Africa

Coups in Africa: how democratic failings help shape military takeovers – study

By Ernest Harsch, Researcher, Institute of African Studies, Columbia University Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Gabon have all suffered regime change in the last five years, led by men…

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At least 260 suspects in online romance scams arrested across Africa, Interpol says

A crackdown on cybercrime coordinated by Interpol has led to the arrests of 260 people suspected of links to online romance and extortion scams, the international policing organisation said on…

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Russia says plan to boost role in Africa includes ‘sensitive’ security ties

Russia plans to step up cooperation with African countries, including in "sensitive areas" such as defence and security, the Kremlin said on Monday. Russian mercenary group Wagner said last week…

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Steep US tariffs on Africa signal end of trade deal meant to boost development

The U.S. government's imposition of steep tariffs on African nations signals the end of the AGOA trade deal that was supposed to help African economies develop through preferential access to…

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US supports two permanent UN Security Council seats for Africa

The United States supports creating two permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African states and one seat to be rotated among small island developing states, U.S. Ambassador to the…

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China offers Africa $51 billion in fresh funding, promises a million jobs

President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday to step up Chinese support to Africa, the world's second fastest-growing continent, with funding of nearly $51 billion, backing for more infrastructure initiatives and…

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Germany to donate 100,000 mpox vaccine doses to combat outbreak in Africa

Germany will donate 100,000 mpox vaccine doses from its military stocks to help contain the outbreak on the African continent in the short term as well as provide help to…

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UN migration agency appeals for $18.5 mln in assistance for mpox outbreak

The United Nation's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) appealed for $18.5 million in assistance to provide health care services to people impacted by the mpox outbreak in East and Southern…

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IFRC says shortage of testing, vaccines hampers mpox response in Africa

Far more diagnostic kits, treatments and vaccines need to be shipped to Africa to respond adequately to the outbreak of a new strain of the mpox virus there, an official…

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Mpox declared public health emergency in Africa

Africa's top public health body declared what it termed a "public health emergency of continental security" on Tuesday over an outbreak of mpox that has spread from the Democratic Republic…

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UN chief calls for permanent Africa Security Council seat

UN chief António Guterres has called for Africa to be given a permanent seat at the UN Security Council as part of reforms to correct historical injustices. The Security Council…

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The Mattei Plan: why Giorgia Meloni is looking to Africa

Jean-Pierre Darnis, Université Côte d’Azur Since coming to power, Giorgia Meloni’s government has been remarkably orthodox in its foreign policy. Unwavering support for Ukraine, loyalty to the Atlantic Alliance and…

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Russia says it shipped 200,000 tonnes of free grain to six African countries

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Russia's agriculture minister said late on Tuesday that Moscow had completed its initiative of shipping 200,000 metric tonnes of free grain to six African countries, as…

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Meloni: Italy’s African investment plan worth initial 5.5 bln euros

ROME, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Italy's much vaunted development plan for Africa will have an initial endowment of more than 5.5 billion euros ($5.95 billion), including public guarantees for investment…

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Scholz pledges greater investment in Africa’s green energy sector

Germany will invest 4 billion euros in green energy projects in Africa until 2030, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, noting these could in turn help Europe's largest economy achieve its own…

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Russia says first free grain shipments to Africa are on their way

MOSCOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Russia's agriculture minister said on Friday that Moscow had begun free shipments of grain totalling up to 200,000 tonnes to six African countries, as promised…

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Africa unlikely to follow East Asia’s manufacturing growth path -study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - African countries are less likely to follow East Asia's development model of expanding manufacturing to pull people out of poverty, according to a study that shows a…

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BRICS: African countries face opportunities and risks in alienating China or the US – an expert weighs in

South Africa recently hosted a BRICS summit. The event attracted international attention because the group has recently begun to emerge as a possible rival against US dominance of world affairs.…

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Recent coups in West and Central Africa

