Tag: Africaglobalvillage

In this episode: South Africa’s energy crisis is holding back growth just as the continent’s most industrialised economy hopes to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic; a new partnership aims to make it easier for SMEs to obtain bank loans in the DRC; four African countries advance in the 2023 edition of the Emerging Markets Logistics Competitiveness Index. South Africa’s economy… Read More

Pope Francis has made clear in comments published Thursday by a Jesuit journal that he believes being pope is a lifetime position and that Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was an exception. “I for the moment do not have that on my agenda,” Francis told Civita Cattolica, in the clearest statement he has made on the issue. The pope also said… Read More

An Israeli firm sought to influence more than 30 elections around the world – with the two-thirds in Africa- for clients by hacking, sabotage and spreading disinformation, according to an undercover media investigation consortium named Forbidden Stories. The company, with no legal existence, dubbed “Team Jorge” by journalists who posed as potential clients in order to gather information on its… Read More

Dozens of Tunisian journalists and rights activists demonstrated in the streets of the capital, Tunis, to denounce “state repression” and attempts to intimidate the media. The protest, organised by a journalists’ union, SNJT, came three days after police arrested Noureddine Boutar, the director of a popular private radio station, Mosaïque FM. Boutar is one of 10 public figures arrested since Saturday,… Read More

Voters queued, some of them for hours, in eastern DRC this Thursday to register to vote ahead of Presidential elections scheduled to take place in December. Violence in the region has delayed the start of the process. In western DRC voter registration began last December and was followed January in the centre and southeast of the country. For many, the… Read More

South Africa’s Deputy President, David Mabuza, has bowed out. President Cyril Ramaphosa made official the departure of his deputy on Thursday (Feb. 16) thanking him for his “unwavering support” over the past five years, hailing his ably led engagements. Ramaphosa was in Cpae Town for the response to the state of the nation address debate. The announcement comes as a… Read More

Three years ago, amid a blaze of optimism, African leaders officially launched a new continent-wide free trade area after 17 years of haggling. But as the leaders travel to Addis Ababa for the annual African Union summit this weekend, transforming the blockbuster pact into reality remains a tough ask. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), billed as the biggest… Read More

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday that the country’s redesigned currency would bolster the upcoming presidential election, appealing for an end to violent protests over a resulting cash shortage that has led to daylong lines at banks, business closures, and people unable to pay for basic needs. As he came under growing pressure to intervene after days of bank attacks… Read More

In northern Liberia, a yellow bus is travelling from school to school to teach students how to use computers. The idea is the brainchild of Jeremiah Lloyd Cooper, a 36-year-old information and telecommunications technician. The project began last November and so far the founder claims it has reached 1,000 students. “I graduated from high school actually with no basic computer… Read More

Ivory Coast will reopen its land borders on Wednesday night, closed since March 2020 and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government spokesman announced Wednesday after the Council of Ministers. “The Council adopted a decree opening the land borders of Côte d’Ivoire,” said Amadou Coulibaly, adding that they would be reopened “at midnight”. Côte d’Ivoire had closed its land,… Read More