There are now at least 229 positive cases of the novel coronavirus on the African continent, according to health officials, with the first confirmed cases in Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Rwanda and Seychelles among them. The Department of Health on Seychelles said two of its citizens returned to the Indian Ocean…
Amnesty International is calling for a thorough investigation into the death of a Rwandan musician who was arrested last week and was in police custody. Kizito Mihigo, 38, was a popular gospel singer who police confirmed on Friday was stopped near the border with Burundi. Rwandan authorities say he stood…
The word “hirwa” means “lucky one” in Kinyarwanda, a language shared across regional borders in a pocket that includes parts of Rwanda, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and southern Uganda. Yet misfortune has struck nonetheless for the Hirwa mountain gorilla family living in the Virunga conservation area. Four of…
The “Made in Africa” smartphones from Rwanda’s Mara Corporation have made a big splash, but there’s a much bigger vision through a “Connect Rwanda” campaign that hopes to put Mara and other smartphones in the hands of every household in the country. The program, launched in late December, relies on…
Rwanda is the latest African nation to join in a U.S. military program that partners members of its National Guard units from specific U.S. states with governments around the world. The signing ceremony pairing the Nebraska National Guard with Rwandans took place Thursday in Kigali. “State partnerships are integral to…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Last week brought a landmark agreement between the World Health Organisation and the African Union, designed to help the continent push towards the goal of universal healthcare. Under the terms of the agreement, inked at the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, the international organisation will provide specialist support to Africa’s medical…
In Kigali, the African Development Bank has kicked off its World Summit on Gender with appeals to improve women’s access to financial resources they need to grow businesses and boost development. And with that, they received an endorsement from AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina. “When women borrow, they always pay back….
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda pointed to a new partnership with Volkswagen and Siemens, one that makes his nation Africa’s first to have an electric vehicle pilot program, as evidence of what can be achieved through the G20 Compact with Africa initiative launched in 2017. His brief remarks came during…
In Rwanda, authorities say a Christian pastor from the United States arrested while in Kigali despite the ban on his radio station and ministry has been deported. The Rwandan Directorate General for Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) confirmed to New Times that Gregg Schoof was declared a prohibited immigrant and not permitted…
Migrants trapped in deteriorating conditions in Libya may be headed to Rwanda, following the announcement Tuesday of a deal between the central African nation, the African Union and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, to evacuate them. “Under the agreement, the Government of Rwanda will receive and provide protection to…
A Rwandan man living in the United States since 2014 has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide, which he failed to disclose to U.S. authorities when arriving in the country. Jean Leonard Teganya, 47, was a medical student at the National…
President Emmanuel Macron of France wasn’t the only head of state to appear at Viva Technology in Paris, which wraps up the three-day expo on Saturday. Also on hand were President Macky Sall of Senegal and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who participated in the Africa Tech forum. They were…
Adama Dieng of Senegal, the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, called on world leaders across the political spectrum to avoid cultivating a culture that tolerates hate speech and violent extremism. “Big massacres start always with small actions and language,” said Dieng, who has served in his…
The human rights record of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is under renewed scrutiny after he appeared at the weekend with Christian pastor Rick Warren, left, at his Saddleback Church to focus on reconciliation and the recovery of trauma. Kagame, who has a long relationship with Warren’s Baptist-affiliated megachurch in…
With both global temperatures and economic power rising in the developing world, the number of air conditioners is expected to grow from 1.2 billion today to 4.5 billion by 2050. That means that without clean and efficient cooling, greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 will be up 90 percent over 2017…