The United States plans to identify the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company active on the African continent, as a significant transnational criminal organization. The U.S. Treasury also plans to impose additional sanctions against Wagner this week, according to John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications….
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
A new report on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and how best to leverage the potential of public-private partnerships was released in conjunction with this week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos. AfCFTA: A New Era for Global Business and Investment in Africa, published by the WEF,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Newly appointed Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang arrived in Ethiopia on Tuesday, as part of Beijing’s tradition to begin each year with a diplomatic tour of African nations. Talks in Ethiopia focused on investment and economic development, according to Ethiopian officials. “The relationship between the two countries remains steadfast,” said…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address on Sunday as the African National Congress marked its 111th year, prioritizing the country’s energy crisis and economic challenges in his speech at Mangaung, Free State. Ramaphosa, re-elected as ANC leader in December despite being the subject of recent corruption investigations,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Many studies of climate and its relationship to conflict have been inconclusive, with mixed results on how drought or deforestation might be driving tensions that can lead to violence. A new International Monetary Fund working paper, seeking to shed light on climate-conflict dynamics specifically on the African continent, details how…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
With the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit set to begin, African leaders have traveled to the United States to discuss trade partnerships, security and governance, climate change and more. On Monday, the White House said the agenda has been shaped by the African Union and African nations to ensure that the sessions…
Global mining giant Glencore will pay US$180 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of an agreement to settle all corruption claims alleged between 2007 and 2018 by various authorities, including the United States Department of Justice and the Congolese National Financial Intelligence Unit and Ministry of Justice….
Climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, scheduled to wrap up on Friday, will continue through at least Saturday, according to Egyptian media outlets citing Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Shoukry said he remains concerned about many outstanding issues at the COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Shoukry met with United Nations…
President Joe Biden of the United States announced a new US$100 million commitment to the climate Adaptation Fund and an additional $150 million in new support for the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) efforts across Africa. The announcement, made during Biden’s speech to COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt,…
President William Ruto of Kenya made the African case for climate action at COP27 on Monday, focusing on loss and damage funding and delays he called “cruel and unjust” as Africans already experience catastrophic impacts. “Loss and damage is not an abstract topic of endless dialogue: it is our daily…
The latest International Monetary Fund forecast for sub-Saharan Africa calls for continued slow economic growth through 2022, with similar conditions next year —an outlook that remains highly uncertain, the IMF said. “Late last year, sub-Saharan Africa appeared to be on a strong recovery path out of a long pandemic,” said…
Hard-hit Nigeria is by no means the only African nation dealing with severe impacts from climate change. A new assessment from the World Food Program (WFP) identifies 19 countries in Central and West Africa dealing with floods caused by excessive rainfall. Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Gambia and Chad are…
With COP27 in Egypt just a month away, global leaders have stepped up the call for changes in international financing entities to better facilitate the climate transition, especially in some of the world’s most challenged nations. Frans Timmermans, the executive vice president for the European Union Green New Deal, said…
African leaders speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York laid out their case for how the destabilized global environment is impacting their nations, with food insecurity due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict a priority. The leaders of Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda were among those speaking at Wednesday’s…
The World Bank has formally launched its US$93 billion in funding commitments to help low-income countries build up their economies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other setbacks, with funds sourced in part from 52 donor nations through the IDA20 replenishment. The funding is meant to target “overlapping crises—climate…