African billionaire Mohammed Dewji, who has been missing from Tanzania since an October 11 abduction, is now home and safe after his release over the weekend. “I thank Allah that I have returned home safely. I thank all my fellow Tanzanians, and everyone around the world for their prayers,” said a…
Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist with a special heart for the African continent, died in the United States on Monday. He was 65 and suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Allen’s death was announced by Vulcan, the Seattle-based umbrella company formed to manage a range of projects and global campaigns,…
Congolese physician Dr. Denis Mukwege has been named the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shares with Nadia Murad for their work in ending sexual violence in the context of conflict. “This year’s Peace Laureate Denis Mukwege has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticized…
The UN agency for migration has a new director general, with António Vitorino of Portugal taking the helm this month as former United States diplomat William Lacy Swing steps down after two five-year terms. The 61-year-old Vitorino is a former European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, and was Portugal’s…
South African Elon Musk, the Pretoria-born billionaire often seen at the forefront of innovation, will step down as head of Tesla Motors as part of a settlement over securities fraud charges filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Musk and Tesla will each pay a USD$20 million…
Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations and the first black African to lead the UN, has died in Switzerland. The Kofi Annan Foundation announced the 80-year-old Ghanaian died on Saturday after a short illness, with his wife, Nane, and three children by his side. “Kofi Annan…
No sooner did Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki return from his historic three-day visit to Ethiopia on Monday, than Ethiopian officials planned their own journey – this time, aboard the inaugural Ethiopian Airlines flight to Asmara. Flight 0312 leaves Addis Ababa at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, with an expected arrival time…
Cambridge Analytica, the disgraced intelligence and data-driven communications firm at the center of the Facebook political data scandals and subsequent British and U.S. investigations, has re-emerged with an Egyptian as its sole investor and a focus on the Middle East and Africa. The new company, Auspex International, will keep former…
Kenyan writer Makena Onjerika has been named the recipient of the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing for a short story called “Fanta Blackcurrant.” She accepted the £10,000 prize during an award dinner held Monday evening in London. The story of Meri, a street child in Onjerika’s home city of…
Mark Coetzee, the executive director for the acclaimed Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, has resigned following “an inquiry into Mr. Coetzee’s professional conduct,” according to the museum’s board of trustees. Coetzee had recently failed to respond to questions about institutional practices at Zeitz MOCAA, according to ArtThrob South…
More than 50 fashion retail brands now have banned the use of mohair as the fallout continues following an investigation into animal cruelty on angora goat farms – the source of the wool – in South Africa. The PETA Asia report that came out two weeks ago stunned consumers with…
Wealthy French businessman Vincent Bolloré, facing charges in a corruption case involving the African countries of Guinea and Togo, publicly denied the allegations in an op-ed piece published Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche and blamed a condescending attitude toward Africans and stereotypes about African corruption in the case. The…
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been named to the 2018 list of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and joins more than 200 scholars, artists and scientists in this year’s class. The Ethiopian health chief was named an International Honorary Member this week, along with…
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misidentified the RLB Pentad company in South Africa in connection with the PNet job ad placement. RLB Pentad alerted Africa Times to the name confusion, and the story has since been updated with that information. A South African company’s employment ad seeking…
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday disputed the charge that a Chinese mining company operating in Mozambique has violated environmental laws and harmed the lives of villagers in Nagonha, a coastal town east of Nampula City near the Haiyu corporation’s operations. “I want to point out that this organization…