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 note the passing of UAE president

African heads of state were among global leaders sending their condolences to the United Arab Emirates on Friday upon the news that President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan had died. He was 73 years old. The news of his death was announced via state media, along with plans for…

AfDB, AU heads hold ‘surprise’ talks in Dakar airport lounge

Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says he was in the VIP lounge of Dakar’s Blaise-Diagne International Airport with Senegal’s economic minister this week when another African dignitary walked in. The surprise guest was Moussa Faki Mahamat, head of the African Union Commission. What followed, the AfDB…

South Africa rejects decision on Israel’s AU observer status

South Africa voiced its objection to Israel’s new status as an observer at the African Union, issuing a statement Wednesday that said it was “appalled” by a decision described as “unjust and unwarranted.” The statement from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) follows last week’s decision by the…

Keïta resigns amid global appeals for calm in Mali

All eyes are on Mali as President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta announced his resignation late Tuesday, following a tense day that saw a faction of its military rebel and place the president and top officials in detention. The unfolding events are prompting the global community to appeal for calm. “I strongly…

AU chief issues call for restraint in volatile Mali

The head of the African Union Commission has called on Malian activists to remain peaceful, as the country enters another week of protests calling for an end to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta’s administration. The appeal from AU Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat follows demonstrations on Friday, when thousands of people in…

African Union summit focuses on ‘Silencing the Guns’

The African Union has long held a goal of establishing peace and security on the continent by 2020, though clearly the AU has fallen short of its worthy ambitions. Leaders attending the AU Summit in Addis Ababa have not forgotten, with “Silencing the Guns” as the central theme of the…

Somalia responds to Mogadishu terror attack

The death toll in Mogadishu stands at 90 following a truck bomb attack in Mogadishu, likely the work of al Shabaab extremists in what is the latest in a string of terror attacks that have rocked Somalia’s capital for years. The explosion happened Saturday morning on a busy street crowded…

Niger’s Issoufou returns home after 70 fighters die at Inates

Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, attending the Aswan Forum on African peace and security, has instead returned from Egypt to Niamey to deal with one of the worst extremist attacks on the nation’s military in modern history. Some 71 Nigerien fighters were killed at a military camp near Inates on Tuesday,…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times