By Sarah Miansoni with AFP Togo presented its new geopolitical and security strategy for the Sahel during a high-level meeting in Lomé on Saturday. The summit brought together representatives from both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), as well as international envoys, including from France and the European Union. The initiative aimed at fostering dialogue with the governments of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which have distanced themselves from ECOWAS and their Western partners in recent years, in favour of Russia. “Togo is ready to put its mediation expertise and its regional foothold at the service of…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congo River Alliance rebel coalition made progress on a protocol on humanitarian access, judicial protection, ceasefire oversight and the release of prisoners. The parties met in Switzerland this week for five days of negotiations with international mediators including Qatar, the United States, Togo and the African Union. The meetings aimed at securing the implementation of the framework peace deal signed in Doha in November. In a joint statement on Saturday, the DRC and the rebels said they would facilitate the passage of humanitarian personnel and convoys. The parties…
The first group of deportees from the United States has arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital under a new bilateral agreement, according to government and airport sources. Fifteen individuals—seven women and eight men, mostly Latin American migrants from Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador—landed at Ndjili International Airport after a roughly 26-hour flight routed through Dakar and Accra. The plane originated from Alexandria, Louisiana. A lawyer in contact with the group described the journey as exhausting. Congolese officials said temporary housing has been arranged in Kinshasa while longer-term integration plans are finalized. The arrival marks the first implementation of a…
Members of one of Sudan’s most influential bands, Aswat Almadina, are scattered across the world, clinging to the hope that their music will be an inspiration for peace in a nation ravaged by war. Timon was among the six members of the band who left Sudan two months after the conflict started in 2023, traumatised by the sight of dead bodies, destroyed buildings and burnt-out cars in the streets of the capital, Khartoum. “It was like something out of a zombie movie,” Timon tells the BBC Focus on Africa podcast. More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict, and about…
By Dominic Wabwireh with AP Thousands of demonstrators marched in Rabat on Sunday, denouncing a new Israeli law that would allow the execution of Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, while reaffirming support for the Palestinian cause. An estimated 5,000 people gathered along Mohammed V Avenue in central Rabat, waving Palestinian and Moroccan flags and chanting slogans against the death penalty and Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The march was organized by the National Action Group for Palestine, a coalition bringing together Islamist and left-wing groups, including members linked to the Justice and Development Party. Voices of solidarity Participants framed the…
By Rédaction Africanews and Agencies A dozen Muslim-majority nations have condemned Israel’s appointment of a diplomatic envoy to the breakaway region of Somaliland. In a statement posted on social media by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministers from 12 governments, including Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait, called the move a “flagrant violation” of Somalia’s territorial integrity. The African Union has also denounced the decision, saying any unilateral recognition of the territory is “null and void.” It also warned that such actions risk undermining regional stability. There are rumours of Israel planning to build a military base in Somalialand, which…
By Sarah Miansoni with AP Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva strongly criticised the members of the United Nations Security Council during the Meeting in Defence of Democracy in Spain on Saturday. Progressive leaders from around the globe gathered in Spain to galvanize their forces and defend the multilateral rules-based order in a world turning to the right and violently torn by superpowers. Lula singled out permanent members of the UN Security Council, accusing them of imposing their decisions on the rest of the world. “We cannot wake up every morning and go to sleep every night with a…
At the age of 13, Ovey Friday was accused of witchcraft by his stepmother and taken to a traditional shrine in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa, where he was tortured. By the time a neighbour alerted police and he was taken to hospital, the damage was irreversible. “The herbalist brought charcoal, put something on my hands, tied my hands [along] with my leg, put pepper there inside the charcoal, then cover[ed] me with a bedsheet,” recalls Friday, now aged 19. Doctors were forced to sedate him and operate on him. Friday woke up to find his left hand amputated, while…
In northern Nigeria, where Shariah law governs public morality and books have been burned for indecency, a new generation of women writers has found an ingenious workaround: WhatsApp. Serializing explicit Hausa-language erotica in women-only groups, authors like Fauziyya Tasiu Umar—known online as Oum Hairan—have built thriving audiences on WhatsApp. While critics argue the content challenges cultural and religious norms, writers insist their stories spark important conversations about relationships and society. Part social commentary, part savvy entrepreneurship, this underground literary movement is quietly reshaping what’s possible for women’s voices in one of Nigeria’s most conservative regions.
By Dominic Wabwireh with AP Pope Leo XIV on Sunday delivered a message of peace and reconciliation at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima in Angola, a revered Catholic site that once served as a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Set along the Kwanza River, the sanctuary became a pilgrimage destination after reported Marian apparitions in the 19th century. Yet the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers in the late 16th century as part of a fortress linked to slavery. Enslaved Africans were gathered there, baptized by priests, and forced to march more than…