Tag: africa

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – The first payments to miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis from a 5 billion rand ($340 million) class action settlement by gold producers are expected in the second quarter of 2020, a lawyer for the companies said on Wednesday. The companies involved are Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, African Rainbow Minerals,Sibanye-Stillwater, AngloGold Ashanti… Read More

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria has eased its visa rules in an effort to boost trade and tourism as an African trade agreement promoting freer movement of goods and services comes into effect, interior minister Rauf Aregbesola said on Tuesday. “The objective of the reforms … is to strengthen Nigeria’s position as a key economy in Africa by attracting more foreign… Read More

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Michael “Mad Mike” Hoare, one of the most famous foreign mercenaries to have played a role in Africa’s violent transition from colonial rule, has died aged 100. Born in British-occupied India to Irish parents, Hoare was best known for his exploits during the Congo Crisis in the 1960s and for leading an unsuccessful coup d’etat attempt in… Read More

CAIRO (Reuters) – Armed men attacked a gas pipeline in the north of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula late on Sunday, security sources and witnesses said, but gas imports through North Sinai from Israel were unaffected. Egyptian security forces have been battling an Islamist insurgency concentrated in North Sinai and that has escalated since 2013 with small-scale attacks common. A group of… Read More

GABORONE (Reuters) – Botswana’s budget deficit is projected to narrow to 2.4% of GDP in 2020/21 from 3.9% in the fiscal year ending March, Finance Minister Thapelo Matsheka said on Monday. The southern African nation’s fiscal year runs from April to March. Reporting by Brian Benza; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtamb; Editing by Alison Williams Read More

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – At least 20 people were killed and more than a dozen hurt in a stampede as worshippers rushed to be anointed during a church service in northern Tanzania, officials said on Sunday. Thousands of people crammed into a sports stadium for the service on Saturday evening in the town of Moshi near Mount Kilimanjaro, with… Read More

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – At least 20 people have been killed and over a dozen injured in a stampede during a church service at a stadium in northern Tanzania, a government official said on Sunday.     Hundreds of people packed a stadium on Saturday evening in Moshi town near the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and crushed each other… Read More

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 62 civilians in a series of attacks this week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the army is waging a counter-insurgency campaign against the rebels, the government said on Saturday. The upsurge in violence after a period of relative calm in early January undercuts government claims of security progress against… Read More

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania said on Saturday it had not been officially notified by the United States about a travel ban after it was targeted alongside five other countries by President Donald Trump’s expanded travel restrictions on Friday. Of the six new countries slapped with travel restrictions, four are African nations and three have Muslim-majority populations. “We don’t… Read More

CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced Hisham al-Ashmawy, a former special forces officer turned Islamist militant, and 36 others to death after they were convicted of terrorism, court officials said. Ashmawy was captured in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in late 2018 and transferred by authorities loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar to Egypt in May last… Read More