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
This week, President Biden hosted his first state dinner at the White House. His guest was French President Emmanuel Macron. The high-profile visit – with all of its pomp and circumstance – was officially premised on the notion that France is the United States’ oldest ally and a “vital global…
On May 18th, US diplomat Joey Hood became the highest-ranking American official to visit Libya since 2014, the year that Washington closed its embassy in Tripoli amid surging violence. Hood’s visit tempered optimism—the US dangled the possibility of eventually reopening its Libyan embassy—with clear concern over the likelihood of achieving…
A 30-year ceasefire in the Western Sahara has been brought to a crashing collapse, as rebel independence fighters the Polisario Front reportedly launched attacks on Moroccan forces over the weekend of November 14 and claim to have caused “human and material damages” since then. The Front, which claims to represent…
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria are among the world’s top five countries facing humanitarian crisis in 2020, with Burkina Faso, Burundi and Chad added to the list compiled each year by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The NGO said Yemen remains the greatest concern, followed by DR Congo…
Participants in the three-day African Oil & Power conference, which runs through Friday in Cape Town, are showcasing African industry’s efforts to align with this year’s theme of “Make Energy Work.” Gwede Mantashe, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy in South Africa, served as keynote speaker on Thursday with…
Conditions in Burkina Faso are making it harder for health and humanitarian aid workers, with more than 100 health centers closing or limiting their roles because of the conflict. That’s according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which said Tuesday that roughly a half-million people now have…
The head of the United Nations rights agency, speaking ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in two weeks, says climate change is a rapidly growing and global threat to human rights. “The human implications of currently projected levels of global heating are catastrophic. Storms are rising…
By Dominic Rohner and Alessandro Saia According to the United Nations Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, 2018 year was the worst on record in terms of children trapped in armed conflict regions, with nearly 250,000 students impacted by the closure of several hundred schools in Mali alone. These…
President Yoweri Museveni, true to his pan-African convictions, said Thursday that unity is the key to ending the continent’s many conflicts and businesses contribute to the cause of peace by establishing stability. “Thriving businesses cause social transformation which changes society,” said Museveni, speaking at a session of the World Economic…
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is suspending operations in the Timbuktu region of Mali after yet another attack by an armed group on Monday, this time again stealing one of the organization’s vehicles. The humanitarian aid organization said the clearly marked Red Cross vehicle was…
International aid organization Oxfam says more than 15 million people in the Horn of Africa region need assistance because of an ongoing drought, with lives at risk because lessons learned from drought conditions earlier this decade are being ignored. Parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are affected again after sparse…
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, each addressed the African Union assembly on Sunday as the outgoing Kagame handed over the AU leadership to Sisi. In his remarks to African heads of state, Sisi called for the creation of more job opportunities and investments. He…
Africa is making great progress on common-market goals but faces many challenges in dealing with refugee crises and the conflicts that cause them, said African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat on Thursday as he delivered opening remarks ahead of the AU Summit in Addis Ababa. The African Continental Free…
International leaders have again pointed to climate change as a key contributing factor to instability in the Sahel region, and urged action to get at the root causes of conflict and crisis. “These are found in discrimination, human rights violations, weak governance, conflict, and the impact of climate change,” said…