AFP Africa

South Africa on Wednesday pushed back the coalition government’s first national budget speech to parliament in a shock move following internal pressures over tax hikes. The speech to outline the government’s annual fiscal priorities, including ways of raising revenue, was due to be delivered by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in parliament in Cape Town.”It is something …

South Africa postpones budget speech over tax impasseWed, 19 Feb 2025 15:00:17 GMT Read More »

A Ugandan judge on Wednesday rejected a demand to release opposition leader Kizza Besigye from jail due to ill health, sending the visibly frail government critic back to prison.Besigye, 68, is a leading opponent of President Yoweri Museveni — in power for nearly 40 years — whom he has unsuccessfully challenged in four elections.He was …

Uganda judge rejects ailing opposition leader’s release callWed, 19 Feb 2025 13:51:15 GMT Read More »

Kenya was condemned by Sudan and critics at home as “criminally irresponsible” on Wednesday for hosting Sudanese paramilitary rebels who are planning to declare a parallel government.The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with the Sudanese army for nearly two years, are preparing to proclaim a government in territories under their control at an event …

Kenya slammed for hosting Sudan rebels’ govt declarationWed, 19 Feb 2025 13:02:22 GMT Read More »

The gutting of US foreign aid has left Ghana facing a $156 million funding shortfall, with the health care and agriculture sectors bracing for shortages of drugs and fertiliser.A funding freeze ordered by President Donald Trump at USAID, Washington’s main foreign development arm, has upended the agency, seen thousands lose their jobs in the United …

Ghana scrambles to fill $156 million shortfall after USAID freezeWed, 19 Feb 2025 12:47:17 GMT Read More »

Less than a third of Niger’s vast territory has internet access, so the west African country is betting on satellite broadband to bridge the digital divide in remote rural areas. The patchy coverage is mostly down to a lack of investment and the destruction of relay antennae by the numerous armed groups active in the country, …

Niger turns to satellites to bridge digital divideWed, 19 Feb 2025 06:46:20 GMT Read More »

Algeria on Tuesday denounced a visit by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati to Western Sahara, after Paris recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory, as “objectionable on multiple levels”.The vast desert territory is a former Spanish colony largely controlled by Morocco but claimed for decades by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.Dati, who described her visit as …

Algiers slams French minister’s visit to W. SaharaTue, 18 Feb 2025 14:19:08 GMT Read More »

Days after US President Donald Trump froze overseas aid funding, Hellen Anyango anxiously counted her boxes of AIDS treatment drugs, unsure what would happen when they ran out.At the beginning of February, she had only three boxes of the anti-retroviral (ARV) medication left — enough to last her just a week.”If I don’t take them, …

Kenya’s HIV patients victims of US aid freezeTue, 18 Feb 2025 12:15:51 GMT Read More »

Traders and travellers packed their belongings and paid their fares early on Tuesday for the long boat journey across eastern DR Congo’s Lake Kivu, the first sailing between the lake’s two main ports for weeks after fighting disrupted the service.Fighting between Rwanda-backed M23 fighters and government forces has raged for months in the towns, villages …

‘So happy’: Relief as boats resume on DR Congo’s war-torn Lake KivuTue, 18 Feb 2025 12:07:53 GMT Read More »

They see themselves as the “bold generation” and the “conscious youth” of the African continent.AFP met six African students from Generation Z who, from Dakar to Nairobi, and Johannesburg to Abidjan, displayed a realistic optimism and a desire to transform their countries.Born just before or after 2000, these students in urban planning, environment, medicine or …

Africa’s ‘bold generation’ see bright future at homeTue, 18 Feb 2025 10:29:09 GMT Read More »

When healthcare workers in central Mali travel to vaccinate children against measles, they have to negotiate with the jihadists who control some villages threatened by the epidemic.”At first, they categorically refused. They see vaccines as carrying diseases,” said a representative from a Malian NGO, who did not wish to be named for safety reasons.”So it’s …

Jihadist threat hits Sahel vaccine coverageTue, 18 Feb 2025 06:35:15 GMT Read More »