More than 100 websites have been blocked in Egypt across the last month, according to a June 22 update from an Egyptian human rights and free speech advocacy group. The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) says there were 103 such shutdowns at various times since May 24,…
UN envoy François Louncény Fall has called on the government of Cameroon and Anglophone community leaders to work together in finding a lasting solution to the country’s political crisis. Fall, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa, was in Yaoundé this week for a series of meetings. They…
The financial impact of the Internet shutdown in Cameroon is now an estimated €2.69 million, according to digital access advocates who have repeated calls for restoration of service to the Anglophone regions in the West African nation’s northwest and southwest. The latest figures were released at the end of March…
Two American lawmakers are the latest to raise their voices in concern over the escalating crisis in Cameroon and the impact on the Anglophone community. Representatives André Carson and Jackie Walorski — both from the U.S. state of Indiana, but with vastly different political views from opposing parties — have issued…
The University of Swaziland closed Monday as student protests and class boycotts that flared up last week continued into the new one. Dr Salebona Simelane, registrar for the university, said students at the Kwaluseni campus are angry about student allowances they say are unpaid, which led to clashes last week. Those…
A 17-year-old student from Cameroon has become the first African to win the Google Code In contest grand prize. Collins Nji of Bamenda, an artist and graphic designer when he’s not honing his coding skills, was one of 34 teens from across the globe to achieve the honors. There were…
Connectivity woes continue on the island nation of Madagascar, following the breakdown of an undersea cable that serves as a primary optic fiber network. The Telma Madagascar communications company was first alerted last Wednesday that the underwater EASSy cable that supports Internet access to the island nation was out of service….
At least 16 news sites and the WhatsApp messaging app were blocked in Ethiopia between June and October, in what human rights organization Amnesty International says is evidence of deliberate and systematic government measures to crush dissent. Amnesty published research Tuesday that showed a correlation between protests and clashes, and the…
As the darkness inched towards Thursday’s dawn in Banjul, uneasy Gambians prepared to head to the polls in critical elections – the most important in years – to determine if President Yayha Jammeh remains as leader of a country he’s controlled since 1994. Yet before a single marble was dropped,…
The repression of ideas is under “widespread assault,” according to a new United Nations report on freedom of expression that finds mature democracies and developing nations alike are silencing dissent – and treating words as weapons – to suppress the free exchange of information and ideas. Internet shutdowns from Uganda…
As Friday evening fell on the uneasy streets of Libreville, there was still no word of any court decision in Gabon’s contested presidential election. Gabon’s Constitutional Court was expected to rule as early as Friday. The ruling follows the success of opposition candidate Jean Ping in challenging the results of…
The passage of the Power Africa bill through the US Congress this week will mean the creation of a new beginning for energy on the continent. The US Senate passed the act in mid-December, with a vote expected this week in the House of Representatives. The legislation, officially called…
Facebook is working with the French satellite operator, Eutelsat, to launch a satellite that will send Internet connectivity to 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The satellite is set to launch next year with service starting in the second half of 2016. The satellite named Amos-6 will be used to provide…