First Independent Mena Newspaper
Jean Ping, leader of the opposition in Gabon and former presidential candidate, has arrived in Paris – France – his first foreign trip since 2018 after authorities banned him from travelling and seized his passport. “I’m planning to spend a few days here,” he wrote on his Facebook page as he arrived Monday in the […]
Paris-based multinational financial services company, Société Générale, also known as SocGen, has withdrawn from four African countries, namely Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania. The company announced this Thursday that it has signed agreements with two pan-African banking groups for the sale of its subsidiaries in the four African countries. The company has not disclosed […]
The United Nations and African Union have called for calm in Senegal after at least 15 people were killed in an outbreak of violence following the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. The sentencing of opposition politician Sonko for two years in jail on charges of ‘corrupting youth’ sparked some of the deadliest violence in […]
France’s development agency, AFD, and Niger have inked a financing agreement for two projects worth 22 million euros in the African country. The first project focusing on household food security, will benefit from a 10 million euros subsidy to support the most vulnerable households by improving their food security. Local NGO Karkara and the national […]
The Central African Republic (CAR) and Russia have been holding talks for Moscow to set up a military base in the frail African country weakened by civil war during many years. The minister of Defense of the CAR, Rameaux-Claude Bireau told Russian news agency Sputnik that “the discussions are continuing.” The minister also indicated that […]
The recent joint operation between dozens of troops from Niger and France’s legendary Foreign Legion reflects the new approach President Emmanuel Macron wants to use for his country’s mission in West Africa’s deeply troubled Sahel region. The joint operation has been symbolic of France’s new mode of cooperation with Niger, part of a strategy which […]
As the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies converge for a summit in Japan, winds of change are blowing for Africa, which has so far been more of a discussion topic rather than an active participant in international politics, but is now demanding its rightful place in global dialogues and decision-making processes. […]
A grenade explosion killed Tuesday two Russian instructors, two Malian soldiers as well as a civilian in the city of Segou, central Mali, reports say. “There was an accident at the Tam-Tam bar in Segou. A Russian instructor mishandled a grenade and there was an explosion. Two Russians were killed. The incident also killed a […]
A 66-year-old former Rwandan military policeman appeared in court in Paris on the first day of his trial on Wednesday (10 May), charged with genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1994 slaughter in his home country. Philippe Hategekimana fled to France after the genocide, obtaining refugee status and then French nationality under a false […]
The French parliament has passed a resolution calling on the European Union to formally label Russia’s mercenary Wagner force a “terror group,” while the Times newspaper has reported that the United Kingdom would also formally list Wagner as a terrorist organization to increase pressure on Russia. The French parliament has adopted a resolution, which is […]