AFRICA

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has been unveiled as the recipient of its 2020 African of the Year Award.  The former Nigerian finance minister was ceremoniously awarded during a special broadcast on CNBC Africa on Monday night. This year marks the 3rd annual instalment of the African of the Year Award, an honorary category of the …

Austrian professional footballer David Olatokunbo Alaba has been appointed by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari as a Clean Nigeria Campaign Ambassador. Alaba, who plays for German club Bayern Munich and the Austria national team, was appointed to support the country’s efforts towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 6, aimed at providing clean water and sanitation …

Johannesburg, South Africa. 30 November 2020 — On the backdrop of increased fighting across Mozambique’s North between government forces and ISIL-linked terrorist groups, coupled with continued insurgency throughout Lake Chad and West Africa’s Sahel, a recent multinational study indicates that Africa’s youth sees terrorism as one of the biggest threats facing the future of the continent. Over seven in ten …

Roch Kabore the incumbent President of Burkina Faso, has  won the election with 57.87 per cent of votes, according to the election body Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday. Having won more than 50 per cent of the total ballots cast, Kabore has secured enough votes to avoid a second round. In a message posted on his social media platforms …

The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, NIDO, on Monday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to include its representatives on the board of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, in accordance with the act establishing the commission. The Chairman of NIDO Europe, Dr Bashir Olalekan Obasekola, made the call during a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria from his base …

After several months of flight suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic, German Lufthansa, Air France and the Royal KLM will be offering flights to Lagos and Abuja again starting on 7 December.  Since the beginning of the global health crisis, no airline has operated direct flights between Nigeria and the European Union, as the Nigerian government had imposed a reciprocal …

The Nigeria government has threatened to sanction CNN over its recent report on the shooting of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers in Lagos on 20 October. The country’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, described the report as “irresponsible journalism”  at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday. The press briefing, which according to him, was convened to address lingering …

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has expressed optimism that the Nigerians in Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS), which began on Friday, would be a platform for diaspora investors, partners, collaborators to interact with government agencies, in a direct round table, for mutual benefit. NiDCOM’s CEO/Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this at the opening ceremony of the third edition of NDIS, holding …

The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, has been appointed as the new chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons (UNVTF). A statement titled ‘Press release on appointment of DG NAPTIP as new chair of UNVTF’ by Olivia …

According to the Africa Centers for Disease Prevention and Control on Wednesday, the number of people infected by the coronavirus in Africa has crossed 1.9 million with at least 45,954 deaths due to virus-related complications across the continent since February. In this report, Abeeb Alawiye compiles some personalities who died as a result of the coronavirus disease in Africa since …

African leaders have been paying tribute to the former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, who died in the early hours of Thursday after a brief illness. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, expressed his heartfelt condolences saying “the entire African continent will sorely miss the sterling qualities of the great leader”. He also said he believes that “the passion, discipline …

Former President Jerry John Rawlings is dead, according to Ghanaian media reports. Rawlings, who ruled Ghana for the longest period of its postcolonial history, passed on Thursday (12 November) after a brief illness. He had been hospitalised in Accra for about a week for an undisclosed ailment before his death. He was 73. Rawlings, who was born in Accra on …

The lesser angels of human nature seemed to have dominated the matrix of American politics for the past four years. However, the morning of November 7th, 2020 was historic for three reasons. On one hand, Americans had just come out in the largest numbers in living memory to vote for their 46th president. Secondly, they had elected the first woman to …

Ogoni leaders have called on the Nigerian government to “exonerate” Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others of all wrongdoing, 25 years after they were executed under controversial circumstances by the Sani Abacha-led military regime and despite the intervention by the international community. The 9 Nigerian environmental activists were hanged on 10 November 1995 on the orders of the military dictator after …

Nigeria could learn from the United States electoral process to build on democratic gains in the country, the African Diaspora Congress (ADC) said on Wednesday Prof. Apollos Nwauwa, the Secretary-General and Public Relations Officer of the US-based organisation, made the comment in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). According to Nwauwa, the outcome of the current …

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has won the presidential election, the National Electoral Commission announced on Friday, giving him a second five-year term. Magufuli of the long ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) received 12.5 million votes in Wednesday’s election – or 85 percent – while his main challenger, Tundu Lissu of the Chadema party, got 1.9 million votes, or 13 percent, …

On 22 October 2020, in the aftermath of the Nigerian Army shooting and killing of peaceful youths protesting at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, the leadership and members of Nigerians In Diaspora Organization World Wide (NIDOWW) invited other Nigerian Diaspora organizations to an emergency town hall meeting to discuss and take a stance on …

Tanzanians headed to the polls on Wednesday for presidential and parliamentary elections. More than 29 million people are registered to vote out of 58 million citizens. They will choose from 15 presidential candidates and elect lawmakers for 264 parliamentary seats. President John Magufuli is seeking another five-year term on the platform of the ruling party CCM, which has governed the …

As security forces were deployed to patrol Nigeria’s major cities after days of unrest following the shooting of protesters, calm is being restored across the country.  President Muhammadu Buhari had warned demonstrators in a televised address on Thursday not to “undermine national security” as he called for an end to widespread protests gripping Africa’s most populous country. The 78-year-old leader, …

Africa’s e-learning market has seen substantial growth due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, with the use of e-learning applications and platforms surging as schools and universities are forced to deliver lessons virtually..