Foreign journalist's perspective on press freedom in Rwanda
Rwanda's much vaunted image as a beacon of progress and development in Africa is being further questioned in a book "Bad News - Last Journalists in A Dictatorship". The author, Anjan Sundaram, is a foreign journalist who wrote about his time running a training programme for local reporters in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. He reveals concerns that President Paul Kagame's grip on power may not be as positive and benevolent as often portrayed.
Kenya covers up military massacre
Nairobi, Kenya (CNN)On January 15, a massive blast shattered the dawn calm at El Adde military base. A suicide bomber had detonated a truck loaded with explosives, the cue for hundreds of fighters clad in camouflage gear to attack.
The raid lasted the entire day; thousands upon thousands of bullets fired by some 300 Al-Shabaab militants in a brutal assault on Kenyan soldiers stationed in Somalia to fight the terrorist group.
By the time the sun set, as many as 141 Kenyan soldiers were dead -- some shot at point-blank range. That figure would make what happened at El Adde Kenya's largest military defeat since its independence in 1963.
But in the months since, there has been no national day of mourning, no roll call of honor, and no explanation.
The only clues to what happened are contained in a propaganda video made by Al-Shabaab itself.
Why Africa's socioeconomic struggles are set to deepen
Last week saw the commemoration of Africa Day across the continent, marking the birth of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), forerunner of the African Union (AU), in 1963. In creating the AU in SA in 2002, African governments were forced to recognise that economic development could not simply be legislated into existence. The glue that had held the OAU together for three decades — the liberation of Southern Africa — had now come unstuck.
With growing poverty and continued insecurity replacing apartheid and colonialism as the common enemy, the OAU was forced to focus increasingly from the 1980s on economic development.
Less than 12% of continental trade is intra-African, and regional integration has been an abysmal failure. Although the percentage of Africans living in absolute poverty has fallen since 2000, from 58% to 41%, and primary school enrolment increased from 60% to 80%, most of the poorest economic performers in the UN human development index remain African countries.
The flattering western narrative of "Rising Africa" has been halted dramatically by the recent collapse of the commodity boom, resulting in a 16% fall in the continent's terms of trade.
[NAIROBI] A new research programme aims to advance current understanding of best practices in global health research capacity strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The five-year Learning Research Programme (LRP), which was supported with £800,000 (almost US$1.7 million) award last month (20 April), is to work in partnership with DELTAS Africa initiatives to help generate research evidence.
DELTAS Africa, a partnership scheme involving the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the African Academy of Sciences' Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AAS-AESA) and the UK Department for International Development, seeks to train and develop world-class researchers to address major health challenges and develop collaborations that translate research uptake into policy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Together with the LRP, DELTAS Africa has committed £60 million (almost US$88 million) to 11 African research teams over a five-year period (2015-2020), says a statement from the Wellcome Trust that announced the LRP funding.
According to Justin Pulford, a senior lecturer at the UK-based Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), which is leading the LRP, a team of LRP researchers will investigate the collective experience of DELTAS Africa consortia scientific staff as they implement their respective research programmes, looking for common barriers and enablers to equitable research careers and research uptake.
Embattled DR Congo opposition leader Katumbi in London: lawyer Kinshasa (AFP) - Moise Katumbi, the embattled DR Congo opposition leader who quit the country last week ostensibly for medical treatment, has now flown from South Africa to London, one of his lawyers said Sunday.
Katumbi, a football magnate seen as the leading challenger to President Joseph Kabila for the top job in the mineral-rich country, needs "rest" and it is not clear when he will be heading home, Georges Kapiamba told AFP.
With political tensions soaring over expectations that Kabila wants to extend his rule despite being barred from a third term, Katumbi has been all but forced into exile as he faces charges of undermining state security.
The 51-year-old owner of the Tout-Puissant Mazembe football club had this month announced plans to stand in the election due later this year, but was swiftly hit with an investigation into claims he hired foreign mercenaries.
Katumbi flew to South Africa on May 20 and was admitted to hospital in Johannesburg, with followers saying he was injured during clashes between police and his supporters a week earlier.
Kenya beauty dominates Miss Africa Perth 2016
A flamboyant parade of former title holders followed by a high-octane dance performance set a spirited pace for the 10th annual Miss Africa Perth pageant.
Braving the spotlight in front of a full house at the Astor Theatre, 15 finalists were appraised on their confidence, creativity and talents, which ranged from singing to poetry, as they strove to impress a judging panel including 2007 Miss Africa Perth Adhieu Cagai.
Taking home not one but three titles, Kenya's Shiko Kariuki had the audience dancing in the aisles when she was named Miss Personality, Miss Popularity and Miss Africa Perth 2016.
Chinese Navy logistics base in Djibouti will drive other investment, says adviser
But arrival of PLA will mark the fourth foreign military presence in tiny but strategic Horn of Africa nation
The construction of a logistics base for the Chinese navy on the Horn of Africa is expected to prompt more Chinese investment in Djibouti, a government adviser said on Monday.
"We see benefits behind it [the base construction] for Djibouti and its people. This will also bring us more investors and companies from China," Samir Aden Cheikh, an adviser to the country's minister of finance and industry, said on the sidelines of an event hosted by the Finance Centre for South-South Cooperation in Beijing.
There was no completion date yet for the base, Cheikh said in an interview with theSouth China Morning Post.
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