First Independent Mena Newspaper
African countries face higher tariffs and tend to import relatively low-quality digital goods compared to other regions, especially in low-income nations, a recent research by World Bank economists has found. Despite relying heavily on imports, tariffs that African countries impose on imported digital goods are about three times higher than other regions, the research has […]
The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have pledged to renew efforts to launch the region’s single currency, the ECO, with the revised date set for 2027. This decision was reaffirmed during the recent 66th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Abuja, where leaders […]
Thanks to a successful mediation by King Mohammed VI, four French officials accused of espionage and detained since December 1, 2023, in Burkina Faso have been freed. French President Emmanuel Macron “spoke over the phone on Wednesday, December 18, with King Mohammed VI to warmly thank him” for the success of his mediation, said the […]
Several UN experts are convinced that it is just a matter of time before the designation of the Algeria-backed Polisario separatist group a terrorist organization, resulting in its expulsion from the African Union. The Polisario militias are armed, funded, and sheltered by the Algerian junta in Tindouf camps. This terrorist organization and its anti-semitic leaders […]
The Future Congress, which wrapped up on Wednesday in Rabat, underscored the importance of the strategic partnership between Africa and Latin America for progress and development as part of South-South cooperation. In the final declaration issued at the end of the conclave, hosted by the Moroccan Parliament on December 17-18, in collaboration with the “Future […]
Most African countries continue to rely heavily on out-of-pocket payments to fund their health services, warns a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional office for Africa, urging governments to reduce the financial strains that high health-care costs place on their population. The report, released on Universal Health Coverage Day, found that over […]
Some 792 people, including many foreign nationals, have been arrested in Nigeria as part of a sweeping raid on a crypto ring that has reportedly been involved in a sophisticated fraud operation targeting victims worldwide with false cryptocurrency schemes and romantic scams. Many of the nearly 800 suspects taken into custody from the site in […]
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has filed a criminal lawsuit in France and Belgium against subsidiaries of the US multinational company Apple, accusing the tech giant of complicity in crimes committed by armed groups that control some of the mines in the east of the country. Acting on behalf of the government in Kinshasa, […]
The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas production project, spanning Senegalese and Mauritanian waters, has reached 97% completion as of September 2024, according to British Petroleum (BP) and its partners. This update was shared during the inauguration of solar-powered cold storage containers and an information center in Saint-Louis, Senegal, on December 17. In a joint press […]
Many African countries still depend solely on food importation to survive regardless of their large land areas, says a new report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) that also reveals that all countries on the continent together spend an average of $50 billion annually importing foods. “The nations of Africa together import approximately $50 billion […]