Aug 30 (Reuters) - A group of senior military officers in Gabon announced on national television on Wednesday they had taken power and election results were annulled, just minutes after…

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EU infrastructure fund eyes African clean jet fuel projects

EU to weigh co-financing, guarantees of proposed plants Africa has 'great potential' to produce SAF - EU official By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The European Union is scouting…

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EU planning new Africa mission in Gulf of Guinea

European Union member states have agreed to begin a mission in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, with police and soldiers deployed to Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast,…

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BRICS invites six nations to join developing world bloc

Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations have invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to join, in a move aimed at growing the…

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Niger coup: List of recent military takeovers in West and Central Africa

By Bate Felix DAKAR, (Reuters) - Niger's removal of President Mohamed Bazoum in a military coup marks the ninth coup or attempted power grab in just over three years in…

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Four African heads of state to join Putin at Russia’s Navy Day Parade -Kremlin

MOSCOW, July 29 (Reuters) - Four African heads of state will attend Russia's annual Navy Day Parade in St. Petersburg on Sunday, the Kremlin said on Saturday, with five more…

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African leaders press Putin on grain deal and peace plan for Ukraine

By Mark Trevelyan July 28 (Reuters) - African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their peace plan to end the Ukraine war and renew…

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Hunger haunts Ethiopia’s Tigray region after years of war

Curled up on a hospital bed in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, an emaciated little girl struggles to breathe, as her father softly strokes her gaunt face and her mother sits…

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Infant mortality rises when sovereign debt defaults drag on, study says

By Rachel Savage JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) - Infant mortality rises and life expectancy falls when sovereign debt defaults are not quickly resolved, a study said, as negotiations to restructure the debts…

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Africa’s restrictions on LGBTQ rights

NAIROBI, May 29 (Reuters) - Uganda has enacted one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws in a continent where only 22 of 54 nations allow homosexuality. Here are facts about…

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African GDP growth to edge up in 2023 despite South Africa slide -AfDB

By Rachel Savage JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) - Africa's economic growth is set to edge upwards in 2023 and 2024 amid tighter global monetary policy and the fallout from Russia's…

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West Africa faces acute food shortages with thousands near famine, say UN agencies

DAKAR (Reuters) - Forty-eight million people in West and Central Africa face acute food insecurity in the coming months, a 10-year high spurred by insecurity, climate shocks, COVID-19 and high…

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Microsoft Africa internet plan moves forward with fiber deal

March 2 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp has reached a deal with Africa's biggest independent fiber network toward its goal of expanding internet access on the continent, its President Brad Smith…

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Botswana warns of dangers in dash for African minerals

(Reuters) - African governments must be wary of the risks created by rising global competition for the continent's minerals, Botswana's mines minister said, as world powers seek new sources of…

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Africa witnessing exponential rise in cholera cases

Africa is witnessing an exponential rise in cholera cases and is on course to have its worst year with the infectious disease for a decade. Ten African countries are facing…

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Hope for jobs drives recruitment by militant groups in Africa – report

Hope of employment more than religious belief is driving people to join fast-growing extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) based on…

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Shun ethnic rivalry and corruption, Pope tells African youth

KINSHASA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Thursday urged young people in Democratic Republic of Congo to forge a new future without the ethnic rivalry, corruption and distrust that…

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Africa’s economic growth to stabilise, inflation seen easing – AfDB

Headwinds last year hampered post-pandemic recovery Growth to rebound to 4% in 2023, 2024 Inflation to decline from last year's decade-high Improvements remain fragile By Joe Bavier JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -…

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UPDATED: COP27 deal needs ‘tremendous amount of work’ – EU’s Timmermans

By Kate Abnett SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A tremendous amount of work is needed to turn a draft COP27 text into something all parties can agree on,…

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African banks increasingly worried about funding costs, survey shows

