First Independent Mena Newspaper
2025 will be a critical juncture for Africa’s trajectory, with new political leadership in both the African Union and the United States, which will coincide with a number of challenges, including the urgent need for the implementation of the AfCFTA, modernization and renewal of the AGOA, all of this happening amid the escalating climate crisis […]
The Belgian court’s landmark verdict of crimes against humanity for kidnapping of mixed-race children is hailed as a turning point that “surely opens the door” to those seeking financial compensation for forced separation from their parents and other colonial-era injustices. In a landmark ruling in December, Belgium’s court of appeal decided that the “systematic kidnapping” […]
Africa’s agriculture ministers are meeting in Uganda this week to discuss sustainable agriculture and food production systems in light of the climate change, which comes amid warnings that climate crisis is pushing temperatures to levels never experienced by modern humans. The extraordinary African Union (AU) summit on agriculture opened in Uganda’s capital Kampala on Thursday […]
France faces a significant challenge to its influence in West and Central Africa as Chad, Senegal and most recently also Ivory Coast have announced the end to traditional military cooperation with their former colonial master, experts say, adding that this would unravel France’s remaining logistics and military footprint in the region. In recent months, six […]
The year 2025 is shaping up to be a dynamic one for African football, with a packed schedule of tournaments and events. The action kicks off on January 27 in Rabat, Morocco, with the draw for the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN), where the 24 qualified teams will learn their group-stage opponents. In February, the […]
The UAE companies topped the list of investors in the African continent, pledging projects worth 110 billion dollars between 2019 and 2023, the Financial Times reported. Most of the investments, or 72 billion dollars, went to renewable energy projects, FT said. These investments outweighed those announced by UK, France or China. UAE companies also have […]
Remittances to Africa and the Middle East, which play a pivotal role in many regional economies, significantly contributing to their GDP, are estimated to have increased 5.4% in 2024, primarily due to rebounded flows to Egypt, after a 14.6% decline in 2023. In 2024, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are expected to reach […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]