The East African Community trade bloc admitted Somalia as its eighth member on Friday, a move Somali authorities and businesses hope will boost the country’s war-ravaged economy. The EAC common market — which consists of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda — was set up in 2010 and currently…
Nigerians are praising the lifting of a visa ban by the United Arab Emirates following a meeting in Abu Dhabi this week between President Bola Tinubu and United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Nigerian authorities also secured an investment deal worth billions of dollars, according to the presidency. Nigerian presidential spokesperson Ajuri…
A top Republican lawmaker said Wednesday the funding priorities for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) do not go far enough in addressing the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Biden administration has requested $32 billion in foreign assistance for USAID — $3 billion more than the amount appropriated by Congress…
A wind farm in Namibia and a floating solar farm on Zimbabwe’s massive Kariba Dam are among the new green energy projects Chinese companies are looking at investing in this year after Beijing pledged to help African countries address their energy problems with renewable sources rather than fossil fuels. “Chinese overseas renewable energy investments aim to…
France is trying to limit the diplomatic fallout after President Emmanuel Macron said Europe should reduce its dependence on the U.S. and avoid “getting caught up in crises that are not ours,” following a state visit to China earlier this month. Critics said Macron’s remarks undermined the transatlantic relationship at a time of dangerous geopolitical tensions.…
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, announced a provisional approval of the R21 vaccine during a media briefing on Monday. The regulatory agency’s consent came days after Ghana approved the vaccine. NAFDAC said the vaccine is 70 to 80 percent efficient in preventing the mosquito-borne disease and could protect millions…
The government of Niger says it negotiated the release of a U.S. aid worker and a French journalist who were held captive by Islamist militants in the Sahel region. Aid worker and missionary Jeffery Woodke was held for more than six years, while reporter Olivier Dubois spent nearly two years in captivity. Kidnappings in the…
Russia has long been the biggest exporter of arms to sub-Saharan Africa, but a new study indicates Western sanctions are making it harder for Moscow to sell weapons, opening the door for more Chinese-made arms. Even before the Ukraine war, China had increased its sales of weapons to sub-Saharan Africa, exporting almost three times as…
In a first for a U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken was in the African nation of Niger Thursday to offer humanitarian, economic and security aid. Blinken’s visit to Niger follows a stop earlier in the day in Ethiopia, a trip viewed by analysts as an effort to bolster U.S. relations in a part of the…
Jill Biden left Tuesday for her first visit to Africa as U.S. first lady, with plans to stop in Namibia and Kenya, the White House said. Biden will focus on women’s empowerment, children’s issues and food insecurity that has ravaged parts of the continent. She will be the first White House official to visit Africa this…