LAGOS – Nigeria will invest $10bn (£8bn) in its oil-rich south to end an insurgency by militants, the oil minister has said. The money would be used to build infrastructure, including roads and railways, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said. Militant attacks have severely disrupted oil production, fuelling a recession in the West African state. The militants…
LAGOS – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not take kindly Friday to reports his wife may not support his re-election: The first lady’s place is the kitchen, he said. Buhari’s blatantly sexist remark came during a Berlin news conference with one of the world’s most powerful women, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “I don’t know which…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa has formally begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), media reports say. They say diplomats have notified the UN of the move, accusing the ICC of bias against African countries. Last year, South Africa refused to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC…
JOHANNESBURG – There has been chaos at Wits University, with two students arrested after protests. The university’s management says it will do everything in its power to ensure that academic activities resume. The situation on the university’s main campus in Braamfontein remains tense. Security forces fired teargas and stun grenades to disperse a small group…
DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania’s president has sacked two senior officials for opening a fake account to siphon money from an earthquake fund, his office has said. An accountant had been suspended for being part of the plan to take money collected for earthquake victims, John Magufuli’s office added in a statement. At least 16…
JOHANNESBURG – By lunchtime on Tuesday a number of universities across the country had been disrupted by protesting students‚ with some closing shop. This after higher education and training minister Blade Nzimande’s 2017 fee increase announcement on Monday reignited student protests over free education and the outsourcing of services. Students are up in arms over…
DAR ES SALAAM – A magnitude 5.7 earthquake has killed at least 13 people and injured 203 in northern Tanzania, the authorities say. The quake struck close to the border with Uganda and Rwanda near Lake Victoria. Images posted on social media showed significant damage to buildings in Bukoba, a city of more than 70,000…
LONDON – More than two billion people could be at risk from Zika virus outbreaks in parts of Africa and Asia, according to scientists writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Populations in India, Indonesia and Nigeria are some of the most vulnerable to transmission, the researchers said. They used data on air traveller numbers to…
LIBREVILLE – Gabonese security forces have stormed the headquarters of the defeated presidential candidate, Jean Ping, after they accused “armed criminals” of torching the parliament. Mr Ping said two people had been killed as live shots were fired. His supporters had been staging protests after official results gave President Ali Bongo a narrow victory in…
JOHANNESBURG – Kenya’s former President Mwai Kibaki has been discharged from a Johannesburg hospital where he was admitted on 21 August. The 84-year-old was in jovial and high spirits, his family said. He would continue to recuperate for a few more days before returning home, their statement said. Mr Kibaki governed from 2002 to 2013….
