to be abolished. Should Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio approve the move by the parliament, the West African nation will become the 23rd African country to have abolished the death penalty. Just last year alone 39…

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Africa World 

2021 Digital Equality Award winners announced

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , , 0 comment

– Advertisement – The Coalition for Digital Equality (CODE), a network connecting local and international stakeholders to address the digital gender divide and drive sustainable economic growth in Africa, has announced winners for the Digital Equality Awards. The Digital Equality Awards aim to recognise the achievements of individuals in Ghana and Uganda who are working to push the boundaries of digital inclusion and transformation in Africa. The awards look to acknowledge individuals who are enabling digital skills, innovation and knowledge to improve the lives of African women, youth, marginalised groups and…

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Africa Ghana West Africa World 

Ghana’s anti-LGBT+ bill seeks 10-year jail term for activists

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , , , 0 comment

– Advertisement – Ghana’s lawmakers are pushing for tougher laws to deal with LGBT+ persons and those who promote their activities with a new draft bill. The bill titled “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021″ is being sponsored by some individual lawmakers who are anit-LGBT+ activists. Details of the bill have now emerged with those behind the draft law seeking a jail term of up to ten years for culprits depending on the crime. According to details of the bill, anyone of the same…

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Africa 

Increased jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso spark record-breaking displacement: UNHCR

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Six per cent of the population in the West African country is now internally displaced, with more than 1.3 million people uprooted in just over six weeks, according to latest Government figures.   No slowing down  The speed of internal displacement shows no sign of slowing as attacks on civilians and security forces continue unabated, UNHCR Spokesperson Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva.  During the first six months of the year, 237,000 people fled their homes for other parts of the country, which is a sharp increase over the 96,000…

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Africa 

Congolese park taken off endangered list – UNESCO

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Salonga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s biggest protected rainforest, has been removed off Unesco’s list of endangered sites, with the UN organization acknowledging the country’s preservation efforts. In a press briefing in Kinshasa, Wilungula, the director of ICCN says “having World Heritage properties today, like Salonga National Park, means providing solutions for climate change, providing solutions to humanity for global warming…But there are also prices to be paid for this and the price to be paid is first of all the cancellation of the entire oil…

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