Macron’s Africa trip highlights Angola space deal, Gabon forests

Macron’s Africa trip highlights Angola space deal, Gabon forests

French President Emmanuel Macron continues his African tour through Sunday, completing stops in Angola and Congo Brazzaville on Friday as he seeks to reassure leaders of France’s commitment to Africa while acknowledging that the vestiges of the colonial era are forever in the past. Macron met with his Angolan counterpart,…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

China’s new foreign minister begins 5-nation tour in Ethiopia

China’s new foreign minister begins 5-nation tour in Ethiopia

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

Lourenço announces ceasefire in Rwanda, DR Congo fighting

Lourenço announces ceasefire in Rwanda, DR Congo fighting

Angola’s President João Lourenço announced that negotiations between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, held in Luanda on Wednesday, resulted in a ceasefire agreement among parties who have been fighting in eastern DR Congo and along the border near Goma. Lourenço, heading up a peace talk process meant to end…

African leaders congratulate Brazil’s Lula on election win

President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique was among the first global leaders to congratulate Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won a close presidential election Sunday against incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. “It was a victory won by perseverance, humility, faith in justice and, above all, it was a victory for the…

Angola’s UNITA files legal challenge over presidential election

In Angola, opposition presidential candidate Adalberto Costa Júnior has announced that his party does not accept the results of last week’s election, which returned President João Lourenço to office for another term. Júnior maintains that the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) party is the rightful winner…

Southern Angola’s severe drought drives migration into Namibia

People living in southern Angola are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, with many crossing the border into Namibia in search of resources and relief after consecutive years of below-average rainfall affecting their crops. The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) says the Angolan provinces of Huila, Cunene…

China pushes back at U.S. over Huawei-Africa comments

The Chinese government has pushed back over remarks about telecom firm Huawei and its presence on the African continent, made by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman of the United States. Sherman made her comments during a just-concluded diplomatic swing through South Africa, Angola and Gabon. In Angola, she visited…

Luanda Leaks’ Washington connections are hardly an exception

With its publication of the “Luanda Leaks,” the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) effectively dispelled decades’ worth of myth-building surrounding Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angola’s longtime president José Eduardo dos Santos. The investigative series explains how the younger Dos Santos – the former head of Angola’s state oil…

Aid agencies say Angola’s drought affects 2.3 million people

Aid workers in Angola are appealing for help in the country’s south, where they say climate change is causing a crisis for up to 2.3 million people. Paolo Balladelli of the United Nations said that’s how many people were affected at the height of this year’s drought. “Temperatures in 2019…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times