First Independent Mena Newspaper
France on Monday made an announcement refusing Niger’s appeal, last week, for western military action against Islamist fighters who have established bases in Southern Libya since the 2011 overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Niger’s call for help is a desperate one as Islamist attacks and kidnappings on its mineral-rich soil have posed a threat to […]
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (20 January) agreed to dispatch a battalion-sized force counting up to 1,000 soldiers to Central African Republic (CAR) to help to stabilize the war-torn African country. Being effectively the EU’s first major army operation in six years, the intervention by the 28-nation bloc comes after UN […]
China and Japan are criticizing each other’s policies in Africa as each country pledges more money for the continent. While Tokyo has censured China’s foray into mineral-rich Africa, saying its approach is unhealthy for development on the continent, Beijing accuses Japan of courting African support for its effort to secure a place in the United […]
The killing of three French journalists in northern Malian region of Kidal in early November 2013 is indicative of the ability of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to conduct terrorist attacks in the region despite French military presence. Similarly, the announcement of the creation of a new terrorist group called Al Mourabitoun out of […]
Former Algerian billionaire tycoon, Rafik Khalifa, has been extradited to his homeland after living in Britain for more than a decade. Once considered the “golden boy” of Algeria, the 47-year-old Khalifa rose from obscurity to build an empire including a bank, an airline and television stations, at one point employing an estimated 20,000 people in […]
Algeria and France have intensified their cooperation at the end of French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s and nine ministers visit to the country by signing 9 partnership agreements. Much of the agreements were focused on economic and trade activities as France position as the biggest investor in Algeria comes under pressure from Chinese investments. Jean-Marc […]
A new fisheries agreement between the European Union and Morocco has finally been approved on Tuesday by the European Parliament after two years of long and arduous negotiations. The new four year fisheries agreement, approved at a plenary session by 310 votes to 204, with 49 abstentions, will allow fishing vessels from 11 EU countries, […]
Africa must first “ensure its own security” so it can realize its “destiny”, asserted French President François Hollande when addressing some 40 African leaders as a key Franco-African security summit opened Friday in Paris. French President Hollande also pledged to help with the creation of a special African rapid-reaction force that would train as many […]
“France must double its trade with Africa,” Hollande called on French business leaders during a major conference of French and African business leaders in Paris on Wednesday (4 December). If France can manage to achieve this, some 200,000 jobs will be created in France over the next five years. Hollande’s comments came ahead of a […]
Algeria’s 76-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been nominated by his ruling National Liberation Party (FLN) to run for a fourth term in April 2014. The ailing leader, who was hospitalized in France last April after suffering what official reports described as a stroke, has been in power since 1999. He presided over a cabinet meeting […]