A Piece of Ethiopian History is Returned
An 18th Century Ethiopian crown has been returned home after being hidden in a Dutch flat for more than 20 years. Ethiopian Sirak Asfaw, who fled to the Netherlands in the late 1970s, found the crown in 1998 in the suitcase of a visitor and realised it was stolen. The management consultant protected it until […]
What’s Happening in Cameroon?
Cameroon’s international partners including France and the United Nations have condemned last week’s killing of 23 villagers in a troubled English-speaking region. The incident on Friday took place in a region where armed separatists are campaigning for independence from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking. More than 3,000 people have died and at […]
Kenya’s Land Injustices in the Country Remain Unresolved
On December 12 1963, in the wake of a bloody liberation war, Kenya cast off the shackles of colonialism and won its independence from Britain. This was a war — like many in Africa — that was “not about having a black president or flag”, says Kenyan land economist James Wanjohi. “It was about land.” […]
Providing High-end Custom Trips to Africa
The shift in what defines true luxury travel from material comforts and indulgence to something more meaningful has been fascinating to watch. Those symbols of wealth of the not-too-distant past have become mass-market and accessible, as longtime Financial Times luxury columnist Lucia Van Der Post noted in her article How We Spent It: The Changing […]
Ending Rampant Smuggling across Central Africa
A meeting of mining officials from members of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) has been scheduled for next month where they would discuss the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Strategy. The ICGLR, which has major gold producers in the region as members, wants its partner countries to adopt the strategy by the […]
Sudan’s Troubled Region
Al-Bashir is charged with committing crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Sudan’s western province of Darfur. That conflict is rooted in climate change and an unequal power structure inherited from colonialism. Since the 1980s, worsening drought meant that the once fertile land could no longer support the needs of mainly African farmers and […]
Africa’s Disease Bond Tanks
A World Bank bond designed to deliver funding to help the world’s poorest countries tackle fast-spreading diseases has lost half its value as investors fear hefty losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China. The World Bank launched bond and insurance instruments in 2017 following the 2013 to 2016 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea […]
Algeria Gears Up for the Day its Fortunes Changed
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has declared Feb. 22 a special holiday to honor the peaceful “smile revolution” protest movement that ousted the gas-rich country’s longtime leader last year. He made the announcement ahead of what are expected to be big protests this week to mark the Hirak movement’s first anniversary. The move appears to be an […]
Living through a Transformative “African Century”
Young people across Africa are confident that the continent is heading for an era of success fuelled by technology and entrepreneurship, according to a new survey. The Africa Youth survey, which claims to be the largest of its kind, said there is growing belief in the concept of “Afro-optimism”, fighting persistently negative stereotypes of the […]
The First Leader in Southern Africa to be Charged with Murder while in Office
Lesotho’s prime minister Thomas Thabane is to be charged soon with the murder of wife, the deputy police commissioner said on Thursday. Former first lady Lipolelo Thabane was shot dead in June 2017 near her home in Maseru. The prime minister’s current wife was detained this month and charged with ordering the murder. “The prime […]
