Tag: Africaglobalvillage

South African Olympic swimming gold medallist Roland Schoeman has been banned for a year after testing positive for a banned substance last May, governing body FINA has disclosed. The 39-year-old’s ban runs until May 17, 2020. Schoeman won gold in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games plus individual silver and bronze medals in the 100 and 50m… Read More

Gabon announced on Friday that it was suspending access to its territory for all passengers from China in an attempt to prevent any contamination by the coronavirus. “To date, no suspicious or reported cases have been recorded on the national territory,” the Gabonese government said in a statement. “However, in view of the spread of this epidemic beyond the epicentre,… Read More

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that his government did not agree with plans to cut some of struggling South African Airways’ (SAA) domestic routes, plunging rescue efforts for the cash-strapped carrier into uncertainty. State-owned SAA entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December and is fighting for its survival. Specialists appointed to try and rescue SAA said… Read More

Zimbabwe’s weekly white corn imports from South Africa have risen to an 11-year high as food crisis worsens and after the government lifted a ban on purchase of genetically modified grain. The country imported 16,114 tons of the variety of the grain in the week ended Jan. 31, the highest weekly amount since February 2009, according to the South African… Read More

Angolan president Joao Lourenco on Friday told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his reformist government was working to recover funds stolen from public coffers and stashed abroad. Last month, Angola indicted Isabel dos Santos, the 46-year-old billionaire daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, for a host of top-level financial crimes, including money laundering and influence peddling. “With the… Read More

Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika and the country’s electoral commission have formally filed an appeal against a court ruling that overturned Mutharika’s narrow election victory last year. Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court annulled the vote held last May that returned Mutharika to power as president. It cited “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities, which included results sheets with sections blotted out… Read More

Top brass of the Malawi Electoral Commission, MEC, came under parliamentary scrutiny following a Constitutional Court ruling annulling the May 2019 presidential elections.. Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee led by Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara met the commissioners to review the qualifications and competencies of the Jane Ansah-led body deemed to have bundled the vote. The speaker in an address said: “The… Read More

The Democratic Republic of Congo is looking to bolster ties with Belgium. The Belgian Prime Minister met with Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi to discuss issues of mutual interest. PM Sophie Wilmes wrote on Twitter when she touched down earlier this week: “The last mission led by a Belgian Prime Minister dates back ten years. Belgium wants to strengthen ties with… Read More

Seven years ago, amid extravagant celebrations marking the African Union’s 50th anniversary, the continent’s heads of state declared they would “end all wars in Africa by 2020.” But as leaders travel arrive in Addis Ababa this weekend for the latest summit of the 55-member bloc — organised under the theme “Silencing the Guns” — there is little question they are… Read More

International Criminal Court judges should scrap conditions of release imposed on Ivory Coast’s former president, his lawyers argued Thursday in a move they hope will free Laurent Gbagbo to return home during a tense election year. Gbagbo and former youth minister Charles Ble Goude were both acquitted in January 2019 of crimes against humanity charges linked to their alleged roles… Read More