Three Female Referees Make African Football History
Ethiopian referee Lidya Tafesse and her assistants, Malawian Bernadettar Kwimbira and Nigerian Mimisen Iyorhe, became the first women to control a match at a senior CAF male tournament. The breakthrough came two years after women referees handled matches at the African under-23 and under-17 Cup of Nations tournaments. Tafesse, a former professional basketball player, tolerated […]
Mixed Reactions after Expose on Kenya’s Spy Queen
Detective Jane Mugo is the country’s most famous and controversial private investigator. She says she’s solved hundreds of crimes, but some say she writes her own rules. BBC’s Sharon Macharia interviewed Mugo who let in viewers into her detective work from her dogs led by one known as Hitler, her chef who is tasked with […]
Setting an Example for Dodgy Business Dealers
A Swiss court has convicted French-Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz on charges of corrupting foreign public officials and forging documents, in a trial over his successful bid to reap lavish iron ore resources in the West African nation of Guinea. Mr. Steinmetz, one of the richest people in Israel, was sentenced to five years in […]
Kagame Calls for Social Protection of those Most Affected by the Pandemic
Rwandan president Paul Kagame has called for inclusive, global response to tackle mass unemployment in the wake of the pandemic. Kagame was speaking at a virtual session of the World Economic Forum which features a new social contract. Where he advocated for innovative approaches to tackle social protection. “An important point is the arbitrary distinction […]
Conflict Causes Chaos for Central African Republic Construction Industry
Men known locally as “sandfishers” dive to collect sand from the riverbed for construction. This decades-old industry provides essential sand to builders, who mix it with cement to fuel Bangui’s construction industry. It is also a lifeline for hundreds in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, where poverty is rife and work scarce. “In […]
Egypt’s Frontline Workers Get Vaccinated
Egypt began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19 on Sunday using the jab developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The vaccine will be provided free of charge first to all doctors and frontline workers treating coronavirus patients, then to other medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses, Health Minister Hala Zayed said. […]
Collapsed Buildings are Worryingly Common in Several Large African Cities
One study counted 54 building collapse deaths and 122 injuries in Kampala, Uganda between 2004 and 2008. Another identified 112 cases in Lagos, Nigeria from December 1978 to April 2008. Cities in Ghana and Kenya, too, have recorded similar fatal incidents. It’s often suggested that the problems in African cities stem from authorities’ non-enforcement of […]
Soldiers Ordered to Leave Ugandan Opposition Leader’s Home
The Ugandan High Court has lifted the house arrest of Bobi Wine after security forces surrounded the presidential candidate’s home for ten days. Justice Michael Elubu, who heads the court’s civil division, said that if the government had evidence against Wine, he should be charged in court and not “held unjustifiably at his home.” Soldiers […]
Tigray’s Rich Heritage is ‘Highly Endangered’, Experts Warn
It has been hidden from view for thousands of years, and its whereabouts never proved. But if the Ark of the Covenant indeed rests in a chapel in northern Ethiopia, this extraordinary religious treasure could be at grave risk from fighting in the area. International experts have raised the alarm over the security of the […]
Tropical Storm Leaves Destruction as it Moves through Southern Africa
The death toll from storm Eloise rose to at least 12 on Monday, according to figures from authorities across south-eastern Africa, where heavy winds, rain and flooding have also destroyed buildings and crops. A tropical cyclone when it made landfall at Mozambique’s central province of Sofala on Saturday, Eloise subsequently weakened to a tropical storm […]
