By Rédaction Africanews with Agencies The United States on Tuesday denied funding paramilitary units charged with securing mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a day after Kinshasa announced the creation of a mine guard. In a statement on Monday, the General Inspectorate of Mines (IGM) of the DRC said it would set up a “paramilitary special unit intended to secure the entire mineral exploitation chain” in the country. The IGM said the guard would receive $100 million in funding as part of “strategic partnerships” with the United States and United Arab Emirates. But the US embassy in the DRC…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews with AP Tens of thousands of people have returned to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, since the army recaptured it from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in March last year, but unexploded ordnance and landmines left behind by years of conflict are posing a growing danger to residents. For the last eight months, a Sudanese demining group, Jasmar, has been working to clear the popular Al Mogran Park after two soldiers were injured in the area. “We have found 164 shells, explosives, and grenades and 1,200 small arms ammunition. We found shells, 22 anti-personnel mines and nine anti-tank…
Four mountain bongos, a rare type of antelope native to Kenya’s highland forests, have arrived in Kenya after being sent from a zoo in the Czech Republic. The male antelopes arrived in the country on Tuesday night and were welcomed at Nairobi’s main airport by Kenya’s foreign and tourism ministers, along with other officials. They have since been moved to a private wildlife reserve in central Kenya. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) hailed the “historic homecoming” of the antelopes as a “meaningful step” to their recovery in the wild. From about 500 in the 1970s, less than 100 are estimated…
Two oil executives have denied paying bribes to former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, a court has been told. Statements made by Kevin Okyere and Igho Sanomi to UK investigators were read out in Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday. The men are part of a group of industry insiders who are alleged to have bankrolled spending sprees and luxury home stays by Alison-Madueke, 65. None of them have been charged in this case and they have not appeared in person at court. Alison-Madueke denies five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. She has said…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP As Uganda presses ahead with its crackdown on illegal migration, authorities have arrested dozens of foreigners since Monday. The latest operation, in which at least 231 were detained, targeted a group of people living in the north of the country, and another group living in a closed compound in the capital, Kampala. Simon Peter Mundeyi, Uganda’s Immigration Department spokesperson, said, “these people were found without anything at all. No passports, no ID, nothing. They were only with their computers and that apartment place was self-contained. It had a restaurant in there, it had a pool…
By Rédaction Africanews Footage released by Russia’s defense ministry purports to show a helicopter firing rockets during what the ministry claims to be fighting with Tuareg rebels in Mali. It comes after Moscow’s Africa corps paramilitary unit was forced to withdraw from the norhtern town of Kidal following attacks by Tuareg rebels and their jihadist allies. The two groups joined forces over the weekend against the ruling junta and its Russian paramilitary backers, and carried out a string of attacks on junta positions including near the capital Bamako. The country’s defense minister Saido Camara, viewed as an architect behind the…
By Rédaction Africanews with agencies Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Denis Sassou N’Guesso, President of the Republic of Republic of the Congo, at the Kremlin on Wednesday. Putin said Russia sees “promising” opportunities for the development of bilateral relations between the two countries, primarily in the economic sphere. “These include geological exploration, energy, logistics, agriculture, and several other areas,” he said. Congratulating Sassou N’Guesso on winning a fifth term in office last month, the Russian president said the stable political situation in the Congo created “good business prospects”. The 82-year-old faced a weak field of challengers, with two…
By Dominic Wabwireh with Other agencies Officials and business leaders in South Africa and Kenya are welcoming China’s new zero‑tariff policy for 53 African nations, saying it will open fresh trade opportunities, cut costs for small businesses, and strengthen economic ties across the continent Beginning May 1, China will grant zero‑tariff access to goods from 53 African countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Beijing. South African officials say the move will significantly expand the country’s export potential. “This is a fantastic opportunity. From May 1, we will take full advantage of it,” said Parks Tau, South Africa’s Minister of Trade,…
France has urged its citizens to leave Mali “as soon as possible”, after a weekend of co-ordinated attacks by separatist fighters and Islamist militants. In an update on Wednesday, the advice also warned French citizens not to travel to the West African nation, describing the situation as “extremely volatile”. Explosions and sustained gunfire were reported across the country, including the capital, Bamako on Saturday. In Kati, the defence leader Sadio Camara was killed in an apparent suicide bombing by militants, while in the north, separatist forces have taken control of the city of Kidal. Mali’s military leader Gen Assimi Goïta said the security…
By Rédaction Africanews After a court postponed his hearing on Wednesday, anti-western and pan-African activist Kemi Seba will remain in detention. He is wanted in Benin on charges of inciting rebellion, after backing a coup attempt in December. Seba’s lawyer has denied the accusations and described them as exaggerated. “So there’s that atmosphere being created about how dangerous the man [Kemi Seba] is, yet he is not being charged with anywhere with any level of dangerous or violent crime. So I think there is that being done by the State intentionally, I mean the affidavits are quite thick for an…