OPINION

Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, MEP, pays tribute to Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old young Iranian woman who died on 16 September 2022 in police custody following her arrest for violating the Islamic dress rule for women. Her death has led to widespread protests in the country for greater rights. According to Iran Human Rights, at least 201 people have been killed by …

By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber Four years have passed since the US imposed sanctions on South Sudan’s oil industry. The goal had been to prevent oil money from funding the civil war that had been raging in the country since 2013. By curtailing the ability of businesses and organizations to provide revenue for the South Sudanese government, …

The good news is that Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria are already supplying a good bit of the gas that Europe has been using to supplement Russian supplies. Even better, they also have enough spare capacity that their plans for raising production within the next few years are realistic.

Russia's war of aggression caused a sudden grain blockade that threatens food security worldwide. Despite the signing of the grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by Turkey and the US, concerns remain high.

Ruto has also faced accusations of grabbing land from a primary school and land meant for a sewage treatment plant in Nairobi.

As the voice of the African energy sector, the African Energy Chamber strongly advocates for German-Africa partnerships, recognizing the role Germany will play in advancing energy security across the continent

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament representing Germany on the platform of the Greens, writes on the reports of discrimination against Africans fleeing the war in Ukraine and she makes specific demands from the European Union on the situation of African students displaced by the conflict —— On behalf of ARDI, the European Parliament’s Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup, …

The recent military takeover of power in Burkina Faso, the third in three years in West Africa, is causing worry that democracy may be backsliding in the region and that more coups could be in the offing. Liberian peace activist, who received the Nobel Prize in 2011, Leymah Gbowee, comments on the spate of military coups in West Africa, calling …

NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber, argues against those pushing for a halt to new investments in Africa’s oil and gas industry. The majority of those making these demands are based in industrialized nations that were built on fossil fuels, he argues. For more than a year, the African Energy Chamber has been pushing back against steadily building pressure …

It is projected that under the African Continental Free Trade Area, extreme poverty will significantly decline across the continent, writes Zion Adeoye, Managing Director for Centurion Law Group’s AfCFTA Desk, and he lists what Africa has to do to realise the potential of the trade agreement — Established in 2018, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents perhaps Africa’s …

Mauritius is set to become a plastic free island that will help protect the nation’s wildlife and place the country on the path to a green economy. Early this year single use plastics were banned in and over the next three years the Mauritian government will be putting in place further regulations and restrictions to rid the island of plastics. …

There is a resurgence of a once forgotten infirmity in West Africa, writes Steve Ogah, as he comments on the increasing spate of military interruption of democratic governance in the sub region. Once, on the rise to the pinnacle of some of the finest ethos of democracy, the West African sub region is now fast backsliding into the dark and …

Former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré died in a Senegalese prison on 24 August. He was serving a life sentence for the widespread human rights abuses and atrocities committed by his regime during its reign of terror in the country from 1982 to 1990. Prof David Monda writes on the lessons of Habré’s conviction, the first by an African court, for …

Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament representing Germany on the platform of the Green Party, writes on the Taliban takeover of power in Afghanistan and the moral debt of the free world to the people of the country —– We are all in shock, stunned, following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. We are faced with a state of …

Collins Nweke is a Councillor in the Belgian town of Ostend. The Nigerian-born communal politician narrates his experience of fighting poverty in his community and he reveals the institutional practice that has deliberately kept many families from accessing state support due to them ———– By Hon. Collins Nweke* We had our first son shortly after moving to Belgium. By the …

By Prof David Monda* On July 4th, 1776, the preamble to the American Declaration of Independence emphasized the centrality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the ideals of the new American nation. While America advanced lofty ideals on this day, the reality of balancing its ideals and its interests in Ethiopia, almost a century and a half later, have …

Our contributing editor and Duesseldorf-based journalist Tina Adomako writes on the deteriorating climate for human rights and democracy in the West African country that traditionally enjoys the image of a role model for democratic governance in the continent Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed – better known as Kaaka – was part of a group of civil society activists in Ghana. Using the …

What will West Africa look like in ten years? Will the region continue on the path of slow advancement, or will technology be a catalyst that could see it create a technologically advanced society such as the one embodied by Wakanda in the Black Panther movie? Titilayo Adewumi, Regional Sales Director: West Africa at SAP, takes a view of West …

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana*, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), writes on the historic agreement between the governments of Germany and Namibia on the genocide committed by German colonial troops against the people of the African country at the beginning of the 20th century. She explains why the agreement is to the detriment of the victims’ descendants ——- Following the return …

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Green Member of the European Parliament representing Germany, praises the appointment of Michaela Moua as the first Anti-Racism Coordinator at the European Commission, and what she expects from the history-making appointee ——- Cultural Diversity in the European Institutions The European Commission has appointed Michaela Moua as its first anti-racism coordinator. I am delighted that she has been …