First Independent Mena Newspaper
Amnesty International’s 2023 report titled “State of the World’s Human Rights” says that Africa, on the whole, continues to make progress toward respect for individual rights from speech to political association, though it paints a grim picture of Southern Africa, highlighting troubling abuses in Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Africa has shown “limited […]
Although no region is immune to terrorism, the situation in Africa is especially concerning, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council, underlining UN support to countries striving to “end this scourge.” Leaders from across the continent joined ambassadors in examining how to counter terrorism and better prevent violent extremism through stronger cooperation between the UN […]
The World Bank and industry stakeholders have called for the lowering of the cost of sending remittances from the African diaspora to their home countries, as the money sent home is crucial in supporting household expenses in many developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most affected by the global crisis, but remittance inflows from […]
Rapidly rising fertilizer prices are forcing farmers to reduce output and the world’s poorest continent is expected to be hardest hit, with Angola, Malawi and Zimbabwe most at risk in the Southern African region, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Sanctions on entities within major fertilizer exporter Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and […]
The extension of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative and, in turn, the newly-arrived wheat imports from Ukraine could help ease hunger in drought-stricken areas in Africa and bring down high food prices, according to Kenyan economists. Earlier in the week, 30,000 tons of wheat arrived in Kenya under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, in […]
US Vice President Kamala Harris will become the highest-ranking Biden administration official to visit Africa when she begins a tour of Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia on Sunday. Harris will focus on strengthening partnerships, security and economic prosperity, her office said, with analysts adding that her mere presence – as the first female vice president who […]
China is importing more food products such as avocados, cashews, sesame seeds and chili peppers from Africa, after President Xi Jinping promised to increase non-resource imports from Africa and agriculture is emerging as the new focus of Beijing’s engagement with the continent. In the first two months of this year, Shanghai ports handled more than […]
Trade exchanges between Russia and Africa should move away from the US dollar and be facilitated by transition to national currencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, just as Tanzania and India have inked an agreement establishing a platform by which their bilateral trade will be carried out in their own currencies, not the dollar. […]
Only 22% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa had access to mobile internet services at the end of 2021, says a recent report by the World Bank, arguing that lack of mobile internet access is hampering job creation and poverty reduction in the region. Despite the increased connectivity of the world, there are still significant […]
Citizens in the four cardinal points of Africa — Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tunisia — have in recent weeks hit the streets over economic woes and political strife in their respective countries. Led by opposition leaders, angry people in Kenya in the east, Nigeria in the west, South Africa in the south, and Tunisia […]