Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the United States has announced US$331 million in new funding for humanitarian aid in Ethiopia, where he met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other leaders on Wednesday as part of an African tour that continues through the end of the week. Blinken said…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
More than 600,000 people in Burkina Faso now face severe food insecurity, with nearly one in 10 people displaced by conflict and in urgent need of assistance. That’s according to a statement signed by 28 different nonprofit agencies, including Oxfam, the Danish Refugee Council, the International Rescue Committee and World…
The president of Niger is raising a few eyebrows following his comments on the death of Mali’s former prime minister. The 67-year-old Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga died in a hospital on Monday, having remained in detention under current Malian leader Assimi Goïta. Maïga was arrested in August, a year after the…
Mahamadou Issoufou, the outgoing president of Niger, is the recipient of the 2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The US$5 million prize, paid over 10 years through the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, is awarded to leaders who demonstrate a commitment to human development and democratic principles. Successful candidates are always…
Seven members of Niger’s Independent National Electoral Commission died Sunday when the vehicle they traveled in struck an improvised explosive device along a route near Waraou in the country’s troubled west. The explosion injured three others, according to an RFI report. It happened as Nigeriens went to the polls for…
Another 35 people have died in Chad following clashes in Salamat Province in the southeastern part of the country, a development that follows on this week’s regional security summit among the five Sahel nations and France. The communal fighting between farmers and herders began with an attack at a roadblock,…
In the nearly ten years since Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his famous visit to Mogadishu in August 2011, Turkey has rapidly become one of Somalia’s most important (and generous) international benefactors. After Erdogan became the first head of state from outside of Africa to visit Somalia since the country’s disastrous…
President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana has been elected the new head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and will replace outgoing chief Mahamadou Issoufou, his Nigerien counterpart. “I am fully aware of the challenges which confront West Africa,” said Akufo Addo in his acceptance speech,…
Leaders in Niger and France said they were in close contact following the deaths of eight people attacked at the Kouré Giraffe Reserve on Sunday, seven of them working with the aid organizations ACTED and IMPACT Initiatives. President Mahamadou Issoufou said he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron by…
Filippo Grandi, head of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), has completed a three-nation tour of the Sahel, meeting with heads of state and other leaders focused on the security and humanitarian crises. Grandi wrapped up his mission in Burkina Faso, meeting with President Roch Marc Kaboré after stops in…
Cameroon will lose its preferred trade status under the United States African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on January 1, following the U.S. decision to revoke its status because of its human rights record. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the decision in October, but confirmed it by a proclamation issued…
Military officials in France say at least 33 members of a terrorist group died during an overnight raid on Saturday in the Mopti region of central Mali. The Ministry of Defense said the French troops targeted a large camp of the armed extremists in a wooded area after acquiring intelligence…
Leaders of the G5 Sahel nations meeting in Niamey this weekend vowed to continue their fight against extremists, while appealing to the international community for financing and support in the effort. The extraordinary summit was hosted by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, who welcomed his counterpart Roch Marc Christian Kaboré…
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 is the editor of Africa Times
Four African presidents will lead the discussion Wednesday on “what’s next for Africa” as global government and corporate leaders in Riyadh meet this week at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative, often known as “Davos in the Desert.” The four – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou and…