To start his three-nation tour of West Africa, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on rich countries to increase their investments in African nations as the continent recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and is impacted by the war in Ukraine. “This war is aggravating a triple crisis: food, energy, …
Read More »West Africa has highest numbers of child soldiers: UNICEF
Trapped in conflicts, the children of West and Central Africa are the most recruited by armed groups in the world and also have the highest number of victims of sexual violence, says a report released Tuesday by the United Nations Children’s Fund. For five years the region has seen increased …
Read More »German defense minister warns Mali over Russian mercenary deal
Germany warned Mali on Wednesday that a deal with Russian private security group Wagner would “call into question” its deployment in the West African country as part of United Nations and European Union missions. “If Mali’s government makes such a deal with Russia, then it goes against everything that Germany, …
Read More »Guinea Confirms West Africa’s First Marburg Virus Case
Health officials in Guinea have confirmed West Africa’s first case of Marburg, a highly infectious disease that’s in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the virus needed to be “stopped in its tracks”. Marburg virus disease is transmitted to people from …
Read More »ECOWAS suspends Mali over second coup in nine months
West African leaders condemn the coup and call for a return to democracy, but stop short of imposing new sanctions. West African leaders have suspended Mali from their regional bloc in response to last week’s coup but stopped short of imposing new sanctions. Leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of …
Read More »Guinea government warns it won’t tolerate protest violence
The Guinean government warned it will respond vigorously to any violence at an opposition rally on Monday, the latest protest over fears that President Alpha Conde is changing the constitution to extend his mandate. The West African country has been wracked by mass demonstrations since mid-October over constitutional reform. At …
Read More »‘No Christmas’ as Burkina Faso mourns attack victims.
An attack in Burkina Faso has killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, in one of the deadliest assaults to hit the West African country in nearly five years of violence. Seven soldiers and 80 armed fighters were also killed in Tuesday’s double attack on a military base and …
Read More »West Africa to get new currency in 2020.
A revamped common currency in West Africa known as the ECO will be launched in 2020, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. The ECO is supposed to replace the CFA franc which is currently being used in eight West African countries and six countries in central Africa. During a trip …
Read More »7 children killed, 57 injured in Kenyan classroom collapse.
A classroom collapse in Nairobi, Kenya early on Monday has killed seven children and injured scores more. A government spokesperson confirmed the casualties as emergency workers continue to comb through the site. The collapse occurred at Precious Talent Top School in Ngando Dagoretti South. St John Ambulance crews attended the …
Read More »Mauritania set for a first democratic transition of power.
Mauritania is heading to the polls in what may result in the first democratic transition of power since the West African country achieved independence in 1960. President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz seized power in a coup in 2008 but has agreed to step down and abide by a two-term limit …
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