LONDON/JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) - Sub-Saharan African banks are increasingly worried about funding costs, an annual survey published this week found, as soaring interest rates both on the continent and globally make…

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Global inflation causing ‘horrifying’ food insecurity, says IMF Africa head

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Africa's central banks are walking a tightrope trying to curb inflation that is mostly out of their control and causing "horrifying" food insecurity, the International…

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Countries step up to try and avert famine in Horn of Africa

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Countries this week pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in additional aid for the Horn of Africa as they sounded the alarm on a drought in…

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Air traffic control strike disrupts flights across West Africa

DAKAR, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Dozens of flights were cancelled across West and Central Africa on Saturday as a strike by regional air traffic controllers entered a second day, leaving…

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UPDATED:Africa air traffic control strike grounds flights across region

DAKAR, (Reuters) - An air traffic control strike grounded flights in and out of West and Central Africa , causing chaos for passengers travelling to Europe, the United States and…

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Horn of Africa on track for 5th failed rainy season: WMO

GENEVA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The worst drought in the Horn of Africa in more than 40 years looks almost certain to persist after the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said…

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Rotavirus childhood vaccine shortage hits four African countries

LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Supplies of a vaccine to prevent the deadly rotavirus infection in children have either run out in Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal and Cameroon or are close…

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U.S. says Ukraine war making 40 million people go hungry, Africa to bear brunt

The United States' ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Friday said Russia's invasion of Ukraine will cause 40 million people to become food insecure and that sub-Saharan Africa…

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Biden announces U.S.-Africa summit for mid-December

WASHINGTON, July 20(Reuters) - President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the United States will bring together leaders from across the African continent for a major summit in December in Washington to discuss pressing…

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Time is running out for Africa to profit from its gas, IEA says

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Africa must act quickly to profit from its vast reserves of natural gas that the world will only want until it can shift towards lower carbon technology,…

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Pope postpones Africa trip due to knee problems

Trip to Congo, South Sudan put off 'until further notice' Pope Francis has decided to puts off a trip to Africa due to knee problems, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said…

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Africa’s COVID deaths to fall by 94% in 2022, WHO analysis shows

JOHANNESBURG, June 2 (Reuters) - Deaths on the African continent from COVID-19 are expected to fall by nearly 94 percent in 2022 compared to last year, the World Health Organization…

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Pope’s July visit to Africa to go ahead despite health issues

Pope Francis is set to make a gruelling trip to two African countries in July despite knee problems that have forced him to use a cane and wheelchair in recent…

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Pollution killing 9 million people a year, Africa hardest hit – study

Worsening outdoor air pollution and toxic lead poisoning have kept global deaths from environmental contamination at an estimated 9 million per year since 2015 – countering modest progress made in…

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Italy’s Draghi positive for Covid, will skip Africa energy trip

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has tested positive for COVID-19 and ministers will replace him on a trip to Africa this week for deals to cut his country's reliance on…

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EXPLAINER-Why African nations’ support for UN action on Russia/Ukraine is so mixed

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Western powers seeking to isolate Russia over Ukraine are disappointed at what they see as lukewarm support from African nations at the U.N. general assembly - where their 54…

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Ukraine crisis seen as threat to African airlines’ recovery

A drawn-out conflict between Russia and Ukraine could further drive up oil prices and end African airlines' recovery from the pandemic slump, the head of the industry's association said. Unless…

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Africa could be hit hard by loss of Ukrainian grain exports -IfW institute

HAMBURG, March 11 (Reuters) - African countries may be hit hard by any continuing halt to Ukraine’s grain exports caused by the war, a report from Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World…

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Six African countries to receive mRNA vaccine technology in WHO project

The World Health Organization said on Friday six African countries - Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia - would be the first on the continent to receive the…

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EU launches summit reset with Africa after pandemic pause

BRUSSELS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The EU will welcome more than 40 African leaders to Brussels on Thursday in an effort to reassert its influence on a continent where China…

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