First Independent Mena Newspaper
The arrest of novelist Boualem Sansal took place three months ago against the backdrop of worsening ties between Algeria and France, following Paris recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara. Through this arrest, the Algerian regime sent three messages to Sansal, France and Algerians, wrote former French ambassador Xavier Driencourt. In his first op-ed on […]
African countries experiencing conflict and with highly restricted freedoms and weak democratic institutions, such as South Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe or Libya, occupy the bottom of Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). This ranking places Zimbabwe among Africa’s top 10 most corrupt countries, joining war-torn states like Sudan, Somalia, and Libya. With a score of […]
Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA) is celebrating a significant achievement in 2024, setting a new export record with 131,485 vehicles shipped, marking a 21% increase over the previous record of 108,422 vehicles in 2019. This milestone highlights the company’s strengthened global presence, with its plant in Kariega, South Africa, being the sole exporter of Polo models […]
Ethiopia and Somalia have reached an agreement on the deployment of Ethiopian forces as part of the newly established African Union (AU) Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). The deal, outlined in a joint communiqué released on 22 February, follows a visit by Ethiopian officials, including Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, chief of staff of […]
Senegal has officially ended one of Africa’s oldest conflicts with the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC). The agreement, brokered by Guinea-Bissau’s president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, brings a historic conclusion to the 40-year-long low-key struggle for independence by Casamance rebels in the southern […]
The Democratic Republic of the Congo said it will stop exporting cobalt for four months amid an oversupply in the global market. Since the beginning of the year, cobalt oversupply sent prices down by approximately 11.32%. DRC is the world’s largest cobalt producer with some two thirds of global reserves. Cobalt is a rare metal […]
The French port city of Nantes is facing its complex historical role in the Atlantic slave trade through one of Europe’s most significant commemorative sites. As France’s largest slave-trading port in the 18th century and Europe’s fourth-largest overall, the city’s maritime prosperity came at an immense human cost. The Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery […]
Kenya is charting a bold path in climate action, transforming environmental challenges into opportunities for sustainable development and economic growth. Despite ranking 145th out of 187 countries in climate vulnerability, the nation has positioned itself as a regional leader in environmental innovation and policy reform. Under President William Ruto’s leadership, Kenya has made remarkable strides […]
The investigations and monitoring of the activities of the recently dismantled terrorist cell, named by its members “The Lions of the Caliphate in Maghreb Al Aqsa”, spanned over nearly a year, said the Director of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), Cherkaoui Habboub, on Monday. Speaking at a press briefing organized at the BCIJ […]
French Senate speaker Gérard Larcher called for the development of a partnership with Morocco geared towards Africa and voiced appreciation of France’s historical stance on Sahara, as expresseed by President Emmanuel Macron last year. Speaking at a joint news conference following talks, on Monday in Rabat, with Morocco’s Upper House Speaker Mohamed Ould Errachid, Larcher […]